‘We’ll get there, Mary,’ I said. ‘One day we’ll have enough to fix the roof, resurface the playground and invest in some technology. If we… if we give Brian’s idea a go.’
‘Hmmm.’ Mary was the cousin of Lucy, Michael’s political perk. Ireland being a small place where everyone is separated by a mere three or four degrees.
‘I’m starting the think that this could be the best thing for the school, Mary,’ I said. ‘People are selling bits of land all over the place; for house building in gardens or development in other ways. We would just make sure it was unobtrusive… anyway,’ I went on, talking despite her obvious lack of enthusiasm for the proposal. ‘I’ve had another phone call from Brian Crowley. He’s found someone who’ll give us the money for the Copse.’
‘Has he now?’ Mary’s eyebrows were raised to her hairline. ‘Dress a goat in silk and he’s still a goat.’
‘What?’ I laughed.
‘Well,’ she said. ‘It’s just that he is very fond of his own voice and he’s all cufflinks and a hard handshake. And he takes up a lot of space. More than he needs. He really likes to spread out.’
I laughed again. ‘But that doesn’t mean it’s not a good plan.’
She nodded. ‘It’s the man-spreading and the arm waving. I like people who take up the right amount of the world. Not more than their fair share. And he speaks far louder than he needs to, like what he is saying is so important that it needs to be said at a higher volume.’
‘Tedious,’ I agreed. Living with Michael, I had a thicker skin when it came to the overly-confident male. And anyway, I was blinded by the money and all we could achieve. And not for the first time did I banish thoughts of my socialist mother from my mind. Sometimes we all had to welcome our inner capitalist. For the greater good, I kept repeating. For the greater good.
‘My mother,’ said Mary, ‘always said don’t trust men who fancy themselves more than you.’
‘Good advice. I’ll remember it.’
‘Or women, in my case,’ she smiled. ‘But I know what she was trying to say.’
‘Just think of the money. New chairs for the Sixth class girls, instead of the rickety ones they have. A new surface for the playground, books for the library, whiteboards for every classroom, fix the front gate...’ What else? ‘And a disco for the kids. We haven’t had an end-of-year party for them in five years… that would be nice… And… well, there’s just so much we could do.’
‘If you think it’s a good idea, Tabitha. But I don’t mind all the sponsoring, the cake sales…’
‘But there’s only so many cake sales we can hold. At this rate, we’re going to turn the entire population of Dalkey diabetic.’
She shrugged and went back to her counting.
‘Tea?’ I said.
‘Oh yes, please, Tabitha,’ she said. ‘If only to soak up the biscuits I’ve brought in.’
‘Pass me your mug,’ I said. ‘And I’ll go and give it a wash.’
As I took it from her, I knocked a pile of books off her desk and, scrambling to put them back, I picked up Chinese for Beginners: Mastering Conversational Mandarin.
‘Chinese, eh, Mary?’ I said, teasing her. ‘Your next exotic holiday destination? Or perhaps a job in international finance…’
Her face froze as she tried to smile. ‘I don’t think counting these coppers will get me a high-flying job,’ she said, quickly slipping the book into her handbag. ‘And I am quite happy with my annual trip to Florence to visit the galleries.’
‘So, Brian’s found his Good Samaritan, eh?’ said Mary. ‘And what will this Good Samaritan do with the land?’
‘A house? A community centre?’ I said hopefully. ‘Whatever it is, we’ll make sure that it’s something positive. Not a casino or a strip club or a…’
‘Oh, Tabitha!’ she said suddenly, looking up. ‘I’m forgetting everything lately. We’ve had a letter. From the Department. Staffing issue solved. They are sending a new teacher next week. Richmond somebody. Funny name.’
The letter had been tucked behind her telephone and she passed it to me and I scanned the words on the letter. We are pleased to inform you, et cetera, that Redmond Power will be available to join Star of The Sea National School, he comes very highly recommended…
‘It’s Redmond,’ I said, finding my voice. ‘Not Richmond.’ He was back. Red was back. ‘He’s just Red, though. No one calls him Redmond.’ Like a ghost from my past, he had returned and I’d been haunted by what I’d done, ever shaking off my shame and I still felt an excruciating gnawing of guilt inside which always surprised me how strong it still was.
She turned around. ‘You know him?’
‘Yes. Not for years though. He went to America. San Francisco.’
‘And where did he get the name from?’
‘John Redmond. The Nationalist hero. His family was pretty political.’
‘He’s come home, so,’ said Mary.
I nodded, eyes slightly blurry with shock and tried to focus on the words. He will join the school until the end of the school year and dependent on performance and your feedback, a longer term of employment can be decided upon… we are, however, sure that Mr Power will be a good fit for Star of the Sea…
He sounds just what we are looking for,’ Mary called over from the kettle area.
Perhaps there was another Redmond Power? I sat heavily onto the edge of the desk. But another Redmond Power, a teacher? Unlikely. It was Red, it had to be. Back in Ireland after… what was it? After eighteen years. A lifetime. The letter was still in my slightly trembling hands. I bent my head over it, as though I was reading it, studying it intelligently, but inside I was all over the place, excitement, terror, elation and fear jostled for prominence.
‘You can’t throw a cat in this country without it landing on some fella you know. We’re like toast crumbs, us Irish. We get everywhere. He sounds just the ticket. Fig roll?’ Mary placed a mug of tea on the desk in front of me. ‘I think today is a three-biscuit kind of day.’
‘Does he know it’s me?’ I said. ‘Does he know the name of the school principal here?’
‘We can presume so… the department would have given him all the information.’ Mary looked at me, puzzled, studying my reaction. ‘Nice is he?’
I was being ridiculous. Yes it was a shock but it was such a long time ago, us, the whole thing. We’d both moved on. He was probably married, an array of children. And obviously I had Michael. I’d just have to get on with it.
Redmond Power was real, he existed. Not just a figment of my imagination, he was alive. The love of my life. Memories flashed into my mind, and I could see him again. I thought I’d forgotten everything, but it was all still there. I had remembered everything.
‘Yes, he was nice. The nicest.’
Before
The night before he left for San Francisco, Red was waiting for me on the steps of the bandstand on Dun Laoghaire pier. For a moment, I stood, watching him, as he looked out to sea, deep in thought. Muscular and tanned, his dark black hair cut short, his thick eyebrows, his beautiful brown eyes. I didn’t want the world to keep turning, I just wanted to stay like this forever, looking at Redmond Power, with this glorious feeling inside me, my world in blossom. And then he looked up and saw me, his face breaking into the happiest of smiles and the two of us just grinned at each other, and then I began to run towards him, knowing the next thing I would know would be the feel of his chest, the pull of his arms and the sound of his voice. His arms pulling me into him, his kisses. ‘I love you,’ he would say. ‘I love you, Tabitha Thomas.’
Chapter Three