Finishing Touches Page 16

  ‘It’s make your mind up time, girls. I think we should go for it!’ Laura said.

  ‘Me too. Definitely!’ agreed Cassie happily.

  ‘Yippee!’ laughed Aileen, as they went in search of the landlord.

  They moved in that weekend! Such excitement! Aileen’s Mini, laden from top to bottom, made three journeys from Port Mahon on Saturday. Nora, utterly taken aback by the speed of events, could only ‘tut-tut’ her way around the house, saying she hoped Cassie wasn’t making a big mistake.

  Angela O’Shaughnessy developed a migraine and took to the bed.

  ‘If we don’t go now, we’ll never go,’ Aileen said grimly as she helped Cassie carry out some of her books and tapes under Nora’s disapproving eye. They were almost ready to leave.

  ‘Have you even got a saucepan?’ Nora growled.

  ‘Oh!’ exclaimed Cassie. ‘I never thought of that.’

  Her mother disappeared back into the house. ‘Wait there!’ she ordered. Twenty minutes later she arrived out to the car with John and Martin carrying a cardboard box between them. ‘There’s a few pots and pans and plates and cups there and I’ve three blankets and a few old sheets inside if you want them.’

  ‘Oh Mam!’ Cassie flung her arms around her mother’s neck. ‘Thanks a million. You’re the best in the world!’

  ‘Go on with you. You might ring me to let me know you’ve arrived safely. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life!’ She indicated Aileen’s Mini, which had more bulging black sacks in it than a refuse truck.

  ‘I will, Mam, and I’ll come home on Tuesday night to stay and tell you all about it,’ Cassie promised.

  John reappeared, carrying his old hurley. ‘Here, take this in case you ever need it at night,’ he said gruffly. Her brother was taller than she was. John had turned into a fine young man.

  ‘Thanks, Johnny,’ Cassie smiled at him. ‘You’ll be coming up to stay with me now and again, won’t you?’

  ‘Sure thing,’ he agreed.

  ‘And you too, Martin,’ Cassie did not forget her younger brother, who was trying to fit the cardboard box in on top of the black sacks.

  ‘Yep!’ he said.

  Barbara stood in the doorway with a cross face. She utterly resented Cassie’s leaving home. She was so envious of her older sister. How she longed to be taking off to Dublin to live in a flat and lead a sophisticated life, instead of being stuck at home, studying for the Leaving Cert and being left to do all the housework. Barbara felt truly sorry for herself.

  ‘See you on Tuesday, Barbara,’ Cassie said.

  ‘Yeah,’ responded her sister sulkily.

  ‘I wish you weren’t going, Cassie. I’ll be very lonely for you,’ Irene confided. Cassie hugged her young sister.

  ‘I’ll be home on Tuesday night, Irene, and I’ll come home some weekends and you and Mam will be able to come and visit me now and again. Won’t that be lovely? We’ll be able to go into Dublin and look around all the shops and have a meal together and we’ll have a great time.’

  ‘That will be brill!’ Her younger sister cheered up immediately.

  Cassie looked at her mother standing forlornly in the middle of the drive. She felt a sharp twinge of guilt. Maybe she was being terribly selfish. ‘I’ll see you Tuesday, Mam.’

  ‘All right, then.’ Nora met her daughter’s eyes and took two steps towards her. ‘Mind yourself, pet,’ she said, giving her a fierce hug.

  Cassie struggled to keep the wobble out of her voice. ‘I will. I love you. Thanks for everything!’

  ‘Right! Off we go!’ Aileen exclaimed cheerfully, seeing what was happening. Ushering her friend into the car, she scorched down the drive before Cassie knew where she was.

  ‘Best way to do it,’ she said gently. ‘No point in getting maudlin.’

  ‘I feel a real bitch,’ Cassie said, the tears coming into her eyes. All she could think of was the lonely look on her mother’s face when she hugged her goodbye.

  ‘I know!’ sighed Aileen. ‘I do too and it isn’t fair! For Chrissakes it’s not as if we’re going to Australia and we’ll never see them again. We’re only going to Ranelagh, for crying out loud.’

  ‘I know,’ Cassie sniffed, ‘but we’re leaving home all the same. I suppose it’s bound to upset them.’

  ‘I swear to God,’ vowed Aileen grimly as she swerved to avoid a pothole and ended up driving into a bigger one that caused the car to rattle loudly, ‘if I ever have a daughter I’ll never say one word to her if she wants to go and get a flat. In fact I’ll help her look for one.’

  ‘Me too,’ agreed Cassie.

  ‘What the hell’s the matter with you two?’ Laura enquired when she saw the two long faces that presented themselves to her an hour and a half later. She had brought her stuff over on the first trip and had been left behind to make room and more importantly to start unpacking.

  ‘Just a touch of the guilts!’ Aileen confessed.

  ‘Shag the guilts,’ Laura swore succinctly. ‘Come on, let’s have a cup of tea to cheer ourselves up. I’ve the kettle on for the last twenty minutes. I bought us a packet of chocolate biscuits to keep us going and then we’ll start doing your unpacking. I’ve done loads already!’

  It was quite late by the time they were finished unpacking all their bits and pieces. Although the place was already clean, they scrubbed and washed the kitchen and bathroom. Cassie and Aileen decided that because Laura was studying and would need some peace and quiet, she should have a bedroom to herself.

  ‘I wonder would the landlord allow us to paint the rooms ourselves,’ Cassie mused as she hung up the last of her clothes in her half of the wardrobe. The oatmeal walls of the bedroom were very drab and just crying out for a lick of new paint. Already Cassie was planning colour schemes.

  ‘It’s a real adventure, isn’t it?’ Aileen said enthusiastically as she arranged her collection of black cats on her half of the dressing-table. ‘Imagine being able to do exactly what we want when we want. Oh bliss! I’m going to lie in tomorrow until noon.’

  ‘Me too,’ said Cassie.

  Fourteen

  Cassie had forgotten it was Sunday. When she woke up in a strange bed, with Aileen across the room from her, she didn’t know where she was for a minute. Then comprehension dawned. This was her new flat. This was the first day of the beginning of her new life. It was a beautiful September morning. The sun would be shining on a sparkling turquoise sea in Port Mahon, she thought, with the tiniest hint of nostalgia. The thought was quickly banished as she hopped out of bed, taking care not to wake the sleeping beauty in the other bed. Aileen snored gently in a little symphony that Cassie was going to have to learn to live with. Quietly she slipped into the bathroom. There was no sound from Laura’s room; she too was obviously fast asleep. Cassie had found it hard to get to sleep the night before. Her thoughts kept returning to Nora and the look on her face as Cassie had said goodbye to her. How could some people cut their ties so easily? Cassie envied them. But she was too entangled in her bonds of guilt.

  How did one get rid of one’s guilt? Why did she have these feelings? Barbara would never be troubled by such things, nor Irene; she was so used to worrying about herself exclusively. John would be like her. He too would feel a responsibility towards their mother. Maybe it was because she was the eldest. Aileen was like her, but then look at Laura. She managed very well to make her choices about her life and not feel badly about it. Well, Cassie was going to do the same. Today was a beautiful day and she was going to enjoy it.

  They had gone shopping the previous night and spent a fortune, setting themselves up with the basics. They had decided to put ten pounds a week each into the kitty. Laura was taking charge of it. So much would be saved up for the ESB and heating; the rest would be used to buy communal requirements like milk and bread and sugar and toothpaste and toilet-rolls. Last night in the supermarket they had had a communal trolley into which they had put everything for which they would be sharing the bill. Then the total wa
s divided by three. They also had their own baskets for personal purchases. It was the fairest way and they were all quite happy with it.

  Then, at supper, they had worked out a rota system for their housekeeping. Each of them would have a week during which they would be responsible for keeping the bathroom clean and doing the vacuuming and dusting. Of course it was expected of them all that they would leave the bathroom and kitchen tidy after use. It was only fair and they wanted to live harmoniously together and not end up bickering about who was doing what or who wasn’t. As regards cooking meals, they would be flexible. If they were all there together, they would eat together; if not they would look after themselves. In theory it all seemed very sensible but only time would tell if things were working out and going to plan. As Aileen said seriously, sharing a flat was like getting married and it could be the end of a beautiful relationship unless they got their act together.

  Cassie made herself some tea, and poured cornflakes into a dish. Opening the back door she sat on the step and raised her face to the sun. It was going to be a scorcher for sure. A day for serious sunbathing, despite the lateness of the season. It was a real bonus that they had the back garden. It was a nice mature little garden with a good square lawn and trees and shrubs in abundance. Along the back wall, banks of nasturtiums made a riot of colour. Up beside her, an urn of tumbling night-scented stock perfumed the early morning air. Cassie sniffed appreciatively. The smell of night-scented stock was so beautiful. Jack had loved it and it reminded her of him. Tonight as dusk fell it would smell really wonderful. It was unusual, she felt, especially after some of the flats she had seen, to get such a nice, well-tended garden. But the landlord had told them that until last year a widow had lived in this house and the garden had been her pride and joy. One night her house had been broken into and vandalized. Forty years of happy memories had disappeared forever, as fear invaded her life and every corner of the home she had once loved. Unable to sleep at night, afraid to go out for fear of what she might find when she returned home, she had suffered a breakdown. In the end she had given up her home and her lovely garden and her independence and gone to live with her married daughter. Just another crime statistic, but in reality a woman whose life had been utterly changed by a criminal.

  There were new aluminium windows in the house now, with safety locks. But the landlord had told them to be conscious of their security, making sure to lock up when they went out and to leave a light on at night. These were simple little precautions that seemed strange after living in Port Mahon, where some people never locked their doors and a burglary was a rarity and the talk of the town for ages.

  Ranelagh was a very nice area to live in, the landlord had said reassuringly when he saw their worried faces, but in this day and age it was better to be safe than sorry. Cassie hoped the woman was happy living with her daughter wherever she was, but it was a pity all the same to have had to leave such a beautiful home and garden.

  There wasn’t a sound but the birds singing and the occasional dog barking. Cassie sat enjoying her sunny solitude. She made herself another cup of tea and had another bowl of cornflakes. Of course it was only eight-thirty on a Sunday morning when most normal people were enjoying a lie-in. But she knew she couldn’t go back to bed. She would get her Gone With the Wind that she had finally treated herself to and read a bit of it, and then go to ten o’clock Mass in Ranelagh church. Neither Laura nor Aileen went to Mass any longer as they felt it had no bearing on their lives. But it wasn’t a chore to Cassie.

  In Port Mahon she had quite liked going to Mass. There was always a great air about the town on Sunday morning. People dressed in their best. They had time to stop and greet each other as they came in all directions to the church. At eleven-thirty Mass, Cassie’s favourite, the choir always sang and the rafters would be raised as the congregation accompanied them in the old familiar traditional hymns. Cassie liked singing in church. She liked feeling part of the community. It gave her, in some strange way, a sense of security. This was her time and her place; her forbears had been here before her and her descendants, if she had any, would be here after. Laura and Aileen thought she was crazy to enjoy going to Mass. They could think of far better things to do with that hour on Sundays, but Cassie didn’t mind. She liked it and so she went and if she were mad, who cared? To each his own! Besides, somehow, at Mass she always felt closer to Jack.

  She spent a very relaxed hour sitting on the step reading her treasured novel. She was nearing the end of it and Scarlett was just about to face Melanie, having been caught embracing Ashley by India Wilkes.

  Reluctantly Cassie got up and put the book aside. She’d finish it later on. She couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen. Cassie thought Scarlett was magnificent, a woman who did what she wanted and to hell with convention. She would love to be like Scarlett O’Hara, but somehow or another she knew she was more of a Melanie!

  Dressed in a cotton summer dress, Cassie slipped silently out of the house and turned towards Ranelagh church. Other people were walking in the same direction and Cassie smiled to herself. Port Mahon, Ranelagh, it didn’t matter; all over the country, all over the world, on Sunday mornings, people went to church.

  Walking along at a brisk pace, Cassie gazed around her new environment. It was really very attractive. In the distance, the church tower was framed by the Dublin mountains. She hadn’t realized they were so near to the mountains. Today, it was so crisp and clear, they seemed very near, their patchwork of greens and golds and purples so close it was as if they were just down the road. Redbrick houses similar to her own lined both sides of the street; most of them were well kept and cared for. Unkempt gardens and unpainted doors were the exceptions. Passing a window with the blinds raised, she could see children playing inside in the sitting-room. From what she had seen since her arrival in the area, there seemed a good mixture of young and old and in-betweens. Many houses were in flats but just as many were owned by families. There was a very nice atmosphere about the place and Cassie knew instinctively that she was going to like living here.

  The church, which seemed huge and imposing from the outside, was a pleasant surprise to Cassie. In ways it reminded her of Our Lady, Star of the Sea in Port Mahon. They even had the same stations of the cross. And the sun shone through the stained-glass windows just like at home! After Mass, she bought the Sunday papers. All she was going to do today was laze out the back eating and reading. It was so pleasant. At home Nora would be fussing about having the roast in the oven before going to church and there’d be a queue for the bathroom and general mayhem and any poor unfortunate who was trying to have a lie-in could forget it. Here there was just peace and quiet and the freedom to do as you please was a joy. She stopped at the newsagents to buy some chocolate as a treat. After all, it was their second day in the flat and that was as good an excuse to buy chocolate as any!

  The girls were up when she got back. They were having breakfast and Laura was already in her bikini.

  ‘Let’s not waste a minute of it,’ she beamed. ‘Isn’t it a dream of a day?’

  ‘I think I’m having a dream,’ Aileen said as she dipped a finger of toast into the runny egg in front of her. ‘Here I am, sitting in my nightdress at the breakfast-table, with my two best buddies, preparing to spend a blissful day sunbathing, with nothing more to do than to decide what paper to read and when to have dinner. And then to decide which pub I will bring you to for a drink tonight. After years of getting up to bring Mother her breakfast in bed and listening to her trying to decide whether to have carrots and broccoli or peas and turnips for lunch, which is always served at one-thirty promptly. Then the washing-up has to be done and afternoon tea and biscuits prepared for her. By which time it’s well into the afternoon and a whole day is wasted. I can’t believe I’m going to be lying out in the sun by eleven-thirty!’

  ‘Believe it!’ laughed Laura.

  Before long they were stretched out on towels, oiling Ambre Solaire onto their skins. ‘I love the
smell of this,’ Cassie confessed as she rubbed it onto her midriff.

  ‘Mmmm! Me too!’ said Aileen, who, in spite of her copper curls and fair skin, tanned beautifully. ‘It’s so foreign. You know, I think we should go abroad next year. We could start saving now. And we could wait until Laura comes home from the States with a bit of money. We could go mid-September.’

  ‘Oooh, yesss!’ squealed the other two when they heard this brainwave. In a state of euphoria they began planning for their first holiday abroad as they lay stretched out, munching the chocolate Cassie had brought home.

  It was really the most perfect day. They lay listening to Solid Gold MacNamara on Cassie’s transistor as all the greatest hits were played, often singing aloud in accompaniment. After a rousing rendition of Neil Diamond’s ‘Cracklin’ Rosie,’ they decided they were parched and Aileen was dispatched to the nearest off-licence with a contribution from the kitty while Cassie and Laura went inside to prepare lunch. They had bought a cooked chicken and various salads and some soft rolls. It didn’t take a minute to prepare. Cassie quickly washed the crispy lettuce and put it on the three plates. Carving the chicken expertly, she added the meat to the lettuce while Laura arranged slices of tomato, radish and cucumber artistically around the edge. They made a pot of tea and carried the lot out to the garden.

  Aileen arrived, brandishing a bottle of Dubonnet in one hand and a bottle of white lemonade in the other. ‘The man in the off-licence said this was just the thing for a hot summer’s day!’ she grinned. The picnic was scrumptious. They had coleslaw and Waldorf salad and egg and onion to add to their meal and they sat in a circle and tucked in, washing it down with sips of ice-cold Dubonnet and white.

  ‘What is it about eating out that makes food so much tastier?’ Laura mused as she spread some egg and onion on a bread roll, added a slice of chicken and a spoonful of coleslaw and took a huge bite.