Page 78 of The Girl with the Irish Secret
‘Of course you are.’ Leo put the cape back on Vi and proceeded to remove the makeup with a special lotion that left her skin feeling smooth and refreshed. Then he brushed out her hair and she slowly watched the Kathleen-look disappear to be replaced by her own persona.
‘There,’ Leo said. ‘You’re you again.’
‘Strange,’ Vi said as their eyes met in the mirror. ‘Really eerie, actually. Being her, and then me again. I don’t know how I’ll feel when the filming starts. It’s going to take some adjustment. Maybe I’ll need therapy when it’s all over?’ She laughed.
Leo nodded as he sorted his paraphernalia of makeup and brushes into different pouches and boxes and put it all into a big bag. ‘It might be hard at first. But you’ll get used to it.’
‘I hope so.’ Vi’s thoughts drifted to Jack Montgomery and their conversation in the pub. ‘It’s just that I want to be as close to Kathleen as possible and that might carry with it certain risks. I mean, in the relationships with my co-stars.’
Leo looked thoughtfully at Vi. ‘I know who you mean and also what you’re worried about. But you’ll be okay if you give yourself a reality check now and then. I’ll help you if you like. I’ll be with you doing you up every day, after all.’
‘That’s very comforting,’ Vi said, feeling relieved at the thought. It would be nice to have someone on her side all the time. Someone who might be there for her if things got difficult emotionally.
They said goodbye and Leo promised to call Vi when he came to Ireland. She left the studio feeling she had so much to look forward to. If only she didn’t have to face her sisters.
6
The trip to Magnolia Manor was tiring and stressful. Heathrow was very busy and getting through security a huge hassle. Then the flight to Dublin was delayed and Vi had to sit at the gate for over two hours before boarding. She found herself in a middle seat, squashed between two rugby players on their way back after a match. Both of them fell asleep as soon as the plane took off and snored loudly all through the trip. When she finally arrived and had got her luggage, she just missed the bus that would take her to the train station and had to wait half an hour for the next one. She should have bought a flight to Cork instead but they were all booked out so she had been forced to fly to Dublin.
While she waited for the bus, her thoughts went back to her family. She smiled as she thought of the film company negotiating with her grandmother, Sylvia Fleury, who, despite her eighty-five years was still as fresh as a daisy in both body and mind. Vi had always thought of her grandmother as a steel rod, strong and unbendable even in the worst storms. And there had been storms all through her life, especially when both her husband and son, Vi’s grandfather and father, were killed ina boating accident off the Kerry coast. Vi had only been two years old at the time and couldn’t remember either her father or grandfather. But the tragedy had affected her life nevertheless.
Vi’s older sisters, Lily and Rose, had been devastated and the trauma of that awful day would always stay with them. Vi had always been envious of her sisters because they had memories of their father that Vi could never share, which felt like a loss all on its own.
By the time Vi got on the train at around six o’clock in the evening, it was already dark. She normally enjoyed the journey through the charming landscape of rolling green hills but she was exhausted and fell asleep, not waking up until she arrived in Mallow, where she changed for the train to Tralee. It didn’t arrive there until after ten o’clock and, as she hadn’t wanted to ask her grandmother to meet her, she would have to take a taxi, which would not be cheap. But she had no choice and she realised that there was nobody to call for help.
She walked into the old building that she had always found so interesting with its façade built of granite and the original sash windows. It had been built in 1859 when Kerry became a popular area for holiday makers. Vi had always loved the old interior with its wooden benches where she imagined people sitting waiting for trains all through the years. But now the waiting rooms were cold and deserted and she walked out, feeling lost and lonely. She had been away too long and Kerry suddenly felt more alien than London.
Vi was standing on the platform considering her options when she heard someone calling her name. She looked around and saw a figure waving further down the platform. Then she realised who it was. Nora, who used to work as housekeeper at Magnolia Manor and was now her grandmother’s friend and confidant.
‘Nora,’ Vi called, running towards the woman while she pulled her suitcase behind her. ‘Hi. What are you doing here?’
‘We came to meet you and take you home,’ Nora replied as Vi arrived by her side. ‘Sylvia said you’d be coming today and we figured you’d be on the late train. Martin is parking the car and sent me to look for you.’
Vi stared at Nora as tears welled up. ‘Oh, how lovely,’ she said and fell into Nora’s arms. ‘I’m so glad to see you. I thought nobody would come and meet me.’
‘Oh, my dear girl,’ Nora said, giving Vi a tight hug. ‘Of course we’d come. Aren’t you one of our Fleury girls that we’re so very fond of?’
‘I just wasn’t sure,’ Vi said. She didn’t want to admit that she thought Nora might have heard what she’d said about her sisters. ‘We had that disagreement last year, so…’
‘Your sisters will come around eventually, I’m sure,’ Nora soothed, as if reading her mind.
‘Eventually,’ Vi said bitterly. ‘Like when hell freezes over?’ She looked at Nora and noticed only a few small changes in her appearance. In her mid-sixties, Nora had greying short hair and lovely blue eyes around which there were only a few wrinkles. ‘You look good,’ she said to Nora. ‘Fit and bright and youthful.’
Nora laughed. ‘Well, thanks. Coming from a young thing like yourself, that’s a big compliment.’ She took Vi’s suitcase and started to roll it towards the exit. ‘Now come on. Martin will wonder what happened. It’ll take just under an hour to get home. Sylvia is waiting up with supper and then you can settle into the gatehouse. We turned on the heating and made up the bed for you. You’ll be as snug as a bug in a rug.’
‘Oh, that sounds so great,’ Vi said as she hitched her tote bag onto her shoulder and followed Nora, all the tensions about meeting her sisters nearly forgotten. ‘Can’t wait to see Granny.’
‘She’ll be happy to see you too.’ Nora turned around and peered at Vi. ‘There was something in the newspaper about you making a film about Kathleen O’Sullivan – with a photo of you looking the spit of her.’
‘Oh, was there?’ Vi realised that the press release was out there already. ‘Yes, as you know they’ll shoot some of it at Magnolia. I’m sure Granny told you.’
‘She did. Good news. It’ll bring in some money and publicity for the manor and Lily’s café and garden centre. It’s getting hard to make ends meet in the wintertime.’
‘I can imagine,’ Vi said as they exited the station. She scanned the street for Martin and spotted him a little further away, getting out of a Toyota SUV. ‘There’s Martin,’ she said, quickening her step. ‘And you have a new car.’
‘We do,’ Nora said. ‘A bit big but Martin loves it. It’s a hybrid so we’re doing our bit for the environment.’
‘That’s great,’ Vi said and hurried to greet Martin with a hug. ‘Hi, Martin. So good to see you. How are you?’
