Читать книгу The Barefoot Child - Cathy Sharp - Страница 9

‘I went immediately to the magistrate’s court this morning,’ the Reverend Mr Joseph told Hetty when she greeted him in her parlour, ‘and was told it was too late. The magistrate heard her case last evening and the girl has this very morning been sent to a workhouse. I asked where but was told that he was not sure for the children seen last night had been sent to various places and it might have been any one of a dozen.’

‘That is outrageous,’ Hetty said, and her eyes sparked with anger. ‘He must know where she has gone but for some reason he did not wish to tell you.’ She took a turn about the room, for the news had made her feel agitated. ‘And they would tell you no more, sir?’

‘I begged, pleaded and then demanded,’ the reverend said gravely. ‘I was answered with respect, Miss Worsley, but the answer was evasive. The girl has gone to a workhouse but which one …?’ He shook his head.

‘I shall send word to Mr Stoneham. He is the gentleman who brought me here to the refuge as its mistress and I believe he is the only one who can help us now.’

‘What of Lucy and her brother?’ the reverend asked. ‘I fear that they may also be taken – and if they are …’

‘They may be split up and sent who knows where.’

‘What can we do to help them? I feel at fault, for Kitty was in my care – though she had always walked home safely until …’ He shook his head. ‘It was the spite of that woman that caused this and I am ashamed that she is my parishioner.’

‘You cannot be responsible for all the evil in the world,’ Hetty said and gave him a gentle smile. ‘Now, I must leave you for I have work to do – and I must go to Mr Stoneham, because without his help I fear nothing can be done for Kitty Soames.’

‘What is your name, girl?’ The woman in the black dress frightened Kitty. Her face was so stern and her tone so harsh that Kitty’s memory deserted her. Her experience the previous day had terrified her and she’d spent the night in a cold room, all alone, shivering in fear. ‘Are you deaf or simply disobedient, girl?’

‘It’s Cath …’ Kitty managed at last, tears trickling down her pale cheeks. Catherine was the name her mother called her when she was angry, though everyone always called her Kitty but the woman’s harsh look terrified her so much that she could hardly think.

‘I suppose you have no other name,’ the woman said and sighed. ‘My name is Mistress Docherty – and you will address me as mistress – do you understand, Cath?’

‘Yes, mistress …’ Kitty hung her head.

‘Very well, Cath. I am going to send you to the bath and I will ask Sadie to assist you. She will give you clothes to wear – and shoes, for you cannot wear those here.’ Mistress Docherty looked down her long nose at Kitty’s precious red shoes. ‘Take them off and give them to me now.’

Kitty hung back, unwilling to part from the shoes Lucy had bought her. She felt lonely and miserable. ‘I want to go home …’

‘This is your home now, Cath,’ the mistress said and Kitty scrubbed miserably at the tears. A hand came out and grabbed her and she was made to give up her precious shoes. ‘Now, go with Sadie and behave. Children must learn to obey their betters – and to respect God. If you behave, I shall find you work to do and one day you will have a trade, but I do not like surly children. Now go with Sadie and do as she tells you, child.’

Kitty left the mistress’s office and looked at the woman she knew was Sadie standing outside. The woman’s face was so heavily lined that her eyes were hooded and her breath smelled foul. As she grasped Kitty’s arm, she pinched her.

‘Come on, workhouse brat,’ she said spitefully. ‘Yer need a bath and then we’ll have these fine things orf yer …’ Sadie’s eyes gleamed as she felt Kitty’s dress between her fingers. It was one of the new ones that Lucy had made for her for school. ‘I reckon this will fetch a bob or two.’

‘It’s mine,’ Kitty said finding a spark of spirit. ‘My sister made it for me.’

‘Well, you won’t need it in ’ere and it won’t fit by the time they let yer out.’ Sadie cackled meanly as she saw the tears in Kitty’s eyes. ‘Snifflin’ won’t do yer a bit o’good in ’ere, girl. Mistress told me ter teach yer the rules and I reckon that entitles me to somethin’.’

‘I want my sister,’ Kitty said, but quietly so that the horrid old woman couldn’t hear her. ‘I want Lucy …’ Suddenly the shabby room she shared with her sister and brother seemed like a haven and Kitty trembled. Her bare feet were cold on the stone floor and she did not like Sadie or the woman who had taken away her shoes. ‘I want to go home …’

Lucy smelled the beer on her brother’s breath when he got home that evening. She tried to remonstrate with him but he snarled and flung away from her. Lucy understood what was eating at him. He blamed himself for what had happened to Kitty, and since the Reverend Mr Joseph had told them she’d been sent to a workhouse somewhere, he’d become surly and angry.

‘I saw Miss Worsley this morning,’ Lucy said as she put their supper on the makeshift table. It was chicken cooked with vegetables and potatoes and she’d spent time preparing it, but Josh just pushed his plate away. ‘You should eat, Josh …’ She knew that he felt everything was his fault. He’d taken this room and brought them here and that was indirectly the reason that Kitty had been taken on her way home from school. ‘Don’t you want to hear what he said?’

‘She’s the bitch from the women’s refuge,’ Josh said and glared at Lucy. ‘She’s one of ’em, Lucy. I ’ate ’em all!’

‘No, she isn’t like the people who took Kitty,’ she said. ‘She’s kind and she told me that she is going to ask a gentleman to help find our sister.’

‘Why? What would a gentleman want of us?’ Josh said harshly. ‘I’ve never known any good come of that lot pokin’ their noses in.’

‘Miss Worsley says he’s a good man and has helped other young girls who were lost,’ Lucy said, trying to calm him. ‘He’s our only hope, Josh. Unless someone helps us we may never find her.’

‘We need money,’ Josh said and pulled some white paper from his pocket, throwing it on the wooden crate they used as a table. ‘When we’ve got enough of these I can pay someone to find her for us.’

Lucy picked the pieces of paper up and looked at them. It said that the Bank of England promised to pay the bearer five pounds. She had never seen such a thing and her brother had just thrown three of the notes on to the table.

‘Where did you get so much money?’ Lucy asked. ‘You didn’t earn this from your job!’

‘I quit workin’ at that stinkin’ place weeks ago,’ Josh said. ‘I’m fed up with never havin’ a penny in my pocket and so I changed my job.’

‘What kind of a job?’ Josh could never earn so much money honestly. ‘What have you been doin’, Josh?’

‘It’s none of your business.’ He glared at her. ‘Keep that money safe and I’ll give yer more when I get paid – and then we’ll pay someone to find Kitty …’

‘This wasn’t earned well,’ Lucy said. ‘What would Pa say?’ She pushed the money away from her with a little shudder. ‘I won’t take dirty money, Josh.’

‘Damn you! I earned it and it’s mine!’ Josh swept the notes back into his pocket. ‘It’s for Kitty – don’t yer want ’er back?’

‘Of course I do. You know I do,’ Lucy cried. ‘But you couldn’t earn that much money at the docks or the factory, Josh. You must have been stealin’.’

His face flushed and he looked angry. ‘I don’t steal – I work for someone who does a lot of things and he gives me money for helpin’ him.’

‘How do you help him?’ Lucy asked and he dropped his gaze, looking uncomfortable.

‘I don’t steal nuthin’ – I just follow gents what’re drunk ’ome and then I get in through the window and open the door and others come and steal his money and his trinkets.’ There was a hint of shame in his eyes. ‘It was fer you and Kitty … I ’ad ter get money to make up fer bringin’ yer ’ere and now I’ve got ter find Kitty ’cos it’s my fault she’s gone.’

‘It wasn’t your fault,’ Lucy said, seeing the hurt and shame beneath his belligerence. ‘I didn’t blame you for being cheated, Josh. I was managing to make a life for us – until that woman interfered.’

‘I hate ’er,’ Josh said. ‘And I hate livin’ ’ere and I’m goin’ ter find Kitty and when I do we’ll ’ave a better place to live.’

Lucy turned away to hide her tears. Josh needed a father’s hand to guide him, because if he kept on working for this man he would end up in prison or worse. She wanted to tell him to stop, to make him listen, but she knew that all she was doing by complaining was driving a wedge between them.

She was the eldest and it was up to her to keep the family together, but she’d lost Kitty and if she tried to dictate to Josh she might lose him too. She did not know which way to turn and she felt very lost and alone but not as alone as her little sister …

‘Oh Kitty,’ she whispered and did not realise she was weeping until Josh came and put an arm about her shoulders. ‘I miss her and I worry about her …’

‘I know,’ he said and bent his head to touch the top of hers. ‘I’ll find her, Lucy. I swear to you on Pa’s memory. I’ll find her.’

Kitty’s feet hurt. The boots Sadie had given her were not big enough and they crushed her toes. She took them off whenever she could, preferring to go barefoot than wear them.

‘What’s wrong then, lass?’ The kindly voice made Kitty look up as a woman sat next to her on the bench outside the kitchen.

‘My feet hurt, Lil,’ Kitty said and swiped a tear from her cheek. ‘Sadie knew the boots were too small but she insisted they would have to do. Why won’t they let me have my own shoes? Lucy sold her best ones to buy them for me.’

‘Is Lucy yer sister then, Cath?’ Lil smiled at her sympathetically.

Kitty nodded. ‘She calls me Kitty, but I didn’t tell the mistress.’

‘We don’t ’ave ter tell her everythin’,’ Lil said and put an arm about her shoulders. ‘I can’t get yer a pair of boots, love – but I’ve got a bit of pie in me pocket. It was left over from the master’s supper and I pinched it from the larder when Sadie wasn’t lookin’ – we’ll share it, shall we?’

‘Please – thanks, Lil,’ Kitty said and gave her a watery smile. ‘I’m glad you’re here. I hate this place!’

‘It ain’t very nice,’ Lil said and smiled sadly, her arms crossed protectively over her belly. ‘I came in ’cos it’s the only way for me to have my baby safely, see – but you ought ter be wiv yer family.’

‘They said I was a vagrant,’ Kitty said, ‘but it wasn’t true – we had a home.’

‘And where do you live?’ Lil asked.

Kitty’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I don’t know what it’s called. I knew my way home from school – but when they asked where it was I couldn’t say so they said I was a vagrant and sent me here.’

‘Well, I shan’t be ’ere forever,’ Lil said and gave her shoulders a squeeze. ‘If I can find your sister I’ll tell ’er you’re in ’ere.’

Kitty smiled and thanked her. She had been eating her small piece of pie and did not immediately notice the young lad as he walked up to them. He was carrying a brush and had been sweeping the yard.

‘What yer doin’ then, Lil?’ he asked. ‘Who’s this?’

‘It’s Kitty – only the mistress calls her Cath,’ Lil said and smiled. ‘I’m sorry we’ve eaten the pie, Jem.’

‘I’ve got a bit left,’ Kitty said and offered it to him. Jem took it and swallowed it hastily as Sadie came out into the yard.

‘You two get in ’ere,’ Sadie said. ‘I’ve got work to do and you’ve had yer break – and you can clear orf, boy. Get on wiv yer work or I’ll be reportin’ yer to the master.’

Jem winked at Kitty and bent his head to whisper in her ear as she followed Lil back to the kitchen. ‘She’s an old misery,’ he said. ‘Keep out of her way as much as yer can – I’ll fix ’er afore I leaves.’

‘Are you goin’ away?’

‘When I get the chance to scarper,’ Jem said. ‘I’d rather be on the street wiv me mates than in this hole.’

‘Can I come too?’ She looked at him eagerly.

‘Nah, yer too young. Yer would be in the way.’ Jem winked and set off at a run, leaving Kitty staring after him.

If Jem could find a way out of here, then perhaps she could. Kitty didn’t know where she lived, but she remembered the name of the school she’d been to and perhaps if she could find her way back there the Reverend Joseph would help her get home.