The Girl From Seaforth Sands by Katie Flynn Read Free Book Online Page B

the wet sand at the edge of the waves. What was more, she knew from experience that as the day went on, even the less popular part of the beach where the marram grass grew and the shoreline tended to be muddy at low tide would grow crowded with people. Therefore it behoved them toget as much pleasure from the day’s holiday as they could while a large area of sand around them remained empty of people. Amy had never gone fishing with her brother, because Albert almost always went with Paddy. The older boys, most of whom fished for a living, preferred to take a rod into Wales or the Wirral for a day’s sport. As for the fishing boat, she had never asked her father to take her shrimping and thought she probably never would. Even had she done so, she doubted that Bill would want her on board. She imagined he would think it unlucky to take a woman out fishing and was devoutly glad of it.
    However, fishing with Albert and the others might be quite fun, so she watched with interest as the boys set up their lines. Her brother and Paddy had short hazel wands, which they stuck in the sand after they had thrown out lines baited with what looked like grubs of some sort. Philip, however, had a proper rod with a line and a float and bait, which looked more professional somehow. He cast expertly, too, sending his baited line a good deal further out to sea than either Albert or Paddy had managed, but then he, too, stuck his smart, cork-handled rod in the sand, and strolled back to where Mary and Amy were watching.
    ‘There, that didn’t take long, did it?’ he asked, sitting down on the sand beside Mary and reaching across for the basket he had been carrying. ‘It’s early still, but I could do with a snack.’ The basket lid was cunningly closed with two loops and a wooden peg. He unfastened it and threw back the lid, revealing several compartments filled with interesting-looking packages as well as an oddly shaped bottle full of a dark-red liquid, neatly corked. Amy was fascinatedto see that the lid of the basket held cutlery, a couple of enamel mugs and plates.
    ‘There’s all sorts in here.’ Philip fished out two of the packages and began to unwrap them. ‘My grandmother’s cook is an awkward old blighter, but she has a soft spot for me. Besides, if she packs me a decent picnic, she knows she’ll be rid of me all day, which makes her life easier, I suppose.’ He held out the package towards the two girls. Amy, looking at the chunks of cheese, slices of thick bread and cuts of ham, found that her mouth was watering already. If this was the cook’s idea of a carry-out, what sort of meals did Philip normally enjoy?
    ‘Cor!’ Amy breathed reverently. ‘Your cook must’ve thought your sister was going to share your carry-out, eh? No one could think one feller needed this lot.’
    Philip laughed. ‘My sister’s gone to the city centre to visit our great-aunt,’ he said. ‘She and Grandma will get a grand luncheon at Great-Aunt Betty’s. Laura loves iced puddings so Great-Aunt’s cook always makes one for her.’
    The Logan family had ham at Christmas, but iced puddings? She’d never even heard of such a thing, let alone tasted one. They had cheese from time to time, but it was still very much a treat. And fancy having plates and mugs on the beach, where such things were virtually unknown. It must be wonderful to have so much money and so many possessions that one could risk the loss of cutlery or even plates and mugs. The Logans guarded such things with jealous care. Isobel would never have dreamed of letting so much as a teaspoon leave her neat kitchen.
    But if the rich had many possessions, the poor could have good times too. Amy remembered one ofher brothers telling her once how Dad had taken the older ones on an expedition to New Brighton. They had dug cockles, boiled them in an old Glaxo tin over the driftwood fire they had built and eaten them as the sun began to sink. Gus had never forgotten the trip, and now