Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2018
Coronation Street is an ITV Studios Production
Copyright © ITV Ventures Limited 2018
Jacket photographs © Keystone-France/Gamma-Rapho via Getty
Images (boy); © Stephen Searle/Alamy Stock Photo (Coronation Street).
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018
Maggie Sullivan 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.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780008256531
Ebook Edition © February 2018 ISBN: [eISBN] 9780008255169
Version: 2018-01-10
Annie Walker lay in the middle of the generous-sized bed, ready to close her eyes. It was a rare treat for the landlady of Coronation Streetâs Rovers Return to enjoy the luxury of an afternoon doze, for the pub was the busiest and best in Weatherfield as far as she was concerned. The sunlight that was slanting through the sash window illuminated the dust on the dressing-table drawers and it was almost enough to make her get up and go in search of a duster â but she resisted. Her cold wasnât completely cured yet.
Annie yawned and stretched, lazily grateful that she had been able to persuade her mother to come and look after the children for a few days while she took to her bed.
âYou wonât have to worry about serving in the pub,â Annie had said when sheâd asked for Florenceâs help. Sheâd sensed her motherâs hesitation at the thought of having to pull pints behind the bar.
âItâs not that, dear,â Florence said, almost too quickly. âI was just wondering whether you might be better off going to the hospital. This flu that so many people are going down with can be very dangerous, you know, and you donât want to take any chances, not with two little ones running around.â
Annie didnât want to admit that it was probably the two little ones and their boundless energy that had led to her getting so run-down in the first place.
Thankfully, Florence had agreed to come and Annie had been able to indulge in what she considered to be a well-deserved rest. But enough was enough. Now Florence was beginning to irritate her and, grateful as she was for her motherâs help, Annie knew it was time for her to take back control of her own household.
Annie closed her eyes, about to drop off, when Florence made an unwanted appearance. She was brandishing the Weatherfield Gazette.
âHave you seen what it says here?â she said, waving the paper under Annieâs nose. âThereâs going to be a special service for Mothering Sunday at the Mission of Glad Tidings.â
âSo?â Annieâs eyes were already heavy with sleep.
âSo, I thought we might go.â Florence began to hum âAll Things Bright and Beautifulâ. âIt might be interesting.â
âYou can please yourself.â Annie sounded cross. âBut I shall go to Mount Zion Baptist Chapel where I always go. Itâs where Jack and I were married and where, I believe, I shall be expected.â So saying, she closed her eyes and turned on her side.
Yes, she thought as she drifted off to sleep, it would be timely to go to church and give thanks, if only for the fact that, although German bomber planes continued to fill the skies, the barrage balloons forced them to fly so high it had been some time since the Luftwaffe had managed to drop their bombs with any accuracy on Weatherfield.
After the horrors of the 1940 Christmas Blitz that had laid bare the centre of Manchester and flattened parts of residential Weatherfield, Annie had wondered whether there could be any more bombs left in the Germansâ arsenal to be dropped on Britain. But the Air Raid Precaution wardens had warned people to be vigilant because there could still be the occasional air raid even though the Blitz was over. Their advice was to flee to the shelters at the first signs of danger. Annie dreaded the thought of being woken up by the wail of air-raid sirens and having to rush to get dressed and make herself presentable. Regardless of the fact that they were encouraged to leave immediately the sirens sounded and not wait to gather any belongings, she certainly didnât like being bullied by one of the ARPs or the fire wardens into having to seek cover without checking first whether she was decent enough to be seen in public. Annie was thankful she at least had her own cellar where she and any of the staff and customers could flee to whenever necessary. She could not imagine having to run with her two little ones down the street where she would be crammed together with all the neighbourhood hoi polloi who were seeking shelter in the basement of the Mission of Glad Tidings. Even the thought of having to rub shoulders, quite literally, with all those people was more than she could bear.