Eve's Daughters by Lynn Austin

Author:Lynn Austin [Austin, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
ISBN: 9781441202239
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-ONE

* * *

Father O’Duggan had refused to let me call him Daddy, but he became even more of a father to me after that day. He always walked his daily visitation rounds on foot, and they ended right outside my school, just as classes were dismissed. I met him there nearly every day, and he escorted me through the gauntlet of girls, eliminating their taunts and nosy questions. The Catholic girls were in awe of him, just like the rowdy drunks were in awe of Black Jack. I think it was because Father O’Duggan knew all their sins and could assign their penances. I was in awe of him too, but in a different way—mine was more an amazed sense of wonder that a man as important as Father O’Duggan would take time to be with me. He was my best friend.

He had a slight limp, and I could always see him approaching by the way he walked. I loved the softness of his uneven gait and the vulnerability it revealed in a man who was otherwise so solid and strong and commanding. We talked all the way home from school.

“Did you have a good day?” he asked as we walked to my apartment building around the corner from the rectory. “How was your geography test?”

“Easy. Thank you for loaning me your globe. It helped me study.”

He kept close track of the subjects I took and the grades I received, encouraging me when a subject seemed difficult, praising me when I did well. Best of all, he nurtured in me a great love for books.

“What did you think of Treasure Island, Gracie?”

“Oh, Father O’Duggan, it was so exciting! I had to stay up late reading it so I could find out what happened!”

“I knew you’d like it. It’s one of my favorites too. Remind me to find Robinson Crusoe for you next.”

I spent most of the book money he paid me on the movies, my second great love. I laughed with the Marx Brothers in Duck Soup, gave myself nightmares with Boris Karloff in The Mummy, envied Jean Harlow in Dinner at Eight, and fell in love with Clark Gable in It Happened One Night,

“I hope you won’t squander all your time at the movies,” he warned. “Books are still a better way to travel and see the world because they make you use your imagination.”

“But movies are educational too,” I said. “The theaters show newsreels about world events before the feature presentation.” He laid his hand on my head like a blessing and laughed his warm, rolling laugh.

“Aye, so they do . . . so they do.” He dug into his pocket and pulled out a handful of change. “Do me a favor, Gracie, and buy me some jujubes next time you go, okay?” He patted his middle, then added, “I’m only allowed to have two or three, though, so you go ahead and eat the rest while you’re watching the show.”

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.