The magic book had sent me to 1847 where there was the great famine in Ireland. The book sent me to many strange places where my life was in danger. Now it sent me to a place where everyone was dying. This made me worry so much. I had hunger pains all the time and was feeling more and more weak. I was not so worried about myself. I was more worried about my little sister. She was only a little girl and she had more sadness and troubles than most people get in a lifetime. She was very pale and had no energy. She did not smile. I was so worried that she would be a victim of the famine.
There were so many funerals. It seemed as if it was a daily event. The landlord's son came to the funerals. I thought it was brave of him as his Dad did not have any sympathy for the Irish population. The landlord's son was brave enough to show up at these funerals despite that he knew that he was despised and hated by the people, even though he was just an 11-year-old like me. I suppose he lived a life of luxury while we all did not have a proper place to live and people died every day from starvation or sickness. We started to speak together and quickly became friends. He finally told me his name was Samuel. At the start, the landlord's son did not want anyone to know that we were friends. However, people noticed.
The landlord did not like the idea of his son being friends with an Irish peasant girl. That was not easy for my friend. His Dad was a stuck-up snob who thought peasants were not even human. I felt sorry for my Samuel. He was a nice person but his Dad did not like this side of him. My mother never said a word about it. She had bigger problems
A few days later, the landlord came knocking on our door again. He demanded that Mom pay the rent. Mom said she did not have the money. The landlord just answered that it was not his problem. Mom started weeping and begging him to give her a bit more time. It was sad to watch my mother beg and weep. The landlord told her to stop being so dramatic. He told us that he had a heart and we had one more chance. Maybe he thought he had a heart, but now I knew that it meant Mom would have worried and anxious about how long she had.
When the landlord went, I went for a walk. I met Samuel. I told him about his Dad visiting us. My friend did not know what to say. He understood that his Dad had a right to demand rent but also knew that everyone was suffering. He felt split and did not know what to think. Then he told me that he never had a friend until he met me. He knew we came from different social classes, but that did not bother him. I smiled and we started talking about everything nice and helped us forget about all the misery concerning the famine. I will be honest, it was nice to talk about things that made me forget how hungry I was. When we were about to go, my friend thanked me for being his friend and gave me a sandwich for my sister.
When I was home, Mom was mad at me for seeing the landlord's son. “You cannot be his friend,” she explained, “He is a member of the upper class. We are in the lower class. Social classes do not mix or become friends with each other. This is not just something that is done. When you are friends with the landlord's son, everyone will think you just are a gold digger who wants something from him. They will think that he is soft and feels sorry for you. This friendship you have is not an equal one. What do you think the Landlord will think when he finds out his son is your friend? His anger will be directed at us. That wicked man is looking for any excuse to evict us.”
Mom said what society had thought. A peasant like me should not be friends with a rich landowner's son. Samuel told me that his Dad did not agree with the friendship either. The thing is we did not aim to be friends. It just happened. I never asked Samuel to help feed our family or help with the rent. I knew he could make our life a whole lot easier, but I did not think it was right that he should help my family when so many families were also suffering. The one thing that Samuel did every time we met was to ask me to give a sandwich to my sister. I think it was hard for him to see her suffer so much.
My sister was getting worse and worse every day. Let's face it, a little girl needs food and nourishment. This must have affected everything from her energy, state of mind and even her immune system. It made me sad that my sister was born at a time of so much suffering. She never experienced a good meal. She did not have the joys that she could have had. Her life up to now was filled with hunger, misery and people around her dying. I wonder how this affected her personality. Would she ever know the joy of being a child? In a way, I could see that she had hope and made the best out of her situation. The smiles and giggles were like sunshine when she ate one of Samuel's sandwiches or when we ate invisible food.
My little sister was fading away and we could all see that. She was now sick a lot and did not have the energy to do anything. She would lay on the straw mattress and cough and moan from pain. My mother explained to me that her immune system was so weak from hunger and malnutrition, that she would get sick very easily. I also thought that our primitive living conditions made things worse. It was hard for me to see my little sister so sick. I tried to be brave and told her stories. I told her what the future would be like. My little sister had a smile on her face when I told her what chocolate ice cream tasted like and some of the cakes that I remembered. I told her about McDonald's and what a happy meal was. We pretended to eat an invisible Happy Meal
When I told Samuel that my little sister was sick, he got upset. He told me that he was tired of seeing people suffering. While he had a nice manor to live in and all the food and clothes he wanted, it was hard to see everyone else just get a bowl of soup every day. Samuel believed that a Christian had the duty to help those in need. I did not say much to Samuel but let him vent. When he was done with venting, he told me to follow him. We went to the huge manor that he lived in. We snuck into the manor and he led me to his father's office. He took some money out of a jar. He told me the poor needed this more than his family.
I looked at Samuel and told him that this was not the right thing to do. It was stealing and his Dad would kill him. Samuel just smiled and said it was not stealing. It was his family's money. What good was it that his family had everything when everyone was dying? We would be like angels helping those in need. I did not feel like an angel as it was not my money. I felt as if I was helping in some crime. I think deep down Samuel thought the same as me as he told me that we should keep this a secret. We put the money in an envelope and threw it in a window that was open at the priest's house.
Mom was a dedicated Catholic and mass was very important for her. Luckily, my sister was not so sick so she could go to mass. I had to carry her on my back the most way. I honestly do not know why my mother liked mass. It was all in Latin so we did not understand a word. When I looked at the people there, they were either praying the rosary or snoozing. My little sister was asking me when he would start praying that we could eat some food and never have hunger pains again. This made me laugh but there was an element of truth to it. We needed God's help. When he did speak in a language we could understand, he told us that this famine was a chance to get closer to God. It was a chance for us to offer our sufferings to God. Jesus died on a cross for us and this was far worse than a famine. A hundred years ago, the Irish people had to live under penal laws, which meant they were punished for being Catholic. I think what he was trying to say was that it was good to suffer as it meant we were closer to God. I wanted to shout that this was nonsense but managed to keep my mouth shut.
The mass was very long. It dragged on and on. Not understanding it made things worse. In the end, he told us that he had a surprise for us. He found money in his house. He told us that it was in an envelope owned by the landlord. So the priest told us that he would take care of the money so it could be used when the parish needed it. This made me mad. The people needed the money now. Many were on the brink of death.
Mom on the other hand was smiling. This was the first time that I had seen her smile. She told me that the mass had comforted her. God is the comfort and rock in her life. I had to admire her faith. It was a bit like medicine. Faith was like a pacifier for people who were suffering. My mother even said the Landlord showed that he had a heart. I could not see that he or the priest had any compassion.
Days went by. My little sister was getting worse. She was now in bed all the time. I could see her become weaker and weaker. She was hanging on to her life and this was becoming harder and harder for her. I have not seen Samuel either. I was worried about him. I knew his Dad would have heard about the money and Samuel most likely confessed that he took the money.
When I did see Samuel, he told me that his father had found out and he was extremely mad. Samuel was punished severely and this included a cane. Now his dad planned to send him to a boarding school in England so he would not forget his place.
Something also happened to our family. One day, when I was walking and trying to keep positive, I found a little boy who was about 7 years old. He was sitting on the side of the road. I sat down with him and spoke with him. He told me that he was just waiting to die. His family were dead and he had no one to take care of him. This was very unsettling and depressing coming from a child. A child should not just wait to die. I told him that he could live with us. It was the only thing that I could do.
When Mom found out that he would be living with us, she got angry. “Why did you not ask me first,” she asked, “We cannot let every orphan live here. I cannot even feed the family I have. When was the last time you ate? Now I have to worry about an extra child!”
My mother looked at him and must have changed her mind. She smiled at the boy and said she would help him wash himself.
I thought of my real mother in 2020 and the way she used to smile at me
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