Sentence of Marriage Read Online Free Page A

look-out.’
    Lizzie plumped herself down on the bed and patted a place at her side. ‘How are you getting on now?’ she asked when Amy sat down. ‘Still missing your granny?’
    Amy nodded. ‘It was awful to see her in pain and everything—she didn’t even know who I was at the end. But it’s strange without her. Granny’s always been here.’
    ‘It’s a blessed release, Ma says.’
    ‘Everyone says that. I still miss her, though.’
    Lizzie gave her a hug. ‘You’ve got bits of leaf in your hair, I think they came off that tree I tied Jessie to. Here, let me.’ She picked out a few dried fragments, then stroked the long black curls. ‘Your hair is so pretty,’ she said, without a trace of envy. ‘Ma always says she wishes my hair was wavy like yours.’ Lizzie’s fair hair, although thick and healthy, was obstinately straight, defying all her mother’s attempts at curling it in rags.
    ‘But yours is blonde.’
    ‘That just means I get freckles if I leave my bonnet off for five minutes. Your skin always seems to stay creamy. Ma says you’re like a little doll, with your great big blue eyes and all that hair.’
    Amy pulled a face at her; ‘Little doll’ was too much. ‘Just because I’m small, everyone treats me as though I’m a baby.’
    Lizzie stood up. ‘We’d better get on with things. What needs doing first?’
    Amy’s grandmother had kept to a strict routine; ‘Every task has its time and season,’ she had been fond of saying; but during her months of juggling her time between the school and home, Amy had learned to be more flexible, fitting tasks in whenever she had a moment. Today the work went quickly, with two of them to share it.
    When the cleaning was done, they scrubbed their hands and settled down to a serious bout of baking. Lizzie hummed to herself as she broke eggs into a bowl.
    Amy smiled at her. ‘You’re very pleased with yourself today, aren’t you?’
    ‘Mmm.’ Lizzie looked smug. ‘I think things are going to work out nicely.’ Amy knew she didn’t mean the biscuits she was making.
    ‘So you’re really set on catching Frank?’
    ‘I’m just planning ahead, that’s all,’ Lizzie said, stirring her mixture vigorously. ‘What's wrong with that?’
    ‘Frank’s nice, but he’s not very… well, exciting, is he?’
    Lizzie stopped her work. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
    ‘Oh, I don’t mean there’s anything wrong with him. It’s not so much Frank, it’s.… well, he’s just the same as everyone else around here. I mean, if you married him you’d move down the road a couple of miles. Apart from that everything would be the same. Why do you want to bother?’
    ‘There’d be a few more differences than that. I wouldn’t expect you to understand.’
    ‘Don’t talk like that, Lizzie! You don’t know any more about it than I do!’
    ‘Any more about what?’
    ‘You know what—stop it!’ Amy was annoyed to feel herself blushing.
    ‘I was just talking about running my own house. I don’t know what you were talking about, I’m sure. Of course, when I was your age I wasn’t very interested in getting married either,’ Lizzie said, dropping spoonfuls of biscuit dough onto a tray. ‘You’re only twelve, after all. You’ll have to grow up a bit more before you start being interested.’
    ‘I’m nearly thirteen.’
    ‘Well, I’m nearly fifteen then.’
    ‘You are not! You only turned fourteen a couple of months ago.’
    ‘By the time you’re thirteen I’ll be nearly fifteen.’
    ‘No you won’t! You’ll be fourteen and a half, that’s not “nearly fifteen”.’
    ‘Don’t let’s argue about it.’
    ‘You always say that when you’re losing,’ said Amy. ‘Not everyone gets married, you know. I don’t think I want to.’
    ‘What’s wrong with getting married and having babies? Don’t you want a house of your own one day?’
    ‘I’ve got one. And I’ve got quite enough men to look after, thank you. But Lizzie,’ Amy