Page 31 of The Pearl Sister
The small room within was sparsely furnished and bitterly cold. The stained horsehair mattress on the floor looked uninviting, but at least the floor was swept and the rough wooden table in the centre of the room looked well scrubbed.
‘I . . . came to see how you were,’ Kitty began tentatively.
Annie nodded. ‘Aye, I’m well. And so’s the bairn.’
Kitty forced her eyes down to look at the neat bump that contained what was soon to be her half-brother or sister.
‘I promise you, I’m nae a sinner,’ Annie said hoarsely. Kitty looked up to see tears in her eyes. ‘I only . . . I was only with the reverend twice. I trusted in God’s love, in your father’s love, that he . . . Ralph would guide me. I . . .’ She broke her gaze from Kitty’s and went to a dresser in the corner, searching for something in a drawer.
She returned with a pair of reading glasses, which Kitty recognised immediately. They were identical to those her father wore to write his sermons.
‘Ralph left them here last time he came tae see me. I promised him I’d keep what happened tae m’self. And I made a promise tae God an’ all. Ye give him these back. I want nothing of his under my roof any longer.’
Kitty took the glasses from Annie, wondering if she might be sick all over the floor. Then she reached into her skirts and drew out a small drawstring pouch.
‘I have something for you too.’ Kitty handed the pouch to Annie.
Annie opened it, looked inside and gasped. ‘Miss, I cannae take this from you, I cannae.’
‘You can,’ Kitty insisted. For the past two weeks, she had secreted away coins from the parish donations, and last night had taken a bundle of notes from the tin her father kept locked in a drawer. It was an amount large enough to provide future sustenance for Annie and the baby, at least until she could work again. By the time Ralph discovered it was missing, Kitty would be on her way to the other side of the world.
‘Then thank you.’ Annie pulled out the other item in the bag – a small silver cross on a chain. She ran her fingers over it uncertainly.
‘It was given to me at my christening by my grandparents,’ Kitty explained. ‘I want you to keep it for the . . . the child.’
‘It’s kind of ye, Miss McBride. Very kind. Thank you.’ Annie’s eyes glistened with unshed tears.
‘I’m leaving for Australia today . . . I’ll be gone for some months, but when I return, may I come again to see how you’re getting on?’
‘Of course, miss.’
‘In the meantime, I’d like you to have the address of where I’ll be staying. In case of an emergency,’ Kitty added, holding out an envelope and then feeling foolish – she had no idea if the woman could even read or write, let alone whether she would know how to post a letter to another country. But Annie merely nodded and took it.
‘We’ll never forget your kindness,’ she said as Kitty moved towards the door. ‘G’bye miss. And may the Lord keep ye safe on your travels.’
Kitty left the dwelling, then walked towards the docks and stood on the edge beside the sea wall, watching the seagulls hover over the mast of a ship chugging into port. She took the reading glasses from her skirt pocket, then threw them as far as she could into the grey water below her.
‘Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light,’ she muttered. ‘God help my father, and my poor, deluded mother.’
* * *
‘All ready?’ Adele appeared at Kitty’s bedroom door.
‘Yes, Mother,’ she replied as she snapped the locks down on her trunk and reached for her bonnet.
‘I will miss you desperately, dearest Kitty.’ Adele came towards her and enveloped her in a hug.
‘And I you, Mother, especially as the baby will be born without its big sister being present. Please take care of yourself while I am not here to make sure you do.’
‘You mustn’t worry, Kitty. I have your father, Aylsa and your sisters with me. I will send you a telegram as soon as he or she has made their appearance in the world. Kitty, please don’t cry.’ Adele brushed a tear from her daughter’s cheek. ‘Just think of the stories you’ll have to tell us when you arrive home. It’s only nine months, the same time it takes for a little one to be born.’
‘Forgive me, it is simply that I will miss you so very much,’ Kitty sobbed onto her mother’s comforting shoulder.
Shortly afterwards, standing at the front door with her trunk being loaded onto Mrs McCrombie’s carriage, Kitty proceeded to hug her sisters. Miriam in particular was crying inconsolably.
‘My dearest Katherine, how I will miss you.’
Then Ralph took her into his arms. She stood, tense and taut, inside them. ‘Remember to say your prayers every day, and may the Lord be with you.’
