A Girl in Wartime (40 page)

Geraldine shrugged. ‘No, on me own.'

Her mother moved past her to get the food from the oven as Dad went into the back room to seat himself at the table. ‘'Bout time you got yerself a boyfriend,' she said.

‘I've got boyfriends.'

‘I mean a real boyfriend, someone steady. You'll find yourself left on the shelf if you ain't careful.'

‘Mum, I'm only eighteen. I've got time.'

Not bothering to reply to that, Mum hurried off into the back room, each hand now carrying a loaded plate, a tea towel protecting her skin from the oven's heat. ‘Fred!' she called out as she went. ‘Yours is on the table.'

As Fred came thumping down the stairs, all forgiven, the back door burst open to admit Evie. ‘Blimey!' exploded the twelve-year-old. ‘It don't 'alf stink out there!'

Her mother gave her a warning look as she returned to the kitchen to get two more plates from the oven. ‘That's your sweet brother!' she said, her tone sharp. ‘'Cos he's leaving school this summer, he's feeling 'is feet and thinks he can get away with murder. I wish you lot wouldn't keep blaming yer dad for everything.'

‘I never even mentioned Dad,' protested Evie hotly, dropping her coat on a kitchen chair and following her mother into the back room.

Left alone in the kitchen, Geraldine heard her mother call out one more request. ‘You sure yer don't want some of ours divided up for yer?'

‘No, Mum,' she called back. ‘I'm getting meself a sandwich. I'm going out again in a little while.'

In fact she was seeing Eileen Moss, who she worked with. They were going to see the films her parents had seen this afternoon. They'd sit eating peanuts as fast as they could shell them and stare at the silent drama of Gloria Swanson's
Male and Female
and laugh at Charlie Chaplin's slapstick comedy,
Sunnyside
, both of which Mum had said were very good.

Though it was nice going to the pictures, she'd have rather stayed at home this evening to start on her dress, itching to see how it would turn out, but she'd promised to go with Eileen, and anyway, there were too many at home tonight no doubt wanting to know what she was doing, what she was making, and what for.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author's and publisher's rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Epub ISBN: 9781473503151
Version 1.0

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Ebury Press (Fiction), an imprint of Ebury Publishing,
20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,
London SW1V 2SA

Ebury Press (Fiction) is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at
global.penguinrandomhouse.com
.

Copyright © Maggie Ford 2016

Extract from
The Factory Girl
Copyright © Maggie Ford 2015

Maggie Ford has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

First published by Ebury Press (Fiction) in 2016

www.eburypublishing.co.uk

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 9780091956660