‘Aye, it’s me. Let’s be having you, we’ve a mile or two to travel yet afore we’re home.’
The three of them came hurrying to the cart and with a nod of his head, he said, ‘There’s room for one beside me and two in the back.’ When Eve was sitting beside him, he turned his head to Nell and Mary. ‘You’ll need to hold on to something once we’re clear of the town. Some of the potholes are so deep you can see Australia.’
He heard the little one giggle and the sound brought an answering smile to his mouth. Poor little mite. He doubted she’d had much to laugh about the last little while. She’d looked blue with cold standing there in front of the bandstand, they all had. His thoughts brought a warmth to his voice as he said, ‘Off we go then.’
They had left the town behind them and were travelling on the country road which led to Wrekenton when Eve said, ‘Where is your inn situated, Mr Travis?’
‘Didn’t I say? We’re making for Washington, lass. It’s about six or seven miles to my place. Do you know Washington at all?’
‘I’ve heard of it.’
‘Aye, likely you would have with your da being a miner and Washington being in the centre of the Durham coalfield. Sad to say there’s a few in the town who’ve been through what you have, the pit taking their menfolk.’ Realising he had been less than tactful, he forced a cheerful note into his voice. ‘My inn’s on yonder side of Washington, the Fatfield side. My grandfather used to cater mostly for the keelmen and pitmen, we still do to some extent. But the town’s changed since his day. Much bigger now. We’ve got the old village but there’s New Washington, we’ll pass that on the way through. Several good shops there. The Co-op stands on the corner of Front Street and Spout Lane, grand shop, the Co-op. Most folk in New Washington work at the Usworth colliery or the chemical works or brick works. Aye, it’s growing fast, Washington.’
‘Is it bigger than Stanley?’ asked Mary from the back of the cart.
‘It’d swallow it whole, like a whale with a minnow.’
His voice had been jocular but when the child’s voice came small and uncertain, saying, ‘Will we get lost?’ Caleb could have kicked himself.
‘Not a bit of it,’ he said quickly. ‘Don’t you worry your head about that. And if you do lose your way, you just ask for the Sun Inn, all right? Everyone knows the Sun Inn next to the smithy.’
‘Why is it—’ Mary’s voice stopped abruptly as though someone had dug her in the ribs.
Pretending he had not noticed, Caleb said, ‘Why is it called the Sun Inn? I don’t rightly know. Perhaps my grandfather liked the sun, eh? That’d be reason enough, I suppose.’
They clip-clopped on in silence, passing through several small hamlets where lights shone at cottage windows and the odd dog or two barked. By the time they reached the straggly outskirts of New Washington, the lamplighter had been busy, and they could see rows of houses and other buildings and shops. Caleb pointed out one or two places of interest like the Co-op before they turned off into Spout Lane, passing more terraces and then allotments, followed by still more houses.And then they came to Washington itself and the village green.
The horse knew exactly where it was going and turned off into a large yard, beyond which loomed the Sun Inn. ‘Here we are then.’ Caleb jumped down from the cart and then helped Eve to get down. Mary and Nell joined them. ‘Wait a minute while I see to the horse and put this stuff away and then I’ll take you in.’
Once he had the horse out of the shafts he led it into a stable, reappearing a moment later and proceeding to carry the contents of the cart into a large shed next to the stable, which he then locked. It was dark in the yard, the cobbles beneath their feet gleaming greasily in the thin light coming from the back of the inn.
Caleb was panting when he joined the three girls standing exactly where he had left them, their parcels of belongings held in front of them. ‘Follow me.’ He led the way down a passageway at the back of the inn, which led to the back door. He opened it and stood aside and they trooped into a large scullery with three deep stone sinks facing them.Two massive work tables took up most of the floor area, and on the far wall, three rows of shelves held bowls and plates and lethal-looking knives, along with wooden boxes full of vegetables, fruit and potatoes. ‘Most of the food apart from bread and pastry and the like is prepared in here and carried through to the kitchen. The meat is kept in cold storage out there’ - he indicated the yard with a jerk of his head - ‘and brought in daily.’
Without waiting for any comments, he continued through the scullery and opened another door into the kitchen of the inn. It was even bigger than the farmhouse kitchen and the range was huge, with two hobs and two enormous ovens, but what the three girls noticed more than anything else was the warmth. A long table ran down the centre of the room, with three smaller ones set against the far wall, along with shelves holding shining copper pans, rows and rows of crockery and dishes, cutlery boxes, folded linen, tin bowls, rolling pins and a hundred and one other things. One of the smaller tables held large containers of flour, sugar, dried fruit and rice, another tea, coffee and cocoa, among other things. Caleb opened a door to reveal a deep pantry, its shelves stocked with food and the large cold slab holding joints of cooked meat and various cheeses. ‘I think I’ve shown you everything you need to make the meals but it will be up to you to order and re-stock in plenty of time. Two girls from the village serve table and help me behind the bar should I need it, you won’t be out front at all.’ His glance moved from Eve to Nell and then back again. ‘Any questions?’
Eve’s brain felt addled. Hesitantly, she said, ‘How will I know what to cook?’
‘The girls will bring the orders through.’ Taking in their faces, he said, ‘Look, I’ll explain everything tomorrow. We’re just serving cold meat and cheese and pickles tonight like we’ve done since my mother fell ill, but I shall lose customers if that carries on much longer. I’ll show you the room and you can get settled in and then come down and get yourselves something to eat and drink. Then I suggest you get to bed. It’s an early start here. I shall expect you down ready to work at six in the morning and most nights it’ll be well after ten before you’re able to leave the kitchen.’
Eve nodded, trying to hide the panic she was feeling. ‘How many people stay at the inn?’
‘Guests you mean? It varies. We’ve four rooms on the first floor, but it’s rare they’re all taken at the same time. The daily sees to them. Our main trade is with folk wanting meals at lunchtime and in the evening and we’re always busy then but not overly so. You’ll manage. My mother and I have rooms on this floor at the back of the inn but you’ll be in the attic.’ He paused. ‘I’ve done the best I can with the room but it’ll be a squeeze with the three of you.’ He didn’t add here that when he and his mother had discussed a resident cook he had wanted to put whoever they hired in the least used guest room but his mother had thrown a blue fit. Consequently he’d spent the last couple of days clearing the attic of cobwebs and years of dust and making a rough base for the straw mattress he had lugged up the stairs, along with a couple of bits of old furniture. Glancing at Mary, he added, ‘I might be able to fit a pallet bed in for the bairn tomorrow.’
‘Oh, we’ll be fine, fine. Please don’t concern yourself about that.’
‘You haven’t seen the room yet,’ he said with grim humour.
Eve looked at him. He wasn’t particularly good-looking, his face was too square and rugged to be called handsome but his eyes were lovely. A deep dark brown with thick lashes, but it was more - her mind searched for the word she was looking for to describe their expression and then she found it - more the kindness in them that was so appealing. And it was this kindness that made it easy for her to say quietly, ‘We were at our wits’ end today, Mr Travis. I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t taken pity on us because we’d little money left and Mary’s cough is bad. I’ll be forever grateful to you.’
It was with obvious embarrassment that Caleb waved his hand and turned away, saying, ‘Believe me, lass, you’ll earn your keep here, it’s no picnic. Now follow me and mind your step when we get to the first floor and the staircase to the attics. It’s narrow and steep.’
On leaving the kitchen they found themselves in a long, thin passageway. Almost opposite the kitchen door was one leading into the inn’s bar and lounge and they could hear talking and laughter. The next moment it opened and a young, bright-eyed girl stood there carrying a tray full of used glasses. ‘Oh.’ She was clearly taken aback. ‘You’re back then. We’ve orders for cold meat and cheese.’
‘You know where it is.’ Caleb turned to Eve and Nell. ‘This is Cassie, she helps out front. Cassie, these are the new cooks, Eve and Nell.’
The girl nodded, her large blue eyes sweeping over them. ‘Pleased to meet you.’ Then her gaze returned to Caleb.‘I’ve told me mam I’m working late tonight, as long as you need me.’
She likes him. Eve stared at the pretty face. But then who wouldn’t?
‘Thanks, Cassie.’ Caleb spoke quietly, almost flatly. ‘But I think we’ll be all right.’
He doesn’t like her, not in that way. Eve didn’t know why this warmed her but it did.
The girl tossed her head of thick brown hair.‘Well, the offer’s there,’ she said pertly, flashing him a smile.
Caleb led them along the passageway to a staircase with open treads. At the top of this was a wide landing, the polished floorboards and white walls making it appear light and airy. They passed four closed doors, two on either side, before reaching a door at the end of the landing which Caleb opened. ‘Like I said, mind your step.’
The stairs were very steep, the rough wooden treads going up almost vertically like a ladder, and Eve was glad of the handrail fixed to the rough wall.The stairs opened straight into the attic and Eve saw it was barely a room.The floor area was huge, she reckoned it might cover the whole of the inn, but most of the space was unusable, being barely high enough for a bairn to crawl in.The part where they were standing was better but even here Caleb was having to bow his head. A wooden base with a double mattress on it was standing in front of them, along with a chest of drawers and a hard-backed chair. A row of pegs had been nailed to one of the roof beams to hang clothes on. Some attempt had been made to make the space more homely, there was a thick clippy mat on the floor and a brightly coloured patchwork quilt covered the bed.
Placing the oil lamp on the chest of drawers, Caleb said quietly, ‘I told you it would be cramped with the three of you.’
‘It’s lovely.’ Eve turned quickly to the other two. ‘Isn’t it?’ she added meaningfully.
‘Aye, lovely,’ said Nell.
Mary gazed about her. ‘Are there mice?’ She was terrified of mice and had gone hysterical the night before when she had seen a rat in the hay barn.
Caleb laughed. ‘You can always rely on the truth from bairns. No, I’ve never seen evidence of mice up here.We have the odd one or two downstairs but the cats usually see to them.’
‘You’ve got cats?’ Mary’s face lit up. ‘Are they nice and friendly?’
‘Not to the mice.’ Caleb laughed again and Mary giggled. ‘But they’d be pally enough with you, especially if you start off right by giving them a titbit of chicken. But don’t tell anyone I told you that.They’re supposed to earn their keep mousing.’
Mary decided she liked Mr Travis a hundred times more than Mr Finnigan. ‘I like it here,’ she said, in the manner of one bestowing a compliment.
Caleb grinned. ‘Well, thank you, ma’am.’ Turning to Eve, he said, ‘This is your oil lamp but there’s candles on the chest of drawers.’ He pointed to them. ‘I’m sorry there’s no natural light up here but keep a candle burning all night if you want.There’s plenty in one of the cupboards in the kitchen. Just help yourself when you need them.’
‘Thank you.’ Eve hesitated. ‘When . . . when will we meet your mother, Mr Travis?’
‘Tomorrow will do.’ He turned to the head of the stairs. ‘I’ll see you in the kitchen at six o’clock and go through everything with you then, all right?’ His eyes went from Eve to Nell and they both nodded. ‘And we’ll have to see about a school for Mary. Which school did she attend in Stanley?’
It was Mary who answered.‘The penny Methodists.’
‘The penny Methodists.’ He looked at Eve.‘There’s a Church of England school not a minute or two away in the village. Would you have any objection to her attending that?’
‘No, not at all.’
‘I’ll see to it tomorrow.’
Once they were alone they stripped the quilt off the mattress and then made up the bed with the sheets and blankets which had been folded in a pile beneath it. The quilt was very thick and heavy and Eve thought it was just as well, the roof space was icy cold. But they’d be fine snuggled together, warm as toast, she assured herself. She brushed Mary’s hair to order before they went downstairs to the warmth of the kitchen and found something to eat. They would only be up in the attic to sleep anyway and the kitchen was lovely and warm.
They were lucky.
In the moment before the three of them trooped downstairs, Eve turned and looked at their new home. If Caleb hadn’t offered them work, things would be very different tonight. And then she picked up the oil lamp and carefully led the way down the vertiginous staircase.
‘You’ve done what? Are you mad, boy?’
Caleb stared at the mountain of flesh that was his mother. He had always thought that fat people should be jolly, it went with the roundness and soft flesh somehow, but not so his mam.
‘Don’t call me boy,’ he said tonelessly. ‘I’ve told you before.’
‘Oh aye, you’ve told me.’ Mildred Travis glared at her only child, her pale, almost opaque eyes made more colourless by the redness of her complexion. ‘Told me lots of things, you have, like how you were going to Gateshead to bring back a woman to see to the cooking. And what do you do? Bring back three waif and strays and one of ’em a bairn. A
bairn
. I’d as soon have had that Cassie mooning about the kitchen than this.’