The Girl from Cotton Lane Read Online Free

Irish nurse was happy too to be employed by the Bradleys, for the baby’s mother was kind and considerate and her husband posed no threat. Fred Bradley stayed very much in the background and his soft, kind eyes helped to put her at ease.
     
    Annie came in at seven-thirty every weekday morning, bathed and fed the child and, weather permitting, took her for an outing in the large black perambulator. She left every day at two o’clock, after the morning rush was over and once the last of the hot midday meals had been served. It was then that Carrie took over, dividing her time between caring for her baby and attending to her customers. She had complete confidence in the young nurse, although she found it very difficult to penetrate her reserve. Carrie’s only problem was the other woman who worked in the dining rooms. Bessie Chandler helped Fred in the kitchen, and when business demanded or when Carrie went upstairs to tend Rachel she came out of the kitchen to help behind the counter. Bessie was a fiery character, a large plump woman with a shock of ginger hair, freckles and green eyes. She was talkative and forthright in her opinions, which she gave freely and often without the qualification for doing so. Bessie’s opinions on how babies should be cared for were given freely to Carrie and duly ignored by the young mother, who was aware that Bessie had never had children of her own. Annie McCafferty, however, with her training in caring for children, viewed the Bradleys’ large and vociferous helper as an ignorant, interfering busybody.
     
    It was Friday morning, cold and clear after the night rain, and Annie brought Rachel down the stairs and settled her in the pram which was kept in the passageway beside the kitchen. Bessie was busy rolling out pastry for the meat pies and she looked up at the young nurse. ‘Yer not intendin’ ter take the baby out in this weavver, are yer?’ she asked in an indignant tone of voice. ‘It’s bleedin’ freezin’ out there.’
     
    Annie’s lips puckered in irritation. ‘It’s cold, but as long as the baby’s well wrapped up it’ll do no harm. In fact, the air will do her good,’ she said stiffly.
     
    ‘Do ’er good?’ Bessie snorted. ‘Give ’er pneumonia more like it.’
     
    Annie disregarded the remark and as she walked out of the side door pushing the baby carriage Bessie turned to her employer.
     
    ‘I shouldn’t let that young woman take too much on ’erself, Fred, if I was you,’ she said quickly. ‘Them sort ain’t got ’alf the sense they was born wiv.’
     
    Fred was busy cutting meat into small cubes and he ignored his helper’s comment.
     
    ‘I remember what ’appened ter Mrs Orchard’s first-born,’ Bessie began. ‘Baby girl it was. She went cross-eyed. My next-door neighbour Elsie Dobson told me Clara Orchard took the baby out in the fog and the child got a terrible cough. Whoopin’ cough it turned out ter be. Nasty that complaint can be, let me tell yer. Anyway it turned the baby’s eyes. The child never got better. Yer can still see the poor cow walkin’ about wiv both ’er eyes pointin’ inwards. She’s got two kids of ’er own now an’ they’re both cross-eyed. No, I tell yer, Fred, yer gotta be so careful where kids are concerned.’
     
    Fred nodded, rolling his eyes in irritation. ‘Yes, Bessie,’ he growled.
     
    ‘I was only sayin’ ter my ole man last night, this ’ere fog’s a killer,’ the large woman went on. ‘That Mr what’s-’isname who used ter come round ’ere wiv the cockles on Sundays put ’is bad chest down ter the fog. Mind you though, I fink it was the pipe what did it. Never out of ’is mouth that pipe.’
     
    ‘’Ave you ever thought of smokin’ a pipe?’ Fred asked suddenly, wincing at his own audacity.
     
    Bessie chuckled and waved her hand at him in a dismissing gesture. ‘Gawd luv us, no. Mind yer though, there’s a lot what do,’ she went on, missing the sarcasm in Fred’s