Wildflower Girl (12 page)

THE NEXT MORNING PEGGY FELT
totally drained and worn out. Kitty lay hunched and asleep in the other bed.

Sleep in, you weasel, see if I care! thought Peggy. She crept out of the room and busied herself downstairs. There was no sign of the other maid appearing.

Peggy could tell Mrs O’Connor was trying to avoid talking to her, but in the end she was forced to ask where Kitty was.

‘If she’s still asleep go up and wake her immediately, or the breakfasts will be late,’ ordered the cook.

Peggy raced up the back stairs two at a time and pushed in the bedroom door.

‘Kitty, are you awake yet?’ Peggy looked across at Kitty. Her face was a greyish white and her breathing was shallow and rasping.

‘Kitty, Kitty, are you feeling all right?’

‘Peggy, get someone!’ Kitty murmured softly.

Peggy felt scared. ‘Don’t worry, Kitty, I’ll go down and get Mrs Madden.’ Needles of guilt pricked her.

The other girl nodded. She could barely speak.

The housekeeper came to her door in a large white nightdress and frilly nightcap. Peggy spoke so fast that Mrs Madden couldn’t get the gist of it.

‘Calm down, Peggy! What in heaven’s name is it?’

‘It’s Kitty, she’s really sick! You have to come. I don’t know what’s wrong with her.’

The housekeeper saw it was urgent and followed her back up to the attic room. She pushed Peggy aside and knelt down at Kitty’s bed. She felt her forehead, then lifted her wrist and held it for a minute.

‘Peggy, go down to the landing and fetch up two blankets for her. She’s freezing. Get two spare pillows as well and we’ll see if we can raise her up to get her to breathe more easily.’

Peggy was back in an instant, and the housekeeper issued further instructions.

‘Tell Mrs O’Connor we want one of her special honey and lemon drinks, and you’re to bring it straight up to Kitty before you make a start on the breakfast.’

Down in the kitchen Mrs O’Connor was still unforgiving. She made the drink and passed it in silence to Peggy.

‘Don’t dare dilly dally, Peggy, as you’ll have to serve the breakfast.’

A few minutes later, Peggy was shaking with nervousness as she carried the heavy silver tray upstairs.

There were only two for breakfast, the Master and young Simon. The Master was engrossed, reading over some document, and Simon was busy making patterns with his scrambled egg.

The ladies did not ring for their breakfast until mid-morning and had it served on trays in their bedrooms. Peggy kept her eyes down and did not look either of them in the face. Neither seemed to notice that she had replaced Kitty.

Over the next few hours Peggy learned the difference between an upstairs and a downstairs maid.

‘A maid of all work, that’s what I am now!’ she moaned, running to answer the bell yet again. Being upstairs gave her a chance every hour or so to pop up the extra flights of stairs to check on Kitty. She wasn’t much better and barely touched the chicken broth and fresh bread Peggy had brought her for lunch. Peggy carried the tray back down to the kitchen.

That night Peggy fell into bed. Kitty had rolled over on her side to sleep.

‘Are you any better, Kitty?’

The other girl didn’t seem to have the energy to answer. Peggy felt sorry for Kitty, and decided that it was no use being angry with her anymore. She lay still in her own bed, looking at the wooden beams of the ceiling. A tiny spider was working away on a web. The draught kept blowing through the wood and knocking her off her perch. Undefeated, she’d jiggle back up her swinging life-line and begin again.

Not one person had had a kind word for Peggy all day. She closed her eyes. There’s no point in feeling sorry for yourself, she thought. Tomorrow’s another day.

The next day Mrs Madden requested that the Mistress call in the doctor for Kitty. He arrived mid-morning and Peggy was told to stay downstairs
as Mrs Madden led him up to the attic bedroom.

Peggy paced up and down. Now she was very anxious about her friend. It wasn’t until lunchtime, when she was sitting eating some leftover vegetable pie, that the housekeeper sat down beside her.

‘Peggy, I know you’re worried about Kitty. We all are. She has developed some type of infection in her chest which is affecting her lungs. She’s very weak and will probably start to run a fever. The doctor has left a prescription which I’ll get filled this afternoon. She’s also to have plenty of fluids and be kept warm. She needs a hot flannel with turpentine poured on it placed on her chest to help her breathe – you can bring it up to her in a few minutes. She will need plenty of rest and someone to keep a good eye on her …’ Mrs Madden trailed off.

‘I’ll do it! All I care is that she gets better,’ declared Peggy.

‘Good girl, I knew I could rely on you.’

Roxanne still pestered Mrs Madden.

‘That girl should be dismissed,’ she demanded, pointing her finger at Peggy.

‘You have most likely mislaid the ring, Miss Roxanne,’ suggested Mrs Madden.

‘Mislaid it! I certainly did not mislay it! I put it where she’d find it because I knew she’d keep it …’ Roxanne stopped, realising she had said too much.

Mrs Madden was shocked.

‘That maid Peggy O’Driscoll is a troublemaker,’ said Roxanne defiantly, ‘and is not fit to work here.’

Mrs Madden stood up. ‘There’s no proof that Peggy did anything wrong, Miss Roxanne.’

Roxanne stormed out to the garden.

Mrs Madden went down to the kitchen where she and Mrs O’Connor had a heart-to-heart. Then they called Peggy in.

‘Roxanne set you up, Peggy,’ said Mrs Madden. ‘It happens sometimes!’

‘
Did
you see or touch the ring, Peggy?’ asked the cook.

Peggy could only tell the truth. ‘I found it in my duster all covered in dust from under the window seat. It was a nasty-looking thing so I stuck it in my pocket to give you, Mrs Madden.’

‘Why didn’t you say so, you silly girl,’ groaned the housekeeper.

‘But it was gone – it must have got lost. I put it in this pocket,’ and she pulled out the pocket to show them.

Right where the seams joined a tiny split had opened. ‘I forgot to sew it,’ wailed Peggy, ‘and the ring must have fallen out somewhere when I was cleaning.’

Shamefaced, both the housekeeper and the cook apologised for doubting her word. Peggy was so tired and fed up she just shrugged her shoulders and told them she was never one for grudges.

That evening Mrs Rowan discovered the ring near the bookshelves in the music room.

‘So that little snake has her ring back,’ muttered Mrs O’Connor. ‘Keep out of her way, Peggy, in future.’

Over the next few days Peggy barely had time to
notice what was going on around her. She ran all over the place trying to do Kitty’s work and her own, raced up and down the stairs to check on the invalid, and every so often brought her drinks or emptied the chamber pot.

Kitty was so weak she could barely sit up and just wanted to sleep all the time. She wouldn’t eat a pick. Peggy’s afternoon off came and went, and she was too busy to leave the house.

THE FALL HAD ARRIVED. EVERY
tree was changing colour and Greenbay had become a golden avenue. Although it continued to be sunny and warm, Peggy found it much easier to work. Kitty was still confined to bed.

The kitchen was a hive of activity as Mrs O’Connor was busy making preserves and chutneys from the abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables available. The smell of sugar and vinegar and pickling wafted around the house. The pantry shelves were bulging as if in preparation for a siege.

Mrs Madden surprised them all.

‘I have some news to tell you.’ Two spots of colour appeared on her cheeks. ‘I’ll be leaving Rushton at the end of the month.’

A large smile spread across her face. ‘You’re looking at the proprietor of The Haven, a new first-class lodging house in Walnut Hills at the far side of Greenbay. I’ll be open for business in about five weeks’ time and I hope eventually to have five or six guests.’

‘Like Mrs Halligan’s,’ quipped Peggy.

‘A bit more refined I should hope,’ said Mrs Madden. ‘My first lodger is a professor who has been widowed and wants to return to live in the area.’

Mrs O’Connor winked at Peggy who began to giggle. Mrs Madden, flustered and blushing, fled to the sanctuary of her room.

‘God, isn’t it great!’ murmured Peggy, her spirit uplifted by Mrs Madden’s single-minded achievement. She began to dream about her own future, Maybe one day she too …

‘No better woman deserves it,’ said Mrs O’Connor. ‘Sheila Madden has scrimped and scraped and worked hard and saved ever since she first set foot in this country. Her good-for-nothing husband grabbed and drank every penny they earned and then one day when the money ran out, so did he. He probably drank himself to death a long time back. I’ve worked with her for the last few years. We’ve had our differences but she has always had my respect and friendship.’

As the time for Mrs Madden to leave was drawing nearer, she called Peggy into her office. She handed her the usual brown envelope.

‘Do you want to check it, Peggy?’

Peggy shook her head and smiled.

‘You know, Peggy, you’re very bright. Not that many in service can read and write, and obviously you’re good with numbers too. I’ve spotted you scanning my rows of figures. Things are tough at the moment, but hard work, so they say, never killed anyone. Keep on working and I’m sure you’ll go places. You’ve got brains and spirit and a good
nature.’

Peggy nodded. ‘Thank you. I wish you weren’t going,’ she told the older woman.

‘I know, Peggy. But I’ve more than paid my dues, and this is what I’ve worked and saved for all these years. Now is my time to take a chance. You know, Walnut Hills isn’t the end of the earth. It’s only about an hour from here.’ She stared at Peggy and the girl knew straight away that she would always have another friend.

‘Now, before I get too sentimental, Mrs O’Connor and I were talking and we both agreed you must have a proper day off before I leave. You need a break from Rushton, so next Thursday, once you’ve served breakfast and helped prepare lunch, the rest of the day is yours.’

Later on Peggy was in the middle of sweeping the drawing-room floor and polishing the huge gilt mirror when Mrs Rowan came in.

‘Oh, Peggy, there’s a letter for you, all the way from Ireland.’ She handed the simple white envelope over to Peggy.

Peggy wanted to open it there and then and find out about them all, but as the Mistress was watching her, she just popped it into the pocket of her apron and continued cleaning. She could feel it almost burning against her thigh and her blood was racing around her body in anticipation.

Finally, at midday, under the pretext of bringing a hot drink to Kitty, she ran all the way up to the top of the house. She placed the drink near the other maid’s bed, and quiet as a mouse sat down on her own bed.
She smelt the envelope. It seemed to smell of Ireland – damp and windy and beautiful. Inside there were two letters. The first was from Nano. Peggy could hardly stop herself from crying out loud.

The second letter was written in Eily’s large round letters.

Peggy held the two letters up to her chest. The tears were streaming down her face. While she was reading she could picture Eily in the small farm kitchen, baking soda bread. She could almost smell the fire and the bread. She sobbed out loud.

Kitty stirred and woke up.

‘Peggy, what is it, are you sick?’ The other girl’s voice was full of concern. ‘Why are you crying?’

Peggy sniffed and rubbed the palms of her hands to her eyes.

‘I don’t know if I’m crying with sadness or happiness to tell the truth. It’s just I miss them all so much. Here, Kitty, take this drink I brought up.’ She hugged her friend and helped her to sit up in bed. That way Kitty could look out the window and see the garden and a bit of the roadway.

‘Peggy, you’re so lucky! I never got a letter from anyone – anyways, what good would it do me since I couldn’t even read it.’ The other girl was smiling a wobbly smile.

‘I’d better get back down,’ moaned Peggy. Then she brightened up. ‘Did I tell you I’m going to be an auntie?’

On Thursday Peggy felt her heart dance as the heavy gate clicked shut behind her. Kitty had told her the name of some good secondhand shops and had given her two dollars for a list of small items she needed.

On reaching Boston she knew the first place she
wanted to go to. She walked up towards the corner of Empire Hill. The same portraits were still in the window of the daguerreotype studio. As she pushed in the door, a tall thin bespectacled man came forward to greet her.

Peggy introduced herself and explained what she wanted.

‘A wise decision, Miss O’Driscoll.’

He explained the prices and the different types of portrait available. Peggy settled on the most basic model and on two copies.

‘Do you want a costume or not?’ he enquired, pointing to a rail of clothes to one side. She walked over to the rail and looked at what was on offer. There was a nasty-looking fox-fur stole. Two or three patterned silk blouses. There was a vivid red satin evening shawl. She tried on a dark green coat with velvet around the collar. There was a small bonnet to go with it. She stared at her reflection. She looked older and paler, but no, it wasn’t her. Eily and Nano were not ones to have the wool pulled over their eyes. Her uniform would have to do. She put the things back and stood against the cream-painted background. A tall thin vase of flowers stood on a carved wooden pedestal near her.

The man stepped back and seated himself behind a strange-looking box. He slid another box inside it. There was a burning acid smell.

‘Try and stay fairly still, Miss O’Driscoll, as I’m trying to focus on you.’

Peggy tried to fix a smile on her face though there was no denying she was feeling a bit nervous.

It seemed to take an age before she was finished. She paid Mr Marvin Aubert half the money due – the rest she would pay when she collected the daguerreotype plates on her next day off. She almost skipped down the street. Just think what Eily and Nano would say when they saw the picture of her. Leastways, they would never forget what she looked like! She found the general store and got the things Kitty needed. Then she made for the secondhand shop.

There was a smell of mustiness but nothing a breath of fresh air wouldn’t chase away. Within half an hour it seemed as if she had tried on nearly every coat and wrap in the place. Some were much too big. Others had moth holes. A few needed major alterations which Peggy knew she would never manage and then, just when she had almost given up hope, she found the perfect coat. It was a rich purple, like the heather on the hills around Castletaggart. It was all made of wool and part-lined with a fine flannel inside. It had wide caped shoulders. The minute she slipped it on, it felt comfortable and cosy.

‘I’ll take it,’ she announced to the surprised assistant who was sure she had no intention of buying.

‘Don’t bother wrapping it, I’ll wear it,’ she told her.

Outside there was a noticeable drop in temperature and Peggy thanked her lucky stars for the coat as she had to walk nearly half the way home.