Wildflower Girl (Children of the Famine) Read online

  Peggy watched as the landlord bade his embarrassed goodbyes.

  ‘Are you all right, Nano?’ asked Eily.

  The old lady stood up. ‘I’m away to my bed, we’ll talk about this later.’ She muttered under her breath, obviously exhausted from the strain.

  Peggy and Eily looked at each other. They both knew that closing the shop was enough to break their great-aunt’s heart.

  * * *

  It was almost midnight. Eily, Michael and Peggy sat by the range, arguing back and forth about their future.

  ‘Why can’t we all go to America?’ questioned Peggy. ‘That’s the simplest thing to do. Our passage will be paid.’

  ‘That’s no answer, Peggy!’ said Eily sternly. ‘Do you think poor Nano would survive such a voyage?’

  Peggy, defeated, shook her head and added a whispered ‘No.’

  ‘Auntie Nano and Auntie Lena took us in when we had no one or no home. You remember, both of you, the state the three of us were in when we arrived here after weeks on the road and how the two of them cared for us and got us well again? They could have put us in a workhouse or orphans’ home, but instead we became their family. They fed us even though food was scarce and they brought us up. Never, never would I leave poor Nano – she’s all on her own now. It’s our turn to look after her.’ Eily’s cheeks blazed.

  ‘Maybe if I went I’d get a job fairly easy and be able to send some money home for the rest of you,’ suggested Michael.

  ‘I could work too,’ added Peggy. ‘I’m all but finished school, and you know well there are no jobs here. They say there’s plenty of jobs across the ocean.’ Eily started to shake her head. ‘No, no, I don’t want you to go. The three of us have been together always. We can’t split up now. Peggy’s only a baby. Who’d look after her?’

  ‘I’m not a baby. I’m thirteen and old enough to be in service,’ cried Peggy indignantly.

  ‘Look, Eily, if you’re going to stay and look after Nano you’ll need money,’ said Michael.

  ‘If there were jobs here we’d get them, but there aren’t any. So what else can we do?’ asked Peggy.

  ‘Eily, you know Peggy’s right. The two of us could go to America. I’m getting fed up hanging around here day in, day out, helping at the market sometimes or with milking or odd farm jobs. I want a proper job. Eily, I’ll fill in the application anyway for Peggy and myself, it won’t do any harm.’

  ‘The Molloys are going and the O’Caseys, so we wouldn’t be on our own …’ Peggy began.

  ‘I need time to think about it. We all have to try and work out what’s the best thing to do. Come on away to bed or we’ll be exhausted in the morning. Let’s all say a prayer that something will be sorted out,’ said Eily.

  * * *

  Two days later Eily told Michael there might be a vacancy for him up at Castletaggart House. A wide grin spread across his face. Maybe he could get a job at last.

  Eily had been helping in the kitchens at a ball in the Big House the night before. As usual, she asked the cook if there were any vacancies. The woman shook her head.

  ‘Not unless you want to help with the horses in the stables?’ she joked. ‘The stable boy has just left after getting a bad kick from a mare and the head groom wants someone good and gentle with animals and unafraid of horses.’

  Eily straight away mentioned her brother and his way with animals and love of horses.

  Michael couldn’t believe it. Horses – working with them, grooming them, feeding them, cleaning them and maybe riding them. It would be a miracle if he could get it.

  ‘Stable boy, stable boy,’ no matter how often he said it, it sounded good. ‘Are you sure, Eily?’

  His older sister nodded. ‘I’m not codding you, Michael. Honest to God, it’s a great opportunity.’

  ‘Eily, I’ll do my best to get that job. It’s all I ever wanted.’

  Peggy smiled. Michael was so lucky. But what would happen to their plans if he got the job? she wondered.

  Nano blessed herself. ‘Thanks be to God,’ she murmured, but added, ‘We mustn’t count our chickens before they’re hatched.’ Peggy loved her aunt and her old sayings.

  Eily seemed embarrassed. She poured out another cup of tea.

  ‘Well, I’ve a bit more news.’ She looked up. ‘John has asked me to marry him.’

  Three pairs of eyes fixed on Eily’s glowing face.

  ‘You said yes, Eily! Oh you did say yes,’ urged Peggy, squeezing her sister’s hand. Eily shyly tossed back her long fair hair. ‘Well, I suppose, sort of … there are lots of things to be considered.’ However it was clear to them all that Eily was brimming over with happiness.

  ‘How are John and his father managing up on the farm?’ asked Nano. ‘I hope poor old Josh hasn’t had one of his turns recently?’

  Everyone in Castletaggart knew about Joshua Powers. At the height of the Great Famine he had lost his wife, two sons and young daughter to famine fever. Joshua roamed his fields, flinging sods of turf and stones at the sky and cursing God for what he had done. He spent five days like that until John, his eldest son, got him calmed down. However, from time to time the memory would come back and he would rant and rave and curse and wander the fields again. Locally he was known as Cursing Josh Powers.

  Nano looked at Eily, Michael and Peggy and thanked the heavens that God had sent these special children to herself and Lena. Large tears filled her eyes and she took out her big white hanky and blew her nose loudly.

  Eily looked over at her. ‘Auntie Nano, don’t tell me you’re crying with happiness? Aren’t you the silly one!’ Eily put her arms around the old lady, sensing her sadness. ‘Don’t fret. Powers’ cottage may be a bit small, but there’ll be space for you. You don’t think I’d run off and leave you on your own? Nano, there’s a little room that used to be John’s sister’s – it’ll be yours and Peggy’ll have the settle bed in the kitchen.’

  Peggy, who had been dreaming, suddenly snapped out of it. A settle bed up at Powers’ farm, miles from the town and friends! No chance of a job, only helping Eily with the house! Peggy just managed to hold her tongue.

  * * *

  Peggy stood out in the yard. She dragged the soaking wet clothes from the bucket and started to stretch them across the rope that was strung across the cobbled yard.

  Michael came out to join her.

  ‘Are you going to give me a hand, Michael?’ she joked.

  Michael bent down and dragged out an old bed sheet. He let the water drip all over his shoes.

  ‘Michael!’ Peggy stared at him. ‘What’s wrong with you? Fling it up on the line before you soak yourself.’

  ‘Peg, I want to talk to you.’

  She looked at him. Something was up, she could tell.

  ‘Spit it out, Michael, whatever it is.’

  Michael blushed red as a turkey cock.

  ‘I got the job, the one up at Castletaggart House.’

  Peggy stared at her brother. She felt betrayed.

  ‘I’ll be living in over the stables. Imagine, they have twenty horses and I’ll be helping to look after them all.’

  ‘Oh, Michael,’ Peggy swallowed hard, ‘I’m so happy for you.’

  ‘I never believed it would happen. All my life I’ve loved animals and wanted to work with them. You remember when I left school how hard I tried to get work on a farm. I thought it would never happen – and now!’ Peggy pinned a smile across her face.

  Michael stopped and looked right at her. ‘Peggy, I suppose I’m letting you down. There’s no need for me to go to America now. I never wanted to go anyway. I’ve got my chance here at home and I’ll grab it.’

  ‘I know, Michael. So now I’m on my own.’

  ‘Don’t be cross with me, Peggy. I’m real sorry, but this is my dream come true – working with horses. We all have dreams and must follow them, so Peggy, you must do what you want!’ Michael lifted the empty enamel bucket. ‘Eily and Nano think it’s grand. In two days’ time I’ll be living in
at the Big House.’

  The next day a brown envelope was delivered, addressed to Michael and Margaret O’Driscoll. It contained another notice and two vouchers. The silver-printed vouchers could be used at Masters & McCabes Shipping Office at Queenstown ‘as payment for passage to America. On receipt of said voucher a ticket would be issued to the bearer.’ The notice gave details about emigration and advice on what to bring, and wished the applicants luck.

  Michael glanced at his voucher, shrugged his shoulders and pushed it back in the envelope. He had other things on his mind.

  Every hour or so, Peggy would take her voucher out and look at it. ‘Passage to America’ – the words burned in her mind.

  ‘Eily, please, I could go on my own. I’d get a job straight away and I’d send money home,’ Peggy pleaded.

  ‘No! No! You’re too young. You’d never survive in a strange country on your own,’ Eily kept answering back.

  ‘But I want to go. It’s not just what you want, this is something I want!’

  ‘At thirteen you think it’s important what you want, you little devil!’

  ‘At barely thirteen you saved Michael and me from the workhouse and brought us all the way from Duneen to Castletaggart. You pushed us and made us walk and got food for us and forced us to survive the Famine,’ Peggy reminded her.

  ‘That was different. I had no choice,’ Eily admitted.

  ‘But I feel I’ve no choice. The shop will close down. You and John will be getting married. I’ve seen Powers’ cottage, there won’t be space for me there. Nano is the one that needs a home. You’ve been trying to get work for the last two years and if you couldn’t, how do you think I’d ever get a job?’

  Peggy’s question hung in the air.

  Over the next few days she kept on asking and asking. She stuck out her chin and used every ounce of O’Driscoll stubbornness to get her way.

  ‘Nano, if you were young, what would you do?’ She forced her great-aunt to answer.

  Nano rocked backwards and forwards and after much consideration grudgingly said: ‘I’ll tell you something, Peggy, if my sister Lena were still alive and the two of us were in our heyday and young, we would be the first ones to take a passage to America. Such a chance of an adventure we’d never have missed.’

  She patted Peggy on the hand. ‘I’ll talk to Eily,’ the old lady assured her.

  That night there was a meeting in the back kitchen of Murphys’ Bakery. Peggy stayed up in the bedroom as down below Nano, Eily and John Powers argued and discussed her future. She listened to the singsong of their voices, wondering what the outcome would be.

  * * *

  Eily’s eyes were red-rimmed and her face was blotchy when she slowly climbed the stairs and came in to sit on Peggy’s wooden bed.

  ‘Well, Peggy!’

  Peggy raised herself up in the bed. They hugged each other.

  Eily looked tired. ‘Yes. The answer is yes.’ She tossed the envelope on to the beige blanket.

  ‘Are you angry with me?’ asked Peggy.

  ‘No, pet, I’m not.’ Eily sat down on the corner of the bed. ‘I’m just sad. Sad for myself I suppose. I’ll miss you. It’ll be so lonely. Michael will be gone, and then if you’re on the far side of the world …’ she trailed off. ‘Why do you have to go, Peggy? Don’t you think you’d be happy with the rest of us on the farm?’

  Peggy stared at the strands of wool in the blanket, and didn’t answer.

  Eily had begun to cry. ‘It’s just so sad. Oh, Peggy, you’re my little sister. How can I ever let you go? I can’t bear parting!’

  ‘I know how you feel,’ Peggy said. ‘Do you remember the day that Mother left home to look for Father?’ Eily looked puzzled but nodded. ‘I wasn’t even seven, but I can remember that awful day as if it was yesterday. I knew as she walked down that little road that she would never come back.’

  ‘Peggy, none of us knew that. She was going to the roadworks to search for Father. We all thought she’d come back,’ said Eily.

  ‘No, I never believed it. I knew it would be the last time I’d see her. We never saw her again. Sometimes I pretend it’s that day again, just so I can remember her.’

  ‘Oh, Peggy, you poor little pet, we all miss her and Father. Day in, day out, for the first two years, every time that shop bell downstairs rang I’d run into the shop just in case one of them would be standing there looking for us.’

  ‘I did the same,’ whispered Peggy. ‘Sometimes I’m scared, Eily, that I won’t remember them. I even try to think what Mother looked like to remind myself.’

  Eily got up from the bed, picked up an oval-shaped mirror and held it in front of Peggy’s face.

  ‘Look, Peggy, look at yourself. You look just like her.’

  Peggy stared at the round face under a mop of thick chestnut-coloured hair, the two big brown eyes and neat slightly tilted nose, the freckles and small white teeth.

  ‘When you go away, Peggy, what will I have to remind me of you and Mother?’ sighed Eily.

  Peggy hugged her. ‘You’re the most important person in the world to me, Eily. You’ve loved me like a mother, yet you’re my sister and my best friend. Nothing will change that,’ she whispered.

  ‘Peggy, I can’t understand you – aren’t you frightened about going? About the ship, and America, and being on your own?’ asked Eily.

  ‘No, no. I remember things that were worse, a lot worse,’ said Peggy firmly.

  ‘I’ll talk to the schoolmaster tomorrow,’ said Eily. ‘And do you know Nell Molloy? I heard herself and her family are going to America too. I’ll call up and talk to her, she might keep an eye on you. And I suppose we’d better bake a mountain of oatcakes as they’re meant to be the best thing to last the long journey.’

  CHAPTER 3

  Farewell

  AT SUNDAY MASS FATHER LYNCH called out the list of names of those who were emigrating and recited a special prayer for them. Peggy fixed her gaze on the carved wooden cross as she felt the eyes of the congregation stare at her when her name was called out. Afterwards many people came to shake her hand and wish her luck. Eily and Nano stood on either side of her like two statues.

  That evening Market Lane was crowded as the neighbours came and went to say their goodbyes. Michael had managed to get a few hours off. The small kitchen was packed and Nano and Eily had laid on a bit of a spread – soda bread, scones and two huge porter cakes. Plates and cups sparkled in the firelight. Two jars of poteen stood on the dresser and a barrel of porter was dripping a cream of froth onto the red tiled floor.

  It was a wake of sorts – a farewell party, and everyone knew that it was unlikely they would ever set eyes again on Peggy O’Driscoll in this lifetime.

  John Joe Daly’s arrival was greeted with a cheer. He pulled out his fiddle with a flourish and began to play a few notes to warm up.

  Peggy looked at all the friends and neighbours. Hard lives and bad times and yet they could still smile. I’ll never meet the likes again, she said to herself, sealing their faces and stories into her memory. John Joe was now ready and began to send his music tripping across the room. Two little girls from Market Square who went to Peggy’s school got up and began to dance, hopping like two fairy children, their backs straight and their hair bouncing in the air, their narrow pointed feet flying as if they had a life of their own. Their father leant against the door smoking his clay pipe and bursting with pride when loud clapping rewarded their performance.

  Michael, blushing, stood in front of Nano and bowed extravagantly. The old lady got up from the rocking chair and took the floor. John Joe slowed the music so that the audience could appreciate Nano’s intricate steps. Michael guided her gently round the room. Peggy stared at him. He was so handsome. All his gentleness and care seemed to make him stronger. Her brother was turning into a fine young man. Peggy bit her lip. Pinpricks of tears were trying to push behind her eyes – she must deny them. Nano caught her eye and ended her dance with a fine display of petticoat and the
n collapsed in Michael’s arms laughing out loud.

  A few minutes later half the room was up, joining in a lively reel. Peggy was spun from one strong pair of arms to another till she was so out of breath she couldn’t even talk. Kate Connolly got up and sang two songs. The time seemed to fly. Peggy knew everyone was talking about her – in some ways it was if she had already gone.

  Eventually all the well-wishers left and it was just themselves again. Michael made a cup of tea for Nano. She looked exhausted. ‘Never did I think, nearly seven years ago when Lena and I found three raggy little ones standing in our kitchen, of the happiness and love you’d bring into our old lives. And now the fledglings are leaving the nest. I can’t help myself feeling sad no matter how proud of the three of ye I am,’ she said.

  Peggy looked at her. The soft grey-blue eyes were misty.

  ‘Come on, Auntie Nano, away to bed, you’re all done in. A good night’s sleep will have you right as rain in the morning. Away up and I’ll sit with you till you drop off.’

  Peggy grabbed her aunt’s shawl and followed her up the stairs, a sudden stab of thought making her realise that this was the last time. Nano changed into her nightdress and let Peggy brush her hair. She was just about to get into bed when she went over to the old oak chest of drawers. From the bottom drawer she drew out a big leather-covered book.

  ‘Sit down, Peggy, till I give you this.’

  The girl looked at the familiar cover with its design of harps and leaves.

  ‘Do you remember? This was Lena’s Bible and now I’m passing it on to you.’

  Peggy opened the cover. Lena Murphy was written on the inside in big bold letters. Further on, two blank pages had been covered with names and birth dates. It was the family tree. Peggy ran her fingers across the line with her mother’s date of birth – 5 November 1814 – and the date of her marriage to John O’Driscoll. Auntie Lena had written underneath: Died during Ireland’s Great Famine, and she had also written: Mary Ellen (Eily), Michael and Margaret (Peggy), Baby Bridget (in Heaven), and their dates of birth.