The Girl in the Painted Caravan Read Online Free PDF Page A

future livelihoods would depend on their ability to deal knowledgeably in horses.
    Naughty and Alice Eva’s first child, Nathan, was born around 1902 by my estimate. He was a talented boy who, had he been educated, would have most likely become a writer. He had a real
gift for description and could hold the attention of the most impatient audience with his fascinating tales and insight into life.
    He was the first of what was to be a brood of nine, all born roughly eighteen months to two years apart, as best I can tell. Alger came next and was the most animated of the brothers. He was a
wonderful tap dancer, as was his father, although his shy nature when among outsiders prevented him from being the showman he could have been.
    Cissie was the oldest of Alice’s girls and was said to be the most beautiful. Elders in the family often said she reminded them of Merle Oberon, the famous actress who would star in Wuthering Heights with Laurence Olivier. She had a faraway look in her eyes, as if she were gazing at something only she could see. Cissie had very thick, naturally black, curly hair, as did
all of Alice’s five daughters. Cissie’s framed her angelic face and lovely tanned skin. But what made her all the more beautiful was her character.
    A representative of an advertising company for a chocolate firm once approached the family and said that they would be very interested in having Cissie on the front of one of their chocolate
boxes, as she had been spotted by one of the directors. Naughty went mad and refused in no uncertain terms. Shortly after that, a famous artist asked to paint Cissie when he saw her. He approached
Alice and, although she knew Naughty wouldn’t approve, she couldn’t resist eventually agreeing. So, behind his back, she arranged for the artist to visit the stopping ground on the days
when she knew her husband and their sons would be out tending farmers’ horses. She made sure that she and all her sisters were present as chaperones. I’ve heard that the painting was
amazingly stunning, but the artist kept it, of course, and the family has never been able to track it down.
    If this makes Naughty sound like a strict parent, well, he was, but not as strict as Alice who, with so many children to look after, had to let them know who was in control. One glance from her
was enough to make the culprit of a misdemeanour own up, or make one of the children finish a job they should have done but hadn’t. But Granny told me once that although she and Naughty would
put on a stern face at some of the children’s antics, they would often go into the vardo, out of sight, and laugh until they both cried. Granny used to say that the reason she and my
grandfather had such a wonderful relationship was because they had laughed together since they were children.
    Their third son, Walter, was a shy boy who never liked to leave his father’s side. Walter and his father could not have looked more different, yet they fitted together like two peas in a
pod and were always very close.
    Lena came next. Tall and willowy, she had a husky voice and seemed to always be laughing. She was followed by Adeline in 1912 (a date easy to remember as it was the same year the Titanic sank), who looked very much like her sisters, but had the most amazing eyes, a stunning green-brown that seemed to change colour every time you looked at her. She was a feisty girl, dominant in her
opinions and quite haughty. Everyone in the family used to laugh about how obvious it was that she would grow into a woman who could take care of herself.
    Laura Eva, my mother, was born around 1914 – another year easily remembered, coinciding as it did with the outbreak of the First World War. She only spoke when she had something to say,
but her family would always stop what they were doing whenever they saw she was about to speak. She had a sense of humour that would make a cat laugh. My mother was the gentlest soul I’ve
ever known, with the