Far From Home. Anne Bennett

to have something to open when she comes home from Mass.’

      ‘Oh, you’re on,’ Susie said as they alighted from the tram. ‘I love choosing presents for people. Anyway, see you later.’

      ‘Yeah, I’ll be up about half seven,’ Kate said, and with a wave they went their different ways.

      Kate had planned what she was going to wear that night, having bought a dress from the Rag Market the previous week. She’d tried it on at home so that Sally could see it. She valued her sister’s opinion because she knew all about fashion from watching all the stars on the screen. Sally was really enthusiastic about the full-length silk dress in the softest pink. Apart from the ruffles at the neck, the dress was plain and sleeveless; it fell in shimmering folds to the floor.

      ‘Oh, Kate, that’s so gorgeous,’ Sally enthused.

      ‘Do you really think so?’

      ‘I know so.’

      ‘Susie thought I should have something with a fuller skirt to accentuate my waist. She had one like that with little grey and black flowers all over it, with big butterfly sleeves. It’s ever so pretty.’

      ‘So is that,’ Sally said. ‘You look like a Grecian goddess – only someone as slim as you could wear a dress like that.’

      ‘That’s what the woman on the stall said,’ Kate said to Sally. ‘She said she thought she might have had it left on her hands.’

      ‘I’m not surprised,’ Sally said. ‘It would look awful on someone my shape, and I don’t think even Susie could carry it off.’

      ‘If you’re sure then?’

      ‘I am,’ Sally said. ‘The only thing is – unless you are dancing every minute – your arms might get very cold.’

      ‘Oh, no, I’ve got this to wear after I’ve taken my coat off,’ Kate said, and withdrew a silver fur stole from another bag. ‘It’s artificial,’ she said. ‘But in a way I prefer that.’

      ‘Yeah, I know what you mean,’ Sally said. ‘But that settles it really. Kate, you will be the belle of the ball.’

      ‘Don’t be so silly,’ Kate said, colouring at the unaccustomed praise. But it did mean that that night she could dress with confidence, knowing that she looked good, and she did cause a bit of a stir when she went into the dance and she saw David’s eyes widen in appreciation. She smiled at him as he approached and put two hands on her shoulders as he said, ‘Kate, you look beautiful, absolutely stunning.’

      She couldn’t be anything else but pleased, any woman would feel the same, but the gesture did not go unnoticed. It was like a stamp of ownership – many of the other men were aware of this and so gave Kate a wide berth. She noticed, but she liked David too much to want to upset him, and he had made no secret of how he felt about her. So David got his heart’s desire as Katie danced almost exclusively with him. He knew she would rather dance with him than not dance at all, and especially as the band were playing much of the swing music seeping over from America, performed by people like Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey and, of course, Glenn Miller.

      And David was a superb dancer and a proper gentleman and very attentive, and it was as they were taking a well-earned breather that he said, ‘Nick and Susie seem to be getting on all right.’

      ‘Yes, yes, they do.’

      ‘We could do the same.’

      ‘What?’

      ‘You know, get on better,’ David said, and Kate heard the tentative eagerness in his voice.

      ‘I don’t think we could get on better,’ Kate said, looking into David’s deep brown eyes. ‘We get on very well now, but that isn’t the same as loving someone.’

      ‘I know that,’ David said. ‘But I have enough love for both of us.’

      Kate smiled a grim smile and shook her head. ‘I don’t think it works like that.’

      ‘Look,’ David said, deciding to lay his cards on the table. ‘Tomorrow night, Nick is taking Susie with him to see the pantomime of Sleeping Beauty at the Hippodrome in the town.’

      ‘Oh,’ Kate said – she loved pantomimes. They were such fun and very Christmassy. Susie had taken Kate to see Cinderella the first Christmas she had been in England, and she had been amazed because she had never seen anything like it. Plays of any sort were sparse in Donegal, but plays where the Prince Charming that Cinderella falls in love with is actually a girl and the old stepmother really a man was out of her understanding. When she found that the audiences were encouraged to boo the baddies and cheer the goodies, she had been astounded. She had soon got into the spirit of it, however, and had been as vocal as everybody else. She had a sudden longing to do it again.

      ‘Point is,’ David continued, ‘I will be at a loose end and so will you, and it is Christmas Eve, so I was wondering if you wanted to see the pantomime as well. As friends,’ he said, holding up his hand. ‘Scout’s honour.’

      A smile dimpled Kate’s cheek and David felt as if his heart had stopped beating. ‘You are a fool, David, and I’d love to go with you, but I’d better say no,’ she said, but had to bend her head so that she couldn’t see the disappointment that flooded his face.

      ‘Kate,’ David said, ‘I’ve never asked you this before, but is there someone else?’

      Kate thought of Tim, the man she had given her heart to but who would soon belong to Maggie Mulligan, and she shook her head. ‘No,’ she said quietly.

      ‘Then, why not come out with me?’

      Why not indeed? said the little inner voice inside her head. I’m not agreeing to marry him just because we watch a pantomime together. ‘All right then,’ she said. She saw relief light up his eyes as she added, ‘Though I doubt we’ll get tickets for tomorrow night’s performance at this late stage.’

      ‘No,’ David said. ‘So it’s a good job that Nick and I bought the tickets a fortnight ago.’

      Kate stared at him in shocked surprise. ‘You were very sure of yourself,’ she remarked

      ‘Oh, no,’ David said with a heartfelt sigh. ‘I wasn’t sure at all. I just hoped you’d agree.’

      ‘What if I’d refused?’

      ‘Then I would have given them away,’ David said. ‘I mean, I could hardly go and sit beside Nick and Susie on my own. I’d have felt right awkward.’

      Kate knew he would and she thought she had made the right decision. She was even more certain of this when David took her hand and led her on to the floor for the Last Waltz. She went willingly and felt they fitted beautifully together, but when David held her close and she felt his heart banging in his chest, she felt quite protective towards him and didn’t fully understand why.

      It was when she went to retrieve her coat at the end of the night that she saw Susie again, and then she took in her friend’s slightly dishevelled appearance and she knew what she had been doing with Nick. Susie, however, was more interested to learn that Kate had eventually agreed to go out with David. ‘At last you realize that the man hasn’t got three heads.’

      Kate laughed. ‘I never thought he had,’ she said.

      ‘And maybe when you go out with David you will find yourself bowled off your feet,’ Susie continued.

      ‘And maybe I won’t.’

      ‘Well, you do as you please,’ Susie said, ‘for I intend to enjoy myself; and, so far, this Christmas is shaping up to be one of the best I have ever had.’

      Kate had never actually been on a date before and she dressed with care. She seldom bought much for herself, but she had seen another snip of a bargain in the Rag Market earlier that day when she had gone in with Susie, who urged her to buy it. And so she was wearing a calf-length