Compass North Read online

  Cathleen Ellis

  Compass North

  Copyright © 2019 Cathleen Ellis

  www.CathleenEllis.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except in the case of a reviewer, who may quote brief passages embodied in critical articles or in a review.

  Trademarked names appear throughout this book. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, names are used in an editorial fashion, with no intention of infringement of the respective owner’s trademark.

  The information in this book is distributed on an “as is” basis, without warranty. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the author nor the publisher shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover design by Launie Parry

  Interior design by Brian Schwartz

  ISBN: 978-1629671710

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2020901406

  Other Books by

  Cathleen Ellis

  www.CathleenEllis.com

  A Scarf of Promise

  Castle in the Air

  Making Our Way

  Kara’s Love

  Baskets on Christmas Lane

  Up To Me

  Christmas Bright

  A Voice for Gabby

  Love Ties

  Roses for Meredith

  Old Crooked Road

  Just Let It Go

  Tend My Flowers

  Together Now

  Sky Tossed

  A Humble Task

  What's Beneath

  Loving Presence

  Shadow to Sunshine

  Carry Me On

  Future Bright Light

  1

  1988

  “Sarah, ready for me to pour hot cider?”

  “10 minutes, please, then call the boys, we’ll be all set.”

  Tyann walked along the fireplace mantle, touching the Mulrenan family pictures Brody showed her through the years. She identified each picture, the year and location.

  “I love you, Tyann. I’m just 10 now, and you’re 9, but someday I’m gonna marry you. This is my family, and some day it will be your family.”

  She still heard his boy’s voice from that day. She remembered telling him at that fireplace mantle that he was her best friend and that she loved him and wanted to marry him when she grew up. Over the years their feelings did not change, childhood sweethearts, then teen sweethearts. They continued to spend time together, having meals at each other’s homes, being in church together at St. Patrick’s on Sundays. Tyann helped out at the Mulrenan place in the summer months and especially during the fall corn harvest.

  During the evening celebration meal after the completion of the harvest in October 1987 she learned about this Irish family. Brody’s dad began as they started in on their dessert of apple crisp.

  “Time you knew about us Mulrenan’s, Tyann. Sarah and I came to the US in 1970, two almost 18-year-olds. Back in the North (uh, of Ireland) Ryan, my dad, died in a blaze of gunfire in a skirmish with the British army not long before that.”

  “Brenden, was he IRA?”

  “Yes, Ty, he was. I wanted to stay and fight, but pop’s Uncle Michael wanted Sarah and me to come to America, get naturalized, take over this property in Iowa, which he deeded to us. Being from the north, I was Protestant, and Sarah, from the south of Ireland, she was Catholic.”

  He looked across to Sarah and smiled,

  “I converted; Uncle Michael thought that best, since dad died, best for Sarah and me, to marry and be united in one faith in a new country. He’d come to America after WWII, bought up property in several other states, property that was in great difficulty. He just couldn’t watch over all the land himself.”

  “He’s visiting at Christmas?”

  “Right,” Brody added.

  Tyann came out of her reverie of that time and conversation in October. She found the steaming cider and poured it out. She put the mugs at each person’s place. She stepped into the large living room, seeing a fire flickering in the stone fireplace.

  She opened the door to the basement family room and spoke out, “Boys, Sarah says it’s time.”

  She heard the clomp clomping of boots as they came up the steps. Tyann waited for Brody; he held out his hand to her. She grasped it. As they walked along she felt the light squeeze of his hand around hers, a gesture she cherished.

  She gazed up at him, “Tall, he’s so tall, the whole family, trees, Sarah, too. I wonder why he likes me; I’m little and a green-eyed blonde. His hair’s so dark and his eyes, why such a piercing dark blue?” she pondered.

  The family assembled in the dining room. Brenden and Sarah sat at opposite ends of the table, Brody and her on one side, and Conner, Brody’s younger brother, and Uncle Michael, on the other side.

  “They look so much alike; genetics crazy in this handsome family, from generation to generation,” she decided as she looked around the table.

  “Tyann, do the honors, please,” Brenden smiled as he asked her.

  They all made the sign of the cross, and she began, “Bless us O Lord…”

  They signed the cross after she finished and they shared an Amen.

  “Delicious, Sarah, you’ve always been my favorite cook,” Michael smiled as he complimented her. The family finished the meal of tender smoked ham, mounds of scalloped potatoes, green salad and lots of warm melt-in-your-mouth rolls everyone pounced on.

  Tyann agreed, nodding to Sarah. Sarah gave Tyann a quick wink.

  “I love Tyann,” Sarah thought, “after all these years, she’s cherished by me. And she loves my Brody, how blessed am I. What a grand way to get my girl.”

  As was the custom, if the girls cooked, the boys cleaned up. Tyann and Sarah fixed plates of pumpkin pie and whipped cream. Everyone returned to the table for pie and coffee.

  “So time to share, Brody, my boy-o,” Uncle Michael spoke, “your wish, as you mentioned to me, after last corn harvest when I stopped by.”

  “My wish,” he nodded to his uncle,” to see Northern Ireland, getting a proper visa for work and study, and using my college money to take a class or two at Milmire Abbey’s junior college. My passport’s in process, and I’ve been admitted to the college, oh, provided I graduate from Porttown High.”

  “Which you will,” Brenden emphasized.

  “Oh my gosh, Brody, where’re you headed?” Tyann shook her head, her eyebrows raised as she gazed at him, “this is the first I’ve heard.”

  “Sure, Tyann, my plans’re taking shape. Uncle Declan lives in Milmire Abbey, and he’s invited me to stay with him during my visit. Milmire Abbey’s on the northeast corner of Lough Neagh. The Lough’s the largest freshwater lake in the whole of the North of Ireland. I’m staying a school year, getting to know the area, want to see the places of dad’s growing up. I’m coming back,” he smiled to her, “to begin our life together, to marry you. You’ve got your senior year to finish, and to decide what you might want to study once we married.”

  She thought for a moment, thrown off balance by Brody’s revelation, “Uh, I’m starting to weigh my options, to make up my mind. For sure I’ll be your partner, a corn farmer’s wife. That’s what I want, my dear sweetheart.”

 
“Same, darlin’ Tyann.”

  The rest of the family cheered for them. After several rousing hands of poker, Brody drove Tyann home.

  “So fun to hear your dad and Uncle Michael talking in that thick Irish brogue as we played cards.”

  “I always enjoy their talks.”

  “Your parents’ American English is really perfect, except when Uncle Michael shows up.”

  “Right, my parents told me how hard they worked on their American English as they were going through the studying for naturalization, that’s when they first got to Iowa.”

  “They speak, gosh, like California folks, of the West, no accent.”

  They held hands as they walked up to the Hulfitz front door.

  He looked down to her and smiled, “Have a good Christmas, Tyann. You’ve got aunties coming. You like them so much, so enjoy your family. We’ll have New Year’s Eve, and the coming spring. I need the time away for a school year in Ireland; it’ll be good for us to be apart from each other.”

  “Happy Christmas, Brody, and I agree I’ve got a lot of growing up to do; I got pretty reliant on you.”

  They nodded to each other, hugged and kissed.

  She looked up to him, “I love you. I’m happy; Baby Jesus is coming.”

  “I love you, Tyann, the shelter of your embrace, it’s always with me.”

  

  “Just two days and you graduate; how’s that feeling?”

  “Great,” he smiled to her, “while we have a little free time together, I want to take you to a spot.”

  He held her hand and they walked away from the Mulrenan farm house. About half way down the lane, he helped her over the wooden fence that bordered the sides of the property to the road. They walked through the pasture to where Tyann saw several maple and oak trees standing. He bent down to show her a wooden stake in the ground. She saw a yellow flag attached to the stake. They walked along, and he showed her another yellow-flagged stake. Before long he showed her the other two stakes. She reached up and held his upper arm as he brought her to the front of the area.

  “Tyann, this is my wedding present to you, a home I’ll build, with help, for the two of us now, then one day,” he smiled and nodded.

  She reached her arms up to encircle his neck as he bent down and kissed her. They kissed again and again.

  “Pops deeded me a portion of the farm, including this area. He and momma showed me several areas for a home. I picked this one, so lovely with the trees and the fields and fields of corn and soybeans in the back. Once Conner’s through school and has his practice established, well, I’ll take everything over.”

  Tyann looked up to him, “Beautiful, such a beautiful area, I love it all, Brody.”

  “Thanks, I just wanted to make sure. You get to design our home; we’ll get started after the next corn crop when I get home from Ireland.”

  He turned and she turned.

  “Facing north, Tyann, our home’ll face north, just like you, my compass, facing true north, helping me face true north.”

  

  “Dad, I just didn’t expect it to be so hard; I miss Brody, and it’s only a couple of days. He just graduated, and now he’s already in Ireland.”

  “I know you miss him; but you have your life, and your senior year coming up. It’ll be very good for you and him to be apart. And I need your help, my Ty, all summer.”

  He turned to look at his daughter as they drove home from church, the early service at St. Patrick’s.

  “Your mom and Mandy, they need their rest, so they’ll go to late service. But you and me, we’ve got the early morning energy.”

  “Yeah, Dad, to get stuff done, lay it on me, what kind of help?”

  “Well, you’ve mentioned a couple of things to me, stuff I’ve never paid attention to, but now I am.”

  “And that’s?”

  “First, I’m thinking if you want to, I’d step back and have you take over the shop for me, maybe in three years or so. You know so much about the business, helping with the books, continuing to learn how to repair the increasingly complex farm equipment we sell. You’re one of my best mechanics, and maybe you might want to take a business class or two at the junior college.”

  “Wow, Dad, and what else?”

  “Our home, you saw how I had the outside painted last month.”

  “It looks so improved, nice, and we worked together to bring the front and back yards under control. Mom just doesn’t have time, or energy, with her 12 hour day shifts at Porttown Manor, and she never gets two days off in a row.”

  “That’s right, your mother works so so hard, medical, it’s grueling.”

  “You, me, and Mandy, when she’s not out on the baseball field or running or babysitting, are gonna fix up the inside of our home.”

  “Nothing’s ever been updated, since you bought the place.”

  “Right, professionals’re gonna remove wallpaper from the three rooms that have that, new carpet in all three bedrooms, along with new paint, which we’ll do. The same pros’re gonna paint our large living, dining, and bathrooms. Mom’s getting a new kitchen stove and frig, to match the dishwasher we replaced. Oh, and the cracked kitchen linoleum, and worn rug, your mom and I finally agreed on a wood flooring to replace all that.”

  

  “Annie, what’cha think?”

  She stood next to her husband, with Tyann and Mandy standing close by.

  “It’s grand, how bright, cheerful, and clean everything is. You three are miracle workers.”

  She hugged Tyrone, then hugged Tyann and then Mandy. Annie walked through the updated rooms, marveling at how new everything looked.

  “It’s our same furniture, but it’s so much nicer now.”

  That day, before their mom’s shift ended at 5 p.m., Tyann and Mandy, with Conner’s help, returned the furniture back into the living and dining areas.

  “Awesome, you guys, your house, uh, it looks way better, what did it?”

  “Mostly the new wood flooring, Conner, pros doing painting, removing wallpaper, new carpet and us painting the bedrooms.”

  “Hard to believe, it just looks so light and bright, and my reward?”

  “Yeah, dude, chocolate chip bars, we have a plate, and some you gotta take home to your folks. Don’t eat them all now, you’ll be sick, a little piggy,” Mandy teased him.

  “I promise.”

  Tyann caught his eye as she walked up to him as he got ready to leave. She started to hand him the plate of bars, and then took them back, “Uh, promise what?”

  “That I’ll save some for my folks.”

  “OK, hey and thanks for all your help,” she said as she hugged Conner.

  That night Tyann fixed chicken breasts baked in cream of mushroom soup, rice, salad, and rolls for the occasion of the updating on the family home. She and her sister planned out the meals for two weeks at a time, based on their mom’s work schedule.

  The family ate hearty, except Tyann. She had a little of everything, her tummy flipping around. She saved some room for ice cream and chocolate chip bars. She decided she had to share, and not just with her dad.

  “Everybody, just know I’m sad right now, it’s helped to have this project. I miss Brody. But there’s something else going on, like my life is making changes that I’m having trouble keeping up with.”

  “Tell us, my Ty, what changes?”

  “My new independence, knowing I can go to work at the shop, and be able to stay all day. I used to go to the Mulrenan’s some afternoons helping out, Brody, and his dad and brother. I’m, of course, not doing that any more, not so interested in planning a wedding, ‘cause it’s a ways off. But I’m anxious to get started in the classes I want to take after my senior year, to help you out, Dad. I’m not exactly sure that’s what I want to do, the farm equipment and supply, with my life. Gosh, I’ve got a lot of decisions to make during my senior year. And Dad, what’ll happen if I decide not to be your partner at the shop?”

  “My Tyann, r
emember what I’ve always told you and your sister, you have to decide what it is that you want for your lives. I can’t and I won’t dictate that. I’ll be disappointed if you decide not to come on board, Tyann, but I can live with it. I’ll just have to rethink the next few years.”

  “Thanks, Dad, and Mom, I hope what we’ve done the last couple of weeks will make things more pleasant for you when you get home at night. I know how much I like my room, like new.”

  Tyann stopped and looked from her dad to her mom.

  “Mom, I’m concerned about how tired you seem. Working as a CNA is grueling, the hours, the not-so-independent patients, especially the folks with what medical folks are talking about, an affliction called Alzheimer’s.”

  “We both are,” Tyrone and Mandy nodded their heads and looked at Annie, “concerned for you,” they said in unison.

  “Thank you, I think with you girls helping with the night meals, sharing the laundry and housekeeping chores, and outside mowing, that things’ll get easier for me.” She stopped and looked at Tyann. “That is, until Tyann marries; we’ll have to work things out after that.”

  

  With just helping out at home, and working at the farm supply dealership Tyann had more time for herself that summer. Her dad suggested she take CPR and First Aid at the junior college. She did, and she liked the classes.

  “If something happens at the shop, or out on the farms, I might be able to help someone, even save a life,” she told her dad after she completed the classes.

  “And mom, well she knows all this stuff; she’s so quiet, but she’s got a ton of knowledge.”

  She thought about that and felt a new appreciation for her hard-working mom.

  Tyann started getting library books at the Porttown Library on Saturdays. To her pleasant surprise she realized she enjoyed reading as she had when she was little. She hadn’t made time in the past few years, just surviving in her reading for her classes at school. Now she read books for pleasure and books about Ireland. The more she read the more concerned she became. People expressed fear, living in Northern Ireland, fear about things that she researched, and found more about.