Free The Girls in Blue by Lily Baxter

sob.
    ‘Yeah, well, it happens. I never knew mine so I wouldn’t know if he was alive or dead. Anyway, yours is okay so stop snivelling and do something useful. If we don’t get in quick we’ll find ourselves dossing down with dozens of snotty kids.’
    Rita’s abrasive manner was all that was needed to goad Miranda into action. ‘You’re right. I don’t mind sharing my room with you at a push.’
    ‘Ta, your majesty. That’s very gracious, I’m sure.’ Rita tempered her words with a cheeky wink and a grin. She linked her hand through Miranda’s arm. ‘I’m glad it wasn’t your dad, and I can’t wait to meet Jack. He sounds like a bit of all right.’
    ‘Rita, you wouldn’t! He’s twenty-seven if he’s a day.’
    ‘I like older men. They’re much more fun than boys my age and they’ve got more money. Has Jack got a girlfriend?’
    ‘Lots. You’ll have to join the queue and I don’t fancy your chances.’
    ‘We’ll see about that. In fact, I’m beginning to think I’ll like it here after all. Let’s hope Mrs Proffitt doesn’t get better too quickly.’
    Miranda had no answer to this. ‘We’d best go indoors and see what we can do to help.’
    The moment they set foot in the house Miranda and Rita were sent to help Annie find enough clean linen to make up beds while Maggie allocated rooms, sorted out squabbling children and soothed anxious mothers with promises of tea and cakes. Miranda had overhead the last remark and smiled to herself, wondering if the ladies knew what they had let themselves in for.
    ‘You’ll have to share your room with Rita,’ Maggie said as they passed her on the stairs. ‘I’d have let the women use Jack’s room, but as he’s turning up like the proverbial bad penny they’ll have to double up in the guest rooms.’
    Annie stuck her head over the banisters. ‘How many are we talking about, Mrs B? There seem to be dozens of kids running loose. Can’t their mothers keep them under control?’
    ‘They’ve just lost everything,’ Maggie said severely. ‘The least we can do is to help them rest and get themselves straight before they go on their way. But in answer to your question, there are seven mothers and eighteen children, although six of them are babes in arms. We can take drawers out of the tallboys to use as makeshift cots and I think there are some camp beds stored in the attic. We’ll need to bring them down and all the bedding you can find.’ She continued downstairs without waiting for anyone to question her.
    Annie shook her head. ‘Madness. That’s what it is. You heard what your granny said, Miranda. You and Rita can fetch the camp beds and put them in the spare rooms and I’ll see to the bedding. I don’t trust you two in my linen cupboard, you’d muddle everything up.’
    ‘Come on, Rita.’ Miranda took the remainder of the stairs two at a time. She paused on the landing waiting for her to catch up.
    ‘How many rooms in this gaff?’ Rita demanded, staring around wide-eyed and obviously impressed. ‘It’s like a blooming hotel.’
    ‘There are six bedrooms and a boxroom on this floor and then up the next flight is my Uncle Jack’s room, that’s my favourite because it leads out to the widow’s walk. There are some smaller attic rooms, but they haven’t been used for years.’
    Rita followed her along the landing and up the second flight of stairs. ‘What’s a widow’s walk when it’s at home?’
    ‘It’s just a balcony really, overlooking the sea. This house was built in Victorian times by a sea captain. His wife used to watch for his ship coming home from the widow’s walk.’
    Rita frowned. ‘But if she was a widow her old man would be dead.’
    ‘I suppose a lot of the seafarers didn’t return, and I don’t think it’s a proper widow’s walk. As far as I know they’re more American than English, so I think it’s probably just a story that somebody made up to explain why they put a balcony at the top of this