Girl from the Kip

By Susan Williams

Mollie is a feisty young woman who lives and works in a Victorian lodging house in London. Although her life is hard, she is happy with her lot, until she meets Edwin Hill.

Edwin Is a wealthy man who enjoys the benefits of an extravagant lifestyle. However, that is put in jeopardy, when he falls in love with Mollie Carter, for she lacks the social skills needed to survive in his world. Made worse by the fact that she is ‘common’ and cannot hold her tongue in public.

As their relationship develops, Mollie tries to fit in, but her plight is made worse, when Pearl arrives on the scene; for she is everything Mollie aspires to be.
Then, when Mollie becomes a subject of ridicule, and adopts an orphan child, and starts to lose the respect of her husband, will it be Mr Thomas she turns to, or Edwin’s friend, John Gunner.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Susan Williams
• Release date: Jun 2, 2019
• ISBN: 9781370861057

Susan Williams

Hi, I live in Dorset, England and I was a Teaching Assistant. Due to Covid 19 I have decided to retire. Not sure what the future holds with regards to work, but for now, I'm concentrating on my writing and other hobbies.I am married and have two wonderful sons.I enjoy, reading, writing, playing darts, crafts, exploring coffee shops and mooching .

Book preview

Copyright@ Susan Williams

Smashwords Edition

Girl from the Kip

‘Give it back!’ Mollie screamed.

The gentleman turned his head and gave Mollie a sarcastic grin, which got her back up and she yelled, ‘Put the pie back and we will say no more about it.’

Still walking, the man looked at her and said boldly, ‘It’s a bloody pie.’

‘Who the hell do you think you are? You can’t just take what you want when you feel like it.’

Then she walked up to him and said angrily, ‘Stealing from a blind man. You can’t get any lower than that.’

Dumbfounded, he turned to her and said furiously, ‘It’s a bloody pie girl, get away with you.’ Then he hastily walked on.

‘What’s going on Mollie?’ Sam asked, after hearing the commotion.

‘I’m alright Sam, I can deal with this. Don’t trouble yourself.’

Sam did as he was told, because he knew from experience that Mollie could look after herself.

Mollie, seeing the man in the distance, ran after him.

Feeling embarrassed, the man upped his pace and she grabbed hold of the bottom of his coat and hung on for dear life.

‘Get away with you woman,’ he bellowed, as he fought for control of his coat, but Mollie was determined to hold her ground.

Suddenly, the gentleman became aware of the crowd gathering around them and said, ‘I’ll put the bloody pie back if it means that much to you.’

The crowd were starting to boo, and not wanting any trouble, he nervously stuffed the pie into her hands and rushed off.

With her hands on her hips and shaking a little, Mollie screamed, ‘And don’t come back, else I’ll get the bobbies.’

‘What’s happening?’ Sam called out, worried that his friend was in trouble.

‘Do not fret Sam. A gentleman thought it was alright to steal one of your pies and I put him right on the matter,’ she said angrily, as she walked towards him.

‘What did the man look like?’

‘He was tall, had brown curly hair to his shoulders and brown eyes, and his attire was that of a gentleman.’

‘I’m afraid you’ve been a little hasty. From the description my wife gives, I think that was Edwin Hill. He takes what he likes and pays for it at the end of the week. He’s always in a hurry and never has time to stop.’

Embarrassed, she said humbly, ‘Sorry Sam, I didn’t realise.’

‘I think you should apologise, he’s a good customer. He pays over the top for his pies and really, I can’t do without his money, especially at Christmas. He always leaves me a big tip and buys me a small goose.’

‘I’m sorry Sam, how often does he come here?’

‘He comes the same time every day. I hate to put you through this, but I can’t afford to lose his business. We barely have enough to live on now.’

‘I’ll be here first thing. I better be going. The Kip won’t clean itself.’

When Mollie arrived for her shift at the lodging house, affectionally known to some as the Kip, she noticed Mr Thomas was waiting for her.

‘Everything alright,’ she asked nervously, for as much as she liked Mr Thomas, he could be a real pain sometimes.

‘You’re late, where have you been?’

‘It’s a long story, now let me pass, I’ve got work to do.’

‘You’re getting tardy. Remember, there’s plenty more who would take your place if you don’t toe the line.’

Mollie stared at him and said gruffly, ‘That old chestnut. I’d like to see you get someone who’ll work as hard as I do. Look at these hands,’ she said, shoving them under his nose. ‘They’re all blistered.’

‘Go and clean out the Sea Captain’s room, he popped his clogs last night and I’ve got an old man coming to look at the room later.’

‘How can you be so cold? He wasn’t a commodity; he was a real person.’

‘It doesn’t pay me to be soft in this business, because the next thing you know, I’ll be letting them Kip down here for free.’

‘You have no need to worry on that score, you haven’t got it in you to be compassionate. As it is, you are as tight as a donkey’s …’

‘Get inside and less of your cheek. I don’t know why the hell I keep you on.’

With a huge grin on her face, she walked into the Kip.

Mollie walked over to the Captain’s bed and sat down, then she opened the drawer and pulled out his personal belongings. He didn’t have much to show for an old man. There was a pencil, a notebook which had never been written on, a dirty handkerchief and tuppence. She felt the back of the drawer just in case there was something there, but there wasn’t.

With a heavy heart, she walked over to the wardrobe and opened it. There was his Sunday suit, two pairs of boots and his Captain’s uniform, and one dirty shirt. Throwing the clothes on the floor, she went and sat on the bed, and looked up at the light coming in through the small window at the top of the room.

Suddenly, she felt an overwhelming sense of loss for a man she hardly knew, and if she hadn’t been so weary, she would have cried for him. Especially when she realised, that his life seemed to echo her own. There was no one in the world who cared if she was alive or dead either. She swept out the room and within ten minutes, Mr Thomas had rented the room out for the night.

The following morning, Mollie waited on the corner, opposite to where Sam was sitting and waited for Mr Hill to appear, and sure enough, at exactly eleven o’clock, he walked over to the tray and picked up a pie.

Mollie filled her dry mouth with saliva and walked over to the man and said humbly, ‘May I have a word sir?’

The man looked at her and recognising her straight away, and feeling a little embarrassed, he said firmly, ‘Madam, we have nothing to talk about.’ Then he started to walk away.

‘I owe you an apology,’ she shouted above the noise of the market, and he turned around.

‘Now you’re talking.’

‘I may have been a bit hasty.’

He raised one eyebrow and frowned, and feeling embarrassed, she said, ‘Alright, I jumped to conclusions and I’m sorry.’

‘Apology accepted, now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go. I haven’t got time to speak to washerwomen.’

Hackles raised, she said vehemently, ‘Washerwoman! I’m not a bloody washerwoman.’

He smiled, he’d guessed she wasn’t, but intended to have a bit of fun at her expense and said, ‘What do you do then? Are you a lady of the night?’

‘You need to hold your tongue sir. I may be a woman, but I can fight as good as any man.’

He smiled, then said sarcastically, ‘I don’t doubt that for a minute.’

Mollie frowned and took a step back and suddenly, she realised, he was having fun at her expense.

‘You are a rogue sir.’

‘I wouldn’t go that far.’

‘Why are you making fun of me?’

‘Because you bite so easily.’

She wanted to say something cutting but couldn’t think of any put downs, so stared at him instead.

‘What? Can’t think of anything to say, a feisty girl like you? Come now, you must have something?’

‘You are a popinjay.’

He let out a raucous laugh then said, ‘Do you even know what that means?’

Feeling the tension leave her body, she laughed and said bashfully, ‘Not really, but I heard the physician say it to my boss the other day.’

‘I’ve never met anyone like you. You are a lively one for sure.’

‘Do you like your women feisty then?’ she said, trying to sound flirty but failing miserably.

He laughed for a full minute, and after he’d calmed down, he said, ‘I don’t like girls.’

Mollie was disappointed, for she liked him. Then she surprised herself when she heard herself say, ‘Do you like me?’

‘I like women very much, but not girls. How old are you?’

‘One and twenty. How old are you?’

‘Thirty. Far too old for you.’

‘Who says? I know a woman who is thirty years older than her husband.’

‘And are they happy?’

‘Most of the time.’

‘You’re not slow in coming forward, are you?’

‘What does that mean?’

‘I’m late.’ Then he nodded his head and walked away, leaving Mollie perplexed.

He was a true gentleman in every sense of the word, albeit a big tease, but she liked him. She liked him a lot.

Suddenly, she felt butterflies in her stomach, and her hands and forehead felt clammy.

The Sickness

‘Stop mooning around, what on earth is wrong with you?’ Mr Thomas asked.

‘There’s nothing wrong with me.’

‘If that’s the case, why is it taking you twice as long to make the stew?’

‘I don’t feel well.’

‘You look alright to me. What’s wrong with you, is it the curse?’

‘The curse my eye. If you stop looking over my shoulder, perhaps I’d get it done quicker.’

‘Don’t blame this on me. You better get a grip woman. Time means money in this business. If they don’t get their meal on time, I won’t get my money.’

‘You can’t help me here, why don’t you go to your club or something?’

‘I think I will, but before I go, consider yourself on a warning. I will not tolerate tardiness.’

Mollie wanted to scream profanities at him, because sometimes, he really got on her nerves. This was her third warning this week. Saying that, he was right, she had been a little tardy lately, ever since her encounter with Edwin Hill.

It had been four weeks now, and despite her walking to the market every other day, he was proving to be illusive. Sam had told her, that he had been coming to the market later than usual, but she couldn’t spend all day looking out for him, for she could not leave the Kip unattended. They had ten full time borders who required an evening meal, and five overnight rooms that had to be cleaned regularly, and life was getting to be a hard slog. Especially since she couldn’t get that bloody man out of her head. She had no idea how it had happened, somehow, she had let her guard down, and she was paying for that mistake now. All she saw in her head was him. She couldn’t sleep, barely ate, and was in danger of losing her job if she didn’t knuckle down.

Saturday, and it was the first day she’d had off in weeks. She was meeting her friend Betsy and they were going to ‘The Green Gate’ music hall down City Road, and she couldn’t wait.

It was a chance to escape the lodging house, because not only did she work there, she lived there too. Granted, it was a large room with soft furnishings and was of a good standard compared to the others, but it was noisy, because it was just off the kitchen, which was always busy.

She’d arranged to meet Betsy outside the theatre, because she didn’t want Mr Thomas to know her business. Whenever she had a day off, he would ask her where she was going, and she hated being interrogated by him. It was bad enough having to bite her tongue at work, let alone in her free time.

Betsy was late, as usual. She was never on time for anything. She worked as a scullery maid in the middle of London and the Master of the house was a particularly nasty character, and if he knew that his staff were going anywhere, he would find things for them to do; causing them to be late. Betsy had complained numerous times about him, but there was nothing the staff could do. They all needed the work, so they had to put up with it. She was lucky in that respect, despite the odd tongue lashing she got, Mr Thomas was a good boss.

‘Sorry I’m late, the master kept us back, he’d had a row with the mistress and took it out on us. He made us stand in the hall and then yelled at us for five minutes. The bloody gentry will be the death of me. I don’t even know what he was going on about. Anyway, I’m here now.’

Mollie linked arms with her, and they walked into the theatre and stood by the side of the stage. Thankfully, the play had not started.

‘I wish we had a seat,’ Betsy grumbled.

‘You know we can’t afford it. We’ll just have to make do here. Besides, the nearer we are, the better we’ll see it.’

‘It must be good to be rich,’ Betsy said, as she paid for two pots of Jellied eels and handed one to Mollie, who screwed her nose up at them.

‘You know I hate these slimy things.’

‘Oh gawd, sorry Mollie, I forgot. Can I have yours?’

‘Take them,’ she said, thrusting them into her hands.

Mollie looked on as Betsy devoured the eels then said, ‘Don’t they feed you?’

Betsy laughed and said cheerfully, ‘Of course they do - when the master isn’t telling us off.’

They both laughed and clung to each other excitedly, as they watched the actors take their places.

They’d both seen the play before, but it was the only theatre they could afford; and they loved the atmosphere there, especially after the performance ended, when they would sing songs. Their favourites being, ‘Down at the old Bull and Bush’ and ‘Daisy Bell.’ Neither of them could sing, but they couldn’t be heard above the noise of the crowd and would scream their heads off. Sometimes, that went on for a full hour, and for a while, they could forget about their mundane lives.

As they hurried along the street, Betsy turned to Mollie and said, ‘Fancy going to the White Hart?’

Eager for some fun, Mollie nodded her head, and they headed towards the pub. As usual, the pub was busy, and they had to fight their way to the counter and were disappointed, when the landlord said that he didn’t serve lemonade, and handed them two tots of gin instead. Luckily, they had just enough money, but it meant that they could only afford one bag of chips on the way home.

Sitting in a cubicle close to the entrance, just in case it got rowdy, they slowly sipped their gin. Sadly, there was no entertainment tonight and the atmosphere felt flat.

‘Shall we drink up and get going,’ Mollie asked.

‘No way, there’s a bloke