Chapter 16

 

The next day Felice and Spike stroll into the shop just before I end my morning shift. Felice dumps an enormous shopping bag on the counter in front of me. Cautiously, I peek inside. It’s crammed full of videos.

Wow, I don’t know what to say.

“Andy will be pleased,” I murmur as I put the bag safely behind the counter, almost as if I’m afraid she’ll change her mind. She has that effect on me and it’s not just because she’s the boss’s daughter.

“I couldn’t give a flying fuck about Andy,” she goes straight to the point. “Have you any idea how you ended up at the passage grave last night?”

“Honestly, I don’t. I went up to bed and I remember going out onto the balcony and being surprised at how bright the night was and how clearly I could see the passage grave across the field.”

“You were fully clothed when we found you,” Felice says.

“Yeah.” I try to think back to what I did next. “I suppose I came back inside and lay down on the bed. I must have fallen asleep straight away.”

“If you’d just been looking out across the field, I guess it kinda makes sense in a way that you’d sleepwalk there,” Spike says rubbing his chin.

“You think?” Felice voices the doubt we’re all feeling.

“Well, can you come up with any other explanation?”

“Kit thinks last night was the real Lunasa,” I say slowly.

“Kit has this thing about Aonghus,” Felice rounds on me, eyes flashing. “Don’t encourage her!”

“But, do you think,” my voice falters, “I mean, she doesn’t believe in him, does she?”

“It’s not so much she believes in him,” Spike clicks his tongue and tosses his head, “it’s more she’s not sure she doesn’t believe in him.”

“Yeah,” Felice nods, “that’s a good way to put it.”

“The old tales,” Spike goes on, “they are rooted in the soil around here and there’s always that question, isn’t there? If they’ve endured so long, there must be something in it. Think of all the superstitions we still have, like the way we won’t pick hawthorn or bring it into the house when it’s in flower, or the way farmers plough around the fairy forts. Everyone knows there are things that mustn’t be disturbed.”

Mam doesn’t bring hawthorn into the house in May either, and she has a Padre Pio medallion hidden in a recess in the car to keep us safe when we drive, but it’s not the same thing. There is something warm and comforting about Padre Pio that reassures my mother, whereas Aonghus, and his associations with the full moon and ancient Celtic rituals, is much more enigmatic and scary. But then I suppose Kit, unlike my mother, isn’t looking for reassurance.

“Anyway, that’s not the only reason we came to see you,” Felice says and I’m glad she’s changed the subject. The whole idea of Aonghus, and Kit believing he might exist, is just too much for me.

“We want you to drive us to Galway!” Felice has a knack for coming out with the unexpected. “Black Death is playing a really big gig there tomorrow and we want to go. We’ve persuaded Kit to come too. Mac will let us all in for free if we give them a hand to get set up. So, what about it?”

“Um, I’m working tomorrow.” I mean I’d like to go, of course I would, but I can’t just get the day off at such short notice.

“That’s a shame,” Felice says, “we wanted to have a last outing together, something special, before the summer ends and we’re back at school.”

Now I feel really bad and I shift awkwardly from one foot to the other. “I wish I could take you. Really, I do.”

“Come on,” Spike takes her arm. “It’s not Tully’s fault.”

“I’m sorry,” I call after them.

“Don’t worry!” Spike winks at me as he leads her out of the shop. “We’ll come up with something.”

I’ve no doubt they will, but I wish it included me.

 

“What’s up? Why the glum face?” Andy says when he comes in to take over from me.

“It’s nothing, just Felice wanted me to drive her to Galway tomorrow.”

“Boss’s daughter, eh?” Andy raises an eyebrow in speculation.

“No, nothing like that,” I hasten to explain. “She wanted me to drive a group of them down. While she was in, she dropped these back!”

“I don’t believe it,” Andy swoops on the bag. “Look at all of these. We’ll have an almost full inventory at the end of the month, and you know what that means?”

I shake my head.

“I’ve a chance at the district manger bonus. And it’s a good one!” He pumps his fist in the air. “Good man, Tully. Hey, if you want to go driving the boss’s daughter around the place, I can take your shift tomorrow. I owe you one and I’ve nothing on.”

“Really?” It never even occurred to me to ask. “Are you sure?”

“Sure I’m sure. We’ll be quits.”

“Wow, that’s fantastic, thanks Andy!”

But when I ring Axel Carr’s house, there’s no answer. Felice isn’t home yet.

It’s late by the time I finally get hold of her with the good news.

“Oh Tully,” she sounds less thrilled than I expect. “We got sorted after. We’re going in the van with Mac and the gang.”

“Really? Is there enough space?”

“Yeah, Baz is coming down separately, so there’s room for Spike and I.”

Spike and Felice, I do a quick calculation. “But what about Kit?”

“Oh, Kit can’t go. Her parents won’t let her. It’s a bummer but what can you do?”

“She must be really disappointed.” I can imagine how devastated Kit feels at being left out again, even though this time it really isn’t Felice or Spike’s fault.

“Anyway, there wouldn’t have been room for the three of us in the van.”

“No, I guess not.” I shouldn’t be surprised at how heartless she is. This is Felice after all, but Kit is her best friend.

I put the phone down wishing I hadn’t taken the day off. At least if I was working, it would pass the time and I’d earn some money, but there’s no way I can ask Andy to change his plans again. Then I remember something they said earlier, about the end of the summer and wanting to do something special together before it’s over.

The freedom the three of them have to just hang out and not do anything else during the endless summer days and long, sultry evenings, has felt like it could go on forever. In reality, the impromptu calls into the shop, the weekend parties, the precious moments stolen with them are all coming to an end.

In September, Kit will be back at school and I’ll see even less of her than I do now. She’ll still be home at weekends, I tell myself, knowing it won’t be the case. Spike has already confessed he can’t wait to get out of Drimshanra and Felice will have lots of new places to explore in Dublin. If they don’t come home, Kit won’t either.

Time is running out, but there are a couple of factors in my favour. The first is an unexpected day off tomorrow. The second is the fifty pounds Andy won for me. That will easily fill Mam’s car with enough petrol to get to Galway and back. It might even stretch to lunch on the way.