account, and then he’d only been aware of hands going through his pockets before they had started to use their boots on him while he lay on the ground. With no descriptions and no clues as to why they should have picked on Bruce, the constable said, he doubted the law would make much headway with this one. But it might be wiser for the time being to use the front door after dark, just to be on the safe side.
They had all been upset about what had happened but Perce in particular seemed to take the attack on his brother as a personal affront. He had tramped the back lanes in the vicinity for a few nights until May, half mad with worry, had persuaded him to give up for her sake. After this he informed them during dinner one night that he had asked Stan to make discreet enquiries among some of the more questionable types he knew. But nothing had come of that either.
In view of all this Amy felt awful about her initial suspicions when Bruce had first been brought home. How could she have imagined for one moment Perce was at the bottom of the attack on Bruce? she asked herself for the umpteenth time two Fridays after the incident. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at her two cousins. Bruce and Perce were sitting with their father toasting their toes in front of the sitting-room fire, the three of them enjoying the beer and chitterlings Perce had brought in for their supper. It was May’s evening for visiting her parents and she had taken Eva and Harriet with her, Ronald pleading a gyppy tummy at the last minute.
Amy watched her uncle tucking into the chitterlings. His stomach didn’t seem too bad now, she thought wryly; nine times out of ten he would make some excuse not to accompany Aunt May to his in-laws. She didn’t seem to mind, she always appeared on edge anyway when Uncle Ronald and Mr O’Leary were together.
For once the house had a nice feeling to it. With Aunt May and Eva and Harriet out, and the younger children fast asleep in bed, Amy could have felt comfortable and relaxed as she sat with a pile of mending in one of the easy chairs. But ever since the night Perce had told her how he felt she had been tense. All the time he seemed to be looking at her, even when he wasn’t, which sounded daft but that was how she felt.And even with the bathroom door locked she hurried through her ablutions each morning, hating the fact he was still in the house when she didn’t have any clothes on.
In just three weeks’ time though, at Easter, she would be finished with school for good and starting work. She would be grown up and everything would be different. True, Aunt May had made it clear that most of her wage would be taken for her board, but for the first time in her life she would have a small amount of money which would be her very own. It was some recompense for not being able to go to the secondary school as her teacher had recommended.
Amy did not count the three pounds hidden away in the post office. In view of how the money had come to her, it would remain untouchable for the foreseeable future and it therefore barely hinged on her consciousness, except as a warm reminder of her grandmother’s love for her.
‘You seem in a world of your own the night, lass.’ She glanced up to see her uncle’s eyes on her. ‘Not still brooding about your Aunt May getting you the job with Mrs Tollett, are you? It’ll work out all right in the end. With things as they are at present, a housemaid’s job, any job, isn’t to be sneezed at, and you said the housekeeper there seemed pleasant enough.’
Amy nodded. ‘Yes, she was.’ Everyone had been pleasant when her aunt had taken her for the interview with the housekeeper who virtually ran the guest house on Roker’s promenade, but the truth was that she didn’t want to go into service.
‘Just see how you get on, eh? Something else will turn up sooner or later.’
Her uncle was trying to be kind and for a second Amy
They had all been upset about what had happened but Perce in particular seemed to take the attack on his brother as a personal affront. He had tramped the back lanes in the vicinity for a few nights until May, half mad with worry, had persuaded him to give up for her sake. After this he informed them during dinner one night that he had asked Stan to make discreet enquiries among some of the more questionable types he knew. But nothing had come of that either.
In view of all this Amy felt awful about her initial suspicions when Bruce had first been brought home. How could she have imagined for one moment Perce was at the bottom of the attack on Bruce? she asked herself for the umpteenth time two Fridays after the incident. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at her two cousins. Bruce and Perce were sitting with their father toasting their toes in front of the sitting-room fire, the three of them enjoying the beer and chitterlings Perce had brought in for their supper. It was May’s evening for visiting her parents and she had taken Eva and Harriet with her, Ronald pleading a gyppy tummy at the last minute.
Amy watched her uncle tucking into the chitterlings. His stomach didn’t seem too bad now, she thought wryly; nine times out of ten he would make some excuse not to accompany Aunt May to his in-laws. She didn’t seem to mind, she always appeared on edge anyway when Uncle Ronald and Mr O’Leary were together.
For once the house had a nice feeling to it. With Aunt May and Eva and Harriet out, and the younger children fast asleep in bed, Amy could have felt comfortable and relaxed as she sat with a pile of mending in one of the easy chairs. But ever since the night Perce had told her how he felt she had been tense. All the time he seemed to be looking at her, even when he wasn’t, which sounded daft but that was how she felt.And even with the bathroom door locked she hurried through her ablutions each morning, hating the fact he was still in the house when she didn’t have any clothes on.
In just three weeks’ time though, at Easter, she would be finished with school for good and starting work. She would be grown up and everything would be different. True, Aunt May had made it clear that most of her wage would be taken for her board, but for the first time in her life she would have a small amount of money which would be her very own. It was some recompense for not being able to go to the secondary school as her teacher had recommended.
Amy did not count the three pounds hidden away in the post office. In view of how the money had come to her, it would remain untouchable for the foreseeable future and it therefore barely hinged on her consciousness, except as a warm reminder of her grandmother’s love for her.
‘You seem in a world of your own the night, lass.’ She glanced up to see her uncle’s eyes on her. ‘Not still brooding about your Aunt May getting you the job with Mrs Tollett, are you? It’ll work out all right in the end. With things as they are at present, a housemaid’s job, any job, isn’t to be sneezed at, and you said the housekeeper there seemed pleasant enough.’
Amy nodded. ‘Yes, she was.’ Everyone had been pleasant when her aunt had taken her for the interview with the housekeeper who virtually ran the guest house on Roker’s promenade, but the truth was that she didn’t want to go into service.
‘Just see how you get on, eh? Something else will turn up sooner or later.’
Her uncle was trying to be kind and for a second Amy
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