‘I feel so scared,’ confided Bernadette to Jerry, looking up at him. ‘We have this little life to look after, she needs us for everything, Jer, we can’t fail her.’ Bernadette spoke with a degree of urgency, referring to the conversation they had had many times into the small hours of the night.
‘Shh, I know, my love, and we won’t,’ said Jerry. ‘She will be a princess, she will have everything she needs. I will never be out of work or let her down.’
Bernadette smiled up at him again. She felt safe and secure. She had no idea how happy one could possibly be, but she couldn’t help worrying about money.
Worry was in her Irish DNA. Famines had left an invisible footprint. Jerry and Bernadette had plans for their baby daughter. For months they had talked and plotted about how their children would be schooled. Regardless of what the priest said, they would have just the two, so they weren’t reduced to total poverty. They wanted their children to live a better life than their own had been and that of others on the streets. Bernadette was surely right: a son would be next. Jerry did not want his son to have aching bones every day from a lifetime of hard toil, or to be injured in one of the accidents that happened all too often on the docks, or to develop premature arthritis due to the excessive wear and tear on his joints from manual labour. He wanted his daughter to be more than a shop assistant or a cleaner. He wanted her to be a lady, a beautiful, kind lady who possessed all her mother’s gentleness, but who could grasp life’s opportunities and make something of herself.
Leaving them to have a few private minutes alone, the midwife went to fetch them both a cup of tea and some hot buttered toast. This baby had been a tricksy delivery and at one point she thought she was going to have to call for the doctor to assist. But just at the last minute, with the help of a pair of forceps, the baby shifted position and made its entrance into the world. The midwife had been touched by the obvious love and affection Nellie’s parents had for each other; knowing that the special first hour with a first-born came only once in a lifetime, she made herself scarce as quickly as she could.
Even though he had been up all night, Jerry would save the bus fare and walk back home. He could not remember ever having been as hungry as he was right now. After he had eaten breakfast he would change into his work clothes and be in time to clock on at the docks for the first shift. This was no time to miss a day’s pay.
Exhausted from her long ordeal, Bernadette lay back on the hospital pillows, feeling drowsy. She turned her head to one side and smiled at her husband, the man she loved more than life itself. Jerry had moved and was sitting on a chair next to the hospital bed, cuddling their baby, still unable to stop looking at her tiny face. Bernadette’s eyes were still full of tears as she gazed upon the manifestation of all their hopes and aspirations for the future, the baby, who was falling asleep on his chest, flooding his thoughts, absorbing every ounce of his new love and devotion. Watching them together increased her happiness, if that was at all possible.
As sleep fought to claim her, she tried to say his name and to reach out and gently stroke his hand. She looked down at her arm in confusion. Her hand was like a lead weight and, no matter how hard she tried, it wouldn’t respond. Unnoticed by Jerry, who at that very moment had eyes only for his new baby, panic slipped past him into the room and settled itself down upon Bernadette.
She tried to open her mouth, but it wouldn’t work, and despite her best efforts, her arm would not move.
Jerry’s name urgently beat against the sides of her brain but could get no further, as she managed to part her lips and move her tongue, which felt twice its normal size. But no sound escaped. A black haze had begun to blur the edges of her vision. She struggled to maintain her focus on the adoring father and their baby lying in the cradle of his arms, trapped in their bubble of wonderment. She lay, silently imploring, desperately willing Jerry to move his gaze away from their baby girl and to turn round. Her mind screamed: Look. Look. Look. At. Me. He didn’t hear it as he kissed the downy hair on his baby’s crown.
Bernadette’s head became lighter and the sounds around her more acute. She could hear people outside in the corridor, giggling and talking as though they were standing right next to her bed, laughing at her.
And then, suddenly, she sank. The screaming in her head ceased. She felt as though life itself were draining out of her very soul as a chill sped upwards from her toes and fanned across her body like an icy glaze. She could no longer move her tongue and her eyelids felt leaden; there was no energy left to fight, no will to prise them open as she wearily succumbed to the dark cloak that enveloped her which was so heavy, so oppressive, that, try as she might, she just couldn’t lift it off.
‘She hasn’t even murmured a sound yet, she just has these great big eyes lookin’ at me now, just like her mammy,’ said Jerry, as he turned himself and the baby towards Bernadette.
The last thing Bernadette saw, as her eyes slowly closed, was the smile evaporate from Jerry’s face and transform into a look of horror as he suddenly looked down at the floor and saw a steady stream of blood, dripping from the corner of the bed sheet onto the floor, as though it were running from an open tap on a slow flow, creating a puddle of blood that had reached his own boots.
Available now
Acknowledgements
I would like to say a special thank you to my editor, Rosie de Courcy and to Amanda Ridout, CEO at Head of Zeus. Both women, in addition to being top of their profession, are inspirational and passionate about books, writers and the world of publishing. I owe every word I have written to their faith and belief in my ability to deliver.
I would also like to say thank you to the entire Head of Zeus family who work as a highly focused and ambitious team, earning them the digital publisher of the year award for 2015. A remarkable achievement for such a young and innovative publishing house. I would like to thank my agent Piers Blofeld, yes, that’s right. He is related to the great giant of cricket commentary and yes, Ian Fleming did use his family name.
Having Rosie, Piers and Amanda in my life means I do not suffer from the renowned writers affliction of loneliness. They are always there and they absolutely understand every idea I bore them with, before bringing me back down to earth. But more than that, they let me be. They never push or guide me or tell me what they would prefer me to write and for that, I am eternally grateful.
About Ruby Flynn
A stunning new family saga from the No 1 bestselling author of The Four Streets trilogy. Ruby Flynn, set in Ireland and Liverpool, is the enthralling story of one family, haunted by ancient wrongs.
The FitzDeanes are wealthy. They have Ballyford Castle in Ireland and a growing shipping business in Liverpool. But a previous generation made a terrible mistake and now there are whispers that the family is cursed, unable to produce a living heir, even though Charles FitzDeane himself is a respected landlord, well-liked by his Irish tenants.
Now young Ruby Flynn, rescued when her family died during the storms of 1947, reared and educated by nuns, arrives at Ballyford, to work as a nursery maid. Soon rumours and strong emotions are swirling around the beautiful girl with red hair, green eyes – and a mysterious past. Who is she really? And what will her arrival mean for this powerful family, riven by tragedy?
Reviews
THE FOUR STREETS
‘A vigorous and vibrant story of childhood in Fifties Liverpool... she has so vividly captured the Four Streets and its larger-than-life characters, the result is as fast-paced as it is entertaining. An addictive novel to be devoured at one sitting.’
Sunday Express
‘The characters are engaging, the street scenes cinematic and the theme of the novel powerful. One night I found myself reading it in the bath. You don’t do that for work.’
Ann Treneman, The Times
‘Catholic Liverpool, Irish immigrants and dark secrets... a funny and sometimes shocking saga. I couldn’t put it down.’
Cristina Odone
‘The charact
ers are engaging, the streets scenes cinematic and the theme of the novel powerful.’
The Times
‘Angela’s Ashes with a Scouse accent.’
Irish Times
‘A heartbreaking tale.’
Liverpool Echo
About Nadine Dorries
NADINE DORRIES grew up in a working-class family in Liverpool. She trained as a nurse, then followed with a successful career in which she established and sold her own business. She has been the MP for Mid-Bedfordshire since 2005 and has three daughters.
Connect with Nadine on Twitter, @NadineDorriesMP.
About The Four Streets Trilogy
The Four Streets
1950S LIVERPOOL
In the tight-knit Irish Catholic community of the Four Streets, two girls are growing up.
One is motherless – and hated by the cold woman who is determined to take her dead mother’s place. The other is hiding a dreadful secret which she dare not let slip to anyone, lest it rips the heart out of the community.
What can the people of the Four Streets do when a betrayal at the very heart of their world comes to light?
The Four Streets is available here.
Hide Her Name
This gripping follow on from The Four Streets finds the community alive with rumours and gossip after the murder which rocked it to the core.
No one knows – or is saying – who did it, least of all the police, but they are not giving up their search for the truth. Somewhere, in this tight-knit Irish Catholic community, someone must know something. Someone will surely talk one day.
Meanwhile, 14-year-old Kitty Doherty, pregnant with the dead man’s child, is a living danger to everyone who needs to keep the secret. Her mother, Maura and best friend Nellie’s grandmother, the redoutable Kathleen, decide the girls must be spirited away quietly to Ireland to await the birth of the baby.
But it isn’t easy to keep a secret that big.
Hide her Name is available here.
The Ballymara Road
The final gripping instalment of the bestselling Four Streets trilogy which began with The Four Streets and continued in Hide Her Name.
On Christmas morning 1963 fifteen-year-old Kitty Doherty gives birth in a hostile Irish convent. Kitty knows her beautiful baby boy presents a huge danger to her family’s Catholic community back in Liverpool’s Four Streets.
When her baby is adopted by a wealthy family in Chicago, Kitty considers the problem solved. But soon it’s obvious the baby is very sick and only his birth mother can save him.
In Liverpool, things have begun to settle down. A charismatic new priest has arrived. The Dohertys are coping with the tragic consequences of Kitty’s pregnancy, and the police seem close to solving the double murder which rocked the Four Streets to the core. But now all that is about to be put as risk once again.
The Ballymara Road is available here.
Also by Nadine Dorries
A Girl Called Eilinora: A Short Story
This is the story which sets in motion the events of the brilliant Ruby Flynn.
It is 1846, famine is gripping Ireland and nowhere is it crueller than in Mayo on the west coast. Owen FitzDeane of Ballyford Castle is a good landlord, but even he is powerless to save all his tenants. When he comes upon a half-dead girl beside the road, he insists on taking her back to the castle, to see if they can save her. But Eilinora is no ordinary girl and soon superstition and fear begin to swirl around her, while Lord FitzDeane of Ballyford falls deeper under her spell.
A Girl Called Eilinora is available here.
Run to Him: A Short Story
It is Christmas morning in 1964. For nurse Fionnuala Kennedy, it is work as usual. As she trudges through the cold streets to catch her bus, Fionnuala thinks of the secret which she has been keeping from her beloved mother and father – and of how on earth she is going to break it to them.
She promises herself that she will do it that very evening, when she gets back home. None of the hospital staff are expecting very much to disturb their routine _ it is Christmas Day, after all. And indeed, Fionnuala’s morning at the hospital begins quietly enough, but then all hell breaks loose, and she is faced with an emergency to rock her world to its foundations.
Run to Him is available here.
The Angels of Lonely Lane
Nadine Dorries returns to her roots and draws on her own nursing experience with this warm and engrossing novel about three young student nurses at St Angelus Hospital in Liverpool during the early 1960s.
Dana escaped the back-breaking tedium of life as a farmer’s daughter in Mayo on the west coast of Ireland. But now another trap looms.
Millie has never known what it is like to call somewhere home. As an army brat, she has learnt to survive on her wits. But St Angelus will present her with some problems even she cannot solve.
Pammy is Liverpool born and bred. Of the three, she is the wild one. She will never give up on a friend or a patient, but her daring might be her downfall.
An Invitation from the Publisher
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The story starts here.
First published in the UK in 2015 by Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © Nadine Dorries, 2015
Author Photo © Cassie Dorries
The moral right of Nadine Dorries to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
9 7 5 3 1 2 4 6 8
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (HB) 9781784082185
ISBN (XTPB) 9781784082192
ISBN (eBook) 9781784082178
Head of Zeus Ltd
Clerkenwell House
45-47 Clerkenwell Green
London EC1R 0HT
www.headofzeus.com
Contents
Cover
Welcome Page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
Preview
Acknowledgements
About Ruby Flynn
Reviews
About Nadine Dorries
About The Four Streets Trilogy
Also by Nadine Dorries
An Invitation from the Publisher
Copyright
Ruby Flynn Page 30