The Tour (10 page)

He had noticed a strange thing at the first traditional music session he went to in Kinsale. Whereas in America different age groups each had their own kind of music, here there were at least fifteen musicians, from guys and girls his own age and younger to real old-timers. Initially, it had struck him as weird, teenagers and pensioners all playing music and chatting away together, but then he realised that was how the tunes got passed on. People didn’t seem to have lessons, as such; they simply learned from listening to each other. The way that Diarmuid had been so helpful and open when they met in the church seemed a bit odd at first, but now that Dylan saw exactly how a session worked, Diarmuid’s attitude made perfect sense. It was as if everyone owned the music, and therefore sharing it willingly was one of the things that made it so powerful. If you were a part of that world, you had a duty to share it with everyone else.

God, how much he would love to be a part of that world, but, of course, he would never be able to play anything like the guys in the pub. Besides, he wasn’t even Irish. It was just a dream, he was aware of that, but it helped him to block out the shameful antics of his mother, whose displays of desperation were growing worse by the day. He knew she was broke and badly needed to find another meal ticket, but somehow he had to stop her making a total fool of herself.

Chapter 10

Their journey took them out of County Cork and into County Kerry. As they made their way around the Ring of Kerry, Conor recounted legends from Celtic times, his patter interspersed with facts about the geology and archaeology of the area. The group gazed in awe at stone circles and ring forts dating back thousands of years.

One stop was at a sheep farm where the surprisingly debonair farmer explained the complicated process of training Border Collies to herd sheep in the high mountains of the peninsula. The dogs endeared themselves to the tourists with their eagerness to do their jobs. When the talk was over and they had seen a variety of different sheep, Conor led them to the nearby pub. Leaving the group to enjoy their Irish coffee, Conor returned to the coach to wait. This morning, he wasn’t in the humour for meeting the other drivers and tour guides. He needed some time to think. The prospect of having Sinead back in his life again was gradually sinking in. She was the only person he ever really loved enough to want to marry. So much time had passed, however: they were both so much older now. He knew he couldn’t just ignore the letter, even if he wanted to. Reaching for his BlackBerry, he wrote:

Hello Sinead,

Thanks for your letter. It certainly was a surprise to hear from you. No, I haven’t heard from Gerry in many years either. I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work out. I don’t live in Passage West any longer but I have my post forwarded. It’s as easy to contact me by email, if you wish to.

Best wishes,

Conor

He reread the email three times. It still didn’t sound right, but he didn’t know what else to say, so he just pressed send. As he did so, his phone beeped, indicating an incoming text message:

‘Hi Conor, Betty tell Mr Manner he is “jumped up little eejit”. He nearly explode! Hope tour going good. See you soon Ana x.’

Conor smiled. He could just picture the scene. He was about to text back when he noticed Juliet at the door of the coach.

Conor pressed the button to open the door. ‘Juliet!’ he said ‘Everything OK?’

‘Conor, I’m really sorry to interrupt your break, but I wonder if I could just ask you something... in private.’ Juliet looked even more timid than usual.

‘Come on in and sit down there. What can I do for you?’ Conor replied, intrigued, but at the same time certain it had something to do with that lighting devil poor Juliet was landed with.

‘Thank you’ Juliet replied ‘It’s…well I’ll get right to the point… you see…the thing is that well…

‘C’mon now,’ said Conor smiling, ‘spit it out.’

Juliet gave a wan smile in return.

‘The thing is I was wondering if, and if it’s a problem just say so, but I was thinking, I was hoping really, that when we get to our next hotel in Killarney, I could get a room of my own. I mean I will pay of course, but it’s just that I’m finding sharing, well let’s just say it’s a bit difficult.’

‘I’d say that’s a bit of an understatement,’ Conor replied wryly.

‘I’ll see what I can do for you Juliet, and if it’s possible at all I’ll swing it for you. Now, would I be right in guessing that it would be easier if the reason for this change was presented as a miscommunication between the travel agent and the hotel, as opposed to a response to a request from anyone?’

Juliet sighed with relief and gave Conor a grateful smile. ‘Thanks so much Conor, that would be wonderful.’

Corlene looked with distaste at the sheep. Her interest in anything agricultural had come to a swift end around the time of the debacle of the Montana widower. She nearly had him in the bag, until his interfering daughter turned up, flinging unsavoury and totally ridiculous accusations at Corlene. That had all ended very badly. The problem was that the pressure was on now to find a replacement because the cost of living was so expensive these days and well…something would have to be done. Dylan was really getting in the way on this trip, and he was doing nothing to attract any potential suitors for her. He had told her he was going to make sure she didn’t make any more stupid mistakes. Who the hell did that kid think he was? She had been taking care of herself for a few years now and what she most definitely did
not need
was some sanctimonious teenager telling her what to do.

She wandered away from the sheep shearing demonstration and headed to the bar attached. Conor had said the group were to go there after the talk anyhow. She was badly in need of a drink. Things were not working out as well as she had hoped with the old Texan, Bert or Bart, or whatever he was called. He was obviously a bit more shrewd than she had first thought. Anyway, she appeared to have some competition from that old fossil Ellen. Incredible!

A handsome young barman interrupted her reverie. ‘What can I get you?’ he asked with a broad smile.

Corlene smiled back. Hmm, she thought. He’s cute. What the hell. He’s broke for sure, but he would do for a bit of fun. A Mr Right Now while she continued trying to locate Mr Right. She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

‘Are y’alright there Missus?’ he asked in a strong Irish accent. ‘Have ya somethin’ in yer eye?’

‘No…em…no not at all,’ Corlene replied, ‘I'll have a Manhattan please.’

The barman looked at her and then surveyed the old- fashioned pub with a grin and said,

‘I don’t know if you noticed Missus, but there wouldn’t be much call for fancy cocktails in this place. It’s more of a pints and drops of whiskey sort of establishment, if you know what I mean. Having said all that, my Mam always told me to try and help people out if I could, so if you tell me what goes into a Manhattan, then I’ll see what I can do for ya.’

Corlene eyed him up and down. He was no more than seventeen or eighteen and had a really fit body and a kind of innocent charm.

‘Aiden!’ roared a voice from the end of the bar. A middle-aged man was reading the paper and seemed to be only half way through his pint.

‘Throw on another pint there for me will ya? Herself is gone into Killorglin, so I have a half an hour. If she rings though I’m not here. I’m supposed to be cleaning her mother’s headstone. I swear she’s only trying to think of jobs for me to do. And no doubt that self-same auld cow is looking down laughin’ at me! The sight of a man relaxing over a pint seems to send my one wild altogether, heh heh. It’ll be all picture and no sound and me dinner in the dog if she catches me in here.’

‘Coming up Paddy,’ Aiden responded good-naturedly. Aiden turned his attention back to Corlene.

‘Well Aiden,’ she luxuriated over his name, ‘I guess a Manhattan is just the wrong kind of drink for here. When in Rome…what do
you
think I would like then?’ she gave her best kittenish smile and a little wink, so that he would be left in no doubt about her flirting. She didn’t want him to feel intimidated by her. She thought she must seem very sophisticated and glamorous to someone like him. Maybe she would let him visit her that evening in the hotel. Her reverie was interrupted by his response to her question about what drink he thought she would like.

‘Well I’m not too sure what you’d like. I know that when my Mam and my aunties go out, they have a glass of sherry. And my Nan usually has a glass of Guinness. Would that be OK?’

Corlene hid her horror. The cheek of him! Comparing her to his mother and, worse still, to his grandmother!

Aiden waited innocently for her to make up her mind. ‘Just give me a strong cup of coffee,’ she replied flatly. Back on board the coach, Conor continued his banter.

Most of the group were delighted by his knowledge and his stories, whereas Dylan was much too caught up in the music he was listening to with earphones to have heard a single word that Conor said. Corlene was still smarting from her treatment at the hands of the innocent Aiden and Elliot Heller’s eyes never left his phone screen.

Anna gazed out the window. She had never seen such glorious scenery. The wild landscape of rugged cliffs and rolling ocean, green mountains with those sheep everywhere simply wandering around all combined to have the most relaxing effect on her. She allowed herself to think about the whole situation with Elliot. The thing was that no one really understood him like Anna. She knew that people thought he treated her shabbily, but that was just his way, he didn’t
mean
it. Still, she was hoping to find the right time to tell him what she had known for a few weeks now. She was pregnant. She could barely conceal her excitement, and she just knew this was going to change everything. Elliot had so much love to give but he found it hard to open up. When he held his own baby in his arms, Anna felt sure it would be just the thing that was needed to open the floodgates.

She knew he had said he could never see himself as a father, but that was in the abstract right? Maybe somewhere out here would be a good place to tell him. That way, when he or she is grown up, Elliot would have a great story to tell, of how he had heard the most wonderful news in the most stunning place in the world. Maybe they would choose one of those beautiful Irish names for the baby. The prospect of all these possibilities made Anna almost cry with happiness. Conor was in the midst of describing upcoming photo opportunity at a place called Ladies View, something to do with the visit by Queen Victoria, she thought Conor had said. Nudging Elliot, she said ‘Come on honey, let’s get off and take a walk around here.’

Elliot didn’t look up from his screen.

‘You go,’ he answered distractedly, ‘I’m doing an email to Jim Schwartz. I gotta nail this before the share price drops.’

‘Please Elliot, just five minutes?’ she pleaded. ‘You haven’t looked at anything today.’

‘Sure I have, all I’ve seen all day is hills and rocks and water. Don’t tell me there’s anything out there that isn’t just more hills and rocks and water,’ he said, smiling at his wit. Eventually, he looked up at her and raised a hand in submission.

‘OK…OK…OK, just this one? One photo, then you give me some peace. Deal?’

‘Deal,’ she smiled.

They walked onto a slight headland; below them, the Black Valley opened up to reveal the majestic Lakes of Killarney. Anna led Elliot away from the rest of the group who were busy snapping and admiring. She carefully chose a spot of uneven ground so that she could stand below him and he wouldn’t have to look up at her. He hated the fact that she was taller than he was. She knew she had to keep everything perfect. Gazing up into his eyes, her heart pounding with anticipation, she said ‘Elliot, I have some news, for you, well us really, the thing is...’

Just as she was about to make her announcement she realised he was not paying attention. He was checking his back-up phone for messages.

‘Go on, I’m listening,’ he said, phone stuck to one ear. ‘I’m pregnant,’ she blurted. ‘We’re going to have a baby.

I can’t believe it myself, it’s just so exci…’ the look on his face stopped her mid-sentence.

‘Please tell me this is a joke,’ Elliot said in a slow, measured tone. ‘You did
not
just tell me you’re pregnant.’ His voice was like ice.

‘No…no joke. I really am… Aren’t you pleased?’ A tremor had appeared in Anna’s voice now.

Elliot walked a few feet away, his back to her as he looked down on the lakes and the valley below. There was a long silence.

‘Pleased?’ he spat. ‘What the hell would I be pleased about? No Anna, I’m not
pleased
. I told you I don’t want kids, I never have and I never will. If you thought you could go off, get yourself pregnant, and expect me to just go along with it, well you don’t know me as well as you think you do. I don’t
want
a kid now or in the future, so you’d better sort this mess out. I suppose this is going to cost me more money? Jesus, Anna! What were you
thinking
?’

‘What do you mean – sort this mess out… Do you want me to…?’ Her voice dropped to an anguished whisper, ‘Have a
termination
? Is that what you’re saying?’

Anna waited for his answer with fear in her heart, blood pumping quickly now, her temples throbbing. Every fibre of her being wanted him to take her in his arms and say, ‘Of course not! It’s just a bit sudden.’

She stared in horror at her husband as all her dreams drained away. His look said it all.

The sound of Conor’s voice calling everyone to get back on board seemed incongruous in the circumstances, but as she watched Elliot walk off, she realised her fairy-tale was over. This was it. She was on her own. She walked slowly towards the coach and climbed on board. He was back on his laptop again. She slipped into the seat and stared straight ahead. She needed to be alone, to think, to decide.

Chapter 11

Dorothy was disgruntled; Juliet was behaving in a most irritating fashion. If it hadn’t been for Dorothy, she would never have had a proper, interesting vacation. The height of her cultural experience would be a trip to Florida for God sake! But no, instead of gratitude for ensuring that she got out of her little cocoon and saw the world, she was deliberately going against Dorothy’s decisions one by one. Since that first night in Kinsale, Juliet seemed to use every opportunity to head off on her own somewhere. She was usually such a mouse, but, honestly, at the moment she was being completely ridiculous, chatting to Conor and that dreadful Patrick. She had even asked if they should invite Anna to join them for dinner last night. For heaven’s sake, the woman was travelling with her husband, why would she want to have dinner with them? Sometimes Dorothy wondered if Juliet was a bit mentally slow. She was useless at saving money and could easily be taken in by any gangster who wanted to rip her off. Well, Dorothy thought, from now on she could fend for herself. See how long she lasts.