Mercy of St Jude by Wilhelmina Fitzpatrick Read Free Book Online

I’m afraid I have to say no.”
    Mercedes’ refusal made Beth even more determined to buy a house. Despite her size and persistent nausea, she decided to keep working at the plant.
    A few days before her due date, she sensed a lessening of movement in her belly. Lucinda and Luke took her to the hospital, where she was immediately sent to St. John’s in an ambulance.
    Lucinda, frantic, called for a taxi to take her home. When it pulled up, Sadie Griffin got out of the front seat.
    â€œWhatever is the matter, girl? You looks awful,” said Sadie, standing in such a way that Lucinda could not get past her. “Bad news from the doctor?”
    â€œPlease, Sadie…”
    â€œIt’s not Dermot?”
    â€œDerm? No, he’s fine.”
    â€œYour father? Mercedes?”
    Lucinda blew out a sharp breath. “Beth’s gone to town in an ambulance.”
    She pushed her way past Sadie and into the car. Still, Sadie held the door open.
    Lucinda yanked the door from Sadie’s hands and told the driver to hurry. He sped off, leaving a spray of gravel behind him, along with Sadie clutching her bag on the curb.
    Once home, Lucinda jumped into the truck. It wouldn’t start, just as it hadn’t that morning, and Dermot wasn’t around to coax it back to life. Lucinda flung the keys out the window and across the yard.
    Annie, who had been watching from the doorway, came out. “What’s up?”
    â€œIt’s Beth. She’s in trouble.”
    Annie shrugged, at fifteen more brazen than ever. “So what else is new?”
    Lucinda turned on her. “Don’t you care your sister’s baby might be dead? She’s gone to St. John’s in an ambulance and all you can do is mouth off.” She glared at Annie. “You’re worse than Mercedes, God help you.”
    Annie couldn’t move. She couldn’t think past the fact that Beth really was in trouble and her mother thought she didn’t care. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.”
    â€œI just don’t know how to stop it from happening.” Lucinda made a strange sound, somewhere between a moan and a cry. “I got to go after her.”
    Annie remembered Lucinda’s pregnancy two years before, how sad her mother had been when she’d returned from the hospital empty-handed. She wished her father was home but he’d left two days earlier on one of Murphy’s boats and would be away at least a week. And Callum had gone to St. John’s with Mercedes the day before.
    â€œMaybe we can borrow Uncle Frank’s car?” Annie suggested. “I’ll go with you.”
    Frank Hann was a miserly sort, but there must have been something in Lucinda’s voice when she called him. Within minutes, he was there with the car.
    Lucinda drove off, her foot heavy on the gas. Annie watched through the passenger window as the jagged landscape whipped by, the tough evergreens interspersed with rocky outcroppings and barren patches of land. In the distance, a dense fog hid the horizon. Annie hugged her coat closer against the fall air whistling through the crannies of her uncle’s old car.
    As she walked into the hospital, Annie thought she understood why Mercedes refused to enter one. The waiting room smelled of body fluids and antiseptic, of sickness and death. She tried not to breathe too deeply.
    She watched her mother’s fingers flying over her black rosary beads, her lips whispering feverishly. Annie had knelt through hundreds of rosaries, pretending to pray, angry with her mother for making her do something Annie professed to be a waste of time. Now, she put her hands together.
    Finally, Luke was walking towards them, his face drenched with tears.
    â€œOh, dear God. Luke, what happened?” The fear jumping out of Lucinda’s voice terrified Annie. “How’s Beth? How’s the baby?”
    Luke stared numbly at her. “Beth is okay, but the