The Dragon in the Cliff Read Online Free PDF Page A

believed that the best thing for a cough was the fresh sea air. But the fresh sea air did not cure Papa’s cough. Neither did drinking sea water, as the fashionable visitors to town do. Finally, when Papa collapsed on the beach and had to be helped home by the cockle man, Mama overrode his objections and called in the doctor.
    Dr. Carpenter told us that Papa’s consumption was far gone. When the doctor left, Mama went back upstairs to where Papa was lying in bed. We could hear her weeping through the closed door. Hearing Mama cry, the little ones started to cry, too. John shrieked. I picked him up and tried to quiet him, jiggling him up and down in my arms. Ann stood at the foot of the stairs looking up at the closed door, bleating like a little lamb, “Mama, Mama.” Tears were streaming down her red face. I slipped my arm around her shoulders, but she would not be comforted.
    Papa recovered somewhat in a few weeks and returned to his work in the cabinet shop. He also insisted on going to the beach to collect curiosities. Mama pleaded with him not to go, but he would not listen. “I’m still well enough to feed my family,” he replied, taking the sack of tools from the shelf. He went out the door without looking back.
    Mama was beside herself with worry about Papa’s health. Thinking that Papa might listen to his older brother, Uncle Philip, she sent a message to Bridport. Uncle Philip walked the ten miles to Lyme, arriving on Sunday when Papa was out visiting friends.
    â€œHe’s a stubborn man,” Uncle Philip said to Mama. “Never could tell him anything. If he’s determined to go down to the beach, he’ll go no matter what you say. Someone should go along with him.”
    Mama, who was sitting opposite him at the table, threw out her hands helplessly. “Joseph cannot go. He’s bound to Mr. Hale, and John’s still a baby. Mary is old enough, and she’s a strong lass, but she’s in school most of the time.”
    Uncle Philip took several deep puffs on his pipe, sending clouds of blue-white smoke into the air. We watched the smoke thin in the air for what seemed like minutes. Then he said, “Molly, you know I don’t agree with your sending Mary to school. Girls don’t need book learning. Gives them ideas. A whistling woman and a crowing hen are neither good to God nor men. Let her go along to watch after her father.”
    â€œOh, Mama, may I? May I?” I burst in.
    Mama did not even turn to look at me. “He’ll not complain about that,” she said to Uncle Philip with a bitter laugh. “He’s been taking her along since she was just a little one. Didn’t care what I or anyone else said against it.”
    â€œWell then, all the better. She seems eager enough,” he said, turning to me, “aren’t you, Mary?” I nodded and he continued. “She can keep an eye on him while she helps with the collecting and brings some money in. I’ve none to spare, Molly. And Richard tells me there hasn’t been much work in the shop.”
    Mama sighed. “I don’t like it, Philip,” she said. “It’s not work for a lass. The neighbors talk. They blame me for her going down there where she doesn’t belong. You know they are carrying on the free trade on the beach now with Napoleon and the blockade. It’s not the smugglers themselves I worry about. They are our own folk. Some of our neighbors are in that line. It’s the fights with the Customs men that scare me. She could be caught between the two.”
    â€œLike it or not, Molly, it is better than being so poor you cannot feed yourself. And Richard will never apply to the parish for relief. He’s too proud to accept handouts,” Uncle Philip replied.
    Mama looked up from her work with tears in her eyes. She bit her lip and looked away without saying anything. And so it was decided that my schooling was to end.
    It was