Lost Graves by S.A. Dunphy

Author:S.A. Dunphy [Dunphy, S.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-01-24T00:00:00+00:00

40

A large, gunmetal-grey mobile home was attached by a tow bar to the blue HiAce, and Maisie Dunne pushed open its door before mounting the steps, something she did with far more physical grace than her heft should have allowed.

Inside, the caravan was decorated in a surprisingly minimalist manner: the walls were a spotless, gleaming white, devoid of anything other than a simple crucifix, and the seating that lined the walls was upholstered in a muted beige that looked to be some kind of expensive felt. A table was bolted to the floor in the centre of the space, and a man of a similar vintage to Maisie, clad in a tweed waistcoat and trousers over a red-and-white checked shirt, was laying out tea things on it.

‘This is my husband, Fred,’ Maisie said.

Jessie and Seamus said hello, but the man barely looked up at their greeting.

‘Fred doesn’t say much,’ Maisie explained when Jessie looked uncertain.

They sat down while Fred set a china teapot on a large coaster in front of them; milk and a bowl of sugar lumps were already in place. His task complete, Maisie’s husband nodded at them again and exited the caravan without saying goodbye.

‘He’s a good lad is Fred,’ Maisie said, smiling. ‘Will I be mother?’

Without waiting for an answer, she poured tea into two cups and passed them across to Jessie and Seamus.

‘I’ll let you both apply milk and sugar as you please. Now – what would you like to ask me?’

‘What brings you to Leitrim, Mrs Dunne?’ Jessie asked, taking the cup and saucer and shaking her head at the proffered milk and sugar – she drank both tea and coffee black.

‘Do you know much about the Travelling community, Jessie – is it okay if I call you Jessie?’

‘That’s quite all right.’

‘Good. And you can call me Maisie.’

‘Thank you, Maisie. You were about to tell me your reason for being in Leitrim?’

‘There was a time when my people were completely nomadic,’ Maisie said, adding four sugars to her cup and a liberal dash of milk. ‘We never stayed in one place for long, and we had places we’d stop as we followed ancient pathways around the country. These were the same places our fathers and forefathers camped for thousands of years, and when I was a child, I thought I would carry on that tradition.’

She smiled sadly, and for perhaps the first time since meeting her, Jessie believed the emotion on display was genuine.

‘But that wasn’t to be. Ireland became modern. People started to be concerned about computers and iPhones, and the amount of money in their bank accounts was suddenly more important than the people in their community. The greatest curse though was that property and the pursuit of it became the bedrock of the Irish economy. There used to be something called common land, places owned by nobody, where you could pull up for a day or a week or a month if you wished and no one would complain about it,

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