that’s all I’d say. I have it on good authority she was tiddly last year.’
‘Oh you, our Jake.’ Naomi feigned indignation. ‘I wasn’t, was I, Mam? It was Adam and Joe who were three parts to the wind.’ Catching Hannah’s hand, she added, ‘Oh, I forgot to tell you. Jake is going to have the last kitten at the farm ’cos no one will take her. I said he’s got to call her Buttons because that’s what you and I named her. He’s taking Polly too’ - Polly was the kitten’s mother - ‘’cos Da told Mam to get rid of her now everyone’s on short time.’ She grimaced eloquently, letting Hannah know what she thought of her father’s hard-heartedness.
‘Oh, right.’ Hannah smiled awkwardly, wishing she could be herself in front of Naomi’s half-brother. She could normally converse with anyone but Jake Fletcher was different, and it wasn’t just his scars, bad as they were. It was only the left side of his face which was affected, the puckered lumpy skin emerging from under his hairline and running right down his face and into the collar of his shirt.The eyelid was half closed, giving his face a faintly malevolent expression, and the ear was badly distorted. In contrast, the good side of his face which was only marked with a couple of tiny scars was unusually handsome. Perversely this only increased the slightly sinister effect. But the main thing which always tied her tongue in his presence, certainly for the last little while, was that Jake Fletcher was such an altogether masculine man. Big, broad shouldered, powerful. Adam and Joe had their father’s slight build and Naomi’s four younger brothers were small for their ages. Jake was the odd one out in more ways than one. And he scared her.
Her thoughts brought hot colour into her cheeks and she busied herself with buttering the slices of bread stacked on the table, her head down. The atmosphere in the kitchen changed abruptly a minute or so later when the door to the hall opened and Adam Wood came in. Glancing over them, Adam’s eyes narrowed on his half-brother. ‘You still here then?’
‘As you see.’
The two men stared at each other for a moment longer and then Adam turned and spoke directly to Hannah. ‘The old witch let you out then? Never have there been such days.’
Hannah forced a smile but she felt uncomfortable. Adam’s boyish good looks hid a tongue that could be as sharp as a knife on occasion, and although she might share her resentment about her mother’s treatment of her with Naomi, she didn’t like Adam calling her mam a witch.
‘You staying to see the New Year in then?’ he asked when she said nothing, reaching for a slice of the bread she’d buttered and folding it in half before biting into it. At her nod, he grinned. ‘That’s a turn-up for the book. What’ve you promised the old witch to persuade her to let you come then?’
‘ Adam .’ Rose’s voice held a note of admonition.
‘What?’Adam’s blue eyes were laughing.‘We all know what Hannah’s mam is like. I’m only saying what everyone else thinks.’
‘Perhaps your mother is suggesting you’re embarrassing a guest.’ Jake had risen to his feet as he spoke. He reached for his overcoat and pulled it on.
‘Huh.’ The smile slid from Adam’s face. Flinging the half-eaten slice of bread on the kitchen table, he said to Hannah, ‘Have I embarrassed you?’
His eyes like black marble, Jake said, ‘Shut up, Adam.’
‘Shut up yourself.’ Like David squaring up to Goliath, Adam glared at the older man. ‘Just because you come here playing the big man and bountiful benefactor doesn’t mean you own the place.’
‘I never said I did but I dare say you’re not above having your share of what I bring your mam, eh?’
‘Hark at him. Dead easy you have it compared to the rest of us, and you know it. You want a few shifts down the pit and you’d soon see what was
‘Oh you, our Jake.’ Naomi feigned indignation. ‘I wasn’t, was I, Mam? It was Adam and Joe who were three parts to the wind.’ Catching Hannah’s hand, she added, ‘Oh, I forgot to tell you. Jake is going to have the last kitten at the farm ’cos no one will take her. I said he’s got to call her Buttons because that’s what you and I named her. He’s taking Polly too’ - Polly was the kitten’s mother - ‘’cos Da told Mam to get rid of her now everyone’s on short time.’ She grimaced eloquently, letting Hannah know what she thought of her father’s hard-heartedness.
‘Oh, right.’ Hannah smiled awkwardly, wishing she could be herself in front of Naomi’s half-brother. She could normally converse with anyone but Jake Fletcher was different, and it wasn’t just his scars, bad as they were. It was only the left side of his face which was affected, the puckered lumpy skin emerging from under his hairline and running right down his face and into the collar of his shirt.The eyelid was half closed, giving his face a faintly malevolent expression, and the ear was badly distorted. In contrast, the good side of his face which was only marked with a couple of tiny scars was unusually handsome. Perversely this only increased the slightly sinister effect. But the main thing which always tied her tongue in his presence, certainly for the last little while, was that Jake Fletcher was such an altogether masculine man. Big, broad shouldered, powerful. Adam and Joe had their father’s slight build and Naomi’s four younger brothers were small for their ages. Jake was the odd one out in more ways than one. And he scared her.
Her thoughts brought hot colour into her cheeks and she busied herself with buttering the slices of bread stacked on the table, her head down. The atmosphere in the kitchen changed abruptly a minute or so later when the door to the hall opened and Adam Wood came in. Glancing over them, Adam’s eyes narrowed on his half-brother. ‘You still here then?’
‘As you see.’
The two men stared at each other for a moment longer and then Adam turned and spoke directly to Hannah. ‘The old witch let you out then? Never have there been such days.’
Hannah forced a smile but she felt uncomfortable. Adam’s boyish good looks hid a tongue that could be as sharp as a knife on occasion, and although she might share her resentment about her mother’s treatment of her with Naomi, she didn’t like Adam calling her mam a witch.
‘You staying to see the New Year in then?’ he asked when she said nothing, reaching for a slice of the bread she’d buttered and folding it in half before biting into it. At her nod, he grinned. ‘That’s a turn-up for the book. What’ve you promised the old witch to persuade her to let you come then?’
‘ Adam .’ Rose’s voice held a note of admonition.
‘What?’Adam’s blue eyes were laughing.‘We all know what Hannah’s mam is like. I’m only saying what everyone else thinks.’
‘Perhaps your mother is suggesting you’re embarrassing a guest.’ Jake had risen to his feet as he spoke. He reached for his overcoat and pulled it on.
‘Huh.’ The smile slid from Adam’s face. Flinging the half-eaten slice of bread on the kitchen table, he said to Hannah, ‘Have I embarrassed you?’
His eyes like black marble, Jake said, ‘Shut up, Adam.’
‘Shut up yourself.’ Like David squaring up to Goliath, Adam glared at the older man. ‘Just because you come here playing the big man and bountiful benefactor doesn’t mean you own the place.’
‘I never said I did but I dare say you’re not above having your share of what I bring your mam, eh?’
‘Hark at him. Dead easy you have it compared to the rest of us, and you know it. You want a few shifts down the pit and you’d soon see what was
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