Where the Heart Lies Read Online Free PDF Page A

them. The old building continued to rock and tremble as it withstood the blasts, and every second they expected the walls to cave in and crush them. As they sat, cramped, cold and terrified, they were unable to make even the most mundane observations.
    Julie discovered that Val used her gas-mask box as a handbag, keeping her fags, a small bottle of gin and a lipstick and powder compact nestled alongsidethe mask. She refused the offer of a slug of gin, while Val took regular sips and lit one cigarette after another. But as the time dragged by, Julie began to wish she could follow the other woman’s example, for a nip of gin would buck her up no end, and perhaps quell her fear of cramped, dark hidey-holes.
    When the all-clear finally sounded, Julie switched her torch back on and looked at the watch pinned to her apron. They’d only been sitting there for two hours. It had felt much longer.
    ‘Blimey,’ muttered Val as she crushed yet another fag-end under her shoe, ‘I can think of better ways to spend the bleedin’ night.’ She eased back the sheet and looked fondly at Sadie and the baby and grinned as she realised they’d both fallen asleep. ‘Lucky for some, eh? I wish I could sleep through that racket, and no mistake.’
    ‘Come on, Val,’ said Julie as she crawled out of the recess, eased her back and tried to get the blood flowing in her legs again. ‘We need to get her upstairs and into bed.’
    It took much longer to negotiate the many stairs on the way up, for there were bits of wood and lumps of plaster and concrete lying in wait to trip them up and block their way. Finally they reached the fourth-floor landing to discover that there had been no real damage to the old building and thankfully placed the mattress back on the bed.
    The room didn’t look much different from when they’d left, but the window was shattered andeverything seemed to be covered with a coating of grey dust.
    ‘I’ll clean the place up, never you mind, ducky,’ said Val. ‘You see to Sadie and the sprog.’
    While Val stirred the dust with a cloth and broom and gathered up the shattered glass, Julie eased Sadie into the overstuffed, sagging chair and shook out the dust from the once-clean sheets that Val had brought. She made the bed then poured the last of the water into the bowl. Having cleaned the baby with a damp swab, she dressed her again in the clothes that were far too big for such a tiny mite, and handed her to Val while she helped Sadie wash and change into one of her husband’s old shirts that passed for a nightgown.
    Once Sadie was back in bed, she gently placed the baby in her arms and looked down tenderly at the little girl she’d helped bring into the world. Like all the babies born in this part of town, this little one faced a tough life, but she looked as if she was well on the way to coping, for she was asleep still, which was quite remarkable considering the terrible noise she’d been born into.
    Once mother and daughter were comfortably settled, Julie packed her things away again and reached for her coat.
    ‘Thanks ever so, Sister,’ said Sadie, her eyes bright with tears as she cuddled her baby, the tiny fingers wrapped tightly round her thumb.
    ‘My pleasure,’ Julie replied with a soft smile. ‘I’llcome back tomorrow to check you over, and then every day for the next two weeks. Try and get some rest, and keep off the gin, Sadie. It will make your baby sick as you’re breastfeeding, and you don’t want that, do you?’
    Sadie shook her head, her gaze darting to her mother who had given up on the cleaning and was having a surreptitious swig out of her gin bottle.
    ‘It’s fer me nerves,’ Val explained. ‘Don’t you worry, Sister, I’ll see ’er right, and once the rest of the family get ’ere, she won’t ’ave to lift a finger.’
    Julie knew that Sadie and Val came from an enormous family that spanned several generations of Whitechapel inhabitants who lived within shouting distance of