Do you live in the city, says I, or by the sea?

The city, says she, Belfast. We had a nice house, I went to a nice school. Before my father died, and then my mother. We lived on a nice road with lots of other big houses. I thought I’d have that forever. And now I’m here.

She cried again, quiet tears, not like before. I knew I shouldn’t go to her now. I should let her be.

I asked her about cars and buses. She telt me she got the bus into town sometimes, and other times her daddy took her in his car. I asked her about aeroplanes. She’d never been on one, but she telt me one time her and her mummy and daddy got on a big boat and crossed the sea to the Isle of Man. She said the sea was rough and everyone on the boat was sick. I tried to imagine that, being on a boat on the sea, and it going up and down and up and down. I tried to picture it, but I couldn’t. I’d never seen a boat.

I asked her about school, and she telt me she had lots of friends, boys and girls, and they all wore uniforms and they learnt to count and to read and they learnt about things that happened years ago all around the world. And how things work in the world, what makes the wind blow and why rain falls. And I had a terrible feeling inside me just then: I hated her, just for a wee while, but I hated her because she’d had all those things and I never heard tell of them before then. I was jealous of her, and I hated her for it, but I wanted to know more. I wanted to know about televisions and radios and picture houses and all those good things. But she didn’t want to talk about it any more, she was getting tired of me asking her things, so she helt her whisht and lay down again.

I don’t mind what time of day it was, but the Mummies had been upstairs at their work for a good long while, when Daddy Tam opened the door.

There’s cleaning needs doing, says he. Get changed out of thon dress and put on something from the wardrobe. The child’ll help you. The fireplaces need cleaning out. The child’ll show you what to do.

Says Esther, Let me go. I won’t say anything to anybody, just let me go.

Daddy Tam said nothing and closed the door, let us alone.

You should do what he tells you, says I. He’ll hurt you if you don’t.