A Nest of Singing Birds Read online

  ‘It shows respect,’ she agreed and Bridie said quietly, ‘It’s the way I feel. Black’s right for me.’ Julia pressed her arm in silent sympathy.

  After the funeral was over, Pat and Julia spoke to Bridie about her future. ‘We don’t want to rush you, girl,’ Pat said gently. ‘We just want you to know there’s a home with us if you want it.’

  ‘And you know you’ll be as welcome as the flowers in May,’ Julia interrupted.

  ‘If you’d rather stay on here, Bridie, we’ll see that you’re all right for money. Just do what you want to do,’ said Pat.

  ‘Perhaps you’d like one of the girls to stay with you, Bridie?’ Julia offered.

  Bridie sat pleating her dress between her fingers. ‘I don’t want to leave here,’ she said finally. She began to weep. ‘I feel close to Ma here.’

  Julia put an arm round her. ‘Don’t decide anything in a hurry, love,’ she said. ‘No one should decide anything right after a bereavement. You can’t think straight. Me and Pat just wanted you to know that whatever you want to do is all right with us, and we’d all be glad to have you if you decide to come to us.’

  ‘And don’t worry about the rent if you want to stay here,’ Pat said.

  ‘I was glad that Joe was at home for the funeral,’ Bridie said, it seemed at random, but she rose and went to the dresser and came back holding a five-pound note.

  ‘I found this under the runner on the dresser after he’d been in to see me,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to take it, Pat. It must be best part of his pay-off.’

  ‘He got a good pay-off,’ Julia said. ‘It was a long trip this time, thirteen months. You keep it, Bridie.’

  ‘But with your business – you could do with it yourselves,’ she said.

  ‘No, Joe saw us all right. You keep it,’ Julia repeated.

  ‘Joe has plenty in his pocket,’ Pat said. ‘He doesn’t drink his pay. Can’t. The smell of a barman’s apron and he’s legless.’

  They all laughed and Bridie said more cheerfully, ‘Speaking of drink – I’ve never asked you if you had a mouth on you.’ And Pat poured beer for himself and port wine for Bridie and Julia.

  Before they went Julia asked again if Bridie would like one of the girls to stay with her, but when she refused Julia did not press her. She realised her sister-in-law wanted to be alone with her memories of her happy years with her mother.

  It was a consolation to all the family that Joe was home at this sad time. They could see little change in him. He was taller and more muscular, as quiet as ever, yet with the same ready laugh and dry comment, and as fond as ever of his family and home.

  He looked for a shore job but it was impossible to find one in the short time before he had to go back.

  ‘Do you hate the life then, lad?’ Pat asked, but Joe said cheerfully, ‘No, I don’t, Dad, not really. I get fed up at times but I’m with a good crowd of mates and there are times I wouldn’t be anywhere else. I miss the family though.’ He looked round with a grin. ‘I don’t know why I do, but there it is.’

  Tony pretended to aim a punch at him and Julia said quietly, ‘And we miss you, son. I’m storming heaven, Joe, for a shore job for you.’

  ‘Thanks, Mum,’ he said, giving her a quick hug.

  ‘I’ll pray for it too, Joe,’ Anne said. ‘And when I have to read to Grandma Houlihan, I’ll offer it up as a penance for you to get a job.’

  Joe thanked her gravely and the rest of the family hid their smiles.

  ‘What a thing to say about your grandma,’ Julia said in a shocked voice. ‘You should be glad you can do something for her.’ But Anne was unabashed.

  All too soon Joe had to go back to sea, but for a shorter trip this time, and his family promised to keep looking for a job for him while he was away.

  Chapter Six

  Bridie quickly recovered from her collapse after her mother’s death, and through a neighbour found a job in a greengrocer’s shop on the corner of the street. The wages were small, but the company of the customers was as helpful to Bridie as the money.

  Her mother’s small pension had died with her, and Pat tried to insist that Bridie allow him to pay her rent but she told him she could manage.

  ‘You know, Ma’s insurance policies paid for the funeral and a bit over so I’m all right. I’ve got a good stock of coal and plenty in the cupboard, so my wages will be more than enough for me. Thanks all the same, lad.’

  ‘I wanted to pay for the funeral,’ Pat said.

  ‘I know you did, Pat, but Ma paid the coppers all those years so she wouldn’t be an expense to anyone when she went. You know how independent she was, never wanting to be a trouble, but she was grateful for all you did for her and so was I, Pat. You’ve been a good son and a good brother.’

  They both had tears in their eyes and he gave her a quick hug. ‘And you were a good daughter, Bride, none better,’ he said gruffly. ‘I only hope my girls turn out like you.’

  ‘Don’t let them hear you,’ Bridie said with a watery laugh. ‘No, I was glad of your help, Pat, while I had to stay home with Ma, but you’ve got your own troubles now. It’s time I stood on my own two feet anyhow.’ She looked down at them and added with a rueful smile, ‘God knows, they’re big enough.’

  As Pat walked home he passed Brendan with another flashily dressed young man and stopped to speak to him. But his nephew said ‘Good evening’ and walked on quickly, leaving Pat staring after him.

  ‘You should have seen the cut of him,’ he told Julia later. ‘His hair greased down like patent leather, and the suit! A double-breasted waistcoat with lapels, and the coat looked as though the hanger was left in. That feller’s up to no good, Julia. Does Minnie ever say anything to you about him?’

  ‘Don’t talk to me about Minnie,’ Julia said angrily. ‘You should have heard her carrying on at Ma’s today. She came here yesterday, it seems, and I was out and I’d locked the back door.’

  ‘You don’t often do that,’ he said.

  ‘I know I don’t but they were talking in the shop about the hatchet man. I didn’t want to come back and find him under the bed or something.’

  Pat roared with laughter but Julia was not amused. ‘It’s all very well for you to laugh,’ she said. ‘I’ve had a terrible day with Minnie going on: “Walking through the teems of rain to your house and finding it locked and barred against me, and me soaked through. Not welcome in my own sister’s house.” Carrie said it was only a drizzle so how did she get soaked through? And that set her off even more. Then Ma took Minnie’s part just to be awkward.’

  ‘Poor Carrie’s got her own share there,’ Pat commented and Julia agreed. ‘I don’t know how she puts up with it,’ she said. ‘But she keeps her sense of humour. Minnie was saying that all the girls are after Brendan and Carrie said to me at the door, “They must all have white sticks”.’

  ‘I don’t care if our Minnie does take the huff,’ said Julia. ‘I’m not risking any of us getting murdered just for her.’

  She warned her sister that the back door would be locked if she was out, and the reason, and was surprised when Minnie agreed with her.

  ‘I can see now why your door was locked against me,’ she said. ‘I’ve told Dympna to be careful when she’s out late. A young girl wouldn’t stand a chance against a maniac like the hatchet man.’

  They were in Carrie’s house at the time, and Julia and she looked at each other expressively.

  ‘She could always fall on him and crush him to death,’ Carrie whispered when she went to the door with Julia, and Julia walked away smiling.

  Julia was in a happier frame of mind now and so was Pat because he had managed to secure a good order, in spite of the fact that the country was in dire straits. He had secured a contract to build two pairs of semi-detached houses on the site of an old house in West Derby. One day he and the men were all in the yard sorting out supplies for the new job.

  Suddenly the gate was thrust open and a man who had been on an errand burst i
n. ‘I’ve just seen something terrible,’ he gasped. ‘Remember Jimmy Getty did casual work for us, boss? A roofer.’

  ‘Jimmy Getty? A thin fair lad?’ Pat said.

  ‘He was thin all right,’ the man said, ‘Half-starved he was, and so was his missus and kids. He didn’t have no stamps for dole and they were on the parish. They just told him it was cut by two shillings and he come home and hung himself.’

  ‘Oh, God, no!’ Pat exclaimed, and there were horrified exclamations from the other men.

  ‘His missus found him. She run out and got the bobby on the beat and he cut him down. Terrible it was. His missus was screaming then she just crumpled up like. I’d run in when I heard the screams but there wasn’t nothing I could do. The bobby was shook up too. He said Jimmy made a mess of the hanging. He must of taken half an hour to die.’

  ‘It’s a wonder he told you that, Eddie,’ another man said.

  ‘Well, like I said, he was shook up too. When Jimmy’s missus come round the bobby said he went quick. Poor Jimmy. The two shillings must’ve been the last straw like.’

  ‘It’s a crying shame,’ Billy Joyce said. ‘He was a good worker too and a nice quiet lad, lived for his family.’

  ‘He wasn’t thinking of them when he done that,’ a younger man said.

  ‘What do you know about it?’ Billy Joyce said angrily. ‘His mind must’ve give way, just cracked like. He couldn’t have done that if it hadn’t been for listening to his kids crying with hunger and his missus wore away to a shadow, and not being able to do anything about it.’

  ‘Maybe he thought they’d do better without him, get more help like?’ the older man said.

  ‘A terrible death, the copper said. He’d have been better putting his head in the gas oven, but I suppose he didn’t have no pennies for the gas.’

  ‘I wouldn’t let them beat me,’ the younger man said suddenly. ‘I’d steal before I’d let my family starve. Kill even.’

  ‘That’s wild talk, Jed,’ the older man said reprovingly.

  ‘I mean it,’ he said. ‘I’d kill before I’d let my family starve. What could they do? Only top me. And old Pierrepoint might make a better job of it than Jimmy done. Blimey, not even a penny for the meter to die decent.’

  Pat had paid no attention to the excited talk, standing as though struck dumb. Billy Joyce touched his arm.

  ‘All right, boss?’

  ‘Oh, God, if only I’d known,’ he said with anguish. ‘He’d been to me for work, but there was nothing. If I’d known.’

  ‘There wasn’t nothing you could do,’ Billy said. ‘All the casual fellers are desperate, scratting and scraping to live. It took you all your time to keep your regular fellows going.’

  ‘But two shillings, Billy. I could have found him two shillings’ worth of work,’ Pat said, shaking his head.

  The man who had brought the news was still talking excitedly but the other men were in a subdued mood as they finished their work and left.

  Pat said nothing to Julia until the younger children were in bed, although she had glanced at him several times with a worried frown.

  ‘What’s the matter, Pat? What’s happened?’ she asked as soon as the children had gone upstairs.

  When he told her, Julia exclaimed in horror, and crossed herself. ‘Lord have mercy on him, the poor lad. Was he married?’

  ‘Aye, and some little kids too. That’s what made him crack up, the lads reckon. Seeing them very near starving with the bit they got from the parish and then he was told it was cut be two shillings.’

  ‘God forgive them,’ she exclaimed.

  ‘But two shillings, Julie, and he hanged himself. I could have found him work for two shillings.’

  ‘But you didn’t know, Pat. Don’t blame yourself. There’s plenty of others with more reason to feel guilty – them on the Board of Guardians and higher up still in London. You’ve done the best you can for your workmen.’

  ‘That’s what Billy Joyce said. He said there’s plenty more like Jimmy. Young Jed said he wouldn’t put up with it. Said he’d steal or kill even before he’d let his family starve.’

  Tony had been sitting on the sofa reading and he looked up. ‘Jed’s right,’ he said forcefully, ‘I wouldn’t let people walk on me and starve my family. I’d fight back. I wouldn’t lie down under it.’

  ‘That’s daft talk,’ Pat said. ‘What could you do? Do you think Jimmy hadn’t tried everything? You young fellas know nothing.’

  ‘I know I wouldn’t stand for it,’ Tony said. ‘That’s what they count on, people being afraid to stand up to them. I wouldn’t care if I did break the law.’

  ‘Are you making out the lad was a weakling?’ Pat snapped. ‘There was nothing weak about Jimmy, but he wouldn’t break the law. He was a decent lad.’

  ‘And look where it got him,’ Tony said. ‘Anyway the law is only made by men to protect their own interests. Do you think it’s God’s law to drive a man to suicide?’

  ‘Tony, Tony,’ Julia said. She rose to stand before him and lay her hand on his shoulder. ‘Don’t argue with your dad now, son. He’s upset.’

  Tony looked up and seemed about to say something but his mother’s expression made him change his mind. He closed the magazine and went upstairs.

  Julia turned back to Pat who was sitting slumped in his chair, with his head in his hands. ‘I feel as though I’ve been kicked in the stomach, Julie,’ he said. ‘A lad I know – a lad I’ve talked to. Not much older than me own.’

  ‘Well, his troubles are over now, poor lad,’ she said, but she too put her hands over her face and wept.

  * * *

  The following day Billy Joyce told Pat that the men had had a whip round for the widow. ‘It’s only a couple of shillings, that’s all the lads have got, but it might help her.’

  Pat had just been paid for a small repair job and he handed the money to Billy, with another two shillings from his own pocket. ‘I suppose it’s the easy way out, to make us feel better, isn’t it, Billy?’

  ‘The way I look at it, it’s the best we can do. And poor Jimmy didn’t die for nothing if she gets some help.’

  It was some time before Pat could stop thinking of Jimmy and blaming himself for not finding work for him, but commonsense told him that there had been no work to give.

  The men were all very quiet and subdued for a while after the tragedy, but gradually their good spirits returned, helped by the fact that Pat had secured another good order for repairing and extending a mansion which had been empty for some time. It was to become a private school.

  It took longer for Julia to recover from the tragedy. She said nothing about Jimmy’s death to the younger children, but her temper was unusually short for some weeks. Unfortunately Anne chose this time to refuse her dinner. She had been picking at the food and finally pushed her plate away. ‘I don’t want my dinner,’ she said. ‘I don’t like cabbage anyway.’

  She was taken aback when her mother jumped to her feet and leaned over her menacingly. ‘Eat it,’ she hissed. ‘Don’t you dare to waste good food while there are children in this city crying with hunger. And their poor parents driven desperate because they’ve nothing to give them, God help them.’

  Anne hurriedly picked up her fork again, shocked and frightened to see that her mother’s eyes were full of tears. The Fitzgerald children had always been taught that food must not be wasted, and their plates must be cleared, but her mother’s rage on this occasion frightened and impressed Anne.

  It was many years before she knew the reason for it.

  Chapter Seven

  Anne soon recovered from her fright at her mother’s strange behaviour and was her usual cheerful self again. She looked forward to the autumn and winter. Aunt Carrie had said that as Anne and Terry were the only Fitzgeralds of school age, she would have a Duck Apple Night party in her house where they could join the twins and Carmel in bobbing for apples and making toffee apples.

  The idea had grown and now it was to
be a Hallowe’en party with all the older members of the family included. It was a party that was long remembered. Theresa had hollowed out turnips and put candles inside them and Aunt Carrie supplied a feast of spareribs and pasties and gingerbread.

  The children bobbed for apples with much advice and screams of laughter from their elders, then the mess was cleared away and the party games began. They tended to involve kissing and scuffling behind doors but most of the guests were of the age to enjoy them.

  Finally everyone sat round in the shadowy candlelit kitchen and told ghost stories. Anne enjoyed the ghost stories while she was in Aunt Carrie’s kitchen surrounded by people, but was terrified later when she had to go to bed alone.

  Fortunately she was soon joined by Eileen, and could clutch her when she came to bed. With her sister Eileen beside her Anne felt safe. No intruder, earthly or ghostly, would be a match for Eileen, Anne felt.

  Fred had always refused to allow fireworks in his house or to allow his children to attend bonfire night parties. ‘I seen a lad lose his life with a rocket,’ he once told them. ‘The bottle fell over and the rocket went straight into his eye and killed him. I swore I’d never let my children take any chances like that.’

  Instead of buying fireworks he always gave half a crown each to his own children and to the Fitzgeralds, and this money had been invaluable to them for buying Christmas presents.

  Anne had gone for several years with Eileen to do the shopping for presents, and they had spent happy hours carefully choosing something suitable for each member of the family. Fred’s half crown was supplemented by saving their Saturday penny for a few weeks and adding coppers earned by running messages for the neighbours.

  Eileen lit fires for a Jewish family on Saturdays and when she started work the job passed to Anne. The threepence a week was added to her savings. She was fascinated by the Goldsteins who lived above their business premises, and by their luxuriously furnished home. Mrs Goldstein was very kind to her and explained the origin of the orthodox customs and told her about the Jewish faith.