The baby had taken so long being born that Polly had stayed for supper with the Dalbys and played two games of chess with Maurice on the landing, losing both times, because Maurice was rather good at chess. “It’s like war,” he told her. “All about manoeuvres and stealth.”
It was almost bedtime before Mrs. Parks came down with the news. “You’ve got a new baby brother! Come up and meet him!”
“A boy! Oh, what wonderful news!” Mrs. Dalby clapped her hands. “There, didn’t I tell you it would be a boy? Your father will be so delighted!”
But Polly, not delighted at all, had felt a lump of sourness inside her as she climbed the stairs as slowly as she could – a lump that stuck in her throat and would hardly let her swallow.
“Come along!” Mrs. Parks urged, as if the new baby were already so important that he mustn’t be kept waiting five minutes.
In the bedroom, Mama smiled wearily from her propped-up pillows. “Here he is! Come and see.” She was holding a white bundle that looked too tiny to be a baby. Polly bent over to look, and saw a small red face bunched up tightly, an almost cross expression, and a hand with tiny, tiny fingernails.
“Oh!” She couldn’t help it; she heard the adoring note in her voice she had heard other people use when they looked at babies.
Papa was sitting in a chair beside the bed. “Meet your big sister!” he told the baby, in a funny, crooning voice Polly couldn’t remember him ever using before. “She’s going to be a very important person in your life.”
Mama reached up her spare hand to pull Polly towards her for a kiss and a one-armed hug. “He’s a very lucky baby, to have the best sister in the world! Would you like to hold him?”
He is so beautiful, Polly wrote. Have you ever held a new baby? I hadn’t, and it was amazing. He is so little and so light to hold, but then he wriggled and I could feel how strong and alive he is. His eyes are open but he doesn’t even know how to see things yet. Isn’t it amazing to think of all the things he will have to learn?
Mama gave a tired smile, settling her head comfortably against the pillows. “Thank you, darling.”
“What for?” Polly couldn’t think of anything that deserved thanks.
“For being so good.” Mama tried to stifle a yawn. “So helpful and considerate. You know you really can be such a good girl, when you want to be.”
Well, yes. It was funny, Polly thought, how grown-ups sometimes said what was not quite what they meant, but was truer than what they’d intended to say. Yes, when I want to be; but that isn’t always.
“What is it, Polly?” said Mama, who was sometimes very good at knowing when Polly was hiding something. Papa had gone into the drawing room to start writing cards to all the relations with news of the baby’s arrival.
“It’s – well, I—” Polly did not know how to put it, but came straight out with, “I expect you and Papa are very pleased to have a boy, because you’d have been disappointed if it had been another girl, wouldn’t you?” It sounded like an accusation. “I mean, everyone says, at least Mrs. Dalby does, that a boy would be best.”
“Polly! Is that what you’ve been worrying about?” Mama said gently. “Yes, we’re delighted to have a boy, because now we’re very lucky to have a son and a lovely daughter. But you mustn’t ever think we love one of you more than the other! Promise me you will never believe that?”
“The way Papa talked to the baby just now!” Polly said, to avoid answering. “I don’t believe he ever talked to me like that!”
“Polly,” Mama said firmly. “When you were born, your father was the proudest man in London. He told me he felt as if he could leap the River Thames in one bound or jump up and swing from the hands of Big Ben. And he still is, Polly – as proud of his daughter as I am.”
Mama and I have a secret, now, Polly wrote. I didn’t think Mama ever had secrets from Papa, but she does, and this is it.
“He gets such an unfair start, being a boy!” Now that Polly had started, something seemed to be pushing her to say more and more, all the things she had kept inside for so long. “I’m only a girl, so I have to be ladylike, and do what I’m told, and behave nicely, and have other people decide for me. He’s only just born, but he’ll be able to vote when he’s grown-up, and boss people about, and think himself better than me!”
“But, Polly, darling!” Mama rocked the baby gently in her arms. “Things are changing now, for women especially. You’ll have the vote when you’re old enough, I’m certain – thanks to the efforts of people like Miss Rutherford and Miss Cross, and their determination—”
“Mama!” Polly was astonished. “I thought you disapproved of them!”
Mama smiled. “I disapprove of some of the things they do. Your father disapproves of them, certainly. But—” She glanced at the closed door. “Perhaps this had better be our secret, Polly. I also admire them. I admire them for standing up for what they believe in, and for fighting for it. They are so brave, so determined not to give in! I could never do that myself, but I’m very glad there are people who do.”
So, who would have guessed it? My mother a secret suffragette sympathizer! And now that we’ve got one secret, we can have more – that I shall write to Violet in the Old Ford Road, and even go to visit if I can. I have written her new address in the marbled notebook you gave me, which I use for my Plans and Ideas. My Plans and Ideas will have to be secret, but I will share them with you.
Papa sets the rules of the house, but he cannot tell me what to think. Mama always does what he says, because he is her husband and she promised to obey him and that is what everyone expects. But things are changing, even Mama says so. Things will be different when we grow up. I’m going to be an explorer, and by then I expect women will be able to do all sorts of things they don’t do now. Papa will have to get used to it.
He is so pleased and relieved about the baby, and that Mama is recovering well, that she thinks if I explain to him again about Hyde Park, and make him understand that it really was all my idea, not yours or Aunt Dorothy’s, he will change his mind about the piano lessons, and will let me come to stay with you. Except now of course there’s the war and that changes things again, because who knows what will happen? Maybe I’ll be allowed to be friends with Edwina, too, now that she’s giving up campaigning, to support the war effort. Papa can’t object to that, can he?
So for now I shall have to make do with Maurice. But that’s another strange thing – I have decided that Maurice isn’t so bad after all, even if he does always beat me at chess. I think I will have to be truthful and say that I like him.
Isn’t it amazing how people can keep surprising you?
Author’s note
It was our editor who had the clever idea of publishing three stories set in the same house, at different times. From then on, we three authors had great fun deciding where “our” house should be, how it should look, inside and out, and how it would change as the years went by. That made it very interesting, once I’d written Polly’s March, to read the stories written by my two friends – especially as I bumped into one of my own characters, Edwina, who reappears in Ann’s story, Josie Under Fire!
It took me no time at all to decide that my story would be set in 1914 – the campaign for Votes for Women is something I’ve always wanted to write about. At twelve, Polly is too young to be a suffragette, but she is greatly impressed by Edwina and Violet, the older girls who move in upstairs.
By now, No. 6, Chelsea Walk really does feel like a house I’ve lived in myself. Who knows – maybe I’ll have the chance to revisit it in another story?
About the author
Linda Newbery is the successful author of over twenty books for children and teenagers. She was first inspired to write when teaching English at a secondary school. Her novels have garnered much critical acclaim and The Shell House and Sisterland have both been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.
Linda lives in an Oxfordshire village with her husband and three cats.
&
nbsp; To find out more about Linda Newbery, you can visit her website: www.lindanewbery.co.uk
Usborne Quicklinks
For links to interesting websites where you can find out more about the suffragette movement and women’s rights, and listen to soldiers describing their experiences in the First World War, go to the Usborne Quicklinks website at www.usborne.com/quicklinks and enter the keyword “polly”.
When using the Internet, make sure you follow these safety guidelines:
Ask an adult’s permission before using the Internet.
Never give out personal information, such as your name, address or telephone number.
If a website asks you to type in your name or e-mail address, check with an adult first.
If you receive an e-mail from someone you don’t know, don’t reply to it.
Usborne Publishing is not responsible and does not accept liability for the availability or content of any website other than its own, or for any exposure to harmful, offensive, or inaccurate material which may appear on the Web. Usborne Publishing will have no liability for any damage or loss caused by viruses that may be downloaded as a result of browsing the sites it recommends. We recommend that children are supervised while on the Internet.
Collect The Historical House series
Mary Ann & Miss Mozart
1764
Ann Turnbull
Mary Ann’s greatest wish is to become an opera singer, but when she is told she must leave her Boarding School for Young Ladies, her singing dreams are shattered. Distraught, she comes up with a plan to stay at school, oblivious to the danger it will put her in…
ePub ISBN 9781409590897
Lizzie’s Wish
1857
Adèle Geras
When Lizzie’s stepfather sends her to stay with relatives in London, Lizzie struggles to adapt to her new life of stiff manners and formal pastimes. She lives for the daily letters from her mother, but when the letters suddenly stop, Lizzie sets out to discover the truth and finds herself on a rescue mission.
ePub ISBN 9781409590910
Cecily’s Portrait
1895
Adèle Geras
Cecily is enchanted when she meets Rosalind, a photographer, who seems to be the perfect match for Cecily’s lonely widowed father. But her father’s friend, the dull and dowdy Miss Braithwaite, keeps spoiling her plans to unite the pair. Will Cecily’s dreams ever come true?
ePub ISBN 9781409590934
Polly’s March
1914
Linda Newbery
When Polly discovers her new neighbours are suffragettes, fighting for women’s right to vote, she is determined to join their protest march. But her parents are scandalized. Will she dare to defy them and do what she thinks is right?
ePub ISBN 9781409590958
Josie Under Fire
1941
Ann Turnbull
When Josie goes to stay with her cousin, Edith, she tries to fit in by joining Edith and her friends in teasing a timid classmate. But when the bullying gets out of hand, Josie faces a dilemma: she knows what it feels like to be picked on, but if she takes a stand, will Edith tell everyone her secret?
ePub ISBN 9781409590972
Andie’s Moon
1969
Linda Newbery
Andie dreams of becoming an artist and loves living in Chelsea, with the fashion, music and art galleries along the trendy King’s Road. There’s even a real artist living in the flat downstairs. Could Andie’s paintings, inspired by the excitement of the first-ever moon landing, be good enough to win his approval?
ePub ISBN 9781409590996
For more fascinating stories go to
www.usborne.com/fiction
This ebook edition first published in 2015 by Usborne Publishing Ltd., Usborne House, 83-85 Saffron Hill, London EC1N 8RT, England. www.usborne.com
Copyright © Adèle Geras, 2004.
The right of Adèle Geras to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
Inside illustrations by Ian McNee.
The name Usborne and the devices are Trade Marks of Usborne Publishing Ltd.
All rights reserved. This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or used in any way except as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or loaned or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ePub ISBN 9781409590958
Batch no. 00984-05
Polly's March Page 10