Chapter Text
It had been almost 10 years since WWII ended and economic growth was at an all time high, but for one poor 13-year-old French girl it was a nightmare. Her name to the nuns that were presiding over her might as well have been unfortunate, but Emma Dullaghan was a victim of rape by a visiting Irish priest who managed to take the innocence of five completely different girls over the span of three months before vanishing into thin air. Now as she was lying over her bed looking at her newborn daughter there were tears in her eyes, as she knew she couldn’t keep her.
Nun 1: What a beautiful little girl, she has your eyes
The nun slid the newborns hood off her head to examine her light hair
Nun 2: She’s going to be very beautiful when she grows up, what are you going to name her
Emma: *sniff* I always found names with three syllables pretty
Nun 2: How about Madeline, you have gorgeous red hair, and the character in the book does too
Emma looks at her daughter staring right up at her
Nun 2: I can already see this child is very precocious
Emma: *sniff* Madeline
The newborn looked up immediately and started smiling; Emma knew it was the one. Unfortunately for her, the bishop in charge of the child had shown up to collect her.
Bishop Thomson: Sisters what is the child’s name
Emma: Madeline *sniff*
Bishop Thomson: Is that right
Nuns: Yes Bishop
Emma knew what that meant, she only had a minute to say goodbye to Madeline before they whisked her away to an Orphanage
Bishop Thomson: *grabs* I’ll make sure Madeline is well taken care of, come on sisters, the cars waiting
Nuns: Yes Bishop
And with Madeline screaming at the top of her lungs, the Bishop and two nuns walk quietly out of the room, leaving Emma sobbing to herself
Emma: *sobs* I’ll remember you Madeline *prays* God please have her find me one day and keep her safe *sniff*
Unfortunately later on in the day, with her family giving complete rights of her away to the church, she would be going into the home for unwed mothers and forced to work with little pay and almost no chance of escape. Meanwhile Bishop Thomson knew of the five teenage girls that were raped by this man, but he only saw it as them coming on to him and not for the unfortunate victims they were.
Bishop Thomson: This is the third baby born from the Irish priest, and there are still two more left.
Nun 1: It’s unfortunate that his willpower got the best of him
Bishop Thomson: I hope he has repented, none of these children can ever find out the existence of each other. The oldest is a boy and with her it’s now two girls from him born out of wedlock.
Nun 2: Where will this one go Bishop?
Bishop Thomson: It’s going to one of the orphanages outside Alsace–Moselle
Emma sobs as she watches Madeline and Bishop Thomson from the window get into a Peugeot 203 sedan and drive into the foggy morning sunset never to be seen by Emma again.
Bishop Thomson: Hello Madeline, I know you’ll be a good girl for Mother Clarabelle won’t you