That was true enough. Right now she was confined to wearing either her slippers or wellies, and she certainly couldn’t turn up to school on Sunday in them!
With her toy dog under her arm, Milly trailed after her father on the walk to the cottage with a heavy heart. As she passed the eaves, she felt terrible. What on earth had possessed her and her sister to say those horrible words?
To Milly’s great surprise, the door was opened by a young girl. ‘Pa!’ she cried as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
Milly pushed up her glasses. The girl was a bit younger than herself, possibly nine or ten, with long dark hair and a small elfin face. She was very slim, with bright eyes and a smile that lit up her whole face. Milly was more than a little puzzled when her father laughed and leaned over the girl to return her hug. Who was she? Her father had mentioned that there would be another person in the cottage but why was he hugging her like that?
As their embrace ended, Milly’s father said, ‘And how are we today?’
The little girl grinned. ‘Very-well-thank-you-sir,’ she said in a well-rehearsed mantra.
‘Well done.’ Milly’s father glanced towards the bedroom door. ‘And how is your poor mother?’
‘Better,’ said the girl.
Milly’s father smiled and patted her shoulder. ‘I’ll leave you two to get to know each other,’ he said, before heading towards the bedroom door. He went in quietly and closed the door behind him. The two children eyed each other cautiously.
‘Hello,’ said the girl. ‘My name is Lena.’
Lena was dressed in a strange costume, and Milly thought she looked a bit foreign. Her dark hair was held together under a minuscule floral headscarf, and she had soft brown eyes. Her face was slightly bronzed, as if she’d spent a lot of time out of doors.
Milly put her hand out. ‘I’m Milly,’ she said stiffly. ‘How do you do?’
Without warning, the girl threw herself onto the settee with a perfectly executed somersault. She giggled at Milly’s amazed expression then told her, ‘We’ve come here to live for a while until Angel gets better.’
‘I know,’ said Milly.
‘Where do you live?’
‘In the big house,’ said Milly. Lena eyed her steadily, so she added, ‘Where do you come from?’
‘All over,’ said Lena, with a wide sweep of her arm. ‘We be fairground folk. The gaffer is Rainbow George. He’s really famous. ’Ave you ’eard of ’im?’
Milly shook her head and Lena pulled the corners of her mouth down. ‘’E’s got some swing boats so we goes all round,’ she went on, as if it really didn’t matter anyway. ‘The Lamb Fair at ’orsham, Tunbridge Wells common, Uckfield in the Bell Brook fairground and Findon o’ course.’ She counted them off on her fingers. ‘That’s where they met, at Findon.’
‘Where who met?’ asked Milly, slightly bewildered.
‘Angel and Pa.’
Milly pushed her glasses back up her nose, none the wiser as to what the girl was on about.
‘I likes your little dog,’ said Lena. ‘Can I ’old him?’
Milly handed the toy dog over. Lena stroked its head and kissed its muzzle.
‘Do you want to see my mouse?’ Lena asked and, without waiting for an answer, she took Milly to the small scullery where she pulled a round tin from under the shelf. It had once contained biscuits, but someone had drilled holes in the top. Lena sat cross-legged on the floor and pulled the lid off very carefully. Inside, a little black and tan mouse scurried under some straw.
‘It’s a real one!’ Milly exclaimed.
Lena nodded. ‘’Course he’s real.’
‘Where did you get it?’
‘I found him,’ she said. ‘He was ever so ’ungry. I calls him Sooty on account of his colour. Lovely, inne? You can stroke ’im if you likes.’
Milly had to agree that he was a sweet little mouse, but quite what Mrs Cunningham, or her mother for that matter, would think of keeping a pet mouse in the cottage was beyond anyone’s guess. However, she stroked his soft fur and he stood up on his back legs to look at her.
They heard a door close behind them and her father was coming back. ‘Ah,’ he said. ‘I see you two have made friends.’
Lena put the lid back on the tin.
‘Now,’ said Milly’s father, ‘how would you like to come into Worthing with us, Lena? Milly needs to buy some new shoes.’
Lena clapped her hands delightedly.
‘Better get your coat and tell Angel where you’re going.’
As Lena skipped happily towards the bedroom door, Milly’s father smiled. ‘I’m glad you both get on. I wanted you to like each other.’
Milly gave him a puzzled frown. ‘Why?’
‘Don’t you know yet?’ he said. ‘I would have thought you should have worked it out by now. Lena is your half-sister.’
Milly would have enjoyed the ride into Worthing a lot more had her father not dropped his bombshell. Lena was her father’s daughter? How come nobody had ever mentioned her before? Did her mother know? No, she couldn’t possibly. Had she known, her mother would have been overwhelmed by the scandal. Although . . . perhaps her mother did know. Maybe that was why she had taken herself off to London. What was going to happen next? Were her parents about to get a divorce? Did Pearl know they had a half-sister? Come to that, did Lena know that she had not one but two half-sisters? Struck dumb and feeling very uncomfortable with Lena sitting next to her, Milly did her best to stay calm. As for Lena herself, she was very chatty, her words tumbling from her mouth like a waterfall.
‘I’ve never bin to Worving before. ’Ave you bin to Worving? Rainbow George, he were born in a caravan behind the Clifton Arms in Worving. There used to be a patch of wasteground round the back and when the babby was comin’, Willis ’ardham, he were the landlord, he said Rainbow George could be born there. Will we be goin’ by the Clifton Arms, Pa? I should like to see ’in.’
Milly’s father chuckled. ‘We’ll see,’ he said. ‘Perhaps on the way home.’
