Lingard026

24

She said good-night to Kate and ran all the way to her house.
Her mtoher w^as still sitting in the kitchen mending^.a sock. She
looked up ^{with a sock in her hand} as Brede came in.

"What's up? Anything happened, Brede?"

"Have the children^kids come in?"

Mrs McCoy nodded. "I've sent them up to bed."

Brede hesitated a moment. She looked at her mother's tired face
and knew that she could not give her anything more to worry about.
She would talk to Kevin.

"Kevin hasn't been back?"

"No. Not a sign of him. Well, he'll just have to starve for
his meal's ruined^{burnt to a cinder.} "

Brede went up to the room that she shared with her three sisters.
They were in bed; one was asleep, the other two were playing cards.
Brede took a book and sat by the window but she did not read. Every
time she heard a step in the street she looked down to see if it was
Kevin.