Sunlight on the Mersey Read Online Free PDF

holiday with her mam and sister to a farm in Tregarron. Gwen had been the farmer’s daughter and the same age as herself and they’d become firm friends. Her sister Molly had been recovering from a severe bout of measles, which had given her the idea to send Rose. Gwen’s parents were now dead and her brother ran the farm. Gwen, who had never married, lived in a small cottage adjacent to the village post office where she was the postmistress.
    ‘A few months in the country with fresh, clean air and good wholesome food will do her the world of good, Bill, you have to agree with that,’ she urged.
    ‘It will, but will she want to go, Kate? Will she be happy living in the middle of nowhere?’ he asked. ‘She’s a city girl, she’s used to all the shops, public transport and other amenities Liverpool has to offer.’ He wasn’t at all sure that his daughter would think this was a good idea.
    ‘Like dirt and disease!’ Kate added scathingly. ‘Thankfully she’ll get over this but it might leave her weakened and then she will pick up everything that’s going around. No, Bill, we’ve had enough worries over our Rose’s health to last a lifetime and I feel this will help her to get over that Jimmy Harper too. She’s been really cut up about the way he treated her, although if you ask me she’s better off without him, the little toe-rag seems to have the morals of an alley cat. A few months with Gwen will stand her in good stead, build her up, and when she returns we’ll think about her helping me in theshop. I’m going to suggest it to Dr Mackenzie and I’m sure he’ll agree with me.’
    Bill nodded slowly. ‘But we can’t expect Gwen to keep her free of charge, Kate. And what will Rose do all day?’
    ‘I’ve already thought about that. I’ve a few pounds saved, I won’t send her there empty-handed and I suppose she could give Gwen a hand in the post office at busy times. It’s not as if it’s going to be for ever.’
    Bill sighed as he picked up the newspaper. ‘Well, the doctor can tell you when she will be fit to travel but I think you’d better see what she has to say about the whole thing first. She might well flatly refuse to go.’
    Kate got up to put the kettle on, thinking that when she’d finished telling Rose about the gloriously happy time she’d spent in Tregarron the girl would raise no objections. She’d hint, too, that it would help Rose to get over the upset she’d recently suffered.
    The following morning before she opened the shop Kate went up to see her daughter and outlined what she had in mind for Rose’s convalescence, putting great emphasis on the pretty, peaceful countryside, the benefits of clean air and good food and the possibility that if Rose were to find things a bit too quiet then she could help out in the post office.
    ‘It would be far, far better for you than staying here in Liverpool and going back to work in that hotel. You must find it quite a – a trial now, luv, having to see . . . certain people every day, and you know how hot the summer months can be and how the stench from the ashcans and privies would turnyour stomach. You’ll love it. You know Aunty Gwen and a few hours helping her wouldn’t seem like work at all, would it?’ she urged.
    Rose had listened to the description of the village and the countryside with some trepidation but it was the thought of going back to Black’s and seeing Jimmy Harper again combined with the images and smells of the city in summer her mother’s words had evoked that won the day. She smiled. ‘It would be wonderful to get away from all that, Mam, and I do like Aunty Gwen.’ In fact she had only met the small, dark-haired, energetic Gwen Roberts – on whom Kate had bestowed the honorary title of ‘Aunty’ – a few times, but she remembered her as being a rather pleasant gossipy person, and her mam always talked about her affectionately.
    Kate smiled back with relief. ‘I knew you’d agree. Now, let me