Chapter 15
The girls left the kitchen and headed back into the living room, which Madeleine had hardly left since she had come home from hospital. She was camped in her usual spot, her leg elevated on a stool, hunched over her laptop.
‘You can break it to her,’ Lucy hissed, nudging her sister as they re-entered the room.
Faith took a deep breath. ‘Mum…’ she began tentatively.
‘Yes, dear,’ Madeleine answered without raising her gaze from her laptop. She had her reading glasses on and appeared to be deep in concentration.
‘We were thinking about going over to the Flynns’ farm to see if we can get a Christmas tree,’ Faith announced brightly.
Madeleine pushed her reading glasses down the bridge of her nose and peered over them through narrowed eyes. ‘A Christmas tree?’ she repeated. ‘Have you both completely lost your minds?’
Faith’s face fell. ‘Christmas is only two weeks away. I don’t want to leave it too late so all the good ones are sold.’
‘Why on earth do we need a tree?’ Madeleine protested. ‘Surely nobody will be here for Christmas. Won’t you both be back in Dublin? And I’m not planning on hanging around here either…’
Faith’s face fell. ‘Oh … it’s just that we thought because you’re laid up that we’d all be spending Christmas together this year.’
‘Well, you thought wrong!’ Madeleine snapped.
Lucy glanced over at her sister, who looked devastated by her mother’s outburst. She knew Faith had been looking forward to the three of them spending Christmas together, and now their mother had just dashed her hopes.
‘Well, even though Nanna is no longer with us, I’d like to stay in Inishbeg Cove for Christmas, just like we do every year,’ Lucy said, backing her sister up.
‘But what about Kyle? Surely you’re spending Christmas together.’
‘No, not this year…’ Lucy replied tersely.
‘What is going on with you two?’ Madeleine asked. ‘First he doesn’t bother attending the funeral, and now you’re saying that you don’t plan on spending Christmas together either. Is there something you’re not telling me?’
Lucy bristled. ‘I already told you, Mum. He’s busy in work. He has a deal closing so he’s working long hours to get it across the line.’
‘Even I take Christmas Day off!’ she barked.
‘Look, I want to spend Christmas here in the village,’ Lucy went on, ignoring her mother’s remarks. ‘It wouldn’t be the same anywhere else.’
A hopeful smile spread across Faith’s face.
‘Well, look, if you girls want to spend Christmas together, why don’t you come to my place in Dublin?’ Madeleine tried. ‘I’ll even cook.’
Lucy knew their mother must be really desperate if she was offering to cook Christmas dinner.
The woman was useless in the kitchen. They had no memory of their mother ever making a Christmas dinner, or even helping out with the preparations.
Elizabeth had always made the dinner, with the girls acting as sous chefs, while Madeleine would sneak away to her room to catch up on work.
When they were younger, their childminder had cooked all their meals for them until they were old enough to learn to cook for themselves.
Lucy shook her head resolutely. ‘We always spend Christmas in Inishbeg Cove.’
‘Lucy is right,’ Faith chimed in, sounding more confident. ‘It feels even more important this year, now that Nanna is no longer with us, that the three of us stay together in Inishbeg Cove for Christmas.’
‘I appreciate you girls taking such good care of me, I really do, but I thought that we’d all be heading back to Dublin before Christmas…’
Lucy shook her head. ‘I guess, Mum, you’re stuck here for Christmas whether you like it or not.’ She added taking perverse enjoyment in watching her mother’s displeasure.
Madeleine grimaced. ‘How wonderful.’
‘So, now that our Christmas plans are sorted, will we go get the tree?’ Faith asked with barely disguised childlike glee.
Madeleine blinked rapidly and pointed her thumb at her chest. ‘You expect me to join you on this ridiculous Christmas tree shopping expedition?’
‘Of course. We thought it would be a fun thing to do. It was always the first thing we did with Nanna as soon as we came down to the village for the holidays. Then we’d stop off for a mulled wine in The Anchor on the way home.
It’s a Christmas tradition. And besides, you must be bored of being stuck in the house, I’m sure you could use a change of scenery. ’
‘But what about these?’ She gestured to her crutches. ‘How would I get around the muddy farm?’
‘Don’t worry, we’ve already thought about that.’
‘Have you?’ She sounded suspicious.
They nodded enthusiastically. ‘You can use Nanna’s wheelchair,’ Lucy announced proudly.
Madeleine spluttered. ‘You expect me to use a-a … wheelchair?’
‘It’s only for a short while, to get around the farm,’ Lucy said.
‘No way! I refuse to use a wheelchair. I’m not disabled!’
Faith looked crestfallen. ‘I thought it would be nice for the three of us to spend some time together…’
‘Look, if you don’t want to go, don’t bother,’ Lucy sniped, growing tired of her mother’s protests. ‘Faith and I can manage just fine.’
‘All right, I’ll go.’ Madeleine sighed.
Faith’s face brightened. ‘You will?’
Madeleine made a dramatic display of pulling herself up to standing, ‘Well, you’re not really giving me any choice…’ she grumbled.
Less than thirty minutes later, the three of them were in Lucy’s Peugeot and she was driving up the headland towards the Flynns’ farm.
The road climbed ever higher until they reached the gate.
They drove through the stone pillars that marked the entrance and followed a gravelled track across the fields to the area where the Christmas trees were being sold.
Madeleine was in the passenger seat and Faith was in the back, and they were bumped and jolted out of their seats as they drove over the rough terrain.
When they arrived in the car park, they saw lots of families struggling to tie trees to their car roofs while others rejigged their boot space and folded down seats, desperately trying to make their tree fit.
Excited children looked on, keen to get the tree home and decorated.
Lucy silenced the engine and Faith climbed out to assist their mother.
‘Easy does it, Mum,’ she encouraged as Madeleine placed her crutches on the ground. Mud oozed thickly around them. It had rained heavily that morning and the ground in the car park was soft where it had been cut up by cars.
‘Are you sure you don’t want to use the wheelchair, Mum?’ Faith asked again.
‘I thought I’d made myself clear,’ Madeleine snapped. ‘I will not use a wheelchair!’
‘Okay,’ Faith said, raising her hands in self-defence.
Once Madeleine was steady, they began walking along the trail through a forest that led to where the trees were being sold. Twinkling fairy lights were hung along the path, giving the place an intimate feel.
‘Shit,’ Madeleine cursed, as her crutches sank into the mud.
The girls ran to her side in case she fell.
‘I’m okay,’ she insisted, righting herself again. ‘I’m not an invalid.’
‘So, you keep saying…’ Lucy muttered.
Eventually they arrived at a clearing where fir trees were displayed on stands. The air was filled with the earthy scent of pine. They began to walk around, inspecting the bushy trees while bobble-hatted children ran up and down through the rows.
‘What about this one?’ Lucy suggested, walking up to a lush Noble fir.
Faith shook her head. ‘That wouldn’t even fit inside the front door!’
They went on to the next one, Madeleine hobbling after them. ‘This one isn’t bad,’ Faith remarked, examining it.
‘It’s a bit bald near the top,’ Lucy replied.
They continued on. Faith risked a glance at Madeleine. Her face was red and beads of sweat studded her brow, even though the day was chilly. Faith knew she was finding it difficult to keep up.
‘Are you sure you don’t want to use the wheelchair, Mum? You look like you’re struggling. I could run back to the car to fetch it?’ she offered.
‘I already told you, I can manage perfectly fine,’ Madeleine hissed through gritted teeth.
Faith sighed in exasperation. ‘All right.’
‘Oh, look! There’s Sarah and Greg,’ Faith said, spotting the village postmistress with her husband and their brood of four young children.
The whole village had been swept up in Sarah and Greg’s love story.
He had travelled from America to Inishbeg Cove in search of his birth parents.
When Sarah helped him in his search, they had quickly fallen for one another.
After a whirlwind romance, Greg had made the decision to stay in the village and they had married.
Sarah had soon found herself pregnant with twins.
Not long after the arrival of their daughters, the couple had had another baby girl followed in quick succession by their newest arrival, a baby boy.
‘Let’s go and say hi,’ Lucy suggested.
‘Hi Sarah!’ they called out as they approached her. ‘Congratulations.’
‘Thank you. I was so sorry to hear about Elizabeth and I have to apologise for not making the funeral, but I was in hospital having this little man.’ She smiled dotingly down at the baby’s head, which was covered with a knitted bonnet.
Lucy felt her heart twist at the sight of the snuggly newborn.
The familiar feeling of sorrow rose inside her once more.
‘Don’t worry, you have a good excuse,’ Lucy said after a beat. Her lips moved into a smile, but it didn’t quite meet her eyes.
‘He’s beautiful, Sarah.’ Faith smiled at the tiny bundle who was snug against his mother’s chest.
‘Well, that won’t last too long if he wakes up for a feed.’ She laughed. ‘I reckon we’ve a window of about five minutes to choose this tree before he starts to roar, so we’d better keep going.’
They said their goodbyes and walked on.
‘Don’t they have a TV?’ Madeleine muttered once Sarah and her brood were out of earshot.
‘Mum!’ Faith cried, horrified. ‘You can’t say that.’