The Traveller's Daughter

by Michelle Vernal

  Her face broke into a grin as she scrolled through it, Yasmin texted like she talked, one hundred miles an hour:

  Big news the hot Mr A asked me out for dinner tomorrow nite! So xcited. Wot r u doing bcos I need you here to hlp me choose outfit it is emergency and will NOT be asking Paula’s advice. How did photo shoot go?x

  Kitty sat there for a moment, she could imagine Yasmin’s excitement. She deserved to meet someone fantastic and who knew maybe Mr Amatriciana would turn out to be Mr Right. She hoped so. Poor Yas, the next twenty-fours would drag by, and she hoped she wouldn’t get herself in too much of a state about her date with him in that time. She began to text back:

  Fantastic news! Go girl!!! Wear ur fitted black dress, its vry classy and u look gorgeous in that. Don’t b nervous he will luv u. Photo done, ordeal over and it’s happening, at least I think it is happening – off to Ireland tonight. Phone you when I know what’s what. XXX

  She hit send aware of noise downstairs, Christian and Simone must be back, Christian having soaked up every second of his latest moment in the sun. She wanted to talk to him before they left. To thank him for the part he had played in getting her this close to meeting her family. She finally understood the events that had made her mother act the way she had for all those years. Casting her eyes around the room to make sure she’d packed all of her meagre belongings including the precious dress she was satisfied nothing had been forgotten. She stroked the cover of the journal for a moment as if to reassure herself it was still there and zipped her case up.

  The little wheels bounced over the stairs behind her, and as she reached the hallway she poked her head in the kitchen first, it was empty. She found Christian and Simone relaxing in the front room both with a drink in hand. Christian was reclining on the sofa and Simone was perched on the edge of the one-seater in what must be her version of kicking back. There was no sign of Pierre. Perhaps he was checking the car’s oil or water or whatever it was full-time chauffeurs did she thought. Christian spotted her first standing uncertainly in the doorway unsure as to whether she should interrupt them, his face lit up as he exclaimed, “Ah Rosa she is gone and ma belle Kitty is back!”

  “She is,” Kitty said with a smile as she sat down where he was patting the seat next to him.

  “When I work I think of nothing but the picture I am trying to capture and I was harsh on you today. I apologise but sometimes it is the only way.”

  “Its fine and I think maybe you needed to be a bit hard on me.”

  “Oui I think maybe I did.” His eyes danced. “Kitty the photo it is going to be special, very special. I think you will be surprised when you see it.”

  Kitty smiled, she wasn’t sure what she should say.

  Simone drained her glass and popped it down on the coffee table. “I will go and tell Jonny that you will both be leaving for Marseille Airport in twenty minutes.” As she stood to leave the room, Kitty flashed her a grateful smile for leaving them to talk finding herself liking this woman despite her uber professional demeanour. She wondered whether they would ever meet again and hoped that they would.

  “Do you go back to Paris this evening too?” She turned her attention back to Christian.

  “Non, I am an old man and I like a slow pace these days. Sadly I am an old man in love with a young woman and she is busy, busy always trying to get me to work. She is one of these, erm ow you say?”

  “Workaholics?” Kitty offered up.

  “Oui workaholic.” His grin was wolfishly charming. “But this time I have got my way and we will be staying on in Uzés for a few days to enjoy the charms this beautiful town has on offer.”

  Kitty sensed it was his work that kept him young and Simone was a smart enough woman to know that.

  “I think things, they are different for you now you know what it is Rosa wanted to tell you. So what will you do next ma chérie?”

  Kitty fiddled with the hem of her T-shirt twisting it and knowing that she shouldn’t because it would lose its shape. She needed something to do with her hands and since she didn’t smoke the T-shirt had to suffice. “I want to go back to Ireland with Jonny this evening and I was wondering if the flights could be changed at such short notice.”

  Christian did not seem surprised by what she’d said, in fact if anything he looked like this were what he had expected her to do Kitty realised. She wondered what he and Rosa had cooked up between them on that final visit. “And tell me what will you do when you get there?”

  “I am hoping Jonny will take me to meet mum’s family; he knows them apparently.” She couldn’t keep the edge out of her voice.

  “You sound unhappy about this?”

  “I am, but it’s not about him knowing who they are. It’s about the way he’s made his mind up about them and me thanks to an ancient feud between our two families. He doesn’t seem prepared to let it go.”

  Christian nodded. “Oui I understand but you, Kitty need to understand that Jonny is a man whose life perhaps has not always been a happy one and he is looking for people to blame for this. By going back to Ireland with him, he will get to know you better. Then maybe he will see that holding on to all this anger of his it is not the answer. He is a man who needs to let go of his pain and I think you might be the one to help him do this.”

  Kitty’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the wise old man sitting next to her. “Did you discuss this with my mother when you came to see her? Was this what she planned all along by my coming to Uzés and you giving me the journal here?”

  Christian’s smile was wistful. “Jonny contacted me when his father died and told me to stop sending the royalty payments from Midsummer Lovers. He said that his father hadn’t wanted them and neither did he. I told Rosa this.”

  “That’s not what he told me!”

  “He is a proud man, like Michael, was. Your maman she was a good woman. She wanted to put things she believed she was erm, responsible for right you understand?”

  She nodded as he patted her hand before giving it a squeeze.

  “Rosa I think knew in that peculiar way of hers that you would be the one to help Jonny to heal. He in turn would help you to find a side of yourself she never shared with you. She was also a clever woman your maman, and you need to trust in her and yourself. Go to Ireland with an open heart and an open mind Kitty.”

  Any doubts she had been having about it being mad what she was about to do vanished, and she would think about the practicalities of her shifts at Bruno’s later. Depending on how things went she might be back in time for her stall on Saturday and if not, well she would cross that bridge when she came to it. It was only Monday but so much had happened in these last few days that it felt like weeks had gone by. It was then she looked up and saw Jonny in the doorway, her face felt like she had just bitten into a particularly strong chilli as she wondered how much of the conversation he had overheard. His nonchalant expression was giving away nothing, but then she thought, that was hardly a surprise because it never did.

  He cleared his throat. “Simone said we’d be leaving soon.”

  “Jonny entrer, come-come.” He gestured to the seat Simone had vacated a few moments ago. “Sit down and join us.”

  Jonny looked at Kitty for a moment and hesitated but then leaning his backpack against the wall he did Christian’s bidding. He was clad in jeans and a T-shirt that announced he had been to a Foo Fighters concert in 2005. Either he hardly ever washed it or he used a particularly gentle washing powder, Kitty thought noting its good condition. She was more of an Ed Sheeran girl herself.

  “I have just been telling Kitty how pleased I am with the photograph I have taken today. It will be wonderful I think.

  Jonny looked as if he’d like to say, ‘whatever’ but he bit back the reply and nodded instead.

  “Kitty has just been telling me that she wants to change her flight and return with you to Dublin?”

  “Aye, she does.” He was not giving anything away Kitty thought looking at him and feeling a surg
e of frustration.

  “Simone she can organise this, it will not be a problem.”

  He nodded again and to break the ensuing silence Kitty stood up. “Well I suppose it’s time we said our goodbyes.”

  Christian got to his feet and held his arms out to her, she stepped into his embrace. He smelt of red wine, olives, garlic and a spicy aftershave she couldn’t pinpoint. She knew it was a scent she would always remember fondly. “Thank you for everything Christian.”

  “You are welcome ma belle Kitty. Please keep in touch with an old man who would like to know how you are from time to time.”

  Kitty felt her eyes smart, but she was determined that she would not cry, and she blinked them away. “I will. Christian, I promise.”

  “We will find Simone in a moment she will want to say goodbye too.”

  He turned his attention to Jonny then holding out his hand and shaking the younger man’s hand with a vigor that belied his years. “Thank you for helping to make this photograph I have taken today a reality.”

  Jonny nodded, and Kitty felt like kicking him, it wouldn’t kill him to speak.

  “Bonne chance, good luck with the future Jonny.”

  “Thanks.” He muttered grudgingly not looking at Kitty as he released the old man’s hand and picking up his pack swung it over his shoulder.

  Chapter 25

  Instinct is stronger than upbringing – Irish Proverb

  The plane bounced as its tyres hit the tarmac. Kitty looked out the window at the uninspiring evening waiting to greet them outside. Jonny peered past her into the gloom and muttered, “Welcome to Dublin.”

  His sarcasm wasn’t missed on her because the drizzle coating everything with its grey droplets looked a world away from the balmy, blue skies they had left behind in Uzés. Kitty’s stomach turned over as the plane began to slow, finally coming to a stop. The sudden churning in her belly wasn’t down to the glutinous pasta dish she had chosen for her evening meal on the short flight either. She’d got it down her regardless of its gloopy lack of flavour doubting much else would be on offer once they landed in Ireland. Nor was it down to having been sat so elbow bumpingly, leg brushingly close to Jonny for the last two hours. It was the realization that she was here. There was no going back and the certainty she had felt announcing to Yasmin earlier that afternoon that coming to Ireland was something she had to do was fast being replaced by doubt.

  She had no idea what the next day or two would bring and to quell her queasiness she told herself she would phone her friend as she had promised when she got to Jonny’s apartment. Yas’s black and white viewpoint would help put things in perspective for her. That was assuming Jonny was going to let her crash the night at his place and not drop her off outside some cruddy hostel leaving her to her own devices. That was another thing, she fancied him, she wasn’t sure that she liked him, but she fancied him. She had admitted it to herself somewhere over the English Channel when her leg had brushed against his and she had felt a shock ricochet through her. So with that being the case was staying at his place the best move on her part?

  She closed her eyes thinking back on the last couple of hours as she waited for the seatbelt light to go off and the exodus to begin.

  Jonny was already waiting in the back of the car when Christian kissed her goodbye on both cheeks before giving her a gentle push into the back seat. Pierre was sitting behind the wheel letting the engine run, eager to get going in case they met with any unexpected delays on the way. Kitty didn’t plan on being one of those unexpected delays this time having made sure she’d gone to the loo moments before. Simone too had shown rare effusiveness in her au revoir as she had clasped both her hands and given them a gentle squeeze before telling her to take care.

  As Pierre pulled away from the pavement, she watched their waving figures get smaller as she promised herself she would indeed make sure she kept in touch with them both. Then as they turned at the corner where the cherub’s water was once more trickling from its urn, and they disappeared, she settled back into the seat for the remainder of the journey.

  Jonny, she saw out the corner of her eye had ear plugs in and his fingers were tapping out whatever tune it was he was listening to on his thigh. There would be no light-hearted chit chat from his corner then she surmised staring out the window at the countryside that had replaced Uzés pretty buildings. It would be a long trip.

  She made it to the airport without the need to squat in any abandoned lots. Thanking Pierre as he handed her, her case she held out her free hand to say au revoir before trundling into the airport without so much as a backwards glance to see whether Jonny was following or not. Two could play at his game. She paused for a moment surveying all the desks until she spotted Aer Lingus in the midst of them where Simone had assured her they would have her ticket to Dublin ready and waiting.

  She was a wonder that woman she thought as she slid into her window seat an hour or so later, she had even managed to wrangle her a seat next to Jonny. Mind you given his silence over the last couple of hours she didn’t know whether that was a bonus or not. Still it would make it harder for him to slip away when they landed should he change his mind about her coming with him.

  She did up her seat belt and opened the woman’s magazine she had just bought to entertain herself for this last leg of her journey. As the plane began to taxi down the runway, she found herself reading with morbid curiosity about Kim’s life changing decision, shaking her head as she did so. It was ludicrous with all the big stuff going on in the world that this kind of trivial crap sold magazines she thought feeling Jonny’s gaze on her. Turning to look at him she saw that he was grinning.

  “What’s so funny?’

  “You are. Did you know that you mouth the words you are reading?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Ah yeah, you do I could tell you exactly what you were reading just now.”

  She frowned. “Alright Mr Lip Reader go on then.”

  “Okay, Kim Kardashian has opted to have her bottom reduced in a radical surgical procedure that she is hoping will change her life.”

  Kitty couldn’t help herself, she started laughing. “You cheated you looked at the headline and made the rest up.”

  “Maybe, but you still mouth the words when you read.”

  They sat in silence until they were airborne and then to her surprise Jonny began to talk. “You wanted to know a bit about your family.”

  “I did.” Kitty held her breath.

  “Okay well I don’t know all that much so don’t get too excited,” he said gazing back at her expectant face. “But with the Rourke’s and the Donohue’s history I knew who your Aunt Kitty was. By the time I arrived my family had moved onto another site in Ballyfermot. Kitty was there too married to Davey O’Connor. Neither of them had any beef with my mam and da although they kept their distance. From what I remember of her she was always surrounded by a load of kids. They’d all be nearly grown up now. The Travellers world is small, and I heard a few years back that they set themselves up in a permanent site in Wicklow. I don’t know what happened to your brother Paddy he was always a wild one, handy with his fists, and he never married so far as I know. To be honest, I’d be surprised if he’s still alive given his love of the bottle. It was that what pickled Da’s liver in the end.”

  Kitty nodded, so Paddy was like his father then she wasn’t surprised, her mother had alluded to this in her journal. She hadn’t expected to learn she had cousins’ and lots of them! Jonny had obviously decided he’d said enough, and he put his headphones on, settling back in his seat leaving her to wonder as to what they were all like.

  Now as she felt him get up from his seat she opened her eyes and thanked him as he passed her wheelie case down to her from the overhead luggage compartment, before pulling his pack down. At least they wouldn’t have to wait around for their bags she thought edging across to wait for the line of people to start moving. She hated this bit of the whole air travel process.

&n
bsp; “I guess you’ll be staying at my place tonight so I’ll drive you up to Wicklow tomorrow morning. I have a fair idea where the camp Kitty is living at is.” Jonny said as they began to push their way forward toward the exit, and she wished he’d sounded a bit more enthusiastic about it.

  ***

  “I’ll get this,” Kitty said leaning forward in her seat but Jonny already had his wallet out and fishing out a note he told the taxi driver to keep the change. It had been a relatively short ride from the airport so it shouldn’t have been too expensive she thought still feeling guilty. She was staying at his place after all. Thanking the driver she climbed out of the cab to find herself looking up at a high-rise apartment block. So this was where he called home she thought as she heard the car boot pop. It was not what she’d expected. Jonny grabbed their bags out and slammed the boot shut before giving the driver a wave. “Cheers mate.”

  “So where are we then?” Kitty asked waiting on the step as he punched a code into the front entrance security pad.

  “Swords. It’s not a bad spot pretty handy for most things.”

  The name didn’t mean much to her, but then Kitty had never visited Dublin before. She only knew the tourist basics about the city such as the River Liffey, Grafton Street, Trinity College, the Great Post Office and the Guinness Factory. Oh and she recalled a boozy weekend her old flatmate Gemma had spent in a place called Temple Bar on some girlfriend of hers hens night. She’d had a great time along with all the other Brits trawling the bars.

  Jonny pushed the door open, and she followed him into a well-lit foyer to wait for the lift. “Quicker to take the fecking stairs.” He muttered as they stood waiting but at last it arrived disgorging a young man in a cap, hands thrust deep into his jeans pockets. He nodded in Jonny’s direction. “Alright mate,” Jonny said stepping into the lift not waiting for a reply as Kitty followed him in. They got out at the sixth floor.