The Long Walk Home (42 page)

Yes, sir, he thought he would reply. I realize that, and I did once make a mistake and was punished, but since then my standards have been high.

He felt queasy with nerves and was relieved when he opened the kitchen door and found Eleanor alone.

'Mikey!' Eleanor greeted him cheerfully. She wore a white apron over her plain grey dress and was mixing something with a wooden spoon in a baking bowl. They all used the back door for coming and going, except for the children who used the front after ringing the bell, which Mikey knew was the complete reversal of what was normal.

'We're planning a party!' she said.

'Are you? Is it somebody's bothday?'

Eleanor smiled. She had flour on her cheeks and his heart flipped over. 'Yes,' she said. 'Somebody very special is having a birthday tomorrow and I rather think he was going to let it slip by unnoticed.'

He raised his eyebrows. 'I don't usually bother with bothdays,' he murmured. 'At least I never did. But perhaps this one is quite special.'

'It is!' she agreed. 'Your coming of age.' She wiped her hands on a towel and went to put the kettle on the range.

'You're very domesticated these days,' he laughed. 'Baking. Mekking tea!'

'Yes.' Her eyes were merry. 'I can't imagine what my mother would think if she saw me; but I love it. Do you think I would make somebody a good wife, Mikey?'

He was completely thrown by her remark. She was joking, of course. 'Yes,' he parried hoarsely. 'I think mebbe you would.'

'Well, I've had to learn to be economical,' she said, 'because there's been very little money.' Her cheeks flushed as she spoke. 'All of my allowance goes on the house and the children's needs.'

'So you'd have to marry a man of substance, Ellie, if you wanted luxuries.'

She considered. 'I suppose so. But then,' she said light-heartedly, 'I've never had those anyway. My father was never lavish or extravagant with material things, though perhaps my mother might have liked him to be, so I wouldn't miss what I've never had.'

'Ellie,' he said slowly. 'Erm, where is everybody?' He didn't want to be disturbed.

'Mary and Rosie are giving the children their supper and Grandfather is in his room having his. Why?'

'I, erm, I wanted to tell you what happened at work today.'

'Oh!' She made the tea and put the teapot on the table and brought out a cake tin. 'Come and sit down and have a slice of currant loaf. I didn't make it,' she confessed. 'Mary did.'

'Will you listen to me, Ellie?' he said, putting his hand over hers. 'Leave that for a minute. I've summat to tell you. Something,' he said, when he saw the tilt of her eyebrows. 'Something really important.'

She gazed at him earnestly. 'Tell me?' she asked, and moistened her lips with her tongue. 'Or ask me?'

'Tell you,' he said. 'I've been made manager of 'company. Bert Straw is leaving and I'm to have his job! It's been offered and I've accepted and it'll be announced on Monday. It'll mean an increase in salary and I'm to have my own office with my name on 'door.' His eyes gleamed. 'Bert told me weeks ago that he was recommending me and I've been keeping it under my hat in case it didn't happen. But it has,' he crowed jubilantly. 'It has!'

'Oh, Mikey!' Her voice was husky. 'I'm so proud of you. I knew you would do well, and so did Grandfather. He said you were very resourceful and bound to succeed in whatever you did.'

'Did he?' Mikey was astonished.

'Yes,' she answered softly. 'He has a great regard for you.'

Mikey considered. The one stumbling block that he thought was in front of him; was it crumbling away? 'Really?'

'Yes.' She smiled. 'Really! Ever since you took up his offer of education, and studied at the Mechanics' Institute.'

Mikey nodded. 'I couldn't have done it without his help in providing me with a tutor to get me started. I'll be forever grateful to him.' He gazed at her. 'You must tek after him, Ellie, and not your mother or father at all.'

'I hope so,' she said softly. 'He's a good person.'

'Ellie,' he said. '
Now
I want to ask you something. I'm in a position to ask you a question now. I'll be earning good money as manager. Enough to support a wife and family.'

'Yes?' she breathed. 'So what are you saying, Mikey? Or asking, I mean?'

He stood up and came round to where she was sitting at the other side of the table. He reached for her hands and pulled her to her feet.

'I'm asking you, Miss Kendall, if you will do me 'great honour of being my wife? Subject to your grandfather's approval, o' course!' he added anxiously.

'Oh, but he does approve, Mikey,' she whispered. 'I've already asked him if he does.'

'You've asked him?' His heart beat faster as he drew her close. 'Why did you ask him that?'

'Because I had decided that as it was your coming of age tomorrow, I was going to throw away convention and ask
you
to marry
me
! That's why I'm baking! I'm making a celebration cake for a birthday or an engagement or both. I asked Grandfather's opinion and he said that although it was unheard of in his day, times were changing. And he also said'— she laughed softly and put her arms round him— 'he said that I should do it now because as you were such a good catch you were sure to be snatched up very soon.'

Mikey bent to kiss the tip of her nose, then each cheek, and finally, something he had wanted to do for a long time, her lips.

'I don't believe a word you are saying, Miss Kendall,' he murmured. 'I think you're mekking it up! But I don't care. I love you.'

'And I love you, Mikey— my rabbit boy.' She looked deeply into his eyes and remembered how she had looked into them all those years ago when they were only children. He had reassured her then, as he'd looked back at her, that all was well. And now she knew that it was.

The author is pleased to acknowledge the useful background information that she has gleaned from the following two books: John Hollingshead,
Ragged London in 1861
, Dent, Everyman Classic 1986, and Edward Gillett and Kenneth A. MacMahon,
A History of Hull
, Hull University Press 1989.

Valerie Wood was born in Yorkshire and now lives in Beverley. She is the author of
The Hungry Tide
, was the winner of the Catherine Cookson Prize for Fiction, and twelve other novels, all available from Corgi Books.

Find out more about Valerie Wood's novels by visiting her website on www.valeriewood.co.uk

Series

Hungry Tide
1. The Hungry Tide (1993)
2. Annie (1994)
3. Children of the Tide (1996)

Novels

The Romany Girl (1998)
Emily (1999)
Going Home (2000)
Rosa's Island (2001)
The Doorstep Girls (2002)
Far from Home (2003)
The Kitchen Maid (2004)
The Songbird (2005)
Nobody's Child (2006)
Fallen Angels (2007)
The Long Walk Home (2008)
Rich Girl, Poor Girl (2009)
The Homecoming (2010)