Shoddy Prince by Sheelagh Kelly & Sheelagh Kelly

Author:Sheelagh Kelly & Sheelagh Kelly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Canelo Books
Published: 2018-01-24T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

The woman had very generously given Bright a month in which to recover from the birth and find somewhere permanent to live. Then she must go. Bright had been here for two weeks. Tomorrow she must set about finding work. God knew this was the furthest thing from her mind. She felt so drained of energy – Oriel was the most demanding baby. At two weeks old she had such strength of character that Bright was forced to give in to her every whim. Hence she was totally exhausted. Yet happiness at having a daughter overcame all. When bathing her she would stare at the tiny body in wonderment. How could this have been inside her? She would sniff the child all over like an animal, push her nose into all the creases of that tiny body, growing drunk on the scent. And she would talk to her, tell her everything about how she had come to be born. Prior to the birth the thing Bright had feared most was the loneliness of being cast out from her family, but now with Oriel she would never feel lonely. The baby seemed to hang on her every word – indeed she almost appeared to be trying to reply with all the expressions she pulled.

There were, however, moments when Bright wondered what sort of world she had brought the child into, when she would cry and rage over all the cruelty and violence in the streets around her. And there were times when she would burst into tears over nothing. Sometimes she wished that there was an adult with whom to share her fears, but the woman whose house this was did not have time to sit and talk and her own mother had only managed to call in once since Oriel’s birth.

Therefore it was a pleasure to see her this morning. Bright jabbered away, consulting her mother over her future. It was a happy half hour they spent together, but when Mrs Maguire got up to go there appeared to be something left unsaid, judging by her hesitancy. Bright asked what it was.

‘I know you’re going to be mad at me, but I couldn’t sit and do nothing, so I’ve told Father Cavanagh. He’s promised to come visit ye tonight and baptize herself here.’

Bright was horrified. ‘He can’t!’

‘Now don’t start worrying,’ soothed her mother. ‘I’ll be coming with him. There’ll be no trying to persuade ye to give her up.’

Bright moaned. ‘Do the Sisters know I’m here?’

‘Not unless the Father’s told them. Stop worrying. Nobody wants to take her, they just want to do what’s best. I’ll have to go. I’ll see ye tonight. I’ll tell your father I’m going to church – well, it won’t be a lie. Don’t worry, it’ll be all right.’

Bright sat there after her mother had gone, paralysed with fear. The nuns would come and whatever her mother said, they’d try to take Oriel away. You mustn’t let them. Be strong. How can I fight them? I’m too tired.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.