House of Memories

by Taylor, Alice

  “This table looks fit for a king,” Nora declared.

  “Hopefully the king won’t cut the head off us after the dinner by whipping the school from under us,” David said wryly.

  “If he does he won’t get out of here alive, and my mother will have some explaining to do,” Nora threatened.

  It surprised Kate to hear Nora breathe criticism about her mother, and she decided that Nora was beginning to assert herself. Martha might not be queen bee much longer! Now Nora was looking up at the old picture of Edward Phelan above the mantelpiece.

  “Doesn’t great-grandfather look impressive? He kind of blends in with this posh table. Almost as if he is presiding over it. Aunty Kate, I think that we should all dress up,” she decided. “Maybe we should rise to the occasion. The dress I wore at the dance is still upstairs.”

  “Well, if you dress up we must all dress up,” Kate told her, “but is it a bit like dressing up for a public execution.”

  “Well, there is nothing like doing things in style, and maybe we might intimidate Rodney Jackson with our grandeur.” Kate smiled at Nora’s spirit.

  “What do you think, David?” she asked as he stood quietly listening to them.

  “Won’t do any harm, I suppose,” he said mildly.

  “Ah, Uncle David,” Nora protested, “we need to do a bit better than that.”

  “All decided then,” Kate declared. “Upstairs for the transformation because he’ll be here soon, but first I must check the kitchen in case I’ll be serving burnt offerings.”

  When Fr Tim rushed in the door, he stopped short at the sight of them.

  “My God,” he declared, “you look like the royal family.”

  “Waiting to be beheaded,” Nora told him as she kept watch by the window for Rodney Jackson’s arrival. Kate was glad that she had asked her to be here, because she had introduced an upbeat note into the whole evening.

  “What time exactly is he supposed to be here?” David asked pensively, and Kate knew that he was finding the waiting difficult.

  “Oh my God, he’s here,” Nora cried and forgetting her resolution to be discreet dragged back the net curtain. “And look at that car! It’s taking up half the street.”

  “Norry, for heaven’s sake close the curtain,” Kate protested as she headed for the door.

  Rodney Jackson filled the hallway with his exuberant six foot four. His brown eyes shone with pleasure, and he was obviously more than pleased to see them.

  “Kate, you look great,” he enthused, and even though she knew that it was not really true, it still made her feel better. Then he was hugging Nora and shaking hands with Fr Tim and David. Kate could see that David’s smile of welcome was a bit strained. She wondered how poor David was going to get through the whole evening and force himself to eat a dinner while wondering what the future of his school was. But she had reckoned without Rodney Jackson’s forthright attitude.

  “Now folks, I must apologise for all the delays in my coming, but I wanted to make sure that everything was sorted out before I left the States. Kate, can we adjourn to your wonderful kitchen and sit down around your fine kitchen table, because it’s the nearest thing to a boardroom table available to us.”

  “A boardroom table indeed!” Nora declared indignantly as Rodney led them all back into the kitchen. He seated himself at one end of Jack’s table and directed David to the other end and placed Nora and Kate at one side and Fr Tim at the other. Then he opened his briefcase and stacked a pile of documents in front of him. Kate felt her stomach heaving and hoped that she was not going to get sick. There was something very formal about all of this, and it scared her a little. It was almost like the reading of a will.

  “I have big plans for Kilmeen,” he began. Kate felt like saying, Bet you have, but he was continuing, “and I hope that you will all be pleased with them.” Kate thought, Doubt it, but Rodney was only getting into his stride.

  “The last time I was here,” he told them, as his eyes travelled from face to face, “I walked around the school and saw that it was bursting at the seams and lacking facilities.”

  Kate saw that chairing meetings was a matter of course to him, and she felt a sense of resentment at his high-handed approach. So now he’s going to tell us that he is doing us a good turn by throwing us out, she thought.

  “Well,” he continued slowly, “I worked out an alternative arrangement.”

  There was a sharp intake of breath around the table, and Kate’s silent commentary was wiped out, but Rodney continued calmly.

  “I want someplace with lots of space for playing fields, both for the girls as well as the boys, and development for the future. When I went back home, I made contact with your Department of Education regarding permission and grants, and the bottom line is that the plans got the go-ahead from the department. Now if you are wondering why I did not come clean sooner, the fact of the matter is that I did not want to raise false hopes, but now I think that we are ready to move forward.”

  The completion of his announcement was met by a stunned silence.

  Nora was the first to recover. “Have you got plans for a theatre in the school?” she wanted to know, and while the rest of them looked at her in horror, Rodney smiled in amusement.

  “That’s what I like about you, Nora,” he told her. “You never lose sight of your dream. But, yes, when you get your degree and come back to Kilmeen to teach, we’ll make that provision for you. You see,” he said, turning to the rest of them, “that is why the right site, with plenty of space to develop, is so important.”

  Kate could hardly believe what she was hearing, and when she looked across at David there was such a look of delight on his face that she got up and hugged Rodney.

  “Your news is such a relief,” she told him. “We were so worried about the school when we heard of your plans for a hotel.”

  “Guess I should have kept my mouth shut on that one, but I wanted to trickle it out slowly and get you all used to the idea of change,” he admitted.

  “I’m afraid that I jumped to the wrong conclusions,” David admitted, “and thought that I would finish up with no school, but what you have in mind is just beyond all expectations. It’s any headmaster’s dream come true.”

  “Well, you’re the best, David,” Rodney assured him, “and I know the best when I see it. But have a look at the plans. I got a top educational expert to do the design, but they are still open to suggestion. After all, you’re the one who will be running the show.”

  The plans were handed around the table, but Kate found that she could not make head nor tail of the big sheet of paper covered with drawings. The rest of them, however, seemed to have no such problem, but she noticed that Fr Tim, having examined them carefully, looked across at Rodney with a puzzled expression on his face and said, “This layout is pretty extensive. Where exactly is this school going to be?”

  “Well, that is where I thought I would be guided by local knowledge,” Rodney told him. “Is there any suitable place available around the village?”

  They all looked a bit perplexed, and Kate thought that it would be terrible if a suitable site could not be found. Fr Tim dismissed this possibility.

  “There is bound to be a suitable place,” he declared. “Sure, aren’t we surrounded by farmland?” They were all reassured by this, but Kate, knowing the farming people and their attachment to their land better than the rest of them, was not so sure. But she decided that she would not be the one to dampen their enthusiasm, and it was great to see David so happy. The entire discussion centred around the school, and after some time Kate decided that someone should show interest in his hotel.

  “Are you looking forward to transforming the school into a splendid hotel?” she asked.

  “Yes, I’m very excited about it,” he declared. “It’s a wonderful old building and as you know the original family home and has huge potential to be tastefully developed into a top class hotel. This is where your sister-in-law Martha is coming in. She has
refused to marry me, so I must settle for a business partnership, and I think that it will work out very well. You know, Kate, property is very cheap in Ireland right now, but all of that is going to change. Tourism is about to take off here, and Kilmeen must be ready.”

  “You have always loved this place,” she smiled.

  “My roots are here. It was my mother’s homeplace, and ever since I came back here to visit my aunts I’ve loved it too. I’m not ashamed to admit that my mother married big money in the States, but she had class and my father’s people admired her greatly. The school for me is an opportunity to honour her memory. I can afford it, and I’ll make money out of the hotel and other projects. I may be sentimental about my mother, but I’m a businessman. But family is very important to me too, and, Kate, I just want to say how sad I was to hear about Jack, because I know what he meant to you.”

  “Thanks, Rodney,” she whispered and was relieved that no tears came.

  Everything was happening so fast, and she wanted to go out into the quiet of the garden to take it all in, but she had people to feed and a dinner that was fast deteriorating in the oven, so she turned to Rodney.

  “Will you call this meeting to a halt,” she pleaded, “or the dinner will be burnt out of existence.”

  She shepherded them all into the front room where they had a dinner that was far past its best, but there was such an intense discussion about the school around the table that she doubted if the dinner was even tasted. It did her heart good to watch David glance down at the folded plans on the table beside him, almost as if to reassure himself that they were real, and to hear him discuss the layout of the playing fields with Fr Tim. She could see delight flowing out of him. Rodney and Nora were deep in conversation about her proposed theatre, and Kate thought that even if it never materialised it was the stimulus that she needed just now after Jack’s death and to propel her through the exams.

  When dinner was over, Rodney opted to take Nora back to Mossgrove, and David and Fr Tim decided to take the plans up to the school to check out classroom measurements. Kate determinedly refused all offers of help, and after David and Rodney had dragged Rodney’s luggage up the stairs and the four of them had finally trooped out of the front door, she breathed a sigh of relief. She needed time to herself. As she cleared away the dinner table and stacked the ware in the sink, she reviewed the previous few hours. She sorted out her mind as she tidied up the table. When she finally folded up Nellie’s tablecloth, she held the smooth linen against her face. This family heirloom had been on the table in Mossgrove for her First Holy Communion breakfast, and grandfather had been there that day as well. Now she smiled up at him.

  “This tablecloth has been used for every big occasion since then,” she told him, “and it’s become precious through its intermingling in my life.”

  She carefully washed and dried Jack’s cutlery and placed it back in its wooden box. She knew that Jack had put a lot of thought and care into the buying of her wedding present, and a bit like himself, it had quality and durability. When all was to her satisfaction, she went out into the garden.

  She sat on the wooden seat that Jack had built into the old ditch beside the huge fern that he had brought in from Mossgrove. The evening sun slanted through the trees, softening the outline of the shrubs and filling the garden with long shadows. At this time of the evening, the shrubbery at the other side of the lawn was a mysterious corner. After a few minutes, a blackbird came out of there and began to explore the grass. She enjoyed watching him put his head sideways as if listening for underground movement and, with a quick dart, come up with a tiny worm. Then he flew into the hedge where the hungry fledglings were waiting. Over her head a little grey bird was singing its heart out. Despite all Jack’s efforts, she did not know his name. He had known them all, and when she got annoyed with herself because she could not remember, he used to say, “Kate girlie, you don’t have to christen him to enjoy him.” But the little bird was giving her such pleasure that she she felt she owed him that. She did not have that problem with the robin who now perched on a stone beside her, so close that if she reached out she could touch him. She loved his brave, cheeky approach to life.

  Overhead the crows were flying home in perfect formation. In flight they were beautiful, but as they perched on the treetops at the bottom of the garden, they wrangled and screeched at each other and turned into cranky bedraggled old ladies. Now across the garden a thrush ventured out shyly from underneath the beech hedge, and she held her breath in case of frightening her. She was glad that the blackbird was gone, because sometimes he hunted the thrush away. In the late evening the birds, gathering in for the night, called the garden their own. They were all early retirers except the robin, who always seem to have a few last minute jobs to do. As if remembering one of them, he darted into the bluebells on the ditch beside her and then he was on the tree above her singing goodnight.

  She breathed in deeply the heavenly smell of the bluebells that filled the air. She thought back over all that had happened since morning. It had been a good day. The pain of the morning had eased.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  ANOTHER LETTER FROM Rory. As soon as he saw it, Danny knew that it meant more trouble. The letter was brief and to the point. Rory wanted his money and he wanted it now. Otherwise he would come home and make them sell Furze Hill. Danny knew that he could not force them to sell, but he could cause big trouble. He also realised that if Rory saw the house now his buying-out price would go up and there would be no getting rid of him. They had all thought that there was only a wreck of an old house buried under the rusty roof in the grove of trees. Now things were different. Rory had to stay in England! All morning Danny’s mind went around in endless circles trying to find a solution. The letter put a time pressure on him. He knew that if Rory did not hear from him quickly, one morning he would walk in the gate, and then the real row would begin. When Bill and himself met for their midday break on the steps of the house, he showed him the letter.

  Having read it Bill said grimly, “I’ve never even met this fellow, but I’m beginning to like him less and less.”

  “He’s like the old fellow,” Danny told him bleakly.

  “You don’t want that to start all over again,” Bill said resolutely.

  “To keep him in England is the answer,” Danny said desperately.

  “There must be a way,” Bill declared. “There is always a way.”

  “Well, if there is then I can’t see it,” Danny told him.

  “Well, it might take a bit of time,” Bill comforted him.

  “Time is one thing I don’t have,” Danny said.

  “Well, boyeen, don’t lose heart now, because so far you’ve soldiered it well,” Bill praised.

  They sat in silence and Danny was grateful for Bill’s comforting presence. Nothing seemed as bleak when Bill was around. Bill had never previously mentioned his wife, but now he said, “You know, Danny, I seldom talk about Lucy because her going cut deep. But she was a great woman and I learned a lot from her. Not a tidy woman,” he smiled, “a bit like her Tim in that way, but she had wonderful vision. It was her idea that we come back home and rear the children here. It was not an easy decision, because we were finally doing well over there after a few financial disasters. But Lucy always had a saying when I was facing a financial vacuum or a big decision. ‘Fortune favours the brave,’ she used to say. So this is your time to be brave, lad. We all think of the brave as the crowd who go out and fight, but more often than not they are the crowd who stay at home and survive.”

  After his chat with Bill, even though he was no nearer to a solution, he felt a bit easier, and he went to work on the stone wall by the pillar. He loved working with stone and knew from previous experience that it would soothe his distraught thoughts. Sure enough, after a while his mind stopped racing and he became totally engrossed in marrying the stones together. Stones had a will of their own and would not stand together unless they were well matched, and wall buildi
ng was an exercise in finding the right combination. He loved searching for the right one, and if he got the match wrong the stone let him know. They would not stay together. Getting all the stones to blend in a harmony of size and colour was completely absorbing.

  He had not noticed that the hours had flown by and that it was cow time until Bill called across the yard where he was working, “What about the cows, Danny? They have no way of knowing that stone-walling is so fascinating.”

  “I think that I should have been a stonemason, Bill,” he called back. “Stones are smarter than us. They only work with the right partner.”

  “I think that you are becoming a bit of a philosopher,” Bill laughed.

  “What is it about working with the earth and stone, Bill, that makes us feel good?” he asked as he walked across to admire Bill’s digging out of the curved bed along by the drive.

  “One of life’s wonderful mysteries,” Bill replied, leaning on his spade, “and it would be a tragedy if we lost touch with it.”

  “I’ll see you in the morning, Bill,” he said as he went out under the arch, “because you will probably be gone when I bring home the cows.”

  After the milking, he came back to the steps intending to reread Nana Molly’s diary, but just as he was going in the front door, Shiner appeared through the archway.

  “How’s the slave?” Shiner asked cheerily. “You were started this morning before we begin across the river and you’re still at it.”

  “I’ve a lot of catching up to do,” Danny told him.

  “Did you have any supper?” Shiner demanded.

  “Well, no,” he admitted, realising that he had forgotten all about it.