Saturday's Child (39 page)

Beth placed herself on a stool at Katherine’s side. ‘Tell me again.’

‘Dreadful girl,’ complained Katherine for the hundredth time. But she went through it all again, the reading of Peter’s book, discovering that she was his half-sister, finding
out on the very same day that she had a full sister.

‘Then Helena bought this place and you all lived happily ever after. And you gave us Knowehead, which was very kind of you.’

‘Yes, it was very kind of me. Now, go and fetch me a drink of lemon tea, you impossible child.’

The impossible child scampered off, leaving Katherine with her own thoughts. It occurred to the old woman that she was, indeed, happy. For the first time in her seventy-three years, she was
content. With the aid of a stick, she could walk; with the aid of a wonderful sister, she was back where she belonged, in Chedderton Grange, in a house that had belonged for several generations to
the Moores of Hesford.

She dozed, travelled back in time, met her father once more, cursed him all over again. Nellie, sweet little Helena, had been given away because she had not worked properly. Father had treated
his elder daughter like a domestic appliance, something that must be sent back to the factory as sub-standard.

Miss Farquar-Smith, another of his victims, banished from the Grange because she would not allow some practitioner to attempt an abortion . . . Thank God, because Peter was immensely valuable,
sensible, kind . . .

Alone at Knowehead, endless days staring through that same window, Rachel across the road, the shop, a new blouse, smiles so broad, so grateful. Lily and Dorothy, Frank, dear Frank . . .

She woke. ‘I am blessed,’ she told Beth. ‘Thank you for the tea.’

Beth reached out and took a hand as fragile as a sycamore leaf in the autumn. ‘We all love you,’ she said quietly.

‘That’s a miracle,’ replied the old woman. ‘Look at us, the old and the young, best of friends.’

Beth sat again, told Katherine about the herbal experiments, about Aaron and his stall, about Lily using both the Prudence Street houses, about the lace Helena and Lily were making for the new
queen. ‘If the new queen sends for Helena, she will go this time. She loved the king. Ever since she sent him that first gift when he was Duke of York, she has loved him.’

They sat together and remembered Nellie’s grief, how she had travelled to London with Lily, how she had stood in the chill of February to watch that fine man on his last journey.

‘It must be true,’ announced Katherine.

‘What must?’

‘The old poem. Saturday’s child works hard for a living. You, your mother and my sister, all born on Saturdays. You will be a doctor and that is a very difficult road. Your mother
looks after me – which job is harder than that?’

Beth laughed.

‘I am fortunate,’ the old lady concluded, ‘that my sister is another Saturday child. Her labour bought us back our home. But best of all, I got to choose my family. You, your
mother, your wonderful stepfather. Rachel, Frank, Dorothy, our new baby. My sister and my brother whom I found late in life. Do I deserve you all?’

Beth giggled once more. ‘What was the day of your birth?’

A gleam entered Katherine’s eye. ‘Friday,’ she replied eventually.

They stared at each other for several moments.

‘Friday’s child is loving and giving.’ Beth’s voice was solemn.

‘That can’t be right,’ said Katherine.

Beth agreed with her. ‘Wednesday would have been better. Full of woe. Miserable.’

They screamed with laughter, an old lady who had seldom laughed, a young girl who brought joy wherever she went.

In the garden, a man with secrets tended his herbs. The laughter of his older sister and his young friend travelled through sun-baked air and kissed his ears.

From Bluebell Woods, a cuckoo called.

Everyone was home and the world was well.

THE END

Ruth Hamilton is the bestselling author of twenty-five novels, including
Mulligan’s Yard
,
Dorothy’s War
,
The Judge’s Daughter
,
The
Reading Room
,
Mersey View
and
That Liverpool Girl.
She has become one of the north-west of England’s most popular writers. She was born in Bolton, which is the setting for
many of her novels. She now lives in Liverpool.

Also by Ruth Hamilton

A Whisper to the Living

With Love from Ma Maguire

Nest of Sorrows

Billy London’s Girls

Spinning Jenny

The September Starlings

A Crooked Mile

Paradise Lane

The Bells of Scotland Road

The Dream Sellers

The Corner House

Miss Honoria West

Mulligan’s Yard

Matthew & Son

Chandlers Green

The Bell House

Dorothy’s War

The Judge’s Daughter

The Reading Room

A Parallel Life

Mersey View

Sugar and Spice

That Liverpool Girl

Lights of Liverpool

My heartfelt thanks to Diane Pearson,

my editor since 1987.

Diane, you will be missed.

You were my friend and my backbone,

my teacher, my sister-in-words.

Go forth disgracefully – remember – purple

slippers in the snow.

Were I to live for ever, I could never repay you.

Love from Ruthie.

A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My thanks to

Dr Rory McCrimmon, for saving my life.

Diane Pearson, my editor, for her patience and help.

Dorothy Ramsden, my secretary, for unfailing support and faith in me.

Avril Cain, my ‘bezzy’ mate, for the laughs and the poetry.

David, Michael, Sue, Lizzy and Alice, my long-suffering family.

Gill and John, housekeeper and gardener, for minding the home front.

Sweetens Books, Bolton, the best shop in the hemisphere.

Chris Watson for tech support.

Macmillan, for republishing.

Liverpool, for being here; Bolton for being there.

My readership – God bless them, every one.

A very special thank you to Bill Strain of Johnson City, Texas, USA for his support and for the forensic research he did on my behalf.

First published 2012 by Macmillan
an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com

ISBN 978-0-230-76493-4 EPUB

Copyright © Ruth Hamilton 2012

The right of Ruth Hamilton to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital,
optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be
liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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