Light A Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy Read Free Book Online Page B

any further, not by his mother and
two girls;
and he ran off on spindly legs, like a leaf, Eileen thought, comparing him to the stout twigs of boys who were already pummelling each other cheerfully in the yard of the boys’ preparatory. Then, with a smile, she deposited Aisling and Elizabeth, trying not to notice Elizabeth’s fearful glance at the huge statue pointing to its exposed and open heart …
    She returned to the house in the square. Peggy, who hadn’t expected the mistress back so soon, was half-heartedly fending off the gropings of Johnny O’Hara, the postman. Johnny was drinking tea and eating bacon on his soda bread, and that annoyed Eileen more than the fumblings. She had ruled that it was extravagant to have bacon for breakfast, and here it was being handed out to the postman. She took the letter from the speechless Johnny, brushed aside the protests and explanations from Peggy with a curt request that Niamh should be restored to her cot.
    Then she read that Sean had failed his Leaving Certificate examination.
    She decided that she would tell her husband before anyone else.
    Then she found that Eamonn had already gone to the school when the list was being read out and had galloped back to the shop with the news.
    Then she heard on the wireless that an almighty blitz had begun on London, and that people were huddling down in the Underground to avoid the bombs and the falling buildings.
    Then a message was sent from the school to say that Elizabeth had been sick and that Aisling was being sent home with her.
    And as she sat down to try to cope with all the day had brought, she realised that she had not had her period since the middle of July and that she was probably pregnant. Pregnant at the age of forty.
    Most things had sorted themselves out, as most things do, after two weeks. Most, not all.
    Donal seemed stronger and happier at school than he had been during the summer term. He came home with names of friends and stories of what Sister Maureen had said. And plans for the Christmas play, where he would be playing an angel.
    Elizabeth was not quite so fearful, and seemed to clutch at Aisling for safety. Aisling, in turn, was pleased and proud to have a new responsibility. It was better than a sister if not quite as good as a best friend. She was now an object of great interest in her class. An English Protestant refugee from the war over there
and
a kitten called Monica.
    Peggy was so contrite about the episode with the postman that she took it on herself to make amends. She scrubbed floors unasked, and even tidied out cupboards, unearthing the most extraordinary things.
    Young Sean got over the disappointment of his failure. Several other boys had failed too. The Brothers couldn’t understand it, although one told Eileen quietly that he thought a few of the lads had their heads stuffed with all this nonsense about going over and fighting a war, and they hadn’t given their work or their books enough attention.
    Sean O’Connor had taken his eldest son’s failure much better than Eileen had hoped. He had had a man-to-man talk and told him that life was full of failures and problems, that Irish history had been one crisis after another … all had to be met, faced and solved. He arranged a regular wage and regular hours of work for Young Sean in the store, and saw that he had a smart dun-coloured coat to wear, which lifted him into a different category.
    News from London was bad. Every night the bombers were coming over. Every night the Underground stations were full. There were stories of people leaving London again for another evacuation, but not nearly as many went as had gone before, the previous year. A message came from George and Violet, that they were managing. They had taken their beds down to the cellar and lined the walls with mattresses and padding. Eileen shuddered to think what it would be like, and managed to explain it all to Elizabeth in terms of fun. Elizabeth found it hard to think of