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Authors: Keith Pearson
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that he demonstrated good character or he would lose this job too. Her mother explained that Ruth should continue her job and make a success of herself but that she should at least promise to keep up the letters to her once they settle into Ireland.
Ruth rang her mother one more time to make final arrangements to meet her and the family at the ferry terminal in Heysham. Heysham was one of the few ports still running a regular service to Belfast whereas services to Dublin from England or Wales were curtailed or unreliable. Heysham was also convenient for Ruth as it was a very short distance up the coast from Blackpool.
Ruth arrived at the rail terminal in Heysham with little time to spare before her parents arrived to board the Duke of Lancaster which would take them to Belfast via the Isle of Man. The terminal was busy mainly with other Irish people either returning home or visiting loved ones in their mother country.
In the few moments Ruth was able to have alone with her mother, she confided in her that she had indeed met a man who she liked. Ruth explained that it was an acquaintance more than a boy friend and was complicated by the fact that this man, Edward Carmichael was with Sarah Prentice a girl who Ruth had met on a few occasions at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Ice Drome.
Ruth tried to explain to her mother her feelings for someone who in truth she had only met a few times and had only spoken to twice and even then always in the company of Sarah. Ruth hurriedly explained that she knew nothing about Edward but that she was very attracted to him and that she saw some signs that he was also attracted to her.
Ruth’s mother listened to the increasingly excitable Ruth and saw instantly that this was no mere acquaintance and nor was it a relationship that would ever be straight forward or easy. She counselled Ruth: “Go slowly, and be careful not to lose the friendship of Sarah by getting between her and someone who she is clearly in a relationship with.” Their conversation continued until the arrival of her father and her brothers and sisters to say goodbye.
Ruth kissed her father on the cheek but few words were spoken. Perhaps he knew already that Ruth was aware of the circumstances of their hasty retreat from Wales. Or perhaps he realised that this composed, dispassionate young girl was now a woman and that she, like most women could see through him and through his feeble attempts to put a gloss on their move as being a move back to their homeland and “friendly people.” Ruth kissed her siblings saying to each in whispered tones to “look after your mother and your mother will look after you.”
Ruth’s final farewell was to her mother. As she walked into her mother arms she felt the strangeness of the role reversal of a daughter gently comforting her mother. Tears were reserved for another day when each would reflect the chasm that would now separate the two of them. They clung to each other until they felt the vice like grip of her father’s hands tearing them apart. And still they did not cry. Ruth felt a terrible sense of foreboding that however saddened she felt today it would be as nothing compared to what she would experience in the years to come.
Ruth saw in her mother’s eyes a reflection of her own fears. As she turned towards the ferry Ruth’s mother looked back and saw the long shadow her daughter’s image cast in the evening sunlight and with a final smile she slipped into the darkness of the ferry terminal and out of Ruth’s life.
C HAPTER S EVEN
Nineteen forty two started with the worst possible news. Ruth’s mother wrote to her explaining that the army had written to say that on the fifteenth of February, Singapore had been overrun by the Japanese and that their son Michael was either a prisoner of war or missing presumed dead.
Ruth had been keeping up with what news there was from Singapore and was already aware that things were not good. By the time her mother’s letter arrived
Ruth rang her mother one more time to make final arrangements to meet her and the family at the ferry terminal in Heysham. Heysham was one of the few ports still running a regular service to Belfast whereas services to Dublin from England or Wales were curtailed or unreliable. Heysham was also convenient for Ruth as it was a very short distance up the coast from Blackpool.
Ruth arrived at the rail terminal in Heysham with little time to spare before her parents arrived to board the Duke of Lancaster which would take them to Belfast via the Isle of Man. The terminal was busy mainly with other Irish people either returning home or visiting loved ones in their mother country.
In the few moments Ruth was able to have alone with her mother, she confided in her that she had indeed met a man who she liked. Ruth explained that it was an acquaintance more than a boy friend and was complicated by the fact that this man, Edward Carmichael was with Sarah Prentice a girl who Ruth had met on a few occasions at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Ice Drome.
Ruth tried to explain to her mother her feelings for someone who in truth she had only met a few times and had only spoken to twice and even then always in the company of Sarah. Ruth hurriedly explained that she knew nothing about Edward but that she was very attracted to him and that she saw some signs that he was also attracted to her.
Ruth’s mother listened to the increasingly excitable Ruth and saw instantly that this was no mere acquaintance and nor was it a relationship that would ever be straight forward or easy. She counselled Ruth: “Go slowly, and be careful not to lose the friendship of Sarah by getting between her and someone who she is clearly in a relationship with.” Their conversation continued until the arrival of her father and her brothers and sisters to say goodbye.
Ruth kissed her father on the cheek but few words were spoken. Perhaps he knew already that Ruth was aware of the circumstances of their hasty retreat from Wales. Or perhaps he realised that this composed, dispassionate young girl was now a woman and that she, like most women could see through him and through his feeble attempts to put a gloss on their move as being a move back to their homeland and “friendly people.” Ruth kissed her siblings saying to each in whispered tones to “look after your mother and your mother will look after you.”
Ruth’s final farewell was to her mother. As she walked into her mother arms she felt the strangeness of the role reversal of a daughter gently comforting her mother. Tears were reserved for another day when each would reflect the chasm that would now separate the two of them. They clung to each other until they felt the vice like grip of her father’s hands tearing them apart. And still they did not cry. Ruth felt a terrible sense of foreboding that however saddened she felt today it would be as nothing compared to what she would experience in the years to come.
Ruth saw in her mother’s eyes a reflection of her own fears. As she turned towards the ferry Ruth’s mother looked back and saw the long shadow her daughter’s image cast in the evening sunlight and with a final smile she slipped into the darkness of the ferry terminal and out of Ruth’s life.
C HAPTER S EVEN
Nineteen forty two started with the worst possible news. Ruth’s mother wrote to her explaining that the army had written to say that on the fifteenth of February, Singapore had been overrun by the Japanese and that their son Michael was either a prisoner of war or missing presumed dead.
Ruth had been keeping up with what news there was from Singapore and was already aware that things were not good. By the time her mother’s letter arrived
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