Memories of You by Benita Brown Read Free Book Online Page A

turned to face the room and tried to take in the reality of her new life. The single bed was pushed up against one wall and an old-fashioned wardrobe took up most of the wall opposite leaving only a narrow space between. The wardrobe must once have stood in a much larger room. The matching chest of drawers squeezed in between the wardrobe and the window was equally clumsy and just as hideous. An old mirror, the silver spotted, hung above the chest and reflected the picture opposite.
    Helen turned and looked at the picture of two rosy winged cherubs suspended in a blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds. They were holding a garland of flowers between them. She knew the picture to be overly sentimental but nevertheless it brought an ache of grief to her throat. Her mother, her gentle, tender-hearted mother, would have loved it. She was surprised that it had found a home in Aunt Jane’s gloomy house. The paintings she had glimpsed in the entrance hall and on the dark panelled walls as she ascended the stairs were of sailing ships ploughing through stormy seas, and murky landscapes peopled with men in Highland dress and alarmedlooking stags.
    She looked down at the suitcase that had been her mother’s. It was dark blue with a soft leather top. It was old and battered but it must have been expensive once. The case had been a present from one of the ladies Helen’s mother worked for and it had not been empty. The lady had filled it with clothes she no longer wanted. Her mother had been thrilled to own such fashionable garments even though they were second-hand. Helen knew that Aunt Jane had commandeered any of the clothes that had caught her fancy although heaven knew what they would look like on her shapeless form.
    Helen lifted the case on to the faded green eiderdown that covered the bed, opened it and began to unpack. It didn’t take long. Her underwear, socks, jumpers and blouses only filled three drawers of the chest and her few skirts and dresses hung forlornly in the cavernous space of the wardrobe. She took particular care of her school uniform, smoothing the gymslip and shaking out a school shirt to drape over a hanger.
    She remembered how proud her mother had been when at the age of eleven she had passed the scholarship that would take her to the grammar school. Aunt Jane had disapproved. She had told her sister that Helen should remain at the elementary school, leave when she was fourteen then find a job. In Aunt Jane’s opinion Helen ought to find a job as soon as she could and bring some money in, rather than cause her mother the extra expense of buying the uniform and books that were needed.
    But Grace Norton had refused to listen to her elder sister. She’d told her that with a proper education Helen would one day find a much better job and it was worth every effort to keep her on at school.
    â€˜And what if the twins pass the scholarship, too?’ Aunt Jane had asked. ‘How will you manage then?’
    â€˜I’ll manage somehow,’ Grace had replied, but Helen could see how worried she was.
    As it happened she had not had to face that problem. Even though Joe and Danny were far from stupid they had failed to gain a scholarship. ‘Don’t worry, Mrs Norton,’ the headmaster had reassured her. ‘When the time comes we’ll find them good apprenticeships. They’ll be a credit to you yet.’
    And what would their future be now? Helen wondered. Would the superintendant of Haven House make sure they found good apprenticeships once they reached the age of fourteen? She could only hope so. In the meantime she would keep in touch with them and supply any encouragement that was needed.
    After she had put her clothes away Helen took her school satchel out of the case and stowed it in the bottom of the wardrobe. Then she lifted out her precious supply of books. Some of them were her own, bought with her pocket money from the second-hand book stall in the Grainger