Christmas for the Halfpenny Orphans
A gritty and compelling drama from the bestselling author of The Orphans of Halfpenny Street. Perfect for fans of Nadine Dorries and Sheila Jeffries.Little twin sisters, Sarah and Samantha are all alone in the world. When their mother died giving birth to Sarah, she was blamed for the death by her father and her learning difficulties serve only to make him more angry and violent towards her. Now he’s finally abandoned them both and they’ve found sanctuary at St Saviour’s Children’s Home in London’s East End. It seems they’re doomed to be separated; no one wants to take Sarah on, but life apart will break their hearts.Alice, a former worker at the home who is now a mother and happily married to Bob, finds her happiness under threat when a face from the past reappears. Jack Shaw, East End bad boy, has always been Alice’s weak spot but is she really about to throw everything away?Angela Morton has her hands full; she’s now in sole charge. But with Christmas approaching, and more than one orphan in desperate need, St Saviour’s is crying out for a miracle…
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Harper
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First published in Great Britain by Harper 2016
Copyright © HarperCollinsPublishers 2016
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2016
Cover photography © Henry Steadman (children); Shutterstock.com (Holly bushes & Christmas tree)
Cathy Sharp asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9780008118501
Ebook Edition © October 2016 ISBN: 9780008118518
Version 2016-08-10
Table of Contents
âWait until I catch you, you little bitch!â The manâs voice struck terror into the hearts of the two small girls hiding under the stairs. âIâll tan your hide, Sarah, you see if I donât.â
Samantha squeezed her twin sisterâs hand reassuringly but didnât say a word; Pa had sharp ears and even the slightest sound might give their whereabouts away. She hardly dared breathe as she heard the sounds of doors being opened and slammed shut as their father searched for them. Tears were trickling silently down Sarahâs face when Samantha touched her cheek. Both of them knew that if Pa found them they would be beaten, but Sarah would bear the brunt of it, because Pa hated her. He blamed her for causing their motherâs death, as sheâd been born last and it had taken so long that Ma had been exhausted and died soon after.
Neither of the girls had known their mother, but Pa said she was a saint and, when drunk, accused Sarah of murdering her. Samantha had come quickly and the parents had been gazing fondly on their daughter when Jenni May was gripped with terrible pain once more and this time it had gone on for hours, ending with Sarahâs birth and Jenni lying in an exhausted fever from which she never recovered.
When the girls were younger, a woman had come in every day to take care of them and to cook Paâs meals. She was a pretty woman, sharp when addressing the twins, especially Sarah, and quick with her hand, but whenever their father was around she was all sweetness and light, and he was taken in by her every word. When she said Sarah was awkward, stubborn and rebellious, Pa agreed that she must be kept in check, but he left the chastising to Melanie.
Although he had drinking bouts every so often, heâd been content enough whilst Melanie looked after the house and everyone had expected they would marry one day, but the previous year, a few days before the twinsâ tenth birthday, there had been a fierce quarrel and Melanie had left them, vowing never to return and swearing that Ernie May was an impossible man. She said heâd taken advantage of her good nature and she wouldnât put up with it a minute longer â declaring that only she would have had the patience to take care of brats like his, and that she would have no more of it. After that, Paâs temper had grown worse and worse and heâd taken against his daughters, particularly Sarah. It was Sarah who had caused all his troubles, because she had killed her sainted mother. He wished sheâd died at birth and wanted only to be free of his responsibility towards the twins.
Samantha knew all this, because Aunt Jane had told her when she visited a week previously. Their aunt was a tall thin woman with a sharp face and a hard mouth, though her eyes sometimes told of something more inside her, something she kept a tight rein on. Samantha had asked her why Pa hated them so, and her aunt told her in a harsh voice that felt to Samantha like the lash of a whip. Sarah had merely stared at Aunt Jane, taking very little in as always. It wasnât that she didnât understand anything, as Pa and Aunt Jane thought, but she was slow at putting things together in her mind and she couldnât form the words properly unless Samantha told her how.
