Forgotten Child (30 page)

Nuala was beginning to get really worried now. It was four in the afternoon and Jenny had been out since just after ten that morning.

‘Will you stop fretting?’ Maeve chided. ‘She’s not a little girl, she’s a young woman.’

‘I know, but what if she’s lost?’

‘She has our address and only has to ask for directions.’

‘Yes, yes, but…’

Nuala paused as there was a knock on the door, and hurried to open it, her hand clutching at her heart in shock, while her eyes went from one to the other. This couldn’t be. It was only the slightly darker shade of hair and style, along with their clothes that separated them.

‘Yes, I know,’ Jenny said in understanding. ‘I felt the same. This…this is Erin, my twin sister.’

‘Holy Mother of God,’ Nuala gasped. ‘Come in, come in. Maeve! Maeve, you’ve got to see this.’

‘Well I never, I thought there was something,’ Maeve said, as her eyes finally settled on Erin, ‘but I didn’t expect a twin. Do you live in Kilkee?’

‘No, but my aunt does and I’ve often been here to visit her.’

‘Of course, that’s it. Your auntie must be Corinne Feeby.’

‘Yes, that’s right, though of course she isn’t my real aunt. Like Jenny, I was adopted.’

‘Nuala, it’s like a miracle,’ Jenny said as she stood grasping her sister’s hand. ‘Erin is here on holiday, but she’ll be leaving tomorrow. If…if I hadn’t driven you here, if I hadn’t gone for a walk on the beach today, we might never have met.’

‘
Now
laugh at my feelings, Maeve,’ said Nuala.

‘You said it was to do with Dada, not this.’

‘I know, I know, but now I think I was meant to bring Jenny here.’

‘Will you stop talking daft?’ her father said. ‘And with four women in me house now I need a drop of whiskey.’

Nuala poured him one, thinking that though her dada might think her daft, she, like Jenny, felt that a miracle had happened–that she had been used as some sort of instrument to bring these two girls together. Tears welled in her eyes. She felt so privileged and, inwardly, Nuala prayed to the Holy Mother in thanks.

The old man had dozed off after a large glass of whiskey, and after telling Nuala and Maeve everything they’d found out and gone through some of the questions that still needed to be answered, Jenny waved goodbye to Erin. She wasn’t sad, knowing she’d be seeing her sister again in the morning, when the only sadness then would be in saying goodbye to Nuala.

‘I just don’t understand why your father sent you off in the wrong direction,’ Nuala now said.

‘Nor do I, but I intend to find out, and that’s the least of it. He told me that my mother was a distant relative and that was why he adopted me, but why leave Erin behind? I’ve always thought there was something missing in my life, but I never dreamed I had a twin and it seems so cruel that he never told me.’

‘Yes, it does, and I still think it’s amazing that you bumped into each other,’ said Maeve. ‘But God is good, and though it took Him some time, He managed to bring you together.’

‘Well, will you listen to that,’ Nuala snorted. ‘So, Maeve, you believe me now?’

‘Yes, all right, don’t go on about it!’

‘Now that’s enough!’ said their father, waking up. ‘A man needs a bit of peace in his home. As for Jenny finding her sister, I just hope they don’t bicker all the time like you two.’

‘Sorry, Dada,’ Maeve and Nuala chorused, and then they both collapsed with laughter.

Jenny found their good humour infectious and joined in, the old man trying to shout above the noise, ‘Will one of you get me a whiskey!’

It was some time before he got it. Erin was up early the next morning, all packed and ready to go. She had only known happiness with her adoptive parents, John and Margaret Brown, and she loved her two younger brothers. They had come along after her adoption, surprising her mother who had thought she was unable to have children. It hadn’t made any difference to Erin, she had still been treated like their beloved daughter, her home life a happy one. It would be a wrench to leave, but she was also joyful that she and Jenny had found each other. She knew that the boys were rarely up early, so had said her goodbyes last night, telling them that she’d be home again soon.

‘Mammy, ’tis strange you didn’t know that I had a twin.’

‘It isn’t really. The nuns didn’t tell me.’

‘Your Mammy was desperate for children and if she’d known, she’d have adopted the pair of you,’ said Erin’s Aunt Corinne. ‘Yes, that’s true. I think it’s cruel that you were separated.’

‘Mammy, where did you adopt me from?’

‘From a place in County Cork, a home for unmarried mothers.’

‘That’s funny. Jenny said she was adopted from a home in the Limerick area.’

‘I agree, tis odd.’

‘Are you sure you don’t mind me going to England?’

‘I’ll miss you, but I can understand why you want to go.’

‘Dada said the same when I rang him last night. It’s just that I feel I have to meet this man, the one who adopted Jenny. She said he’s some sort of distant relation.

‘Well then, I suppose you have to go.’

‘Bye, Mammy,’ Erin choked, hugging her mother and then her aunt. She had never been apart from her mother before, but she was also excited at the prospect of seeing Jenny again. ‘Make sure you ring me regularly, Erin.’

‘Yes, Mammy, I promise I will,’ she said, then picked up her case to hurry out. Jenny was expecting her and she didn’t want to be late. Erin felt a thrill of excitement. She had a sister. A twin sister and it still felt like a dream.

Jenny felt that her emotions were on a rollercoaster. Tears when saying goodbye to Nuala, and Maeve too, had already touched her heart. Then she had felt pure joy when Erin got into the car beside her and they set off. She had driven to so many places in Ireland, always alone, but she didn’t feel alone any more.

The sisters chatted during the drive, finding they had so much in common, not least their sense of humour. Jenny felt complete, that the missing something she had always been aware of was now sitting beside her. Then, during a quiet spell when they were just content in each other’s company, the questions arose again in her mind, the ones her father had to answer.

‘How did you learn to drive?’ Erin asked. ‘It’s something I’ve wanted to do, but the lessons have to be paid for and I haven’t been able to afford it.’

Jenny told her, Erin gasping as she listened until at last she had heard everything.

‘So, you see, I thought I was married but I wasn’t.’

Erin was sympathetic, especially about losing the baby, and asked a few more questions about Marcos. ‘So you were left with nothing?’

‘Oh, I wouldn’t say that. I’ve still money in my bank account and jewellery to sell.’

‘Well, Jenny, it seems we are different in two things.’

‘Really! I think we’re identical.’

‘In looks, yes. But one, I’m broke, and two, I’m still a virgin.’

Jenny laughed, Erin too, the two of them so happy in each other’s company. It was a long drive though, and they decided to stop en route for the night, settling down in a twin room.

‘Jenny?’ whispered Erin before they both drifted off to sleep.

‘What?’

‘I already love you so much.’

‘And I you too,’ Jenny said, smiling sleepily. It had been a long time since she had felt this happy, her pain at Marcos’s betrayal fading to insignificance in the light of finding Erin. How could she mourn a man she had never really known, the one she had thought she loved having been just a shadow? She would always mourn the loss of her baby, but hoped she would one day have others. For now Jenny was just content with this–with having her sister beside her, their connection so strong that she knew it would never be broken again.

Edward opened his door on Thursday evening and blinked. No, no, this wasn’t possible!

‘You look surprised, Dad,’ Jenny said as she stepped inside, her twin sister behind her. ‘I don’t know why though. You must have known about Erin.’

Edward’s mind had frozen, his throat constricted and heart beating like a drum in his chest as he gripped the arm of a chair and sat down. Jenny looked so cool, so composed, her twin identical, both looking at him, both waiting for him to speak. He couldn’t, not a word, as the questions continued from Jenny.

‘Why didn’t you tell me about Erin?’

At last Edward found his voice. ‘Your mother would only agree to adopting one of you.’

‘Oh, so it’s her fault that you left my sister behind?’

‘Yes, it is. I’m afraid I had no choice.’

‘It would have been kinder to leave us together. At least then a family might have come along who’d
adopt both of us, Erin’s for instance. The woman who adopted her would never have separated us.’

‘Jenny tells me that you’re a distant relative,’ said Erin.

‘Yes, that’s right,’ Edward said, feeling now as though he was drowning in his own lies.

‘Tis strange that she couldn’t find any trace of them.’

‘I…I thought they lived in Dray.’

‘Yes, and you thought the home you adopted Jenny from was in the Limerick area. Strange too, when according to my mother it was in County Cork.’

‘Dad, I think you lied to me, but why?’ Jenny asked.

Edward shook his head, unable to answer Jenny.

‘Please, Dad, both Erin and I deserve the truth.’

He looked at his daughters, so alike, so beautiful and saw that their eyes were so like their mother’s, a woman he had betrayed. How could he tell them that? Jenny was right though, after all she had been through, she did deserve the truth, but it could mean that he could lose his daughters for ever. After what he had done perhaps it was no more than he deserved, but still he fought to find words to redeem himself if only in some small way. He just hoped he could soften it somehow. ‘Please, both of you sit down. I have something to tell you.’

They did so in unison, sitting side by side on a
sofa. ‘I…I’m more than a distant relative. I…I’m your father.’

‘
What?
You mean our real father?’ This burst of words from Erin, but Jenny remained silent, in total shock.

‘I’m not proud of this, but I…well, I had an affair with your mother. When she told me she was pregnant, I panicked, and I’m afraid I abandoned her.’

‘But why?’ Erin asked.

‘I was married, with a baby already–Robin, my son–but as the months passed I was plagued with guilt about your mother. I went back, intending to at least offer financial support, but I was too late and she wasn’t there. Fortunately she had left me a letter, telling me she had gone back to Ireland, that she was going into a home to have her baby.’

‘Yes, one for unmarried mothers,’ Jenny said bitterly, recovering enough now to speak.

‘I went there to find her, but couldn’t get any information until I confessed I was the father. It was only then that I was told your mother had died giving birth to you both.’

‘Did she know that you were married?’ asked Erin.

‘No, she thought I was single.’

‘So you lied to her?’

‘Yes, I’m afraid so…But, believe me, I’m not proud of what I did.’

‘So when you found out that she’d died giving
birth, you came back to England and lied to Delia too, fabricated a story about our mother being a distant relative?’

‘Yes, but as I said, she would only agree to adopt one of you, leaving me with an agonising choice. You were identical, and it was almost impossible, but in the end a nun picked you up Jenny and the decision was made for me.’

‘I can’t believe they agreed to separate us.’

‘Well they did,’ he said, unwilling to admit that he’d had to leave a substantial donation to the home before it was made possible.

Both girls were staring at him, both white-faced. Unable to bear the look on their faces he fled the room, mumbling an excuse that he had to go to the bathroom.

Jenny was staggered and she could see that Erin was too. As the shock subsided, anger rose, anger at what their father had done. She surged to her feet.

‘Erin, I can’t bear to look at him now. I’m going. Are you coming with me?’

‘Yes, let’s go.’

Jenny was still so angry that she slammed the door behind them. She had driven only a short distance before she had to pull up, to find that as she looked across at Erin, her twin had tears in her eyes too.

‘I…I just can’t take it in,’ Erin said.

‘Nor me.’

‘’Tis dreadful to think about what he did to our mother.’

‘I know, and I can’t seem to find any excuses for him.’

‘Jenny, do you realise that we look a lot like him?’

‘Yes, but I always thought it was because we were related, however distantly,’ Jenny said. ‘I wonder now if Delia guessed and that’s why she treated me so badly.’

‘She shouldn’t have taken it out on you. ’Twasn’t your fault that he lied to her.’

‘Erin, I still can’t take it all in and I’m not sure that I ever want to see our father again.’

‘I feel the same at the moment, but he
is
our Dada, Jenny.’

‘Yes, and that means that Robin is our halfbrother.’

‘What is he like?’

‘He’s nice, you’ll like him. I doubt he knows about this and he’s in for a shock. We’ll have to arrange to meet him.’

‘I’d like that, but it’ll have to be soon, Jenny. You know I’m going back to Ireland next week, and though I don’t like my job in a café I can’t afford to take more time off. What about you? What are you going to do and where will you live?’

‘I don’t know, but I suppose I should start looking for a flat, and eventually a job,’ Jenny said. ‘For now
though, let’s find somewhere to eat and to stay for the night.’

It was only later, lying in bed in yet another hotel, that Jenny had an idea. Could it work? Yes, perhaps, but it needed a lot more thought before she put it to Erin.

When Jenny and Erin met up with Robin, they found out that he already knew the truth.

‘I was shocked too when Dad told me. I think he guessed you’d get in touch with me, but he wanted me to hear it from him. I know he’s sorry and that he isn’t proud of what he did, but it’s still a bit hard to swallow. My mother suspected the truth and it’s why she made your life a misery–that and perhaps guilt that she would only agree to adopt one of you.’

‘It’s all so awful, Robin.’

‘I know, but I think they are both genuinely sorry.’

‘I’m not sure I can forgive either of them,’ Jenny said.

‘Jenny, but perhaps we should try,’ Erin advised. ‘If we don’t we may become bitter and the past will ruin our future.’

‘It seems your twin has a wise head on her shoulders,’ Robin said. ‘Don’t forget that Dad made a fool of my mother, but she’s managed to move on. She’s
made a new life for herself and has started a business, one that already looks as if it’s going to be successful.’

‘Well, bully for her,’ Jenny snapped.

‘See what I mean,’ said Erin.

At last Jenny smiled. ‘All right, point taken.’

‘Robin, you just have to know how to handle her,’ Erin said. ‘Now tell me, how does it feel to have two sisters?’

‘I suppose I’ll just have to put up with it,’ Robin said, grinning widely. ‘Now tell me, what are your plans?’

‘I have to go back to Ireland soon,’ Erin said.

‘How about keeping in touch? We could ring each other or write.’

‘Yes, I’d like that.’

‘What about you, Jenny?’ Robin asked.

‘I’m not sure what I’ll be doing yet, but I’ll let you know.’

‘And Dad?’

‘I’d like to talk to him again before I go back to Ireland,’ Erin said.

Jenny pulled a face. ‘I’m not sure that I want to see him again just yet, but you can ring him if you want to. I haven’t got his telephone number, but no doubt Robin can give it to you.’

He did, and an hour later they parted, hugging and agreeing to keep in touch. ‘He’s nice. I like him,’ Erin said as Jenny drove back to the hotel that they
had stayed in close to Richmond where they had met up with Robin.

‘Yes, he is,’ Jenny agreed. Robin had asked her about her plans, but she hadn’t revealed what she had in mind.

That night, Jenny lay in bed going over her idea again. ‘Erin, are you still awake?’

‘Yes, I am. I’ve been laying here dreading the thought of going back to Ireland without you. I’m going to miss you so much.’

‘I’ve been feeling the same about you, but I’ve had an idea. I still have quite a bit of money in the bank, and along with the sale of my jewellery, it may be enough for us to start something up a little business together. In Ireland of course.’

‘Oh, Jenny, that sounds great, but what sort of business?’

‘At first I considered a bookshop, but as I haven’t had any experience in running one, it’s not something I feel confident about. However, we’ve both worked in a cafe so how about something like that, perhaps a nice little tea room.’

‘Yes, I like the sound of that.’

‘To make a decent profit it would have to be somewhere that’s popular with tourists.’

Erin sat up, switched her bedside light on, her grin wide. ‘How about in the place that brought us together?’

Kilkee! Oh, yes, that would be perfect,’ Jenny cried.

‘I can’t wait to get started, and as we’ll be together, I’m sure my Mammy won’t mind if I leave home, especially with my Aunt Corinne on the doorstep to keep an eye on me.’

‘I’ll be able to see Maeve and her father too, and even better, Nuala when she comes to visit them,’ Jenny enthused.

‘In that case it seems to me that Kilkee is going to be the perfect place for us,’ Erin said, then yawning.

‘Yes, I think so too, but I think we both need to get some sleep now.’

‘All right, but though I’m tired I think I might be too excited to sleep.’

Jenny felt the same, but as Erin turned off the light, she closed her eyes, at last drifting off to sleep, content in the knowledge that she and Erin were going to remain together. She just hoped it would be for a long, long time.

Had Jenny been able to see into the future, she would have seen that many, many years of happiness stretched ahead for both her and Erin. The tea room would be successful, and even when they both married, they would continue to run it together, the sisters now that they had found each other, inseparable.

THE END