Free A Carriage for the Midwife by Maggie Bennett Page B

for four years burst forth in retribution, and Susan discovered a strength she had not known she possessed. She attacked him like a wild animal, kicking and punching, using her nails as claws and all the while spitting out a stream of defiance.
    ‘No! No! Stop, Oi won’t have ’ee, never! Stop, stop, Oi won’t have ’ee – Oi hates ’ee!’
    It took him completely unawares.
    ‘Shut yer mouth, yer silly bitch – aaah! Keep yer noise down, will ’ee? Ouch! Damn ’ee!’
    He put up his arms to shield himself, but she screamed and hit out all the more, raising her voice and planting a kick squarely into his hated male part. A howl of agony went up as he doubled over, clutching at himself and cursing while Susan turned and ran like the wind, away from the sight, the sound, the touch and the loathsome smell of him.
    Never again, never again – and although she gasped and sobbed as she ran blindly on, she was conscious of a huge relief. For it had been an exhilarating experience, a striking back against what she had mutely endured for so long but had never in her heart accepted. It was over, finished, done!
She was free!
    Just for a split second she saw Jack’s face above the bracken, his crossed eyes staring in two directions, his mouth agape. Then he disappeared. Susan could not guess what he might have seen, but knew he must have heard; only later did she realise that the boy had regularly stood guard as lookout.
    When she reached Mill Lane, instead of following it towards Ash-Pit End, she turned up the steep track leading to the Bennetts’ farm. Her pace slackened but she stumbled on until she reached the house and continued round to the back yard. The kitchen door was open, and Susan leaned against it, panting and dishevelled. Her new-found strength seemed to drain from her, and she raised imploring eyes to the farmer’s wife, who stared at her in astonishment.
    Sarah Bennett was having a trying time. In the middle of preparations for her daughter Sally’s wedding to a young country attorney, two maidservants had left to better themselves in Belhampton, and Bessie, her youngest, born after little Annie’s death, was down with the measles. The men would be coming in for their supper, and Thomas would roar if it wasn’t on the table. And now here was the Lucket girl with some dire message, by the look of it.
    ‘What is it, Susan? What’s happened?’ she demanded sharply.
    ‘Ha’ ye got a place f’r a maid, Mrs Bennett?’ begged Susan between gasps. ‘Oi’ll work f’r nothin’ but a crust o’ bread an’ sleep on the floor, only don’t send me away.’
    In normal circumstances no Lucket would be allowed over the doorstep, but the girl looked ready to drop, and Sarah relented.
    ‘Go wash your face in the pail by the scullery, and then come and stir this pot, Susan. And keep out o’ the farmer’s way, or he’ll send you packing.’
     
    Miss Marianne Bennett had appeared on Sophia’s doorstep in the summer dusk, wrapped in a hooded cloak.
    ‘I’ve got a note for you from poor Susan Lucket, Miss Glover,’ she said importantly, handing over a torn piece of paper. ‘My mother doesn’t know I’ve come, but Susan begged me. She’s in a bad way, Miss Glover,’ she added, lowering her voice and clearly enjoying every moment of her secret errand.
    ‘Merciful heaven, Marianne, what do you mean?’ cried Sophia in alarm, forgetting to ask the girl to sit down as she studied the scrawled message.
     
Dear Mis Glover pleas for Love of God take Poly who will be beat by Farther
I am at the Benets to be maid
Pleas safe her this night Susan Lucket
     
    Sophia frowned and bit her lip. ‘Has your mother taken Susan in as a maidservant, Marianne?’ she asked.
    ‘Yes, today, only an hour or two ago, and Susan asked me to come to you straightway, Miss Glover,’ replied Marianne with a significant look. ‘There are terrible stories told o’ the Luckets, you know. They call the mother Mad Doll.’
    She