The Girl From Barefoot House by Maureen Lee Read Free Book Online

complications. She knew there was going to be a row and that she was being left with Mrs Kavanagh – which she was quite looking forward to. All she cared about was that things were about to change out of all proportion for the better. She skipped along beside her mother, and felt she could easily have burst with happiness.
    Mam felt it, too. Every now and then she had a little skip herself, and even when she realised she’d pawned the bedding and they had to spend another night in Huskisson Street, like with the shoes, it didn’t matter.
    ‘If necessary, Petal, we’ll sit up all night and I’ll burn the last of the nutty slack,’ she laughed. ‘Or we’ll sleepon the bare mattress, and I’ll ask Maude if she’ll give us the loan of her eiderdown, and hope it don’t pong too much. She only uses it in winter. Mind you, it could be winter today, it’s so cold, yet we’re only just into September.’
    When they got home, Mam cleaned every surface of the attic room. She brushed the rafters, brushed the walls, brushed the floor, dusted the sideboard, the table and the chairs. She turned the mattress over and blackleaded the tiny grate. Then she lit the fire, borrowed an iron off Maude, put it on the hob to heat and carefully pressed the brown tweed costume, cream blouse and white beret she’d been wearing when she’d left Machin Street, and which were still her bezzie clothes after all this time. She buffed her brown suede shoes as best as she could with the hairbrush. ‘We used to have a special brush for this in Machin Street,’ she said. ‘It were made of wire and called a suede brush. Oh, there’s so many things there, Petal. Just wait till you see them.’
    When the iron was cool, she turned Josie’s new frock inside out and smoothed out the few creases.
    ‘There, that’s everything done.’ She put her hands on her hips and glanced with satisfaction around the room, at the dust-free surfaces, at her costume and Josie’s frock, hanging behind the door, their shoes placed neatly under the sideboard, at Teddy who was sitting on top of their gas masks, next to the brown paper bag containing Josie’s books and the money from the cocoa tin which was tied in a hankie. It amounted to two and threepence. ‘All that’s left is for us to wash our hair, which we’ll do later and dry it by the fire.’
    Josie reminded her she hadn’t shaken the mat, so Mam climbed on a chair and opened the window. ‘Why, the sun’s come out, Petal,’ she announced joyfully. ‘It looksdead lovely out there. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t mind a little walk. I’ve got dust up me nose and in me throat, and the fresh air will clear it. Where shall we go – Princes Park? It’s almost autumn, the trees might have started turning gold by now.’
    ‘Yes, but …’ Josie hesitated.
    ‘Yes, but what, my fragrant, my adorable little Petal?’ Mam leapt off the chair, danced across the room and caught Josie in her arms. She led them in a waltz around the bed. ‘But what, luv?’
    ‘Can I say tara to Tommy and Nora?’ Otherwise, she might never see them again. Our Lady of Mount Carmel was too far from Penny Lane, and even further from Speke and Kirkby.
    Mam wrinkled her nose. ‘That Tommy’s a right scally, luv. I can’t understand how you can like him. His mam’s a dead horrible woman, she batters them kids something rotten. And did he tell you his dad’s in jail?’
    ‘No, Mam. But Tommy’s nice. He’s …’ Josie broke off, remembering the way Tommy had put his arm around her waist the night before, promising to look after her, the various athletic feats he’d done solely to impress her. She didn’t care if his mam was horrible or his dad was in jail. She shrugged. ‘He’s just nice.’
    ‘All right, luv,’ Mam said resignedly. ‘I suppose we could carry on into town, do a bit a window-shopping. We’ll get the tram home.’
    Outside, the air smelled fresh and clean, and they both sniffed