The Nightingale Girls Read Online Free Page B

felt herself relax. She played Snakes and Ladders with Josie and Bea while they listened to Henry Hall on the wireless. Nanna dozed by the warmth of the fire and her mother got on with the rest of her mending for the laundry.
    Later, they all went to bed. Nanna Winnie complained loudly, claiming the fish and chips had made her ill.
    ‘I’ll probably die in my sleep,’ she predicted gloomily, as she rose stiffly from her rocking chair.
    ‘No one ever died of indigestion, Mum!’ Rose laughed.
    ‘That’s what you reckon,’ Nanna said darkly. ‘You lot will be laughing the other side of your faces when you find my cold dead corpse in the morning.’
    Dora and Josie stood side by side at the scullery sink, brushing their teeth.
    ‘It’s going to be lonely here without you,’ Josie said.
    Dora spat toothpaste down the plug hole. ‘You’ll have Bea and Little Alfie.’
    ‘But I won’t have you.’
    ‘I told you, I’ll come home for visits.’
    ‘Promise?’ Josie rinsed her mouth out and turned to face her sister, her dark eyes shining. ‘Promise you won’t forget me?’
    ‘How could I forget you? I’m your big sister, ain’t I?’ Dora stroked her silky dark hair. ‘I’ll always look out for you, Jose.’
    When they’d all gone to bed Dora lay in the darkness under the weight of her old eiderdown, listening to Nanna’s snores through the thin wall. From next door, she could hear June Riley yelling at her sons.
    Tired though she was, she didn’t dare sleep until she heard the sound of Alf’s key scraping in the lock.
    Her stomach clenched in fear as she heard his heavy tread in the passageway. Please God, she prayed. Please don’t let him come in. Not tonight.
    His footsteps stopped outside the bedroom door. Dora held her breath as the knob began to turn, ever so slowly . . .
    He moved quietly for a big man. Dora felt him standing over her as she lay still, her eyes tightly shut, pretending to be asleep.
    But he wasn’t fooled. ‘I know you’re awake.’ He leaned closer to her, his hot breath fanning her face, stinking of beer and cigarettes. ‘Waiting for me, are you?’
    ‘Leave me alone,’ she whispered into the darkness, her eyes still closed.
    ‘Not until I get what I’ve come for.’ He wrenched off the bedclothes, leaving her trembling and exposed. Dora curled up in fear, head down, knees pulled up to herchest, as if she could disappear inside her flannel nightdress.
    But it was no use. He had already pinned her to the bed with his knee as he fumbled with his trouser buttons.
    ‘I’ll tell Mum,’ she threatened, twisting away from him. ‘I’ll scream and everyone will come running.’
    ‘And then what?’ Alf mocked her. ‘What do you think will happen then? She might kick me out, but I’m telling you now, you won’t be far behind. D’you really think she’d want to see your face again, knowing what you and me had done?’ He was on top of her, his bulky body stifling her. His breathing was hard and ragged as his rough hands pawed under her nightdress. ‘And what about the rest of the family? They’ll be on the streets before you know it, without me to pay the rent. Is that what you want?’
    ‘I want you to leave me alone.’
    He grunted with laughter. ‘No, you don’t. You love it.’ He grabbed her hand and plunged it into his trousers. She tried to pull away but he gripped her tightly, forcing her against him until she felt her arm would snap in two. ‘You should count yourself lucky. Ugly little cow like you, no other man would ever look at you.’
    He suddenly yanked her arms back, pinning them above her head as he thrust himself clumsily against her. All the fight gone out of her, Dora could do nothing but blank her mind. She turned her face to stare at the crack of dim lamplight between the faded rose print curtains, listened to the distant sound of June Riley’s screeching voice, and told herself it would all be over soon.

Chapter Three
    IF THINGS HAD gone as