Free Tuppence To Spend by Lilian Harry Page A

Charlotte Street in a bit,’ Micky said, referring to the market street behind Commercial Road. ‘I know a bloke there that gives me stuff free – cabbages and carrots, whatever’s going. You could come too if you like.’
    Sammy shook his head. Nora had told him several times not to go anywhere with Micky Baxter. She didn’t like Gordon going with him either, even though Gordon was older, but Gordon didn’t take any notice. ‘I’ve got to go home with the meat and stuff.’
    ‘Well, after that then. I’ll wait for you.’
    ‘I don’t know.’ Suddenly, Sammy longed to go. He was tired of having no one to play with and Micky carried an aura of excitement and danger with him. ‘What about those gold necklaces? Do you get them down Charlotte Street?’
    Micky gave him a sly glance. ‘Why, d’you want one?’
    ‘I wouldn’t mind. I’d like to give Mum a gold necklace. You said you and Gordon could get some, Christmas Day, but you never.’
    ‘No, well, the place wasn’t open, see.’ Micky looked consideringly at Sammy. ‘Anyway, like I said, you’re too little. You’d better tell your Gordon to come down my house when he gets home from work one day.’
    ‘But I want to get one.’ They were at the butcher’s shop now and Sammy stared at Micky. ‘Please. I want to give my mum a gold necklace.’
    Micky looked at him again, narrowing his eyes. ‘Well, maybe you could be useful. Being little – you could get into places—’ He broke off abruptly. ‘Tell you what. Go and get your meat and stuff, and I’ll meet you in half an hour. We’ll go down Charlotte Street and p’raps I’ll show you the gold necklaces … But better not tell your mum, all right?’
    Sammy nodded doubtfully. He didn’t much like keepingsecrets from his mother, yet the thought that he was doing something secret to get her such a present as a gold necklace made him feel grown-up and powerful. He took his place at the end of the queue standing outside the butcher’s shop, his heart thumping a little with excitement.
    Mr Hines didn’t have any mince and Sammy had to be satisfied with some neck of mutton. He came out and found Micky sitting on a wall, waiting for him.
    ‘Here you are,’ Micky said, ‘here’s your cabbage.’ He thrust it at Sammy, together with half a dozen carrots. ‘They didn’t cost nothing, so we can use the money to buy sweets.’
    Sammy stared at him. ‘How’d you get them for nothing?’
    Micky gave him a scornful glance. ‘How d’you think? I went in and arsked, didn’t I?’ He burst out laughing at the expression on Sammy’s face. ‘Well, how d’you think I got them? Old man Atkinson wouldn’t give his grandmother a free carrot, not if she was dying. I pinched ’em. It was easy – the shop was full of old women all doing their shopping and I just nipped in and grabbed what I could. I got some apples too.’ He took one from his pocket and bit into it.
    ‘But that’s stealing ,’ Sammy said.
    ‘So what? Don’t tell me you never pinched nothing from a shop.’
    Sammy opened his mouth to deny it, then remembered a day, several years ago, when he’d been in the paper shop with his mother and taken a small bar of chocolate from the counter. He hadn’t even realised it was stealing at the time but Mr Brunner had noticed and snapped sharply at him to put it back, and his mother had been crosser than he’d ever known her. She’d marched him home and given him a good telling-off, ending up by saying he could go to prison for stealing, and for over a week he’d lived in fear of a policeman coming to take him away. He’d never taken anything since.
    Micky was watching him, a sly grin on his face. ‘See?You can’t. Anyway, your Gordon wouldn’t be so bothered. Catch him passing up the chance of getting something for nothing.’
    Sammy looked at him, then at at the cabbage in his hands. A slow realisation crept over him. ‘The gold necklaces …’
    ‘Well, what d’you think?’