Forgive and Forget Read Free Page B

her. ‘I reckon our Roland’s sweet on little Miss Polly.’
    Polly would find herself blushing even as she argued fiercely, ‘He’s old enough to be me dad.’
    ‘Ee, lass, better to be an old man’s darling than a young man’s slave,’ was always the answer. ‘Besides, he’s only in his mid-twenties. That’s not old.’
    It is to me, Polly would think, but would hold her tongue. A lot of the women who worked at the glue factory were well beyond their twenties and wouldn’t take kindly to being thought of as ‘old’.
    A sudden noise from the bedroom above interrupted Polly’s thoughts and she heard her mother calling frantically. ‘Polly! Oh, Polly, come quick.’
    The girl ran upstairs and into her parents’ bedroom. Her mother was sitting up in bed, leaning forward and holding her stomach. ‘Oh, Polly, the pain. It’s terrible – like nothing I’ve had before. Fetch Mrs Halliday. Fetch the doctor—’ Her demands ended in a cry of agony.
    ‘Oh no, no,’ Polly muttered as she ran downstairs again and out of the house without even stopping to put her coat on. ‘I shouldn’t’ve let her have that breakfast. Doctor said only fluids.’
    Mrs Halliday came at once, heaving her heavy frame up the stairs and into the front bedroom. ‘Now, Sarah, what’s to do?’
    For a moment, she watched the woman writhing in agony, then turned to the anxious girl standing behind her.
    ‘Run back to our house, love. Leo’s at home. He’ll fetch the doc. Hurry now, yar mam’s bad.’
    I can see that, Polly thought as she retraced her steps, still at a run. And it’s all my fault. I should have been stronger – stood up to them both – made them understand what the doctor had said. And now . . .
    Dr Fenwick was angry. He didn’t shout, but she could tell by the look on his face. ‘What have you been eating, Mrs Longden?’
    Her mother still thrashed about the bed in pain, sweat glistening on her forehead. ‘Polly cooked me a lovely breakfast. I expect it’s ’cos I haven’t eaten much for a week.’ Again her words ended in a groan as the doctor glanced at Polly. The girl withered beneath his glare.
    ‘You should have stayed on fluids, Mrs Longden, until I told you otherwise. Now I think we’d better get you to hospital.’
    ‘No, oh no, I can’t go. Who’ll look after the family? The children?’
    ‘As long as the youngsters stay well, your girl here can manage. And I’m sure your neighbours will lend a hand.’
    ‘I don’t want—’ Sarah began, but again whatever she’d been going to say was cut short by pain-ridden cries.
    Dr Fenwick turned to Polly. ‘Get her some night-clothes and washing things together,’ he said shortly. ‘I’ll send an ambulance at once.’

Four
     
    Polly was waiting nervously for her father to come home from work. As he sat down heavily in his chair and she placed the steaming plate of food before him, his first question was, ‘How’s yar mam?’
    Polly took a deep breath. ‘She – she’s in hospital, Dad. The ambulance came to fetch her.’
    It had caused quite a stir when the horse-drawn ambulance had clattered into the street. Now everyone knew just how ill poor Sarah Longden was.
    His knife and fork poised above the plate, William looked up at Polly, his dark eyes boring into her. ‘Hospital? When did this happen?’
    Polly bit her lip. ‘This afternoon. She got so bad, I fetched Mrs Halliday and she said to get the doctor. He – he was cross.’
    ‘Cross? Why?’
    ‘Because – because Mam’d eaten that breakfast. He’d said to keep her on fluids and—’
    William’s face darkened. ‘I didn’t know that. You should have said, Poll.’
    ‘I did – I told you . . .’
    His knife and fork clattered onto the plate. ‘Don’t you answer me back, girl. I said, I didn’t know.’
    Polly stared at her father, her mouth dropping open. She’d told him. She had, she had. But now he was denying it and placing all the blame on her.
    He pointed his