to hold back the grief and fear bearing down on her—and to steady Bridget, who swayed on her feet.
Their female friends and neighbors wept softly into their handkerchiefs and shawls. The men stared at the ground and worried the brims of their hats as a red-billed chough flew in a lazy circle overhead.
“We may not understand why you left this earth so soon,” the reverend continued. “Or why you left before we were ready to say goodbye, but little by little we shall begin to remember not just that you died, but all the days that you lived. We will see you again some day, in a heavenly place where there is no hunger or sickness. No rocks in the fields. Now, Lord, bless the daughters of Jack Murphy. Keep them safe from harm and provide for them by Your bounteous grace and mercy.”
Reverend Larkin turned and nodded at Nora. “You first, dear.”
Maeve’s oldest sister seemed taller than her already admirable height while she kept her back straight and stepped forward. She wore her chestnut-brown hair fashioned as she always did, in a practical bun, so not even a single strand of hair caught in the breeze. Kneeling, she picked up a handful of earth and dropped it into the grave. The clods hit the coffin with a dull thump. Bridget followed, her dark wavy hair hidden by her bonnet, with Maeve going last.
She performed the task quickly, without thinking, without gazing upon the pine box, but still she imagined her father laid out in his frayed suit. He wasn’t in that lifeless body, she reminded herself again. He’d gone onto glory and was right this moment looking down from beside her dear mother. They were together now in a place where there were no potatoes to dig or mouths to feed.
Scully and Vaughan Donnelly rolled back their sleeves over beefy forearms and shoveled dirt upon the casket.
Maeve watched for a few minutes until Mrs. Donovan, who’d been a dear friend of her mother’s, pressed a coin into Maeve’s hand and hugged her soundly. “I’ll be prayin’ for ye, I will.”
Maeve swallowed the sob rising in her chest and pressed her fisted hands to her midriff. She accepted condolences and pennies from her neighbors. Her fellow countrymen were poor, so these modest offerings were sacrifices they couldn’t afford. Their gifts humbled her. The fact that so many had come to the funeral at all was enough to touch her heart.
It was a workday, as was every day in County Beary, except the Sabbath, and the landlord didn’t take kindly to a day off.
“I still be missin’ your beautiful mother,” a long-time friend told her and enveloped her in a warm hug. “Colleen and I were dreamers, we were, as girls, but these times steal a woman’s dreams. Don’t let anythin’ or anyone take your dreams, lassie.”
The woman joined her daughter and together they walked through the knee-high grass.
After extending their sympathies one at a time, the rest of the mourners headed back down the green hillside toward their homes and fields.
With the ocean pounding below, the Murphy sisters stood on the lush green crest above the village until they were the only ones remaining.
“Mr. Bantry already has someone waiting to move into the cottage, he does.” Nora spoke of their landlord. “We’d better go pack and clean.”
Maeve set her jaw. “I’ll not be cleanin’ the house that ill-mannered tyrant’s forcing us out of.”
“Our mother kept that cottage clean all the years she lived within its walls, and we’ll not be shaming her by leaving so much as a speck of dust.”
Nora was right, of course. She was always right.
“What’s to become of us, then?” Bridget asked.
“Mrs. Ennis said we could board with them temporarily.” Nora showed them the wrapped bundle she held. “She gave us a loaf of bread.”
“They have seven mouths to feed as it is.” Maeve took off down the hill and her sisters followed. A startled grouse flew out of the tall grass.
“Our neighbors gave me coins.” Bridget extended her hand.
The three of them compared what they’d received. The total was pathetically insufficient and would barely purchase a week’s food. Their cupboards were empty. That morning they’d shared two partridge eggs Maeve had found.
Maeve led the way around a field bordered by a low rock wall. They crossed a stone bridge over a creek and continued toward the only home they’d ever known. The stone cottage greeted them with a lifetime of memories. Their mother had died here ten years previous, during the worst of the influenza epidemic. Their father had repaired the thatched roof numerous times, and the newest foliage showed up distinctly against the old.
Inside, Nora set the bread on the scarred cutting table. Bridget removed her bonnet. The three of them gathered around and studied the golden brown loaf reverently. “The Ennises couldn’t afford to part with this,” Maeve said.
“Our neighbors are a generous lot, they are,” Nora agreed. “The Macrees brought bramble jam earlier. We could each have a slice with it now.”
Bridget shook her head. “We should save it. I’m not very hungry.”
“My stomach is tied in knots, as well,” Maeve agreed. “We’ll want it later. It will last us through tomorrow.”
Nora wrapped the bread in a clean square of toweling. She brushed her hands together. “Very well. We’ll pack.”
“Pack. Where shall we go?” Bridget asked.
Nora placed her hands on her hips. “We must each find a husband immediately.”
“And not marry for love?” Bridget asked with a horrified expression. She placed her hat on a hook by the bed they shared. “We should stay with the Ennises. We’d still be near the village and the young men we know.”
“No proposals have been forthcoming yet,” Nora reminded her. “All the men here are as poor as we are. None can afford to take a wife and work a piece of land on his own. Honora Monaghan married one of the Kenny brothers, and now she has to live with his whole family.”
“Perhaps Mr. Bantry will allow us to work this land ourselves,” Bridget suggested. “We’ve worked it alongside Da all these years. We’re as capable as any man.”
“Mr. Bantry has his own kinsmen waiting to occupy the land,” Nora replied.
Maeve picked up her mother’s Bible and touched the worn cover. “May God turn Bantry’s heart, and if He doesn’t turn his heart, may He turn Bantry’s ankle, so we’ll know him by his limping!”
“Mind your tongue, Maeve Eileen Murphy,” her eldest sister admonished. “And spoken while you’re holding our dear departed mother’s Holy Bible.”
“I learned the saying from her, I did.” Maeve laughed, the first sound of merriment in this house for many weeks. “We’ll simply have to find work,” she told them logically. “And you know as well as I there’s not a job to be had in all of County Beary. We must travel to County Galway.”
“We can use Mother’s trunk.” Nora removed an oil lamp from the top and pulled the trunk into the center of the room that served as their kitchen and living space. “We’ll have to sort out all the things we can’t take.”
They found a few neatly pressed and folded aprons, a piece each of their baby clothing, a bundle of letters and a few daguerreotypes, one in an aged frame.
Nora picked up the likeness of their beautiful mother and caressed the frame with farm-roughened fingers. “What would Mother have done? She was practical above all else.”
“Where did practicality get her?” Bridget asked. “She never had a day’s happiness.”
“Romantic notions won’t put food on the table.” Holding the frame too tightly, Nora’s fingers poked through the fabric backing. She turned over the frame and