Page 11 of The Girl with the Irish Secret
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Vi spent the trip on the Tube thinking about Dingle and how wonderful it would be to go home for a while. She had meant what she’d said to Jack and telling him about it had awoken all the good memories. She pushed the thoughts of her sisters to the back of her mind and simply reminded herself of the delights of Kerry and how good she always felt when she came home. It was the soft air, the friendliness of the people who were always happy to have a chat about anything under the sun, the ever-changing skies, the endless ocean, the cries of seagulls and the green hills above the town. She had longed to see the world, to go to exciting places and have a career as an actress. Now that she had succeeded, it would be good to come back to show everyone. She might not stay in Kerry for good, but this time she wouldn’t feel like running away. For a while, anyway.
Just before Vi left for Kerry, her agent called her saying the film team wanted to take a few publicity shots of her for the press release. ‘Looking as close to Kathleen as possible,’ he added.
‘Gosh, I’m not sure how to do that, but I’ll have a go,’ Vi said.
‘Their makeup artist is going to be there and do everything. Hair, face, the lot,’ Hugh said. ‘He needs to practise on you, they said. After all, he is going to have to do it every day during filming.’
Then Leo called her to confirm he was doing her makeup for the photo shoot. ‘I’ll make you so like Kathleen they’ll think she’s back from the dead,’ he said which made Vi laugh.
It was a fun shoot, with the photographer and Leo doing their best to get Vi to resemble Kathleen O’Sullivan. They had blown up several photos of Kathleen and pinned them to a board next to a mirror in front of which Vi sat down. She looked at the face of the woman she was going to portray and marvelled at how Kathleen came alive in the various shots. She was posing with a little poodle in her arms, her flaming red hair blowing in the wind in one of them, and sitting demurely, dressed in period costume in another. Her amazing green eyes under thick dark brows stood out, along with her freckles and full mouth. Vi glanced at herself in the mirror and felt like a pale copy of the vivacious film star. She was quite a blank canvas, apart from the basic features.
‘I don’t know how you’re going to make me look even faintly like Kathleen,’ Vi remarked.
Standing behind her, Leo put a black cape around Vi’s shoulders and told her to close her eyes and relax. ‘Don’t worry. I’ve got this. All you have to do is think happy thoughts and not move or open your eyes until I tell you.’
‘Okay.’ Vi did as she was told and slowly relaxed as she felt Leo’s gentle touch on her face, applying foundation, eye shadow, mascara, blusher and finally, a dusting of powder. Then he started on her hair with gentle brush strokes.
‘I’m going to put your hair in a low bun, like Kathleen used to wear it in the early nineteen fifties,’ he said. ‘And curl some of it around your face.’
‘Can’t wait to see it,’ Vi said, fighting to keep her eyes closed while she slowly relaxed.
‘So you’re going to Kerry soon?’ Leo said in her ear. ‘I bet you can’t wait.’
‘It’ll be nice to be back,’ Vi replied.
‘What family do you have there?’ Leo asked, as he pinned her hair back.
‘My grandmother and my two sisters,’ Vi replied.
‘You must be looking forward to seeing them,’ he said.
‘My granny, yes,’ Vi said. ‘I’m a bit nervous about seeing my sisters.’
‘You fell out?’
‘Yeah, something like that.’
‘Sibling rivalry?’ he suggested.
‘Partly, yes. But…’ She stopped. ‘Oh, it’s so complicated. It’s about an interview I did with a Kerry newspaper about a year ago,’ she continued, as Leo kept brushing her hair. It felt so good and he sounded so interested, as if he cared about her and wanted to help her through the trauma of what had happened. Even though he was complete stranger, she felt she could trust him. ‘It happened when the interview was over,’ she said in a low voice. ‘Or so I thought. She asked me about my family and I talked about my sisters, telling her that we weren’t always getting on. My sisters took it to mean that I felt that they were jealous of me because of their dreary lives. I didn’t put it quite like that and what I actually said was supposed to be off the record, but they used it anyway. It was on the front page of the local newspaper the following week. I had no idea they were going to include all that in the article.’
‘Not your fault, then,’ Leo said. ‘Except you should have been aware that you were talking to a journalist. They are always after a good story.’
‘She seemed so nice and understanding,’ Vi said. ‘She had these kind eyes and warm voice. I wanted to tell her the story of my life.’
‘Must have been good at her job, I’d say.’
‘Yes. She knew how to get me to spill the beans using fake kindness and understanding,’ Vi said with a touch of bitterness. ‘I didn’t mean to put it like that, and it sounded as if I was sneering at Lily and Rose. I wasn’t, it’s just that I’ve never understood why they returned to Dingle. I thought they wanted more out of life. They were very upset about it. And then we had a row and we all said things we didn’t really mean. They cut me off and have refused to speak to me since. They thought I was using them to get publicity.’
‘How awful for you.’ Leo pulled a few strands of Vi’s hair around her face and curled them around a curling iron. Then he stepped back. ‘There. You can open your eyes.’
Vi looked at the mirror and gasped as Kathleen’s face came into view. Only it was Vi, looking like a cloned version of the film star. ‘Oh holy mother,’ she exclaimed. ‘It’s scary. I look like…her, I really do. Except for the nose, but that doesn’t seem to matter.’ She leaned forward and studied her image. ‘I feel as if I’ve been shot back in time. To the nineteen fifties. It’s incredible.’
‘Fantastic,’ the photographer said. ‘Leo, you’re a genius.’
‘I had good material,’ Leo said. ‘There’s only the nose that we have to remodel with special clay. But we’ll do that during the filming. Must say that Vi is a perfect choice for the part.’
