Barefoot Over Stones Read online

  The entire collection was taken down from the mahogany sideboards on the first day of each season and Mary Abernethy applied herself with relish to the task of polishing it. When the job was finished she would turn on the crystal chandelier in the centre of the room in order to admire her glittering handiwork. She was on the last piece when she heard the latch on the back door. Presuming it was Con, back from Shanahan’s or wherever he had taken himself off to, she polished the handle of the silver tray while bile rose within her. The door opened behind her and the lights from the hallway flooded in. If he has come back with a bellyful of drink and he feels like a fight he has come to the right place, she thought. Her son’s voice startled her.

  ‘Hi, Mam. Still taking excellent care of my inheritance, I see.’

  ‘Jesus, Mary and Joseph, what are you doing here, Dan? Is there something wrong?’

  ‘Well, you tell me. According to Columbo, who more or less kidnapped me in the hospital, you and Dad are about to kill one another. Some misunderstanding, he said?’

  Dan thought it best to keep the whole thing low key, pretending that Columbo had only given him the bare bones of the story and not all the grisly details. There was still an outside chance that the normal and manageable level of hostility native to his parents’ relationship could be satisfactorily restored.

  ‘That lousy runt! I cannot believe he dragged you away from your studies. Do you know the night before last I caught him coming up the stairs to talk to me with his sweaty hands on my banisters and his ignorant boots traipsing across my carpets?

  ‘Your father and I will sort this out – or more to the point your father will. That little sneak Columbo had no right—’

  Dan cut across her. He had listened to her berate his father and Columbo for as long as he could remember. It was doubtful that it would get them anywhere useful.

  ‘Just what exactly is going on, Mam? I couldn’t get a straight word out of Columbo. First it was nothing at all and then you were going to the papers to blow the whistle on him. Will you just fill me in, for God’s sake?’

  Mary Abernethy put down the silver platter, irritated a little by the fact that she had not given it her full attention but irritated more by the fact that Columbo, obviously acting on Con’s instructions, had the temerity to drag Dan into all of this. There were it seemed no depths to which her husband would not stoop and no limit to how far his cronies, particularly his brainless sidekick, would go to pull him out of the firing line.

  ‘We had better make tea, Dan. You must be gasping for a cup. I know I am.’

  Dan followed his mother into the kitchen. It looked as if Columbo had overstated the case a little bit. His mother was undoubtedly irritated with Con but on balance she seemed calm enough. So much for having to talk her down from the roof! He would have a word or two for Columbo before he headed back to Dublin in the morning. It would take some time to bring Consultant Mackey back on side and all for what?

  Mary Abernethy brewed a pot of tea, one bag apiece and one for the pot. When the china mugs were out and the tea ready to pour she allowed herself to tell her side of the story. She felt bad for burdening Dan but it was lovely to have him home and she had not confided in anyone else, fearing their judgement but above all not wanting their pity.

  ‘Your father has been lying to me. The lying is nothing new but this time he has taken it too far. His latest stunt is just a bit sicker than I thought even he was capable of.’

  Dan’s heart began to sink. It obviously was just as bad as Columbo had intimated. Mary Abernethy was on a roll now and she paused only to take a restorative sip from her tea.

  ‘Your father has been messing around with a young girl from the area. I’m not sure to what extent but there have been trips to the apartment in Dublin and dinners out. Leda Clancy is her name. You probably know the family. They live out in Briartullog, the townland that runs above the graveyard?’

  ‘I know who she is. She works in Shanahan’s as a lounge girl.’

  ‘Well, that she is the kind of girl that would be working in a pub when she should be attending to her homework does not surprise me. Your father spends enough time in that drinking pit to pick up some fluff on the way out. She must be a bit simple really. I mean, your father was never exactly a playboy but at fifty-seven and balding the girl must be a bit lacking if she thinks he is a catch.’

  ‘I know Dad has done some dodgy stuff businesswise and hasn’t always been up front with you about money and that, but this, Mam, this is different. Is there any chance that you could be reading too much into something innocent?’

  ‘Your father wouldn’t know innocent if it walked up and struck him on the face. I would never have dragged you into it, but seeing as he sent his lackey for you the least I can do is to tell you the truth. It’s a disappointment to you, I can see that in your face, but I am well used to the disappointment that comes with being Mrs Con Abernethy. I have supported his career even when I didn’t feel like it and he repays me with the disrespect of picking up a teenager and risking making us the laughing stock of Leachlara. He won’t get away with this.’

  ‘Well, are you going to go public and if you are what do you think that will achieve? If you are worried about people knowing, surely we should keep a lid on things. The whole thing is mortifying. Is there no end to the trouble that you two can create for yourselves?’

  ‘I would never do anything to jeopardize your future or your career, Dan, but I had to make some sort of threat to get his attention. I wanted him to think about how long it would take for his ministerial ambitions to evaporate under the scrutiny of a few journalists with the scent of a scandal. He has a responsibility to be discreet and not show me up in Leachlara. This is my home more than it is his now. I am the one that’s here to face the people.’

  ‘So you are just playing games? You don’t even care if he is really sleeping with her, do you? It’s just the scandal, the way it looks to people. Everything is just about appearances with you both. Can’t we sort it out in this house between ourselves without having everyone laughing at us?’

  ‘Oh, the squirming and the worried looks have been enjoyable. That little rancid sidekick of his has sweated more than an Alsatian in heat in the last week and it has been worth it for that alone!’

  ‘So how long are you going to dangle him before you put him out of his misery? The stress of the whole thing could bring on a heart attack.’

  ‘I wouldn’t worry about your father’s heart, Dan. I doubt his body devotes much time to its upkeep.’

  ‘Please stop talking about him like that. I wouldn’t let him say ugly things about you so—’

  ‘Look, I’m sorry. It wasn’t my choice to involve you, but maybe you can be a go-between as I can’t look at that man now.’

  ‘Charming. Stuck in the middle of this fucking mess. Go on, let me have it. What do you need to bring this to an end?’

  ‘I want that Leda girl out of Leachlara, as far away as she can manage.’

  ‘She is only sixteen or seventeen, Mam. I think she had better stay with her family.’ Dan pleaded for common sense. Mary Abernethy wasn’t listening, so in thrall was she to her own grand plan.

  ‘Then I want a renewal of our marriage vows ceremony in Leachlara and a second honeymoon, in Rome maybe – although I haven’t decided if that is the most desirable destination yet. The travel agent in Tipperary did say that Rome was being replaced by Venice and Florence as the most popular place. Anyway, somewhere in Italy definitely.’

  ‘You are joking, aren’t you, Mam? I wasn’t aware that the first honeymoon was such a roaring success that you would want to relive the experience. You can’t stand the man – why on earth would you want to go to Rome with him?’

  ‘He doesn’t even have to get on the same plane. Just as long as he doesn’t show his face in Leachlara or in the Dáil bar for the duration I will be happy. He can go to his brother’s place in Aughasallagh. That would keep him nicely out of harm’s way. In fact, now
that you mention it, your father would be the ruination of Rome. Hanging around with the party yes men for all these years has done nothing for his conversation skills. And you can tell him in no uncertain terms that he got off lightly because, of all things, I would not upset you, Dan.’

  ‘God, I think it’s a bit late in the day to be worrying about my feelings. It never stopped you pulling each other to ribbons before.’

  ‘Don’t be cross with me. I couldn’t bear that.’ Mary Abernethy had adopted her wheedling tone accompanied by the little-girl eyes that made her son embarrassed even to look her straight in the eye.

  ‘I’m not cross. It’s fine. I will talk to him, although I imagine he will faint laughing at your little revenge drama.’

  ‘You are the best thing I have done, Dan Abernethy, and you are the sole reason I stay with your father.’

  Dan muttered under his breath that sometimes he wished she didn’t bother but his mother was not listening. She busied herself putting the milk jug into the fridge and washing her mug. Dan looked at the mottled skin that the milk had formed on his untouched tea. No matter how many times he felt he was making good his escape from this house and all the unpleasant memories it held it could always draw him back and threaten to sink him. He had been in the house less than an hour after nearly two months’ absence and already he felt he was suffocating in a swell of negativity and small-mindedness. This house may have reared him but more than that it had filled him with an instinct to flee for his own good.

  Mary continued her fastidious clean-up oblivious to her son’s discomfort. It was so nice to have him home, especially tonight, when he was not monopolized by his father. She went to bed deciding that she would make a habit of visiting Dan in Dublin. She missed him and she knew he missed her too. He was just too proud to show it. As she fell asleep she congratulated herself on rearing him well – and rearing him mostly alone.

  Dan spotted his father’s car was pulled on to the grass verge just inside the entrance gates. He had waited up until well past midnight hoping to talk to him but there had been no sign of Con Abernethy. His mother didn’t know where her husband had gone. She wasn’t, she reminded Dan, privy to that sort of information. The phone in the hallway had remained resolutely silent, so Dan concluded that his father must be with his party workers at a meeting or more likely at a lock-in at Shanahan’s or Power’s. In fact, Dan thought Columbo had probably been going straight to meet him when he had left himself off at the house to defuse his mother. Now out on a stroll before bed to clear his head and to stop a headache in its tracks, he could make out his father’s Mercedes with the headlights dimmed. He walked towards it, afraid of what he might find but compelled to look nonetheless. Surely, he thought, he hasn’t brought Leda Clancy here? But what else could he be doing, hiding like a thief in the grounds of his own home in the early hours of the morning? His pace quickened. His heart pounded in his chest, echoing the gravel crunching beneath his feet. He reached the navy Mercedes ready for anything at all except perhaps for what he found. Con Abernethy’s head was tilted back against the soft pillow of the headrest. His eyes were closed and tears were streaming down his face.

  CHAPTER NINE

  ‘I’m no ogre, Dan, no matter what she will have you believe.’

  Con had fumbled for a handkerchief from his jacket pocket to dry the tears when his son knocked on the passenger window. He was thoroughly embarrassed that Dan had seen him crying. He wasn’t sure what had come over him really because he was usually good when under pressure. There was not a meeting, a speech or an election campaign that had ever fazed him. He was, everyone thought (including himself), born for the exhausting slog of public life, but today was different. Today he would think nothing of running away and never looking back.

  Dan had been close to turning and running too when he saw the sorry sight of his father weeping uncontrollably in the car but he decided there was nothing to be gained from putting off this conversation for another day. He sat beside his father and waited for any explanation that might make sense. He wasn’t interested in hearing how his mother got it all so wrong, he just wanted to hear how Con Abernethy was going to set it straight.

  ‘Look, Dad, I’m not a fool. I don’t need anyone to tell me how bad this whole thing is. You and Leda? For God’s sake, she’s only a schoolgirl. What do you think you are playing at?’

  ‘I promise I will explain, but not here. Let’s go back to the house. It’s cold and, besides, your mother will be in bed by now.’

  ‘Is that what made you stop here? Waiting until Mam went to bed so you can sneak into your own house?’

  ‘It’s not my style to run scared and you know that. I can normally face her no matter what kind of order she is in but tonight it was just beyond me. I have stupidly brought trouble on myself but it is unnatural the pleasure your mother finds in my misfortune.’

  ‘I don’t think that’s true. It’s as plain as day that you two don’t get on and shouldn’t be married or living in the same house but Mam didn’t create this for your discomfort. You seem capable of sinking yourself without any help from anyone else. Go on, drive up to the house. It’s freezing here.’

  Mary Abernethy’s perpetually hungry cat wove under their feet as they made their way to the back door. A resounding kick from Con sent him simultaneously wailing and flying across the driveway and into a heather bed at the front of the house.

  ‘Did Columbo tell you that he had dropped me here?’

  ‘Yeah. He came into Shanahan’s for the last few. He said you came to help and I’m thankful, Dan. I really am.’

  He didn’t talk again until he had half filled a tumbler of whiskey from the Paddy bottle. He topped it up a little with water from the cold tap. He raised the bottle in the direction of Dan. ‘Fancy a drop?’

  ‘No, I’m grand. I’ve hardly eaten so I’d be sick if I drank now.’

  ‘Fair enough so but eat something, for heaven’s sake. Your mother always has that fridge stocked with sun-dried tat and honking goat’s cheese. You might find something edible if you look long and hard and have a strong nose.’ Con took a huge gulp of whiskey and sat down across the table from his son. His face was blotched from the earlier tears but he seemed calmer now, relaxed even. ‘Seeing as everyone else has had their say, maybe you will listen to me now.’

  ‘Go ahead, Dad, I am all ears.’

  ‘First and foremost there is nothing going on between Leda Clancy and myself. If you accept that then everything else I say to you will make perfect sense. I have known the Clancys all my life. I went to school with Leda’s mother, Aggie. I put in a good word for Leda at Shanahan’s because I knew the family were not exactly flush and the extra cash would come in handy. I see Ted every Thursday night in Shanahan’s. My intentions in all of this were honourable. You have to believe me.’

  ‘Why then is Columbo behaving like there has been a nuclear disaster and why did I just find you crying in your car afraid to come into your own house?’

  Con bit his lip. ‘Look, it won’t come as a surprise to you that affection has been in short supply in my life for years. I admit it: I was flattered. Here was a beautiful girl who could have had her pick of any of the young bucks that are in and out of the pub and she got it into her head that I was more interesting than they were. My head was turned, Dan, and if that makes me seem weak and stupid then that’s what I am – but that’s all I am. I have done nothing wrong except encourage the attention of a schoolgirl with a crush. I thought she would get over it and in the meantime I decided to enjoy it. I didn’t think it through and I had no idea that your mother would get up on her high horse about it. She’s letting on she is jealous and her feelings are hurt. Well, both counts are laughable. If your mother has feelings for anything except you and what money can buy she has done a good job in hiding them for twenty years.’

  ‘She says you have taken Leda out to dinner and taken her to the apartment in Dublin. Is she lying?’

  ‘Leda was on a tri
p from the community school to Dublin. I took the young people around government buildings and the Dáil and bought them lunch in a restaurant on Molesworth Street. I was never even on my own with her. She got the bus back to Thurles in the evening with all the rest of the group and I drove home as usual. Your mother is making things up to add fuel to her story. The only place I have ever spent any bit of time in Leda’s company is in the lounge at Shanahan’s after closing time. Paddy Shanahan is always there and there are always a few of my gang there too. I suppose my ego got stroked that such a lovely girl could fancy someone like me, an old fella heading for sixty years of age. I was taken in, Dan. I got a swelled head and I never really thought about the fact that I was leading her on. I assumed she would cop on to herself eventually and marvel at how she ever looked sideways at me.’

  Dan was getting numb to the details. His father sounded as if he was telling the truth, but then Dan reminded himself that Con had often said that the mark of a good politician was someone who could appear sincere and interested when in fact he was neither. If he was delivering a performance Dan could not find it in himself to deliver the appropriate applause.

  ‘What about her parents? Surely they have noticed that she has got the wrong idea about you?’

  ‘The thing is the Clancys have always had it hard. Aggie has been suffering with her nerves for years and Ted never did a full day’s work if he had the option of doing half a day instead. He has a fondness for the drink, too, so money is short for the family. I suppose Leda thought of me as a way out, a passport from everything at home. If I worked my brain at all I would have seen how vulnerable the girl was but I never stopped to think. She started telling her school friends there was something going on and maybe telling them we had been places when we hadn’t and it got to your mother and here we are now. I mean, she asked me for lifts back home several nights and I knew how it would look so I made Columbo or one of the others go instead. In fact I told Paddy Shanahan that a girl of her age shouldn’t be trying to arrange lifts home with people she barely knew. I said it to Ted Clancy too but sure he can barely get himself home most nights so I was wasting my breath.’