For a few moments the woman was silent, and Rose couldn’t stand it. She found herself pouring out the whole story about Johnny’s arrest and Michael’s accident—even her attempt to ask Alderman McMahan for help. Although Da squirmed uncomfortably beside her, by the time she had finished Rose felt emptied of a great weight. Nothing had been hidden, nothing excused. Let the woman make of it what she wished.
Edna studied Rose before she asked, “Do you realize that it would be impossible to get funds from a bank to help your brother?”
Rose sighed, hoping that what McMahan had told her about the Irish militant groups who would support Johnny was true. “Johnny was ever the headstrong one,” she said, “and what he did was done by choice. It’s Meggie and Bridget who need our help the most.”
Edna nodded. “To be very honest with you both, I’m afraid any bank would also turn down your request for traveling funds, but there’s another avenue of help. Miss Addams has a number of wealthy friends who donate time and money to Hull House to be used for some of the people who come in need.”
Da spoke up. His voice was husky and his face was red as he said, “We are not asking for charity.”
“Do you have a job, Mr. Carney?” Although the words were blunt, the concern in Edna’s manner softened them.
“Not at the present,” he said.
“What type of work do you do?”
“I’ve been working as a bricklayer.”
“That’s difficult work.”
“I catch your meaning,” Da told her, “and you’re right. It’s a job for younger men, which is why I’m having trouble being hired.”
“Since that is the case, then I …”
“But I’ve come up with a plan,” Da continued. “I haven’t told Rosie and my son Michael yet because I’m waiting until I can bring them good news. I’ve applied for a job with the city parks department as a gardener. They have no openings now, but my name’s on a list, and I shall keep applying and reapplying until I’m hired, no matter how long it takes.”
Rose’s surprise at hearing her father’s plan quickly turned to pride in him for trying to work out a way to help the family and himself.
“In Ireland, for most of my life,” Da said, “I was a farmer and a good one at that. I know the soil, I know the land.”
Edna smiled. “I can see that this is where your heart is.”
Da smiled back. “You can truthfully say it.”
“Would you have to work for the city? Would you be willing to work as a gardener at a private home?”
“I hadn’t thought of private homes because I knew a city job would be secure. But I suppose where I work doesn’t matter. What counts is that I’d be working at a job I can do well.”
Edna sat quietly for a moment and seemed to be thinking. Finally, she said, “I think, Mr. Carney, we can help each other. I live on a large estate on Lake Shore Drive. The grounds are taken care of by a head gardener and two assistants. One of the young men plans to leave in two months, because he’s moving to Michigan, and will have to be replaced. It’s a full-time job, and the pay is two dollars a day. Here’s what I suggest. If you’re interested in taking the job, I’ll advance what you need for the trip. You can begin work when you’ve returned with your younger daughters and repay me then.”
Da leaned forward, and Rose could see the quick pulse thumping in his neck. “It’s fine and generous you are to offer this job, and it’s one I would like very much, Miss … Miss … I can no longer call you Edna.”
My name is Mrs. Paul Ashley,” Edna said.
“Fine then, Mrs. Ashley,” Da went on. “As I was saying, I would like the job. I’ll work hard and well, but you must understand that before I go to get my little girls I must stop a day or two in England, where my son Johnny is being held, and see to his needs. He is my son.”
“Of course,” Edna Ashley said. “If he were my son, I’d do the same.”
Da stood beaming. Rose, whose heart was jumping as though it were on a string, said, “Thank you, Mrs. Ashley. We couldn’t have worked this out without your help.” She would have loved to throw her arms about this kind, caring woman.
Mrs. Ashley wrote her address and telephone number on a sheet of paper and handed it to Da. In turn, she took his address. “I will send a messenger tomorrow morning to deliver the money you’ll need for the journey.”
Tucking her hand into her father’s arm and giving it a squeeze, Rose leaned against his shoulder as they left the building. The excitement in his body was like the electricity that hummed through the trolley wires. “I’m so proud of you!” she said. “You’ll have a job you’ll like, and you’ll be your old self again.”
“That I will,” he answered. “I just wish Maura were here. She’d be so pleased.”
“She’ll be pleased as well when Bridget and Meggie are safely with us.” Rose’s throat tightened with longing for her mother.
She turned to her father with a solemn expression. “Da, the best part is that you won’t need to go to Casey’s to find out if anyone is hiring. You’ll stop drinking too much.”
“We’ve talked about this before, so you’ll not need to bring the topic up again,” Da said. “I’ll not touch another drop, Rosie, as long as I live.”
“Do you promise?”
He raised his right hand as if he were taking an oath. “I do. I promise you, and I promise myself.”
All the way home Rose, who was wound tightly with excitement, kept up a happy chatter, while Da, smiling, listened and nodded.
Rose could hardly wait to tell Michael what had happened, so she ran up the stairs and burst into their flat ahead of Da. She began at the beginning, not leaving out a single detail as she tried to recount every word of the conversation. At last, Rose paused for a breath and flung herself into a chair. “Da’s going to love working with the land again.”
She looked around, and to her amazement there was no sign of her father. “Where’s Da?” she asked Michael. He shrugged. “He didn’t come in with you.”
“Then where …?”
Rose ran down the stairs and out onto the walk, but there was no sign of her father.
Mr. O’Brien, returning late from work, materialized from the darkness. “If you’re looking for your father, Miss Carney,” he said, “I passed him down the block.”
“Going to Casey’s?”
“It looked that way.”
“Thank you,” Rose said. Slowly, each step aching and heavy, she climbed the stairs and entered the parlor and sank into a chair.
“Da’s gone to Casey’s,” she told Michael. “I should have known. He can’t be trusted to go for the girls. How will we be able to hand over to him Mrs. Ashley’s loan?”
“I’ll be off these crutches in less than a month,” Michael offered. “I’ll get our sisters.”
Rose shook her head. “Think how frightened Meggie and Bridget must be—their mother gone and no one coming to get them. Someone has to go now.”
“Da’s in no shape to do it.”
“That I know! But who else is there who can go?” Rose struck the arms of the chair with her fists. “Da promised never to touch another drop again, Michael! He promised! And I believed him, but he couldn’t keep his word for thirty minutes!”
As she got to her feet Michael held out a restraining arm. “Don’t go after him, Rosie. It hurts his pride.”
Impatiently, Rose brushed her brother’s arm away. “I have no intention of trying to coax him out of Casey’s. That wouldn’t solve a thing.”
“And neither will sitting here agonizing about Da’s problem.” Juggling his crutches, Michael struggled to his feet. “I’m going to bed, Rosie. Why don’t you? You look so tired.”
“I am tired,” Rose answered, “but I’m so tired I’m past sleep. I just want to sit here and think awhile about what to do next.”
Michael’s voice was hopeful. “Do you have any ideas?”
“None.”
Rose didn’t remember clo
sing her eyes, so she was startled when she awoke to hear Da fumbling his way through the front doorway.
As he closed the door he spotted Rose, focusing on her in surprise. “Still up?” he asked cheerfully. “Ah, then it’s not as late as I thought it might be.”
“Why did you go to Casey’s, Da?” Rose asked.
“I had to tell the boys our good fortune,” he answered. A wheedling note came into his voice. “You understand, don’t you, Rosie? What kind of a friend would I be if I didn’t share the news and say good-bye to all the boys?”
Rose slowly got to her feet, exhausted and ill. “You promised you wouldn’t touch another drop. You promised me.”
Da straightened his shoulders, struggling to reach his full height. He patted Rose’s shoulder clumsily and announced with all the confidence he could muster, “I intend to keep that promise, Rosie girl. Never fear. Tonight I had to say good-bye to my friends, but from tomorrow on I’ll keep my promise.”
Rose helped her father to bed, then went to her own room, closing the door. In the moonlight-flooded room she quickly changed to her nightgown and crawled into bed, the gold locket warm on her chest. There was no hope left, she thought. None at all.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
KATE arrived at the store the next afternoon, one little boy in hand, the other in her arms. “I couldn’t wait to see you!” she whispered. “Tim told me about Johnny’s arrest. Those stupid, foolish boys! Oh, Rosie, I’m so sorry!”
“Shhh,” Rose said, glancing toward Mrs. Sweeney’s back. “We’re not supposed to entertain friends. Besides, what’s done is done.”
Kate lowered her voice to a murmur. “At least all the news wasn’t bad. I heard about Mrs. Ashley and the loan and the job!”
“She told you?” Rose asked in amazement.
“No, no. One of my friends was working in the next room. She overheard. You don’t mind, do you?” Kate suddenly pulled a skirt from the nearest rack and in a louder voice said, “Yes, it’s a lovely shade of blue, but I came to look at clothing for my little boys.”
Rose saw Mrs. Sweeney turn away, offering her help to a newly arrived customer. She led Kate to the children’s clothing section of the store and said, “I was so happy, Kate. I thought Mrs. Ashley was the answer to our problem. Da even solemnly promised me that he wouldn’t take another drink.” She choked back a sob, struggling to keep her composure. “But when we arrived home he didn’t even come in the house with me. While I was telling Michael our good news, Da went straight to Casey’s.”
Kate’s eyes were huge and dark. “Oh, Rosie, what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know yet,” Rose told her. “I honestly don’t know.”
“There has to be an answer.”
“If there is I haven’t found it.”
“Don’t give up. Who knows what might turn up?”
Mrs. Sweeney joined them, asking Kate, “Have you found something for those dear little boys?”
“Not exactly,” Kate answered and nodded at Rose, “but I do thank you, miss, for your helpfulness.” She left the store, and Rose began to wait on another customer.
During the rest of the day Rose kept her mind on her work, not allowing herself to dwell on her problems. Until last night she had refused to despair, positive that there would always be solutions, but she had done everything possible, and the right answers hadn’t come.
As Rose and the Sweeneys left the store, Mr. Sweeney carefully locking the door behind them, Rose blurted out, “If I went to Ireland to get my sisters, could I have my job back when I returned home?”
In surprise, Mrs. Sweeney answered, “We’d have to replace you, Rose. There’d be no other way. We can’t train a new employee and then fire her when you get back.”
“Of course,” Rose said. “I shouldn’t have asked.”
“We heard what happened to your brother Johnny, and we’re sorry. We’ll be doubly sorry if you leave us.”
“I won’t,” Rose said. “It was a foolish question.”
Mr. Sweeney broke in. “It seems to me this is a father’s job. Is there any reason why your father can’t go after the children?”
Rose evaded an answer. “Here comes my trolley,” she said as she began to run across the street. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
When Rose was two doors from her house she easily recognized the figure seated on the steps. Her heart quickened, and so did her footsteps, as she approached Tim.
He slowly got to his feet and came to meet her as she reached the walk.
“Kate told me everything that happened,” Tim said.
“It’s kind of you to care,” Rose murmured.
“Kind of me to care!” Tim repeated her words loudly as he grabbed her shoulders. “I’m not being kind! I’m going out of my mind because I do care so much about you, Rosie!” He lowered his voice and dropped his hands to his sides. “I take the blame for all the unhappiness you’ve been caused by Johnny’s arrest. The loss of my friend—oh, Rosie, there’s so much I feel responsible for. I don’t blame you for hating me.”
Rose recognized the terrible hurt in Tim’s eyes and realized she should have seen that he had been mourning, too. Her love for him growing even stronger, she whispered, “I don’t hate you”; but Tim, intent on what he had come to say, went on.
“You won’t have to worry about sending your father to Ireland, because I’ll be going with him.”
“You?” Rose gasped.
“Yes, and I’ll never let him out of my sight. We’ll stop in England to see what is being done for Johnny and what still can be done, and then we’ll get your little sisters and bring them home.”
“But your fare will be expensive. I can’t ask you to spend that much money.”
Tim shook his head. “Let’s say that the alderman owed me a few favors and was glad to help out.”
Rose took a step backward. “You won’t be smuggling illegal funds, too, will you?”
He flinched at her words, and Rose saw the hurt she had caused. “No smuggling. You have my word on it. Please believe me, Rosie, I’ll be going only to help your father … and you. I’ve already talked to him and to Michael. You’ll be interested to know that Michael put himself in charge of the money that was sent this morning.”
Rose sighed with relief. “I trust you, Tim, and I believe you. It’s just that after all that has happened, I didn’t see how things could ever go right again.”
Tim’s look was wistful as he said, “I’m glad I could put your mind at ease, Rosie. Now I’ll be going and won’t be any more bother to you.”
“No!” Rose reached out and clasped one of his hands, clinging as though she’d never let go. “I lied to you,” she said. “I told you that I hated you, and I don’t. I never did. I couldn’t. I spoke only out of anger. Oh, Tim, I love you with all my heart!”
For an instant his eyes brightened, but warily he held back. “You may be angry with me again, Rosie. I have my way of looking at things, and you have your way. I can tell you right now I won’t change.” He paused before he added, “And since fair is fair, I’d never expect you to change just to suit me.”
“My mother and father didn’t always see things eye to eye,” Rose told him, “but they loved each other deeply, and that’s what counts.”
“Are you saying …?”
“Yes,” she interrupted. “I knew that coming to America would change things, but I didn’t know it would change me. I’m not the girl I was in Ireland. I’m a grown woman now, and I know this for sure. I love you, Tim.”
He smiled broadly and took her in his arms. “And I love you, Rosie. I always will.”
Even though there’d been sorrow, there had also been joy. The future with Tim held a beautiful promise, and Rose intended to make the most of it.
ABOUT ELLIS ISLAND
ELLIS ISLAND, called by many the “gateway to America,” represents a landmark of America’s rich cultural heritage. Four out of ten Americans have family who passed thro
ugh this important place as immigrants.
From 1892 to 1954 the millions of immigrants who entered the United States through Ellis Island first saw a massive wooden building with a blue slate roof and ornamental towers. In 1897 this structure mysteriously burned to the ground. Fortunately, no one was injured, but thousands of immigration records were lost.
A new building was constructed and opened in 1900—an impressive edifice of red-and-yellow brick, where during the next ten years more than 6 million people were processed. The majority of these immigrants came from Italy, Russia, and Austria-Hungary; but there were many who came from England, Ireland, Germany, and the Scandinavian countries; and some came from Canada, the West Indies, Poland, Greece, Portugal, and Armenia.
Entry to the United States at Ellis Island wasn’t easy. Immigrants faced examinations and inspections and—because of outbreaks of public fear that these individuals might not be able to support themselves—those with poor health or physical handicaps were returned to the countries from which they came. The complex and confusing entry to the United States was initially made even more difficult for the immigrants because they often did not know English or understand the value of dollars, and they were cheated by money changers, baggage handlers, and those who sold train tickets. In early 1902 President Theodore Roosevelt hired William Williams, a New York attorney, to clean out the graft and corruption, and he did.
For many years the Ellis Island buildings were deserted, but in 1980 President Ronald Reagan invited Lee Iacocca, chairman of the Chrysler Corporation, to orchestrate the renovation of both the Ellis Island immigration station and the Statue of Liberty through public donations. Over 20 million people responded with gifts totaling over 300 million dollars. Today Ellis Island is a beautiful museum, preserving the stories of its immigrants for history.
Three of my four grandparents were immigrants to this country, so writing the Ellis Island books has been especially meaningful to me.
Ellis Island: Three Novels Page 26
