Under the July Sun (19 page)

‘Oh, 'tis ye, Auntie. I thought maybe 'twas Louis.'

‘No, Pet. He's busy tryin' to beat yer father at whist. How're ye feelin'?'

‘Got an awful backache, Auntie.' Nellie frowned and felt Cat's forehead.

‘Ye're not due for another couple of months yet are ye?'

‘No…I'm sure it's somethin' I ate. It'll go if I just rest. G'w'on downstairs and enjoy yerself. Ye don't want to be botherin' with a big ole bloated niece on New Year's Eve.'

‘'Tis no bother at all,' Nellie said as she went about the room putting things in place. Cat enjoyed being fussed over by her auntie and lay watching as Nellie straightened the bedcover.

‘Now, if ye're sure Pet, then I'll g'w'on downstairs an' pop back later.'

She kissed Cat's forehead and turned to leave. Just then Cat screamed. Nellie turned and saw Cat's eyes widened with pain. She immediately flew to the bedside and grabbed her hand.

‘Cat, ready or not, I think this baby means to arrive today. 'Tis not somethin' ye ate. I'm goin' for yer mam and'll send for Mrs. Morrisey, and then I'll be right back.' She rushed from the room and hurried downstairs to where Maeve was sitting with Billy.

Breathlessly she addressed Maeve. ‘C'mon, 'tis Cat!'

Maeve jumped up. ‘Lord save us. C'mon, Billy, go sit with yer Granddaddy for a while there's a pet. I won't be long now,' she said looking worried and followed Nellie into the hallway. Nellie closed the lounge bar door and whispered to Maeve.

‘I think we're about to have a new addition to the family, Maeve.'

‘Jesus, Mary and Holy St. Joseph.'

‘I think Ned should go for Mrs. Morrisey.'

Maeve nodded. ‘Sure, will I ask him to go now?'

‘I think so. Louis won't know where to find her, so 'tis best if Ned goes.'

Maeve hurried back into the lounge and whispered the news to Ned who immediately got up, dug into his pocket and pulled out a coin.

‘Here, Billy boy, roll this coin along that groove in the table and see how many times ye can do it before I get back.' He patted Billy's head and the child went off to the table clutching the coin as Ned disappeared through the doorway and Maeve went upstairs.

Maeve entered the bedroom to find Cat kneeling on all fours in the middle of the bed. She tutted at her daughter.

‘C'mon now, Cat, try to get out of that position and onto yer feet. The longer ye can walk about the quicker 'twill be. 'Tis a bit before time though isn't it?'

As Cat's next contraction swept over her she remained where she was until it passed, then assisted by Maeve began to pace the floor. Within a few minutes the next contraction came and Cat crumpled against her mother.

‘I can't do it, Mummy, I feel too tired.'

‘C'mon, Pet. Ye've got to do it, for it can't stay inside ye forever. If it has a will to arrive today, then accept it and pray to God it's all in one piece and doesn't have the horns of the Devil on its head!'

Cat gasped as another fierce contraction gripped her.

‘I
can't
, Mummy, I want to push.
NOW!'
Cat grasped her tummy as Maeve, looking agitated, struggled to get her back onto the bed.

‘Let's hope Mrs. Morrisey can be found quickly, otherwise we'll be doin' this on our own. Now Pet, just try to relax a little until she comes,' Maeve whispered, placing the palm of her hand on Cat's forehead. ‘Ye're burnin' up. I'll go wet some cloth to put on yer face.'

She hurried from the room and met Nellie returning with a kettle of hot water and towels. ‘Nellie, I don't think this baby is going to wait for Mrs. Morrisey. Daniel's downstairs, will I call him?'

Nellie looked surprised, and then said she wasn't sure. ‘It seems a bit indecent for a brother-in-law to see a person's undercarriage doesn't it, Maeve?'

Maeve bit her lip. ‘Do we have any choice? Mrs. Morrisey could be away at her daughter's. Maybe we'll ask Cat what she thinks.'

When they opened the bedroom door, Cat was slumped in the bed and the sheets beneath her were steadily turning scarlet.

‘Oh Jesus! Oh, Jesus!' Nellie gasped, ‘Get Daniel, Maeve.
Quickly
!'

Maeve fled from the room shouting, ‘Daniel, Daniel, come quick,' and he appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

Seeing the distress on Maeve's face he took the stairs two at a time and entered the bedroom where he saw blood oozing across the sheets.

‘Quick,' he said, ‘get the fender from the fire and place it at the foot of the bed. When I say so, slide the fender under the bed end so that we can lift it off the floor.'

Nellie and Maeve immediately heaved the fender over to the end of the bed and Daniel lifted the iron bedstead up.

‘Right…now.' Daniel gasped at the weight of the bed, but held it steady as the women dragged the fender into place then slowly he lowered the bed onto it. As he let the bed go he turned to Nellie and asked her to run downstairs and fetch up his bag. ‘'Tis on the floor next to Mary.'

Nellie nodded and sped from the room. As she rushed down the stairs she met Louis making his way up.

‘Oh Louis, Cat's in a bad way,' she gasped. ‘Daniel's up there takin' matters in hand, and I'm away to get his bag.' She clattered on down the stairs without looking back at him.

Louis bounded up the stairs and rushed into the room where the sight of all the blood shocked him. He immediately sensed the old familiar trembling return. He looked across at Maeve and saw that tears were streaming down her face as she stood stroking Cat's forehead.

‘What's going on?' Louis asked.

‘She's havin' the baby, Louis, and she's bleedin' real bad,' Maeve cried.

He went to the bedside and lifted Cat's hand to his cheek. ‘Oh my God, it's all my fault. We should never have had another child so quickly.'
Nellie returned and handed Daniel his bag

‘Louis,' Daniel said ‘would ye mind steppin' outside for a little while as I need to examine her?'

Louis just nodded and left the room to sit on a chair in the hallway.

Daniel could feel the baby's head. He slid two fingers either side of its skull so that when the next contraction arrived he could pull. To his surprise the baby slithered out with little effort, but Daniel could tell that Cat's womb had partially prolapsed, so when the afterbirth came away, he gently pushed the womb back.

‘Maeve, inside my bag there's a pack of gauze, would ye give it to me?'

‘Sure,' Maeve said rummaging in his bag, ‘here, is this it?'

‘Thanks. Now take off the wrapper and fold it in two.' Maeve did as she was asked and handed the wadding to Daniel. He packed Cat's insides tightly with gauze padding and removed the sheet from beneath her.

‘Nellie,' he asked, ‘can ye put a clean sheet on the bed please? and I don't suppose ye have any rubber sheeting?'

‘Yes, I do, from when I had my children. I'll get it,' Nellie said and went to the chest of drawers to retrieve clean linen and rubber sheeting.

‘I'll lift her if ye can slide the sheetin' beneath, it'll save the mattress. Then, Maeve, as quick as ye can, put the clean sheet on. Thanks.'

When Cat had been made more comfortable he stood and watched her for a while, taking her pulse. He didn't like the look of her as she lay there deathly pale and not responding.

He turned to Nellie and Maeve. ‘The bed must be kept at this angle, until the bleedin' subsides, otherwise we'll lose her. I don't know if she'll make it through the night, but if she does, she'll stand a chance of comin' through. She's lost a lot of blood.'

Maeve was sobbing and Nellie put her arm around her shoulder. ‘Eist now, she'll come through.'

Daniel met Nellie's gaze above the top of Maeve's head and he looked away and began to see to the baby. He lifted her up by the ankles and smacked her bottom until she let out a healthy cry.

Daniel smiled at Maeve and handed her the baby. ‘Now, let's get this little girl washed and into somethin' warm,' he said looking at his watch.
‘First baby of the New Year. She's just made it by one minute.'

Lize answered the door, signed for the telegram and ripped the envelope apart. She read it and stood considering the contents for a while in the hallway. Slowly she climbed the stairs and made her way to the back bedroom where her mother was sleeping and tapped gently on the door.

‘Mum, are you awake?' She could hear her mother's grumbling, and waited.

‘I am
now!
What's the matter?'

‘There's a telegram from Louis.'

‘So don't just stand out there, bring it in!'

Lize went in and crossed the room to draw the curtains, but Jessie Ross complained that the light would hurt her eyes so she left them closed and went to sit on the side of the bed.

‘Oh. I see you've opened it,' Jessie said.

‘Yes, it
was
addressed to me. Anyway he says the baby's arrived early. It's a girl, they've called her Eileen.' Lize held the telegram out for Jessie to read, but she just waved it away.

‘Another mouth to feed. God, they breed like pigs those Irish. As soon as one is out of the sty they're at it again for another one. No wonder she can't hang onto them for nine months. How is he going to put food in this one's mouth as well as the other two when
he
hasn't even got a job?'

Lize folded the telegram and placed it in her apron pocket. She stood up. ‘How are you feeling, Mum?'

‘I was feeling better until that piece of bad news arrived! I believed Louis had more sense; but she's really turned his head. Well they needn't think they can come to me for help. They've made their bed and they can lie on it.' She threw off the eiderdown and covers ready to get up.

‘Mum, I don't think you're well enough to get up yet.' Lize put her hand on her mother's forehead. It felt hot. ‘Why not have another day in bed and I'll bring your breakfast up?'

Jessie considered it for a moment, and then sank back onto the pillows coughing. ‘You're probably right. I'll give it another day and maybe by tomorrow I'll feel more like my old self. I'll just have some bread and jam today, I don't feel like a cooked breakfast.' She pulled the covers up and shivered. ‘It's cold up here, you can light the fire before you get my breakfast.'

Lize went to the fireplace and began raking the ashes with a poker so that they fell into the ashcan below. Then lifting the ashcan out from beneath the grate, she shook them onto a piece of newspaper. She picked up a brush and swept away the dust before screwing up some paper and setting it in the grate. Next she laid some sticks criss-cross, after which she added lumps of coal. Before lighting it, she poured on some paraffin from a can. When she had finished, she moved the paraffin can away from the fire and threw on a lighted match. The whoosh of flames was instant and Lize realized she had used just a little too much paraffin.

‘Easy with that paraffin, it's got to last,' Jessie bawled from the bed and Lize, having done her first duty of the day for her mother, retreated from the room to begin the second.

As she hurried downstairs with the coalscuttle, her anger flared. She experienced a surge of self-pity knowing life would have been so different if Charlie hadn't been killed.

She felt Charlie was to blame in some way for the situation she now found herself in. She had consented to her mother selling her properties so that she could move in with her and the children on the pretext that she would buy a shop with the money. ‘That way,' Jessie had said, ‘you can work in the shop and won't have to worry about getting a job.' But so far, all Lize had found herself doing was waiting on her mother hand and foot and there was no sign of any shop on the horizon.

Lize gritted her teeth; marched along the hallway to the kitchen and slammed the door behind her. One day, she thought, I'll commit murder - I'm certain of it!

Iris was eating her breakfast and with a mouth full of toast asked if the letter was from Reggie who was working as an apprenticed butcher in London.

‘No, it was a telegram from Ireland. You have another little cousin called Eileen.'

‘Oh that's nice, isn't it?' Iris smiled, revealing her toast-filled teeth.

‘Is it?' Lize snapped and proceeded to hack a slice of bread off the loaf then spread the hardened butter onto its surface. The fresh bread tore beneath her violent scraping, and maddened, Lize took the slice of bread, opened the back door and threw it into the yard. Let the birds eat it, she thought.

She came back in and said to Iris, ‘Put that butter dish on the range and take it off as soon as you see the butter begin to melt.' Then she began sawing the loaf again wishing it was her mother's neck beneath the blade.

Lize went out to the coal shed, shovelled coal into the scuttle; then closed and bolted the shed door. A sharp north wind blew and glancing up she saw that the sky was heavy looking with grey clouds hanging ominously overhead. She stood for a few moments breathing in the freezing air knowing that soon it would snow.

Better get more coal ordered just in case the snow lasts she thought, and lugging the coal scuttle through the back door Lize felt her mood lift noticing that Iris had buttered the bread and laid a breakfast tray for her grandmother.

Lize went to the range, lifted the boiling kettle and poured hot water into the teapot. She put the tea cosy on and trundled upstairs with the tray, wondering how many more times she would have to make the trip that day. It would be so nice she thought, if I could lie in bed and be waited on. But she knew that it was unlikely to happen.

Cat watched Louis struggle with the straps of his travelling bag. ‘Ye'll squash the bread. Why not take it out and carry it?'

‘Yes, maybe that would be better. I'd be sorry to find I only have breadcrumbs to eat tomorrow.' He undid the straps and took out the loaf Maeve had given him. Lifting it to his face he breathed in the aroma through the muslin wrap. ‘There's nothing like this you know, Cat. I love it.'