Story from Blushes 4 On that first occasion, Sandra’s mother had been most indignant! ‘What was I to say, Mr Petty? A phone call telling me my daughter was a thief! I mean, I couldn’t even tell him to sod off, could I — begging your pardon, Mr Petty — I have known the man for years! Friends, you might say, and him good enough to give my daughter a job — and now this! You’ll have to do something with her, Mr Petty, you really will! What with her father at sea most of the time she’s really got quite out of hand, she has. I have told her — “Mr Petty will have a thing or two to say about this my girl,” I said. “Just you see if he don’t! What you need is your backside tanned!” I told her.’ Mrs Collins had sat on the edge of a chair in Mr Petty’s study and her frustration had continued to simmer just below the surface as she’d waited for her patient listener to confirm her in her view that the girl needed ‘something going with her!’...
