The House by Princes Park by Maureen Lee Read Free Book Online Page A

There’s a tunnel under the River Mersey, but it isn’t ready for cars yet.’
    ‘Reverend Mother said I was going to live in Liverpool. It’s where Sister Frances comes from. She said it’s bigger than Abergele.’
    ‘Much, much bigger, but it isn’t exactly Liverpool where you’ll live. My house is on the outskirts, a place called Kirkby. Tomorrow, we’ll go to town and buy you some clothes. I’m sure you’ll be pleased to get out of that ugly brown frock.’
    ‘Clothes from a shop?’
    ‘Of course, Ruby. Where else?’ Emily thought the girl’s naivety utterly delightful.
    ‘I’ve always wanted to go in a shop.’ Ruby gave a blissful sigh.
    ‘I must warn you, dear, that Liverpool is terribly noisy. There’s loads of traffic and crowds of shoppers. You mustn’t be frightened. Cities are very busy places.’
    ‘I’m never frightened,’ Ruby said stoutly, having forgotten her recent fear that the car might crash. ‘Are we nearly there?’
    ‘We’ve still got some way to go.’
    Ruby snorted and began to twiddle her thumbs, bored. England looked exactly the same as Wales. She visibly perked up when the scenery became more industrialised and squealed with delight when they reached Runcorn and the car drove on to the transporter bridge and they were carried across the shimmering Mersey on a metal sling, a process that Emily always found daunting.
    They drove through a forest of tall chimneys spewingblack smoke into the blue sky. ‘They look ugly,’ Ruby opined.
    Emily nodded agreement. ‘This is Widnes.’
    ‘Ugly, but interesting. Everything’s interesting. Are we nearly at Kirkby?’ she said impatiently.
    ‘Not far.’
    The countryside became flatter, houses more frequent. Ruby bobbed up and down at Emily’s side, exclaiming at every single thing, asking so many questions that Emily’s head began to spin.
    ‘What’s that little boy doing?’
    ‘He’s riding a scooter.’
    ‘I’ve never seen a scooter before. What’s that building there?’
    ‘A church, dear.’
    ‘It’s
big
. The church in the convent was only little. Can I go there to Mass on Sunday?’
    ‘No, Ruby, it’s too far away, and it’s not a Catholic church.’
    ‘What was it then?’
    ‘I didn’t notice,’ Emily said desperately. ‘A Protestant church of some sort.’
    Ruby screamed. ‘Look! What’s wrong with that man’s face?’
    ‘Nothing. He’s got a beard.’
    ‘He looks like an animal. Are we nearly there, Emily?’
    ‘In a minute.’
    Emily gave a sigh of relief when she turned the car into the drive of Brambles, the house that wasn’t hers any more, but belonged to her sons. If it hadn’t been for that she would have sold up the minute Edwin died and moved somewhere more exciting: London, Brighton, or even abroad, Paris, or Berlin which was said to be fascinating, although this Hitler business was worrying. Edwin had left her well provided for, but she was scared to give up thesecurity of her home and rent a place – the sort she aspired to would eat up a goodly portion of her income.
    ‘Is this it?’
    ‘Yes, Ruby, this is it.’ Emily opened the car door and got out. Ruby collected her parcel and followed.
    ‘It’s not as big as the convent,’ she said, a touch disparagingly Emily thought.
    ‘Maybe not,’ she said defensively, ‘But it’s bigger than most houses. It has twelve rooms, six upstairs and six down, that’s not counting the kitchen and two bathrooms. Let’s go inside so you can see.’
    It was a relief to enter the empty house accompanied by another human being – the staff had all gone home by now. Emily felt grateful for Ruby’s loud cries as she ran in and out of the rooms, admiring the furniture, the ornaments, ending up back in the hall, where she examined herself critically, from top to toe, in the full-length mirror, twisting and turning, peering over her shoulder at her back.
    ‘We didn’t have mirrors in the convent.’ She glanced pertly at Emily. ‘We used