‘She saw me watching her, your mother. And when she saw me, she did this.’ He raised his forefinger to his lips. ‘She wanted me to keep her a secret too.’

Chapter 46

Chapter 46

1973

The entertainment lounge was a disaster zone. Five palm tree lamps had been felled and several pink flamingos beheaded. One of the stage curtains had been ripped down and numerous chairs had been reduced to heaps of red and gold firewood. The shelves behind the bar had, under last night’s bombardment, splintered into mirrored shards forming a maniacal mosaic of reflections echoing the chaos in the room. The floor was tacky with spilt drinks and broken glass crunched underfoot as Imelda walked in and surveyed the damage. Thank goodness she had left Grisha at home. She wasn’t supposed to be at Larkins today, but she had gone to her booth on the promenade needing to work; needing to occupy her mind after the previous night. Diamond told her what had happened, and Imelda had come straight away to see what she could do to help. Ruby was organising the troops who were armed with brooms, mops and buckets. Dolly, Daisy and Dixie looked like ridiculously glamorous charladies with matching overalls and their blonde curls tucked under turban-tied headscarves. Determined to lift everyone’s spirits, they were singing as they swept the floor side by side, occasionally throwing in a cancan step for good measure. Jeanie was helping to salvage whatever possible from the carnage behind the bar, hindered by Charlie who was nursing a horrible hangover, and Sara-Jade was sweeping the stage. Ruby’s face lit up at the sight of Imelda.

‘What can I do to help?’

‘Imelda! You can come with me to the canteen and get a trolley of tea and sandwiches for this lot. They’ve already been hard at it for hours. We’re trying to get it in a fit state to reopen tonight, but we might well need a miracle.’

The two of them set off in search of refreshments. ‘What on earth happened? Diamond said that there’d been some trouble, but the place looks like a bombsite!’

Ruby pushed back her hair from her face. She looked exhausted.

‘It started out as an argument at the bar. A couple of lads got lairy after a few too many lagers. A bit of pushing and shoving led to punches being thrown and then it all kicked off. Cillian and Titus did their best to contain it, but they were hopelessly outnumbered. Most of them didn’t have a clue what they were fighting about, but after a skinful and a shot of adrenalin they didn’t care. It was a teenage Armageddon. We had no choice but to call the police.’

In the canteen kitchen, Ruby commandeered a trolley and they began to load it with cups and saucers.

‘Are you okay?’ Imelda asked. ‘Was anyone hurt?’