working clothes, with her hair covered with a scarf andher face blackened.
‘She’s just moved into our court,’ Lizzie explained to her workmates. ‘She only arrived yesterday.’ She turned back to Emily. ‘I asked Mrs Nicholson about
work for you and she said to come and see her tomorrow morning. One girl’s just left to have a babby, so she’s short-handed.’
‘Phyllis’ll likely come back once she’s over her confinement,’ one of the other girlssaid, but the third girl added, ‘No, she won’t, Nell. Her
husband’s said she’s to stay at home and look after the kiddie and have his tea on the table every night when he gets home.’
‘Lucky her!’
The three girls fell into gales of laughter and the one called Nell pulled a comical face. ‘Well, I wouldn’t let any man tell me what to do and that’s a fact.’
‘Mebbe that’s why you can’tfind a feller, our Nell. Still –’ Lizzie turned back to Emily. ‘You want to give it a go, Emily?’
‘Of course, and thanks for asking.’
‘Don’t mention it. And I’m going to see the foreman about a job for that handsome brother of yours. I’ll let you know tonight.’
‘Ooo, has she got a brother?’
‘Trust you to get in there first, Lizzie Dugdale,’ the third girl said. ‘Why don’t you givethe rest of us a chance?’
It was on the tip of Emily’s tongue to say that Josh already had a girlfriend waiting for him back in Ashford, but she bit back the remark. She needed Lizzie to help them find work and if
she were to let slip that Josh was already courting, the girl might lose interest and not be so helpful.
‘Come on, Ida,’ Nell said. ‘Time we were getting back.’
As thegirls hurried away with cheery shouts of ‘Ta-ra, luv’ and ‘See you tomorrow’, Emily turned away, thinking, I’ll have to watch myself; I’m getting as
devious as my mother! It was not a feeling she liked.
She delivered the shopping back home, helped Martha with household chores for a couple of hours and then said, ‘I’m going out for a walk. You coming, Josh?’
Her brother nodded eagerly.Once outside and walking side by side up the street, he confided, ‘She’s been going on at me all morning to get out and find work, but I don’t know
where to start. And when you came in and said you’d got some sort of interview tomorrow with Mrs Nicholson, well, I thought she was going to burst a blood vessel that you’d found summat
before me.’
Emily grinned. ‘I’m not the important one,Josh. That’s all it is. Come on,’ she added, linking her arm through his. ‘Let’s go and see if we can find
Trip.’
‘Trip? Do you know where to start?’
‘Oh yes,’ Emily said firmly, her eyes sparkling. ‘Creswick Street. That’s where his dad’s factory is, so that’s where Trip will be. Right, I know we set off
down our street and turn left but then I got a bit lost. Rosa said all the streetnames so quickly, I couldn’t remember them all.’
After asking for directions twice, they found the big, square building and stood looking up at it in awe. ‘It’s huge!’ Josh said. ‘I’d no idea Mr Trippet was so
– so . . .’ He was lost for words.
‘Neither had I,’ Emily said in a small voice. ‘Makes you wonder why Trip was friendly with the likes of us when you see this, doesn’t it?’
‘Why he was
allowed
to be, you mean. Trip’s got no side to him, no hoity-toity ways but . . .’ He, too, fell silent for a moment before saying quietly, ‘Maybe
that’s why his dad sent him away to the city. To live, I mean, not just to work.’
‘Perhaps we ought not to—’
‘Oh yes, we ought,’ Josh said swiftly. ‘Now we’re here, we’re going to see him.’ He laughed wryly as the factory hootersounded and the workers came flooding
out, hurrying homewards. ‘If we can find him in that lot!’
Trip was one of the last to leave, as befitted the owner’s son. Emily’s heart lifted and she felt a flutter of excitement
‘She’s just moved into our court,’ Lizzie explained to her workmates. ‘She only arrived yesterday.’ She turned back to Emily. ‘I asked Mrs Nicholson about
work for you and she said to come and see her tomorrow morning. One girl’s just left to have a babby, so she’s short-handed.’
‘Phyllis’ll likely come back once she’s over her confinement,’ one of the other girlssaid, but the third girl added, ‘No, she won’t, Nell. Her
husband’s said she’s to stay at home and look after the kiddie and have his tea on the table every night when he gets home.’
‘Lucky her!’
The three girls fell into gales of laughter and the one called Nell pulled a comical face. ‘Well, I wouldn’t let any man tell me what to do and that’s a fact.’
‘Mebbe that’s why you can’tfind a feller, our Nell. Still –’ Lizzie turned back to Emily. ‘You want to give it a go, Emily?’
‘Of course, and thanks for asking.’
‘Don’t mention it. And I’m going to see the foreman about a job for that handsome brother of yours. I’ll let you know tonight.’
‘Ooo, has she got a brother?’
‘Trust you to get in there first, Lizzie Dugdale,’ the third girl said. ‘Why don’t you givethe rest of us a chance?’
It was on the tip of Emily’s tongue to say that Josh already had a girlfriend waiting for him back in Ashford, but she bit back the remark. She needed Lizzie to help them find work and if
she were to let slip that Josh was already courting, the girl might lose interest and not be so helpful.
‘Come on, Ida,’ Nell said. ‘Time we were getting back.’
As thegirls hurried away with cheery shouts of ‘Ta-ra, luv’ and ‘See you tomorrow’, Emily turned away, thinking, I’ll have to watch myself; I’m getting as
devious as my mother! It was not a feeling she liked.
She delivered the shopping back home, helped Martha with household chores for a couple of hours and then said, ‘I’m going out for a walk. You coming, Josh?’
Her brother nodded eagerly.Once outside and walking side by side up the street, he confided, ‘She’s been going on at me all morning to get out and find work, but I don’t know
where to start. And when you came in and said you’d got some sort of interview tomorrow with Mrs Nicholson, well, I thought she was going to burst a blood vessel that you’d found summat
before me.’
Emily grinned. ‘I’m not the important one,Josh. That’s all it is. Come on,’ she added, linking her arm through his. ‘Let’s go and see if we can find
Trip.’
‘Trip? Do you know where to start?’
‘Oh yes,’ Emily said firmly, her eyes sparkling. ‘Creswick Street. That’s where his dad’s factory is, so that’s where Trip will be. Right, I know we set off
down our street and turn left but then I got a bit lost. Rosa said all the streetnames so quickly, I couldn’t remember them all.’
After asking for directions twice, they found the big, square building and stood looking up at it in awe. ‘It’s huge!’ Josh said. ‘I’d no idea Mr Trippet was so
– so . . .’ He was lost for words.
‘Neither had I,’ Emily said in a small voice. ‘Makes you wonder why Trip was friendly with the likes of us when you see this, doesn’t it?’
‘Why he was
allowed
to be, you mean. Trip’s got no side to him, no hoity-toity ways but . . .’ He, too, fell silent for a moment before saying quietly, ‘Maybe
that’s why his dad sent him away to the city. To live, I mean, not just to work.’
‘Perhaps we ought not to—’
‘Oh yes, we ought,’ Josh said swiftly. ‘Now we’re here, we’re going to see him.’ He laughed wryly as the factory hootersounded and the workers came flooding
out, hurrying homewards. ‘If we can find him in that lot!’
Trip was one of the last to leave, as befitted the owner’s son. Emily’s heart lifted and she felt a flutter of excitement
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