Tell Them I'll Be There Read Free Page A

conceded. The English have no business to be here. But, as far as Ma was concerned, guns and bombs were not the answer. The only way to get rid of the English and their lordly ways was through the politicians, useless bunch though they were.
    To her shame it was through Ma that Tim was to go to England. He could have gone to St Patrick’s in Maynooth but that would have meant waiting for six months and it was too much of a risk. She wanted him away, for her woman’s instinct told her he might waver over Kathy O’Donnell and that would never do. It would be a terrible waste if he put aside his vocation for what was surely no more than a passing fancy. It was not that Kathleen was a bad girl – far from it. She would make for someone a wonderful wife. It was just that she had got it into her head she wanted Tim. It was understandable, of course. Tim was a good-looking young man. But she couldn’t have him. He had his vocation.
    Ma had discussed the problem at length with Father Delaney who had discussed the matter in turn with the bishop and it was decided that Tim would go across to England and to Ushaw College. ‘Ah, ’tis a fine an’ lovely place,’ the bishop said. ‘Wasn’t I there myself? When the boy settles down he’ll be overwhelmed by the love of Our Lord and the comradeship of the many new friends he’ll make. He’ll soon forget such minor distractions.’
    So Tim was to go to England and on the same packet steamer that would take Dan and Michael across to the port of Liverpool where they would board the big ship for America. America! The word brought a sob to Ma’s throat every time she heard it. It was a long way off, thousands of miles, and it would take the big ship days maybe weeks to get there. Dan had promised he would write when they got to Liverpool, but after that it would be ages before she heard from them. And all they had was just the few pounds between them and the tickets they had worked so hard to pay for.
    They were young men now, no longer her babies, no longer her boys. She couldn’t stop them from going and, though they had promised they would try to get home for Tim’s ordination, she knew in her heart she might never see them again. It was hard but she had to admit there was nothing for them here. Death had taken her husband, the best man a woman could wish for, now life was taking her boys.
    She would see Tim, of course. Even priests have holidays. But it could be quite some time. He would have his studies and, as Father Delaney said, he was a bright boy. He might be sent to the English College in Rome. He might even get to meet His Holiness himself. She was happy to indulge such daydreams, knowing that sooner or later she would see him again. She might never ever see Danny and Michael again.
    They would have to work hard to establish themselves and she was sure they would. But it would take time and with time young men meet young women. They would probably marry and have children and they would then have their own families to think about. The cost of a trip home could be out of the question for years. And Ma knew she didn’t have all that many years left.
    Perhaps they would meet some nice Irish girls on the big ship. Try to find a good Catholic girl if you are in need of a wife, she had ventured one evening. Both Danny and Michael had laughed and Danny had said they were not looking for wives. Maybe so, she told him, but there’ll be plenty of girls looking for husbands.
    But it was not Danny she worried about. Danny was a good lad with a good head on his shoulders. It was Michael. Michael was like her brother, fond of the drink and far too fond of the girls. Hadn’t he been in a few scrapes already? At least, according to Molly and Clare he had – though those two ’ould fools’ were not exactly reliable sources. To hear that Molly talk it was a blessing that Michael was going while the going