Free The Buffer Girls by Margaret Dickinson Page A

she doesn’t get extra pay – but
she’s the best worker of all of us, though it pains me to admit it.’ Lizzie laughed. ‘Oh, and by the way, I saw your face when the missus said you’d got to buy your own work
clothes. Don’t worry. I’ve got some old ones you can start off with.’
    As they entered the courtyard, the door of Lizzie’s home opened and a young man stepped out. He was wearing agrey suit and a striped waistcoat with a white shirt and tie, black boots and
a cloth cap. Dark haired like his sister, he was thin faced, with a bony, hooked nose and steely blue eyes that were set a little too close together for Emily’s liking. He grinned at her
cheekily. ‘So you’re our pretty new neighbour Lizzie can’t stop talking about. But to be honest –’ and that was something Emily instinctivelydoubted happened very
often in his world – ‘it’s your brother she talks about the most.’ His piercing eyes raked her up and down, making her feel distinctly uncomfortable. Dressed in her
workaday, drab and now dirty clothes, Emily felt at a distinct disadvantage. The young man was certainly not dressed for work and she guessed he was heading out for a night on the town.
Unnecessarily,for Emily had guessed exactly who the young man was, Lizzie said, ‘This is my brother, Mick. I told you about him.’
    Emily smiled thinly and nodded in greeting.
    ‘If you’re off into town,’ Lizzie said, ‘just watch yourself, our Mick. Don’t go getting kaylied.’
    ‘Now, why would I get drunk? I’ve got to keep my wits about me in my business.’
    ‘Well, don’t go getting into any fights.You’ll upset Mam.’
    As he passed close to them, he tweaked Lizzie’s nose playfully. ‘You worry too much, Sis. I can take care of missen. Night, night, sleep tight, watch the bugs don’t
bite.’ And he pushed his hands into his pockets and walked jauntily out of the yard, whistling loudly and, surprisingly, quite tunefully.
    ‘He’s a one,’ Lizzie said, watching him go and shaking her head.‘He’s a right worry to Mam and me. Always in some scrape or other right from when he was little.
But he’s a good lad, really. He looks out for me and Mam. We don’t go short of anything if Mick can help it. I just hope he doesn’t get himself into real trouble. It’d be
the death of me mam.’
    As Emily walked in through the door of their house, longing to have a quick wash and lie down on herbed, even if only for a few minutes, Martha greeted her with the words,
‘I need help with your dad. He’s had a nasty turn today and his breathing’s worse.’
    ‘What did you expect, Mam?’ Tired and irritable and thinking longingly of the little cottage back in Ashford, Emily snapped, ‘Bringing him here . . . the air’s thick with
smoke. You can hardly see the sun sometimes.’
    Martha’s eyesflashed. ‘I’ll have less of your cheek, miss. And where’s Josh? How’s he got on today?’
    Not a word of enquiry about her day, the girl noted wryly. ‘I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since first thing this morning.’
    ‘No doubt he’s doing so well they want him to work late,’ Martha said. Her faith in her son’s abilities knew no bounds.
    ‘Whatever it is you want me to do, Mam, I must havea wash first.’
    For the first time Martha seemed to become aware of her daughter’s blackened face and dirty hands. ‘Go on, then,’ she said impatiently, ‘but be quick. I need to get your
dad upstairs to his bed, else he’ll likely fall out of the chair.’
    It was a struggle to get Walter up the steep, narrow stairs.
    ‘Couldn’t we have waited until Josh gets home?’
    ‘No, we’ll have tomanage. Josh has got his career to think of. We can’t expect him always to be on hand. Right, you go downstairs and peel the potatoes whilst I get him
sorted. Come on, Walter, do try to help yourself a bit.’
    Emily glanced at the pathetic figure of her dad. He was nothing like the man she remembered, who had