Free A Mother's Secret by Dilly Court

she had heard Biddy come crashing into the house, stumbling drunkenly into a chair and knocking it over. The babies had stirred in their sleep and Cassy had held her breath, praying that they would not cry. She knew only too well what Biddy was capable of when roused to a rage fuelled by drink. Cassy had once witnessed a horrific episode when a crying infant had been smashed against the wall by a drunken Biddy, who apparently remembered nothing when she sobered up next day. The baby had died, but if Elias Crabbe had suspected foul play he had said nothing, and the tiny corpse had been interred with a stranger. Cassy had lain there, stiff and silent, until Biddy had collapsed onto her iron bedstead and succumbed to the combined effects of alcohol and opium.
    The babies began to whimper, but when Cassy went to the larder to fetch the milk she found that it had turned sour and she would have to go to the dairy for a fresh supply. She did not want the infants to wake Biddy, and to keep them pacified if only for a short while she dissolved a spoonful of sugar in tepid water from the kettle. The air in the room was rank with the smell of sweat and stale alcohol, and Cassy felt her stomach heave as she crept past Biddy’s bed. She paused as she saw a trail of vomit that had spewed from Biddy’s mouth and pooled on the floor. There was something unnatural about Biddy’s prostrate form. A cockroach crawled out of her open mouth and Cassy dropped the cup with a cry of horror.
    ‘What’s up?’ Bailey raised himself on his elbow, gazing blearily around the room. ‘What’s wrong, Cass?’
    She could not speak, only point. He leapt out of bed and hurried to her side. ‘Oh, my God!’ He leaned over to feel for the pulse in Biddy’s fat neck. ‘She’s dead. Choked on her own vomit by the looks of things.’ He pulled the filthy scrap of sheeting up to cover her head. ‘She won’t ever hurt you again, Cass. She’s gone for good.’
    The room began to spin around Cassy and she felt herself falling into a dark pit, but then she opened her eyes and found herself sitting on a chair and bent double so that her head was between her knees.
    ‘Sorry, ducks,’ Bailey said, helping her to sit upright. ‘I couldn’t lie you down because of your poor back.’ He held a cup of water to her lips. ‘Take small sips and you’ll feel better in a moment.’
    ‘Sh-she’s really dead?’
    ‘As a doornail. I’ll go for the doctor if you’re feeling well enough to be left. The nippers are all yelling their heads off so I’ll get some milk first, if you can cope with them.’
    The dizziness was passing and the water, although stale and tepid, was refreshing. ‘It’s what I do every day. Biddy never touches them unless it’s to slap their poor little bums and legs.’
    ‘Well she won’t do that no more,’ Bailey said wryly. ‘She’s gone straight to hell or there’s no justice in the other world.’ He ruffled Cassy’s hair. ‘Sit tight, little ’un. We’ll sort things out, so don’t fret.’
    ‘But what will we do? How will we manage?’ Cassy stared at him helplessly. Biddy might have been a monster but she had ruled their lives so completely that the thought of being without her was alarming.
    ‘Before I do anything else I’m going to see if she had any of your ma’s money left. I can’t believe she could have spent it all in one night.’ He went over to the bed and felt around beneath the sheet, turning his head away and screwing up his face as his hands searched for the purse. He uttered a sigh of relief as he found it, but his face fell as he examined its contents. ‘There’s enough to pay the doctor and bury the old besom,’ he said grimly. ‘She must have gambled the rest. I’m sorry, nipper, because it was your money.’
    ‘I don’t care,’ Cassy murmured, turning her head away from the gruesome sight on the bed. ‘Just get the milk, please, Bailey. The babies don’t care whether she’s alive or