The Hungry Heart Fulfilled (The Hunger of the Heart Series Book 3) (38 page)

 

 

The soup kitchen in
the town
continued to feed the starving multitudes, and Sam Jenkins
also oversaw the
conversion of the warehouses Emer had purchased with Dalton’s
help into copies
of the weaving, basketmaking and sewing workshops she had had
in Quebec.

 

 

Emer paid a decent
wage to the women
to make clothes for the men in the prison farm first, and then
for the men in
Clonmel prison itself.

 

 

As the men on the
prison farm began
to produce finer goods, the wrought iron ware and furniture
was sold abroad,
and the profits put back into the enterprise.

 

 

In addition, Emer
made her regular
evening rounds of the prison, and always made sure she looked
in on Terence and
O’Brien to fill them in on all the progress being made.  

 

 

Every night before
she went to bed
at the hotel, Emer tried to write a cheerful sounding letter
to Dalton, who
sent many kind words of encouragement once he had returned
safely to Canada, as
well as money, and several shiploads of food, timber, and
farming implements.

 

 

He also sent Jim
Beckett, back from
the west, and some other crewmen to help man the two ships he
sent as training
vessels to be used to take another two hundred young lads out
of Clonmel prison
and into gainful employment.

 

 

Though not all of
the boys proved
suitable for a seafaring life, it was yet another successful
experiment, and
Governor Collins used the five pounds per man that he received
from Dalton to
improve the conditions in other prisons, and set up similar
prison farms in the
area.

 

 

Emer never realised
how much she
would miss Dalton until he was gone. Though she was always so
busy, she yearned
for his warm reassuring presence by her side, as well as the
sound of his
voice, his rich throaty laugh, and seeing his warm golden
eyes.

 

 

True, William was
lost to her
forever, she knew that now, but was it worth risking losing
Dalton’s love over
her grief for her missing child? They were both young enough that
they could start
afresh, have other
children, and be happy together.

 

 

Emer felt an
increasingly urgent
need to go home, but she had given her promise to wait with
Terence and O’Brien
until they were transported to Tasmania.

 

 

In addition, there
was so much to do
with the spring planting, and lambing and calving seasons,
that Emer had to
content herself with writing even longer letters on her more
sleepless nights,
and working harder during the day in an effort to leaving
things well-organised
so she could finally go home.

 

 

Emer grew impatient
at any delays,
and finally, one day in mid-May, after losing her temper over
a relatively
insignificant matter, Emily Jenkins said kindly, “Maybe now
you can understand
what Dalton’s been through, missing you so much for so long,
and not being able
to wait until he could see you again, only to have you reject
him.”

 

 

Emer burst into
tears and wept on
her friend’s shoulder. “But I can’t leave, everyone is
counting on me,” Emer
cried.

 

 

“You’ve done more
than enough. Go
home, Emer. Go
home to Dalton
now.”

 

 

“I’ve hurt him so
badly, haven’t I,
and he has never once let on.
I
don’t know how he can ever forgive me.”

 

 

The older woman
said mildly, “When
two people really, truly love each other, forgiveness makes no
difference. It
doesn’t even become a question of
any importance. Look
at Sam and
I. We can’t have
children, but not
once has a word of reproach ever passed either of our lips.

 

 

"We were so poor
before you
helped us, but we never once complained because we had each
other. We’ve
shared his work side by side, and
not let it drive a wedge between us, because it was what we
both wanted, and
both felt happiest doing,” Mrs. Jenkins confided.

 

 

Emer gazed at her
friend in wonder.
She had never even guessed what a secret sorrow her friends
had both endured.

 

 

“You and Dalton can
be the same,
Emer. You have
the fever hospital
together back in Canada, your brother Cathan and the children,
the orphanage.
Though it would be wonderful to see you have more children,
you don’t need
anything more than what you already have to cement the two of
you
together.

 

 

"You respect and
admire one
another. You've built a life together under the most
horrendous circumstances,
and you've been able to not only love but to forgive each
other, a major test
of any relationship, my dear, and one that a lot of couples
fail."

 

 

Emer looked down at
the desk where
she had spilled her ink, and slowly began to clean it up.

 

 

"Forgive me if I
say that Sam
and I view you as the daughter we never had. That's why we
both wanted to stay.
That and seeing if we could help the Irish, who have suffered
so much.

 

 

"So allow me to say
that I'm
very proud of you both for what you've achieved, Emer, though
it has all been
at a very high cost. I’m
not
talking about money, either.
The
orphanage, medical school for Dalton, the prison farm, all
these were personal
sacrifices you’ve both unflinchingly made in order to do the
right thing for as
many people as possible.

 

 

“And I can tell you
now, it wasn’t
easy for Dalton to destroy his father or Madeleine Lyndon, you
must know that.
But Dalton did it because it was the just thing to do, and
because he loved
you."

 

 

Emily put her hand
on Emer's
shoulder. "He's suffered terribly for it, and when he looks at
you, I see
his hungry, desperate yearning for you to make him whole
again. He was a lost
man when he boarded the
Pegasus
. His hunger for love brought
you together,
and his hungry
heart has pined and pined, and still not been fulfilled. Through the
miracle
of your love for
each other, you’ve both been saved, as have many others. But
it's
you
he hungers for
above all. The love
of his life. So you should go home to him now."

 

 

"It's
kind of you to say all this, but—"

 

 

Emily shook her
head. “Not kind,
simply the truth. Which
is why I
say, even if things are going well now, Dalton still needs
you, more than
ever. Forget the
past, put it all
behind you, and show him how you really feel. I know you’ve said you
love him, but
actions speak louder
than words. Go
home, Emer, and
show him that nothing else in the whole world matters more
than your love for
him,” Mrs. Jenkins counselled wisely.

 

 

“Thank you, Emily,
thank you so
much." She rose to hug her friend, and then returned to sit at
her desk to
finish cleaning the mess she had made. "Are you and Sam and
Charlie going
to stay to look after things when I'm gone?”

 

 

“Aye, we're going
to stay. Don’t
worry, everything will be fine.
Just pack your things, and get on the next boat you can
find.”

 

 

Emer shook her
head. “I can't
just yet. Terence and O’Brien
are leaving at the end of the week. I’ll stay until then.”

 

 

"I understand. Just
let us know
if there's anything we can do to help."

 

 

"You already have,
more than
you know." She rose from her chair, patted the older woman on
the
shoulder, and headed off to start her packing.

 

 

 

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

 

 

Emer took a tearful
farewell of all
her friends in Clonmel, and though she was sad to leave all
her work behind,
she knew it would carry on without her, and become a
marvellous success of
which everyone could be justly proud.

 

 

Governor Collins
had kindly given
permission for Emer to ride in the same carriage as Terence
and O’Brien down to
the Cork docks, and their lively conversation never once
flagged, though they
knew they had to face a difficult parting from one another all
too soon.

 

 

Emer was allowed to
walk up and down
the dock with them a few times. The men enjoyed the fresh air,
both the first
and the last the prisoners would have for a while, but soon it
was time for her
to leave them by the launch for Spike Island, from whence they
would set off
for Tasmania.

 

 

She had showered
them with presents
of clothes and food, and was reassured by the governor that
they would be
treated well on the voyage out.

 

 

“Well, this is
goodbye, then. Who
would have ever dreamed that I
would have met you, and that we would have become friends
under such unexpected
circumstances,” Emer said almost formally, so desperate was
she not to break
down at their parting.

 

 

“The friendship
isn’t over, Emer.
We’ll keep in touch, and who knows, perhaps one day we’ll come
see you and
Dalton in Canada,” O’Brien said with a small smile.

 

 

“I’ll miss you
something fierce,
Emer, that I will,” Terence declared with a catch in his voice
as he pulled her
up into his arms and twirled her around.

 

 

“Write to me. I’ll
send whatever you
need as soon as I can, and take care of yourselves,” Emer
murmured against his ear.

 

 

“Sure, and isn’t it
grand to have
such a wealthy lady on our side.” Terence grinned as he set
her back down on
the ground.

 

 

“You know what I
mean. I trust
you both to keep the faith, and
fight on even in Tasmania,” Emer said as she hugged O’Brien.

 

 

“Good luck to you,
my love. Be
happy, you and Dalton.”

 

 

“Thank you,
William,” Emer managed
to say.

 

 

He kissed her again
and then walked
up the gangplank and onto the deck of the launch.

 

 

Terence held out
two handkerchiefs,
and said, “They’re all we could give you as a token of our
esteem, but please
remember us fondly when we're gone.”

 

 

“I will, Terence
and thank you,”
Emer vowed, as she took the small squares of cloth, and tucked
them safely down
the bosom of her gown, close to her heart.

 

 

“What for, getting
you tried for
treason?” Terence quipped.

 

 

"Oh, you know,
Terence.  Don’t
make me say it, or I shall
start to cry, and then we really will all disgrace ourselves
in public,” Emer
sniffed.

 

 

“I know, lass, I
know. Words
don’t do justice to what we’ve
shared, so let’s just kiss once more, and part, my dearest
love,” Terence
breathed.

 

 

With a powerful
kiss on Emer’s rosy
lips, he flung himself onto the launch and then began to wave
as it moved away
from the dock.

 

 

“
Erin Go Bragh
!” Emer shouted.

 

 

“Ireland forever!”
Terence and
O’Brien echoed, before their boat moved out of range.

 

 

Emer watched her
friends sail away
until the boat became a mere speck on the horizon, and then
pulled out the
handkerchiefs to look at them once more.
  Feeling two small lumps, she
opened one of them
carefully in the fluttering breeze.

 

 

Inside she found a
lock of Terence’s
hair, and in the second handkerchief was a curl from O’Brien. Emer
folded up the
handkerchiefs
carefully again, and then began to weep in earnest.

 

 

When she was able
to calm herself
sufficiently, she went to the jeweller’s shop in the South
Mall where she had
sold her wedding ring so long ago, and asked to buy a locket. She
found one
elegant gold one engraved
with forget-me-nots, and it had several glass compartments
inside.

 

 

“It’s designed for
keeping your
children’s hair in, you see,” the woman said kindly, looking
at Emer’s pinched
face.

 

 

“I’ll take it, and
would you have a
plainer one, maybe something a man could wear on his watch
chain?”

 

 

The woman brought
out one identical
to Emer’s, except that it had no engraving on the outside, and
was round
instead of oval.

 

 

“Can you put the
inscription ‘To
Dalton, with all my love, Emer’ on it for me, please?” Emer
requested.

 

 

“Of course,
Madame.”

 

 

Emer stood by the
counter in the shop
while the shopkeeper’s husband did as she asked, and while she
waited she
inserted her own locks of her friends’ hair into her locket,
and then asked the
woman a favour.

 

 

“Could you also cut
of one of my
curls, to put it in the man’s one?”

 

 

“Of course, my
dear. Just hold
still a moment. There,
all done.” The shopkeeper handed
Emer the curl.

 

 

Emer thanked the
woman and paid
her. She tucked
her curl into her
present for Dalton, and then headed up the docks to see which
ship was sailing
to Canada next.

 

 

Much to her
surprise, she saw the
Pegasus
in the harbour,
and Patrick Bradley
standing nearby.

 

 

After they had
exchanged kisses and
news, Patrick said, “Dalton sent it to bring supplies over to
you. We just
finished unloading it, and we're re-provisioning her now.   Are
you going
home, then, Emer?”