was almost tall enough to see over the top. She was nervous about him reaching too far and toppling into the Thames. ‘Hey, wait for me,’ she called.
Tommy stopped and began to jump up and down. ‘Pick me up, please, Sarah …’ he asked excitedly.
She wrapped her arms around her brother’s waist and held him up to look out along the river.
‘I wish we could go on a boat,’ Tommy said.
‘Maybe you will one day. You could sign up with the Navy and live on one of them big battleships.’
‘Nah,’ said Tommy, ‘I’d miss you too much ’cos you couldn’t come on the boat ’cos no girls would be allowed.’
Sarah affectionately squeezed Tommy and he giggled in response.
Just as her arms were beginning to ache and she was about to put him down, he squealed, ‘Look – Sarah – I can see treasure!’
‘Can you? What treasure can you see?’ Sarah asked, playing along with him.
‘Down there, in the mud … LOOK.’
Tommy seemed very insistent, so Sarah put him down and leaned into the balustrade for a closer look. The mud and shingle appeared almost black, but Sarah spotted something gold glistening in the sun’s rays. ‘You’re right, Tommy, there’s definitely something down there.’
‘Come on, let’s go and get it. I bet it’s real treasure that’s fallen off a pirate ship,’ Tommy said, and began running towards some concrete steps that led down to the banks.
As he made a dash down the steps, Sarah gave chase. ‘Wait,’ she shouted, ‘it’s too dangerous. You stay here, I’ll go.’
‘But … but …’
‘No, Tommy, there’s no buts about it. I want you to sit on this bottom step and don’t move, OK?’
Tommy put on a sulky face but nodded his head.
‘Good boy. Sit tight and I’ll be back in a minute with the treasure.’
Satisfied that Tommy would follow her instructions, she cautiously stepped down onto the foreshore, half expecting her feet to sink in the stinking mud. Thankfully, it wasn’t as mushy or as deep as she had expected. She looked again for the shiny object and mapped a path in her head which would take her mainly across the shingle.
She slowly made her way through the mud, wrinkling her nose at the foul smell. Her black lace-up shoes were soon covered in thick gloop, and she nearly lost her balance a couple of times, slipping on green algae-covered rocks. As she got closer to the object, her heart began to race. She was sure it was a piece of jewellery. Finders, keepers, she thought, desperate for the money it could be worth.
Finally, she reached down and pulled the gold from the mud. It was filthy, but she could see it was a very thick and heavy gold bracelet adorned with several jewelled charms. It must be worth a fortune, she thought, quickly heading back towards the steps.
‘Is it treasure, Sarah?’ Tommy asked, as he jumped up excitedly.
‘Oh, yes, it most certainly is,’ Sarah replied, holding out the bracelet for Tommy to see. ‘Look.’
‘Wow, I’ve never seen nothing like that. Is it ours now? Can we keep it?’
‘Well, really, we should try and find the owner or take it to the police station, but given that it was in the mud down here, I doubt we’d ever know who lost it. So, yes, I suppose it is ours, but we can’t keep it ’cos I’ll have to sell it or we’ll be going hungry.’
‘But I saw it first, so it’s mine, and I don’t want to sell it,’ Tommy complained.
‘What good is a gold bracelet to you? Would you rather you kept this and we starved to death? Stop being so selfish, it isn’t like you.’
Tommy hung his head. Sarah could see he was about to start crying, and she hated to see him upset. ‘Come here, give me a cuddle. You’re a clever boy, spotting that in the mud like you did. Well done,’ she said, and wrapped her arms around him.
‘Geroff me – you smell,’ Tommy said and chuckled.
Sarah realised she did. In fact, they both needed a wash and so did the bracelet. With no money for a tram, she knew it would be a bit of a trek, but decided on heading to Clapham Junction. They could use the public toilets, then make their way to the market at Northcote Road.
Once there she hoped to sell the gold and finally fill their empty bellies.
The streets and shops at Clapham Junction were bustling with people, and as they passed Sarah she felt a little fearful, wondering if the bracelet in her pocket belonged to any of them. She had no way of knowing, but she knew she had to risk trying to sell it.
To her relief, Tommy had been quiet for most of the journey, but she could see the child was tired, and knew he was hungry. When she looked down at him and he greeted her back with a warm smile and twinkling blue eyes, the guilt she felt was like a stab to her heart. He was such a sweet child and she wished she could do more for him.
As they passed Hastings’ furniture store, Sarah caught a glimpse of her reflection in the shop window. Her shoes were caked in mud, and her thin blouse and holey cardigan were grubby from lying on the shed floor. Her skirt was wrinkled, and her hair was tangled. With Tommy in his oversized flat cap and blanket wrapped around him, she realised they must look like a couple of vagrants. She crossed the road to a central reservation which was locally known as Bog Island. There were toilets in Arding and Hobbs’ department store, but, looking as they did, she thought it best to avoid them.
‘Sarah, I’m a big boy now. Can I use the men’s toilet by myself?’
‘No, Tommy, you’re still not old enough. Sorry, I know you don’t like it but you have to use the ladies’ with me,’ Sarah answered as she led Tommy down the curved steps to the public toilets located under the street, noticing how clean and white the tiled walls were.
Once downstairs, she saw how the brass pipes and door knobs gleamed in the light coming through the opaque glass tiles in the pavement above. She quickly scanned the room, and, pleased to find the char lady wasn’t around, took off her shoes and rinsed them under the tap in one of the sinks. She filled another sink with water and instructed Tommy to wash himself.
‘What with?’ Tommy asked.
Sarah took a corner of the blanket and dampened it before wiping it over her brother’s grubby face. ‘There you go. Now wash your hands too.’
‘I need the loo, Sarah.’
‘Me too, but I haven’t got a penny. We’ll have to wait for someone to come down, then when they come out of the cubicle, we’ll grab the door before it closes.’
‘But what if the door won’t open again and we get locked in ’cos we didn’t pay?’ Tommy asked, looking concerned.
‘Don’t worry, that won’t happen,’ Sarah reassured him.
She had just about finished doing her best to tidy herself up, then gingerly took the bracelet from
