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Authors: Irene Kelly
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watching the city fall away behind us, lost in our own thoughts. I was counting the
minutes since we had last seen our mother, trying to memorize the streets we had passed so I knew how to get home. I bit down hard on my bottom lip and felt a familiar twinge in the pit of my
stomach. I hadn’t eaten for a couple of days and I was starving. Wherever they were taking us, I just prayed they had nice food. Or any food for that matter.
Finally, we turned off the main road and up a driveway surrounded on either side by well-mown lawns. The car slowed and then I saw on our left-hand side a large chestnut horse.
It had been grazing but now it looked up as we passed by and I noticed a white stripe down its nose.
‘It’s okay,’ I whispered to Agatha. I felt comforted by the sight of nature. ‘It’s going to be okay, Agatha. Look! Look – there’s a horse there. They
only have horses in nice places, don’t they? So this is going to be a nice place.’
The car rolled slowly towards a huge, imposing grey building. The closer we got, the bigger it seemed to get and I could clearly see now that on one side there were the unmistakable tall slim
windows and arches of a church.
‘Are you sure?’ Agatha whimpered as the car came to a stop and three nuns glided towards us. ‘Do you really think so, Irene?’
I reached down now and carefully put my left shoe back on.
‘Yes. We’ll be okay. I’m sure of it. They’ve got a horse.’
6
IRENE
St Grace’s
The policeman opened the door of the car and barked at us to all get out – now I felt scared but I tried not to show it. I didn’t know where we were or why we were
here but it wasn’t a very friendly place. The three nuns standing at the entrance to the grey stone building wore very stern expressions. I’d seen nuns in church before but they
didn’t look like this – so big and severe, covered head to toe in black. And I’d never really met one in person.
The one in the middle, the tallest one, addressed us: ‘Follow me, children!’
And with that she turned briskly on her heels and marched into the large building. They were all wearing black habits and I could see nothing except their black shoes peeking out from underneath
and long black rosary beads hanging from big black belts at their waists. We had no choice but to run behind her as the other two nuns walked alongside us.
I couldn’t believe how big this place was – I’d never seen anything so huge. As we walked through the corridor we were passed on all sides by children scurrying back and forth.
They looked very serious. Some seemed to be carrying mops and buckets, others held books, but they all looked down at the floor and no one stopped to say hello.
At the end of the long corridor we came to a huge bathroom, where there were sinks and taps along one wall, another row of sinks in the middle of the room and, at the back, a row of shower
cubicles. The whole place stunk of carbolic soap.
‘Get undressed please!’ the tall nun addressed us again. None of us moved.
Suddenly I realized Peter was missing and there was no sign of Cecily. ‘Where’s my brother Peter?’ I asked. ‘And where’s the baby?’
The nun seemed cross with me and she sighed before answering: ‘Cecily has gone to the nursery and your brother is being housed in appropriate accommodation for a boy his age. Now, no more
questions – come on. Clothes off!’
We took our clothes off slowly and reluctantly – too slowly. The nuns started to grab at us and pulled our dresses and our vests up over our heads. I didn’t like it. Then they told
me, Martin and Agatha to get into one of the showers and turned on the water, which was freezing at first. We were ordered to scrub ourselves with soap. I felt shy standing naked in front of these
nuns. After we’d finished, we were each handed a small rough green towel – it was so hard it felt like we were drying ourselves with sandpaper.
‘Ow, Jesus!’ I
minutes since we had last seen our mother, trying to memorize the streets we had passed so I knew how to get home. I bit down hard on my bottom lip and felt a familiar twinge in the pit of my
stomach. I hadn’t eaten for a couple of days and I was starving. Wherever they were taking us, I just prayed they had nice food. Or any food for that matter.
Finally, we turned off the main road and up a driveway surrounded on either side by well-mown lawns. The car slowed and then I saw on our left-hand side a large chestnut horse.
It had been grazing but now it looked up as we passed by and I noticed a white stripe down its nose.
‘It’s okay,’ I whispered to Agatha. I felt comforted by the sight of nature. ‘It’s going to be okay, Agatha. Look! Look – there’s a horse there. They
only have horses in nice places, don’t they? So this is going to be a nice place.’
The car rolled slowly towards a huge, imposing grey building. The closer we got, the bigger it seemed to get and I could clearly see now that on one side there were the unmistakable tall slim
windows and arches of a church.
‘Are you sure?’ Agatha whimpered as the car came to a stop and three nuns glided towards us. ‘Do you really think so, Irene?’
I reached down now and carefully put my left shoe back on.
‘Yes. We’ll be okay. I’m sure of it. They’ve got a horse.’
6
IRENE
St Grace’s
The policeman opened the door of the car and barked at us to all get out – now I felt scared but I tried not to show it. I didn’t know where we were or why we were
here but it wasn’t a very friendly place. The three nuns standing at the entrance to the grey stone building wore very stern expressions. I’d seen nuns in church before but they
didn’t look like this – so big and severe, covered head to toe in black. And I’d never really met one in person.
The one in the middle, the tallest one, addressed us: ‘Follow me, children!’
And with that she turned briskly on her heels and marched into the large building. They were all wearing black habits and I could see nothing except their black shoes peeking out from underneath
and long black rosary beads hanging from big black belts at their waists. We had no choice but to run behind her as the other two nuns walked alongside us.
I couldn’t believe how big this place was – I’d never seen anything so huge. As we walked through the corridor we were passed on all sides by children scurrying back and forth.
They looked very serious. Some seemed to be carrying mops and buckets, others held books, but they all looked down at the floor and no one stopped to say hello.
At the end of the long corridor we came to a huge bathroom, where there were sinks and taps along one wall, another row of sinks in the middle of the room and, at the back, a row of shower
cubicles. The whole place stunk of carbolic soap.
‘Get undressed please!’ the tall nun addressed us again. None of us moved.
Suddenly I realized Peter was missing and there was no sign of Cecily. ‘Where’s my brother Peter?’ I asked. ‘And where’s the baby?’
The nun seemed cross with me and she sighed before answering: ‘Cecily has gone to the nursery and your brother is being housed in appropriate accommodation for a boy his age. Now, no more
questions – come on. Clothes off!’
We took our clothes off slowly and reluctantly – too slowly. The nuns started to grab at us and pulled our dresses and our vests up over our heads. I didn’t like it. Then they told
me, Martin and Agatha to get into one of the showers and turned on the water, which was freezing at first. We were ordered to scrub ourselves with soap. I felt shy standing naked in front of these
nuns. After we’d finished, we were each handed a small rough green towel – it was so hard it felt like we were drying ourselves with sandpaper.
‘Ow, Jesus!’ I
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