A Legacy of Secrets (An Irish Family Saga Book 4) by Jean Reinhardt

Author:Jean Reinhardt
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Jean Reinhardt
Published: 2015-10-23T13:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

As Martin Butler’s five young children left the table, they each grabbed one more slice of bread and laughed while their father pretended to admonish them for their greed.

“Here, young man,” he said to a ragged boy standing on the street just outside their open door, “Take this last slice for yourself. You can’t be following my lot around with your mouth hanging open with the hunger and them stuffing their gobs.”

The young boy ran forward, a cheerful smile brightening up his grubby face. “Bless you Mr. Butler. Your wife makes the best bread in the whole of Cavan. I do smell it when I’m in me bed at night. Torments me it does but it’s better than the stink coming from the dung heaps in the yard.”

“Off with you now, before I change my mind about the bread,” said Martin.

“That young fella lives at the back of our house. You wouldn’t think to look at him he was working now, would you? Every farthing goes to his ma. She has three of her six young ones working and he’s the eldest, at nine. Every penny they earn has to feed them. Their da hands up enough for the rent and drinks the rest.”

“The same thing happens back in America,” said Thomas. “There are some unfortunates who settle in the cities and succumb to the demon drink. It dulls the anguish they feel at being trapped. So many arrive there full of hope, lured by the promise of a better life, and many of them do make a life for themselves. The ones who don’t, or are unable to, might as well have stayed at home.”

“You have a fine brood yourself, Martin, like steps of stairs they are. What age is your eldest lad?” asked Patrick.

“Ten and still in school,” Martin looked around his meagre possessions in the small parlour of his home. “And he’ll be staying there for another year, if I have my way. After that, I think we will all be taking the boat to America. I have two sisters there and they’ve been saving for our tickets. I fear that justice for the likes of us will be better fought on foreign soil, than here in Ireland.”

Martin had agreed to be interviewed by Thomas for his paper, on the condition that his name not be disclosed. Anonymously, he could vividly describe the sorry state of affairs for many who worked hard all week, yet never earned enough to free their families from poverty. For those who lived in the cities, the children they bore became more factory fodder, if they were ‘fortunate’ enough to gain employment, and the cycle went on. In rural areas there was less chance of finding regular employment, forcing both men and women to emigrate.

As they made their way towards the train station, having bade farewell to Martin and his family, Thomas took a mental note of the children following them. He could just as easily have been in the slums of Liverpool, London or New York, the scene was the same.

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