Read Online Sins of the Mother by Irene Kelly - Free Book Online Page B

exclaimed.
    ‘Hush! None of that blasphemous language here, child!’ one of the other nuns chided.
    ‘But it feels like my skin’s being torn off with this towel.’
    ‘Quiet – now come here.’
    The nun had a big brush on her with some strange pinky lotion which she started to paint onto each of us in big strokes, covering our whole bodies. It felt really wet and cold.
    ‘What’s this?’ I asked.
    ‘It’s calamine lotion. Just in case you’ve got scabies.’
    ‘I ain’t got that.’
    ‘You might. And you might have nits too – we need to check you over.’
    It seemed to go on forever – we were painted with the lotion, still naked, then the nuns grabbed us each by the head and checked our hair. Finally, we were each presented with fresh
clothes. I looked over at Agatha – she looked scared stiff.
    ‘Where’s me old dress?’ I asked.
    ‘In the incinerator,’ the tall nun said. ‘It was filthy and probably infested with lice. Put these clean clothes on.’
    So we dressed in the new clothes – the harsh fabric of the brown smock and green cardigan itched my skin but at least they were clean, like the nun said. I looked around for my shoes then
but all I saw was a pair of dull brown T-bars.
    ‘My shoes?’ I asked.
    ‘Gone. Put those on.’
    Now I really felt like crying – I loved my shiny black shoes so much! But I managed to hold the tears back as I buckled on the brown shoes. I didn’t like the look of them: they were
so dull, so ordinary compared to my lovely patent ones. I waggled my toes – actually, they felt really roomy and at least these ones stayed on my feet. They weren’t the most beautiful
things I’d ever seen but it was nice to have a pair of decent shoes that were in good condition.
    Once we were all dressed the smaller nun with the pretty face and pink cheeks marched us out of the bathroom and back out to the corridor. I knew it was getting on for tea-time because my
stomach was growling angrily. Children jostled past us now, and I could see we were all headed for the same place – the dining room. They were actually going to feed us here! But the moment
we walked into the enormous room with the rows and rows of long tables with benches either side, my stomach turned over.
Oh my God – the stench! It’s awful
.
    At home there was a farmer who lived round the back of our estate and every few days he’d go round the street with his horse and cart loaded with two big barrels, collecting all the
leftover food for the pigs. We knew when the farmer was out collecting the leftovers because the smell from those barrels was so strong and overpowering that it filled the streets and our nostrils
even when we were indoors. We’d run around pinching our noses and screwing up our faces with disgust. It was rotten, just rotten! Now, in that dining room, I recalled that same smell.
So
maybe those barrels weren’t for his pigs after all. Maybe
the
pigman collected
the
food for
the
orphanages and
the
pigs were going hungry?
    We were shown to one of the tables and ordered to sit down as the dining room slowly filled up with children – there were loads of them, hundreds. I felt shy and embarrassed in my new
clothes as I tried to keep my head down. After a little while a bowl of food clattered down in front of each of us. I looked into it. I should have been so excited – I hadn’t eaten in
two days. But the smell coming from the stuff inside made me feel sick.
    ‘What is it?’ Martin whispered to me.
    ‘I don’t know,’ I whispered back. It was strange – like a grey, sludgy water. There were bits of stuff floating in it but I couldn’t tell what the bits were because
they were grey, green and black. It didn’t look right but I didn’t care at that moment; I was so hungry all I wanted was to stop the pain in my belly. So I picked up the spoon and
started shovelling it in. It was horrible – worse than I imagined it was going to be – and I wanted to throw up, but I