Free A Daughter's Disgrace by Kitty Neale Page B

hard to get used to it to start with,’ said Linda.
    â€˜Big girl like you, being sick!’ Cora went on.
    â€˜I just said, I haven’t done that for ages,’ protested Alison. ‘You should see what it’s like with all that dead meat in one place. The smell of it is disgusting. But I’m getting much better. Fred said so.’
    â€˜I’m sure you are,’ said Linda. ‘I don’t know how I’d have managed. And you bring home ham like this, so there’s a bonus.’
    â€˜Fred asked to be remembered to you,’ said Alison. ‘He’s been teaching me to cook as well. Says one of my lunches sets him up for the rest of the day.’
    â€˜Sets him up for food poisoning more like,’ snapped Hazel. ‘Or have you suddenly improved? He’s too good to you by half.’
    â€˜Maybe you’re practising to become a housewife,’ Linda gently teased. ‘Is there a boyfriend on the horizon you’ve been keeping quiet about?’
    â€˜Of course not,’ said Alison, hoping she wasn’t going to blush. She realised she’d been blushing quite a lot since the visit to the ironmonger’s. ‘Don’t be daft. Who’d look at me?’
    â€˜True,’ said Hazel at once.
    But you don’t know everything, thought Alison, not even tempted to rise to the bait this time. Someone has looked at me. And he seems really nice. What’s more, I’m going to make sure I see him tomorrow.
    Cheeky tyke, thought Cora, shooing the last of the paperboys out of the shop early on Monday morning. He’d had the nerve to ask her where her ugly daughter was as he hadn’t seen her around for a few weeks. Suppose he’ll be taking the mickey out of some other poor sod, she said to herself, looking up at the sky. As March approached it was getting just a bit warmer and signs of spring were beginning to appear. She couldn’t wait. She’d had enough of being cold and her back and hands were always worse during the winter.
    Flexing her fingers at the idea, she made her way round the shop making sure all was in order before the first customers arrived. Often she thought this was the best bit of the day – everything in its place, all the boys out of the way, nobody to disturb her peace and quiet. But she knew she’d hate it if nobody came in all day and there was no gossip. That’s what gave the job its spice.
    It wasn’t long before Winnie Jewell set the doorbell ringing. ‘Morning, Cora!’ she called.
    â€˜You’re early, Winnie,’ said Cora.
    â€˜I need some aspirin for my Vera before she goes to work,’ explained Winnie. ‘She’s got such a headache, poor love, and I can’t send her out looking miserable to Arding and Hobbs. You know, they expect better from their staff than that.’
    Probably got a hangover, thought Cora. ‘Poor girl,’ she said aloud.
    â€˜That’s just what I thought,’ said Winnie, getting out her purse. ‘How was your weekend? I had my sister Beryl round and she’s having such trouble, I thought she was never going to leave.’
    â€˜Really?’
    â€˜It’s her neighbours,’ Winnie went on. ‘I told her not to move down that way but would she listen? She’s not that far from the power station and it’s not a patch on her old place, though the rent ain’t bad. As for her neighbours, well, the place is filthy. I said to her, you got to be careful, what if they get rats? They don’t empty their bins and their back garden’s like a junk yard. If they get rats then they’re bound to come over the fence and into her kitchen. Think of that. And she’s got young kids. What if they get bitten? Then she’ll wish she never left her old place.’
    â€˜Sounds dreadful,’ said Cora, interrupting Winnie’s incessant chatter. Ennis Street might not be much but at least everyone put