Chapter 9: Tis the Season

Mary was properly in the festive swings of things. The kids would be home early from school and the holidays would truly commence, a joyous time in their house every year. They would often have a big family get together, sometimes on the big day itself, but a party with friends was a new edition to the Christmas itinerary. Preparing for such an event didn't come stress free either.

"Have we got enough crisps Sarah?" Mary asked, rushing past her sister, who was seated at the dining table. She did as she said, called in sick.

"I'm not sure Mary. I'm just so worried about my nails so I am".

Some days Mary wished she could slap the sense into Sarah. Her nails often came before any meaningful contribution to the house. Contribution which was needed in abundance to get everything ready for the party.

"What about plates? Christ! I forgot to tell Da to get paper plates!"

"It's not even midday yet Mary, ye can relax you know".

"Relax?! I've got guests to feed Sarah and they have NO plates to eat off!".

Sarah stopped listening and continued filing her nails, leaving Mary to panic on her own. Baby Anna had been thankfully quiet all morning, which did make things slightly less stressful than they could have been. Slightly. Joe was due back at any minute with all the additional food she requested from the supermarket. It was the fifteenth draft of the shopping list that Joe took with him, the bin in the kitchen showing the evidence of the fourteen fallen lists. She knew from James that Harriet did not have any allergies so that was another added stress off the list. There would be no need to pick the nuts out of anything like they did when a friend of Sarah's came over for an evening the Christmas before. It nearly killed Mary.

A couple of minutes, and a few pacing lengths of the living room later, Joe opened the front door with shopping bags in each hand. Rushing off to him, Mary took the bags out of his hand and he headed back to the car for the rest of them. Nearly running into the kitchen, Mary put the bags out onto the table, instructing the disinterested Sarah to start unpacking. Running out to meet Joe again, she met him at the back of the car, where he was putting items back into bags where they had fallen out during the trip back.

"Shoddy packin' ye did in the shop there da". Mary observed.

"Shoddy job pickin' a husband you did Mary". Joe retorted

Mary huffed at any word said in vain about Gerry but was pulled from any further comments when she noticed something sticking out the bag at the back. Paper plates.

"Paper Plates! You got paper plates!". She cried in joy.

Joe chuckled under his breath, grinning back at his daughter. The moniker of a wise man suited Joe.

"I got some more crisps too. Better to be safe than sorry".

"Thank you Lord". Mary looked to the heavens and sighed with relief.

If the Lord had been merciful with Mary when it came to the shopping, she later found that the Lord must have found a sin she had committed. Around half an hour after the shopping was in and put away, there was a ring on the doorbell. An unexpected one at that time of day; she wasn't aware of anymore parcels to come for Erin or expecting any visitors. Opening the door, it was the latter that she received. Uncle Colm.

"Morning to ye Colm".

"Aye morning there Mary. That rain this morning, I haven't seen anything like it since the church trip to Carrickfergus in 87. Ye know, that day, I remember…".

"Can I stop you there Colm?"

"Aye".

"Ye best come in, I think it's about to rain again".

Colm looked up to the clouds and spotted the ever-darkening ones heading their way.

"Oh aye, thanks Mary".

Inviting Colm into the house on any day would be painful but this day of all it reeked of distracting disaster. But the surprises didn't end there, for as Colm made his way through to the living room to find Joe, Mary became aware that not all aspects of the party plan were under her control.

"Ah Colm, ye here".

"Aye". Colm drolly responded. "I said to myself when ya phoned earlier, aye Colm says I, the last time I helped ye with a party must have been back in 85, when we…"

"Cup of tea Colm?" Sarah interrupted, to everyone else's joy. Colm nodded his head to her to get the drink.

"Thanks for coming to help Colm". Mary engaged before he had a chance to continue his story. "I didn't know we was expecting ye".

She shot a look at Joe who growled quietly at her disdain.

"It's all hands to the pump Mary. And the useless bastard will be just that when he's in from whatever he does with his day".

"Gerry's at work da".

"So you all say".

Ignoring Joe's further barb at the absent Gerry, Mary ushered Colm through to the kitchen and took his coat to hang up. Sarah finished making the tea and put the mug down on the mat by Colm, Joe joining them, sitting next to his brother.

"James said he'd spoken to ye Mary". Joe initiated a discussion to avoid Colm doing so. Priorities.

"Aye to me and Gerry da. I am happy for him…"

"Me too love".

"The wee gay fella?" Sarah interjected. "Found a lad has he?"

"He's not gay Sarah". Mary threw her sister a frustrated look.

"He's not? I wonder why he hasn't mentioned that before".

Mary and Joe managed to stifle the need to shout at Sarah, to remind her of the hundreds of times that James had told her so himself. To any outsider looking in, the face Sarah pulled would make it seem like she had seen a ghost.

"English fella ye say? The one your Erin was talking to at the wedding?" Colm enquired.

"Aye Colm". Mary confirmed. "I was surprised when he said ye were happy with it da".

"He's a good lad is James, twice the man Gerry is at half the age, so he is". Joe again insulted Gerry, earning himself another scowl from Mary.

"It's very… extravagant though, all this with Harriet".

"Aye". Joe replied earnestly. "But he deserves this. The effort he's putting into it is remarkable, so it is".

"What's the craic then?" Sarah asked. "You can't leave me out the gossip Mary".

Sighing, Mary looked to Joe and he nodded what she took as permission, not that she needed his permission to talk about James. But on this instance, in a very odd way, she felt the need to seek it, especially with Colm present too.

"Alright then Sarah, James…".

Walking towards Sister Michael's office, Michelle still couldn't understand what more she could have done to draw her ire. She put everything into the choir performance, something a week prior she would have never considered doing, and although she knew it was bad, Michelle couldn't be faulted for effort.

"Sit down Miss Mallon". Sister Michael instructed as they got into the room.

Complying with the request, Michelle hesitantly perched herself on the chair in front of Sister Michael's desk. She said nothing, favouring eyeballing the headmistress, trying to find the motive for her summoning.

"Quiet. Very unlike you Michelle".

Michelle? Since when did Sister Michael address me like that…

"Erm… well. Yeah". Michelle came out of her thoughts, stuttering into a reply.

"I suspect you are wondering why you are here?".

Sister Michael proceeded to slouch back in her chair and put her feet on the desk, a bizarre act of comfortability that only made Michelle more uncertain of what she was doing there.

"Ye. I've done nothing wrong". She argued.

"Correct. But we still have the small matter of the alcohol that I confiscated from you on Wednesday".

Ah. Michelle had almost forgotten the Vodka that Sister Michael took from her, the expensive bottle as well, and now it made sense. Using all of her unsympathetic and ruthless energy, the headmistress waited right until the last day, just to ruin it for her. Clare commenting on how lucky she had been to avoid punishment came far too soon.

"Right". A nervous Michelle fidgeted and did not look the Sister in the eye as she responded.

"We have an hour or so until every goes home for Christmas". Sister Michael removed her feet from the desk and opened her top drawer, producing the offending item. "I'm loathed to pass it around the staff room… I can't have a repeat of what happened last year".

Michelle knew exactly what happened, rumours had spread like wildfire in the new year. The very reason why three teachers did not return.

"If we make a start on it then I'll at least be able to bare waving everyone off with a smile".

For a moment, the whole room seemed to have been hit by a bolt of lightning. The air tasted of an electric stun, the sort of taste that stopped words forming in mouths and caused eyes to flicker alarmingly. Michelle couldn't quite believe it.

"We?"

"Aye".

Sister Michael's verbal confirmation was followed by a physical one, as from the same drawer, two glasses were produced and within another minute, one glass was placed down on Michelle's side of her desk. If the Bishop walked in, Michelle was certain he would have a heart attack on the spot at the scene he would witness. Words still failed her.

"Don't act so surprised Miss Mallon. I've put you through hell this week and as much as I've enjoyed unravelling your boisterous personality, I suppose it's only fair that I reward you in turn for your persistence".

Tentatively picking up the glass, her hand shaking so uncontrollably she was afraid she'd drop it, Michelle managed to grin back at the Sister. Despite her act of kindness, the headmistress was not moved at all by the gesture.

"Merry Christmas Michelle". She moved her drink in to touch Michelle's.

"Merry Christmas Sister".

Shooting the breeze with your headmistress on the last day before Christmas, whilst enjoying premium quality Vodka and not giving a care about anything else… Michelle wouldn't have had it any other way.

In a week where they'd all been regaled the soap opera worthy drama of the McNair family, Michelle's latest story about spending the last hour of school drinking with Sister Michael made the McNair business look like Goldilocks. The reaction from her friends to the story was very mixed. Erin and James rejected it out of hand, believing it to be an exaggeration too far, whilst Orla took it as gospel and became highly amused by it. Naturally, Clare had raised the logical points of the trouble Sister Michael would be in if anyone found out and the immoral decisions both had made to drink while at the school. Michelle insisted that it happened, but it was left as a fictious incident when they parted ways by the bus stop and little would they know it really had happened as Michelle said.

Erin and Orla were being picked up by Granda Joe, a decision explained by Mary before they left for school as being so that they wouldn't go into the town and get distracted. She would need them to help prepare everything. Not a word was spoken between them about Erin's earlier dramatics, nor had anything been said during the English lesson Michelle missed, Erin's focus being so great that she barely said a word to anyone for the hour. Her silence became reinforced upon learning from James that Harriet accepted the invitation to the party, not that the others realised. Obviously they don't know about… that. Erin thought to herself, watching James, Michelle and Clare get on the bus back.

Later that afternoon, after a brief stop at Clare's, the three of them, James, Michelle and Clare, were all present at the Mallon household. Being the guest, Clare had politely been invited to change first in James's room while he remained downstairs. A proper gentleman. Michelle went into overdrive the moment they returned home, aided by her Vodka intake from Sister Michael, and had commandeered the bathroom to ensure she looked the part for the party. It hadn't taken Clare too long to change and she'd returned down and swapped with James, who continued his gentlemanly behaviour by making her a drink and getting her a sandwich before he made his way up. Though she knew him to be a caring soul, Clare couldn't help but raise a brow in suspicion at just how hard he was trying to be helpful.

Clare was sat on the Mallon's sofa, watching the TV, when the doorbell rang at around four o'clock.

"Can ye get that Clare?" Michelle shouted down.

"Aye!" She called back up, raising herself off the sofa to see who it was.

Opening the door, Clare was greeted by the sight of Harriet, who looked absolutely stunning. Her luscious blonde hair was wrapped up into a bun and she had added a beautiful pair of diamond earrings to her glamourous outlook. The blue and gold dress that the English girl wore was of immeasurable quality, more the dress for a medieval ball than a party at a friend's house though. She was way out of Clare's league. Not that she wasn't thinking about it mind.

"Harriet…". She could barely get the words out. "You look… you… you look fabulous".

"Thank you Clare. I hope I haven't over dressed for the occasion".

Harriet ran her eyes down the Christmas themed jumper and jeans combination that Clare sported and neither knew which had got it wrong when it came to the attire.

"No… No!". Clare laughed back the nerves. "Come in".

Harriet made her way into the Mallon household and looked around the cramped but cosy interior of the house. Clare presumed she may be shocked and perhaps a little condescending after living at Jenny's for a week, but Harriet seemed more intrigued by the homely warmth of the house. Leading her through to the living room, they both sat down on the sofa, Clare turning off the TV and opting to talk to her instead.

"How are you finding Derry?"

"It is a world away from what I am used to". Harriet admitted in a wistful tone. "But I have enjoyed my time here and the people I have met. I believe I have truly understood the concept of friendship in these last few days Clare, without even knowing of my misunderstanding of the matter".

After years of listening to Erin's poetry, Clare became confused but mesmerised by the sincere beauty of Harriet's words. It was the meaning where Clare became lost. But any chance to ask about it was lost when Michelle came barrelling down the stairs, James following on behind her.

"Jesus Harriet, it's not the feckin' Ritz we're heading to ye know!" Michelle barked out to her.

"Y-Yes I… thought I might have gone a bit far". She laughed nervously in return.

"I think you look beautiful Harriet". James smiled from behind his cousin.

Harriet did not blush at his comment, instead giggling away at James's gentlemanly action. Michelle turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Oi Dicko. I'll boke if ye act like this with her around all the time".

"Michelle!" Clare hissed in warning.

"What?" Michelle glared back, ignoring James and Harriet's attempts to look anywhere but at her.

"You know what!"

"Ach right… Aye. Do it all polite ye? Fine. You two are… ye know?"

The added wink made it no easier. A second awkward conversation for James was about to begin and this one was the one that he dreaded fervently.

No more kids for a couple of weeks.

No more whining at detentions.

No more groaning in assembly.

Sister Michael loved Christmas. Absolutely loved it. Walking out towards the main door to the school, key in hand, she took a long look around at walls she could put out of her mind for the holiday period. The Vodka perhaps had a say in her mood too, not that she could admit that to anyone.

As she reached the main door, Sister Michael found she was not the only member of staff left on the site. Mr Flanagan was at the boot of his car, fiddling with his briefcase that would eventually find its place inside. He looked up to see the Sister locking the main door and after shutting the boot, made his way over to her as she walked to her own vehicle.

"Still here Robert". She addressed him informally.

"Aye. I decided to start marking the trenches assignment in the couple of hours after the kids went. There are some cracking pieces of work Sister".

"Good to hear. I fear we must pray to the Lord for those sitting the Cromwell examination in January. Certain students in particular".

Mr Flanagan's roguish grin implied to the Sister that he knew exactly who she meant.

"I do hope Miss Quinn takes the advice that I have given her".

"If Erin Quinn took advice, I fear she would be more powerful than any of us". Sister Michael wondered aloud, Mr Flanagan chortling at the thought. "Though I hear through Miss Mallon that there is a 'party' of sorts this evening. Perhaps she will heed it there".

"This English girl Harriet has certainly caused some trouble for our young Erin".

"Erin causes enough trouble for everyone else Robert. Makes a change for her to be on the receiving end".

Mr Flanagan sighed. Only a month into the role and he knew of just how much bother Erin and her friends could land themselves in.

"We will be dealing with the fallout of this in January ye know Sister".

"We will indeed. We will indeed". Sister Michael looked to the heavens, an act that Mr Flanagan took as looking for strength. "But that is in January and I could not care less. Have a wonderful Christmas Robert".

"You too sister".

The last two cars left Our Lady Immaculate for the final time in 1995 and as the rain began to swirl up off the Foyle, a chapter in the story of Erin Quinn was about to write itself. One way or the other.