Through Streets Broad and Narrow (Ivy Rose Series Book 1)

by Gemma Jackson

  “I will give the matter serious attention, that I promise you.” Charles Gannon would speak with his wife. Beatrice would surely know the best way to proceed. “That does not help the young girl, though.”

  “One of the women I spoke of is tending the pregnant girl. This woman will have no money for special foodstuffs and certainly couldn’t afford the cost of a doctor. What she can offer is practical advice and the kind of attention that will insure the baby is born healthy. The mother is in a bad way. She is so young, Uncle. I don’t think she realises what is happening to her.” Ann Marie made no mention of her own financial contribution to Sadie’s household.

  “What a bloody mess!” Charles Gannon cursed.

  “I will leave it to you, Uncle, to deal with my cousin. And I’m afraid after this conversation I can’t sit down to dine in his presence. I would be sure to do or say something that would cause Aunt Beatrice distress and the good lady doesn’t deserve that.”

  Ann Marie stood up and faced her uncle.

  “One thing you should know, Uncle. The woman tending to the dancer has offered to take the child and raise it as her own.” Sadie had wept bitter tears at her own inability to bear another child. She’d stated clearly that she would have been happy with half a dozen little ones. “The woman’s husband was crippled in an accident at work recently so money will be a problem. I see no reason Charles Junior should not be made to pay a small weekly stipend for his child’s raising.”

  Without waiting for an answer, Ann Marie turned and left the room. She returned to her rooms.

  The horror she’d felt when she’d seen the coat the young girl wanted to sell was still with her. She’d believed the child to be her uncle’s until the girl talked about how young and attractive “Charlie” was.

  Ann Marie dropped into a fireside chair, her mind in a whirl. She needed to make changes in her own life. She couldn’t continue to live in her uncle’s home. She was honest enough with herself to know that she was completely unsuited to living a life without servants. It had been brought home to her, forcefully, that she was incapable of doing the work needed to run a house. Ivy Murphy delighted in telling Ann Marie that she couldn’t even boil water. A sad fact of life.

  Chapter 26

  “Yeh can’t be coming in to see me every day, girl,” Granny Grunt’s yellow crinkled face looked ancient on the starched white hospital pillow.

  “Don’t be talking rubbish!” Ivy put the grapes she’d brought on top of the bedside locker. “I’m enjoying having a reason to get dressed in me best and go visiting.”

  “Old Man Solomon did yeh proud with that suit, Ivy.” Granny pushed her head back into the pillow. “Yeh look like a fillum star, Ivy, honest yeh do. Yeh’re giving the doctors in here whiplash trying to get a good look at yeh!” Granny smirked a little. “Jem didn’t come with yeh today?”

  “Now, Granny,” Ivy grinned, “Jem and me are just friends.”

  “Yeh could do a lot worse then Jem Ryan, me girl. He’s a fine figure of a man. He’d be good to yeh.”

  “Granny!” Ivy blushed.

  “Listen to me, girl!” Granny poked Ivy’s shoulder. “I haven’t long for this life but I’ve been around a bloody long time. I know a thing or two more than you.” Granny had to pause to catch her breath. “That father of yours chained you to his side. You were a feckin’ slave to him and your brothers. The best thing Éamonn Murphy ever did for you was die before his time.” Granny held up a hand when Ivy looked like interrupting. “I’m speaking here, girl. I don’t have a lot of time to spare. I’ll be having a word with your da when I see him, I can tell yeh. I’ll be able to say all the things I wanted to over the years.”

  “What things?” Ivy had never heard a cross word pass between her da and Granny Grunt.

  “The things I should have said but I was afraid he’d stop yeh coming to see me.” The old woman wished she hadn’t started this. She had a lot more important things to talk about than that waste-of-space Éamonn Murphy. “Never mind that!” Granny tried to hitch herself up in the bed. “Give us a hand, will yeh, girl?”

  “Yeh need to rest.” Ivy jumped to her feet. A passing nurse hurried to help.

  “I’ll get rest enough where I’m going!” Granny snapped when she was settled comfortably. “I’m old, Ivy. I never thought I’d live this long. I had to see you grow, didn’t I? Couldn’t leave you to struggle on alone – you needed me.”

  “I did an’ all.” Ivy didn’t know what she’d have done without the old woman’s knowledge and advice.

  “Open that drawer.” Granny pointed to the bedside cabinet. “The key to me room is there. Take it. I want yeh to clear out the place.”

  “Granny!” Ivy protested.

  “I’ll not be returning there. I knew that when I left.” Granny was a realist. “I’ve made me arrangements. I’m donating me body to science.” The old woman almost choked laughing at that. “It’ll save the cost of a funeral. The doctors here can’t wait for me to die. I’ve lived that long and in such good health they can’t wait to take me apart and figure it all out, the fools. I’ll have more attention from men dead than I ever had alive.” Granny chuckled.

  “Granny, I’ll be lost without yeh!” Ivy sobbed.

  “No, you won’t, girl!” Granny snapped. “I’ll be one less burden for you to carry. Now, girl, sit up straight and listen to what I tell yeh.” She waited until Ivy calmed down. “I want yeh to take everything out of my place – that’s important, girl. Everything. I’ve hid the odd half crown and florin around the place. The God’s honest truth, I don’t know where I put the half of them so check everything. I was saving for me old age.” Granny had been terrified of starving to death, lying for days in her own waste while the rats ate her alive. The young woman sitting sobbing by her bed had saved her. “Yeh kept me young, Ivy. And you got me into this clean room with people to wait on me hand and foot. The food’s nothing special but it beats what I thought was facing me.”

  “Granny, I didn’t do nothin’!” Ivy protested.

  “Your one Ann Marie might have arranged it but it’s all thanks to you I’m here and I don’t mistake it.” Granny was ready to meet her Maker. “Me kidneys are packing it in. That’s what’s going to kill me. I’ll be watching over yeh from heaven if I’ve any say in the matter. Take whatever you can use from my place and sell the rest on. Go along now, Ivy, go home, I’m tired.”

  “I’ll come again, Granny,” Ivy stood and for the first time in her life pressed a kiss into the wrinkled cheek. “God be with you.”

  “Thanks, girl, thanks for everything.”

  Granny watched Ivy leave with tears in her eyes. She watched her girl walk down the ward and out through the door. She could die in peace now knowing Ivy was being looked after. That Ann Marie was nobody’s fool and Jem Ryan was one of the best. Her girl would be all right now. Granny took a shivering breath, closed her tired eyes and died.

  “Miss Ivy Murphy, aren’t you a little out of your way?” Brother Theo stood in the aisle beside the pew Ivy knelt in.

  “Hello, Brother Theo.” Ivy sat back in the pew. She moved along the seat, leaving a place for the friar to join her if he so desired. “I came in to light a few candles.”

  “Did you?” Theo sat on the bench of the pew, keeping a wide space between himself and the young woman who fascinated him.

  “A good friend of mine is in the hospital,” Ivy offered with a shrug. “I like empty churches. In fact, I prefer the echoing space around me. It fulfils something inside me.”

  “Yes,” Theo looked around the church, “I suppose it must.” He didn’t know what to say to this young woman which was unusual for him. He wanted to ask her if she’d had any more trouble from the Parish Priest. Theo had started an investigation into the man but these things moved slowly.

  “How is Liam Connelly getting along, Brother?”

  “Liam Connelly is a very confused young man.” Theo sighed. “The time he is spending in retreat is helping hi
m.”

  “That’s all very well for him, Brother Theo, and I don’t mean to sound like a hard-hearted so-and-so but the lad left other people with five dogs to take care of. The animals are Liam’s responsibility, Brother Theo.” Ivy hadn’t expected Liam to just up and leave.

  “I think the young man is ready to return home,” Theo said. “Liam discovered a book in our library that deals with the training of animals. He’s studying it with a great deal of dedication.”

  “A library – a place full of books! Imagine!” Ivy couldn’t imagine a place closer to heaven. Think of all the books you could read!

  Theo smiled, having no understanding of the wonder he was instilling in Ivy. To Theo’s mind, everyone had a library available to them.

  “How are your studies continuing without your teacher?” Theo wanted to know the answer. He planned to work with Ivy himself when she was further along in her studies.

  “Emmy has been keeping my nose to the grindstone. She takes her responsibility to teach me very seriously.”

  “The young girl is not at school with the good nuns?” Theo had checked into the matter personally.

  “No.” Ivy turned on the bench to face the friar. “Emmy is a very bright little girl, Brother Theo. She is in a Quaker school for the moment. There she is allowed to go ahead at her own pace. The Friends’ teachers guide her in her studies. She is far ahead of the other girls of her age.”

  “You don’t have a great deal of admiration for Holy Orders, do you, Ivy?” Brother Theo was not offended. He’d seen the treatment Father Leary handed out to Ivy. He’d heard a great deal about what he could only term persecution from Liam Connelly. The young man admired and respected Ivy Murphy, not in a romantic fashion. Liam spoke freely about the help Ivy and other women like her offered to any who needed it. It was admirable.

  “I object to men and women telling me how to live my life.” Ivy took a deep breath. She was in a church speaking to a friar, for goodness sake, but she was entitled to her own opinion.

  “The priest and nuns are there to guide people in the Christian way of life,” Theo offered.

  “Brother Theo, with all the respect in the world,” Ivy said, her awareness of the silence of the church keeping her voice down, “how in the name of God can men and women who have completely withdrawn from life know or understand how someone should live their life?”

  “You think we withdraw from life by entering Holy Orders?” Theo asked, fascinated by this way of looking at the life he led.

  “You don’t have to worry about a roof over your head. That is provided for you. You don’t worry about where the food in your mouth comes from or who pays for it. You don’t even have to worry about clothes to cover your back, yet you feel at liberty to tell those of us struggling simply to exist, how to live our lives.”

  “You feel strongly about this, don’t you, Ivy?” Brother Theo wanted to clap his hands in delight. Here was someone who was thinking, questioning. What a rare prize Ivy Murphy was!

  “I resent the heck out of it, Brother Theo, if you want to know the truth.”

  “The truth is always best, Ivy.” Theo grinned.

  “You don’t want to kick me out of your church? You have no inclination to drag me into the street and call down the wrath of God on my head?” Ivy couldn’t believe she was having this conversation with a friar.

  “Far from it. I’ve enjoyed our conversation, Ivy.” Theo checked his pocket watch and grimaced. “However, I am late to table and will be lectured for my lack of manners.” He shrugged, grinning.

  “Have a nice meal, Brother.” Ivy shook her head and turned away. The man had no idea.

  “What?” Theo turned Ivy back to face him. “I saw that look. What have I done wrong?”

  “You need to walk a mile in my shoes, Brother Theo,” Ivy said simply.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I know and I don’t have time to tell you.” Ivy shrugged. “You need to get away. If you’re interested come and visit me sometime. I’ll explain the difference in our way of living.” Ivy slid back down to kneel. She hadn’t completed her prayers for her da and Granny Grunt.

  Brother Theo stood looking down at the young woman kneeling at his feet. She’d turned away from him. He was more fascinated every time he encountered her.

  Theo hurried away. He didn’t enjoy the lectures he received from Brother Bernard, their cook, when he was late to table. He would take Liam Connelly home personally. He wanted to spend time around Ivy Murphy and her friends. There was a lot he could learn there.

  “Ann Marie I didn’t expect to see you here.” Ivy was tired. She’d had an emotionally exhausting day. “Shouldn’t you be dining in fine style?”

  “Don’t be bitchy, Ivy Murphy.” Ann Marie watched Emmy run to Ivy, confident of her reception.

  “What are you doing here?” Ivy swung Emmy up in her arms. She pressed a swift kiss onto Emmy’s upheld cheek before settling the young girl on her hip.

  “I came to examine the work on the livery.” Ann Marie saw the exhaustion on Ivy’s face. She hated to be the bearer of bad news.

  “How’s it going, Ivy?” Conn Connelly came out of the open livery doors, grinning. “Have you come to add your tuppence worth?” Conn was employed full-time by Jem Ryan. He was rapidly becoming Jem’s right-hand man.

  “I haven’t got tuppence.” Ivy grinned. She was very fond of Conn. He had a good head on his shoulders and was willing to turn his hand to anything asked of him. “I saw Brother Theo, Conn.” Ivy was speaking but at the back of her mind she was wondering what she was going to eat. She was hungry.

  “What did he have to say?” Conn was enjoying his new life. He’d spent his life in Liam’s shadow. The Connelly parents had made a great fuss of the lad who would be a priest. Conn and his siblings had been largely ignored.

  “Liam is about ready to come home,” Ivy said simply.

  “Is that a fact?” Conn wondered how his sister Vera would react to the news. She’d been looking after the dogs and Conn didn’t think she’d willingly give them over to Liam. Vera was the eldest Connelly at eighteen.

  “Conn, if I give you the money could you run and get fish and chips for all of us?” Ann Marie knew there was a chip shop on the other side of the canal. It wouldn’t take Conn long to cross the lock gate and get there and back.

  “That’s a lot of people, Ann Marie,” said Ivy. She wanted Conn to understand he was included in the invitation. Ivy didn’t mind spending Ann Marie’s money, within reason. She would not see her friend being taken for a ride but Ann Marie had a lot more of the readies than anyone else she knew.

  “I’m all for that.” Jem Ryan stepped from the interior of the livery. He and Conn had been taking care of Rosie and planning for the additional horses they were going to buy. “In fact,” Jem offered with a grin, “I’ll make the tea and we’ll have a picnic in the hay.”

  “Yes, that’s a great idea, Uncle Jem.” Emmy clapped her hands with glee.

  “Emmy, you run tell Vera what we’re doing.” Ivy suggested, dropping the little girl to her feet.

  Ann Marie watched Emmy run around the tenement buildings screaming a greeting to the children she passed. She turned to Ivy.

  “I have some bad news, I’m afraid,” she said.

  “Granny! She’s gone!” Ivy sobbed before Ann Marie could say another word.

  “She was ready to go, Ivy.” Jem put his arm around Ivy’s shoulders. “She had good innings. I’ll buy a few bottles – looks like we’re going to have a wake with our fish and chips.” Jem went to put his hand in his pocket for money but Ann Marie waved him away.

  “I’m doing this, Jem.” Ann Marie struggled to remove the money from her concealed skirt pocket. Most women kept their money in their knickers but Ann Marie changed her clothes from the skin out several times a day so Ivy attached her purse to her skirt.

  “Here you go, Conn. That should be enough for everything.” Ann Marie almost gave Conn a heart attac
k by handing him a crisp pound note. More money than the lad had ever seen in his life.

  “I think that young man could do with a bicycle, Jem,” Ann Marie remarked as Conn dashed away.

  “I was thinking that very thing meself.” Jem watched Conn run at speed towards the tunnel. “In fact I think a lot of the young lads working for me could use bikes. It would speed things up and I’ve a few ideas I want to try out – if I can get a good deal on bikes, that is.” Jem sat up nights making plans for his new business. The possibilities made him dizzy but he was determined to make a success of the business and pay back every penny he’d “borrowed” from Emmy’s funds.

  “It looks like we’ll be having a wake and a business meeting in the hay,” Ivy said. “I’m going to go over to my place and make sure the range hasn’t gone out.” She wanted to change her clothes and have a little cry in private for Granny.

  “Has Ivy told you Father Leary’s latest?” Jem whispered to Ann Marie with a quick look around The Lane. He didn’t want anyone to hear him.

  “No,” Ann Marie said softly. “Ivy hasn’t said a word.”

  “The man has visited the houses on the square.” Jem had heard the news from Albert, the Gannon chauffeur, on one of the nights the man was giving him a driving lesson.

  “Why would he do that?”