Eilish
The large family wandered around the Poop Deck, the children agog with saucer-eyes just as everyone else had been the day before. It was therefore easy to identify these people as the new arrivals from Queenstown – the O’Hallorans, if Eilish didn’t miss her guess, and they were her Targets.
She wandered in their direction and started up a conversation with the total strangers, just as she had done so many times in the last day and a half. One of the good things she had discovered about sea travel was that people were far more willing to make new friends than they would have been at home. There was something about them all being strangers in a strange world set adrift on the empty ocean.
‘You just come on board?’ she asked the wife, a dark-haired woman in her late thirties who looked tired and fed up.
‘Aye, and weren’t it about time, I’m thinkin’. We sat around on our behinds almost the whole day waitin’. And now we’re wanderin’ around here like lost sheep. What time's tea?’
Eilish was shocked by the litany of complaints the woman spewed out, even before they'd exchanged names. Even so, she knew what it was to be tired and fed up, so she gave the woman the benefit of the doubt.
‘There’s bouillon for you and the little’uns shortly, if you’ve a mind. Otherwise tea is at six and supper at eight. The food is good and plentiful, you'll be finding.’
‘You’re Irish then,’ the woman stated more than asked, as Eilish exaggerated her long-forgotten accent to create a bond.
‘Oh, aye, County Cork, and you?’
‘County Clare. What will we be gettin’ for tea then?’
A whining child began to tug on his mother’s skirt and the woman back-handed him without comment. The boy, who must have been about five, burst into noisy tears and his big sister grabbed him and pulled him away. The girl was probably eleven or twelve, but she had eyes that were far older. Eilish didn’t miss the sullen look she threw at her mother as she comforted her brother.
‘I’m to the bar,’ said the husband, who had only been partially listening to the women’s conversation.
‘Oh, aye, leave me with the brats why don’t yer? You’ll be the death’o me, Mick O'Hallaran, you surely will!’ The woman whinged at her man in much the same way her son had done to her only moments before. Eilish was waiting for Mick to apply the same rough punishment to his wife as she had meted out, but he didn’t. He just shook his head and sidled off as sullen and put upon as his children.
‘Tea is cold meat and pickle on bread and a pudding.’
‘Is that all?’
‘Well, dinner was a large roast. You can’t expect hot food for every meal,’ Eilish found herself responding indignantly.
‘I haven’t eaten nothing since I broke me fast first thin'. You’d ha’ thought they’d a given us summit while we waited. But oh no, not those buggers. Treat us like scum, they did. I’ll be expectin' better in America…’
‘I’m sure you will,’ Eilish said without inflection. She was already fed up with the woman and wanted to get away. However, the children were her first concern. ‘Would you like me to give you a break for a while with the young 'uns.? My son is ten and he’s already got the little ’uns playin' nice together down in the General Room just below us.’
‘Sure an' wouldn’t that be fine to be rid of the lot of them for an hour.’ She turned to her children. ‘Go along wi' ye now and meet up with some of the other young rascals. No fightin’, you hear, or I’ll take me spoon to yer behinds good an’ hard.’
As Eilish guided the children away, leaving their harridan of a mother to lean on the railings and look out to sea, she knew that they would not be Targeting this set of parents. These children would not know what to do with the love and care that would be showered on them in New Atlantis. It warmed her heart to think of it.
‘I’m Mary. What might your name be, lass?’ she asked the older girl who had taken charge of her crying brother.
‘Maggie, missus, an that’s Micky and that’s Aine and Siobhan.’ She pointed to the twins girls who looked about eight. They had more freckles on their faces than Eilish had ever seen.
‘Call me Mary, please. And you’ll be likin' me son Micky. He's about your age, I’m thinkin, and not bad for a boy.’
Maggie grinned at her and Eilish was shocked to notice the girl was missing her front teeth. Surely, her adult teeth would have grown in by this time. Her shock must have registered on her face, for Maggie lost her smile and covered her mouth with her hand.
‘Me mam can be heavy handed wi’ the drink in ‘er,’ she said by way of explanation as she looked away.
‘Oh, aye, well that can be fixed. In the new world, anything can be fixed.’ She didn’t want to say too much about New Atlantis, but she could give the girl some hope. It was little enough after the life she'd been living.
‘It’ll cost. Even in America, things’ll cost.’
‘You have my word that you’ll have the prettiest smile in the world in no time, Maggie lass. Wait and see.’
She took the children by the hand and led them down to the General Room where she knew Bart was holding court. He’d already started spreading the idea that they were all going to have a surprise party to christen the lifeboat that had been made especially for children. His subjects were all sworn to secrecy, and that only increased their delight.
It would be up to Eilish and the other adult members of the team to convince the parents to let their children take part in the lifeboat party and subtly reassure them that if the worst were to happen, their children would immediately be placed on the boat and taken to safety. All they would need to worry about in that unlikely situation were themselves.
Eilish saw Bart and the children as soon as she entered the General Room. She was once again in awe of the boy, as she watched him issue orders in various languages and organise his motley subjects into games they could all enjoy. Bart was a wonder. He seemed to know exactly what to say to each one to get the responses he required. And even as injured and sore as he was after the beating he took only an hour ago, he was back with the children acting as if nothing had happened. He was now a bit of a hero to the children because the boy he'd protected had passed the word around. They all stared at Bart's bruised face in awe.
She left the children with Bart and Jane and went down to the cabin for a brief lie-down. She had slept poorly the night before; partly because she was sharing space with three others, but mostly because she missed having Max at her side. She wanted to see him desperately, but until the children were sorted, she could not neglect her duty.
So far, things were moving admirably, except for Bart’s altercation. They’d agreed that one adult would stay close by Bart at all times from now on, just in case the bully-boys decided to return. She’d been hard-pressed to stop Luke from going and looking for the culprits. Only Jac’s sharp order had pulled him into line.
What must it be like to have a child you cared so much about? Wonderful and yet fearful, she imagined, always worrying about the harm that might come to him.
Would she and Max adopt a child? She would love to now that she’d found the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. A child would add a dimension to their relationship that would make it all the more perfect.
However, it was in the early days yet. Who knew how he would react to his new life. He might lose interest in her once he had all those beautiful women to choose from. She was under no allusions about her appeal; pretty, yes, but not nearly as beautiful as so many others in her world. Max would be spoiled for choice.