The Letter by Kathryn Hughes Read Free Book Online Page A

authorities. Alice wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.
    ‘So what will happen to him now?’
    Matron shrugged. ‘We’ll look after him here. He’ll be well cared for.’
    ‘I’ll take him.’ Alice declared. ‘He’s a baby without a mother and I’m a mother without a baby. Please, Matron.’
    Matron looked doubtful. ‘We don’t have a formal adoption policy but there will be some checks and paperwork to go through.’ She looked at Alice’s pleading expression. ‘I’ll see what I can do.’
    Alice gave a thin smile. ‘Thank you. I’ll talk to my husband.’
    Billy had left the orphanage one week later with only two possessions; his late mother’s engagement ring and a ‘Flanders Poppy’ which had been pressed by his father and sent to his mother from the trenches during the war. It was attached to a piece of paper and Albert Edwards had written on the back:
     
    My Darling Frances,
    I wish you could see these poppies in the fields. They are even more stunning when they are blowing in the wind. I saved this one from the Flanders mud. Look after our boy. I can’t wait to meet him. All my love and affection forever.
    Albert xx 12th October 1918.
    He was killed in action two days later.
     
    *
    Now, in the spring of 1939, at the age of twenty-one, Billy was devoted to his adoptive mother. His relationship with Henry however was a little complicated to say the least. Billy found the best way to deal with the situation was to keep his distance. Henry Stirling spent an awful lot of time in the pub or just wandering the streets, so this wasn’t difficult. Henry had never really accepted Billy as his son and the amount of love and attention lavished on Billy by Alice only served to compound his feelings of resentment.
    One night, Billy and his best friend Clark were propping up the bar of their local pub.
    ‘I feel sorry for you,’ announced Clark.
    Billy took a long drag on his cigarette and regarded his friend.
    ‘Why’s that then?’
    ‘Well, you never experience the thrill of the chase, do you? I mean, girls just fall at your feet. All you have to do is walk into a room and the eyes of every girl in the place are on you. Where’s the challenge in that?’
    Billy shrugged and clicked his fingers at the barman.
    ‘Two more rums when you have a minute please, mate.’
    He turned to Clark. ‘Is that what you really think? Has it ever occurred to you that girls who are obsessed by a bloke’s looks are completely shallow? They have no substance at all and whilst they might be fun for a one-night stand, after that I’m bored with them. I want a serious, steady relationship as much as the next man.’
    He passed the rum over to Clark.
    ‘Cheers!’
    Clark did not sound convinced. ‘I don’t stand a chance hanging around with you, do I?’ he said miserably.
    This was true. Girls flocked around the two of them at the dance hall but it was Billy they wanted to talk to, Billy they wanted to twirl them round the dance floor and Billy they wanted to walk them home at the end of the night.
    ‘You’re my best mate, Clark. We’ve been friends since we were kids in short trousers with scabby knees and dirty faces. Are you suggesting we stop hanging round together in order to give you a better chance with the girls?’
    Clark sighed. ‘No, of course I’m not saying that. I just feel like I’m never going to meet anyone.’
    Billy slapped him on the back. ‘Snap out of it, Clark, stop feeling sorry for yourself. No girl wants a bloke who’s drowning in self-pity.’
    Billy regarded his friend in the smoky atmosphere of the pub. Whilst it was true his ginger hair and freckles were not exactly a magnet for the girls, his piercing ice-blue eyes seemed to look directly into your soul as they shone out from what was essentially a very handsome face. His lack of height could be a drawback to girls in high heels and his lingering Black Country accent was also out of place in Manchester and made him sound a