Tiger Bay Blues Read Online Free PDF Page A

focused on Peter.
    ‘Edyth,’ Susie joined them with David’s sister, Martha, ‘I don’t have to sit at the children’s table in the marquee, do I? We’re both thirteen and Martha is on Uncle Victor’s table with the twins.’
    ‘It’s probably a mistake.’ Edyth was stricken by an attack of conscience. ‘Is there room for you on Uncle Victor’s table as well as Martha?’
    ‘Only if we move one of the younger boys to the children’s table. Ben’s six months younger than me.’
    ‘Swap the place cards over, but don’t tell anyone I told you to do it. And if Ben objects, tell him Belle and Toby wanted him to sit with the little ones because he’s so good at keeping them in order.’
    ‘Edyth?’ Maggie waved to her from the middle of a group of fellow pupils from the grammar school.
    ‘David, be an angel?’ Edyth gave him a brilliant smile.
    ‘I’ll try.’
    The Master of Ceremonies rang a bell. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. The wedding breakfast is about to be served.’
    ‘Tell Maggie I’ll talk to her after the meal.’ She darted over to Peter, leaving David feeling as though she’d slapped him in the face.
    ‘My father died suddenly of a heart attack when I was fourteen and, as the vicarage my parents had lived in all their married life was needed for the next incumbent, Mother and I had to move out of our home less than a week after his death.’ Peter Slater murmured ‘thank you’ to the waitress who set a plate of cold salmon in front of him.
    ‘How tragic, to lose your father at that age, and then your home. You must have been devastated.’ Edyth’s sympathy was heartfelt. She adored her father and couldn’t bear to think of him dying.
    ‘Losing our home was nothing in comparison to losing my father. I miss his guidance and advice even more since I was ordained. But I was born in that vicarage in Mumbles and had lived in the village all my life. However, God provides. People are kind. My mother’s eldest sister is also a widow. She offered us a home with her in the village of Sketty, which is only a few miles from Mumbles, so I was able to visit my friends in the holidays. Only in the holidays, because I changed schools after my father’s death. The Church offered to pay for my education and I went to boarding school. After I matriculated, they arranged a place for me at the theological college in Lampeter. I was grateful, but I confess, welcoming as the parishioners in Pontypridd have been, I miss the sea after growing up so close to it.’
    ‘I love the sea, too.’ Edyth gazed into his eyes and pictured them walking hand in hand along a deserted beach.
    ‘It’s never the same two days running. Even when the weather remains fine, the sea changes colour. I used to spend hours on the beach as a child, building sand castles, collecting shells, crabs and other fishy things. Although I’m not so sure Mother appreciated me cluttering my bedroom with them.’
    ‘I’m sure she didn’t really mind. If she had done she wouldn’t have allowed you to bring them into the house.’
    ‘You’re probably right. But then, aren’t most mothers tolerant of their children’s foibles?’
    Edyth fought the urge to smooth away the lines that had appeared at the corners of his eyes when he revisited his childhood memories. ‘You left Lampeter at the end of last term?’ she fished, hoping he’d tell her how long he’d be staying in Pontypridd.
    ‘No, St Catherine’s is my fourth parish.’
    ‘Really?’ Edyth abandoned all pretence of eating, cupped her chin in her hand and stared unashamedly at him. ‘Where else have you been?’
    ‘Here, there and everywhere. It amuses the Bishop to move curates around at short notice. It saves him the trouble of setting up a chessboard,’ he joked. ‘I’ve just come from Llanelli. I was there for six months and before that I spent a year in Brecon, two in Merthyr, and almost three in Bridgend. I like to think the decreasing