Red Sky in the Morning Read Free

the sound of someone climbing the ladder to the loft. She stretched and raised herself on one elbow. It was not the man whose head appeared, but the young
boy’s. They stared at each other for several moments in the pale light of a cold dawn, before Anna lay down again and closed her eyes. She hoped he would go away once his curiosity had been
satisfied. She had not yet made up her mind what to do next. She wished she could stay here for ever. She was warm and snug for the first time in weeks.
    In fact
, she thought,
this would be a nice place to die.
    She was about to drift off into sleep again when she heard the boy climb the rest of the ladder and creep, on hands and knees, across the hay towards her. There was a long silence before he
whispered, ‘I’ve brought you something to eat.’ Another pause and then he added, ‘And some milk.’
    She opened her eyes again and looked up at him. He was holding a roughly wrapped parcel and had a small milk can hooked over his wrist. ‘It’s only bread and cheese.’ He was
apologetic. ‘It’s all I could take without me mam finding out.’
    Now Anna sat up, reaching out thankfully to take the food. She had been ready to give up, to succumb at last to an overwhelming desire to close her eyes and never wake up, but the physical ache
of hunger revived her instinct to survive.
    The boy watched her as she ate ravenously, his brown eyes large in his thin face. ‘Are you going to have a baby?’ The question was innocent enough, but the girl scowled at him and
did not answer. Yet it was the first time her face had registered any kind of emotion. ‘Where have you come from?’ Again, no answer. ‘Where are you going?’ To this she
replied only with a vague lift of her shoulders. ‘Haven’t you got a home? A mam and dad?’
    Anna lay down again. ‘Thanks for the food,’ she said flatly, deliberately ignoring his questions. Her words were a dismissal, yet the boy did not move. He sat quietly beside her and
she could feel him watching her.
    They heard a noise below and, startled, the boy scrambled away towards the ladder. Anna raised her head. He was peering down the open hatch, his eyes wide and fearful. Then she saw him relax,
the sudden tension in his limbs drain away.
    ‘Hello, lad.’ Eddie Appleyard’s voice drifted up. ‘Come to see if our visitor’s still here, have you?’
    The boy nodded as the man began to climb up towards him. ‘I brought her some bread an’ cheese, Dad. And some milk. But don’t tell Mam, will you?’
    Eddie appeared at the top of the ladder. Even through the poor light, Anna could see that he was smiling. He reached out and ruffled his son’s hair. ‘No, son, course I
won’t.’ His grin broadened and Anna had the feeling it was not the first secret that father and son had shared. ‘As long as you don’t tell her I’ve raided the larder
an’ all.’ He handed up a blue-and-white-check cloth bundle as he glanced across to where the girl lay. The boy took it and moved back to her side. ‘Me dad’s brought you
something too.’
    The man levered himself up the last rungs of the ladder and stepped into the loft, bending his head to avoid the low rafters. He dropped to his haunches beside her as, now, Anna sat upright.
    ‘It’s very kind of you,’ she said huskily as she unwrapped the cloth. There was a slice of pork pie, two cold sausages and two slices of bread, spread thickly with butter.
    ‘And here’s a couple of apples,’ the man said, fishing in his pocket. ‘From our own orchard. We lay ’em out on newspaper in the loft to last us through the
winter.’
    Now they both sat and watched her eat. When she had finished, the man said kindly, ‘Now, lass, what can we do to help you? Are you heading for somewhere? I could mebbe take you there, if
it’s not too far away?’
    There was a long silence whilst the girl seemed to be struggling inwardly. She saw the man and his young son exchange a glance, but they waited