Forgive and Forget Read Free Page A

home.
    Polly decided against saying anything and bustled about the scullery and kitchen preparing her father’s breakfast; bacon, eggs and fried bread. The children had porridge, but William’s job in the railway goods department was a cold one in winter. So, however short money was, Sarah always minded the man of the house was well fed. And Polly knew she must do the same.
    With the baby quiet and her father tucking into his meal, Polly went upstairs.
    ‘’Morning, Mam. How’re you feeling?’
    Sarah lay weakly against the pillows. Her face was blotchy, her eyes dark hollows, her lips dry and cracked.
    ‘Better this morning, love.’ She sniffed the air. ‘My, yar dad’s breakfast smells good. I could just eat a plateful.’
    ‘Doctor said no solids, Mam. You heard him. I don’t think you should—’
    ‘I’m hungry, love. Ravenous. You make me bacon and eggs. There’s a good girl. And don’t forget the fried bread. I love a bit of fried bread.’
    Polly bit her lip, but didn’t like to argue. It must be a good sign that her mother wanted to eat, she argued with herself. After days of being sick and having nothing but water, no wonder she was hungry. But the doctor had said . . .
    Resolutely, she pushed his words out of her mind and hurried downstairs. Mam was on the mend. She’d soon be up and about and she, Polly, could go back to work.
    Not that her work at the glue factory was so wonderful, but to the young girl it was a start. After a year or so, she fully intended to look for something better.
    Oh yes, Polly promised herself, once her mother was better, she’d never miss a day’s work. She’d build up a good reputation for being a reliable worker. And perhaps when she was older – she hardly dared to hope – she could even become a teacher just as she’d always wanted.
    And then, maybe, Leo Halliday would notice her too.
    ‘That was lovely, Polly.’
    Her mother almost smacked her lips as she finished the breakfast Polly had cooked for her. Sarah lay back against the pillows and sighed. ‘I think I’ll have a little nap now, love. Can you see to the baby?’
    As if I haven’t been doing for the past week or more, Polly wanted to shout, but instead she picked up the tray and said meekly, ‘Yes, Mam. She’s a good little thing.’
    But already Sarah’s eyes were closed.
    The baby had been fed, washed and dressed and was back in her cradle sleeping. Eddie and Violet, after much protesting, had gone to school. Stevie played quietly with his wooden bricks, building towers and then knocking them down, smiling happily to himself as he did so. Polly washed up the breakfast pots, mended the fire, swept the floors and sorted out the washing. Several times she crept upstairs to check on her mother, but Sarah was sleeping peacefully.
    As she peeled potatoes for her father’s meal when he got home in the evening and prepared dinner for herself and Stevie, Polly was humming softly to herself.
    Everything was going to be all right. Her mam was getting better and no one else in the family had got the disease. Soon she’d be able to go back to work. Though she knew Mr Spicer’s warnings were not idle ones, she didn’t think he’d sack her. Not now, not whilst the city was so badly hit by this dreadful disease.
    Roland Spicer was a kindly man who still lived with his widowed mother. Polly couldn’t understand why he’d never married. Admittedly, with mousy hair and pale, hazel eyes he wasn’t handsome, not like Leo Halliday, but he was – now what was the word her mother had used to describe him? Personable. That was it – personable. Maybe Mr Spicer was shy when it came to women. Polly smiled to herself. But he wasn’t shy with the women and the girls who worked at the glue factory. He laughed and joked with them, yet he still managed to maintain his foreman’s position if firmness was needed or there were orders to be given.
    And he was always very nice to her. Some of the other women teased