Read Online The Leaving Of Liverpool by Maureen Lee - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Maureen Lee
Ads: Link
screamed and knelt beside the body of her daughter and her skirt still bore the stains. She refused to throw the gown away.
Levon pushed Anne Murray forward - she’d come quite willingly when he’d held out his hand. ‘Tamara, my love, I have brought you another daughter.’
Chapter 3
It hadn’t only been the sight of the Queen Maia sailing away with Annemarie on board that had made Mollie faint on that fateful afternoon. She’d been taken by ambulance to the Royal Hospital in Pembroke Place where it was discovered she was suffering from mild concussion as a result of the injury to her head.
‘I’d like to keep you in for a few days so I can keep an eye on you,’ the doctor said after he’d asked how many fingers he was holding up and she’d said two when there’d only been one. ‘Do your relatives know you’re here?’
‘I haven’t got any relatives in Liverpool,’ she told him.
‘You’re a bit young to be living here all on your own, aren’t you?’ His name was Dr Packer and he was a rotund, cheerful-looking individual with a bright-red face and mutton-chop whiskers.
‘I don’t live here.’ She ended up telling him the whole story, only missing out the reason she and her sister had left Ireland.
He clucked sympathetically. ‘What are you going to do now?’
‘Find somewhere to stay in Liverpool, then write to my aunt and ask her to send the money for another ticket.’ She’d find a cheap hotel, hoping they wouldn’t expect to be paid straight away and she could settle the bill when the money arrived.
Three days later, she was discharged from the hospital. Her head still ached, and she knew the terrible mistake she’d made by allowing the Queen Maia to leave without her would haunt her for the rest of her days. She worried constantly about Annemarie, though comforted herself with the thought that Gertrude Strauss would look after her and make sure she had her drops. Dr Packer had said the ship’s doctor would have had digitalis, which only made Mollie feel stupid on top of everything else. Miss Strauss, or someone on the ship, would make sure her sister was safely delivered to Aunt Maggie, that’s if Aunt Maggie wasn’t there to meet her.
According to Dr Packer, there were loads of small hotels close to the centre of the city and she’d find one easily. ‘Just go down London Road until you come to Lime Street, then ask someone, preferably a policeman.’
London Road was packed with pedestrians; tramcars clanked their way along, cars hooted at the slow-moving horses and carts. Mollie felt disembodied, as if her spirit were elsewhere, and the heavy traffic sounded muted in her ears. She forced herself to stop and stare into the windows of the dozens of little shops she passed, to concentrate on the fashionable clothes, the shoes with high heels that she’d always wanted, a train set that Thaddy would have loved, the jack-in-the-box that would have amused Aidan. Oh, and earrings shaped like teardrops which were similar to ones Mammy had used to wear. Her eyes pricked with teardrops of her own: since Mammy died life had become too depressing for words. Yet even though being in Liverpool on her own made her feel as miserable as sin, it was better than living in Duneathly with the Doctor. She sniffed and wiped her eyes. If everything went well, in a few weeks she would be in New York with Annemarie and Aunt Maggie and feeling herself again.
She arrived at Lime Street but, instead of asking the whereabouts of a small hotel, she stopped a woman pushing a baby in a giant pram and asked the way to Crosshall Street. She was badly in need of a friend right now.
Agatha’s jaw dropped several inches when Mollie entered the chemist’s. She was in the middle of serving a male customer who couldn’t decide which ointment to buy. ‘What on earth are you doing here?’ she gasped when the man had gone. ‘I thought you’d be halfway across the Atlantic by now.’
‘So did I,’ Mollie
Levon pushed Anne Murray forward - she’d come quite willingly when he’d held out his hand. ‘Tamara, my love, I have brought you another daughter.’
Chapter 3
It hadn’t only been the sight of the Queen Maia sailing away with Annemarie on board that had made Mollie faint on that fateful afternoon. She’d been taken by ambulance to the Royal Hospital in Pembroke Place where it was discovered she was suffering from mild concussion as a result of the injury to her head.
‘I’d like to keep you in for a few days so I can keep an eye on you,’ the doctor said after he’d asked how many fingers he was holding up and she’d said two when there’d only been one. ‘Do your relatives know you’re here?’
‘I haven’t got any relatives in Liverpool,’ she told him.
‘You’re a bit young to be living here all on your own, aren’t you?’ His name was Dr Packer and he was a rotund, cheerful-looking individual with a bright-red face and mutton-chop whiskers.
‘I don’t live here.’ She ended up telling him the whole story, only missing out the reason she and her sister had left Ireland.
He clucked sympathetically. ‘What are you going to do now?’
‘Find somewhere to stay in Liverpool, then write to my aunt and ask her to send the money for another ticket.’ She’d find a cheap hotel, hoping they wouldn’t expect to be paid straight away and she could settle the bill when the money arrived.
Three days later, she was discharged from the hospital. Her head still ached, and she knew the terrible mistake she’d made by allowing the Queen Maia to leave without her would haunt her for the rest of her days. She worried constantly about Annemarie, though comforted herself with the thought that Gertrude Strauss would look after her and make sure she had her drops. Dr Packer had said the ship’s doctor would have had digitalis, which only made Mollie feel stupid on top of everything else. Miss Strauss, or someone on the ship, would make sure her sister was safely delivered to Aunt Maggie, that’s if Aunt Maggie wasn’t there to meet her.
According to Dr Packer, there were loads of small hotels close to the centre of the city and she’d find one easily. ‘Just go down London Road until you come to Lime Street, then ask someone, preferably a policeman.’
London Road was packed with pedestrians; tramcars clanked their way along, cars hooted at the slow-moving horses and carts. Mollie felt disembodied, as if her spirit were elsewhere, and the heavy traffic sounded muted in her ears. She forced herself to stop and stare into the windows of the dozens of little shops she passed, to concentrate on the fashionable clothes, the shoes with high heels that she’d always wanted, a train set that Thaddy would have loved, the jack-in-the-box that would have amused Aidan. Oh, and earrings shaped like teardrops which were similar to ones Mammy had used to wear. Her eyes pricked with teardrops of her own: since Mammy died life had become too depressing for words. Yet even though being in Liverpool on her own made her feel as miserable as sin, it was better than living in Duneathly with the Doctor. She sniffed and wiped her eyes. If everything went well, in a few weeks she would be in New York with Annemarie and Aunt Maggie and feeling herself again.
She arrived at Lime Street but, instead of asking the whereabouts of a small hotel, she stopped a woman pushing a baby in a giant pram and asked the way to Crosshall Street. She was badly in need of a friend right now.
Agatha’s jaw dropped several inches when Mollie entered the chemist’s. She was in the middle of serving a male customer who couldn’t decide which ointment to buy. ‘What on earth are you doing here?’ she gasped when the man had gone. ‘I thought you’d be halfway across the Atlantic by now.’
‘So did I,’ Mollie
Similar Books
