Free The Jarrow Lass by Janet MacLeod Trotter Page A

dance, Rose Ann, and for the kiss!’ he shouted.
    Lizzie and Maggie giggled.
    â€˜Don’t look back or say anything,’ Rose ordered.
    â€˜By, you’ve had a time of it!’ Lizzie said in admiration. ‘Lads falling over themselves for you.’
    â€˜That’s all John McMullen’s good for,’ Rose snapped, ‘falling over.’
    Later, when they had tucked their father into bed and climbed into the one they shared, the sisters talked about the day and who they had met and danced with.
    â€˜Fancy our Rose Ann being courted by two lads at once!’ Lizzie crowed.
    â€˜I’m not courting either of them,’ Rose protested. ‘John was drunk and won’t remember the fool he made of himself - and you forced William to dance with me.’
    â€˜We didn’t force him to walk out with you,’ Maggie reminded. ‘You’d like to see him again, wouldn’t you?’
    Rose sighed, ‘Aye, I would. But his family’ll not allow it.’
    â€˜That William has a mind of his own,’ Maggie encouraged. ‘You shouldn’t give up hope.’

Chapter 5
    The next day, Lizzie went back to South Shields, promising to visit before the winter set in. Rose went eagerly to church with Maggie, but William did not seek her out after the service as she had hoped. The Fawcetts left together. William merely glanced in her direction, and allowed his mother to bustle him out of the church. Rose swallowed her disappointment and trudged back up the hill, determining to put William from her thoughts for good. Even Maggie could not think of anything to say.
    That afternoon, while their father snoozed by the fire, the sisters went picking blackberries and stayed out until dusk. When they returned, they found a small bunch of flowers and twigs on the doorstep, gathered from the surrounding hedgerows. Rose picked them up, quite puzzled. Rushing into the house, half expecting to find a visitor, she saw only her father sitting staring into the fire.
    â€˜Da, have you had company?’ she asked. He looked up at her blankly. ‘Has anyone called while we’ve been out?’
    He shook his head. ‘Have you been out?”
    â€˜Aye, for hours, Da!’ Maggie exclaimed. ‘We’ve picked a canny few blackberries. Have you been asleep all this time?’
    â€˜Must have,’ he yawned and stretched.
    â€˜So you didn’t see who left these flowers on the doorstep?’ Rose asked in frustration. Her father shook his head again.
    â€˜Are you courtin’?’ he asked, suddenly suspicious.
    â€˜No, Da,’ Rose answered swiftly, but could not help a twitch of a smile. William must have come to see her after all. Only he could have made such a romantic gesture. Hope flared within her once more. She would encourage William to court her and help him stand up to his parents. Rose was convinced that they would be happy together.
    All week, as they worked on the smallholding, Rose planned. On Saturday evening, she washed and dressed in the clothes she had worn for the wedding and set off for St Bede’s, knowing she would catch William after evening benediction. To her relief none of his family were with him. She waited around, approaching him from the shadows in the entrance.
    â€˜Rose!’ he gasped in surprise.
    She came straight out with her invitation. ‘We’d like to ask you up for tea tomorrow,’ she gabbled. ‘Maybes go for a walk in the fields first - if it’s fine. The blackberries are grand just now - we could pick some. Then you could stay for tea and maybe you could sing to us - me and Maggie would like that. And Da would like to meet you again. I just thought that after you had - well, you know...’ She tailed off, her cheeks on fire.
    William was looking at her in astonishment and she thought he was going to rebuff her like Florrie had done so often in the past. Then suddenly he was