Free The Cobbler's Kids by Rosie Harris Page A

whenever possible. If he found himself in the living room alone with Michael, he quietly went out or up to his bedroom. Vera knew that it was a sensible way to behave, but she found herself missing Eddy’s company.
    He and Rita were closer than ever. They spent a considerable amount of time in each other’s company. But Vera often felt deprived of her friend’s company, too, and sometimes felt quite isolated.
    Because of his new life, Eddy didn’t spend very much time with Benny, either. As the days became warmer, and the evenings lighter, Vera often wished Eddy would play with him or take him for a walk. In the end, one Sunday, she suggested that perhaps he and Rita could take Benny out.
    ‘It will give me a chance to tackle the ironing that’s piled up all week because mam hasn’t felt well enough to do it,’ she told him.
    ‘Oh, Vee, any other time of course I would, but we’ve made plans to go out with a crowd of friends,’ he said apologetically. ‘I’ll do it next week, I promise.’
    ‘No need for you to trouble yourself. You can bugger off and I’ll take Benny for a walk.’
    Vera jumped in surprise. She’d had no idea that her father was within earshot. ‘It’s all right, I’ll manage,’ she said quickly.
    ‘I’ll take Benny for a walk so go and get him ready!’
    ‘Very well.’ Quickly Vera dressed him in clean clothes and put on his outdoor shoes.
    ‘Ready?’ Michael Quinn held out his hand to the toddler. ‘Come on then.’
    Vera felt concerned. Benny was sturdy, but he wasn’t yet four years old and she wasn’t sure if her father appreciated that fact.
    ‘You won’t walk too fast or too far, will you Dad,’ she begged. ‘If he starts to lag because he’s tired you will carry him won’t you?’ she pleaded.
    ‘I always carried you when you were his size didn’t I?’
    ‘Yes, Dad, you did. Always!’ She smiled at the recollection. Those moments were still bright jewels in her memory. Sometimes she wondered if they had ever happened. Those halcyon days, when they’d lived in Wallasey and played on the shore at New Brighton, seemed like remnants from another life.
    Her father had always been laughing and happy in those days, and her mother had been full of life and had joined in their fun. Why had he changed so much, she asked herself, as she watched her father set off down the street, Benny clasping his hand tightly, his little legs going like pistons as he tried to keep up with his father’s long strides.
    From then on, it became routine for Michael to take Benny for a walk on Sundays whenever the weather was fine. The fact that Benny came back so tired that he could barely eat his meal before falling asleep worried Vera. When she asked him where they’d been she couldn’t make any sense of his answers. From what little she gleaned, as he prattled on about water and boats, it seemed that her father must be taking him down to the Pier Head.
    Finally, overcome by curiosity, and concerned about Benny’s exhaustion, she decided to follow them.
    It was a beautiful hot, sunny day in late July. She’d dressed Benny in a bright blue sailor suit she’d bought from the market, and with his white socks, and little black shoes, he looked angelic.
    Tentatively, without revealing what she intended to do, she suggested to her mother that they should go for a walk, but to her relief her mother declined.
    ‘I find this heat exhausting,’ she sighed. ‘I’d much rather go and have a lie down.’
    Vera gave her father and Benny time to reach the corner of the road before she began to tail them. She knew she had to be careful in case Benny turned round and saw her. If that happened she would have a job explaining to her father what she was doing.
    To her surprise they boarded a tram, and for a moment she thought she had lost them. Then she realised that it would be going to the Pier Head so all she had to do was catch the next one.
    When she reached there it was so congested that she