New York Storm

by Rachel Wesson

  “It was Paul I was wanting to talk to you about,” Carmel explained. “I am not one for gossip but being as you’re Ruth’s sister, I thought I should tell you.”

  “This doesn’t sound good,” Nancy said.

  “It isn’t, but let’s take a walk. Far too many good Catholics around here eavesdropping for a bit of gossip. They must think they get extra points in heaven if they tell Father Devine all they hear.”

  A couple of ladies turned red-faced around them but nobody dared argue with Mrs. Doherty. Carmel and Nancy walked in silence until they left the shadow of the church behind them.

  “I’ve seen young Paul hanging about with that thug Ned Duffy. That’s not a match made in heaven,” Carmel spoke quietly.

  “Wait till I catch up with that young fella, I’ll beat him black and blue. How many times have I told him to leave Duffy alone? Jimmy will kill him,” Nancy said.

  “I can understand why. The Duffys were a bad lot back in Ireland and they haven’t changed. But Paul is a good lad, he just needs some direction. He wants what they all want, some coins in his pocket, some respect and most of all something to do with his time,” Carmel said.

  “Have you something in mind?” Nancy asked, looking hopeful.

  “I wanted to check with you first, but how would you feel if I asked around, see if I could get him a proper job? Might keep him busy and out of Ned Duffy’s grasp.” Carmel suggested.

  “Carmel Doherty, if you could, I would forever be in your debt,” Nancy said, feeling hopeful.

  “No debts between family. As Ruth is the daughter I never had, you and yours are part of my family. I’ll talk to you next Sunday, but you might want to keep this between us for now,” Carmel said.

  “You don’t want me to tell Jimmy our Paul has been running jobs for Duffy?” Nancy looked shocked. She wasn’t one for keeping secrets from her husband.

  “I won’t interfere between husband and wife. That’s your decision, Nancy. But I would wonder at the benefit of telling anyone. The more your Paul is told not to do something, the more he seems to be drawn to it. Like many a fourteen-year-old boy.”

  “You’re right, Carmel. Maybe some things are best left unsaid. Thank you kindly. Maybe I can send Paul to stay with Michael over in Brooklyn for a few days. That would keep him out of Duffy’s clutches for the time being.”

  “Good idea. Paul adores Michael. But then, sure everyone loves your Michael, especially the ladies.”

  Nancy shrugged her shoulders. She couldn’t argue, much as she might want to. It was true, if ever there were a man who could charm the honey from the bees, it was her brother, Michael Byrne.

  Chapter 5

  Jamie and Tommy waited until the older women were out of sight.

  “What did Mrs. Doherty want to speak to your ma about? Wasn’t you and Lizzie was it?” Tommy asked.

  “No, although Mrs. Doherty almost killed me by poking me in the side for looking at Lizzie. I swear that woman can read minds,” Jamie said.

  Tommy didn’t disagree. Mrs. Doherty was a legend around their parts and it didn’t pay to mess with her. He grinned, thinking of the tongue lashing Charlie Doherty was in for. He liked Doherty but he wouldn’t let him near his sisters. If Carmel Doherty could read minds, she was missing a few tricks. Her grandson was gaining quite the reputation with the ladies.

  “What are you grinning about?” Jamie asked.

  “I was just thinking what Mrs. Doherty would do to Charlie if word of his womanizing got to reach her ears.”

  Jamie grinned back. “Me cousin is a lucky beggar. Nobody would be brave enough to tell his Gran what he gets up to. Thankfully he isn’t interested in my Lizzie or your Sadie so we don’t have anything to worry about.”

  “‘My Lizzie.’ Have you told her yet?” Tommy couldn’t resist teasing Jamie although he shouldn’t. His ma would kill him if she knew he was letting any boy talk about his younger sister as his woman. In her eyes, Lizzie was too young to be courting.

  “You know I can’t. Your ma would kill me. Your da would probably shoot me. I have to have some savings and a plan before I go courting at your house,” Jamie said, the doubt about how he would accumulate enough funds to satisfy the Carpenters written all over his face.

  Tommy was tempted to say his parents wouldn’t be too worried, they might even be relieved to offload one of their many children. But he couldn’t talk about his favorite sister like she was an unwanted kitten.

  “What about you?” Jamie asked Tommy.

  “I don’t think Sadie’s parents would notice but I don’t want to cause any problems between her and Stan.” Tommy grimaced.

  “Smart move. Stan O’Riordan is a miserable old sod. He’s rotten to her already. You would think being her older brother he would be more protective. Not that I have any sisters but I’ve seen how protective you are towards yours,” Jamie said.

  Tommy didn’t reply. He didn’t want to think about how Stan treated Sadie. The girl had shown up with black eyes on more than one occasion and he knew it was Stan who had inflicted the damage. He was saving hard. Soon, he hoped to have enough money to take Sadie away from all that. She deserved better.

  “You going to the football?” Jamie asked. The local Gaelic Athletics Association, or GAA as it was better known, organized football games every Sunday. They had convinced the priests it was a good way of keeping the men out of the drinking dens. The women often provided sandwiches and sometimes cakes and cookies too.

  “It’s a bit cold,” Tommy wanted to find out what Lizzie and Sadie were doing. Maybe there was a way to spend some time with Sadie.

  “Are yer a man or a mouse? Get on with you lad. The girls are coming to cheer us on.”

  “Why didn’t you say so in the first place? Lead on there Jamie boy and let’s show those Brooklyn boys what we’re made of.”

  Chapter 6

  Lizzie, Sadie and Nora Doherty trailed along behind the boys.

  “Nora, your dress is gorgeous. Where did you get it? Can I touch it?” Lizzie had her hand out already, hovering over the dress almost afraid to touch the material in case she dirtied it.

  “Of course you can touch it. Gran’s friend bought it for me. It’s nice isn’t it?”

  “Nice! That’s an understatement if ever there was one. Do you think I could borrow it sometime? Not to wear but to copy the pattern. I would love to try to make something like that,” Lizzie wanted to drag Nora back to her home, strip her and copy the pattern right then. But that was neither feasible nor practical.

  “Come on girls are yer coming or not?” Tommy shouted back at them.

  The girls weren’t overjoyed at the prospect of standing on the sidelines watching a game, but there was little else on offer. Everything was closed on Sundays, not that made a difference to them. Going to a café cost money and Lord knew they had little of that available.

  “Is it true then?” Lizzie asked Nora.

  “Is what true?”

  Lizzie hesitated, not wanting to upset Jamie’s cousin but curiosity won over. “I heard a rumor you were seen alone with a protestant.”

  “Lizzie Carpenter, you can’t be saying things like that.” Sadie looked around her, a worried expression on her face. “Father Devine might hear ya.”

  “Shush Sadie, he’s more likely to hear you shouting your mouth off,” Lizzie said sharply, regretting her outburst immediately at the look on Sadie’s face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be mean. The curiosity is killing me.”

  Both girls turned to stare at Nora.

  “It’s not how it sounds. Doc Erin, my gran’s friend, came back to New York last weekend. She called to see Gran on Wednesday. She wanted to find us somewhere bigger to live and Robbie, I mean Mr. Fenton, showed us some places. I’m not courting anyone,” Nora replied, although her eyes didn’t meet Lizzie’s.

  “Oh my goodness, you like him, don’t ya? What’s he like? Do your toes curl when he kisses ya?”

  “Lizzie Carpenter! Shush up. You can
’t ask questions like that.” Sadie looked horrified but Lizzie caught the curiosity in her eyes. She wanted to know the details just as much as Lizzie did.

  “I bet my toes would curl if Jamie Headford were to kiss me. But he ain’t even asked to court me,” Lizzie said staring at Jamie’s back.

  “Don’t worry Lizzie, he will. You know he likes you but he wants more than most boys do. He wants to make something of himself,” Nora spoke confidently. “As for Mr. Fenton, I barely know the man. He certainly hasn’t kissed me but I would slap his face if he tried!”

  All thoughts of Fenton were brushed away by Nora’s comments about Jamie. Lizzie guessed if anyone would know, Nora would. The cousins were close but still she didn’t quite believe what she said about Jamie.

  “How is Jamie going to do that?” As both girls looked at Lizzie in surprise, she blushed. “I know he’s intelligent and all but face facts. He’s Irish and comes from the wrong part of town. Who do we know who became someone?”

  “Ned Duffy?” Sadie offered, her face straight as if she were serious.

  “Sadie, you been drinking? You can’t…”

  As Sadie’s grin spread across her face, Lizzie gave her a mock push. “You’re horrible, you had me then. I thought you were serious.”

  “Ned Duffy is a…well we know what he is. I’m not going in to confess and have to tell Father Devine I called his pet some bad names. I will have to listen to another lecture on the virtues of that toad,” Nora said.

  “It’s odd ain’t it? Father Devine never has a good word to say about our lads but he seems to think Duffy is as pure as the snow,” Lizzie replied. “I can’t see the attraction. Duffy must know something bad about the priest.”

  “He couldn’t. Priests never do anything wrong. Ma says they are walkin’ saints.”

  Lizzie gave Sadie a look of disbelief but stopped herself from saying anything. The only person in Sadie’s family who was kind to her was her ma. Lizzie wasn’t going to say anything bad about Mrs. O’Riordan even if she did believe the woman was as daft as a brush.

  “Who knows what’s going on in his head? Did you hear him today?” Nora said. “He never knows when to stop talking. I thought my stomach was going to fall out.”

  “Good thing we get to collect sandwiches on our way. Your gran is some woman Nora Doherty. You are so lucky to have her,” Sadie said.

  Nora nodded in acknowledgement then looked around her before saying softly, “She is. She organized a group of the women to make sandwiches for today’s match. We’ll collect them but then I need to go. I have somewhere to be. Just don’t say anything to gran.”

  “So it is true.” Lizzie probed once more but at the closed look on Nora’s face, she gave up. Once Nora Doherty decided she wasn’t talking, nothing, not even an earthquake, would open that mouth of hers.

  Chapter 7

  The Brooklyn side won the football match but the boys didn’t seem too disappointed. Sadie and Lizzie had waited till the bitter end despite the cold.

  “Won’t your brothers be looking for you Sadie?” Lizzie asked, hoping her friend wasn’t going to get another beating.

  “Not today. I made stew yesterday and Ma said she would heat it up today to give them their dinner. She told me to stay out with you and gave me this as well,” Sadie showed Lizzie a bright sparkling penny, her eyes shining with pride.

  Lizzie had to force herself to smile rather than ask where the rest of Sadie’s wages had gone. They earned similar wages doing the same job in the factory. In fact, Sadie often earned a bit more, as she was faster. Mrs. Reynolds, their manager, kept telling Lizzie her sewing didn’t need to be a work of art so long as it was functional. Lizzie tried, but the temptation to make something look nicer was hard to dismiss. Someday she would have her own sewing business. She would be her own boss and create her own designs.

  “You’re wool gathering again. You’ve that funny look on your face,” Sadie said.

  “Sorry, I was thinking about my business.”

  “Your dressmaking store? You’ll do it Lizzie, I believe in you.”

  Smiling, Lizzie linked arms with Sadie. She hoped Tommy and Sadie would get wed. She wanted this sweet woman in her family.

  Within moments, they could hear the lads coming up behind them.

  “Did you see me skills? That goal should’ve gone in.”

  “Away with ya, Jamie Headford, I’d have been able to kick a ball in a straighter line,” Lizzie teased him.

  “I’d like to see you try. I bet you couldn’t,” Jaime teased.

  Lizzie made to lift her skirt but a sharp rebuke from Tommy put an end to it.

  “Ma will take the skin off the back of your legs if she hears you were playing ball. You’re not a kid anymore, Lizzie Carpenter.”

  “Ah leave her be, Tommy, it was only a bit of fun,” Jamie replied.

  Lizzie smiled her thanks and when he winked back at her, she felt her cheeks pink up. Hopefully they would think it was the cold.

  “Now would madam like to be escorted home?” Jamie held his arm out to Lizzie. She took it immediately, counting on the fact Tommy would want to walk Sadie home.

  “See you tomorrow at work, Sadie, Tommy,” Jamie said before taking Lizzie’s arm and leading her in the direction of her home.

  Tommy stared open mouthed at his friend’s back. He didn’t know what Jamie had planned and now it was done he couldn’t fix it. His ma would go nuts if she heard Lizzie walked home alone with Jamie Headford but if he went after his sister, it would mean leaving Sadie to walk home alone. The O’Riordans lived in a more run down tenement than any of them. He stood there, indecision halting him in his tracks.

  “You go with them if you like. Don’t mind me.” Sadie spoke softly looking at the ground.

  “I would like to walk you home if that’s all right with you?” Tommy said, his heart beating even faster than it had when they played ball. She was such a timid little thing and he didn’t want to scare her.

  “I would like that,” Sadie said, glancing up at him, her face coloring.

  Tommy took her arm in his and together they walked back toward the tenements. Tommy wondered if Sadie would like to go to a café for a cup of tea. He had a few coins with him. But would it get her into trouble with her brothers?

  Sadie wanted to pinch herself. Tommy Carpenter was walking her home. Well, he’d been given no choice really. He was too much of a gentleman to let her walk home alone. But he was holding her arm, like other courting couples did. Maybe Tommy did like her.

  She glanced up at him from under her eyelashes. He was so tall and handsome with his dark black hair and flashing blue eyes. He looked down, caught her looking at him, and smiled. Her pulse beat even more rapidly.

  “What did you think of the game?” he asked.

  Football? She didn’t know anything about it but she had to sound interested.

  “I thought you played a blinder.” She crossed her fingers hoping the expression meant he played well.

  He burst out laughing which wasn’t the response she had wanted. “You haven’t a clue what that means do you love?”

  She shook her head feeling more than a little stupid. She felt him stop and put his hand gently under her chin, forcing her to look up at him.

  “I like you Sadie O’Riordan. I like you a lot. Never try to be something you aren’t. You’re lovely just as you are.”

  Sadie opened her mouth to respond but she couldn’t. The tears threatened to spill out of her eyes and she fought to keep them at bay. She nearly died when he lent down and brushed his lips against her forehead, before taking her arm again and walking on.

  She didn’t want their journey to end and wished she lived on the other side of the world. This time alone was so precious.

  “I best not walk you to your door. I don’t think Stan would like it.”

  She wanted to tell him to forget Stan but she couldn’t. Stan was handy with his fists and she didn’t want Tommy to get hurt. Although he was t
all and broad enough to take on her brother. But if anything happened to his precious Stan, her da would go mad.

  “Thank you for walking me home,” she said. “I enjoyed it.”

  “Sadie, would you have lunch with me next week? One day in the factory?”

  Her stomach roiled. She couldn’t have lunch with him. Stan would kill her. He expected her to give him her lunch.

  “We could ask Lizzie to join us if you think it would make Stan feel more comfortable?”

  He must have known what her brother really was, yet Tommy was trying to pretend her brother actually cared for her reputation.

  “I would love to have lunch. Thank you,” she smiled up at him and before she could think about what she was doing, she stood on tippy toes and kissed his cheek. “You’re a lovely man Tommy. See you tomorrow.”

  And then she was gone. She couldn’t risk looking back, her cheeks were scarlet. What would he think of her for making a move like that?

  Tommy stood watching until she was safely inside the building. Although to be fair, she was probably at risk most from the people she lived with. He clenched his fists at the thought of what Stan would do to his younger sister if he knew she had allowed a man to walk her home. Stan pretended he cared, but in reality he liked to have Sadie for himself. She could fetch and carry and provide for the men in the household, as their ma was an invalid. Well, if Tommy had his way, soon Stan would have to do his own dirty work.

  He touched his cheek where she had kissed him. It was the first time she had indicated she shared his feelings. It was also the sign he needed. He had already started to save for the future but now he could do it in earnest; thoughts of making Sadie his wife would spur him on.

  With a much lighter step he walked home.