Leaves Read online

  Silence.

  It’s all right, Clovey.

  Things are going to be all right.

  Clover How can they be, Poppy? How can they ever be?

  Poppy They will.

  Silence.

  Clover Hey Pops, can I come in under there with you?

  Poppy What?

  Clover See what the room looks like from there?

  Well, can I?

  Poppy stares at her.

  Clover waits for a second then kneels down and crawls in underneath the table. The two sisters sit side by side, not looking at each other.

  It does look different from here, doesn’t it.

  Poppy Yeah.

  That’s why –

  Poppy suddenly leans her head in her sister’s lap.

  Beat.

  Clover Lori used to make hideouts for us under the table.

  Poppy Really?

  Clover Yeah. With blankets and torches and everything.

  Silence. Suddenly sings:

  Come little leaves said the wind one day

  Come to the meadows with me and play

  Put on your dresses of red and gold

  Summer is gone and the days grow cold.

  Poppy What?

  Clover It’s been going round and round in my head all day.

  Poppy Sing it again.

  Clover It’s stupid.

  Poppy But sing it.

  Clover No. It’s just a stupid nursery rhyme. I think we used to skip to it.

  I don’t know what it’s doing in my head.

  Poppy Did I used to skip to it, too?

  Clover I don’t know. I forget. And I forget how the rest of it goes.

  Silence.

  Poppy.

  Poppy Yeah?

  Clover Why do you think?

  Poppy I don’t know.

  Clover Me neither.

  Silence.

  You know what Mum said, about Belfast.

  Poppy Yeah.

  Clover Well, I think that’s a stupid thing to say.

  Poppy Yeah.

  Silence.

  Clover ‘Ring the bell and run away fast.’

  Poppy What?

  Clover Bell-fast.

  Poppy Oh.

  Beat.

  You got in so much trouble for that.

  Clover Yeah.

  Silence.

  Pops?

  In school and that – have things been – and don’t tell me things have been fine for you, because they certainly haven’t been fine for me.

  Poppy (reluctantly) Yeah. Teachers keep keeping me behind after class and asking if I’m okay.

  Clover What do you say?

  Poppy ‘Yeah.’

  Clover Me too.

  I hate it when they do that.

  Like they have any idea what it’s like.

  Nosey fucking parkers.

  Poppy (giggling) Clover.

  Silence.

  Clover And, Poppy –

  Have any of those girls said anything lately?

  Poppy No.

  Clover Are you sure?

  Poppy Yeah.

  Clover You promise?

  Poppy Yes.

  Clover ’Cause, swear to God, Pops, if any of them says anything else /

  Poppy It’s okay, / Clover.

  Clover No, Poppy, it’s not okay – and I’m serious – if any of them says one word to you – stupid wee millies that they are – I’ll kill them.

  Poppy It’s okay, Clover, you don’t have to. I can look after myself.

  Clover No, Poppy.

  ’Cause I don’t want people thinking I’m weird.

  ’Cause see the thing is, Poppy, the thing is –

  You have to try to be as normal as possible.

  ’Cause especially now, what with Lori and all that –

  People are going to be specially watching you to see if you’re normal or not, too. And if anything happens, you have to tell me right away, okay? Not Dad and definitely not Mum and if I was you I wouldn’t go telling the teachers, either. They’ll just get involved and make things a hundred times worse. But you’re to tell me if anyone says or does anything, okay? And you’re to be as normal as possible.

  Beat.

  Poppy I am normal.

  Clover No you’re not.

  Normal people don’t sit under tables reading Peter Pan.

  Poppy Leave me alone.

  You’re just ragin’ because when Lori’s back you won’t be the oldest any more.

  Clover What?

  Poppy You won’t be the oldest any more and so / you won’t be able to –

  Clover shoves Poppy, hard. Poppy squeals.

  Clover Shut up!

  They treat us like children, Poppy, and it’s your fault! If you acted a bit less babyish /

  Poppy / I do not act babyish!

  Clover and a bit more grown-up then they’d treat us like grown-ups for once!

  Do you understand?

  Poppy Leave me alone.

  Clover No, Poppy!

  This is serious!

  I am serious!

  Say you understand!

  (Shaking her.) Poppy!

  Say it!

  Poppy Get off of me, Clover, get off, all right, I understand!

  Clover You understand?

  Poppy Yes!

  Clover Don’t say it like that.

  Poppy Please, Clovey! Stop it!

  Clover No, Poppy. Somebody has to tell you.

  Somebody in this family has to take charge of things.

  Poppy Don’t be silly.

  Clover It’s true and you know it.

  Things are going to be weird when Lori’s back. They’re going to be seriously weird –

  Poppy / No they’re not.

  Clover – and you’re a baby if you think they won’t.

  Silence.

  Poppy Leave me alone, Clover.

  Clover Fine. I’m going.

  I was going anyway.

  But she doesn’t move.

  SCENE FOUR

  It is four in the morning. David cannot sleep. He is working on his book of place names at the living-room table, dressed in his dressing gown. Phyllis enters, also dressed in a dressing gown.

  Phyllis David. I woke up and you weren’t there.

  David looks up briefly and then returns to his books.

  David Well, I couldn’t sleep.

  So I thought I may as well – (Gestures at books.)

  Phyllis Yes.

  She hovers, pulls her dressing gown tighter around her. Silence.

  Would you –

  I mean a cup of tea or something, would you –

  Beat.

  D’ye know what I’d like, I’d like a hot whiskey. Would you do me a hot whiskey?

  David sighs.

  David / Phyllis …

  Phyllis Right.

  Right.

  Well d’ye mind if I –? (Gestures at the sofa.)

  David shrugs.

  David No, no, go on ahead.

  Phyllis I was doing my head in, lying there not sleeping.

  Silence.

  Phyllis watches her husband. He does not look up.

  After a while Phyllis clears her throat tentatively.

  So what are you …

  David?

  What are you working on, then?

  David coughs.

  David Oh, you know, this and that. This and that.

  Phyllis Anything … (interesting)?

  David No, no, nothing exciting. Just – you know. Checking a few things here and there. Making some notes. That’s all.

  Phyllis Oh.

  Silence. Suddenly; impulsively:

  David.

  Will you read to me, David?

  Will you?

  It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t make sense, I don’t mind that. Just –

  Read to me, David?

  Beat.

  David ‘C is eclipsed by g, as in Cnoc-na-gceann, Knocknagin, the hill of the heads: a place
of execution.

  ‘Ch is a guttural sound which does not exist in English, and in anglicised names it is often changed to an f, as in Culdaff, Cul-dabhach: the back of the pool.’

  Beat.

  Phyllis (she knows) And what is –

  An eclipsis, again?

  Remind me?

  David (he knows she knows) An eclipsis –

  An eclipsed consonant –

  Has its sound completely suppressed, the sound of another consonant which is prefixed, being heard instead.

  Phyllis Right. Of course.

  David When c, for example, is eclipsed by g, it is written, g-c, but the g alone is pronounced. In written English, the eclipsed letter does not – exist, being always omitted.

  Beat.

  Phyllis Read me the places themselves.

  Beat.

  David Corlat, the round grey hill of the sepulchres.

  Corlea, grey round hill.

  Corlough, the lake of the corrs or herons.

  Cormeen, smooth round hill.

  Cornacreeve, the round hill of the branchy tree.

  Cornagee, Cornagheeha, the round hill of the wind.

  Cornahoe, the round hill of the cave.

  Cornamucklagh, the round hill of the piggeries.

  Beat.

  Cornaveagh, the round hill of the ravens.

  Corratober, the round hill of the well.

  Corrinshigo, Corrinshigagh, the round hill of the ash trees.

  Corrofin, the weir of Finna, a woman’s name.

  Corskeagh, the round hill of the white thorns.

  Silence.

  Phyllis’s eyes are closed. She sighs.

  Silence.

  Phyllis In a couple of weeks, perhaps, when things have settled down.

  We should take a trip up to Donegal, maybe.

  For the day.

  Or we could spend the night.

  David Donegal.

  Phyllis Drive down.

  The two of us.

  Clover and Poppy are old enough to look after themselves for a night, and /

  David Dun-na-nGall: the fortress of the Galls, or foreigners.

  Phyllis Lori will be here anyway, of course.

  Beat.

  David Long before the Anglo-Norman invasion, the Danes founded a settlement there, hence its name in Irish.

  Phyllis You need a break from it, David.

  We need a break from – from it all.

  It would be good to get away for a bit, you and me. Get out of Belfast. Just for a night or so. You know?

  David Belfast.

  Phyllis We need to talk, David.

  David Beilfeirste: the bel or ford of the farset, or riverbank. /

  Phyllis / David –

  David A crossing point. The Irish bel does not signify beauty.

  Phyllis Come here to me, David.

  We’ll drive up.

  I’ll drive.

  We’ll leave early morning, and take sandwiches with us that we’ve made the night before.

  We’ll take tea in a flask, stop on the edge of the road, on the outskirts of Toome.

  We’ll cross over the Pass, and perhaps it will be misty, so that – so that we will feel as if we are flying, or as the road climbs higher, that we really are leaving the world behind.

  David Right.

  Phyllis Don’t you think?

  David Aye.

  Phyllis What?

  David Maybe.

  Silence.

  Phyllis David?

  Are you going to tell me what Toome means now, is it?

  Beat.

  David ‘Dolores’.

  The name means ‘sorrow’.

  Why ever did we choose such a name, eh?

  Phyllis Don’t.

  David We should have known better.

  Phyllis Please, David.

  David Tempting fate is what is was! Tempting / fate.

  Phyllis Please!

  David We should have known.

  Phyllis A place or a person is more than a name.

  David Aye, but names are powerful. Naming something creates a power over –

  Phyllis As you know fine rightly, she was named after my grandmother /

  David And I shouldn’t ever have agreed to it.

  Phyllis What?

  Don’t you dare!

  Because names mean nothing!

  Not in the way that you believe they do.

  You can study places and names until the bloody cows come home but you’re not going to find out what happened to her. And you’re not the only one. You’re acting as if you’re the only one. You’ve got two other daughters. And me. What about me? Where do I fit in?

  Beat.

  I’m sorry.

  Beat.

  Oh Christ. I’m sorry, David.

  I didn’t mean –

  I’m just –

  Well all of us, aren’t we, we’re all just –

  Silence.

  I mean we’re just nice, normal people, living in a nice, normal house. And she had a happy childhood. None of those English doctors or nurses is going to dare tell me she didn’t! Whatever it was, it wasn’t us! Because we did our best. We made sure we were out of the country over the Twelfth, we made sure they didn’t see the worst of the news, we explained to them what was going on, and why it was wrong – didn’t we? We kept the worst of it at bay as best we could – sang songs when they couldn’t sleep for the helicopters – we protected them from Belfast and encouraged them to set their sights beyond Belfast –

  She stops abruptly.

  Can you tell me, David, what we did or didn’t do?

  David We are where we come from, Phyllis, and there’s no getting away from that.

  Phyllis What?

  What is that supposed to mean?

  What do you mean by that?

  David I just mean that you can’t /

  Phyllis ‘We are where we come from’?

  That’s not true.

  That’s not true because if that’s true there’s no hope for any of us.

  Silence.

  David, will you talk to me, for Christ’s sake?

  David And where’s talking going to get us?

  Beat.

  I came down to work.

  Is there no peace to be had anywhere?

  Silence.

  Clover enters.

  Clover.

  What on earth are you doing out of your bed? It’s four in the morning.

  Clover (sadly) You can hear you upstairs.

  David Go back to bed, Clover.

  Clover I couldn’t sleep, anyway.

  Silence.

  Can I …

  Stay here with you for a bit.

  Phyllis Oh Clover. This is ridiculous.

  You heard your father. Away back to bed.

  Clover ‘Away back to bed, Clover’ – Mum, you can’t treat me like I’m a baby. Not now, not any more.

  David Please, Clover.

  Clover No, Dad!

  Beat.

  Phyllis (gentler) It’s a school night, love.

  Beat.

  Clover That’s what I – that’s actually what I –

  Beat.

  Mum … (In a rush.) Mum, can Poppy and I have the day off school tomorrow.

  Beat.

  Phyllis No, you cannot.

  Clover Oh but please, Mum? I’ve been thinking about it and I think /

  Phyllis I said no, Clover. You have to go to school. And your sister’s only just started secondary school, for Christ’s sake. She can’t start missing days.

  Clover Well then, just me? Can I have the day off school?

  David You heard your mother, Clover.

  Clover But Dad /

  Phyllis Please, Clover. Go to bed.

  Clover But I want to be there. When Lori gets back. I want to be here when Lori gets back, oh please!

  Phyllis You’ll see her when you come home from school.

  Clover But /

  David No buts, Clover.<
br />
  Clover Mum –

  Phyllis Please, love, don’t do this to me.

  Clover But –

  Phyllis Listen to me, Clover. I think it would be better – better for your sister – if it was just your father and I. We don’t want to make a big deal out of it – (To David.) Do we. We think it’s best – don’t we – that things get back to normal as soon as possible.

  Clover Yeah, but things aren’t ever going to be the same, though, are they? Things are going to be /

  Phyllis Don’t do this to me, Clover – please – I’m warning you – please – just go to bed –

  Clover Are you going to go to bed?

  Beat.

  Phyllis Yes.

  Yes, of course. Shortly. Your father and I just have a few things that we need to …

  Beat.

  Clover turns and leaves the room without a word.

  Silence.

  She’s right, you know, we should –

  Beat.

  Look, David. About tomorrow …

  Beat.

  About tomorrow, David.

  What do you think we should –

  I mean, after we’ve –

  Do you think we should –

  Beat.

  David (without looking at her) I’ve been meaning to say to you, I think I’ll –

  Beat.

  That is to say, after we’ve –

  Beat.

  I actually think I’ll go into town, afterwards.

  Beat.

  Phyllis You –

  David (hurriedly) I mean, yes, I’ll be here in the morning, of course, but I just thought –

  Well. What’s the point in me hanging round here all day. I mean, there’s no need really, is there. Because as you said, and you’re right to say it, we want things to be as … normal as possible, don’t we. And so, I thought I may as well use the opportunity /

  Phyllis / Use the opportunity?

  David – to go to the Linen Hall Library. On a weekday, you know.

  It’s always so crowded on Saturdays.

  Beat.

  Phyllis tries to speak but cannot.

  David continues hurriedly without looking at her.

  And I think I may have found an anomaly, here, you see. ‘Cornamucklagh, the round hill of the piggeries.’ Muc: ‘pigs’. But magh means ‘plain’. And the Annals of the Four Masters gives the name as Cornamaghlagh, the round hill of the plains, which is …

  He trails off.

  Silence.

  Phyllis (standing) Well, David, I –

  I’m not sure what to say to you, I –

  Beat.

  If we’d been a churchgoing family –

  I mean the way we, my brother and sister and I, were brought up –

  Beat.

  Never mind.

  It’s nothing.

  Beat.

  I’m going to bed.

  Beat.

  She pauses. She is waiting for him.