Page 27 of The Matchmaker
Two lines slowly appear between Nush’s eyebrows as she stares at the screen. Gemma just stares at me.
“What?”
“We’re going to revive the Ennisbawn—”
“No, I heard the words,” she interrupts slowly. “I just don’t understand them.”
I smile. “Your doubt just makes me stronger. It feeds me.”
“Katie—”
“Like a flame.”
“What’s happening to Adam is awful,” she says firmly. “But there’s no legal reason Glenmill can’t—”
“I’m so glad you brought that up,” I interrupt, pointing at the screen. I did some quick googling when I got here, and all it did was confirm what the lawyer had said back in Kelly’s. “There are plenty of examples of companies backing down over culturally important sites. In the 1960s, civil engineers removed a fairy fort for a new road near Ballynahinch and the locals kicked up such a fuss that it made BBC news.Andin 1999, in County Clare, they adjusted plans for a whole bypass to incorporate a bush because enough people were talking about it.”
“Yes, but fairy forts are real,” Gemma says. “And the matchmaking festival was just an excuse for leery men to do some leering.”
Nush looks at her in surprise. “You think fairy forts are real?”
“No,” she says, shifting uncomfortably. “But they’re notnotreal.”
“My point is that it got publicity,” I say. “They moved a bypass! For a bush! So why can’t we keep Kelly’s for a festival?”
“Because the festival hasn’t run properly in years? We barely even had it last year. You just put up some old Valentine’s Day decorations. It’s hardly enough to get on the news.”
“Hence why we’rereviving,” I say. “Bringing it back to its former glory. What else are we going to do? Chain ourselves to the doors?”
At this, Nush perks up, but Gemma ignores her.
“I know you’re freaking out about the pub,” she says. “We all are. None of us want to see this happen, but there’s nothing we can do.”
“We can do this,” I insist. “I got them to back down, didn’t I? Jack said he’d wait and see.”
“Because he knows you were lying! He’s playing with you. Probably so it all goes up in flames and none of us ever bother him again. Why don’t we call a meeting and see about another protest? Something we can—”
“We tried protesting,” I interrupt. “We protested for months. Nush made signs.”
“I did,” Nush says, sliding the laptop closer to her.
“None of it worked,” I continue. “None of it brought us the attention we need. This will.”
“You’ll need money to get it off the ground,” Gemma points out. “How are you going to pay for it?”
“Sponsorships.”
“From whom?”
“Frompeople. Oh, come on!” I add, when she groans. “It’s Adam. You’ve known the guy your whole life. We can’t just abandon him like this.”
“I never said I was going to.”
“But it’s what you’re doing,” I say, and she goes quiet. “We’ve gone down the angry letters to the council route. We’ve done petitions. We’ve done everything short of burning the site to the ground—no,” I add, when Nush opens her mouth. “So, let’s try this. Let’s prove that we can bring people back to the village without destroying it. Let’s show that we can—”
“Katie.”
“Really make a difference to—”
