Beyond a Misty Shore Read Online Free PDF Page A

affection, but as her mother pushed hergently forward, she assumed there was nothing odd about being called ‘queen’.
    ‘I hope we’re not going to put you out too much, Aunty Lizzie,’ Sophie said tentatively. She knew that as well as her aunt and uncle and Katie, there were two other cousins, John and Billy. There had been three boys but the oldest, Albert, had been killed in Italy. John had been in the Army too but had survived and had now been demobbed.
    Lizzie was busying herself with the teapot and the kettle. ‘Oh, we’ll manage, luv. We’re good at managing now, we’ve had plenty of practice these last six years. We were lucky, we’ve still got our house. Some poor folk were bombed out two and even three times and there are houses with three or more families living in them. And then there’s the flaming rationing to contend with,’ she added tartly. ‘But we’ll manage, we’ll sort out the beds after you’ve had some breakfast. Katie, see if you can find some clean dishes on that dresser.’
    Maria’s head was beginning to spin as she wondered if her aunt ever stopped to draw breath, but she was very grateful for the bowl of porridge and the mug of tea that were finally placed in front of her.
    ‘That early ferry leaves at an ungodly hour, doesn’t it? Almost the middle of the night. Your Uncle Jim and our John have gone off to work. They’re both on the docks which have been patched up and working flat out again with all those Yanks and Canadians going home. You’ll see them both at teatime. Oh, Lord!’ Lizzie exclaimed, suddenly getting to her feet and rushing to the kitchen door.
    Both girls looked startled as their aunt yanked open the door and bellowed, ‘Billy Quine, are you out of that bed yet, you lazy little hooligan!’ in a voice that belied her short stature.
    Katie grinned. ‘That’s me brother Billy, he hates getting up, especially for school.’
    ‘Go up and drag him out, Katie, luv. If he’s late again I’ll have that Mr Thomas round here on the bounce and I’ll be mortified, then that lad will get a hiding from your da,’ Lizzie instructed, pouring herself another cup of tea.
    The grin vanished from Katie’s face. ‘Ah, Mam! Do I have to? He won’t take no notice of me.’
    Sophie got to her feet. ‘Then maybe he’ll take some notice of me for he certainly won’t be expecting a strange cousin to appear in his room.’
    Lizzie laughed delightedly. ‘That he won’t, luv. Aye, that should certainly do the trick.’
    Katie cast Sophie a grateful look and sat down beside Maria, enviously eyeing her cousin’s neat black and white checked dress and her thick curly dark hair. ‘How old are you, Maria,’ she asked hesitantly.
    ‘Eighteen.’
    ‘I’m seventeen,’ Katie informed her.
    ‘Don’t you have a job? Sophie and I will have to get some kind of work and as soon as we possibly can.’ Maria had finished the porridge and was now eyeing her cousin with far less hostility. It certainly couldn’t be easy living in this madhouse, she thought.
    ‘I work in a shop, a sort of small department store. Not like the big ones in town, of course, those that are left after all the bombing. It’s called Heaton’s, they sell all kinds of things, but it’s my day off today.’ She paused. ‘I like your frock,’ she added a little shyly.
    ‘Sophie made it. She makes nearly all our clothes, when we can get the material. It’s much cheaper than buying them,’ Maria replied chattily, proud of her sister’s accomplishments.
    ‘Did she? Well, if she can sew like that she shouldn’t have any trouble getting taken on at Marsden’s, they make overalls. They’re back in business now,’ Lizzie informed her. ‘And what are you good at, Maria?’ she probed, thinking that beside Katie, her niece looked what her son John would call a ‘real stunner’.
    Maria shrugged. ‘I’m not bad at figures and my writing is neat. I’m good at baking too. Mam says I’ve the lightest