Authors: Lyn Andrews

Tags: #Sagas, #General, #Fiction

Across a Summer Sea (28 page)

BOOK: Across a Summer Sea

2.94Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

ads

‘I
hate
Da! And Lizzie hates him too, Mam!’ Katie wailed, tears streaming down her cheeks. She loved it here, especially school. Miss Collins was the best teacher she’d ever had and she had friends, even though she never saw them out of school, except at Mass on Sundays. She had nice clothes too and plenty to eat, and this lovely big house to live in and Mrs Moran and Bridie to spoil her. She didn’t want to go back to St Anthony’s School and Millie Price always having more of everything. And if Da couldn’t walk he’d always be in a bad temper and there would be rows and shouting and she
hated
that.

‘Oh, Katie, that’s a terrible thing to say! Ask God to forgive you this instant!’ Mary exclaimed, shaken by the force of her normally quiet and placid daughter’s reaction.

‘I won’t! It’s God’s fault this has happened to Da!’

‘Stop that this minute, Katie McGann! I won’t have it!’

‘Ah, she doesn’t mean it, Mary. She’s upset,’ Mrs Moran interrupted.

Katie gave a choking little cry and rushed from the room.

‘She’s right, Mam, and what about Lizzie? You know our Lizzie loves it here and she loves Mr O’Neill too!’ Tommy cried, desperate to find something that might make his mother change her mind.

‘Tommy, stop it! Don’t you think I know she’s broken-hearted to be leaving Richard? She already knows. She . . . knew this morning.’ In her distraction she unconsciously called him by his Christian name alone.

The lad looked at her. ‘You like him too, Mam, don’t you?’

With horror Mary realised what she’d said.

‘Of course she does. They get along famously and he’s very upset that she’s going, that you’re
all
going,’ Julia Moran interjected quickly. ‘Now, you’d better go and help Sonny,’ she instructed.

‘Thank you, Julia. I . . . forgot. I didn’t realise,’ Mary said quietly.

Tommy stared hard at them both before he turned away. Something very strange was going on. Mam had called Mr O’Neill ‘Richard’ and Mrs Moran ‘Julia’ and that had never happened before.

Lizzie was very subdued when she returned to the house with Bridie. She refused either to eat or to have anything to do with Mary, which twisted the knife in Mary’s heart. She went constantly to the window, even after the daylight had faded and darkness had fallen, looking for Richard O’Neill’s return. He ‘talked’ to her the way no one else could and he’d taught her so much, shown her so much. How could she leave him? And Bridie too. Mam was taking her away, back to Liverpool where everyone ignored her. She didn’t understand why they had to go. Her da was the worst for ignoring her and she could see no happiness ahead of her.

‘Oh, Julia, what am I going to do with her if she carries on like this?’ Mary fretted after Bridie had finally got the child to bed.

‘She’ll get over it, Mary, in time.’

‘She blames me. I can’t bear to see the way she looks at me.’

‘It’s a terrible wrench for her, but she’s very young, she
will
get over it, Mary.’

‘Oh, I hope you’re right.’

‘I am. Now, you’d better write that letter. I’m going to leave a cold supper in the dining room for him and no matter how late it is when he gets back, I promise I’ll see him and tell him. You have an early night, you must be worn out, child.’

Mary nodded. She was exhausted but she knew she would get little sleep tonight or in the hundreds of lonely, miserable nights that lay ahead of her.

Chapter Nineteen

S
HE LEFT BALLYCOWAN FIVE days later and they had been nightmare days. The children were all miserable, surly and disobedient. In the long nights when sleep eluded her she heard both Katie’s and Lizzie’s muffled sobs. Bridie too was red-eyed and sniffed constantly until Julia, whose own nerves were stretched, shouted that if she couldn’t stop her damned whining then she could get out from her sight and the girl had fled in floods of tears. The outburst had startled and saddened Mary but it was nothing compared to the torture she endured every time she heard his voice or saw him riding out of the yard.

With Julia Moran’s help she had written him a letter, begging to be excused her duties of serving and clearing meals, asking that the cook should undertake these tasks. It was something Julia herself had suggested knowing Mary’s state of mind. The note also informed him of the day of her departure. She had finished by saying that he must know how miserable she was to be leaving, that the children were heart-broken but that none of them would ever forget him. She had signed it, ‘With love, Mary.’

‘Do you think that’s wise?’ Julia had asked gently.

‘It’s all I can say! I
do
love him, I always will, you know that!’

The older woman had nodded sadly, taken it and placed it on his desk.

‘Will there be a reply?’ she’d asked that night after supper, knowing by his expression and the plate of half-eaten food that he’d read it.

‘No. There is nothing I can say to change her mind, is there?’

She’d hesitated and then she had placed a hand on his shoulder. She’d never seen him look so totally miserable in all the years she’d known him, and they were many.

‘You
know
there can be no future for you and Mary, Richard. She is tied to him and then . . . then there’s Herself.’

‘I wish to God there wasn’t! Why the hell didn’t my father put a stop to
that
the way he did everything else?’ he cried vehemently, slamming his fist down on the table.

‘He couldn’t, you were of age and you insisted! The Lord alone knows he tried! Will you . . . will you say goodbye to her?’

He shook his head. ‘I
can’t
!’

‘No more can she to you. Ah, well, time is a great healer but we’ll miss them all.’

‘I’ll be away for the day - the whole day.’

‘No one can blame you for that, it will be a hard day to get through,’ she’d answered sadly.

It seemed to make it far worse that the sun was shining and everything looked so beautiful, Mary thought the morning Sonny brought the trap around to the front door for the last time. She’d heard Richard ride away and knew that she would never see him again but there had been little enough time to dwell on it. That would come later. Tommy had silently helped Sonny to load their bags and had been promised he could take the reins all the way to the station, the furthest he’d ever been allowed to drive.

‘I’ll
never
get to drive anything ever again. No one I know back there owns anything
to
drive!’ he muttered rebelliously.

‘But at least you’re able to do it. It will help when you’re a grown feller,’ Sonny tried to console him.

Katie was sniffing loudly and Lizzie had buried her head in Bridie’s skirt. The girl looked helplessly at Julia Moran.

‘What’s I’se to do?’ she asked.

‘Lift her up into the trap, Bridie. She’ll go for you.’

‘But not me!’ Mary whispered to herself as Bridie deposited the little girl beside her sister on the narrow seat.

Katie put her arm around Lizzie and Tommy blinked hard, fighting back tears himself, although he’d promised Sonny he’d ‘act like a big feller’.

Mary pulled herself together. ‘They’ll all be fine once we’re on the ship.’

‘They will so. It’s a good decision to go straight to the docks and not go calling on your aunt. She’ll understand,’ Julia Moran said firmly.

‘Goodbye, Julia! I’ll never forget you -
any
of you!’ As she hugged the older woman Mary was fighting hard to keep the tears at bay.

‘God bless you, Mary! You’re the best thing that ever happened to us and I bless the day you came here and always will - despite everything!’ Julia choked. ‘Now, get off with you or you’ll miss that train.’

Try though she might Mary couldn’t help looking back as Tommy drove the trap onto the towpath and towards the bridge. The walls of the castle rose high into the clear blue sky, its windows sparkling in the sunlight. The branches of the trees rustled in the light breeze and the air was filled with birdsong. The lush green meadows were dotted with cattle and in the distance she caught a glimpse of the Tullamore River as it meandered through the fields. Oh, how could she leave it all? It was so beautiful. It was where her heart would always remain for she knew that from somewhere, somewhere out in that dear, tranquil, verdant countryside,
he
was watching her go.

The journey was long, tiring and depressing. The children slept fitfully for some of the time but although Mary was emotionally and physically exhausted sleep wouldn’t come. It was a calm crossing compared to their outward journey but there were times when she wished that the ferry would disappear beneath the waves, taking them all with it and ending their misery. She tried so hard not to think of everything she’d left behind and of what faced her when they finally docked. She even tried to make some plans. There would be so much to do but she had no heart for it, nor was she looking forward to seeing either her old home or Frank. How could she not hate him? How could she cope with the life that now awaited her?

She was so thankful to see Nellie and Maggie waiting for her on the Landing Stage when the ferry docked and she struggled down the gangway carrying Lizzie and one of the bags.

‘Mary, luv, you look wore out! Here, give me that bag!’ Nellie demanded, looking concerned. Mary’s letter had upset her deeply. The girl obviously hadn’t wanted to come back and she for one didn’t blame her.

‘Thanks, Nellie. I’ve hardly slept and Lizzie’s at the end of her strength, poor little mite. She doesn’t understand this at all.’

‘Haven’t you all grown!’ Maggie said cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood. Both Tommy and Katie looked as tired and miserable as their sister.

‘It’s all that good food and fresh air, Maggie. Come on now, let’s get out of this crush. We’ll get the tram home. Won’t that be a treat?’ Nellie smiled encouragingly.

Both women kept up a steady chatter all the way and as she looked out at the familiar streets and buildings Mary began to feel a little better. At least she could count on her neighbours.

‘You’re all coming home with me for a cup of tea and something to eat, first,’ Nellie announced firmly as they got off the tram on Scotland Road.

‘He’s still in the Royal Infirmary so you’ve time to settle back in, like,’ Maggie said. ‘I’ve done a bit of tidying up but I have to say the place is not like it was when you were there, girl.’

Mary managed a smile. ‘Thanks, Maggie. Well, hard work is what I’m used to - always have been.’

Her spirits continued to rise as they walked down Newsham Street and women called out greetings from their doorsteps.

‘I just hope Queenie’s got the kettle on, like I told her to have,’ Nellie said as she pushed open her front door.

BOOK: Across a Summer Sea

2.94Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

Read Book Download Book

ads