Читать книгу A Sister’s Sorrow - Kitty Neale - Страница 16

The next day, Sarah sat on a bench in a churchyard close to the Thames. She liked it there. It was quiet and tranquil, which gave her time to think clearly.

‘I’m bored, can we go now?’ Tommy asked.

He’d been wandering around looking at the headstones, but now sat next to Sarah on the bench.

‘In a minute,’ she answered.

‘Can we go back to the bridge and look for more treasure?’

‘That was a bit of a fluke the other day. I doubt there would be anything else there now.’

‘Please, Sarah. It’s much more fun than sitting here with all the dead people in their forever boxes under the ground.’

He had a point, she thought, and reluctantly stood up to leave. She didn’t expect there would be anything in the mud again, but she’d humour her brother, if only to stop him moaning.

Battersea Bridge was just around the corner, and soon Tommy was racing off again to look over onto the banks. ‘Pick me up,’ he asked as he held onto the balustrades and jumped up and down.

Sarah lifted him up, and Tommy squealed in delight.

‘I don’t believe it, Sarah … there’s more treasure!’

‘Don’t be daft,’ she said, and placed him on the ground to look over the edge for herself. To her utter amazement she saw something glistening in the mud again, but she couldn’t believe it could be anything like what she’d found before. It was more likely to be an old tin can, she thought.

‘Told ya … I told you there’d be more treasure, didn’t I?’

‘Yes, Tommy, you did.’

They both ran to the steps and raced down to the foreshore. When Sarah got to the bottom, she noticed the water’s edge was closer than it had been last time. It was later in the morning, so she assumed the tide must be coming in.

‘Stay here, like before. I’ll go and get it,’ Sarah instructed, and set off across the mud. She’d never taken much notice of the river before now, and wasn’t sure how quickly the water would rise. She’d heard stories of people drowning in the Thames, so with her heart pounding she hurried to retrieve the item before it could get lost under the water.

‘Got it,’ she called over her shoulder to Tommy. She looked towards the water to see it approaching faster than she had anticipated. With no time to hang about, she made a hasty retreat to Tommy on the steps.

‘What is it, Sarah?’

‘I’m not sure,’ she said, looking curiously at the item in her hand, but she thought it might be valuable.

‘Can I see?’ Tommy asked.

Sarah handed it to him. It was round and silver with a chain attached. He wiped the round part on his shorts, then pushed in a tiny catch on the side which flipped a lid open.

‘Wow, Sarah, look. It’s a clock.’

Sarah took the watch from Tommy and noticed the time read half past eleven. She guessed it must have been the time it had fallen into the water, but she didn’t know if that had been in the night or morning. Then she looked closer at the silver lid and saw it was engraved with the initials A. S. and dated 1903.

A wave of guilt washed over her. It was easily identifiable so she should take it to the police station, but she already knew she had no intention of doing so. She reasoned Tommy’s well-being was more important than a watch. Whoever had lost it was obviously wealthy. If she could sell it, it would be a small loss for the owner but a life-saver for them.

George was pleased to have sold several garments from his stall, and the continual flow of customers had kept him from thinking about Sarah. Now, as lunchtime loomed, and with a lull in custom, his stomach groaned.

‘George, fancy a pie?’ Roger called.

‘Cor, do I, yes, great idea,’ George answered, thinking Roger must have read his mind.

‘Do you want to nip to the pub and get them? I’ll keep an eye on yours, only I’ve got my hands full here,’ Roger said as he weighed out some carrots for a middle-aged woman.

George clapped his hands together and headed off towards the pub on the corner of the market. He thought the landlady, Violet, baked the best pies in Battersea, even better than his mum’s, and he was looking forward to biting into one. Several people said hello to him as he passed them. He was well known in the market and his old wounds had left him easily recognisable. The pub was busy, so George found himself having to wait a while to be served, but it’ll be worth it, he thought to himself, as he discussed the weather with a couple of acquaintances at the bar.

Eventually, with two pies in hand, he headed back to the stalls. He could see Roger had his fingerless gloved hands cupped to his face and was blowing on them to keep them warm. ‘There you go, mate, this’ll help keep the chill out,’ he said and handed Roger one of the hot meat pies.

‘Cheers, George. You’ve been gone a while, and you’ll never guess what?’ Roger said.

‘You’ve sold all my stock and made me a small fortune?’ George joked.

‘No, you only bloody well missed that girl … what’s her name … Sarah.’

‘You’re kidding me.’

‘No, straight up. I saw her and that little lad walk past the end of the road. In fact, I’m surprised you didn’t bump into her, you must have only just missed her.’

George shoved his pie into Roger’s hand. ‘Which way did she go?’ he asked.

Before Roger had a chance to answer, George spun around and ran to chase after Sarah, but he heard Roger shout, ‘Right, turn right.’

Sarah had been into the public toilets again, and now, with the silver watch cleaned up, she was hoping to find somewhere suitable to sell it. She didn’t want to go up town like George had suggested when she had the bracelet. She’d never been over the bridge before, but had heard the people on the other side of the Thames were right toffs. That’s probably where the watch came from, she thought.

George had told her the police walked along the market, so she decided it was probably better to stay away from there too. With Tommy alongside her, she searched the streets in the hope of finding a pawnshop. She’d never been in one before but remembered, when she was about Tommy’s age, she’d had to wait outside while her mother went in to sell a ring a man had given her. Sarah had been fascinated by the three brass balls hanging over the shop sign. When her mother had come out, she’d been delighted and had dragged Sarah to the pub, where, once again, she had been left to wait outside.

She didn’t miss those days, she thought, as she scanned the shops looking for the three brass balls. Then she unexpectedly heard George’s voice.

‘Hey, Sarah.’

As she stopped and turned, to her surprise, Tommy yanked his hand from hers and ran towards the man, clearly very pleased to see him.

‘Hello, little man,’ George said to Tommy.

‘We found more treasure!’ he squeaked.

‘Did you indeed? What did you find this time?’

‘We found a silver clock, didn’t we, Sarah? Show George our clock.’

Sarah suddenly felt very embarrassed. George would never believe she wasn’t a thief and had found the watch in the Thames. She could hardly believe it herself.

‘Let’s have a look at it then, Sarah,’ George said.

She fumbled in her pocket, then held out the watch on the flat of her palm.

‘Wow, this is a nice piece,’ George said, as he took the watch from her hand. ‘You say you found it? The same place where you found the bracelet?’

She knew George would question her and she looked for suspicion in his hazel eyes. As he stared back at her, she couldn’t see any doubt, but suddenly felt awkward and looked at the ground.

‘I reckon you’ve hit lucky twice. The watch ain’t working, but I bet this is solid silver. Where are you taking it?’

‘I was looking for a pawnshop.’

‘I don’t think you’ll be able to sell it in there. Guaranteed they’ll think you’ve nicked it. Tell you what, save you getting into trouble, how about I sell it on my stall for you?’

‘Really? You’d do that for me?’

‘Of course I would, but it’ll cost you,’ George said and winked at Tommy.

‘I knew there’d be a catch. How much?’ Sarah asked.

‘A date … with me.’

Tommy giggled, but Sarah was taken aback. How could she possibly go on a date with anyone? She had Tommy to look after, and she had no clothes or anything, not even so much as a hairbrush. ‘I’m sorry, George, but I can’t.’

‘Go on, Sarah, yes, you can,’ Tommy urged.

‘Shush, Tommy. Who’d look after you, eh?’

‘Tommy can come too, it’ll be fun,’ George said.

Sarah still didn’t think it was possible. George knew nothing about her and had no idea they were destitute. Even if she could accept his offer, she didn’t really want to. He was a kind man, but she found it difficult to see past the dreadful scars on his face. ‘No, George, I can’t. Thanks for the offer, but can you tell me where the pawnshop is? I’ll offer it to them and the worst they can say is no.’

Tommy looked disappointed, and George must have noticed too, because he patted the boy’s head and said, ‘Don’t worry, Tommy. Your sister doesn’t want to date me, and who could blame her, but we’re still mates and I can still sell that watch for you.’

Sarah had upset George; she could see it in his eyes and his tone of voice didn’t sound quite as cheery, yet he was still willing to help her out, and she was grateful. ‘I really appreciate you doing this for us, but I think it would be fair if you take a cut from the profits of the sale,’ Sarah said, and held her head high. They might be penniless, but she still had her pride.

‘What, you mean like a commission?’ George asked.

‘Yeah, I think that’s what it’s called. That way, we both benefit from it.’

George rubbed his chin, as if deep in thought. ‘OK, I can see that would work. What sort of percentages are we talking here?’

Sarah’s eyes widened. She’d never understood percentages and didn’t know how they worked, but she didn’t want George to think she was stupid. ‘What would you suggest?’ she asked.

‘How about I take ten per cent, so, say I sell this for ten pounds, I’d take a pound and give you nine.’

Sarah was pleased that George had explained the numbers to her, and she thought it seemed more than reasonable. ‘That sounds fair to me. Thing is though, George, I really need the money, so how quickly do you think you can sell it?’

‘I can’t make any promises, but I’ll give it my best shot and hopefully I’ll soon make a sale. Come on, let’s get back to my stall and you can help me work out the best way to display it.’

Sarah walked through the market with renewed vigour and self-esteem. She wasn’t a beggar or homeless, she was a businesswoman. Once she had the money from the sale, she’d find some half-decent furniture for their new home, and then set her mind on a plan to keep the cash coming in.

Then a light-bulb seemed to switch on in her head. If the watch sold for good money, maybe she could use some of it to buy stock for George to sell on commission. Yes, that could work, she thought, and remembered her mother’s warnings about keeping her legs shut. Whatever the future held, she knew she’d never sell her body like her mother did.