Where Old Ghosts Meet - Kate Evans [54]
“Oh, that’ll be Gerry’s boy, I suppose. He’s a great sport. Loves a bit of fun.”
“Your son?” She turned to Gerry.
“Yes, my dear, you never know who’s who in Newfoundland.” He was mocking her.
“You might have told me.”
“Never got the chance.”
“Treese.” Peg turned to her companion. “This is Nora Molloy from Ireland. You remember Matt Molloy, taught school on the island years ago? Well, this is his granddaughter. She’s here for a visit.”
“Hello,” Nora said, offering her hand to the woman sitting on the edge of a folding chair. Nora was looking at a face full of scrutiny, one suffused by a deep frown, so much so that her eyes were all but lost to view. Only a glint of light coming from where the sockets were located gave this face any semblance of life. She was regarding Nora intently. For Nora, it was like looking at a mask.
“Something to drink, Nora?” Peg asked.
“Thank you, but no, I had tea with Father O’Reilly.”
“How was your visit?” Peg gave Nora a cautionary look and ever so slightly inclined her head in Treese’s direction.
Nora caught Peg’s warning. “Very good. He’s a remarkable man for his age.”
There was a lull in the conversation. At her side the ticket man was still, his banter shut down. Mustering a bright smile, Nora decided to change the subject. “It’s quite the event out there,” she said, looking from one to the other. “It’s just like home.”
“Is that right?” Peg came to life and moved in closer to Nora, partly blocking her view of Treese.
“Yes, there were always events like this when we were children,” she continued, speaking directly to Peg. “There were all kinds of prizes to be won, not toys like here, but practical things mostly. I remember one time coming home from the fair with a set of white dishes with blue flowers painted on the cups. I forget now how I won them.” She rushed on. “We also had a game that I loved called Roll Away. I don’t see it here. It was a huge round table like a checkerboard caged in all around with heavymesh. The squares were just big enough to hold one of our big brown pennies.” She drew the outline of the old brown penny on the palm of her hand. “All around the cage were little openings, with a wooden chute at each one. You literally rolled your pennies away down the chute. However, if the penny landed right smack in the middle of a square without touching any lines then you won whatever amount of money was marked on the square.”
“We had the very same years ago. Didn’t we, Treese?”
Nora knew without looking that Treese had not taken her eyes off her from the moment she sat down. Nora glanced in her direction. Still no eyes and no reply!
“I remember that was the most exciting game of all,” Peg continued, ignoring the silence. “To win money, that’s what we all wanted. Yes, girl, I can remember fixing the chute right at the big money square and then how it would roll away straight into buddy’s pocket.”
“That’s right.” Nora was grateful for Peg’s participation. She knew she was talking too much, but still she barrelled on, unable to stop herself, still speaking directly to Peg and ignoring Gerry and Treese. “One day, didn’t I win the big money, a pound note! That was a lot of money then.”
Peg laughed, a slightly strained, exaggerated laugh. “I suppose it was.”
Nora could see the bright pink plate of her false teeth with its even row of cream dentures. Peg was trying to help her out.
Suddenly Treese’s voice cut the space between them. “What I’d like to know is this. What drove him out of Ireland?”
The question hit Nora like a sharp slap. A crackling silence followed. Nora now scrutinized the face in front of her. “Did you know him?” The calm assurance in her own voice surprised her.
Treese sat back in her chair, pulled the two sides of her knitted cardigan across her chest and held them in place with folded arms. “No,” she said, dragging out the word. “Not exactly, but I knew about him.”
Nora examined her fingernails for a moment, taking time to pick her words carefully. She looked up. “Then, I don’t imagine you