Winners and Losers Read Online Free Page A

He loved Alice but sometimes he wished that they were back at the start of their marriage. His children were precious, of course, but it would have been better if they had come later, once he’d got a bit of money in the bank.
    Daniel drove round past the Lamb Hotel and into Market Street, heading for the parking lot behind the cattle market. He could smell the pungent smell of animal excrement as he got out of his van, leaving it unlocked as he strode towards the pens. The nervous bleating and bellowing of the animals added to the general noise. The auction was already taking place, though they hadn’t got to the livestock yet. They were still selling bits and pieces of machinery, tools and other items that were often put into the sale. Sometimes you could find a box of china that someone had discarded. Alice collected blue and white and he bought the odd piece for her if he saw it going cheap.
    â€˜Not a bad day for it,’ a voice remarked and he turned to see Bill Henderson, a neighbouring farmer who had a lot more acres than Daniel had these days. ‘I’ve got my eyes on a couple of Herefords – need to build up my milking herd a bit.’
    â€˜I’d like a couple of Jerseys if I could afford it,’ Daniel said. ‘But I saw a few good Herefords in the pens.’
    â€˜Your father had Jerseys once, didn’t he?’
    â€˜Yes, before the war,’ Daniel agreed. ‘Henry sold them. He preferred Herefords.’
    He nodded to the man and walked on. There was nothing he wanted in the sale and he fancied a drink before he went home. He might take a look in the shop that sold television sets; he couldn’t afford a new one, but now and then they had one going cheap. Alice and the children had watched the coronation of the young Queen Elizabeth at Alice’s parents’ house and he knew she would like a set of her own, though he wasn’t sure what the reception would be like in the Fen. He ought to get her something, though the TV was probably more than he could afford; it would need setting up and an aerial. No, forget it, he’d find something cheaper.
    Connor’s words kept echoing in his head. Maybe he should find the money to take Alice away for a few days. Mary might have the kids over a long weekend . . .
    Absorbed in his thoughts, Daniel didn’t see the woman watching him as he strolled under the arch into the pub yard. Even if he had, he probably wouldn’t have recognised her. Daniel had long forgotten the woman he’d known so briefly in Liverpool during the war.
    Maura watched as the man walked into the public house. She was certain it was Daniel Searles and for a moment her heart stood still. She’d come to Cambridgeshire in the hope of seeing him, even though she’d wondered if he had moved on. She hadn’t even known if he’d survived the war. Seeing him so unexpectedly in Ely had driven her breath away. She wasn’t ready to confront him just yet. She needed to think about what she was going to say.
    Would he even believe what she had to tell him? She’d visited Stretton once during the war when she discovered she was pregnant, hoping to find him and explain, but she’d met his young brother Connor instead and he’d made it plain that Daniel wasn’t around. Maura hadn’t bothered too much then, because she’d had a job and prospects. Things were different now. Recovering from the break-up of her marriage and with only a few pounds in her purse, she needed a helping hand.
    The Searles had land and money. Daniel owed her something. It was time he started to help keep his son. She’d managed alone since her husband walked out, but she was down on her luck and she needed money.
    It was more than likely that Daniel would disown his son, though if he looked at him, he would see that she wasn’t lying. David looked just like his father. If he’d been with her now, Maura might have