In a Class of Their Own

In a Class of Their Own Read Free

Book: In a Class of Their Own Read Free
Author: Millie Gray
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answer. Her thoughts turned to Hannah, her first-born, who was lightly skipping up the brae in front of them. Bright wee thing, my Hannah, she mused. Just six year old she is but already you can see that some day she’ll go places. Oh aye, she’ll no need to beg for help pushing any pram up a brae. I’ll see to that, so I will. No, no! She’ll no make the mistakes I’ve made and land up grateful for someone standing by her.
    “D’ye no hear me, Rachel? Twenty-six meenits noo an’ we’re only half-wey up this flamin’ brae. Ken somethin’? If I’d kent ye wanted me tae gang mountaineerin’, I’d hae took masel up Arthur Seat.”
    Rachel laughed in spite of the pain. “Arthur Seat, Johnny? Come off it! You cannae even climb the Plague Mound in Leith Links without gettin’ dizzy.”
    “Look, Rachel, what I’m tryin’ to get through to ye is this. Livin’ in Admiralty Street means I’m nae mair nor ten minutes frae my work at the Cold Store. This Learig Close’ll mean I’d be hoofin’ it for thirty-five minutes or mair!”
    “Don’t be daft, Johnny. When you’re goin’ to work from the new house you’ll be stopping at the Cold Store, no goin’ on another ten minutes to Admiralty Street.”
    “Ye’re splittin’ hairs, Rachel! An’ my sister Ella says only the King and Queen would dream o takin’ on a rent o nine bob a week.”
    “Well that makes a change from her rantin’ on about your soul bein’ damned because you didnae get married in the Chapel,” Rachel said, before stopping to take a long breath.
    “And in case you dinnae ken it,” Johnny went on, ignoring Rachel’s reminder of the price he’d paid for marrying a Protestant. “At fower bob a week we just manage tae get by – wi’ a few coppers left ower tae jingle in ma pooch. A man needs that when he’s wi’ the ither lads on the street corner. But bidin’ here, whit’ll I hae in ma pooch?”
    “How about the loose screws from Ella’s stupid head?”
    Johnny bridled at this slur on his sister. “See this? Oor Ella says ye aye think ye’re a cut above awbody else. She’s richt at that.”
    “Compared to her, I am! Oh, look!” Rachel halted. “The Learig Pub. The Close is just round the corner.”
    Only then did Rachel notice that Carrie and Sam had run ahead and were trying to climb the wall of the railway bridge to watch a train slowly rumble past.
    “For the love of heaven, come down out o that!” she cried as they disappeared in a cloud of smoke from the engine. “That’s a coal train an’ if you fall in you’ll be smothered in dirt for weeks – nae to say landin’ in hospital.”
    “Mammy,” Carrie spluttered and coughed as she reappeared out of the smoke. “See there. Up the road there’s a Chippie!”
    “Where? Where?” squealed Sam in excitement. “Oh aye! I see’t. Can we no hae some chips, Mammy?”
    “No, you can’t.”
    “But I dae want some chips!”
    “An’ I’ve told you – you can’t have any. Besides it doesn’t open till five.”
    “A Chippie!” Johnny joined in. “Next thing, we’ll be findin’ there’s civilisation hereaboots.”
    “Well, if you mean everything civilised folk need – the butcher, the grocer, the Co-op, the Post Office, the doctor and the midwife – then they’re all here.”
    “Fair enough,” her husband responded grudgingly, “but that’s thirty-five meenits it’s taen tae get here.”
    “Aye, but just you wait! Round the corner here, an’ – there we are! Learig Close!”
    “Oh, ma God, Rachel! You’ve really flipped proper if ye think we could bide here an’ feel at hame. Which yin’s oors?” Johnny panted as he tried to keep his panic in check.
    Rachel stopped and was silent for several minutes. The broad street basking in the spring sunshine seemed even lovelier than she’d remembered: pink and grey harled Corporation four-in-a-block housing with red-tiled roofs and daffodil-strewn gardens beckoning cheerfully to her. Tears came

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