Brian Friel Plays 2 (5 page)

Kate
Rose, what Austin Morgan does or doesn’t do with –

Rose
Why are you blushing then? She’s blushing, isn’t she? Why-why-why, Kate?

Kate
(
sudden
anger
)
For God’s sake, Rose, shut up, would you!

Rose
Anyhow we all know you always had a –

Agnes
Rosie, pass me those steel needles – would you, please?

Pause.

Chris
(
to
Kate
)
Are you tired?

Kate
flops
into
a
seat.

Kate
That road from the town gets longer every day. You can laugh if you want but I
am
going to get that old bike fixed up and I
am
going to learn to ride this winter.

Agnes
Many about Ballybeg?

Kate
Ballybeg’s off its head. I’m telling you. Everywhere you go – everyone you meet – it’s the one topic: Are you going to the harvest dance? Who are you going with? What are you wearing? This year’s going to be the biggest ever and the best ever.

Agnes
All the same I remember some great harvest dances.

Chris
Don’t we all.

Kate
(
unpacking
)
Another of those riveting Annie M. P. Smithson novels for you, Agnes.

Agnes
Ah. Thanks.

Kate
The
Marriage
of
Nurse
Harding
– oh, dear! For
you, Christina. One teaspoonful every morning before breakfast.

Chris
What’s this?

Kate
Cod-liver oil. You’re far too pale.

Chris
Thank you, Kate.

Kate
Because you take no exercise. Anyhow I’m in the chemist’s shop and this young girl – a wee slip of a thing, can’t even remember her name – her mother’s the knitting agent that buys your gloves, Agnes –

Agnes
Vera McLaughlin.

Kate
Her daughter whatever you call her.

Rose
Sophia.

Kate
Miss Sophia, who must be all of fifteen; she comes up to me and she says, ‘I hope you’re not going to miss the harvest dance, Miss Mundy. It’s going to be just
supreme
this year.’ And honest to God, if you’d seen the delight in her eyes, you’d think it was heaven she was talking about. I’m telling you – off its head – like a fever in the place. That’s the quinine. The doctor says it won’t cure the malaria but it might help to contain it. Is he in his room?

Chris
He’s wandering about out the back somewhere.

Kate
I told the doctor you thought him very quiet, Agnes.

Agnes
has
stopped
knitting
and
is
looking
abstractedly
into
the
middle
distance.

Agnes
Yes?

Kate
Well, didn’t you? And the doctor says we must remember how strange everything here must be to him after so long. And on top of that Swahili has been his
language for twenty-five years; so that it’s not that his mind is confused – it’s just that he has difficulty finding the English words for what he wants to say.

Chris
No matter what the doctor says, Kate, his mind is a bit confused. Sometimes he doesn’t know the difference between us. I’ve heard him calling you Rose and he keeps calling me some strange name like –

Kate
Okawa.

Chris
That’s it! Aggie, you’ve heard him, haven’t you?

Kate
Okawa was his house boy. He was very attached to him. (
taking
off
her
shoe
)
I think I’m getting corns in this foot. I hope to God I don’t end up crippled like poor mother, may she rest in peace.

Agnes
Wouldn’t it be a good one if we all went?

Chris
Went where?

Agnes
To the harvest dance.

Chris
Aggie!

Agnes
Just like we used to. All dressed up. I think I’d go.

Rose
I’d go, too, Aggie! I’d go with you!

Kate
For heaven’s sake you’re not serious, Agnes – are you?

Agnes
I think I am.

Kate
Hah! There’s more than Ballybeg off its head.

Agnes
I think we should all go.

Kate
Have you any idea what it’ll be like? – crawling with cheeky young brats that I taught years ago.

Agnes
I’m game.

Chris
We couldn’t, Aggie – could we?

Kate
And all the riff-raff of the countryside.

Agnes
I’m game.

Chris
Oh God, you know how I loved dancing, Aggie.

Agnes
(
to
Kate
)
What do you say?

Kate
(
to
Chris
)
You have a seven-year-old child – have you forgotten that?

Agnes
(
to
Chris
) You could wear that blue dress of mine – you have the figure for it and it brings out the colour of your eyes.

Chris
Can I have it? God, Aggie, I could dance non-stop all night – all week – all month!

Kate
And who’d look after Father Jack?

Agnes
(
to
Kate
)
And you look great in that cotton dress you got for confirmation last year. You’re beautiful in it, Kate.

Kate
What sort of silly talk is –

Agnes
(
to
Kate
)
And you can wear my brown shoes with the crossover straps.

Kate
This is silly talk. We can’t, Agnes. How can we?

Rose
Will Maggie go with us?

Chris
Will Maggie what! Try to stop her!

Kate
Oh God, Agnes, what do you think?

Agnes
We’re going.

Kate
Are we?

Rose
We’re off! We’re away!

Kate
Maybe we’re mad – are we mad?

Chris
It costs four and six to get in.

Agnes
I’ve five pounds saved. I’ll take you. I’ll take us all.

Kate
Hold on now –

Agnes
How many years has it been since we were at the harvest dance? – at any dance? And I don’t care how young they are, how drunk and dirty and sweaty they are. I want to dance, Kate. It’s the Festival of Lughnasa. I’m only thirty-five. I want to dance.

Kate
(
wretched
) I know, I know, Agnes, I know. All the same – oh my God – I don’t know if it’s –

Agnes
It’s settled. We’re going – the Mundy girls – all five of us together.

Chris
Like we used to.

Agnes
Like we used to.

Rose
I love you, Aggie! I love you more than chocolate biscuits!

Rose
kisses
Agnes
impetuously,
flings
her
arms
above
her
head,
begins
singing
‘Abyssinia’
and
does
the
first
steps
of
a
bizarre
and
abandoned
dance.
At
this
Kate
panics.

Kate
No, no, no! We’re going nowhere!

Chris
If we all want to go –

Kate
Look at yourselves, will you! Just look at yourselves! Dancing at our time of day? That’s for young people with no duties and no responsibilities and nothing in their heads but pleasure.

Agnes
Kate, I think we –

Kate
Do you want the whole countryside to be laughing at us? – women of our years? – mature women,
dancing
? What’s come over you all? And this is Father Jack’s home – we must never forget that – ever. No, no, we’re going to no harvest dance.

Rose
But you just said –

Kate
And there’ll be no more discussion about it. The matter’s over. I don’t want it mentioned again.

Silence.
Maggie
returns
to
the
garden
from
the
back
of
the
house.
She
has
the
hen
bucket
on
her
arm
and
her
hands
are
cupped
as
if
she
were
holding
something
fragile
between
them.
She
goes
to
the
kite
materials.

Maggie
The fox is back.

Boy
Did you see him?

Maggie
He has a hole chewed in the henhouse door.

Boy
Did you get a look at him, Aunt Maggie?

Maggie
Wasn’t I talking to him. He was asking for you.

Boy
Ha-ha. What’s that you have in your hands?

Maggie
Something I found.

Boy
What?

Maggie
Sitting very still at the foot of the holly tree.

Boy
Show me.

Maggie
Say please three times.

Boy
Please-please-please.

Maggie
In Swahili.

Boy
Are you going to show it to me or are you not?

Maggie
(
crouching
down
beside
him
) Now, cub, put your
ear over here. Listen. Shhh. D’you hear it?

Boy
I think so … yes.

Maggie
What do you hear?

Boy
Something.

Maggie
Are you sure?

Boy
Yes, I’m sure. Show me, Aunt Maggie.

Maggie
All right. Ready? Get back a bit. Bit further. Right?

Boy
Yes.

Suddenly
she
opens
her
hands
and
her
eyes
follow
the
rapid
and
imaginary
flight
of
something
up
to
the
sky
and
out
of
sight.
She
continues
staring
after
it.
Pause.

What was it?

Maggie
Did you see it?

Boy
I think so … yes.

Maggie
Wasn’t it wonderful?

Boy
Was it a bird?

Maggie
The colours are so beautiful. (
She
gets
to
her
feet.
)
Trouble is – just one quick glimpse – that’s all you ever get. And if you miss that – (
She
moves
off
towards
the
back
door
of
the
kitchen.
)

Boy
What was it, Aunt Maggie?

Maggie
Don’t you know what it was? It was all in your mind. Now we’re quits.

Kate
(
unpacking
)
Tea … soap … Indian meal … jelly …

Maggie
I’m sick of that white rooster of yours, Rosie. Some pet that. Look at the lump he took out of my arm.

Rose
You don’t speak to him right.

Maggie
I know the speaking he’ll get from me – the weight of my boot. Would you put some turf on that fire, Chrissie; I’m going to make some soda bread. (
She
washes
her
hands
and
begins
baking.
)

Rose
(
privately
)
Watch out. She’s in one of her cranky moods.