Winnie of the Waterfront [antikvár]

Chapter One Winnie's scream split the darkness like a knife being run over corrugated iron. Grace Malloy stirred, groaned irritably and then dug her husband viciously in the back. 'Shut her up or I'll wring her sodding neck,' she snarled as she burrowed deeper into their feather bed and pulled the matted blanket over her head to shut out the violent sobbing coming from the other side of the room. Trevor Malloy scrabbled out of the warm bed and padded across the bedroom, edging his way gingerly between the foot of the double bed and the cupboard in order to reach the small truckle bed wedged in between the cupboard and the wall. A rank smell of urine hit the back of his throat as he bent down and gathered the little figure into his arms, shushing and soothing as he did so. 'Now, now, Wirmie, settle down. Daddy's here. There's nothing to worry about.' Gently he rocked the small girl in his arms, wiping the tears from her heart-shaped face with his fingers and pushing her jet-black curls back from her sweat-drenched forehead. As her little hands clutched around his neck like small pincers he felt her shaking with fear and gasping for air. Each breath she took was strained and noisy as she tried to control her sobs.