The Cobbler's Kids by Rosie Harris Read Free Book Online

time. In all probability he’d then demand some bread and cheese, and a pickled onion, before he turned in.
    Whatever he decided to do the evening would end the same for her; it always did. Unfortunately, he was different from most other men in that he never suffered from brewer’s droop; it was quite the opposite, in fact.
    She’d meant it when, after Benjamin was born, she’d said there would be no more babies. It might be against the law, but if she fell for another then she’d have an abortion, even if it killed her. But if it did, she reflected, it would be hard on the children. Vee would be expected to look after Eddy and little Benny, but at least she would stop another poor little soul being born into such a harsh existence. Every time she thought about the future that lay ahead for Benjamin she cried inwardly. What hope was there of him growing up fit and strong when half the time he was hungry?
    She had never in her life felt so lethargic and she was sure that was because she could never afford decent food for herself. She had to try and make sure that Eddy and Vee had their bellies full. She hated it when Michael pinched the meat from their plates, or snatched away their butties.
    Before the war he’d always been so kind-hearted, so concerned that the children had the very best. She’d seen him cut up his own meat into tiny slivers for them when they were small. He’d always made sure that he shared the top off his egg, or he’d dip a piece of bread into the yolk and hand it to one of them as a little treat.
    Although Vee had always been his favourite, and treated like a precious doll, he’d been proud of Charlie, and Edmund when he was younger. He’d enjoyed nothing more than taking the two boys down onto the shore at New Brighton to kick a ball around. Often he would ram some sticks down into the sand and improvise a game of cricket for them.
    Eddy had been too small to wield the bat, but he’d run after the ball when Charlie batted and throw it back to his father so that he could bowl it to Charlie again.
    Those had been such happy days. Thinking back, she always remembered the sun shining and the entire family smiling.
    Even when the war came, and Michael had dashed off to be a soldier, life hadn’t been anywhere near as demanding as it was nowadays. Of course, she reflected, she’d had her own mam and dad to help her. They’d been growing old, but they’d been full of energy and had loved the children so much.
    She was glad in some ways that they hadn’t lived to see the change in Mike. They would have been so shocked and worried. She recalled how apprehensive they’d been when they had first met him.
    ‘It’s a pity that we know nothing at all about his parents,’ her mother had said worriedly. ‘I’m not saying that he isn’t a nice young chap, but having been brought up in an orphanage since babyhood means he hasn’t had the same caring background as you have had, my dear.’
    Annie had been so cross with her mother and told her she was bigoted and prejudiced. Now, with hindsight, she wondered if her mother had intuitively seen something in Michael Quinn’s make-up that she had overlooked.
    Today he kept his flattery and charm for his customers. Women, especially, thought he was a perfect gentleman, so handsome and charming that they flirted with him outrageously. She would feel her insides curling in embarrassment at the amused, supercilious way he responded to them, yet they never seemed to take the slightest offence.
    She often wondered what they would think if they could hear him rant and rave when Benny was crying from hunger, or see the callous way he treated Eddy. Would they still think he was the perfect gentleman if they overheard the way he spoke to her or the names he called her when he was in one of his foul moods, she thought bitterly.
    She smiled sadly as she remembered one of her own mother’s favourite sayings when things weren’t going as well as she hoped.