‘I can’t be bothered to make the journey,’ she had told Emmy, but deep down Emmy knew that it was because she didn’t feel well enough – not that the stubborn devil would ever have admitted it. Emmy had noticed that her aunt’s speech was beginning to be affected now and her hands sometimes shook uncontrollably to the point that she had dropped more than one cup of tea all down herself. It was a worry, but today Emmy was determined that everything would be perfect, so after looking in on her aunt who insisted she was ‘as right as ninepence’ she set off for the kitchen where Cook was preparing a hamper for her.
Emmy grinned as she peeked inside. ‘There are only two of us going,’ she told the cook. ‘But there’s enough to feed an army in here!’ There was a freshly baked loaf sliced and buttered, fresh ham, cheese, pickles, pork pie and boiled eggs – and the dear woman hadn’t even started to put the sweet things in as yet.
‘Ah, but you’re both young an’ when you’re out in the fresh air you’ll soon build up your appetite,’ Cook told her as she began to butter some freshly baked scones.
Emmy left her to it and hurrying back upstairs she took one of her favourite summer gowns out of the wardrobe. It was a pale-cream muslin sprigged with forget-me-nots and to go with it she chose a bonnet with ribbons in the same colour as the dress. Eventually she was washed and changed, but before going downstairs to wait for Jake she went in to say goodbye to her aunt.
‘I reckon I might get Aggie to help me dress and go downstairs for a while today,’ she told her niece.
Emmy instantly felt guilty. That was her job and here she was about to go out and leave her to it. She said as much but Imogen waved her comments aside.
‘Rubbish, you know the old saying, don’t you? All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, that’s why I always insist that Aggie should have each Saturday off, and you don’t go out enough as it is, so get yourself off. Me and Aggie will be just fine.’ She shooed her out of the room impatiently, so somewhat reluctantly Emmy went downstairs to wait for Jake.
He arrived exactly on time in the brougham that he had recently acquired. It was a small carriage with room for only two people with a hood that could be put up if it was raining, and as it only needed one horse to pull it, it was ideal for his house calls to the sick. There was usually some small boy about who would be happy to earn a penny and look after the horse while he visited those that were ill, and when he was wasn’t working, the horse was stabled close to Jake’s lodging house. He had finished sitting his exams now and while he waited anxiously for his results, he was working for a doctor to learn the practical side of medicine and diagnosing illnesses. But as Emmy lugged the heavy hamper outside to greet him, she noticed that his expression was grim.
‘Is anything wrong?’ she asked as he removed his hat.
‘I’m afraid there is. I’ve been visiting a family down near the docks who are really ill. The father’s been out of work for some time since an accident at work and they’re almost starving. Now the children have come down with measles. The youngest, who was just a baby, died two days ago, and I fear the remaining three little ones could go the same way. They can’t even afford to eat let alone pay for doctors’ visits so I’ve been going to see them all week after my official hours are over. I know I promised we’d have a picnic today, Emmy, but would you mind very much if we put it off until next week? I’ve just bought some bread and cheese for them and my conscience won’t let me rest if I don’t go to check on them today.’
Emmy was horrified. ‘Of course you must go to them,’ she told him without hesitation. ‘But I’m coming with you. There’s far more food in this hamper than you and I could ever have eaten and from what you say they’ll be glad of it.’
He shook his head looking concerned. ‘That’s really kind of you but I’m afraid it’s not a place I’d care to take you. I never even realised such slums existed until I began to visit these places. The poor devils don’t stand a chance, although the O’Flanagans do their best to keep their rooms clean. The mother goes out doing whatever job she can get from morning till night to try to pay the rent and keep them, but she’s so frail now. I dread to think what would happen to the family if anything should happen to her. No doubt they’ll all end up in the workhouse.’
Emmy’s chin rose as she stared at him defiantly with her hands on her hips. ‘And what makes you think that I couldn’t help?’ she snapped. ‘It sounds to me like the poor woman needs whatever help she can get. So just get this hamper into the carriage and let’s be on our way.’
‘But what if you should catch it?’ His voice was fearful but she’d made her mind up and, as he was to discover, she could be as stubborn as their aunt when she wanted to be.
‘I could say the same about you,’ she pointed out as he took the hamper from her. ‘So are you going to stand there arguing all day or are we going to get on our way?’
Somewhat reluctantly he stowed the hamper behind the seat then helped her up to sit beside him and minutes later they were on their way.
‘So where exactly do they live?’ she asked as they rattled along.
‘In Whitechapel, but be warned it’s, er .?.?.’ Knowing how Emmy had been brought up he couldn’t quite find the right words to describe just how bad the living conditions she was about to see were.
‘Oh, stop worrying, I’m not a delicate china ornament,’ she scolded and they drove on in silence.
As they entered the dark alleys that led to the O’Flanagans’ home, Emmy was appalled when a rat bigger than some of the cats she had seen ran out in front of the horse. Hollow-eyed, barefoot children dressed in little more than rags played listlessly in the dusty gutters and the smell of open sewers was so overpowering that it was all Emmy could do to stop herself gagging. No sun shone here and moss and soot coated every wall. After passing through a labyrinth of alleys, they came out into a small square surrounded on all sides by tall terraced houses.
‘Which one do the O’Flanagans live in?’ she questioned.
He gave a wry smile. ‘If only they were that lucky. All these houses are shared. Some families of ten share just two rooms.’ He had drawn the horse to a stop and was putting a nosebag on him when a little boy approached. He was so thin that he was almost skeletal and his eyes were sunk deep into his grey face.
‘Ah, Tommy, I was hoping you’d be here. Come to look after Daisy again for me, have you?’ When the child nodded, Jake ruffled his hair sending a flurry of head lice scuttling across his parting. ‘Good lad, you know the routine by now. Take good care of her and there’ll be a shiny penny in it for you when I come out.’
‘Right y’are, mister,’ the child muttered as he took the reins and tenderly stroked Daisy’s shining mane. Jake then lifted out the hamper and helped Emmy down.
She looked incongruously out of place in such poor surroundings but it didn’t seem to bother her as she squared her shoulders and asked, ‘So, where do they live?’
‘In this house here.’ Jake led her through a door that was barely hanging on its hinges and into a long hallway with a number of doors leading off. The smell of boiled cabbage, stale urine and something that she couldn’t and didn’t want to identify, assailed her and suddenly the sound of babies crying, children squabbling and adults shouting seemed to be coming at them from every direction.
‘They’re on the third floor,’ Jake told her solemnly. As they climbed the bare wooden stairs, Emmy had to blink back tears. On every landing sat dirty children so lethargic they barely had the strength to move.
At last he stopped at one door and rapped on it. It was answered some seconds later by a little girl who looked to be about six or seven. Her face was covered in a sore-looking rash and she blinked in the light struggling through the grimy window on the landing.
‘Hello, Kathleen, I’ve come to see how you all are. Is your mammy in?’
‘Sure she is, doctor,’ the child answered in a soft Irish accent. ‘Will you be comin’ in now?’
