Under the Hawthorn Tree Read Online Free PDF Page A

make ready for the journey.’
    The two men turned their horses, and Eily’s face flamed as she knew they were discussing their situation while they walked the horses through the fields.
    ‘What do they mean about the workhouse, Eily?’ asked Michael, his face filled with worry.
    ‘Mother will be home soon, so don’t be getting yourself in a state,’ assured Eily.
    The hours dragged by and night fell without any word or sign of Mother. Eily could not sleep a wink with worry and did her best to hide it from the others. During the night it began to rain heavily. The rain battered against the thatch and the water seeped in under the door.
    God help Mother, don’t let her be out in this, thought Eily.
    The next day every hour dragged. None of them had the heart for anything. At midday Tom Daly called to the cottage.
    ‘There’s no sign, Eily, is there?’ he questioned. She shook her head dumbly. ‘You know what it means. Jer will never stand for three children having a cottage to themselves. You probably haven’t enough food for more than a few days anyway, then what’s to become of you? The workhouse isn’t the worst. These are terrible times – I’ve seen some awful sights. There will be a crowd on the walk. We’ll be leaving tomorrow about mid-morning. Be ready, Eily. I’m sorry, but there’s no other way,’ he finished.
    As soon as he left, Eily ran in to the cottage and flung herself on the bed. Tears flooded her face and she could hardly breathe, as wave after wave of misery washed over her. Peggy and Michael stood watching her, round-eyed and terrified to see their big sister lose control. Sensing their fear, she tried to calm herself.
    Mother and Father must both be dead – the awful thought pounded in Eily’s head. They would never forget about us unless the worst had happened, she thought. She must hide it from the others, theymust have hope. She remembered how upset Peggy was when Bridget died and when Mother left. She tried to clear her head to think.
    ‘I’ll be all right. Just get me a sup of water, Michael, like a pet,’ she asked, as she dried her eyes and wiped her nose.
    ‘What does it mean, Eily?’ Michael’s young face was pale with worry, his large dark eyes filled with fear.
    ‘I don’t know, dotes, I don’t know. Maybe something has happened to Mother or Father and they can’t get back for a while,’ she assured them.
    ‘But Eily, the workhouse! I’d be split from you and Peggy, and we’d all be separated from Mother and Father. Dan Collins told Pat and me the places are full of disease and that you can hear the people screaming when you walk by. I’ll not go. I’ll take my chance,’ said Michael in defiance.
    ‘If Michael’s not going, I’ll not go,’ copied Peggy, her face solemn as she reached for her brother’s hand.
    Eily could feel her heart heavy. ‘But where will we go then? We can’t stay here.’
    ‘What about our friends?’ queried Michael. ‘The Collinses or Mary Kate?’
    ‘Michael, think, please think,’ said Eily. ‘The Collinses are good neighbours, but Teresa has thefever and Mrs Collins isn’t well either. How could they feed and keep an extra three? And as for Mary Kate – she has a good heart, but her cottage is tiny and she barely has enough to keep herself and Nanny, her goat, and her old dog Tinker.’
    They all fell silent.
    ‘What about the relations?’ piped up Peggy.
    Eily and Michael both turned to her.
    ‘Not grandmother and grandfather in heaven, and we don’t know about Auntie Kitty, but the aunts that made the cake?’ she carried on. ‘The ones in all the stories. They’d have us.’
    ‘You mean the grandaunts, Nano and Lena, in Castletaggart? But that’s so far away. How could the three of us make such a journey? I remember the time Grandmother was sick and dying and Mother went back home to see her. It took her days to get there, and she travelled by pony and trap. We’d have to walk – it would take us weeks,