Off the Rails Read Online Free PDF Page B

– come about?’
    ‘He’s my uncle, ma’am.’
    ‘Is he, by Jove?’ Richard said, very much impressed. ‘Fancy. Now he’s what I call a rich man. Very rich by all accounts. A regular Croesus. Runs a coach and four, house full of servants, property all over, in Hutton and Cranswick and Newton-on-Derwent, even as far afield as Whitby and Huntington, so they say.’
    ‘Aye, so he has,’ George said with enormous satisfaction. Now, he thought, happen they’ll treat me with a bit more respect.

3
    T HAT FIRST WEEK with Aunt Tot was the longest Jane Jerdon had ever had to endure. The work was endless. She’d no sooner cleared away one meal and scoured the dishes before she had to start preparing the next. Aunt Tot roasted the meat on the spit and made pies and pastries but as far as Jane could see everything else was down to her. She fell into her truckle bed far too late at night, too tired to think. And the baby grew heavier day by day.
    ‘Oh, my little Milly Millstone,’ she said to it, as it wriggled and kicked its feet against her ribs. ‘I’ll be reet glad when th’art out in t’world.’
    But when she woke at first light on Monday morning to the realization that her belly was being gripped by an unfamiliar pain, she was caught in a sudden fear and prayed that this wasn’t the baby coming. I’ve eaten summat, she decided as the pain ebbed away. That’s how ’tis. I got the gripes. But the next pain was so strong there was no denying what it was. Oh my dear heart alive, she thought. How shall I make out?
    She tried to remember what she’d heard about birthing a baby and it wasn’t very much. I should have asked Mrs Hardcastle afore I left the village, she thought, but it was too late to be thinking of it now. The next pain started before she’d caught her breath from the last one. It was so powerful it made her groan. And so did the next one. And the next. Soon she was groaning as the pains began. She simply couldn’t help it.
    After what seemed like a very long time, she became aware that there was a face leaning towards her and that someone was calling her name. ‘Janey! Janey!’ And she made an enormous effort and opened her eyes. It was an oddly familiar face but she couldn’t place it. ‘Who…?’ she said.
    ‘See if you can sit up,’ the face advised, and it was speaking with Aunt Tot’s voice. But this wasn’t her aunt surely. Not this woman with her long brown hair tumbling out of her nightcap and her eyes looking concerned and her voice gentle. ‘Audrey’s here to help us,’ the face said. ‘Just swing your legs round, like a good girl, and see if you can stand up. Tek your time. There’s no rush. We’ll hold on to you.’
    Another face. This time the milkmaid’s. Hands supporting her under the arms. I’ll never be able to stand up, she thought. And stood up.
    ‘’Tis only a few steps,’ Aunt Tot said. ‘Just down to my room. You’ll be more private there. ’Tis all ready for ’ee.’
    ‘I’ve not lit the fire,’ Jane panted. ‘The bread wants …’
    ‘Don’t you worry your head about fires and bread,’ Aunt Tot said as they staggered out of the kitchen. ‘That’s all took care of. You just concentrate on birthing this baby. Just a few more steps. There’s a good girl.’
    They were in a quiet bedroom, with a high bed mounded with pillows. They were lifting her into it, easing her onto a thick towel, plumping the pillows to make her more comfortable. And she was more comfortable. The pains were still hard but they were easier to contend with now that she was sitting up and had company.
    ‘I’ll just nip back to t’kitchen for a minute, to tend to t’fire and t’bread and such,’ Aunt Tot said. ‘You’ll manage, won’t you, Audrey? You know where I am if you need me.’
    The room was so quiet that Jane could hear Audrey breathing and a clock ticking somewhere nearby. She wondered what the time was and how long this birth would go on and what would