Under the Hawthorn Tree Read Online Free PDF

and anyway how would we find our way? And something could have happened to the aunts.’ Eily tried to keep the hopelessness out of her voice.
    ‘It’s better than the workhouse,’ suggested Michael. ‘They are family, and Mother and Father could come and get us there. Please, Eily, we’ve got to stay together.’
    Later in the day Eily tried as best she could totidy the cottage. She washed all the heads, but left the combing and just brushed the hair, and they sat in front of the fire to dry it out. They all fell asleep early in the evening.
    Eily woke with a start when the dawn was breaking. She jumped out of bed and ran to the door. Perhaps Mother had arrived back and couldn’t get in with them all asleep. Outside all was still – not even a blade of grass stirred. In the far distance she could see a fox running through the fields, a young rabbit hanging limply from its mouth. The birds were beginning to sing. It was another day. She walked down a bit of the boreen, looking back to the cottage. The dirty thatched roof, the two large flat stones outside the door that Mother and Father used as seats on the warm summer evenings. The plot at the side that used to grow vegetables and herbs when times were good. The hedgerow all around and the big hawthorn trees at the back. It was home. How could they ever leave it?
    If only Mother were there to tell them what to do. But Mother wasn’t coming back. It was just the three of them now. They would survive.
    No workhouse for them! They’d find their way to the aunts. In the town of Castletaggart there would be someone who knew them, who belonged tothem. Eily took a few deep breaths, filling her lungs with the good fresh air of home. There was work to be done, even though her stomach was groaning with hunger. Mother had called her ‘the little Mother’. She would look after Michael and Peggy.
    ‘Up, you lazy lumps,’ she scolded, back indoors. ‘There’s work to be done.’
    Peggy rubbed her eyes. She looked tired and pasty. ‘Is Mother back yet, Eily?’ she asked, still half asleep.
    ‘No, pet, she’s not,’ hushed Eily, ‘but I’m here to take care of you. Would you like to go to the aunts?’
    ‘Yes, oh yes,’ pleaded Peggy.
    ‘Outside with the two of ye and then we’ll work out a plan,’ said Eily.
    They all dressed quickly.
    ‘Michael, you must go down to Collinses and tell them what’s happened – now, not just that scatterbrain Pat, but his parents. Make sure you tell them that we’re going to the two grandaunts, but that Tom Daly thinks he’s bringing us to the workhouse. The aunts Nano and Lena, just in case Mother and Father come back looking for us. Make sure they understand, but not a word to anyone else,’ warned Eily.
    Peggy and herself sorted out the few scraps of clothes they had and took the warmest things. Theyrolled up all the blankets.
    At last Michael came back and they could see he had been crying.
    ‘Well, what happened?’ asked the girls.
    ‘Teresa passed on yesterday,’ he sobbed. ‘I couldn’t see Pat. He’s sick now. He’s my best friend in the whole world and I might never see him again. I told Mr Collins, and he said whatever happened he’d make sure Mother heard about us.’
    Eily and Peggy prepared a few spuds and a bit of leftover meal. They all sat down. The food tasted like sawdust in their mouths. Would this be their last meal in the cottage? was the big question on all their minds.
    Afterwards they cleared up. Carefully they wrapped the frying pan and two tin cans and a ladle and a blade inside the blankets. They each had a bundle to carry. The remaining food was divided up and hidden in their pockets.
    ‘What if Mother and Father come back and everything is gone – what will they think?’ asked Michael.
    ‘They’ll know we had to survive. It’s better than us all staying, with no food and the disease all around us,’ said Eily, trying to make herself believe it.
    They sat outside on the stone seat.