Chapter 31
‘They’ll be here,’ said Nick.
Did Kitty detect a tiny note of worry in his voice? ‘I hope you’re right,’ she said. ‘I can’t believe even Margot has bailed on us.’
‘To be fair, she can’t help catching the flu.’
Before Kitty could reply, the hall door creaked open. Alice walked in, greeting them with a wave. ‘Sorry we’re so late. Jack wanted to show us the veg patch he and my dad have been working on.’
‘You’re here now.’ Kitty smiled as a group of villagers followed Alice into the hall. The play might happen after all. ‘Thank you for coming. We were worried no one would show.’
‘We’re here,’ said Luke. ‘Though I’m not sure how much use we’ll be.’
‘Speak for yourself,’ said Solly. ‘I’ve been known to tread the boards once or twice.’
Sylvie scoffed. ‘And how many times in the past fifty years, my dear?’
Solly sat in a chair and folded his arms across his chest. ‘You may mock, but I don’t see anyone else leaping out of their seats to get up and audition.’
As Kitty glanced around the group, she realised Solly was right. No one would look at her. May was furiously typing on her phone. ‘Homework,’ she said, when Kitty managed to catch her eye. Luke had his eyes downcast, studying something interesting on the floor.
‘My dad can’t come,’ said Alice. ‘He’s helping look after Margot.’
‘What about you, Sylvie?’ asked Kitty. ‘Do you fancy auditioning?’
Sylvie’s cheeks turned pink. ‘I’m a little old to be your Juliet, my dear, even if my fiancé has aspirations to strut his stuff as Romeo.’
Solly released a burst of laughter, which cleared some of the tension in the room.
‘I’m quite content to play the part of Romeo behind closed doors,’ he told Sylvie with a wink that made her cheeks flame.
‘In this instance, I was thinking I could be the narrator, unless someone wants to fight me for the role?’
‘I wouldn’t mind trying out.’ Solly’s brother Jack walked through the door.
Solly groaned. ‘I preferred it when you were the village recluse.’
Jack sat at the table and pulled the script towards him. In a deep, bellowing voice he began to read.
Kitty caught Nick’s eye. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach at the smile he gave her. She told herself it was down to the excitement of having found at least one contender for a role in the play. Jack was good. Very good.
Solly wasn’t going to capitulate that easily. He grabbed his own copy of the script, pushed his chair back, and read in a voice so confident it rattled the windows.
‘You’re both hired,’ said Kitty when Solly finished.
‘Of course we are,’ said Jack. ‘Which of us is going to be the narrator?’
‘We can allocate specific roles later,’ said Nick.
Kitty breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Now, who would like to try out for the role of Juliet?’ she said.
‘And don’t forget about Romeo,’ said Solly. ‘There’s no point having this play without the two main characters.’
‘You’re right,’ said Kitty. ‘Would anyone like to volunteer? It doesn’t matter if you’ve never acted before. This is a community performance, and it’s a good chance to see whether this might be for you. Everyone’s going to be really supportive, and we’ll guide you through it.’
To Kitty’s dismay, all eyes turned to the ground.
‘Alice?’ she said. ‘May? Either of you would make an incredible Juliet.’
Alice blinked at Kitty. ‘I’m sorry, truly. We’d love to help, but we’re not … we don’t… wouldn’t have a clue where to start.’
‘Anyway,’ said Luke, ‘aren’t we all ignoring the elephant in the room?’
‘And what elephant would that be?’ asked Nick.
Kitty had a sinking feeling.
Alice sighed, shook her head, and looked from Kitty to Nick.
‘The elephant in the room,’ she said, ‘which you both are well aware of, is we already have two people here who would be perfect for the roles of Romeo and Juliet. Although for some reason, they don’t seem to want to take on the responsibility. ’
‘Who’s that, then?’ asked Nick, still not getting it.
Luke slapped his hands down on the table. ‘The pair of you, you idiots. You’re the ones with previous experience. You’re the ones who’d know what you were doing.’
Kitty’s stomach lurched. ‘Oh, it’s been years since I was on stage. I couldn’t possibly get up now.’
‘Doesn’t stop you wanting us to?’ asked May.
‘Doesn’t sound very fair, does it?’ She softened her tone.
‘Look, school’s really intense for me at the minute.
I’m happy to help with things like ticket sales on the night, maybe I could help make some of the staging or costumes.
I don’t have time to learn lines though. ’
Nick turned to Kitty. ‘What do you think?’ His eyes flicked to hers and away again.
She was horrified. There was no way she could get up in front of an audience. Her whole reason for being in Saffron Bay was to hide, not to put herself up on a stage under a spotlight.
‘No,’ she said, as firmly as she could manage through her trembling voice. ‘I won’t do it.’
‘I will,’ said Nick.
All eyes turned to him.
‘Are you sure?’ asked Luke.
‘I’ll do it,’ said Nick, ‘on one condition.’ He gestured at Kitty. ‘Kitty needs to do it too. I’ll play Romeo if she’ll be Juliet.’
Now everyone faced Kitty. Her heart raced, her palms were sweaty.
A bubble of fear rose inside her. She should never have agreed to help out Margot in the first place.
Her instincts had been right. Now, there was no way out of it.
Refuse, and she would be seen as a coward at best, a hypocrite at worst. Here she was, trying to get all these people who’d never set foot on a stage to take on a leading role in the play, and yet she, with all her drama experience, wouldn’t step up to the plate.
She couldn’t tell them the truth. She couldn’t tell them why the thought of putting herself out there was terrifying. There was no way she could come out of this well. Her whole body tingled as heat flooded through her. Her eyes burned; her vision blurred. She couldn’t get control of her body.
With a screech of metal against parquet flooring, Kitty flung back her chair. She jumped and, before she could think, her legs had carried her across the room and out of the door.
Kitty didn’t stop running until she reached the beach.
She crumpled onto the cold sand, pulled her knees close to her chest, and let a wave of despair wash over her.
Her only thought was that she had ruined everything.
She had thought putting distance between her and James would solve her problems. Distance hadn’t helped.
Even here, he could get to her. Even without knowing, he still dominated her life, her thoughts, her movements.
The old Cathy would have jumped at the chance of a leading role in a play. The new Kitty? She couldn’t think of anything worse.
‘Kitty?’
She twisted around. Alice stood behind her, several metres away, as if scared to get too close.
Kitty smiled wanly. ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘I suppose by running away, I’ve proved your point.’
‘My point?’ said Alice.
‘Yeah. Turns out I am a real drama queen, after all.’
Alice’s smile was small and sad. She came closer and sat down beside Kitty. ‘Are you going to tell me what that was all about in there?’ she asked.
She didn’t look at Kitty, and Kitty was grateful. It was as though Alice understood she was straying into dangerous territory, and giving her a bit of distance was the best thing all round.
‘I can’t tell you,’ said Kitty. ‘What I can say is sorry. I can’t believe I embarrassed myself like that in front of everyone.’
‘You were upset,’ said Alice. ‘Everyone saw you were. You’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about. But… we are curious why.’
‘I can’t tell you,’ Kitty repeated, her voice muffled by unshed tears.
‘Kitty.’ Alice tentatively placed a hand on her knee.
‘I don’t think I’ve told you much about my own arrival in Saffron Bay.
’ She sighed. ‘It was far from smooth. And if it taught me anything, it’s that things are often best out in the open.
You think you can carry a burden by yourself but, cheesy as it sounds, burdens are much lighter once they’re shared. ’
‘You don’t understand,’ said Kitty, the first of her silent tears trickling down her cheeks.
‘Then try me,’ Alice said. ‘You can trust me, Kitty.’
Kitty sat silently for a long moment. The sun was setting, and the light in the sky was beautiful.
A gull swooped across the horizon in front of them, and she focused on its fluid movements as it caught the breeze.
Eventually, the weight was too much to bear.
She scrubbed her face with her palms. She had nothing to be ashamed of.
‘I’ll tell you,’ Kitty said. ‘It can’t go any further, please, Alice. Promise me. You won’t even tell Luke.’
Alice lifted her head to the sky and then turned to face Kitty. ‘All right,’ she said. ‘I promise. Now tell me what’s going on.’