Liverpool Annie Read Online Free PDF

with blood! Terrified, she twisted her nightdress round, and found it even bloodier.
    She was going to die!
    There was a dull, tugging ache in the pit of her stomach, as if heavy weights were suspended there about to pull everything out. Annie shook with fright and uttered a thin, high-pitched wail. The sound disturbed Marie, who turned restlessly and pulled the eiderdown over her head.
    'Marie!' Annie shook her sister awake. She had to talk to someone.
    'Whassa matter?' Marie sat up, pushing her dark hair from her eyes.
    'Look!' Annie pointed to the bed, then to her nightdress.
    'Jaysus!' said Marie in a startled voice. 'It must be that thing.' Despite being younger, Marie was better versed in the ways of the world than her sister. Months ago, she'd described how babies were born.
    'What thing.-*' Annie cried piteously.
    i can't remember what it's called, but it happens to everyone - women, that is.'
    'Why didn't you tell me!'
    Marie shrugged. 'I thought you already knew.'
    Her sister's lack of concern calmed Annie somewhat, though she still felt frightened. So, she wasn't going to die, but would she bleed like this for the rest of her life? The thought was infinitely depressing,
    'What shall I do?' It didn't cross her mind to approach her mam.
    'Tell Dot,' Marie said promptly, which was what Annie had already decided as soon as the words were out of her mouth.
    The questions in the scholarship paper didn't make sense. Annie read and re-read them, but all she could think of was the lump of old petticoat between her legs and the fact that blood might come rushing forth and drown the whole class. She forgot entirely how to do decimals, and couldn't remember what an adjective was. The two and a half hours dragged by interminably. When the time was up, she left the paper on the desk, knowing she had failed miserably.
    Tommy opened the door to Annie's knock. The eldest of Dot's boys, at seventeen he was as tall as Bert, though as thin as a rake like his mam. He wore a blue shirt under his best suit, and his ginger hair was cut Tony Curtis style. If he hadn't been her cousin and she hadn't felt so wretched, Annie would have thought him immensely attractive.
    'I'm just off into town to the pictures,' he said vaguely as she entered the house. Music came from a wireless upstairs; Alma Cogan sang 'How much is that Doggie in the Window?' In the kitchen Dot was singing along at the top of her voice. There was no sign of Bert, and Annie had already noticed the younger boys playing in the street.
    'Hallo, luv,' Dot smiled, but the smile faltered when she noticed Annie's tragic expression. 'What's the matter?'
    'I've failed the scholarship!'
    Dot's face fell, but only slightly. 'It's not the end of the world, luv, I don't believe in grammar schools,
    anyroad. Most kids pay to go and they're just a crowd of snobs. You'll be far better off in an ordinary secondary modern like the boys.'
    'It's not only that,' said Annie tearfully, 'it's . . .'
    Mike came banging down the stairs, pushed Annie to one side, and began to clean his teeth m the smk. Alan had taken up the singing where Dot left off, and he was trying to mimic Alma Cogan's gutsy tones in a way which, at any other time, would have made Annie smile.
    'What, luv?' urged Dot, then seeing Annie's eyes flicker to her cousin, she said, 'Come on, let's go in the parlour.'
    The parlour had long been returned to its former glory. The three-piece suite was in its prof)er place and the polished gatelegged table in the centre took up an inordinate amount of space considering it was only used on special occasions. In the corner, in pride of place, stood a new addition, a television, covered with a brocade cloth and a statue of Our Lady. A few days ago, at least twenty p>eople had crowded into the room to watch the coronation of Queen Elizabeth and listen to Richard Dimbleby's commentary, almost drowned out at times by Dot's vigorous condemnation of royalty and all it stood for.
    As she sat in the