The Forgotten Family Read Online Free

you, I want to look at your shoes.’
    Edging cautiously towards him, she stuck out one foot. ‘They’re  ’orrible.’
    ‘Hmm, I can see that.’ He removed the shoe. ‘Now the other one.’
    Sticking out the other foot, she breathed a sigh of relief when they were both off. Then she sat down on the grass and whipped off the socks. Standing up again, she did a little jig, loving the feel of the grass under her bare feet.
    ‘That’s better, isn’t it?’
    She nodded, taking a closer look at him. ‘You got funny coloured eyes.’
    ‘Hmm, so I’ve been told.’ His mouth turned up in amusement at her direct remark. ‘I believe they are called amber.’
    ‘Oh.’ She had to have another look at those. ‘Mine are blue.’
    ‘Yes, I can see that, and they’re very pretty.’
    No one had ever told her that before. She shuffled a bit closer. He didn’t seem too bad because he’d taken off hershoes. Perhaps … She pointed towards her knickers. ‘I don’t like these rotten things, neither.’
    ‘You must keep those on.’
    From the tone of his voice, she knew it would be daft to disobey. Shame. Still, she’d got rid of the shoes.
    ‘Mary.’ Albert straightened up. ‘Buy her some lighter and softer shoes. And, Nanny, put shoes on her for only a short time each day until she gets used to them.’
    ‘Yes, sir.’
    ‘Does that mean you approve and we can keep her, my dear?’ Mary asked hopefully.
    ‘I don’t think we have any choice. Her family obviously don’t want her, and if she’s returned to them, they will most likely try to sell her again.’ He studied the little girl waiting impatiently for him to show her the pond. ‘She’s an appealing child, and I dread to imagine what might happen to her if we don’t keep her here.’
    His wife couldn’t hide her delight. ‘She won’t be any trouble. You will hardly know she’s here.’
    ‘I have agreed that we keep her, but I am most upset. You should have consulted me first, but it is done now.’
    ‘I thought you would be pleased, Albert. You are always concerned about the plight of children like her, and urging Parliament for better education rights for the poor.’ Her mouth turned up at the corners. ‘You are very vocal on the subject, I am told.’
    Queenie was getting fed up with waiting and began to wander off. She’d find the fish herself, and maybe a gate. It would be easy to run now she had nothing on her feet. A large shadow loomed beside her.
    ‘The pond is this way, child.’
    She followed as they walked round bushes taller than her, and then she let out a gasp. It was big, and there was a stone thing in the middle, running with water. She took off towards it as fast as her legs would carry her.
    The man caught her. ‘Careful, water can be dangerous if you fall in.’
    He kept a firm hold on her while she knelt down and peered into the  pond. The fish swimming around were a pretty colour. She cast a glance at the man beside her. ‘You eat these?’
    ‘No, they live here. This is their home.’ He watched her face intently. ‘Just as this is now your home.’
    Sitting back on her heels, the pleasure drained from her face, her eyes pleading. ‘It’s nice here, but I wanna go home. I want my brothers and sisters. I want ’Arry. He looks out for me.’
    His face turned to thunder. ‘I’ll kill Henry for allowing you to do this, Mary.’ Then he stormed off.
     
    Albert Warrender couldn’t remember when he’d been so angry. His wife was a kindly soul and he understood her anguish at remaining childless. It was also a great sadness to him, as well, and he had agreed that they adopt an unwanted baby – and goodness knows, there were plenty of them – but plucking a child of this age away from her family was cruel. Henry was a damned fool, but he had never been able to deny his sister anything she wanted.
    When he looked back on the ten years of marriageto Mary, he was filled with sorrow. After losing three babies, it had