Page 68 of Heart of the Wren
“Why? What did you see?”
Dara bit his lower lip. “Don’t tell her. I don’t want to ruin thesurprise, but she’s going to have a big family. Seven daughters. The last of which, apparently, will be a light to break the darkness. I don’t entirely know what it means yet, but I read it right there in the cup, plain as day.”
“Why didn’t you tell her?”
“It’s an awful lot of weight on young shoulders,” he said. “And she needed to make the decision for herself.”
“Isn’t there some fortune-telling rule about always telling the truth?”
“I didn’t lie to her,” he said. “The leaves told me I could trust her. And I will tell her what I saw. One day.”
We pulled up outside Bullseye’s house, a two storey new build on a row of identical houses. Dara beeped the horn and almost immediately, the front door swung open. Eddie appeared, laden with bags. I helped him load them into the van while Dara strapped some of the larger cases to the roof.
In the front garden, Carol said goodbye to the four of her sisters who still lived at home. They talked of having more space in the house, at long last. They all hugged her and wished her well. All except one.
“Are you not going to say goodbye?” Carol asked.
Her sister kept her arms folded and her head low.
“Ah, don’t mind her,” said another sister. “She’s mad jealous.”
“I am not.” The moody sister gave her a shove.
“She is. She thinks Eddie’s a ride.”
The sisters all laughed.
“Ah look, she’s scarlet!”
Bullseye took me to one side. “You’re really going?”
“I really am.”
He pushed his glasses up his nose and nodded. He crossed his arms and looked all round him. “You’ve decent weather for it, anyway. The ferry crossing should be smooth enough, like.”
The plan was to drive to Cork and get the ferry over to Wales, then drive to the far side of England to drop Carol and Eddie off at his home. “It’ll be the farthest I’ve ever been from home.”
“I’ve been to Spain a few times.” He talked to his feet and bobbed his head. “I can’t believe… I can’t believe I’m losing my daughter and my… my best friend on the same feckin’ day.”
“It’s not forever. For either of us. Sure we’ll be back for Carol and Eddie’s wedding.”
He rubbed his chin on his shoulder. His eyes were turning glassy. “I know. I know. But still.”
“C’mere to me.” I put my arms out and hugged him.
His arms stayed firmly crossed.
“You’ll be grand. You have Aine and the girls. You’ll just have to talk shite to them instead of me.”
“It won’t be the same.” He dropped his hands and hugged me far more tightly than necessary. “They never feckin’ listen to me.”
???
With all of Carol and Eddie’s luggage secured, Dara started the engine. Bullseye, Aine, and their daughters waved and followed us along the road as far as they could before we picked up speed. Carol sniffed in the backseat and dabbed her eyes.
“I’m sure you can’t wait to get home,” I said to Eddie.
He held Carol’s hand. “Yes and no. I’ll miss this place, in a funny way. Not all of it, mind you.” He picked at his ear. “Fairies. I still can’t believe it.”
