Beyond a Misty Shore Read Online Free PDF

touch with pastry she’s ever seen.’
    ‘I could ask if there are any vacancies where I work, if you like?’ Katie offered generously, wondering if Sophie would perhaps make her something to wear. It was ages since she’d had anything new and smart.
    Maria beamed at her. ‘Would you? I wouldn’t mind working in a big shop. The shops at home are all small, unless you go to Douglas, of course.’
    ‘Not that there’s much in any of the shops these days. Still, things are bound to get better soon. At least I flaming well hope so, I was only saying to Martha Ryan next door—’
    Lizzie’s flow of conversation was interrupted by thesudden appearance of a tousle-headed lad, hastily dragging a grey woollen jumper over his creased, knee-length school trousers. ‘Who’s that girl, Mam? She come into me room and dragged the quilt off me! She said ’er name is Sophie an’ that she’s me cousin!’
    Lizzie glared at her eight-year-old son. ‘Would you just look at the cut of him? Tidy yourself up and comb your hair, meladdo. She
is
your cousin Sophie and this is your other cousin, Maria, and if you’d got up when I first called you, you’d have been introduced properly, like. And don’t think you’ve got time for much breakfast because you haven’t. A bit of bread and dripping will have to do and you can eat it on the way to school. And tomorrow morning, you’ll be up the same time as your da and John because you’ll be taking little Bella here to school with you, it’s all arranged, and we can’t have her being late on her first morning.’
    Young Billy Quine looked horrified at his mother’s words. No proper breakfast and then tomorrow he’d have to be up at the same time as his da, which was almost the middle of the night! For the first time he caught sight of the girl his mam had called ‘Bella’. She was small, about four or five, with a mop of dark curly hair that fell to her shoulders and she was gazing at him with the biggest, bluest eyes he’d ever seen.
    ‘Is she old enough to go to school?’ he asked apprehensively.
    Bella, who had so far not uttered a word, found her voice. ‘I am so! I’m five.’ She had listened in fascination to her Aunty Lizzie’s remarks, to her strange accent and way ofgoing on and had decided she quite liked her. Having had breakfast and warmed up, she had begun to feel happier and more secure. Some of her natural self-confidence and determination had returned.
    ‘See! She’s got a mind of her own, has this little one. Now, get off with you and don’t go dawdling or kicking the toes out of those boots either or I swear to God you’ll go barefoot. New boots don’t grow on trees,’ Lizzie instructed firmly, getting to her feet and propelling her youngest son bodily through the door into the scullery.
    Maria looked at Katie and grinned. ‘Is it always like this?’
    Katie rolled her eyes and giggled. ‘It’s worse when me da and our John are in too. Me mam can certainly talk the hind leg off a donkey, can’t she?’
    ‘She can indeed,’ Maria laughed as Sophie returned to the kitchen.
    ‘I can see you two are getting on well,’ Sophie commented. ‘Right, let’s give Aunty Lizzie a hand to clear away and get these dishes washed.’
    ‘Oh, there’s no rush to do that, half the time Mam doesn’t bother to do them until after dinnertime,’ Katie informed her.
    ‘Really? Well, don’t you think it would be easier for her if we did them now? She must have a lot of housework to do.’ Sophie smiled, glancing quickly at Maria, whose eyebrows had shot up. They had been brought up to keep the house tidy and dirty dishes had always been washed, dried and put away immediately after a meal.
    Katie shrugged as Sophie began to quickly stack the dishes and Maria gathered up the stained newspapers on the table top.
    ‘Aunty Lizzie, you sit down. We’ll clear away, it’s the least we can do. Mam told us to be sure we made ourselves useful. We’re not here to be