The Autobiography of Ruth Tagg Caley

on the way to school she said "I'll walk with you as I'm going that way." When we got to the busstop she pushed us all on the bus and we rebelled against missing school. We got on a train afterthat, and she took us to her mother's place. When night came she went home and left us there.We couldn't all stay at Grandma's place as she only had one room upstairs. She took us to afriend of hers, but my two sisters were afraid of her and wouldn't stay, so I was the one whostayed with the old lady. (She had a fire place in the room.)She was kind to me and I sat by her while she sewed on the sewing machine, I threadedher needles for her. She let me sleep in her bed with her and when she came in the room shesaid, "Don't be afraid of the noise as my husband is a shoe maker and works till late." “I hope thehammering doesn't keep you awake. It's too bad your father is so mean to you.” I put her straighton that and I told her "my father will soon be after us and he'll find us, wait and he'll find us, waitand see." I also told her that my father was a shoe maker and I was used to the hammering as ourbedroom was next to his shop. In the day time my sisters would come and take me to a park andswing and teeter but I never did like to teeter, I liked the swings best.Three or four days went by and I was waiting for my father to come. I knew he wouldfind us. One day we were out to the park when we saw our father coming towards us, we all ranto meet him. Mother was with him. He had followed her from home to Grandma's. When theygot there, Grandma said 'I guess you have come for the girls? They are in the park." He didn'tknow we were in her care and if she hadn't of spoken when she did or said we were, there wemay have still been in England. It was an answer to father's prayer. He had been praying hewould find us as he had our tickets to sail and the ship was to leave very soon. We all wenthome and mother never spoke a word. He warned us to not go on errands for other people as wemay run into traps and to be alert as mother may try something else, which she did.She hid all our clothes, thinking that would stop us. She told us Canada was a placewhere a lot of Mormons lived and another thing, how did we know if we would ever reach there,as she had heard of fathers deserting their children and leaving them on the way etc., etc., to getrid of them. The following days we went back to school and on Thursday I came home and myfather met me at the shop door, he said "don't go inside, stay out and play, go on the other side ofthe street until I tell you different." I did not ask why as we were told to obey our parents. Icrossed over the street, I had in my hands a small toy chest of drawers, with a tiny doll hair brushin it and was thinking what a nice toy it was, when along came father and the twin girls. Theywere hurrying along and the boy who lived upstairs, Roy Jackson was with them, they werecarrying our winter coats and about two suit cases. Father said to me throw that toy in the gutter.I said "I want it, I am so proud of it daddy, I took it to school today to show the teacher." I had tothrow it away and carry my own coat. It was Thursday evening and the time of week we alwayshad our hot fish and chip supper. We took the bus after we walked through Finsberry Park andkept going until we got to Graves End. I never had a chance to say goodbye to my mother andwas told she fainted as the rest of the family left the house.We went to stay at some friends of my father's near the ocean. Father thought the shiphad gone without us, but on account of the war, the ship delayed its time. We had about two orRuth Tagg Caley pg 10