An Orphan's Secret
Page 37
‘Now then,’ said Mr Hodgson, ‘light your candles now. Don’t step on the grass, mind, keep to the gravel.’
Guilty feet shuffled off the grass and the choir clustered round the harmonium, their uplifted faces lit by the glow of the candles. Hannah gazed at the light shining through a chink in the curtains and her heart began to beat rapidly. She was frightened of Mr Durkin – would he chase them away? Mr Durkin didn’t like pit folk, he’d said so that day at the colliery office.
The harmonium started up and the choir sang ‘Oh Come All Ye Faithful’. Suddenly they were bathed in a light which put the candles to shame as the curtains were drawn back.
‘Electric,’ breathed Hannah. She’d seen electric light before, but only in the shops in Newgate Street. She forgot to sing as she gazed into the room, at the red plush armchairs and the huge Christmas tree in the corner, twinkling with gold and silver ornaments and topped by a big fairy with shining silver wings. And then she forgot about the Christmas tree as she saw Timothy, the boy who had been in the car, standing by the window, smiling straight at her.
The choir finished their carol and the door opened. Hannah shrank back against her sister but it was not Mr Durkin who came to the door, it was a stranger, tall and haughty, dressed in a funny sort of black jacket and striped trousers.
‘The master says you’re to come into the hall, and mind you wipe your feet,’ he announced grandly, looking over the heads of the choir as though he was speaking to the trees at the end of the drive. Hannah looked uncertainly at Mr Hodgson but he was moving forwards quite unperturbed and the choir was following him.
They were ushered into a large hall, all gleaming, polished wood and with a red carpet in the middle. At one end there was a wide staircase and there was even carpet going up the stairs, not a strip of linoleum like they had at home.
Mr Durkin and Timothy came through a door at the side and Hannah was thankful to see that the agent was smiling.
‘Good evening to you all,’ he said and they all mumbled a reply. Hannah smiled shyly at Timothy and he smiled back.
‘Can you sing “Still the Night”, do you think?’ asked Mr Durkin.
‘Yes, sir, of course.’ The choirmaster beamed. He glanced down at Hannah and hesitated. ‘I wonder, sir … our little Hannah here, she has a lovely voice and she’s been rehearsing it for the Sunday-school party. Would you like to hear her sing the first verse, sir? Then we’ll all join in the second.’
Hannah’s throat closed up and she stared up at Mr Hodgson, her dark eyes filled with fright. Surely he wasn’t going to make her sing for Mr Durkin! But Mr Hodgson chose not to see the appeal on her face; instead, he took hold of her shoulder and drew her to the front of the choir.
‘Now then, pet,’ he encouraged her, ‘just pretend you’re singing in the chapel. Sing it just like we practised.’ Drawing a tuning fork from his waistcoat pocket, he struck the note, and Hannah opened her mouth obediently, though she was sure she wasn’t going to be able to sing at all.
But sing she did, faltering a little over the first few notes but then losing herself in the lovely old carol. Her pure tones gained strength and rang out over the choir and the well of the staircase lent resonance to the music. The choir joined in the second verse and after a while Hannah was conscious of a new voice. Looking across at Timothy, she realised it was his baritone she could hear.
There was a moment’s silence after the hymn before Mr Durkin finally broke it. ‘Very nice,’ he said. ‘Timothy, fetch some mince pies from the kitchen.’ He took a gold watch out of his waistcoat pocket and peered at the dial pointedly. ‘Well, good night to you all and a merry Christmas.’ He turned and went back through a door at the side of the hall, not even noticing the collection box held up by Alf. Mr Hodgson sighed.
Timothy came back and handed round a plate of mince pies and the choir ate them quietly. Seeing the collection box, he fumbled in his pocket and put in a sixpence.
‘You have a lovely voice,’ he said to Hannah, and she smiled shyly.
‘You an’ all,’ she answered.
‘Well, we’d better be going, we still have to go to the manager’s house,’ said Mr Hodgson and he ushered the choir out of the hall and down the drive.
Hannah looked round just before they got to the gates and saw Timothy standing at the window, watching them. On impulse, she gave a little wave and he must have seen her for he lifted his arm and waved back. Hannah felt a tiny glow of happiness. Was he lonely in that big house with his father and the snooty man, she wondered.
Also by Maggie Hope:
THE MINER’S GIRL
A terrible choice between her sweetheart and her reputation . . .
Orphaned from birth, Mary Trent has always dreamed of the day she can escape from poverty, and when she meets the dashing young doctor Tom Gallagher, it seems her prayers have been answered.
But an untimely pregnancy spells disaster and the threat of returning to a life of destitution. Is a marriage of convenience the only thing that can save her?
Available from Ebury Press
Also available from Ebury Press:
WAR ORPHANS
By Lizzie Lane
“If at all possible, send or take your household animals into the country in advance of an emergency. If you cannot place them in the care of neighbours, it really is kindest to have them destroyed.”
Joanna Ryan’s father has gone off to war, leaving her in the care of her step-mother, a woman more concerned with having a good time than being any sort of parent to her.
But then she finds a puppy, left for dead, and Joanna becomes determined to save him, sharing her meagre rations with him. But, in a time of war, pets are only seen as an unnecessary burden and she is forced to hide her new friend, Harry, from her step-mother and the authorities. With bombs falling over Bristol and with the prospect of evacuation on the horizon can they stay together and keep each other safe?
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Epub ISBN: 9781448177868
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Ebury Press, an imprint of Ebury Publishing
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Ebury Press is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com
Copyright © Una Horne writing as Maggie Hope 1994
Extract from The Coal Miner’s Daughter © Una Horne writing as Maggie Hope, 1994, 2017
Cover image: Gordon Crabb; background © Getty Images
Cover: www.headdesign.co.uk
Maggie Hope has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This novel is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental
First published in 1994 as Bright is the Dawn by Judy Piatkus (Publishers) Ltd
First published by Ebury Press in 2016
www.eburypublishing.co.uk
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9780091956226
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