Finishing Touches (11 page)

Don’t fall asleep! John warned himself, as he cast a faintly envious eye on his snoring younger brother, Martin. Cassie was depending on him tonight and he just
couldn’t let her down. It wasn’t often she asked for his help. He sat himself up against his pillows and stared determinedly into the semi-darkness. Just as well there was a good moon,
they’d need all the help they could get. Not that he couldn’t handle the assignment, he assured himself. James Bond 007, licensed to kill. That was him! Special agent on Her
Majesty’s secret service. Ready to defend the world against the evil SPECTRE. He had got the message from HQ that one of their agents, code-name Elsie, was heading into town tomorrow.
He’d be waiting! In the meantime he hoped that Assignment Cassie would hurry up and begin, as he was finding it terribly hard to keep his eyes open. He blinked and yawned, allowing himself to
slide a little under the blankets. His eyelids drooped but then he thought of Cassie asking for his help. Stay awake, he ordered himself sternly, sitting up once more. With a sigh of resignation,
007 began to try and recite the alphabet backwards. He had found this an excellent method of staying awake when on assignment in the past.

Barbara lay feeling thoroughly sorry for herself as she cast her mind back on the events of the evening. To think that Cassie had actually pulled her hair and slapped her
across the face and had got away with it. Life was so unfair. Her sister had incurred no extra punishment for her outrageous behaviour and that really annoyed Barbara.

Mind, she had got a terrible fright when Cassie lost her temper. It was most unusual for Cassie to lose the cool like that. It was obvious she was very upset about not going to this party. But
still! To attack her own sister so viciously. It just wasn’t on. And then not even to apologize. Only Irene, her younger sister, had shown any concern for Barbara. As she was cleaning out her
wardrobe, while Cassie sat in stony silence on her bed opposite, doing her homework, Irene came in, put her arms around Barbara’s neck, gave her a hug and offered her some of her barley-sugar
stick. Barbara had been quite touched. Irene was such a little softie, bless her. Well, Cassie could go and jump from now on. She was going to be
so
cool to her. Cassie could never keep up
a fight, no matter how hard she tried. But this time Barbara had no intention of accepting any apology. She wasn’t going to pretend that they
were
talking, even for Aunt
Elsie’s benefit. If Aunt Elsie wanted to know the reason for the coolness, Barbara would be the first to tell her. Just to prove that Miss Cassie wasn’t the saint everyone thought her
to be! Huh! Some saint, with a temper like that. She could have had Cassie up for assault and battery if she had a mind to. Highly indignant, Barbara drifted off to sleep, too upset by the
emotional trauma she had experienced to be able to read even a page of that great literary masterpiece
Jane Eyre
, the story of another put-upon soul!

Listening to her younger sister’s rhythmic breathing, Cassie gave a relieved sigh. She thought Barbara was never going to go to sleep tonight. Of course she was acting
the martyr now and, knowing
her
, Cassie suspected it could last for weeks. A myriad emotions surged through Cassie as she lay in the dark waiting to be sure that her sister was well and
truly asleep. Although her anger had sustained her through the evening, now, typically, she was beginning to feel guilty about hitting Barbara. She really had made a show of herself, losing her
temper like that. Why couldn’t she be like Laura, who was excellent at asserting herself and expressing her anger rationally, instead of losing control and becoming inarticulate and resorting
to violence. Pitiful behaviour and not very adult, she chastised herself. She had really demeaned herself and Barbara would rub it in for weeks.

Resentment overcame guilt. To think that Nora had intended to let her go to the party after all. If Jack had been able to persuade her to let Cassie go
before
they had gone to the wake,
there wouldn’t have been any row. Nora could be dead unreasonable at times. Well, there was nothing for it! She was going to that party, come hell or high water. She couldn’t be in much
worse trouble than she was in already. John was going to help her getting out and getting in. They had made their plans earlier in the evening. He was a real pet. It had been his suggestion that
she go to the party, despite the fact that her mother had forbidden her to go.

‘It’s only because Ma’s in a tizzy over blooming Aunt Elsie. She’s not herself. Otherwise she’d have let you go.’ So John rationalized as they sat feeling
sorry for themselves over mugs of hot chocolate at bedtime. ‘Martin and me weren’t even allowed to go to the scouts.’

‘Martin and I,’ corrected Cassie glumly, wishing that Aunt Elsie could be transported to another planet.

‘Why don’t you go anyway? You can climb out my bedroom window and no-one will know. And I’ll let you in whenever you get back.’

Cassie’s eyes widened. The thought had never crossed her mind. It all seemed so simple. Slip into John’s room when everybody was asleep, climb out his bedroom window and climb back
in when she got home. No-one would be any the wiser.

‘What if Martin wakes up?’

‘He won’t!’ John assured her. ‘He sleeps through thunderstorms and everything. Anyway, he’s not a snitch. He wouldn’t tell!’

‘What if Barbara wakes up to go to the loo and sees I’m gone?’

‘Hmm . . .’ John pondered this trickier one. ‘We’ll just have to put a dummy in the bed. You know your big old teddy?’ Cassie nodded. When she was a child the teddy
had been bigger than her. ‘Put a nightdress on it and put it curled up in the middle of the bed, with the head under the pillow. No-one will ever know the difference.’

‘Thanks!’ grinned Cassie, beginning to accept the feasibility of the plan. More than anything she wanted to go to that party, even if she spent only a couple of hours at it. She
really would love to see Donie Kiely, with his gorgeous brown eyes that always seemed to be looking at her lately. Even Aileen had commented on it.

‘He fancies you, I’m telling you, girl. You’d better do something about it at this party.’ She was currently having a hot and heavy romance with a soldier she had met at
a barbecue on the beach. In fact, she had told the girls earnestly, this was ‘it.’ Her soldier was fast becoming the love of her life and she was seriously contemplating going the whole
way with him. Cassie and Laura envied Aileen her courage. They would never have the nerve to do it, they decided after long and serious discussion; Laura because of her elder sister Jill, who was
an unmarried mother, banned from the family home by her father, and finding the going tough. She had belatedly discovered that her pilot boyfriend, the father of her child, was married and already
the father of two. He just didn’t want to know about Jill and her baby.

Cassie knew that she’d feel so guilty it wouldn’t be worth it. She’d never be able to look Nora in the face again. Nora was terribly strict about matters like that. Religion,
mothers – nothing like that would put a halt to Aileen’s gallop once she made up her mind about something. Aileen always had the courage of her convictions and Cassie and Laura admired
her greatly. Unfortunately, Aileen’s soldier wouldn’t be at the party tonight but Donie Kiely would, and Cassie was determined that for once she was going to do exactly what she wanted
to do. And that was go to that party. Nora, Barbara and Aunt Elsie could just take a back seat for once. Cassie had only one life to lead and if she didn’t take her chances, she had only
herself to blame.

As unobtrusively as possible she took her new jumper and trousers from the cupboard while Barbara was tidying out her wardrobe, giving deep dramatic sighs in the process. Casually, Cassie
gathered up her make-up and brought it into the bathroom for when she would need it later. She had a quick five-minute shower and got into her dressing-gown, making a great show about creaming her
face. She hoped to God that Barbara would go to sleep early. After all, it was Friday night and she might decide to read all night. One of their rules about sharing the bedroom concerned what time
the lights were switched out. After years of listening to their arguing, Nora had decreed that on weekdays the bedside lights were to be switched off at midnight, but on Friday and Saturday nights
they could leave their individual lights on as long as they wished. Sometimes Barbara could be real mean about it. Knowing that Cassie had to get up to work in the shop on Saturday, she might read
until three in the morning, leaving Cassie silently cursing under the bedclothes, waiting for the blessed darkness.

If Barbara decided to have one of her marathon read-ins, Cassie could forget about going to the party. She decided to do her homework to take her mind off her problem. Sitting on her bed, she
tried to engross herself in the joys of Orwell’s
Animal Farm
, one of the books on her exam course, and one which she loathed. She was sorely tempted to take out a romantic novel she
had just started, called
Sullivan’s Reef
, where the heroine had just been kissed by a devastatingly handsome older man, a deep bruising kiss that left her breathless. Her first
French kiss! It was so romantic. Cassie couldn’t wait to get back to it. She had had a lucky escape up in the library earlier on when Mother Perpetua had nearly caught her reading it instead
of conjugating her French verbs. That would have been a disaster: Perpetua was forever confiscating romantic novels from the class and they never got them back, and Cassie
had
to find out
what happened next in
Sullivan’s Reef
. It was a treat she would look forward to tomorrow night, she decided, getting stuck into an appraisal of Napoleon’s character. At least
if she had some of her homework done, she’d enjoy the party even better and it would take her mind off the waiting.

For once, the gods were with her. Barbara, still giving heartfelt sighs, decided to put out her light and have an early night, worn out by the traumas of the evening. Cassie waited a little
while, finished her Irish poetry question and then slid into bed and put out her light. Shortly afterwards she could hear Nora and Jack going to bed themselves. Across the room, Barbara breathed
deeply and evenly. As quietly as she could, Cassie slipped her nightdress over Big Teddy’s head, arranged him in the middle of the bed, placed the pillow over his head and softly padded out
the door with her clothes under her arm. Looking back she could see that he made a nice satisfying mound. Swiftly she dressed, applied her make-up and, carrying her shoes in her hand, slipped into
John’s room. Her brother, heavy-eyed but still awake, was waiting for her. ‘I thought you were never coming! Come on,’ he whispered dramatically, ‘the coast is clear. Have
you got your coat? It’s getting a bit windy outside.’

‘Yeah, I’ve got everything,’ Cassie whispered back.

‘I’ve put my bike just under the windowsill. You can go on that if you like. It will save you having to walk in those high-heeled things.’ He opened the window and she climbed
up on the sill.

‘Thanks, John, you’re a brick,’ Cassie said, planting a kiss on the side of his cheek, much to his disgust.

‘Aw, Cassie, I bet I’m covered in lipstick. Now listen carefully. The plan is: I’ll leave the window open a little bit and when you get back, stick your head in and wake me up
and I’ll help to haul you in. OK?’

‘OK,’ agreed Cassie as she swung her legs over the window-ledge and slid to the ground. ‘See you later.’

‘Have a good time,’ John whispered, giving a mighty yawn. Cassie carried the bike over the grass, although she wasn’t too worried about her parents hearing, as their room was
at the other side of the house. A bark that came from behind her made her nearly jump out of her skin. Drat! Mr Spock, the family collie, so named because of his rather pointed ears, came galloping
out of his kennel to investigate. Recognizing Cassie, he gave a howl of excitement. Adventure beckoned. His nose quivered, his tail wagged and he barked excitedly. ‘Shut up, Spock!’
Cassie hissed. ‘Back inside.’ She pointed a stern finger. Spock’s ears drooped. Big brown eyes gazed at her appealingly. A dog and a bike! What kind of a way was that to go to a
party? Still, it was better than not going. ‘Come on,’ she said, laughing in the breeze. Mounting the bike she sallied forth along the coast road with the moon shining silver on the
waves that crashed against the shore and Spock loping along beside her.

‘Where were you?’ shrieked Aileen, catching sight of Cassie. The new arrival was being ushered into the packed sitting-room by the hostess, Kate Rooney.

‘It’s about time!’ Laura exclaimed, appearing through the throng.

‘I nearly didn’t get here.’ Cassie divested herself of her coat, ran her fingers through her hair and grinned at her friends. Aileen, dressed to thrill in shocking-pink
bell-bottoms, surveyed her admiringly. ‘Wait till Donie Kiely sees you,’ she teased. ‘He’ll probably ask you to marry him on the spot!’

Cassie blushed. ‘Sshhh! People will hear you. Is he here?’

Aileen affected an American drawl. ‘He sure as hell is, honey.’

Kate arrived with a glass. ‘Here, Cassie, relax, have some punch. I’ll be serving supper soon,’ she smiled, gliding off to talk to Margy Kane and her boyfriend.

‘Wow! Punch! How sophisticated,’ murmured Cassie, who couldn’t in a million years imagine Nora allowing her to have an unsupervised party, complete with punch. She took a sip.
It was delicious.

‘Why were you so late?’ Laura asked. Cassie gave them the details.

‘Tough times ahead, girl!’ laughed Aileen, who knew Aunt Elsie of old. Aunt Elsie did not approve of Aileen O’Shaughnessy, ever since the time she had swanned into
Jordans’ in a pair of purple hot-pants during one of Elsie’s visits. Definitely not a fit person for her niece to be associating with. The more disapproving Aunt Elsie got, the more
outrageously Aileen behaved.

The last time she had visited, shortly after the famous retreat, Aunt Elsie had been eager to know how the girls had got on, and enquired if it had been of great spiritual benefit to them.
‘Wouldn’t it be a great blessing if Cassie or Barbara or Irene became a nun or one of the boys became a priest?’ Elsie had said piously. Cassie nearly choked at this, and Aileen
and Laura, unable to contain themselves, guffawed at the idea. Aunt Elsie was furious. ‘What is so funny, pray?’ she asked icily. ‘In my day it was a great honour to get the call
from God. But, then, in my day we were properly brought up,’ she declared, sweeping regally out of the sitting-room to tell Nora of their impudence. They had been made to apologize and Aunt
Elsie told Cassie later that evening that Laura and Aileen were not suitable companions for her as she had seen a terrible deterioration in her niece’s behaviour since she had started
consorting with the pair of them. For ages after, the girls teased Cassie unmercifully, calling her ‘Sister Cassie.’