‘What do you think, Merry?’
‘I’d say ’tis not worth thinking about it, ’cos I’m not clever enough to win anything, especially against girls from Dublin. They’d be far cleverer than me, Father.’
‘Well, Miss Lucey, Ambrose and I all think you are quite clever enough to give it a try, Merry. ’Twill be just like a test that Miss Lucey gives you. And she’ll make sure you have lots of practice.’
‘But even if I did win a scholarship, I’d not want to be leaving everyone here, Father. I’m needed to help at the farm. And Dublin’s a long way away.’
‘Ambrose lives there, as you know, and I used to as well. It’s a beautiful city too. And remember, Bridget O’Mahoney will be going.’
‘Yes, but...’
‘What, Merry?’
‘Nothing, Father.’
James watched Merry bite her lip, and knew, of course, that the child did not want to speak ill of a classmate in front of him.
‘Might I suggest that you have a try at the scholarship? After all, if you think you will fail anyway, then what do you have to lose?’
‘Nothing, I s’pose,’ Merry whispered. ‘But if Bridget knew I hadn’t passed, she’d be teasing me, because she’s going anyway.’
‘Well, why don’t you keep this test a secret for now? Then, if you don’t pass, nobody has to know.’ James realised that he was stepping out of his remit as a priest to suggest this, but needs must.
‘Yes, Father. That would be a better idea. Thank you.’
During the next few weeks, helped secretly by Ambrose to compile what Merry should be studying, Miss Lucey set her star student to work.
Merry had never felt so exhausted. Every day, she was taking books home to study once she’d finished all her chores.
‘Why is your satchel so heavy?’ Bobby asked her one rainy afternoon as he held it while she climbed over the fence. ‘You got some ammo in here or what?’
‘You say some really stupid things, Bobby Noiro,’ she said as she snatched her satchel back from Bobby, once she’d helped little Helen and Bill over too. ‘Who’d I be trying to kill?’
‘The British doctorman who sent your mammy into that hospital to die?’
‘He was trying to help her, not to kill her! Will you shut up with your stupid talk?’
‘You can say ’tis stupid, but I’ve been reading my granny’s diary, written during the War of Independence and—’
‘I said, stop your chatter about wars! Come on, Bill,’ she said, grabbing her brother’s hand and pulling him off across the field.
‘See you tomorrow, Merry,’ Bobby called, and Helen raised her small hand in a wave.
Merry didn’t bother to respond.
The day of the scholarship exam came, and Merry was put in Miss Lucey’s office to take it.
‘There you are, Merry,’ Miss Lucey said when she arrived, ‘a nice hot cup of tea with sugar, and one of my mother’s homemade shortbread biscuits.’
‘Thank you, Miss Lucey,’ Merry said, her hand shaking so much that she had to put the cup down.
‘You try and drink up now and eat that biscuit. You need the sugar for your brain.’
Merry said a quick prayer before it was time to turn the test paper over. When she did so, she was surprised to see how easy many of the questions were, and she finished with twenty minutes to spare.
Miss Lucey walked in. ‘All done, Merry?’
Merry nodded, and quickly wiped her eyes with her hands.
