Soon, they were seated with steaming mugs of tea in front of them.
‘So where will I be sleeping?’ Charity asked.
He nodded to another door that led to some stairs. ‘There are three bedrooms up there. I sleep in one, the children sleep in another and you can have the third. I’m afraid it will need cleaning though.’
‘That’s no problem. I’ll tackle it later on.’
The children came downstairs soon after. They eyed Charity warily as she ushered them to the table, but when she served them with bowls of sweetened porridge they actually smiled. Since their mother had died their staple diet had been stale bread and jam.
When they had eaten, Charity set about cleaning the kitchen. Her own room could wait until later. Mid-morning she stopped cleaning to prepare a meal. The children had gone out to play in the sunshine and when they came in for their lunch, they eyed the meal hungrily. Charity had made them a cottage pie. She had been out into the vegetable garden and fetched a cabbage too. Eddie was still out in the fields working so she’d warm his in the oven when he came in. The children cleared their plates, mopping them clean with the last of the stale bread. Bellies full, they went back out into the sun to play while Charity finished cleaning the kitchen. As yet, they had barely spoken to her although they were smiling at her now.
Eddie arrived home late afternoon and stared around in amazement. The whole kitchen seemed to be sparkling. The windows had been washed and the floor mopped. She had taken the rugs outside and beaten all of the dust out of them. The sink was no longer full of dirty pots and the dinner she was warming for him in the oven smelled delicious. His stomach rumbled in anticipation. She had even found time to bake a fresh batch of bread. While he ate, she left him to have some time with the children, who had just come back in from the yard. She went up to look at her room. It was small but adequate and she set about making the bed up with clean sheets, before dusting and mopping the floor.
It wasn’t until much later that evening when she went to bed exhausted that the tears came. She was missing her parents and her own little bed. It would be the first night she had ever been apart from them. She was homesick, but there was no turning back. She just hoped in time that they would forgive her. Her thoughts turned to Luca. Very soon now he would be arriving in Appleby with the circus. She could hardly wait to see him. But first she would have to try and get her address to Scarlet, and then her life with Luca could begin. She could hardly wait.
Chapter Nine
Charity had been at Top Acre Farm for two days when the kitchen door opened and a woman walked in. They stared at each other for a moment.
‘Hello,’ the woman said eventually, with a frown. ‘Who are you?’
‘I’m Charity. Mr Wells hired me to help look after the children and the house.’
‘Oh, I see. Well, I’m Maureen. I come in twice a week to do the washing and help where I can.’
‘Ah yes, Mr Wells did say.’ Charity smiled at her. The woman looked to be in her thirties. She had fair hair tied back in an unbecoming bun on the back of her head. Her clothes were dowdy, grey from head to foot. But Charity could see that she could be attract-ive if she took a little more care of herself.
The woman looked around the room suspiciously. ‘You’ve certainly made a difference in here,’ she commented. ‘Unfortunately, I never have time to get everything done.’
The children ran in at that moment and threw their arms about Maureen’s waist. It was clear to see that they were fond of her and her face softened.
‘So have you known Mr Wells long?’ Charity asked as she filled the kettle at the sink.
The woman nodded. ‘Oh yes. Many years. In fact . . .’ She blushed. ‘At one time Eddie and I were walking out together but then . . . Well, my father died and I have an invalid mother. I had to take on running the house and caring for her and my younger siblings.’
When Charity looked bemused, she went on, ‘I think Eddie just got tired of waiting. And then he met Mary, his late wife.’ She shrugged. ‘And that was that. They were very happy together though.’
Charity could hear the sadness in her voice and felt sorry for her.
‘But what is a lovely young woman like you doing here?’ Maureen was curious now.
Charity looked away. ‘Actually, my parents were about to announce my engagement to my cousin. I am of Gypsy stock and it’s our custom, but I didn’t want to marry him so . . .’
‘So you ran away?’ Maureen looked sympathetic.
Charity nodded.
‘Was it because you love someone else?’
Charity bit her lip wondering if she could trust this woman and decided that she’d risk it.
‘Yes, and hopefully he will come for me soon. I was wondering if Mr Wells might find him a job to do. And then perhaps we could carry on living here for a time.’
‘I see.’ Maureen took her shawl off and threw it over the back of a chair. As Charity made the tea, Maureen looked at her colourful clothes. They were grimy now after all the cleaning she had done.
‘Don’t you have any suitable work clothes?’ she asked as Charity carried her drink to her.
Charity shook her head. ‘No, unfortunately I don’t. And the things I brought with me are all dirty now.’
