Far From Home

by Anne Bennett

  Once they were in sight of the canals, Sally admired the brightly painted boats she could see there, and was very surprised when Kate told her people lived in them. ‘When my Dad was young my Nan said he was always messing about on the canals. He learnt to swim in there when his brother pushed him in,’ Susie told them.

  ‘Bit drastic.’

  ‘Oh, I’ll say,’ Susie agreed. ‘He was glad after, though, because in the summer a lot of the boys used to strip off and go skinny-dipping in there. Still do as well.’

  ‘Oh, the boys do that in the rivers in Ireland too,’ Sally said.

  ‘I remember,’ Kate said. ‘And all the girls were forbidden to go near, never mind look.’

  ‘And weren’t you ever tempted to have a little peek?’ Susie asked with a grin.

  Kate exchanged a look with her sister and admitted, ‘I was sometimes.’

  ‘And me,’ Sally said. ‘But I never did. I mean, Mammy would go mad if she found out, but really it was because I would have had to confess it to the priest.’

  ‘Oh, the priests in Ireland hold the morals of the young girls tight,’ Susie said. ‘And it annoys me sometimes that the boys have all the fun, but in this case – while I wouldn’t mind plodging in the clear sparkling rivers in Ireland – you wouldn’t get me near a mucky canal for love nor money.’

  ‘Nor me,’ Sally and Kate said together.

  Sally turned her attention back to the sights. They were over the bridge now, leaving the canals to weave down behind the houses again. Kate said, ‘Now we are coming to Nechell’s, where you will see really squashed-up houses – I’d say not that much bigger than the canal barges.’

  Sally agreed with her. ‘They don’t look real,’ she said. ‘And there are so many of them, all tightly squeezed together.’

  ‘Oh, they’re real all right,’ Kate said grimly. ‘They call them back-to-back houses. And you’ll see plenty more when we go through Aston.’

  ‘Yeah, Kate’s right,’ Susie said. ‘And we’re coming to Aston Railway Station now.’

  Sally looked around her with interest. They passed a large brick building that Kate told her was a brewery and a big green clock that had four faces on it, standing in a little island all on its own; it was surrounded by all manner of shops, very like those at Stockland Green. Susie told her, ‘There are factories too. Small ones tucked in beside the houses.’

  Sally shook her head. ‘It’s all so different from Ireland,’ she said. ‘You must have found it all strange at first, Kate.’

  ‘Oh, I did,’ Kate admitted. ‘And for a time I was really homesick, but it was something I knew I had to get over. But now I’ve made my life here and I wouldn’t ever want to go back to Ireland to live. And look, we’re passing the fire station now and soon we’ll turn into Steelhouse Lane and reach the terminus.’

  ‘Steelhouse Lane is a funny name for a street.’

  ‘Not if the police station is on the street too,’ Kate answered. ‘And opposite is the General Hospital and that’s another hospital that used to be a workhouse.’

  ‘Yes, and people have got long memories,’ Susie said. ‘Mom says there are old people today who still refuse to go in that hospital.’

  And Sally could understand a little of the trepidation people felt when she alighted from the tram and stood before the solid brick building of the General Hospital. It had a great many floors and she imagined all the poor inmates housed in there when it had been in use as a workhouse. ‘Come on,’ Kate said to her sister, catching hold of her arm, ‘there are much more interesting places to look at.’

  Sally tore her eyes away from the hospital and allowed herself to be led up the wide, tree-lined street with tram tracks running up the middle of it that Susie told her was called Colmore Row. They passed an imposing building with arched windows to the front and supported by ornate pillars. ‘Another station,’ Susie said to Sally. ‘That one’s called Snow Hill.’

  ‘And if you look across the road you will see St Philip’s Cathedral,’ Kate said, and Sally looked across and saw the church set in a little oasis of green interspersed with walkways and benches set here and there. ‘It isn’t the Catholic one,’ Kate went on. ‘And I don’t think it’s very big to be a cathedral. I thought it would be much bigger than it is.’

  ‘I would have thought so too,’ Sally said. ‘It’s pretty, though. I bet when the light shines through those stained-glass windows it’s lovely inside.’

  Susie nodded in agreement. ‘We’re going to cross over the churchyard now because we want to show you the shops.’

  The pavements on New Street were crammed with busy shoppers and the road full of traffic, and because the cloud was so low and dense, like on the previous day, many had their headlights on, glimmering through the slight mist. But the shops were magnificent, many of them with more than one floor and so fine and grand that Sally said she was a little nervous. Her anxiety wasn’t helped by the frightening-looking man in uniform standing outside the first shop they came to. ‘What‘s he doing?’ she said quietly as they drew nearer.

  Susie and Kate laughed. ‘He’s a commissionaire,’ Susie told Sally. ‘He stands there to keep the riffraff out.’

  ‘Like us you mean?’ Sally said with a laugh.

  ‘No, not like us at all,’ Susie said in mock indignation, and with a broad grin she pushed open the door with a confident air. Sally, her arm linked in her sister’s, followed her more cautiously, blinking in the shimmering lights that seemed very bright after the dull of the day. Kate smiled at the rapt attention on her sister’s face as they wandered around the store, remembering how she had been similarly awed in her initial forays into the city centre.

  The models were draped in all sorts of creations, fashion able clothes the like of which Sally had never seen, and in materials so sheer or so luxurious that the spectacle rendered her speechless for a moment. She loved the vast array of colours used. She remembered the dullness of the shops in her home town, where material for their clothes was purchased at the draper’s and run up by a dressmaker. ‘Nice, aren’t they?’ Kate said as she saw Sally gently touching a velvet rose-red ball gown.

  ‘Oh, far more than just nice,’ Sally said. ‘And the colours, Kate. Do you remember the way it was done at home: straight up-and-down clothes with no style to them at all?’

  ‘I remember it well,’ Kate said with a grimace. ‘And the colours on offer were invariably black, grey, navy blue or brown. But to be truthful, though we thought it would be fun to show you the store, most of what they sell is too dear for my purse. Susie has a bit more left over at the end of the week than me, don’t you?’ she asked her friend.

  ‘Yeah, because I still live at home,’ Susie said. ‘But I still have an eye for a bargain. I don’t want to throw money away.’

  ‘And the bargains are to be had in the Bull Ring, which is where we are going later,’ Kate said. ‘But for now come and look at the hats,’ and she led the way up a short flight of stairs.

  There were hats galore, of all colours, shapes and sizes, displayed on head stands or on glass shelves. Most were breathtakingly beautiful, decorated with ribbons and bows or the occasional feather and veil. Others were frankly bizarre: artistic constructions that looked ridiculous and even comical.

  Sally smiled at the thought of the stir it would cause if she was to wear any one of those to Mass at home. But still she said to the others, ‘Wouldn’t you love to try some of these on?’ And she spoke in a whisper because it was the kind of place where to whisper seemed appropriate.

  ‘Shouldn’t, if I were you,’ Susie warned. ‘Not with hatchet face looking on.’ Sally followed Susie’s gaze and saw a very haughty woman behind a nearby counter who seemed to be keeping a weather eye on them, and so they wandered back to the main floor. No one paid them any attention there because it was very busy and Sally watched the smart shop assistants standing behind gleaming counters, confidently punching numbers into gigantic silver tills. Sally had seen tills before, but
never any so large or magnificent.

  They visited other stores, too: Sally found the most entertaining were those that had no tills at all. There the assistant would write out the bill and put it with the money into a canister. This would be carried on wires crisscrossing the shop until it reached the cashier who would sit in a high glass-sided office. She would issue a receipt and this, together with any change, would be put into the canister and the process reversed.

  After Sally had watched this a number of times, Kate said, ‘If I’d known that this would entertain you so much, I wouldn’t have bothered to take you to town at all. I could have just taken you to the Co-op by the Plaza and you could have watched it all afternoon – they use the same system.’

  ‘Do they?’ Sally said. ‘I think it’s a great way of going on.’

  ‘Maybe it is,’ Kate said with a smile. ‘But I want to pop into C and A’s as we pass Corporation Street on our way to the Bull Ring. Let’s see what you think of an escalator.’

  ‘What’s an escalator?’

  ‘You’ll soon find out,’ Kate said, taking her sister’s arm in a firm grip and leading her into the street.

  ‘They move,’ Sally exclaimed a little later. ‘They’re like stairs but they move up on their own.’

  ‘And down,’ Susie said. ‘Round the other side they go down as well. D’you want a go?’

  Sally shook her head. ‘I’d be scared.’

  ‘Nothing to it,’ Kate said airily.

  ‘Oh, just hark at her,’ Susie said with a hoot of laughter. ‘Let me tell you, Sally, your sister was shaking like a leaf when she went on the escalator first.’

  ‘I was not!’

  ‘Yes, you were,’ Susie said. ‘I well remember it. Come on, Sally,’ she said, offering her arm for Sally to link, which she took gratefully. ‘Don’t let Kate get one over on you. Show her how brave you are.’

  ‘Right, I will then,’ Sally said, and stepped forward, boldly holding Susie’s arm.

  After the initial tingles of nervousness, Sally enjoyed the escalator, and went up and down quite a few times and on her own too before Kate and Susie could get her off it. ‘I’ve had such a lovely time already,’ she said as they hurried along. ‘And now I have the Bull Ring to look forward to.’

  THREE

  By the time the three girls reached High Street and the top of the incline leading down to the Bull Ring, dusk had fallen. Sally gasped as she surveyed the market below them. ‘Oh,’ she exclaimed, ‘it’s just like you said, Kate. Fairyland.’

  And it was, because every barrow in that large vibrant market was lit by gas flares, just as Kate had told her it would be. She smiled at her younger sister’s enthusiasm, and Susie led the way down the incline. And when they reached the cobbled streets of the Bull Ring itself, Sally looked around in some amazement at the swelling throngs of people all around her. The chatter, laughter and general buzz of the whole place rose in the air, punctuated here and there by the banter of vendors still plying their trade.

  ‘The traders do good business on Saturday night,’ Kate said. ‘You won’t see the flower girls, though. They usually stand round Nelson’s statue there,’ she said pointing. ‘If there’s lots, though, the others cluster around St Martin’s, the church over there.’

  ‘And that’s the Market Hall,’ Susie told her, pointing to the other side of the road where Sally saw stone steps leading up to an impressive-looking building, with arched windows to either side of the steps and supported with huge and ornate stone pillars. And if it’s all the same to you, we’ll make for there first, because I’m gasping for a cup of tea.’

  ‘Me too,’ Kate said.

  ‘But won’t they all have shut by now?’ Sally asked.

  ‘Not the ones in the Market Hall,’ Kate said. ‘Come on. By the time we have the tea drunk, all the entertainers will have started arriving.’

  Everyone was in agreement with that, and so they made their way through the market. Sally saw that the traders were selling all manner of things and all their barrows were mixed together, so one might be selling various cheeses, another fruit and vegetables, and they might be next to one selling bedding or towels. There were crockery and saucepans in baskets on the ground and various smells rose in the air. Sally was quite surprised at what Kate called banter between the traders and the customers. ‘Come on, darling,’ she heard one say as they passed a barrow selling greengrocery. ‘Christ, I’m giving the stuff away. Only a tanner for this big bag of tomatoes. Don’t tell your old man, but I’m only letting you have them at this price ’cos I fancy you.’

  Kate and Susie turned away smiling, but Sally was rather shocked. Market traders didn’t do that in Donegal Town. ‘He don’t mean it,’ Susie said, seeing the look on the young girl’s face. ‘He goes on like that to sell more of his stuff.’

  ‘And it works,’ Kate said. ‘And you have got to watch him because the best tomatoes might be on the top but the rest of the bag could be filled with bruised, squashed ones. We were taken in by that once or twice.’

  ‘We were,’ agreed Susie. ‘But we’re quick learners.’

  ‘Not half,’ Kate said as she mounted the steps to the Market Hall and opened the carved wooden doors.

  Sally stood on the threshold and looked about her. The Market Hall stalls had the same gas flares as those outside, and in the sputtering pools of light it looked a cavernous place with huge high ceilings. They were crisscrossed with beams, and long metal poles led down from the beams to help support the roof. High arched windows lined the walls. At a quick glance she saw that the goods for sale inside were similar to those sold in the open-air market; the smell was indescribable and so was the noise reverberating off the walls and ceiling.

  And then a little tinkling sound was heard and the noise in the Market Hall abated a little. ‘They’re waiting for the clock to strike,’ Kate said in explanation, pointing to the wall. Till then Sally hadn’t even noticed the clock, but now she saw that it was a magnificent structure made of wood. First a lady emerged and then three other figures that Kate told her were knights as the tune heralding the hour came to an end. Amid a breathless hush, the knights struck the bell six times. ‘Six o’clock,’ Susie said when it was over. ‘No wonder I’m hungry.’

  ‘I’m hungry too,’ Kate said. ‘What do you say to tea and teacakes all round?’

  No one argued with that, and they made short work of them. ‘Those were delicious,’ Sally said, licking at her sticky fingers. ‘I didn’t realize how hungry I was.’

  ‘That’s often the way until you start eating,’ Kate said. ‘And you’ll feel warmer with food inside you, anyway. It will be cold enough out there now that it’s fully dark.’

  ‘There’s other stuff to eat as well if you feel peckish,’ Susie said with an impish grin.

  ‘What sort of food?’ Sally asked.

  ‘Oh, lovely stuff,’ Susie said, ‘like jellied eels and whelks and that, but me and Kate never fancied anything like that.’

  ‘I don’t even know what they are.’

  ‘Seafood,’ Kate said. ‘Like that song, “Molly Malone”. You must know that one – she sold cockles and mussels and that sort of stuff.’

  ‘Yeah, I know the song all right,’ Sally said. ‘Have even sung it a few times, but I never knew what any of the things she sang about were, or looked like.’

  ‘You can have a peep tonight,’ Kate promised. ‘But if you don’t fancy those, there’s a man who bakes potatoes in a little oven and they are lovely with a bit of salt. If we are still hungry we can get one of those – honestly, they smell so delicious that you always feel hungry when you get the whiff in the air.’

  ‘That’s true,’ Susie said, jumping to her feet. ‘But right now we’re wasting time. Come on, it’s probably all happening in the streets.’

  The first sight that greeted Sally as they went out of the door and down the steps were the men walking around – seemingly effortlessly – on high stilts that their long, long trousers hid
from view. ‘How do they do that?’ she asked in awe. ‘Specially on these uneven cobbles.’

  Kate shrugged. ‘Search me,’ she said. ‘And I’ve never seen any of them fall off.’ She linked her arm around Sally and said, ‘Come on, let’s show you the boxing ring set up.’

  At the boxing ring, a small man in a black top hat and red jacket was encouraging men standing in the crowd to try their luck at beating the champ for a prize of five pounds. The champ, a huge and glowering man, was broad and hefty-looking with arms like tree trunks and fists like giant hams. These could be seen plainly because he was naked to the waist, with tight trousers fastened around massive beefy legs, and he had a slight sneer on his face as he regarded them all. ‘Step this way, gentlemen,’ wheedled the little man in the jacket. ‘Impress the ladies – after all, five pounds is five pounds.’

  But though some of the men shifted uncomfortably on their feet, none stepped forward and Sally couldn’t blame them one little bit. She found the man unnerving. ‘Has anyone beaten him?’ she whispered as they walked away.

  Susie and Kate both shook their heads. ‘Seen some nearly killed having a go though,’ Kate added.

  ‘Well, no one seemed that keen on trying their luck this evening, anyway,’ Sally said with slight satisfaction.

  ‘Too early, that’s why,’ Susie said sagely. ‘Give them a few hours in the Bell pub over there and many will think themselves the strongest men in Christendom and then they will take on the champ.’

  ‘Ugh,’ Sally said. ‘Well, I think it’s horrid and I don’t see why anyone thinks it might impress us.’

  ‘Nor me,’ said Kate. ‘Tell you the truth, I would have severe doubts about any man who was willing to allow himself to be punched into the middle of next week for five pounds.’

  ‘Me too,’ Susie said. ‘Funny ideas about women some of these men have. Now, do you want to see the man tied up in chains or the one lying on a bed of nails first?’

  Sally laughed. ‘As I have never come near seeing anything like either of those, it’s all one and the same to me.’