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Sister
Agatha
won
the
battle
.
On
morning
line-up
she
tied
Meggie
's
left
arm
against
her
body
with
rope
,
and
would
not
undo
it
until
the
dismissal
bell
rang
at
three
in
the
afternoon
.
Even
at
lunchtime
she
had
to
eat
,
walk
around
and
play
games
with
her
left
side
firmly
immobilized
.
It
took
three
months
,
but
eventually
she
learned
to
write
correctly
according
to
the
tenets
of
Sister
Agatha
,
though
the
formation
of
her
letters
was
never
good
.
To
make
sure
she
would
never
revert
to
using
it
,
her
left
arm
was
kept
tied
to
her
body
for
a
further
two
months
;
then
Sister
Agatha
made
the
whole
school
assemble
to
say
a
rosary
of
thanks
to
Almighty
God
for
His
wisdom
in
making
Meggie
see
the
error
of
her
ways
.
God
's
children
were
all
right-handed
;
left-handed
children
were
the
spawn
of
the
Devil
,
especially
when
red-headed
.
In
that
first
year
of
school
Meggie
lost
her
baby
plumpness
and
became
very
thin
,
though
she
grew
little
in
height
.
She
began
to
bite
her
nails
down
to
the
quick
,
and
had
to
endure
Sister
Agatha
's
making
her
walk
around
every
desk
in
the
school
holding
her
hands
out
so
all
the
children
could
see
how
ugly
bitten
nails
were
.
And
this
when
nearly
half
the
children
between
five
and
fifteen
bit
their
nails
as
badly
as
Meggie
did
.
Fee
got
out
the
bottle
of
bitter
aloes
and
painted
the
tips
of
Meggie
's
fingers
with
the
horrible
stuff
.
Everyone
in
the
family
was
enlisted
to
make
sure
she
got
no
opportunity
to
wash
the
bitter
aloes
off
,
and
when
the
other
little
girls
at
school
noticed
the
telltale
brown
stains
she
was
mortified
.
If
she
put
her
fingers
in
her
mouth
the
taste
was
indescribable
,
foul
and
dark
like
sheep-dip
;
in
desperation
she
spat
on
her
handkerchief
and
rubbed
herself
raw
until
she
got
rid
of
the
worst
of
it
.
Paddy
took
out
his
switch
,
a
much
gentler
instrument
than
Sister
Agatha
's
cane
,
and
sent
her
skipping
round
the
kitchen
.
He
did
not
believe
in
beating
his
children
on
the
hands
,
face
or
buttocks
,
only
on
the
legs
.
Legs
hurt
as
much
as
anywhere
,
he
said
,
and
could
not
be
damaged
.
However
,
in
spite
of
bitter
aloes
,
ridicule
,
Sister
Agatha
and
Paddy
's
switch
,
Meggie
went
on
biting
her
nails
.
Her
friendship
with
Teresa
Annunzio
was
the
joy
of
her
life
,
the
only
thing
that
made
school
endurable
.
She
sat
through
lessons
aching
for
playtime
to
come
so
she
could
sit
with
her
arm
around
Teresa
's
waist
and
Teresa
's
arm
around
hers
under
the
big
fig
tree
,
talking
,
talking
.
There
were
tales
about
Teresa
's
extraordinary
alien
family
,
about
her
numerous
dolls
,
and
about
her
genuine
willow
pattern
tea
set
.
When
Meggie
saw
the
tea
set
,
she
was
overcome
.
It
had
108
pieces
,
tiny
miniature
cups
and
saucers
and
plates
,
a
teapot
and
a
sugar
bowl
and
a
milk
jug
and
a
cream
jug
,
with
wee
knives
and
spoons
and
forks
just
the
right
size
for
dolls
to
use
.
Teresa
had
innumerable
toys
;
besides
being
much
younger
than
her
nearest
sister
,
she
belonged
to
an
Italian
family
,
which
meant
she
was
passionately
and
openly
loved
,
and
indulged
to
the
full
extent
of
her
father
's
monetary
resources
.
Each
child
viewed
the
other
with
awe
and
envy
,
though
Teresa
never
coveted
Meggie
's
Calvinistic
,
stoic
upbringing
.
Instead
she
pitied
her
.
Not
to
be
allowed
to
run
to
her
mother
with
hugs
and
kisses
?
Poor
Meggie
!
As
for
Meggie
,
she
was
incapable
of
equating
Teresa
's
beaming
,
portly
little
mother
with
her
own
slender
unsmiling
mother
,
so
she
never
thought
:
I
wish
Mum
hugged
and
kissed
me
.
What
she
did
think
was
:
I
wish
Teresa
's
mum
hugged
and
kissed
me
.
Though
images
of
hugs
and
kisses
were
far
less
in
her
mind
than
images
of
the
willow
pattern
tea
set
.
So
delicate
,
so
thin
and
wafery
,
so
beautiful
!
Oh
,
if
only
she
had
a
willow
pattern
tea
set
,
and
could
give
Agnes
afternoon
tea
out
of
a
deep
blue-and-white
cup
in
a
deep
blue-and-white
saucer
!
During
Friday
Benediction
in
the
old
church
with
its
lovely
,
grotesque
Maori
carvings
and
Maori
painted
ceiling
,
Meggie
knelt
to
pray
for
a
willow
pattern
tea
set
of
her
very
own
.
When
Father
Hayes
held
the
monstrance
aloft
,
the
Host
peered
dimly
through
the
glass
window
in
the
middle
of
its
gem-encrusted
rays
and
blessed
the
bowed
heads
of
the
congregation
.
All
save
Meggie
,
that
is
,
for
she
did
n't
even
see
the
Host
;
she
was
too
busy
trying
to
remember
how
many
plates
there
were
in
Teresa
's
willow
pattern
tea
set
.
And
when
the
Maoris
in
the
organ
gallery
broke
into
glorious
song
,
Meggie
's
head
was
spinning
in
a
daze
of
ultramarine
blue
far
removed
from
Catholicism
or
Polynesia
.
