For Many a Long Day by Anne Doughty

Author:Anne Doughty [Anne Doughty]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780749017651
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Published: 2014-03-21T16:00:00+00:00

There was rain on Sunday night, but when Ellie went to the window next morning the sky was sparkling and mostly blue, except over the escarpment where a row of huge, grey-bottomed clouds sat louring at her. They looked as if they’d come crowding down from North Antrim and were now elbowing each other sideways to get the best possible view of the city below.

The day was already planned and after a leisurely breakfast the two girls walked to the tram stop.

‘Wouldn’t it be nice just to go into town for a bit of shopping whenever the notion took you?’ said Ruth, as she handed over the pennies for their fares. ‘I could get used to a life of leisure, couldn’t you?’

The tram pulled away with a whine as they settled themselves. Ellie had the window seat so she could look out at the view.

‘Look,’ she said, ‘Uncle John’s putting out more potatoes.’

They both waved and just as they thought he hadn’t seen them, he straightened up, caught sight of them and raised a hand in salute.

‘Does Auntie work in the shop now at all?’ she asked, as they gathered speed, the whine of the tram now rising like the cry of a banshee.

‘Oh yes. She does Thursday and Friday. They’re the busiest days. She says she likes to keep her hand in, but she’s glad it’s not fulltime anymore. She can keep an eye on Bobby and do her church work. She has a couple of old ladies she calls on.’

The tram was full and noisier than most, the hiss and whine of their progress and the rattle of the trolleys making conversation difficult. It didn’t really matter as Ellie was soon absorbed in watching the bustle and activity beyond her window as they made their way down through Shaftesbury Square and along Great Victoria Street to the city centre.

It was even busier than she’d thought it would be, motors and horse drawn carts all mixed up together, double lines of them moving in both directions. She wondered how the horses pulling the heavy drays could stand the noise of hooters, the hiss and rattle of trams and the blare of motor horns right beside them.

She rather dreaded getting off the tram. She remembered only too well from previous visits Ruth would be across the street before she’d even stepped off the footpath. She never quite grasped that Ellie needed time to get her bearings. It wasn’t just the noise of traffic and the press of people. Everywhere she looked, there were posters and shop signs. They all seemed to require her attention and she couldn’t take it all in quickly enough.

She’d tried to explain, but Ruth was not good at seeing things from any point of view other than her own, so she’d invented the joke about ‘my wee cousin up from the country’ to cover her puzzlement. It was not an unkind joke and Ellie always laughed at it herself, but however often she came to Belfast, she still felt as if her head was overflowing.

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