Elm Tree Road Read Free

She’d expected to feel happy at escaping from her father, but instead she felt apprehensive about the future.
    Before she went to sleep, she murmured a prayer for her eldest sister, hoping Mattie had found somewhere better than this for her first night.
    She was woken next morning by a nearby mill hooter, which was nearly as loud as the one at Swindon’s railway works. It was soon followed by others, then the clatter of clogs on pavements. She was so tired, she dozed off again, and of course Renie never stirred till someone shook her awake.
    There was a knock on the door and the landlady yelled, ‘Get up, you two! Everyone else has gone to work and I want you out of the house.’
    ‘What about breakfast?’ Renie asked when they went down.
    ‘What about it? You’ve missed it. I cleared the tablehalf an hour ago. It’s up to the Greenhills to feed you now. Don’t take long. I want to clean the house. And remember, no lodgers are allowed inside during the day, so don’t come back till teatime.’
    ‘But we need something to eat,’ Nell protested. ‘We didn’t have tea last night, either.’
    ‘Well, you’re not getting anything from me now. I don’t usually have your sort staying here. I only took you in for the sake of poor Pauline Greenhill.’ She looked at Nell’s stomach suggestively.
    Nell could feel herself blushing, and as soon as the door had closed behind the landlady, she said, ‘Hurry up. We’ll have to buy something to eat.’
    She staggered as they went out into the street and Renie caught hold of her. ‘Are you all right?’
    ‘Just a bit dizzy. I don’t feel well in the mornings at the moment.’
    They went along the street and knocked on the door to find Cliff waiting impatiently for them. ‘You’re late. I have to go and see about a job. It’s not looking like rain, so you might as well walk into town with me and start getting to know your way round.’
    ‘What time will we meet you?’ Nell asked, feeling as if she was talking to a stranger.
    ‘Come back here at twelve.’
    ‘What about food?’ Renie asked. ‘We haven’t had anything to eat since you bought us those sandwiches yesterday. That landlady didn’t give us anything last night and not this morning, either. She said we’d missed the time for breakfast. But no one called us down, did they? She’s just trying to cheat us.’
    He looked at them in surprise. ‘I thought tea and breakfast were included in the board. She’s certainly charging enough.’
    ‘She told us to clear out and said the Greenhills would have to feed us.’
    ‘Just a minute.’ He went along the street and knocked on the door of their lodgings.
    They could hear the sounds of an argument but couldn’t make out the words.
    Nell was still feeling faint, so leant against the wall.
    Suddenly their bulging shopping bags were hurled out on to the pavement, spilling clothes all over the place. Renie ran along the street to help Cliff pick them up, but not before some of them got wet and dirty. Nell was feeling so queasy she didn’t dare move for a minute or two.
    Cliff came back with her bag, still looking angry. ‘She should have given you meals. I’ll ask my cousin for something. You can’t go without food.’
    He left them standing outside, and when he came back, said, ‘There’s some bread you can have. Don’t use too much marge on it. They’ve not got a lot of money, not with five children. We’ll buy them another loaf while we’re out. You can leave your bags here in the front room.’
    Five children, Nell thought with a shudder. She didn’t want that many. Just this one was causing so much trouble. She felt more tired than normal and sick every morning.
    When they left his cousins’ house after being given one thin piece of bread and scrape each, he said, ‘You’d better come with me and wait outside the upholstery place while I go and see about the job. We’ll get something else to eat after that, then go and look for some other