“You know you never have to worry about ending up on the street, Ivy.” Jem touched Ivy’s hand gently. He still wasn’t in a position to make her an offer. He was in debt to Emerald O’Connor up to his ears.
Emmy Ryan wasn’t keeping track of money she knew nothing about but Jem was. He’d pay back every penny he used from her funds. He was confident of his ability to make his business work. He needed to concentrate all of his time and effort there right now. The time he and Ivy managed to spend together was precious to Jem. Ivy had worked too hard for too long. He wouldn’t ask her to take a risk with him. Jem wanted to be able to offer Ivy a life of plenty. She deserved it.
“I know you’d look out for me, Jem. I appreciate knowing that more then I can say.” Ivy removed her hand. She wanted a chance to make something of herself before she became involved with a man. Jem Ryan was a big temptation. He could ruin her plans. She wanted to walk her own path for a while. “These two rooms have always been my home. I’ve worked me guts out to keep them. I’ll be damned if I’ll let Father Leary or anyone else run me out of here on a whim.” Ivy’s voice was fierce.
Jem decided it was best to change the subject. “What are yeh going to do with all the dolls, Ivy?”
“I thought about having Sadie and the girls knit jumpers I could sell from a moving stall. You know how that turned out.” Ivy put two fresh cups of tea on the table and sat back down.
“Father Leary put a halt to your gallop.” Jem accepted the tea.
“In one way, in one way only, Jem.” Ivy laughed with genuine delight. “He’d hate to know it but the man did me an enormous favour.”
“Has it anything to do with the load of dolls the lads dumped in your work area?” He couldn’t imagine what she was going to do with them but he trusted Ivy.
“It has everything to do with those dolls!” Ivy laughed in delight. “Did yeh ever think, Jem, nearly six short months ago now, at the beginning of the year, that we’d be sitting here talking about business?”
“Ivy, if anyone had told me of the things I’d be getting up to this year I’d have told him to get his bumps felt.” Jem grinned. “I can’t believe the changes taking place across in me livery. I have to stop and look around every morning to check I’m in the right place.Yeh have to hand it to Ann Marie, she has a cock-eyed way of looking at our world but it was just what we needed.”
Chapter 29
“This is the life.” John Lawless was stripped to the waist, his trouser legs rolled up. He was stretched out on the sand of the secluded Sandymount Strand which the people of The Lane used all summer.
“This kind of day out is the best medicine you could get, John.” Ann Marie Gannon grinned. She’d picked John up from the hospital in her automobile and delivered him to this little oasis. She had driven along the road, past this oasis frequently and hadn’t known it existed, tucked away as it was behind a railway crossing.
“It’s great to have you out of that place, Da.” Clare Lawless, looking pretty as a picture in her bright summer dress, giggled with the joy of living. Her da was with his family and her ma was beaming. Everything was right in Clare’s world.
“I’m glad you’re pleased, love.” John couldn’t believe he was here stretched out on white sand while his family tended to his every need.
“I’m along as the entertainment advisor.” Molly Riordan attempted to settle her uncomfortable body on the sand. Only two more weeks of this torture before she could get rid of this bump and return to her own world.
When Jem heard Ivy’s idea for a day out he’d offered to take everyone to the strand on his hay wagon. It was a long walk from The Lane to this hidden oasis and he’d needed time away from the livery. He was enjoying this brief moment away from all of his responsibilities.
“Poor old Rosie doesn’t know what’s happening to her.” Jem looked towards his now retired horse as she walked through the surf. Conn was at the horse’s head, while Emmy clung to Rosie’s back. The little girl, her curly mop of black hair blowing in the breeze, was wearing a white lace dress Ivy had made for her. Emmy’s cries of delight carried on the breeze.
“Do us all good to let the air at our bodies.” Ivy was wearing her white skirt hiked up, revealing slim legs and bare feet. She had dared to make herself a white lace camisole that revealed her arms and shoulders. For the very first time in her life, that she could remember anyway, her limbs were out in the air and it felt wonderful.
“It’s a nice break.” Liam watched his dog and her pups chase the waves and bark frantically at the approaching tide.
It did Liam’s heart good to see them. He’d been forced to work the dog really hard to bring her up to performance level. The time he spent training the dog and her pups had helped him too. Liam didn’t know what Brother Theo had said to his da but, whatever it was, it worked. His da was letting him live at home now. He and Vera were doing amateur spots with the dog around Dublin. When the pups were a bit older he’d bring them into the act. Dublin theatres offered cash prizes for amateur performers. Liam badly needed to win prize money. He had to buy food for his dog and her pups. He, Vera and the dog were beginning to win first-place prizes now, slowly making their way into the world of theatre.
“I’m so glad you thought of this, Ivy.” Ann Marie was barefoot, her shoulders gleaming and sun-kissed. She’d hiked her skirt up and removed her shoes and silk stockings.
“I’m trying to organise tea and sandwiches for twelve here! I need help!” Sadie Lawless grinned. Her John was at her side. It might only be for one day but he was here, large as life and smiling. “I could use a hand from you lazy lot.”
“Some people are always moaning.” Ivy laughed and stood to lend a hand. Sandymount Strand was only a tiny part of an area that followed the East Coast of Ireland, not all areas were tide free and people-friendly but the coastline was dotted with long areas of silver sand. This little stretch of sand was a comfortable walk away from The Lane. There were other people here but the area was large and each party had the sensation of privacy. The area had a standing tap which was one of its main attractions. A nearby fire made from driftwood and surrounded by rocks was heating the water in Ivy’s big black kettle.
“Dora, love – you too, Clare – give your ma and Ivy a hand.” John Lawless watched his girls jump to obey him. It wouldn’t last but it was nice. “I hope we have enough cups because I’m gumming for a cup of tea.”
“Enough?” Jem grabbed his head dramatically. “The women have half the lane here with them! The bloody wagon has so much stuff on it we could stop here for a week. We could set up camp under the flatbed of the wagon and live here happily. God knows we’ve everything we need.”
“Stop your moaning, Jem Ryan.” Ivy tapped the back of his head with her hand. “You’ll be glad of a cup of tea and something to eat too, admit it.”
“I tell you what, Jem,” John Lawless sighed, “we are two lucky fellows. We’re surrounded by beautiful women waiting on us hand and foot. What more could a man ask for?” John’s eyes admired his wife and daughters. The three Lawless women were wearing summer dresses Sadie had run up on the sewing machine Granny left to Ivy. The material was from curtains Ivy picked up cheap at a market stall.
“Liam, we’re almost ready here. Where did you stash the milk?” Ivy asked.
“In a rock pond.” Liam jumped up to retrieve the galvanised can of milk he’d stored in a nearby pool of cold water. “Do you want me to shout for Conn and Emmy?”
“No, leave them.” Ivy grinned. “They’ll come when they’re hungry.”
“This is the gear.” Vera Connelly was sitting slightly apart from the group with Molly Riordan, taking everything in. It was great being with a group of people like this. They were all so full of life and fun. “It beats the hell out of gutting fish I can tell yeh!”
Vera worked early mornings in the city fish market gutting and filleting fish. She hated the work, hated how it made her and everything belonging to her stink. It didn’t mat
ter how much she washed herself, she stank of fish. She kept doing it because her family needed the money. Liam’s mad dream had become Vera’s. If she could make a living without having to skin fish she’d do it and grin.
“Yes, it’s okay.” Molly didn’t want to spoil the fun but she’d be glad when she had this bloody thing out of her body and got her life back. She enjoyed a more refined social life. Cute little parties on the sand weren’t her style. She had bigger plans for herself.
“I’ve been thinking . . .” Ivy started to say when everyone had a cup of tea and a sandwich in hand.
“Nooooooo!” Jem fell back in the sand groaning. “Not that, please!”
“You, Jem Ryan, are an eejit.” Ivy grinned, not in the least insulted.
“When are yeh going to leave that hospital, John? Jem could really use someone like you to help with his business.” Ivy knew John had finally agreed to swallow his pride enough to allow Ann Marie to buy him a wheelchair.
“I could really use the help, John,” Jem said. “They do say two heads are better than one.”
“You need to get out of that hospital, love.” Sadie wanted to kiss Jem. He was making John feel important and a part of something.
“Like I said already, John Lawless,” Ivy wriggled her toes in the sand, “we have big plans we could use your help with.”
“That’s the truth, John,” Jem admitted readily. “I’m starting something that scares me stiff but I’d never forgive meself if I didn’t try.”
“The doctors at the hospital see no reason you couldn’t be an out-patient, John.” Ann Marie added.
“You’re ganging up on me.” John dropped his body back in the warm sand. “Someone give me another cup of tea.”
Dora jumped to her feet.“Who else wants a fresh sup?”
“It’s a shame yer ma wouldn’t come with us Vera.” Ivy was standing to one side of the wagon, using the wagon bed to butter the bread needed for another batch of sandwiches.
“She doesn’t want to upset me da,” Vera Connelly said softly. The fights were continuing in the Connelly household – worse if anything since Vera began to devote herself to the dogs’ training. It saddened her and the rest of the kids but she was desperate. She couldn’t fillet fish for the rest of her days.
“How are your appearances at those amateur nights going, Vera?” Ann Marie asked to lighten the conversation.
“Molly helped me and Liam put together something she calls a ‘spot’,” Vera said. “We can only use the one dog, the pups are too young. We both sing a bit and Molly said it was important to tell a story with our act.”
“They’ve worked really hard,” Molly said.
“I thought I’d die of fright the first time I had to stand up on stage and sing,” Vera admitted. Thinking about leaving fish guts behind had helped her over that early stage fright. “Me and Liam have begun to come in the money.” She knew they had a lot more work to do on the act but the florins they won now paid to feed the dogs and Liam.
“I wish yeh could see our act.” Vera grinned. “Ivy and Sadie helped dress the two of us. We look proper toffs in our fancy gear if I do say so meself. Even if he is me brother I have to say Liam looks dead handsome on stage.”
“Rosie doesn’t want to walk any more,” said Emmy as she returned. The group hadn’t even noticed the horse making its slow way back to them. “I think she’s tired.” Emmy yawned and while Conn held the horse she slipped into Jem’s waiting arms.
“Are you hungry Conn, Emmy?” Ivy finished putting the next batch of sandwiches together and turned to take the little girl from Jem’s arms.
“Yes, and I’m tired too,” Emmy said.
“Have something to eat, petal.” Jem put one of the sandwiches Ivy just prepared onto a plate. He prepared a jamjar of milky tea for her to wash the sandwich down. Conn served himself from the food on offer.
“When you finish that lot you have a nap in the sand, petal.” Jem held Rosie’s bridle. “I’m going to tie Rosie up on that bit of grass over there.” He pointed at a nearby piece of land.
“All right.” Emmy pushed the sandwich into her mouth, smiling happily around it. Ivy watched the little one eat and drink. When Emmy began to rub her eyes tiredly Ivy stood and arranged a small space in the sand for the little girl to lie down. In minutes the sound of Emmy’s soft snores could be heard. Ivy remained seated nearby, rubbing Emmy’s back from time to time. She didn’t want anyone stepping on the sleeping child.
“We men should start gathering shellfish,” Jem said when he returned. “I’m sorry you can’t join us, John, but perhaps another time.”
“From your lips to God’s ears!” John grinned. “I’ll let you lot do the work and I’ll wait here to enjoy a big pot of cockles later. It’s been many a long year since I hunted and cooked cockles on the strand.”
Ivy kept her lips firmly closed. Picking cockles was about the only bleedin’ thing Irish men seemed to do on their own. Some wise woman in the past must have decided to let the men at it and keep her own feet, if not her head, buried in the sand. Good luck to her whoever she was, Ivy thought.
“Ivy, you haven’t mentioned your street trader licence in a while.” Ann Marie watched Jem, Liam and Conn roll up their trouser legs. The three males picked up buckets and shovels and began to walk slowly along the wet sand.
“Well, I think Father Leary did me a great favour.” Ivy laughed. “I was thinking too small.”
“From the little I know of yeh that’s hard to believe, Ivy,” John quipped.
“You need to get out of that hospital and make yourself a part of this motley crew, John.” Ann Marie wondered if she should bring up her own concerns here or wait till she had Ivy alone.
“What’s wrong, Ann Marie?” Ivy asked, noticing her friend’s hesitation.
“Well, it seems so silly to talk about my own problems. Here I am, sitting with a group of people who are trying to improve their lives, people with real problems.” She looked at John, a man crippled and struggling to find a way to live his life – Sadie and her daughters doing everything in their collective power to survive without a working man’s wage coming into the home – Molly Riordan pregnant and deserted by the man she thought loved her. Ann Marie’s own problems seemed so petty in comparison.
“Ann Marie, the blessing of this group is the fact that we all have something different to offer,” said Ivy, “something that makes each member of the group stronger.”
“Jaysus, Ivy Murphy, and you claim you need my help!” John quipped.
“Come on, Ann Marie! Tell us what’s bothering you. Maybe we can help.” Ivy said.
“All right.” Ann Marie pushed her hands through her hair. “I don’t know if everyone here knows I live with my uncle and his family?” She waited for nods before continuing. “I’ve been unhappy with the situation for a long time. It wasn’t until I met a certain Miss Murphy that I realised just how unhappy I’d allowed myself to become.”
“Ivy seems to have that affect on everyone she meets,” John said.
“I want a place to call my own.” Ann Marie didn’t mention the estate she owned in Dalkey. Ivy was the only one here who knew just how wealthy she actually was. “Ivy has pointed out, correctly, that I am incapable of actually running a home. I know how to give orders to servants but I can’t do any of the chores needed myself. In an ideal world I’d like to live comfortably with the fewest servants possible.”
“Must be tough,” Sadie said without an ounce of malice in her voice.
“Do you want to lease or buy?” Molly Riordan hadn’t been saying much – she was just killing time with these people. But now she had something to contribute.
“Why, do you know of something?” Ann Marie waited.
“I do as a matter of fact.” Molly grinned with delight. She’d be able to offer something back if this came off.
“Where and what is this place and how many servants would it need to run it?” Ann Marie wondered if Molly would even know th
e answers to any question regarding servants.
“The house itself is just across the Grand Canal from where Ivy and Jem live.” Molly closed her eyes, trying to remember the details. She tried to remember the exact location of the canal lock in front of the house. “I think, but I’m not certain, that the house I’m talking about is directly across the lock that the people in The Lane use to cross the canal.”
“That would be ideal but how do you know the house is up for lease or sale?” Ann Marie was breathless at the possibility of finding a house within walking distance of The Lane.
“The fellow who owns it inherited it from his grandmother,” Molly said, searching her memory. “He spent a lot of money on the house. He turned it into a sort of boarding house for actors. The fellow dreamed of making it big in the theatre.”
“Can you give me his details?” Ann Marie wanted to jump up and look at the house now.
“Give me a minute,” Molly begged. “I’m trying to remember things. Just let me think.”
She was actually considering whether she should bother getting involved in the matter. She looked around at the group who’d taken her in hand when she’d been at her lowest. Sadie and her daughters had taken her into their home. They’d looked after her, made sure she ate and exercised. Ann Marie had paid for the food in her mouth and the roof over her head. They were even providing a home for her unborn child. She owed them.
Through Streets Broad and Narrow (Ivy Rose Series Book 1) Page 35