Angel of the North Read Online Free PDF

said. ‘Thank God Mam saw sense in the end, and got them evacuated.’
    Edith Maltby, known to Marie since childhood as Aunt Edie, was clinging on to her son, George’s, arm. Her poor eyesight made her very cautious outside, though she managed well enough in
her own home. Her late husband had been in France with Marie’s father during the Great War, and the two men and their wives had been neighbours and the closest of friends until his death.
‘Your mam got the bairns out of the way just in time,’ she said. ‘I’ve hardly had two nights’ sleep this past three months. It’s been terrible.’
    ‘She didn’t do it willingly,’ Marie said, linking Aunt Edie’s other arm, ‘especially after so many bairns went off at the start of the war, and then came back home
because nothing was happening.’
    ‘Where is she? Are they following us, your mam and dad?’
    ‘No. They’ve gone to East Hull, to my aunt Clara’s. They’ll be going to the shelter on Ellis Street.’ Marie shivered, as the feeling that ‘someone had walked
over her grave’ swept through her. ‘I hope they’ll be safe,’ she said.
    ‘I hope we’ll all be safe. Have you packed nursing in, then, Marie?’ George asked.
    ‘No. Just got a couple of days off, before Chas’s leave ends. I’ll go to the infirmary as soon as the all clear sounds, see what the damage is. I’m working in casualty
now; there’ll be plenty to do there when the raid’s over, I’ve no doubt.’
    ‘You must wish you’d gone in for being a shorthand typist. They’re crying out for them as well as for nurses.’
    ‘I couldn’t sit still for long enough.’
    ‘Funny, after all the time we spent together as kids, I never pictured you as a nurse. Always imagined you’d faint at the sight of blood.’
    ‘I never pictured you as a civil engineer, come to that. But it’s surprising how soon you get used to the sight of blood. One of our doctors keeps telling us: other men’s pains
are easy to bear – and when you’ve seen enough of them, they are! Isn’t that shocking?’
    ‘No, it’s as it should be. Otherwise nobody would be able to do the job, would they? Seen anything of Nancy?’
    ‘Just about every day. I’ve seen the engagement ring,’ Marie said, with a telling glance up at Charles. ‘I did her a big favour, introducing her to you. You’ve done
her proud, George.’
    He gave her a satisfied smile. ‘Be a while before we can get married, though. She wants to pass her finals first, and I want to get a bit of money together so we can set up home in style.
What about you two?’
    Lieutenant Charles Elsworth gave George a frosty stare. He didn’t approve of men who failed to enlist. Reserved occupations, cowards and conscientious objectors, they were all the same to
him, and Marie was embarrassed to see that he took no trouble to hide his contempt for her childhood companion.
    She answered George for both of them. ‘Oh, well, I have to get my finals as well. We don’t want to rush into anything, do we, Chas?’
    ‘Some of us might not survive the war,’ Charles said. ‘Men who are at the front, fighting for their country.’
    ‘Any one of us might not survive the war,’ George commented. ‘So far there have been more deaths among civilians than soldiers. Our firemen have got more chance of being killed
than them, not to mention the engineers. My mother’s got as much chance of being killed as anybody at the front.’
    Charles did not deign to answer, and knowing George as she did, Marie expected him to drop the argument. To her surprise, he persisted. This was a very different George from the kid she’d
grown up with.
    ‘Imagine if every able-bodied man joined up – who’d keep the city functioning after the raids?’ he demanded. ‘Repair the gas mains? The water supply? The
electricity? Everything that’s vital to the life of the city? What about the roads, bridges, houses? What would happen to the people? How would the