A TWIST OF FATE
Chapter Thirty-Two
Rose strode purposely away from the crowd,
Trudy scurrying to keep up.
"Oh Miss Rose, what you gone and gotten yourself into", she panted.
Only when she was away from the commotion did Rose stop and gently put the
crying girl down. She was aged about 5 with soft curly but untidy hair. She was
smudged with dirt, her clothes belying her position in life. Her knees were cut
from where she had fell in the road and she appeared to have a bump on her
head.
"Now then" Rose said gently, crouching before her. "My name is
Rose. What is yours?"
The girl rubbed her eyes with a grubby fist.
"Nancy" she sniffed. "Nancy Driscoll."
"Well Nancy, we had better see about taking you home hadn't we?"
"Miss Rose" Trudy intervened. "What on earth are you going to do
with the child?"
Rose smiled at the little girl and stood up to face Trudy.
"I am going to take her home of course".
"Miss Rose" Trudy began in a whisper. "Look at the child. Can
you imagine where in town she comes from? Mr. Hockley would never let you near
that part of town. I must insist, for own safety, that you do not involve
yourself or go anywhere there."
"Trudy, she is a just a child. Oh bother to Mr. Hockley. I cannot and will
not stand by and let that mob and that dreadful man blame her for an accident!
Look at her! She is hurt and needs her mother."
"You don't actually know what happened though, do you Miss Rose?"
Rose bent down again.
"Nancy, can you tell me what happened?"
"I lost my brother. He went off without me" the little girl sniffed.
"I don't know where he is. I went to cross the road, but the big motor car
was there and I ran and the horse…." She stopped for breath and looked
sorrowfully at Rose.
" The car hit the cart and scared the horse and the man was so mad and he
shouted at me. I fell over and hurt myself. But the man said he got hurt
too."
It was an accident Nancy. I'm sure you didn't mean anyone to get hurt"
She shook her head.
"My knees hurt and I fell in the road and hurt my head too." She
began to cry again: Trudy was in despair. There was no way Rose was going to
leave this.
"Nancy, do you remember where you live?"
"Yes Rose, I know where I live"
"Well, we will get a cab, then I will take you home. Is that OK?"
"I want to go home," cried Nancy. "I want my Mommy"
Rose squeezed her hand and stood up to face Trudy again.
"That is that Trudy, we have to take her home"
"Miss Rose, you know what Mr. Hockley will say. Please."
Rose put her hand up.
"Go and call a cab. We have to take Nancy home"
Trudy with a bad feeling creeping over her went to hail a cab. When would Miss
Rose ever learn not to antagonize Caledon Hockley?
There was a cab coming, so Trudy waved him over, got in and directed him to
where Rose was trying to cheer up the little girl. The child's eyes lit up when
she saw the cab, she had probably never been in one before, Trudy thought.
Nancy holding Rose's hand tightly explained to Rose where she lived. It was
down town, near where the Steel works were a bad place for Miss Rose to go. As
the cab rocked its way down the road, Trudy worried even more.
Mr. Hockley had been in a bad mood for the last few days. Trudy had heard him
shouting and had seen Rose red eyed from crying. But Rose still denied there
was anything wrong. It was probably Mr. Hockley's continued ill behavior that
was making Rose sick, she decided.
The cab continued it's way to the dirtier part of town. Rose, as well as little
Nancy stared out of the window at the poor areas; small squalid buildings caked
in the factory dirt. Ragged children played in the streets with dogs and toy
hoops.
Rose wondered about all of this. Was this what is was really like to be poor.
Was this how it was for Jack?
Rose put a hand to her head. Maybe this was too much; she couldn't possibly
live like this. Maybe to even think of a new life was a mistake.