Poppy Mum found them in the attic. Lori, read Dad the bit about the pleasant pheasant!
Lori Later, Pops.
Poppy Why not now?
Lori Later.
Clover (aside) Lori doesn’t want to, Poppy.
Poppy (aside) Why?
Clover (shrugs) I don’t know. Just.
David So, who’s for some bubbly, then?
Lori Dad you shouldn’t’ve got champagne.
David But this is a very special occasion. I’d say there was cause for celebration, wouldn’t you, Phyllis?
Phyllis Absolutely.
Lori (joking) What, so are we celebrating my going?
Are you that pleased to be getting rid of me?
David Of course not, love.
Phyllis Oh but we are!
Lori Mum!
David Your mother’s only joking, Lori.
Phyllis (earnestly) But we are pleased that you’re going. You’re making a new life for yourself, Lori, and this is the first step. And we’re proud of you for working so hard, and for getting so far, and –
Lori Mu-um –
Phyllis (continuing) – no, but we are, Lori, and it’s brave of you: tell me, how many from your year are going across the water?
Clover Hardly anyone in Lori’s year, isn’t that right, Lori?
Lori A few are going across to Scotland –
Clover Yeah but most of them are staying here, aren’t they, Lori.
I can’t wait to come and visit you.
Poppy Me too! Mum, can I go across and visit Lori at Hallowe’en?
Phyllis We’ll see.
Poppy No, but can I?
Clover I want to go over first.
You’re probably too young, Poppy, like for the student bars and all –
Phyllis (laughing) And you’re not, Clover?
Clover No, but that’s different, Mum –
David Girls, girls, girls –
Lori’s going to be settling in, and making new friends, and studying hard – she might not want to see you so soon –
Clover Oh but she will, won’t you, Lori –
David Well, we’ll see.
The terms aren’t that long – she’ll be back here in no time at all.
Phyllis She hasn’t even got there yet, David, and already you’re talking about her coming back home.
Beat.
We are proud of you, Lori.
We are all very proud of you.
Beat.
David Well are we going to drink this or not?
Lori, are you going to open it?
Lori You do it, Dad.
Lori lines the glasses up.
David opens the bottle of champagne.
Clover and Poppy clap and cheer, and Phyllis laughs.
Lori smiles.
David pours three full glasses, and two half-full glasses, and Lori hands them around.
David To Lori.
Phyllis / Clover / Poppy To Lori!
Phyllis To our little daughter all grown up / and about to –
David Oh, Phyllis, you’re embarrassing her.
To our daughter.
They clink glasses and drink.
Clover Look at Poppy!
Poppy (grimacing) The bubbles went up my nose!
They laugh.
Happy pause as they sip at their drinks.
After a bit David gets up and wanders across the garden, still holding his glass of champagne, and inspects the base of the fence.
A moment later Poppy jumps up after him and scuffs at some of the leaves on the lawn.
Phyllis I was going to say let’s eat outside one last time but I think it’s getting too cold.
Lori Let’s sit out a bit longer. The garden looks so pretty. The leaves on the trees.
Silence.
Phyllis starts flicking through the jotters.
Poppy (calling to her father) Remember you used to rake up big piles of leaves and we all used to jump in them?
David (calling back) Have a bonfire soon.
Beat.
Lori (suddenly; to herself)
Come little leaves, said the wind one day,
Come to the meadows with me and play
Put on your dresses of red and gold
Summer is gone and the days grow cold.
Clover What?
Lori What?
Clover What’s that?
Lori Oh. Just an old rhyme. I was trying to remember how it goes. I can’t remember the rest.
Clover Say it again.
Lori It’s silly. And I can’t remember how the rest of it goes.
Clover Mum, do you remember?
Mum?
Phyllis What’s that, love?
Clover ‘Come little leaves –’ Say the rest of it, Lori – it’s like a nursery rhyme or something –
Phyllis I don’t think so. There were so many rhymes we used to sing to you.
Beat.
If you looked through some of the books in the attic, maybe.
Silence. She closes the jotters.
Well.
Beat.
She looks around her. Calling suddenly:
More champagne, David?
David turns and walks back over to the table. Poppy skips behind him. He stands behind Lori and rests a hand lightly on her shoulder. Phyllis tops up all of the glasses except for Poppy’s.
Poppy Oh Mum, can I not have some more too?
Phyllis Poppy …
David Go on, Phyl. / Special occasion and all that.
Clover Dad, Mum hates it when you call her Phyl –
David (chuckling suddenly) Her nickname in school was the Philosopher.
Clover Really?
Mum? Is that true?
David She was always near the top of the year.
Phyllis Near the top?
David I do beg your pardon – she was always top.
Well, mostly, anyhow.
She used to help me with my science homework.
Isn’t that right, Philosopher?
Phyllis Your father pretending to be terrible at science so that he’d have an excuse to talk to me.
She laughs and shakes her head and splashes some champagne into Poppy’s glass.
David Just this once, eh, Poppy?
Poppy Da-ad.
Beat.
Presents! Let’s do the presents now!
Phyllis (laughing) All right, Poppy.
David sits down and smiles at his wife.
Poppy selects a present from the pile and hands it ceremoniously to Lori.
Lori unwraps it. It is a student cookbook.
Lori (laughing) Mu-um –
Phyllis (laughing) I don’t want to think of you surviving on – I don’t know, Pot Noodles.
And I’ve baked you a cake, it’s just cooling on the rack inside –
Lori Oh Mum –
Phyllis Lemon drizzle. I’ll put it in a tin and you can invite people back to your room for a slice.
Lori (laughing) What, a more innocent version of ‘inviting them in for a coffee’? / In case ‘coffee’ sounds too obvious?
Phyllis (laughing; slightly feigning shock) Dolores Murdoch!
You know fine well / that is not –
Lori I know, / I know –
Phyllis (suddenly not laughing) I just thought –
Lori (not laughing) I know.
It’s a lovely thought.
Thanks, Mum.
Phyllis Give her another present, Poppy.
Poppy hands Lori another present. It is a hot-water bottle with a fleecy cover.
Lori (laughing and holding it up) Oh Mum –
Phyllis Well.
At least I know you’ll be warm and fed.
Beat.
Poppy!
Poppy selects an oddly shaped package. She does not know what it is. She looks at her mother questioningly. Phyllis shrugs and turns to David. Lori shakes and pokes it in exaggerated amusement. Then she opens it. It is a packet of Tayto crisps
.
Lori (laughing hard) Dad –
Phyllis (laughing) David, what on earth –
They are all laughing.
David Good Ulster crisps. In case you get homesick. You don’t get Tayto over in England.
Phyllis (laughing) David –
Clover seizes a present and gives it to Lori.
Clover And this is from me. (It is a homemade CD.) I put some of your favourite songs on it.
And ‘The Skaters’ Waltz’.
Remember ‘The Skaters’ Waltz’?
Lori ‘The Skaters’ Waltz’!
Oh my goodness!
I haven’t heard that in –
God.
Clover Yeah.
I thought it would be – nice memories for you.
Lori Thank you.
Clover Except the only recording I found of it is a bit slow. I couldn’t find the version we liked. It was – I don’t know. Faster. Better. Well. The way I remember it anyway.
Phyllis We had it on tape, once. I wonder if it’s still around anywhere. Probably not.
‘The Skaters’ Waltz’ was what made you want to learn to play music, Clover.
Clover Yeah.
Phyllis The DJ at the Ice Bowl played it at the end of Lori’s birthday party. I asked him afterwards what the piece of music was called and bought the cassette. You played it over and over and begged and begged for music lessons.
Clover (smiling) Yeah.
Phyllis I always wondered where that came from. There’s nobody particularly musical on my side of the family.
Lori Dad plays guitar.
Phyllis Yes. But you know what I mean.
Beat.
Your twelfth birthday party. Imagine!
Lori That was the best birthday party ever.
Phyllis It doesn’t seem like yesterday.
And now look at you!
Lori Yeah.
Silence.
Thanks, Clovey.
Clover I’m going to miss you so much, Lori. So much.
Beat.
Lori I know.
Beat.
Poppy Lori, this one’s from me!
It is a garish and sparkly pink photograph album.
Clover starts giggling behind her hand.
Lori starts giggling too.
Why are you laughing?
Lori I’m not laughing, honestly –
Oh, Poppy, it’s so sweet of you.
Poppy You do like it? Promise you’re not just saying that? ’Cause Clover said to get the other one but I thought you’d like this one better.
Lori I love it.
Give me a kiss.
Poppy jumps up and hugs Lori.
Poppy You have to take photos of everyone you meet and everything you do. To show us when you come home. And Mum wants to see what your boyfriends look like.
Lori Mum!
They laugh.
Poppy If we’d lived two hundred years ago you’d almost be too old to get married, Lori. We’d all be worried because Clovey and me couldn’t get married until you did, probably.
Lori Thanks for that, Pops.
Phyllis Where did that come from, Poppy?
Poppy History. We did it in school. It’s true, though!
Phyllis Well, aren’t you lucky times have changed.
You girls – all of you girls –
You have opportunities. You have –
You can do anything.
You can go anywhere.
Lori Mum.
Phyllis It’s true, Lori. And you make the most of it.
Beat.
Lori I’m nothing special, Mum.
Poppy You’re special to us, Lori!
And I reckon she’s special anyway, isn’t she, Dad?
Lori Don’t –
Look –
I was only saying.
Just let’s –
Beat.
David Come on.
There’s one more present here.
The last present is large. Lori looks questioningly at her father. He nods at her to go ahead. She stands up and opens it. It is a laptop computer.
You’ll be needing one of those. All the work you’ll be doing.
Lori (slightly flatly) Wow, Dad –
God –
Wow. Thank you.
Wow.
David It’s from your mother as well.
Lori Yeah of course – Mum –
Thank you.
David Leave it in the box. Keep it safe until you get there.
Lori Okay, yeah.
She closes the box over and sits down.
Thank you. I mean it.
All of you.
God, I’m going to cry or something –
David (gently) No you’re not. You’ll be back in no time. No time at all.
They fall into silence.
Poppy (suddenly) I’m hungry. When’s dinner?
Phyllis (getting up) Dinner’ll be ready soon. Who’s going to lay the table?
Silence.
Clover?
Clover Mu-um.
I think Lori should help. Seeing as she’s not going to get a chance for weeks.
Phyllis (glancing at Lori and David) Oh Clover.
Let Lori stay and finish her champagne.
Come on, love. I’d appreciate a hand.
Clover gets up reluctantly.
Clover Is Poppy going to help, too?
Poppy I want to stay outside with Lori.
Phyllis Please, Clover –
Clover All right, all right, I’m coming.
Phyllis It’s getting too dark to sit outside, anyhow.
Beat.
David, you will make sure you put out those lanterns before you come in?
David (gently) Of course.
Phyllis Right.
Good.
Silence.
Lori (suddenly) Mum –
Phyllis Lori?
Beat.
Lori Don’t go in yet.
Just sit for a little bit?
Phyllis (gently) Lori, love, dinner will be spoiled –
Lori Please.
It’s –
It’s just nice, all of us.
Beat. Phyllis sighs and sits down at the table. Clover sits down, too.
Nobody speaks. Dusk is falling.
Slow fade to blackout.
About the Author
Born in Belfast in 1981, Lucy Caldwell read English at Queens’ College, Cambridge and is a graduate of Goldsmith’s MA in Creative & Life Writing. She is the author of the novels Where They Were Missed (2006) and The Meeting Point (2011), which featured on BBC Radio 4’s Book at Bedtime and was awarded the Dylan Thomas Prize. Her stage plays, Leaves, Guardians, and Notes to Future Self, and radio dramas, Girl From Mars, Avenues of Eternal Peace, Witch Week, have won awards including the George Devine Award and the Imison Award. In 2011 she was awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature for her body of work to date.
By the Same Author
fiction
WHERE THEY WERE MISSED
THE MEETING POINT
drama
LEAVES
NOTES TO FUTURE SELF
Copyright
First published in 2007
by Faber & Faber Ltd
Bloomsbury House
74–77 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DA
This ebook edition first published in 2014
All rights reserved
© Lucy Caldwell, 2007
Cover Illustration: John Foley. Photo: Nathan Blaney.
The right of Lucy Caldwell to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights whatsoever in this work, amateur or professional, are strictly reserved. Applications for permission for any use whatsoever, including performance rights, must be made in advance, prior to any such proposed use, to Alan Brodie Representation Ltd, Paddock Suite, The Courtyard, 55 Charterhouse Str
eet, London EC1M 6HA ([email protected]). Applications for performance, in excerpt or in full, by non-professionals in English throughout the world should be addressed to Samuel French Ltd, 52 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 5JR, or their overseas agents. No performance may be given unless a licence has first been obtained.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
ISBN 978–0–571–31897–1
Leaves Page 8
