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[Page 46]
"would I go out and sweep the footpath", and I said "yes". I was sweeping away and I saw my father turn around the corner so I ran in the shop and said my father just saw me I think as he came around the corner. I went and hid behind the soda fountain, (in those days we all had icecream soda's all different flavours). Dad came in and said "is my daughter here Mrs Turner?" "Yes"she said and called me out to see my father. I said "I am not going home, I want to stay here". Dad said I am not going to take you home until we sort things out, is that alright with you Mrs Turner", and she said "yes, she can still go to school and I will put 5/- a week for her in the bank". This went on for a little while and dad came up one night after the shop was closed and I said, "I don't have to go to school as I passed to go to High School and I don't want to stay at Campsie and get the same lessons". Dad was not a bit concerned about that. It was what was going to happen to me.
Mrs Turner said Mrs Hawkins, Edie is a good girl and a very capable girl, will you let me adopt her, and I will take her to Melbourne with me, where my husband is. He has a tobacco business down there, that is why I have a lot of tobacco in this shop. With all that dad said "no I am sorry she is my darling daughter and I love her very much and her mother is still alive and has rights to see her". "Well" said Mrs Turner, "if that is the case you must make a point of seeing her mother and both of you talk it over as to what is to be done with Edie, in the meantime she can still stay with me."
After all that was over I did not go back to school, but only helped Mrs Turner in the shop and though I was only just over twelve I did learn a lot from her. She used to cook hot mid-day meals and meat pies and sausage rolls and she let me help her. I really thought I was very lucky, I liked her and she liked me and I never ever got roused on by her, she was always pleased.
Well the next time dad came to see us, he had an arrangement made to meet my mother on a Sunday afternoon at Manly. Well that Sunday came and Mrs Turner said to me "Edie, you think very carefully what you want to do and who you want to go with", well when dad called for me, Mrs Turner had dressed me very nicely and she gave me 2 parcels. One was chocolates for my mother and some tobacco for dad. She told me to give them to them when we were at Manly.
So we get to Manly and meet mother and we go and sit on a seat on the waterside and I am in the middle of them and they are talking about all things what they think is best. Mother said to me "you come and stay with me and I will have you taught to be a manicurist like me. I don't want to said me". Dad said "come back home with me and you can learn a trade, I don't want to do that either", and I am sitting there swinging my legs, and I said "Mrs Turner said to give you these, and I know what I will do, I will go and live with my gran", anyway they must have agreed as my mother left and dad and I caught the next ferry back from Manly. We went back to Mrs Turners, she was very sorry to hear what I said, but she still carried on the same with me until dad made some arrangements with gran. So the big day came for me to go and live with gran in Bucknell Street at Newtown. Dad finally left and gran said Harry, you can come anytime and see her and dad said, "I be around but I don't want to bump into Lillian".