A Mother's Courage by Dilly Court

Ada. You look perished.'
    Ada came slowly towards her, holding out a
dog-eared copy of a book of fairy tales. 'My
book,' she murmured as she knelt down by
Eloise's side. 'Pretty pictures.'
    Eloise studied the crumpled illustrations and
she nodded her head. 'Very pretty, Ada. Do you
like fairy tales?'
    'Dunno,' Ada said, staring at her blankly. 'I
can't read. My mama used to read to me until she
fell asleep and didn't wake up again.'
    Eloise reached out tentatively to brush a lock of
mouse-brown hair back from Ada's forehead,
and her heart swelled with pity for her. 'Would
you like me to read to you, dear?'
    Ada nodded eagerly and settled down at
Eloise's feet to listen to the story of Cinderella
with rapt attention. She sobbed brokenheartedly
when the Ugly Sisters were cruel to
Cinders and she clapped in childlike glee when
the glass slipper fitted Cinderella and she
married her prince.
    After this, Ada brought her books to the
nursery every evening and she would sit,
warming her bare feet by the fire, listening to
Eloise as she read her tales about beautiful
princesses and handsome princes. She showed
such enthusiasm that Eloise began teaching her
to read, and to her surprise, Ada was an apt
pupil. Although Eloise could elicit very little
more about Ada's childhood, apart from the fact
that she had been born and raised in Bridlington,
any mention of Joan and their relationship upset
her so much that Eloise thought it best to let the
matter lie.
    Every evening, after Ada had gone back to her
room, Eloise would spend an hour or so writing
to her mother. The only address she had was of
the mission headquarters in Mombasa, but she
hoped that they would forward the letters to
wherever it was in the depths of Africa that her
parents had been sent. It was too much to hope
that she would receive news from Mama in the
near future, as mail took many weeks to arrive,
but it gave her comfort to put pen to paper. She
wrote mainly of the little milestones that Joss and
Beth had passed. Beth had cut another tooth and
Joss had drawn a picture on his slate; it might
look like a squiggly line to anyone other than a
doting mother, but Eloise could see quite clearly
that it was meant to be a puppy just like the one
that Mabel had smuggled into the nursery. Joss
had fallen totally in love with it and had cried
bitterly when the puppy had to be returned to its
mother in the kennels where Mr Cribb kept his
hunting dogs, but Mabel had promised faithfully
to bring it to the nursery whenever possible.
    One day, Eloise thought, as she folded the
letter and tucked it into an envelope, we will
have a home of our own again. Joss and Beth will
have a puppy and a kitten too if they want one.
She sighed. It was just a dream, but holding on to
it was the only thing that kept her from despair.
She addressed the envelope and placed it in a
drawer out of sight of Nancy's prying eyes.
Eloise suspected that Nancy reported everything
that was going on to the servants below stairs,
but by the same token Eloise knew that she could
trust Mabel. Tomorrow she would give the letter
into Mabel's hand and she in turn would give it
to Ted, who would take it to the post office. He
always travelled on the box with Riley when he
drove Mrs Cribb on her frequent shopping
expeditions to Scarborough, and since Riley was
not as agile as he had been, Ted would run
errands for Hilda, carrying her purchases or
holding the horses' heads while Riley popped
into the pub for a beer and Hilda met friends for
afternoon tea. Sometimes Joan went on these
outings, but Eloise was never invited.
    April came, bringing with it skies of a peerless
blue as winter gave way to spring, but the
weather was capricious and sudden showers
could come from nowhere, along with blustering
winds that swept across the wolds, bending trees
and cutting through outer garments to chill the
unwary walker to the marrow. On fine days,
Eloise still took the children out into the grounds,
but Harcourt was no gardener and