‘I can read and write,’ he said, as she fastened the gate behind them. ‘And I know poetry, and – and Shakespeare.’
‘It’s not enough.’ She led the way back towards Hedon. ‘It’s law that every child receives an education.’
‘Are we going to that inn?’ he asked, as he tramped behind her.
‘Yes,’ she sighed. ‘I’ve just enough money for one night. Then tomorrow I’ll have another think about what we can do next.’
The woman in the cottage leaned her back against the door and the heavy curtain hanging from it folded about her. She took a deep shuddering breath. She had thought she would never see her again; and she’d dared to bring the boy. She must be braver now than she’d once been. Half an hour earlier and he would have been at home and all hell would have broken loose. Her name had never been mentioned since the day she’d left and he never once asked about her or where she had gone. He never saw the photo postcards she sent every year, for she burned them as soon as she’d looked at them. There was no trace of her having ever lived there.
She shivered and went to sit by the fire, recalling the day when she had told Deakin about her own pregnancy; she had held off giving him the news for as long as possible so that he didn’t suspect anything, for she had discovered early in their marriage that he had a violent streak. He had slapped her face and told her that she was a fool and should get rid of it, but later he had relented and said she could keep it, but woe betide her if she became pregnant again.
I wasn’t brave enough to leave him. I don’t know where I would have gone. A stranger to these parts just as Deakin was, and a long way from our home in Brixham; I couldn’t understand then why he was in such a hurry to come away, for there was a good living to be made, and a prettier little town you never would find. But now I know why and I suppose he thought that no one would ever find him here.
She glanced down at the mat beneath her feet where the floorboard creaked. He’s the fool, she thought in satisfaction, and he’ll get his come-uppance one day.
CHAPTER THREE
It was late when they arrived at the hostelry and the landlord looked at them warily.
‘I need a room for tonight,’ Delia told him. ‘Just for the two of us; myself and my son.’
‘I’ve just one room with a truckle bed; it’s a busy time.’
It didn’t look busy, the boy thought as he glanced round the dimly lit bar, and then the landlord went on, ‘We’re getting ready for tomorrow, getting ’bar stocked up.’ He pointed to where barrels were stacked against a wall.
‘What’s happening tomorrow?’ Delia asked.
‘Hah! You’re not from round ’ere, I can tell. It’s ’iring fair tomorrow. We’re in Martinmas!’
‘Oh, of course! I’d forgotten,’ she said. ‘I used to love it when I was a bairn.’ She stopped abruptly, thinking she had said too much.
‘So you are from round ’ere, then?’
‘Erm, no. Over … York way. That’s where I was brought up. We’ve just come to see some friends in Hedon, but they’re away. I must have got the date wrong.’ She gave a nervous laugh. ‘But I remember them saying this was a hospitable place. You took some finding, though,’ she said after another tense hesitation.
‘Oh, aye, it can be if you don’t know ’way. Come on then. I’ll show you up.’
The room was far superior to the one they had shared at Mrs Andrews’. An iron-framed double bed with a flowered bedspread and two soft pillows stood in the middle, with a chamber pot tucked beneath it; there was a matching jug and basin on a marble washstand against one wall, a fireplace with the grate ready laid with twigs and coal in the other, with a narrow wardrobe next to it, and a truckle bed under the window. Jack eagerly asked if he might have that.
‘Too old to sleep wi’ your ma, are you?’ The landlord gave the barest of grins.
‘No,’ his mother replied for him, ‘but he’s a wriggler. We’ll both sleep better apart. Will it be extra?’
‘Nay.’ He shook his head. ‘And ’price includes breakfast. But you’ll have to be out by ten, so’s we can get ready for ’rush at dinner time. Will you be wanting to eat tonight?’
Jack saw his mother bite on her lip. He hoped she had enough money for supper. Then she nodded. ‘Something simple,’ she said, ‘so we’re not any trouble.’
‘It’s no trouble,’ he said. ‘I’ll get ’girl to light you a fire,’ he added as he left them.
‘This is nice,’ Jack said, trying out the truckle bed. His mother stretched out on the double bed.
‘It is, isn’t it? I think when we’ve had our supper we’ll have an early night, so we can be up early in the morning.’
‘Then where will we go?’ he asked.
‘Well, I’ll show you the hiring fair in Hedon; there always used to be a lot going on when I was a girl.’ Then her animation disappeared and he saw her expression droop.
‘You told a fib, Mother,’ he chastised her. ‘Two fibs. You said you were from York, and—’
‘I know,’ she interrupted. ‘There was a good reason and I’ll explain it all to you one day, but I didn’t want to tell him where I was from or anything at all, really, because one thing leads to another, and besides, who I was or where I’m from is nothing to do with anybody else.’
‘Not even me?’ he said in a small voice.
‘One day,’ she said softly, ‘I’ll tell you everything.’
‘Will there be roundabouts and things at the fair, like
