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Authors: Margaret Dickinson
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innocent looking as she could manage. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘Oh, I think you do. She’s been telling you how badly I treat her, no doubt making it far worse than it is. She needs a firm hand, Eveleen. She’s a wild, disobedient little
tyke and Josh won’t discipline her, so I have to.’
Mary dried her hands on a towel and turned to face Eveleen. ‘He treats her very much like your father, my poor Walter, used to treat you. You girls wrap these men round your little fingers
and they can’t see any wrong in you. Look at all that business with Stephen Dunsmore. If you had only listened to me, you’d have saved yourself and all of us a lot of heartache. And
maybe,’ she wagged her forefinger in Eveleen’s face, ‘just maybe your father would still be alive to this day.’
Eveleen had fought hard through the years to come to terms with her mother’s accusation, but even now the words were like a knife in her heart.
‘It was all your fault we were turned out of our home and had to go to Flawford and look where that led. Rebecca setting her cap at Jimmy and getting herself pregnant just to trap him. I
don’t blame him for running away to sea. I would have done the same if I’d been in his shoes, but it doesn’t stop me missing him every day of my life. And I’ve you to thank
for that.’
‘Mam,’ Eveleen said, trying hard to hold onto her patience, ‘do you have to rake up the past and throw it at me every time we come home?’
‘Only because, if Bridie comes to live with you, she’ll copy some of your bad ways. She’s better staying here with me where I can keep her in line.’
‘I didn’t say anything about her coming to live with us. I just said for a holiday.’
‘Oh aye. But once she’s there, she’ll wheedle her way round you. And Richard, because he’s every bit as soft with her as Josh is. She’s desperate to get away from
me. She even suggested going to Andrew’s. I soon put a stop to that.’
Yes, I know you did, Eveleen thought resentfully, and in a very cruel way. But she held her tongue. Old as she was now, answering her mother back would still serve no purpose. She finished
drying the dishes and pulled down the sleeves of her blouse. She wished that she had left it to Richard to speak to her mother. She was sure that he would have won Mary over.
By the time Josh, Richard and Bridie returned from their walk around the farm, Eveleen and her mother were barely speaking to each other. The two women were sitting in silence on either side of
the fire in Mary’s best parlour, a room only used on Sundays and special occasions. Richard came to the hearth and stood between them, rubbing his hands and holding them out towards the
blaze, for the May day was unusually cold, a blustery wind blowing and rain threatening.
‘All settled, then?’ he asked, glancing from one to the other.
Eveleen shook her head. ‘My mother doesn’t trust me to look after her.’
Mary turned to Bridie standing near the table. ‘Go upstairs, child. This is not for your ears.’
‘But, Gran—’ the girl began.
‘Do as I say,’ Mary snapped. The girl glowered and clamped her jaws together to silence any protest. She turned and wrenched open the door leading into the small hallway. No-one in
the room spoke as they listened to her stamping her way up the stairs and slamming the door of her bedroom.
Josh ran his hand across his forehead and Eveleen and Richard exchanged a glance.
Frowning slightly, Richard pulled out a chair from beneath the table and placed it carefully next to Mary.
‘And you needn’t start your wheedling, either,’ Mary said, but now her tone was playful and the look she cast up at him, coy.
Richard smiled at her. ‘Just tell me,’ he asked in his soft, deep tones, ‘why you think we can’t look after her properly.’
‘I didn’t say you.’ Mary sniffed. ‘I said her.’ She nodded across the hearth at her daughter.
Behind them, Josh gave a
‘Oh, I think you do. She’s been telling you how badly I treat her, no doubt making it far worse than it is. She needs a firm hand, Eveleen. She’s a wild, disobedient little
tyke and Josh won’t discipline her, so I have to.’
Mary dried her hands on a towel and turned to face Eveleen. ‘He treats her very much like your father, my poor Walter, used to treat you. You girls wrap these men round your little fingers
and they can’t see any wrong in you. Look at all that business with Stephen Dunsmore. If you had only listened to me, you’d have saved yourself and all of us a lot of heartache. And
maybe,’ she wagged her forefinger in Eveleen’s face, ‘just maybe your father would still be alive to this day.’
Eveleen had fought hard through the years to come to terms with her mother’s accusation, but even now the words were like a knife in her heart.
‘It was all your fault we were turned out of our home and had to go to Flawford and look where that led. Rebecca setting her cap at Jimmy and getting herself pregnant just to trap him. I
don’t blame him for running away to sea. I would have done the same if I’d been in his shoes, but it doesn’t stop me missing him every day of my life. And I’ve you to thank
for that.’
‘Mam,’ Eveleen said, trying hard to hold onto her patience, ‘do you have to rake up the past and throw it at me every time we come home?’
‘Only because, if Bridie comes to live with you, she’ll copy some of your bad ways. She’s better staying here with me where I can keep her in line.’
‘I didn’t say anything about her coming to live with us. I just said for a holiday.’
‘Oh aye. But once she’s there, she’ll wheedle her way round you. And Richard, because he’s every bit as soft with her as Josh is. She’s desperate to get away from
me. She even suggested going to Andrew’s. I soon put a stop to that.’
Yes, I know you did, Eveleen thought resentfully, and in a very cruel way. But she held her tongue. Old as she was now, answering her mother back would still serve no purpose. She finished
drying the dishes and pulled down the sleeves of her blouse. She wished that she had left it to Richard to speak to her mother. She was sure that he would have won Mary over.
By the time Josh, Richard and Bridie returned from their walk around the farm, Eveleen and her mother were barely speaking to each other. The two women were sitting in silence on either side of
the fire in Mary’s best parlour, a room only used on Sundays and special occasions. Richard came to the hearth and stood between them, rubbing his hands and holding them out towards the
blaze, for the May day was unusually cold, a blustery wind blowing and rain threatening.
‘All settled, then?’ he asked, glancing from one to the other.
Eveleen shook her head. ‘My mother doesn’t trust me to look after her.’
Mary turned to Bridie standing near the table. ‘Go upstairs, child. This is not for your ears.’
‘But, Gran—’ the girl began.
‘Do as I say,’ Mary snapped. The girl glowered and clamped her jaws together to silence any protest. She turned and wrenched open the door leading into the small hallway. No-one in
the room spoke as they listened to her stamping her way up the stairs and slamming the door of her bedroom.
Josh ran his hand across his forehead and Eveleen and Richard exchanged a glance.
Frowning slightly, Richard pulled out a chair from beneath the table and placed it carefully next to Mary.
‘And you needn’t start your wheedling, either,’ Mary said, but now her tone was playful and the look she cast up at him, coy.
Richard smiled at her. ‘Just tell me,’ he asked in his soft, deep tones, ‘why you think we can’t look after her properly.’
‘I didn’t say you.’ Mary sniffed. ‘I said her.’ She nodded across the hearth at her daughter.
Behind them, Josh gave a
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