Part 150, Chapter 2728
Chapter Two Thousand Seven Hundred and Twenty-Eight
30th October 1978
Dublin, Ireland
The last Monday of October had originally been Bank Holiday. In the decades since British rule had ended the October Holiday had come to be something else entirely. Drawing inspiration from the American Halloween, Mexico’s Dias de Los Muertos, and Ireland’s own macabre traditions it had grown into something far more than it had originally been. Eventually becoming a raucous holiday complete with parades, wild celebrations, howling at the moon, and whatnot. Everywhere one looked there was black and orange bunting along with the pumpkins, skeletons, witches, and goblins. The imagery had divided the Catholic Church in Ireland with some calling it satanic while others pointed out that it was a part of the All-Saints and All-Souls celebrations that had gone on for centuries. That the odd parish church wasn’t above handing out candy skulls to the children playing in the graveyard to “honor” the dead on this holiday didn’t exactly placate their morally offended urban brethren.
Jack would have assumed that it was a holiday that was made for Marie Blackwood, but as he had seen the night before she had just seemed a bit more withdrawn than usual. Bridget had been keeping track of her. There was a bit of gossip surrounding Marie, but mostly it was people talking about her like if she were a ghost. Jack would have heard about it if she had not been showing up for lectures and or doing the coursework, but she seemed to be doing little else. Most of the time learning a university student was living quietly would be cause for rejoicing but as he had already learned, just like her mother there was nothing about Marie that was ever really simple.
Knocking on the front door, Jack saw when Marie answered that she was clearly not planning on going out that night. If anything, Marie looked like she had been about to go to bed early. She was wearing a flannel nightgown in red and blue plaid but unlike the last time Jack had checked on her like this, she didn’t look like she had been asleep. Like her mother a few decades earlier, Marie still looked like she was a teenager despite being well into her twenties. Jack wondered if it annoyed her in the same way that it had with Katherine.
“What do you want?” Marie asked in greeting, not thrilled to see Jack standing there. The last time he had been here he had left the accordion file. One of the things that had occurred to Jack was that Marie’s withdrawal might have been in reaction to the contents.
“You have some extremely powerful people asking how you are doing” Jack replied.
After a lifetime of practice, it was incredibly easy for Marie to just have her face go blank. She had to know who Jack was talking about, her mother, her godfather, and his son, among others. At least Marie didn’t tend to go on the offensive when she heard something that she didn’t like. In the same situation Jackie would have started an argument and the original question would have been entirely forgotten in the resulting blow up. Bridget said that Jackie had learned that from Jack, though he couldn’t remember ever having reacted that way.
“I’m surprised that Bridget hasn’t been telling you how I am” Marie said, “She insists on dropping off groceries every week.”
“She thinks that you are reclusive by nature and there is a long tradition of just allowing people like you be in Ireland” Jack replied. Bridget had been Jack’s Secretary once upon a time before they had gotten married. As a Legal Secretary, coaxing Marie out of her solitude was something that she sort of had practice doing.
With a touch of reluctance, Marie stood aside and let Jack into the apartment. According to Marie’s grandfather she tended to recreate the bedroom she’d had since she had throughout her childhood wherever she went. The rest of the apartment was strangely impersonal. The furniture was exactly the same as it had been when she had moved in. The television was on, and the evening news was playing. The hue and saturation were askew in this television making the picture gaudy and weird, but Jack knew better than to try to adjust them unless he wanted an hour or so of frustration. This had been one of the first color televisions sold in Ireland and that was reflected in how many headaches it had been the cause of. Jack supposed there was a lesson in that.
On the screen, there was a news story about what looked like soldiers in a jungle somewhere poking bayonets into things. Presumably looking for traps. Jack recognized the distinctive shape of German helmets they were wearing, but without that the story could have involved any army anywhere in the Tropics. He’d seen a thousand stories like that over the last few years.
“It feels like the whole world is going mad” Marie said as she threw herself into the armchair that matched the couch.
“Its always been mad” Jack said as he took one of the chairs at the kitchen table. “You are only noticing it now.”
Marie’s eyes darted to the top of the cabinet. Jack saw that the accordion file was being stored there next to a few books. So, she had studied files inside, she just wasn’t in a hurry to discuss them with Jack. Not that he blamed her, that was a lot to process.
30th October 1978
Dublin, Ireland
The last Monday of October had originally been Bank Holiday. In the decades since British rule had ended the October Holiday had come to be something else entirely. Drawing inspiration from the American Halloween, Mexico’s Dias de Los Muertos, and Ireland’s own macabre traditions it had grown into something far more than it had originally been. Eventually becoming a raucous holiday complete with parades, wild celebrations, howling at the moon, and whatnot. Everywhere one looked there was black and orange bunting along with the pumpkins, skeletons, witches, and goblins. The imagery had divided the Catholic Church in Ireland with some calling it satanic while others pointed out that it was a part of the All-Saints and All-Souls celebrations that had gone on for centuries. That the odd parish church wasn’t above handing out candy skulls to the children playing in the graveyard to “honor” the dead on this holiday didn’t exactly placate their morally offended urban brethren.
Jack would have assumed that it was a holiday that was made for Marie Blackwood, but as he had seen the night before she had just seemed a bit more withdrawn than usual. Bridget had been keeping track of her. There was a bit of gossip surrounding Marie, but mostly it was people talking about her like if she were a ghost. Jack would have heard about it if she had not been showing up for lectures and or doing the coursework, but she seemed to be doing little else. Most of the time learning a university student was living quietly would be cause for rejoicing but as he had already learned, just like her mother there was nothing about Marie that was ever really simple.
Knocking on the front door, Jack saw when Marie answered that she was clearly not planning on going out that night. If anything, Marie looked like she had been about to go to bed early. She was wearing a flannel nightgown in red and blue plaid but unlike the last time Jack had checked on her like this, she didn’t look like she had been asleep. Like her mother a few decades earlier, Marie still looked like she was a teenager despite being well into her twenties. Jack wondered if it annoyed her in the same way that it had with Katherine.
“What do you want?” Marie asked in greeting, not thrilled to see Jack standing there. The last time he had been here he had left the accordion file. One of the things that had occurred to Jack was that Marie’s withdrawal might have been in reaction to the contents.
“You have some extremely powerful people asking how you are doing” Jack replied.
After a lifetime of practice, it was incredibly easy for Marie to just have her face go blank. She had to know who Jack was talking about, her mother, her godfather, and his son, among others. At least Marie didn’t tend to go on the offensive when she heard something that she didn’t like. In the same situation Jackie would have started an argument and the original question would have been entirely forgotten in the resulting blow up. Bridget said that Jackie had learned that from Jack, though he couldn’t remember ever having reacted that way.
“I’m surprised that Bridget hasn’t been telling you how I am” Marie said, “She insists on dropping off groceries every week.”
“She thinks that you are reclusive by nature and there is a long tradition of just allowing people like you be in Ireland” Jack replied. Bridget had been Jack’s Secretary once upon a time before they had gotten married. As a Legal Secretary, coaxing Marie out of her solitude was something that she sort of had practice doing.
With a touch of reluctance, Marie stood aside and let Jack into the apartment. According to Marie’s grandfather she tended to recreate the bedroom she’d had since she had throughout her childhood wherever she went. The rest of the apartment was strangely impersonal. The furniture was exactly the same as it had been when she had moved in. The television was on, and the evening news was playing. The hue and saturation were askew in this television making the picture gaudy and weird, but Jack knew better than to try to adjust them unless he wanted an hour or so of frustration. This had been one of the first color televisions sold in Ireland and that was reflected in how many headaches it had been the cause of. Jack supposed there was a lesson in that.
On the screen, there was a news story about what looked like soldiers in a jungle somewhere poking bayonets into things. Presumably looking for traps. Jack recognized the distinctive shape of German helmets they were wearing, but without that the story could have involved any army anywhere in the Tropics. He’d seen a thousand stories like that over the last few years.
“It feels like the whole world is going mad” Marie said as she threw herself into the armchair that matched the couch.
“Its always been mad” Jack said as he took one of the chairs at the kitchen table. “You are only noticing it now.”
Marie’s eyes darted to the top of the cabinet. Jack saw that the accordion file was being stored there next to a few books. So, she had studied files inside, she just wasn’t in a hurry to discuss them with Jack. Not that he blamed her, that was a lot to process.
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