Bridget And Johnny

 

Bridget’s and Johnny’s Journey of Love

This story is set in the 1950’s at a time when a lot of home didn’t have had indoor plumbing. Water for everyday use had to be carried in buckets from the nearest spring or Well, a hard task at the best of times. But this story is not a story of hard times. It’s a story of love.

This story of Bridget and Johnny

They lived about half way between Strabane and Clady. They had started primary school on the same day and were in the same class. They were not best friends but would have spoken to each other and played game together along with the other children in the schoolyard. After school, Johnny and Bridget would go home in different directions.

Then came the day when they left school and each went to make their mark on the wider world. Johnny got a job on Blair’s farm. Mr and Mrs Blair hadn’t any children of their own but they treated him well and although the wages were small he was well fed.

Bridget went to work in the kitchen of a hotel in Belfast. It was hard work but she liked it. She was delighted when she received tips, these she would save so she would have something to buy a small gift for her mother when she went home. Then, when she was in her twenties her mother took Parkinson’s disease and Bridget had to come back home to look after her.

One winter’s night when the ground was covered in snow and the frost was glinting like diamonds Bridget set off to visit her friend, Rosy, who lived half a mile away.

She was in Rosy’s kitchen making a cup of tea for herself and Rosy when the back door opened and a man came in. Bridget didn’t know him at first; it was only when he spoke she recognized his voice. He told her he was sitting with a sick cow and had only come in to get warm and have a hot drink. She smiled at him, pleasantly surprised at how much Johnny had changed. No longer was he the skinny schoolboy with bushy unkempt hair. Her heart skipped a beat. He had grown into a really handsome man any girl would be proud to walk out with. Or, even have for a husband.

It was a few moments before Johnny spoke again.

“You’re Bridget,” he said hesitantly.

Bridget nodded.

“I went to the same school as you,” he said shaking her hand warmly.” I haven’t seen you for years, how are you keeping?”

Bridget saw Johnny in a whole new light. She hoped she wasn’t blushing or staring too much. But he was so handsome she couldn’t stop herself.

Johnny also saw Bridget differently. Gone was the pale faced girl with a big bow in her hair. His breath quickens. She was beautiful; she had become an elegant young lady with curly shoulder length hair.

They chatted about the old times and of people they knew. All the while Johnny was trying to pluck up the courage to ask her out. Eventually he got round to it, stammering out the words. He felt embarrassed by this. When she didn’t answer right away he thought he’d been foolish to ask, and he’d made himself look stupid in her eyes.

Then she smiled a gentle smile and nodded her head.

It was the beginning of a lovely romance between them. They began going out together. Most of the time Johnny would go to visit Bridget at her mother’s house. Soon they began to make plans to marry. The wedding would be small, just parents, aunties and uncles.

On the day of the wedding they made a handsome couple, everyone said.

They bought at house. It belonged to Johnny’s grandfather. His wife had died some years previously, and all his family had gone to America or Canada. He had moved in with his sister, the better for her to look after him. This house they were buying was near Bridget’s mother’s home which meant she would still be able to look after her. And it was near enough for Johnny to keep his job on the Blair’s farm.

 

The house was old but Bridget made it as nice as she possibly could. She made lovely blue gingham curtains for the kitchen and a table cloth to match. She painted the dresser that had belonged to Johnny’s grandfather. It looked really impressive and soon it was filled with blue and white delph. In the evening, the rays of the setting sun lingered on the freshly painted dresser. It made the cups and plates gleam and sparkle.

The living room had two tapestry chairs and a brown wooded sofa. The windows had flowered curtains which brought a splash of colour to the room. Johnny thought Bridget was the best wife a man could ever wish for.

The house had four bedrooms. Three of these lay unused and unfurnished. But in time, God willing, Bridget and Johnny hoped to fill them with the laughter of children,

Bridget loved their bedroom. They had bought the big double bed at a local auction. It had brass rails and knobs which Bridget polished and shined with brasso until she could see her face reflected back at her. It was covered with a lovely white candlewick spread that had a design of roses in the centre. It had been a wedding present from her mother.

An old-fashioned set of drawers and a wardrobe that had been in the house when they moved in. It will do for years, Bridget thought lining the drawers with brown paper. Johnny painted the floorboards to a soft glowing oak brown. With the walls painted white and a couple of holy pictures the final touches were added to the finished décor.

Johnny and Bridget were proud of it.

Money was very scare. Johnny didn’t earn much. But they were content in their new home. They grew their own potatoes and vegetables. Johnny was able to get free milk and eggs from Mrs Blair. Apart from her housework Bridget couldn’t work. Sometimes she missed her money from her job in Belfast but looking after her mother was a full time occupation.

Bridget’s dad had died from a heart attack when he was forty. Her oldest sister, Sara, had gone to America; got married and had a family. She sent money home to her mother from time to time. Bridget was grateful for this. Sara only came home every five or six years. (Travel even then was very expensive)

 

As I said before, the house was old. It did have electricity but there was no water plumbed in. This meant the water for cooking and washing had to be carried from the Well down the road. There was a water barrel at the corner of the house which caught the rainwater. This was used for washing clothes, floors or anything else it was needed for but it wasn’t suitable for drinking or cooking.

One summer morning, the sun was shining and Bridget was sitting by the window reading a letter she’d received from Sara. In it Sara was bumming and bragging about her house in America; the new job her husband had got which meant he was able to buy a brand new car, and how well her family was doing. She had three lovely children, girls aged five and seven and a boy of nine.

Bridget felt a twinge of envy. She didn’t want to trade places with Sara but it would be nice to have a little more money of her own, she thought. Putting the letter aside she leaned her chin on her hands. Maybe she could keep hens or pigs? Could she manage them and still look after her mother?

Some days later she was talking to a neighbour who said she was doing bed and breakfast for holiday makers – an English couple and a Scottish couple. It brought her a few extra pounds, she explained. This revelation set Bridget thinking. Here was something she might be able to do. That night in bed she talked it over with Johnny. He thought it was a good idea and was all for it.

Answering Sara’s letter Bridget explained about starting a Bed and Breakfast. Sara’s next letter brought a shock for Bridget. Sara explained that a workmate of her husband’s wanted to bring his wife to Ireland to find his ‘roots’ and find the cottage where his grandparents had been born.

They would be arriving in a few weeks’ time. His wife in particular wanted to see what Ireland was like.

Bridget panicked. Where would they sleep?

There was nothing else for it; they’d have to give up their lovely bedroom for the guests. But where would they sleep? She decided they’d get a bed for the spare room. But first she’d need some boxes to store their own clothes in. This would leave the wardrobe and chest of drawers free for their guests.

Tony, at the local shop gave her two tea chests, and didn’t charge her the usual cost of two shillings for each of them. Tony pointed out that the yanks might spend a few shillings in the shop when they came.

Bridget’s auntie Sadie heard she was looking for a bed and came round to tell her she had a double bed she could have if Johnny would come and collect it. Bridget’s joy at getting the bed was short-lived. The woodlice had taken up residence and feasted on the wooden frame. But it had a nearly new mattress Bridget and Johnny could use. They decided not to use the bed frame but took it anyway. Johnny cut up the wooden frame for the fire and the mattress was ferried upstairs to the spare room.

News soon got around about the guests coming. If it had been the Kennedy’s arriving there couldn’t have been more excitement. Bridget and Johnny got offers of useful bits and pieces from their neighbours. Mrs Blair gave them a crocheted bedspread that she had made herself and Margaret Connolly gave them a delph basin and a jug with shamrocks on it. It would go down well with the Americans, she said.

Another woman whom they didn’t know left word with Tony in the shop, that she had a bed with an iron frame they could have. She also had a fireside rug, if they wanted it. It was brown with white squares; Bridget said it would look good with the wooden sofa.

Johnny’s employer, Mr Blair lent him his tractor and trailer so he could go around the different houses and collect all the stuff people was giving them..

Johnny was feeling overworked but at the same time he was delighted with himself and Bridget. He painted the spare room and, Bridget took to hunting out all manner of things at any jumble sale she heard tell of. At the church jumble sale; she got a lovely china tea set with a gold rim, a lovely pair of curtains and a good sized saucepan and wooden tray – all for a few pennies. Delighted with her finds she rushed home to show Johnny.

A week to go! The place was as ready as it was going to be.

Bridget eyeballed the Sacred Heard picture which took pride of place beside the dresser. God, grant them to be easy pleased, she prayed silently a nervous flutter in her belly. And all being well, if they like it they might send a few more Americans our way. I could be busy all summer, she thought.

The following Monday morning the Americans, Clive and Diana arrived, they seemed happy with their bedroom. Bridget said she would bring up some warm water so they could freshen up after their journey. She would also have hot water for them when they rose in the mornings.

Clive asked to use the bathroom. Johnny explained that they didn’t have one. The lavatory was at the bottom of the garden. Giving Johnny a perplexed look Clive went off to find the lavatory

He went in and closed the door. Annoyed he couldn’t find the lock, he sat down to do his business anyway. But what if…somebody came along… He tried to keep the door closed with his foot. It was uncomfortable so he pulled his foot away and began to whistle. He whistled as loud as he could to let anyone who wanted to go to the lavatory know he was already in there.

Soon he was back in the kitchen glaring at Johnny. “Do you realize there’s no lock on the lavatory door? It should have a lock,”

“We don’t worry about a thing like that in these parts,” replied Johnny calmly. “Nobody ever stole a bucket of shit out of the lavatory yet.”

The three weeks flew in.

Rising early each morning, the guests had a hearty Irish breakfast and set off to find out about ‘The Old Country.’ Diana was impressed with the Irish scenery and remarked that she would like to live here.

The late evening brought them home to a bowl of Bridget’s Irish stew and a bit of craic and storytelling with the neighbours

Bridget felt sure they had enjoyed their stay – despite the absence of a lock on the lavatory door they would send others their way.

It had been enjoyable if tiring and for some reason Bridget hadn’t been feeling herself for days.

She consulted Mrs Blair who smiled knowingly. Johnny will be needing his job more than ever, if I’m right, she thought. And we will have a little ‘grandchild’ to cheer our lives.

 

“You’re about three month along dear,” she said coyly. Johnny was over the moon and seemed to float rather than walk when Bridget told him the good news.

On the morning the guests were due to leave Diana settled the bill, and left a large tip. Blushing red as a beetroot, Bridget told her she was having a baby. Diana, childless like Mrs Blair, was overjoyed and went to tell Clive – who was in the lavatory again whistling a very loud version of Danny Boy. Delighted with the news he gave Bridget enough money to buy the pram.

 

A short story by Bernie Mc Hugh March 2015 ©