Free Ragamuffin Angel by Rita Bradshaw Page B

and proud in the bitter chill of the winter’s morning and it was very imposing. The short pebbled drive was immaculate, the large, gracious, horseshoe-shaped steps to the front door numbered six or seven, and there were ten windows along the front of the house alone. Moreover, it was surrounded by giant oaks at the back and sides which increased the air of grandeur.  
    ‘Do you want me an’ Larry to wait here, Mam?’  
    Sadie hesitated. She didn’t know how this was going to go except that it would not be pleasant. She found herself wringing her hands and stopped abruptly, glancing down at the two children. The whole point of bringing them was for them to be seen, and what with this great wall and the gates they might not be noticed. ‘No.’ Sadie opened the gate as she answered. ‘You come with me an’ put your brother down now. He’s bin carried all the way here, he’s got to walk a bit sometimes.’  
    They walked along the drive with Larry between them swinging happily on their hands, and then Sadie went up the steps and pulled the bell before returning to stand with the children.  
    The door was answered by a pretty, plump woman wearing a black dress and an apron, and whatever she had been about to say never left her lips as her mouth fell open in a gape. She darted a glance behind her before pulling the door partly to and venturing down two of the steps. ‘What do you want? You must be mad coming here. Get yourself away now, go on.’  
    ‘I’m –’  
    ‘I know who you are, lass. There’s nothing that goes on in this family that I don’t know about, even if certain members of it would like to think differently. Aye, I know who you are all right. I nursed Jacob when he come out of the infirmary and he described you to a tee.’  
    The woman’s tone wasn’t hostile – flustered would have described it better – and Sadie stared at her for a moment before she said, ‘I . . . I have to see him – Jacob. I need to talk to him. Please. ’  
    ‘Lass, I’m telling you –’  
    Whatever she had been about to tell her Sadie never knew, because in the next instant the door was opened fully and another woman stood in the aperture, her voice sharp as she said, ‘Kitty? What on earth do you think you are doing skulking out there, and who are these people?’  
    This must be Jacob’s mother-in-law. This was her, Edith Stewart, the matriarch. Sadie’s heart was pounding and her legs felt weak as she looked at the small, smartly dressed woman in front of her. Edith Stewart’s plain, dark-claret brocade dress was deceptively simple, but the material which fell in deep folds to the top of her neatly shod feet was beautifully cut and the exquisite gold fob watch pinned to the ruched bodice of the dress was clearly expensive. Everything about the crisp, eagle-eyed woman spoke of wealth and authority. Her hair was still very black with merely a touch of grey, arranged high on her head in a loose bun, and her eyes – which were of the same gimlet hardness as her eldest son’s – were looking straight into Sadie’s terrified blue ones.  
    ‘Well? State your business,’ the irritated voice continued coldly, ‘but if it’s a handout you’re looking for we have nothing to spare. I know you people, the word soon gets about, doesn’t it and –’ And then, like a steel trap snapping shut, the words were cut off and the ebony eyes opened wide for a moment. ‘ No .’ It was a hiss. ‘No, it can’t be. You wouldn’t have the sheer affrontry.’  
    ‘Mrs Stewart?’ Sadie’s voice was shaking even as she told herself she couldn’t afford to show any weakness in front of this woman. ‘I need to know . . . I have to see Jacob. I –’  
    ‘You filthy, dirty trollop! You brazen huzzy, you. You think you can come here, here, to my home, with your ragamuffin brats and your whining! I’ll have you horsewhipped.’  
    ‘Madam! Come back inside, please.’  
    As Sadie took a step backwards