Delaney. Part XIII

“I’ll fetch Father Fitzpatrick,” Doyle tells Brother O’Brien as he pulls Magdalene and Adrienne clandestinely through the back door and into the kitchen. Brother O’Brien is setting some bread and cheese on a plate when Father Fitzpatrick walks in.

“Brother, O’Brien. We weren’t expecting you back for another month.”

“I’m afraid that plague has visited London and begun to spread. Even Twickenham where my brother lives is beginning to see the effects. We thought it best I should return to Ireland. This is to say nothing of the fact that the Bengalis of east London have launched a revolution. They are throwing off the chains of the Corporation.”

“Dear God.” The Father replies. And he means it in all sincerity as a prayer. “Those poor souls have suffered long under corporate rule.”

“But before we go any further, let me introduce Magdalene and Adrienne.”

Father Fitzpatrick wrests his attention away from O’Brien to greet their visitors.

“Welcome madame, and little miss.”

“They have escaped from the Murder Factor and I offered them temporary shelter at the Friary. I am sorry Father, but options were limited. The dogs were on their heels and the need to respond was urgent.”

“I see it may have been impractical to consult us,” the Father says. “We can speak of your decision-making process later. At present I want to be sure that Magdalene and Adrienne, feel welcome. I wish we could get to know one another under different circumstances, but I don’t think it will be wise for you to remain here. We should make arrangements for you to leave the country right away.”

“I’m afraid that’s impossible Father.” Brother O’Brien replies. “They were planning to board the ship I returned on, but all transport to England has been banned. The country is in lock down. I am hopeful, however, that we have put the dogs off their scent. Their original clothing was left at the Thrift Shop. By the time the guards and their dogs realize they’re not there, they will have been confused by all the scents. I believe they’ll be safe tonight while we consider what to do.”

“Very well.” Says the Father. “We shall keep them in your room, Brother. You can spend the night with Brother Doyle in his room. Perhaps the Sisters in Dunleer can take them in, but best they stay off the road today.

“Which reminds me,” Father says, pulling a note from his pocket. “We received a young ward from the Sisters the other day. A boy named Delaney. Sister Mary Eunice seems to think you met the child shortly after his birth. She passed this note along.

Brother O’Brien unfolds and reads the note. He narrows his gaze after finishing it.

“I do recall seeing a baby there some years ago, but I don’t think it must be this child.”

“Nonetheless.” Father says. “The boy has gotten himself into a bit of trouble. Fighting in the yard, slow in the classroom. Late to meals. Perhaps you wouldn’t mind checking in on him, see that he adapts. The boy was raised in the Dunleer brothel. I don’t doubt it will take time to purge the devil from him.”

After settling Magdalene and Adrienne to his quarters, Brother O’Brien seeks out Delaney as morning classes are ending. The classrooms vomit out boys eager for time outdoors before lunch. Delaney is the last to exit her classroom.

“You must be Delaney.” the Brother says, stopping her in the hallway. “Come to us from the Sisters in Dunleer?”

“Yes, sir.” She replies.

“My name is Brother O’Brien. I know the Sisters in Dunleer quite well. They suggested that I may have met you as an infant, but I’m not certain that’s right.”

“Yes sir.” Delaney says. “I do believe ‘tis right.”

The Brother drops to his knee and looks curiously at the child. Then he takes her right arm and turns it upward.

“May I?” He asks, putting a hand to Delaney’s sleeve. She nods and he pushes the sleeve up her forearm.

“My God.” He whispers, looking back up to her face. “You’re the child.”

****

Brother O’Brien leads Delaney to his room. Magdalene is lying in his bunk while Adrienne sits on the edge of the bed, hajib like a setting around the jewel of her face, her twisted feet hovering just above the floor.

“Pardon me,” he says when he stumbles in with Delaney. “I forgot momentarily that you were here.”

“Thank you for giving us your room, sir.” Adrienne replies. “Magdalene is stone asleep. I don’t think she slept a wink last night. But I slept quite well to tell the truth, buried as I was in a clothes hamper.”

“Adrienne, this is Delaney. She … I mean, he has come to us recently from Dunleer. I believe that is where Father Fitzpatrick means for me to take you and Magdalene. To the Sister’s home there.”

Delaney and Adrienne look to one another while Brother O’Brien fishes around in the top drawer of a bureau. Delaney is entranced by this strange brown girl with a head covering like the Sisters’ coif, and her legs bent in a funny way. She is also overcome with envy as the girl sitting on the edge of the bed will soon to be in the very place to which Delaney has longed to return.

“Come over here Delaney,” the Brother says as he brings a magnifying glass and notepad to a desk. Sitting down he lights a lamp even though daylight is streaming in through a window.

“Now, let me see that arm again.” He glances behind him to Adrienne on the edge of the bed. She cannot see what he is up to at the desk, but she cranes her neck to no avail trying to catch a glimpse.

O’Brien rolls up the sleeve and examines the runes with his magnifying glass, copying them letter by letter onto the notepad.

Moving closer to Delaney he whispers, “Who else knows about this?”

“The children at the convent. And the Sisters.” She says quietly.

“Anyone else?”

She nods

“Who?”

“Mr. and Mrs. Ryan. They saw it. I was a chore maiden there.”

“They’re townsfolk,” he asks, “in Dunleer?”

She nods. “And then …” she pauses to swallow, then looks to the floor. Brother O’Brien gives her space to gather her words. “The druids, sir. The druids know.”

“How did they find out?”

“Don’t know, sir. But one of them came to the convent whilst we all were sleeping. Through the window. He was looking at it, touching it, then jumped out the window. A few nights later he brought his friends with him to take me. But Sister Julian hid me under her tunic.”

The Brother can’t quite figure out how Delaney hid under a dress, but he picks up her hands, eyes heavy with compassion.

“You can’t show this anyone here, Delaney.” He whispers. “Not a soul. Do you understand me? You may stay here for a little while, but we’ll need to find a safer place. Far from the druids”

Delaney does not know what to make of this. She casts a glance to Adrienne and asks, “May the girl come to lunch with me?”

“Of course. Perhaps you could look out for her while she’s here. But no going outside. There are people searching for her. Keep to the indoors.”

Adrienne picks up her crutches and follows Delaney to the great hall. No one has come yet as the lunch bell has not sounded. The girls sit at the far end of the table, near the head of the room next to the platform where the senior Friars dine.

“Why are people looking for you?” Delaney asks, her voice echoing in the high-ceilinged room.

“We escaped, me and Magdalene. Snuck out of the Care Home last night. But it’s not actually a care home. It’s a dark place.”

“What happens there?”

“They did some tests on me. To see what things I could do.”

“Like what?” Delaney asks.

“Like sewing. But my fingers are too bent.” She holds up a hand showing fingers are locked together as though they’ve been glued. They are curled to the side by some invisible force. “And I can’t pedal a bike.” She adds. “So, Shelly said they were just going to get rid of me.”

“Throw you out?” Delaney’s eyes widen.

“Send me to the floor. I think that means they were going to kill me, but I don’t know. Not for sure. Shelly didn’t say. She’s the one who snuck us out.”

“You’ll like the girls at the convent.” Delaney decides that Adrienne must need some cheering up after her ordeal, and hearing her story makes her feel not so depressed about her own. “The girls aren’t so mean as the boys here. And the nuns wear stuff on their head like you.”

“Did you live there? At the convent?”

“Yes.”

“They let boys stay there?”

“No. Not really.”

“Then why,” but the girls are interrupted as the dinner bell sounds and the great hall quickly fills with boisterous chatter.

“Hey De-maniac.” Frank has given Delaney a new name. It is done with a modicum of respect, but mostly to retain some authority over a kid five years his younger and a full foot shorter. “Who’s the cripple?”

“Frank!” Father Fitzpatrick looms down at him from the platform. “We do not use that derogatory word in this place! This child is made in the image of God.”

Only Delaney and Adrienne are close enough to hear Frank mutter, “Didn’t realize God was a cripple.”

Father Fitzpatrick sees his lips moving and guesses something unkind was spoken under his breath.

“You can go to my office at once, young man. You’ll be fasting for lunch today. And after we’ve had our meal, I will bring this precious child to receive an apology from you. Now, leave us in peace.” And Frank storms out of the room as everyone stands, Father lifting a finger to his forehead and speaking in his priestly monotone, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son…”

After the meal, Father Fitzpatrick leads Adrienne into his office, the rapping of her crutches echoing off the stone walls. The two have barely stepped into the room when Frank bursts out, “Sorry I called you a cripple.”

The sound of his mates outside has given urgency to his apology. Father Fitzpatrick appreciates there may be little sincerity to these words but hopes that where the mouth leads the heart will eventually follow.

“Alright, Frank. Please go to the chapel until you have completed ten Hail Mary’s and ten Our Father’s. Only then may you join the other boys.” Frank walks out briskly then breaks into a run once in the hall.

“Brother O’Brien said Delaney could take care of me today.” Adrienne says to Father. “May I …”

“Very good,” he says. “You’re free to fetch the lad.”

That afternoon the two bond over Delaney’s vivid descriptions of every nook of the convent. She scribbles a note for Adrienne to pass along to Sinead.

“I wish I were going with you. You will like Sinead.” Delaney says. And Adrienne cocks her hajib-clad head as Delaney adds, “Sinead can tell you more about me than I can say about myself.”

The following morning Delaney looks on woefully as Brother O’Brien accompanies Magdalene and Adrienne on their journey to Dunleer. In her mind’s eye she pictures herself squeezing into a trunk aboard the carriage just as Adrienne had described to her in the tale of her escape. As the horse sets off to a trot, Brother O’Brien touches the outside of his pocket feeling the contour of the folded paper; his translation of Delaney’s runes.