Diamonds in the Dust Read Free

not be in,’ Dora protested. She had grave doubts about this. They’d seen Mr Crawford around, buthe’d never spoken to them. He seemed badly injured, and she didn’t believe he could be much help. But Lily was insistent.
    ‘He don’t go out much.’ Lily was already on her way.
    Dora and Tom followed their determined little sister. She was the only one who had come up with an idea. Dora didn’t think it was a very good idea, but it was all they had at the moment.

Chapter Two
    Stanley Crawford gazed out of the window, frustration gnawing away at him. He was twenty-eight, in the prime of life, and he felt as if he’d been thrown on the rubbish heap. A generation of young men had been slaughtered, and some of the maimed and mentally damaged were begging in the streets in a desperate effort to support themselves and their families. What had their sacrifices been for? What had that bloody war been for? Thank the Lord he didn’t have to resort to begging, though the police force wouldn’t have him back. That was what he really wanted to do, but he was desperate enough to take any job. The trouble was that as soon as he walked in on crutches, there suddenly weren’t any jobs. He’d dumped the damned things in the shed and was struggling to make do with a stick. It was hard going,but he was determined to get around like that.
    He leant heavily on the stick and sighed. It was a beautiful May evening and he should go to the local pub for a pint, but it all seemed so aimless. What he needed was something to make him feel useful and occupy his mind. The doctors didn’t hold out much hope that he would ever gain full use of his leg again, but he wasn’t listening to them. He was going to walk properly, and then the police force would have to consider him. He knew he was going to have to fight as fiercely as he had in the trenches, but he had to succeed, or there would be only empty years ahead of him. In the meantime he mustn’t allow self-pity to overwhelm him. He was a lot better off than many of the men who’d fought in that terrible war. This house was his, left to him by his grandfather along with a small inheritance. It wasn’t much, but if he was careful he could manage quite well. The money wouldn’t last much more than another year or two, though, so he’d have to find employment soon.
    He watched three youngsters walking along hand in hand and recognised them as the Bentley children. From the little he’d seen of them they were well behaved and always clean and tidy. A rare smile touched his mouth as he studied the youngest. She was going to be a real beauty when she grew up. The eldest girl wasn’t bad, either. She was quite pretty in a serious kind of way, with a strong sense of responsibility, he guessed. They did have a mother, he knew, because he had seen her a few times, but she never spoke, and didn’t appear to be around much.
    The smile disappeared as they hesitated at his gate,had a hurried discussion, and then came up the path. What the …? He swore as he turned too quickly and nearly lost his balance. He was tempted not to answer the knock on his door, but curiosity got the better of him.
    When he opened the door he glanced at the youngest and found himself mesmerised by a pair of bright green eyes.
    ‘I’m at school with June.’ Lily didn’t give anyone else a chance to speak. ‘She said you used to be a policeman. We need help.’
    ‘That was a long time ago.’
    ‘You’re clever. June said so.’
    ‘I can’t imagine how I could be of any help to you.’ He tapped the stick, wanting to get rid of them now. ‘As you can see, I can’t get around very well.’
    Lily looked at the stick, and then up at his face. ‘You can tell us what to do. You don’t have to be able to walk to do that.’
    ‘Lily!’ The older girl scolded. ‘I’m sorry, Mr Crawford, we shouldn’t have bothered you.’
    He could feel the concern coming from them as they turned away, and their crestfallen