The Rainbow Years Read Free Page A

Martha murmured, ‘Like I said, lass, a day or two an’ it’ll be over.’ Then she turned on her heel and hurried away.
     

Chapter 2
     
    As things turned out, Martha Todd couldn’t fix up the necessary visit to the old midwife she knew in the East End as quickly as she had promised. The very afternoon of the day Bess confided in her, Martha was involved in an accident at the factory which laid her off work for a while. It was over three weeks later - three weeks in which Bess had nearly gone mad with worry - before the older woman sidled up to Bess on her return to the factory. ‘Saturday afternoon all right for you, lass?’ she whispered out of the side of her mouth. ‘She can do it then.You meet me outside the Boar’s Head in High Street East at two o’clock an’ we’ll go along to Maggie’s.’
     
    Bess had been about to climb the rope up to the cab of the crane she controlled, one of many which moved shells back and forth across the factory floor. She froze, staring at Martha but unable to speak for the relief flooding her. She had been frightened Martha would forget about her. It was only when Martha said, ‘Well, what do you say? You still want it done, don’t you?’ that Bess managed to pull herself together.
     
    ‘Aye, aye I do.’ She glanced about her and then up at Kitty who was in the next crane. Lowering her face to Martha’s, she whispered, ‘Will it take long?’
     
    ‘Aye, long enough. Good few hours. You’ll have to rest after for a while.’
     
    ‘But I see Kitty Saturdays and we go to the pictures in the evening. What’ll I tell her? She’ll have to cover for me.’
     
    Martha shrugged. ‘That’s up to you, lass. Just be there for two. An’ Maggie wants thirty bob for her trouble. Can you manage that?’ She didn’t add that normally the price was a good deal higher but that she had called in a favour.
     
    Bess nodded. ‘Thanks, Martha,’ she said softly.
     
    Martha inclined her head and walked away, and Bess began to climb the rope. The action emphasised the changes in her body which had occurred since she’d last spoken to Martha. The thickening round her stomach and the tingling and fullness in her small breasts was only slight as yet, but she felt her body was reminding her all the time of what was happening. The week for her fourth monthly had come and gone now and, ridiculous though she knew it was, she had prayed like she’d never prayed before that she would see a flow of blood. But of course there’d been nothing.
     
    ‘What did she want?’ As Bess reached the cage of the crane, Kitty leaned out of hers. ‘I didn’t know you had any truck with Martha Todd.’
     
    Kitty’s voice revealed she was disgruntled, but Bess knew it wasn’t really because she’d spoken to Martha. The last few weeks she had been so taken up with fear of what would happen if Martha didn’t help her, she knew she’d been a bit short with Kitty. She stared into the plain little face of her friend, envying Kitty with all her heart. Kitty’s chief problem was the spots which assailed her face. ‘I’ll tell you later,’ she said quietly. And then, when Kitty frowned and flounced back into the crane, she added, ‘I’m sorry I haven’t been meself lately, lass, but there is a reason. What say we take our bait outside when the whistle blows and have a talk?’
     
    ‘Aye, all right.’ Kitty was instantly mollified. ‘You feeling bad, Bess? You’ve been looking peaky since you had that gyppy belly.’
     
    ‘Aye, I don’t feel too good.’ The senna and salts she had taken after Martha had had her accident had scoured her to the point where she’d thought she’d lose all her insides, but still nothing had happened. She had heated the water to near boiling point for her weekly scrub in the old tin bath in front of the kitchen range at home when her parents went for their Friday visit to her brother’s house in Monkwearmouth, swigging the half bottle of gin she had