The Bone Garden: A Novel

Nine

ROSE AWAKENED to find Meggie sleeping beside her, and she heard the clucking and flapping of chickens, the rustle of straw. None of these sounds was familiar, and it took Rose a moment to remember where she was.

To remember that Aurnia was dead.

Grief seized her in its fist, squeezing so hard that for a moment she could not breathe. She stared up at the barn's rough-hewn beams, thinking: This is more pain than I can bear.

Something nearby beat a steady tattoo, and she turned to see a black dog staring at her, its wagging tail slapping against a bale of hay. It shook itself, sending straw and dust flying, then trotted over to lick her face, leaving a trail of slime on her cheek. Pushing it away, she sat up. The dog gave a bored whine and headed down the stairs. Peering over the edge of the hayloft, she saw it trot past a stabled horse, moving purposefully as though late for an appointment, and it disappeared through the open barn door. In the distance, a rooster crowed.

She looked around the loft and wondered where Billy had gone.

So this was where he sheltered. She saw hints of him here and there, amid the bales of hay and the rusting implements. A depression in the straw marked where he had slept last night. A chipped cup and saucer and trencher were set upon an overturned crate, like a place setting for a fine meal. She had to smile at his resourcefulness. Last night, Billy had disappeared for a short time and returned with a precious cup of milk, no doubt squeezed furtively from someone's cow or goat. Rose hadn't questioned his source as Meggie had sucked on the milk-soaked rag; she'd been grateful for anything with which to satisfy the baby's hunger.

But while the baby had been fed, Rose had eaten nothing since yesterday noon, and her stomach rumbled. She prowled through the hayloft, rooting in the straw until she found a hen's egg, still warm from that morning's laying. She cracked it open and tipped back her head. The raw egg slid down her throat, the yolk so slick and rich that her stomach instantly rebelled. She doubled over, nauseated, fighting to keep the egg down. It may be the only thing I eat today, she thought, and I will not waste it. At last her nausea eased, and as she raised her head, she spotted the little wooden box, tucked into a corner of the loft.

She lifted the hinged lid.

Inside were pretty pieces of glass, a seashell, and two whalebone buttons, treasures that Billy had collected as he roamed the streets of the West End. She'd noticed how his gaze was always fixed on the ground, his thin shoulders hunched over like an old man's, all to glean a penny here, a lost buckle there. Every day was a treasure hunt for Dim Billy, and a pretty button was enough to make him happy. For that he was a lucky boy, perhaps the luckiest in all of Boston, to be so easily pleased by a button. But you cannot eat buttons, and you cannot bury the dead and pay for it with worthless glass.

She shut the box and crossed to the window to peer out through smudged glass. In the yard below, chickens scratched in a garden that was little more than brown stalks and vines, withered in the cold.

Billy's treasure box suddenly reminded her of something she'd put in her pocket, something she'd completely forgotten until now. She pulled out the locket and chain and felt a sudden flash of grief at the sight of Aurnia's necklace. The locket was heart-shaped and the chain was feathery light, a delicate strand meant for a fine lady's neck. She remembered how it had gleamed around Aurnia's cream-white skin. How beautiful my sister was, she thought, and now she's merely food for worms.

This was gold. It would buy Aurnia a proper burial.

She heard voices and peeked out again through the window. A wagon filled with bales of hay had just rolled into the yard, and two men stood dickering over the price.

It was time to leave.

She scooped up the sleeping baby and made her way down the steps. Quietly, she slipped out the barn door.

By the time the two men finally agreed to the price of hay, Rose Connolly was already well away, shaking the straw from her skirt as she carried Meggie toward the West End.

A freezing mist clung to the ground of St. Augustine's cemetery, hiding the legs of the mourners who seemed to float, unattached to the earth, their torsos drifting only on fog. There are so many here today, thought Rose; but their sorrow was not for Aurnia. She watched the procession trail behind a small coffin that skimmed above the mist, and she could hear every sniffle, every sob, the sounds of heartbreak trapped and magnified, as though the air itself were weeping. The child's funeral moved past, black skirts and cloaks churning the mist into silvery whirlpools. No one glanced at Rose. Holding Meggie in her arms, she stood in a forlorn corner of the cemetery, beside the newly turned mound of earth. To them, she was but a ghost in the fog, her grief invisible to those blinded by their own.

— She's 'bout deep enough, miss. —

Rose turned to look at the two gravediggers. The older one dragged a sleeve across his face, leaving streaks of mud on his cheek, where the skin was deeply seamed from years of exposure to sun and wind. Poor man, she thought, you're too old to still be wielding a shovel, to be hacking away at the frozen ground. But we all need to eat. And what would she be doing when she was his age, when she could no longer see well enough to thread her needle?

— Will there be no one else to see her laid to rest? — he asked.

— No one else, — she said, and looked down at Aurnia's coffin. This was Rose's loss, hers alone, and she was too selfish to share it with anyone. She fought the sudden impulse to tear off the lid, to gaze once again on her sister's face. What if, by some miracle, she was not dead? What if Aurnia were to stir and open her eyes? Rose reached toward the coffin, then forced her hand back to her side. There are no miracles, she thought. And Aurnia is gone.

— Shall we finish, then? —

She swallowed her tears and gave a nod.

The old man turned to his partner, a blank-faced teenager who'd shoveled with lackadaisical effort, and who now stood slouched and indifferent. — Help me put her in. —

Ropes creaked as they lowered the coffin, dislodging clots of dirt that thudded into the hole. I have paid for a grave all your own, darling, thought Rose. A private place of rest that you'll not need to share with some husband who paws you, some beggar who stinks. For once you'll sleep alone, a luxury that escaped you while you lived.

The coffin gave a jolt as it hit bottom. The boy had let his attention wander, and had played out the rope too quickly. Rose caught the look the old man gave the boy, a look that said, I'll deal with you later. The boy didn't even notice, and simply yanked his rope out of the hole. It came slithering up like a cobra, and the end slapped smartly against the pine box. Their task almost completed, the boy worked with more alacrity now as they filled the hole. Perhaps he was thinking of his lunch by a warm fire, and how all that kept him from it was this one grave. He had not seen the occupant of the coffin, nor did he seem to care. All that mattered was that this hole must be filled, and so he put his back into it, shovel after shovel full of soggy earth landing on the coffin.

At the other end of the cemetery, where the child was being laid to rest, a loud wail rose from the mourners, a woman's cry so ragged with pain that Rose turned and looked toward the other grave. Only then did she see the ghostly silhouette approaching them through the fog. The figure emerged from its veil of mist, and Rose recognized the face peering out from beneath the hood of the cape. It was Mary Robinson, the young nurse from the hospital. Mary paused and looked over her shoulder, as though sensing that someone was behind her, but Rose saw no one except the other mourners, who stood like a circle of statues around the child's grave.

— I didn't know where else to find you, — said Mary. — I'm sorry for your sister. God rest her soul. —

Rose wiped her eyes, smearing tears and mist across her cheek. — You were kind to her, Miss Robinson. Far kinder than… — She stopped, not wanting to invoke Nurse Poole's name. Not wanting to speak ill of the dead.

Mary moved closer. As Rose blinked away tears, she focused on the young nurse's tense face, her pinched eyes. Mary leaned in, and her voice dropped to a whisper, her words almost lost in the scrape of the gravediggers' shovels.

— There are people inquiring about the child. —

Rose gave a weary sigh and looked down at her niece, who lay serene in her arms. Little Meggie had inherited Aurnia's sweet temperament, and she was content to lie quietly and study the world with her wide eyes. — I've given them my answer. She stays with her own people. With me. —

— Rose, they're not from the infant asylum. I promised Miss Poole that I'd say nothing, but now I cannot remain silent. The night the baby was born, after you left the room, your sister told us… — Suddenly Mary fell still, her gaze riveted not on Rose, but on something in the distance.

— Miss Robinson? —

— Keep the child safe, — Mary said. — Keep her hidden. —

Rose turned to see what Mary was looking at, and when she saw Eben stride out of the fog, her throat went dry. Though her hands were shaking, she stood her ground, resolved not to be bullied. Not today, not here, beside her sister's grave. As he drew closer, she saw that he was carrying her satchel, the same bag she'd brought with her to Boston four months ago. Contemptuously, he threw it at her feet.

— I took the liberty of packing your belongings, — he said. — Since you are no longer welcome at Mrs. O'Keefe's establishment. —

She picked up the bag from the mud, her face flushing with outrage at the thought of Eben pawing through her clothes, her private possessions.

— And don't come begging for my charity, — he added.

— Was that what you forced on me last night? Charity? —

Straightening, she met his gaze, and felt a thrill of satisfaction at the sight of his bruised lip. Did I do that? Good for me. Her cold retort clearly enraged him, and he took a step closer, then glanced at the two gravediggers still at work filling in the hole. He halted, his hand balled in a fist. Go ahead, she thought. Hit me, while I hold your daughter in my arms. Let the world see what kind of coward you are.

His lips peeled back, like an animal baring its teeth, and his words came out in a whisper, tight and dangerous. — You had no right to talk to the Night Watch. They came this morning, during breakfast. All the other lodgers are gossiping about it. —

— I only told them the God's truth. What you did to me. —

— As if anyone believes you. You know what I told Mr. Pratt? I told him what you really are. A little cock-tease. I told him how I took you in, fed you, housed you, just to please my wife. And this is how you repay my generosity! —

— Do you not even care that she's gone? — Rose looked down at the grave. — You didn't come here to say goodbye. 'Tis only to bully me, that's why you're here. While your own wife— —

— My own dear wife couldn't abide you, either. —

Rose's gaze snapped up to his. — You're lying. —

— Don't believe me? — He gave a snort. — You should have heard the things she whispered to me while you slept. What a burden you were, just a millstone she had to drag around, because she knew you'd starve without our charity. —

— I worked for my keep! Every day, I did. —

— As if I couldn't find a dozen other girls, cheaper girls, just as handy with a needle and thread? Go on, go out there, see what kind of position you land. See how long it takes before you're starving. You'll come back to me begging. —

— For you? — It was Rose's turn to laugh, and she did, though hunger had clenched her stomach into a knot. She had hoped that Eben would awaken sober this morning, to feel at least a twinge of regret for what he'd done last night. That with Aurnia's death, he'd suddenly appreciate the treasure he'd lost, and would be a better man for his grief. But she'd been as foolishly trusting as Aurnia, to believe that he could ever rise above his petty pride. Last night, Rose had humiliated him, and in the light of day he stood stripped of all pretense. She saw no grief in his eyes, only wounded vanity, and now she took pleasure from slicing the wound even deeper.

— Yes, maybe I'll go hungry, — she added. — But at least I look after my own. I see to my sister's burial. I'll raise her child. What kind of a man do you think people will call you when they hear you gave up your own daughter? That you didn't pay a penny to bury your own wife? —

His face flushed scarlet, and he glanced at the two diggers, who had finished their task and now stood listening, rapt with attention. Tight-lipped, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a handful of coins. — Here! — he snapped, and held them out to the diggers. — Take it! —

The older man glanced uneasily at Rose. — The lady here paid us already, sir. —

— Goddamn it, take the bloody money! — Eben grabbed the man's dirt-stained hand and slapped the coins into his palm. Then he looked at Rose. — Consider my obligation fulfilled. And now you have something that belongs to me. —

— You don't care a whit about Meggie. Why would you want her? —

— It's not the brat I want. It's the other things. Aurnia's things. I'm her husband, so by all rights her possessions come to me. —

— There is nothing. —

— The hospital told me they gave you her belongings last night. —

— Is that all you want? — She removed the small bundle she'd tied around her waist and handed it to him. — It's yours, then. —

He opened the bundle, and the soiled night frock and hair ribbon fell to the ground. — Where's the rest? —

— Her ring is there. —

— This piece of tin? — He held up Aurnia's good-luck ring with the stones of colored glass. He snorted and tossed it at Rose's feet. — Worthless. You'll find one just like it on the finger of every cheap girl in Boston. —

— She left her wedding ring at home. You know that. —

— I'm talking about the necklace. A gold locket. Never told me how she got it, and all these months she refused to sell it, even though I could've used the money for the shop. For all that I've put up with, I deserve at least that much in return. —

— You don't deserve one fine hair from her head. —

— Where is it? —

— I pawned it. How do you think I paid for her burial? —

— It was worth far more than this, — he retorted, pointing at the grave.

— It's gone, Eben. I paid for this grave, and you're not welcome here. You gave my sister no peace while she was alive. The least you can do is allow her to rest in peace now. —

He glanced at the old gravedigger, who was glowering at him. Oh, Eben was quick to hit a woman when no one was looking, but now he had to struggle to keep his fists at his sides, his abusive tongue in check. All he said was, — You'll hear more about this later, Rose. — Then he turned and walked away.

— Miss? Miss? —

Rose turned to the old digger, who met her gaze with a look of sympathy. — You already paid us. I expect you'll want this. It should keep you and the baby fed for a time. —

She stared at the coins that he'd placed in her hand. And she thought: For a while, this will hold off our hunger. It will pay for a wet nurse.

The two laborers gathered up their tools and left Rose standing beside the fresh mound of Aurnia's grave. Once the dirt settles, she thought, I will buy you a stone marker. Perhaps I can save enough to engrave more than just your name, darling. A carving of an angel, or a few lines of a poem to tell the world how much emptier it is for having lost you.

She heard muffled sobs as the mourners from the other funeral now began to file out of the cemetery. She watched pallid faces swaddled in black wool float by in the mist. So many here to mourn the loss of a child. Where are your mourners, Aurnia?

Only then did she remember Mary Robinson. She glanced around, but did not see the nurse anywhere. The arrival of Eben, spoiling for a fight, must have driven her off. Yet another grudge Rose would always carry against him.

Drops of rain splashed her face. The other mourners, heads bent, filed from the cemetery toward waiting carriages and warm suppers. Only Rose lingered, clutching Meggie as rain muddied the earth.

— Sleep well, darling, — she whispered.

She picked up her satchel and Aurnia's scattered belongings. Then she and Meggie left St. Augustine's and headed toward the slums of South Boston.