The Grace Girls Read Free Page B

cup of tea?’ Sophie asked her husband, mildly irritated at the interruption to their meal.
    ‘I’ll have it when I come back,’ he said, going to get his heavy grey wool coat from the rack beside the back door.
    ‘Did you tell Heather about the country dancing?’ Lily suddenly remembered. Since Fintan was the janitor in their school, she expected him to keep fully up to date on everything that went on.
    ‘I never got a chance yet, bossy boots,’ Fintan said, pursing his lips. ‘I was just about to tell her when you arrived.’
    ‘What about it?’ Heather asked.
    ‘Saturday afternoon at three o’clock,’ Lily stated. ‘Mrs McGinty said to tell you that she needs a really good dancer to help out with the practice for the Christmas show.’
    ‘I’ll have to see what I’m doing,’ Heather said. ‘I might have to go into Motherwell or Wishaw to do a bit of shopping.’
    ‘Oh, but you’ll have to come!’ Lily gasped, her eyes like saucers. ‘I told Mrs McGinty that you’d come. This practice is for a really special display for the parents at Christmas. Everybody has to pay a shillin’ each to get in – it’s to buy new football strips for the school team.’
    ‘You’d no business saying I’d come until you had checked,’ Heather told her. ‘I’m very busy at the weekends and I might not be able to help out.’
    Undaunted, Lily looked over at Kirsty now. ‘You could come too, after work, since Saturday’s your half-day.’ She narrowed her bright blue eyes in consideration. ‘You’re nearly as good a dancer as Heather.’
    ‘Oh, could I?’ Kirsty said, rolling her eyes. ‘And what if I have other plans?’
    ‘Out wi’ your boyfriend, I suppose?’ Lily said, raising her eyebrows suggestively. ‘Have you got a new one yet?’
    ‘Never mind out with my boyfriend,’ Kirsty said, pretending she was getting up out of the chair, ‘just get your nosy wee face out of that door before I give you a good skelp!’
    ‘You’ll have to catch me first!’ Lily giggled, opening the door just wide enough to allow her to squeeze out without the dog coming flying in. ‘Come on, Uncle Fintan, and don’t forget the empty bottles.’

    Chapter 2

    The light scattering of snow gradually turned into a grey slush as Heather and her friend Liz Mullen stood on the main street waiting for the bus into Wishaw.
    ‘That was a big change in the weather today. I can’t beli eve how cold it is now,’ Heather said, her breath coming in white clouds into the freezing night air. She had dressed for the wintry weather in her black and white checked coat with matching black beret, scarf and gloves – plus the black umbrella she carried everywhere when rain threatened.
    ‘It’s blidey freezin’!’ Liz agreed, hugging the wide collar of her blue swing coat closer to her exposed throat. Giving more attention to fashion than warmth, the collar buttoned low down on her neck, and she hadn’t thought to bring a scarf. ‘I only hope this film is worth coming out for. What’s it about anyway?’
    Heather shrugged. ‘Your guess is as good as mine. Horror or gangster, no doubt.’
    ‘Och, it’s a free night out,’ Liz laughed, slipping her arm through her friend’s. ‘And I always feel that going out on a Thursday night starts the weekend earlier. Anyway, I suppose we should be grateful that it’s us they’re spending their money on – they’re two fine-looking fellas and could get any lassie they want. At least that’s what Jim’s always reminding me.’
    Heather’s face darkened. ‘You should tell him to get lost! I wouldn’t let any fella speak to me like that, and you shouldn’t let Jim Murray speak to you like that either. T here’s nobody going to make me grateful to him for goin g out with me. I’d sooner be on my own.’
    ‘Aw, you know what they’re like,’ Liz sighed in a world-weary fashion. ‘Jim’s always been full of big talk when there’s an audience. He’s different on his own,