piece to me. Dragon for virility and power, and phoenix for fertility and health. I saw that kind of thing when I was in Shanghai, waiting for a ship.”
When I looked puzzled by this he added, “We fled from Vladivostok, you know. Our home was destroyed in the war with Japan, and Russia is no place to be right now.”
I had had enough for one day. The soles of my feet were throbbing from those burning sidewalks. The thin muslin of my dress was sticking to my back with sweat. I decided to call it a day and make an early start in the morning, although I was already telling myself that I was not likely to be any more successful than I had been today.
Workers were leaving sweatshops, indicating how late it had become. Those girls worked a twelve-hour day at least. I watched them walking three or four abreast, arm in arm, chatting and laughing with the relief of being in the fresh air and free after the long day of toil. The pushcarts had come out too in abundance and I had to thread my way between stalls selling roasted chickpeas, live chickens, pickles, buttons, and lace—in fact anything that could be sold to earn a few coins. Usually I savored this lively scene, but at this moment all I wanted to do was escape from it to the peace of Patchin Place, where a bath and a cool drink would await me.
I was on my way back to the Bowery and the El station when I heard the most improbable sound: someone was yelling my name. I turned around, unsure that I was actually the one being called, and saw two figures running toward me, fighting their way through the crowd. It was my long-lost Irish children, Bridie and Shamey, followed by their father.
“Molly. Look, Pa, it’s Molly!” Bridie was shrieking, not caring whom she pushed aside to reach me.
Shamey made it first with his big, almost man-sized strides. He went to hug me, then thought better of it, wiping his hands down his shirtfront instead, but smiling at me delightedly. “We thought you’d gone away,” he said.
“I thought you must have gone away,” I replied, putting my arms around both of them. “I sent you an invitation to my wedding but I got no reply.”
“We came back to the city,” Shamey said. “We’re living with Auntie Nuala for a while.”
“Goodness gracious. What on earth made you do that?” I demanded, as that lady’s abode did not hold pleasant memories for me.
Seamus had caught up to us, his round Irish face streaming with sweat. “Molly, it’s grand to see you again. We went to your old house, but there was nobody there except for a painter and he said a young couple was to be moving in. So we thought you’d gone away.”
“The young couple is Daniel and myself.” I stepped aside as there was a shout and a cart full of bolts of cloth came rumbling down the street. “I’m getting married in less than two weeks.”
He tipped his cap to me. “Lord love you. God’s blessings on you and your husband.”
I smiled. “I sent you an invitation to the wedding. Now I hope you’ll be able to make it.”
“If we’re still here in two weeks.” Seamus wrinkled his forehead. “Not exactly sure how things will be going.”
“Where do you think you might be?”
He frowned again. “I heard they were looking for men willing to take a ship down to Central America,” he said. “There’s plans to build a canal through a place called Panama, clear through the jungles. When it’s done they say that ships will be able to sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific without going ’round the Horn. So I signed on and I’m taking young Shamey with me. We want to be on the spot when the contract gets signed and get first pick of the jobs. They say the pay’s good and I reckon it will set us up for life.”
I looked from one face to the next, my unease growing. “You’re taking Shamey with you?”
“I am. He’s a good little worker and almost a man.”
“I’ll be twelve soon,” Shamey said, “and I can lift really heavy things, can’t I, Pa?”
There was such pride in his voice that I couldn’t yell out what I wanted to:
I turned to look at little Bridie. She had also grown, but she still had that frail and delicate air about her, holding on to my skirt as she looked up at me with those sweet blue eyes. “You’re never thinking of taking Bridie down to some heathen jungle?” I demanded, stroking that baby-fine hair.
“No, it would be no place for a young girl,” Seamus said. “That’s why we came to look for you. I was hoping that you’d find her a position in service. Mother’s helper or maid of all work. She’s a willing little worker and she learns quickly.”
I could feel my anger rising. Bridie was a sweet young child. She deserved a childhood, not starting out as a servant before she’d had a chance to play and learn. I wanted to volunteer to take her in myself, but then I remembered that I was about to get married. I could hardly start married life with someone else’s child in our household, could I? And I remembered that back home in Ireland many young girls were put into service when they were not much older than Bridie. I myself had been left with three young brothers to raise after my mother had died. But it wasn’t a fate I would wish on anyone else, especially not on a delicate child like this.
“Don’t make any plans for her without consulting me,” I said, trying to measure my words. “I’ll ask my friends and see what can be done for her. I’m staying across the street at number Ten with two ladies while my own house is being decorated to be ready for my marriage or I’d ask you all to stay with me. It must be horribly cramped at Nuala’s place.”
“Aye, it’s not the most comfortable,” Seamus said. “But ’tis for only a short while. Nuala’s willing to take the girl in herself, having only produced sons, but I thought you’d know how to give her a better future than that. I don’t wish a life in the fish market for my daughter and I know my dear departed Kathleen wouldn’t want it either.”
I took a deep breath. “I will do my best, Seamus, I promise. And I won’t let Bridie wind up with Nuala, that’s for sure.” I smiled down at her. “We’ll find something for you, my sweet. We’ll stay in touch, and you’ll come to my wedding, won’t you?”
We parted, my head buzzing with this latest complication. Why was life never simple? I had thought how nice it would be to have Bridie in my wedding party and lo and behold Bridie appears, but now it was up to me to find a way to prevent her from living in that hovel and working in a fish market. Always too many things to worry
