Some Kind of Fairy Tale Read Online Free PDF

well, too. He didn’t know how long she’d spent in the bath but she’d come up looking pink as a peeled prawn. All the grime had been washed away. Her hair had recovered its waves, and its chestnut sheen was there for all to admire as she tossed her head like a pony. The dirt had been scraped from under her fingernails. She used no cosmetics at all and her complexion was flawless.
    She looked very good, and healthy enough, though a little tired. It was just that Peter knew that only someone barking mad would leave home without a word and then wash up at the door two decades later.
    “I made a cake,” Genevieve said, jumping out of her chair.
    “I’ll help you,” Tara said.
    Peter saw an opportunity to talk. “I’ll come through, too.”
    Tara gently pushed him back into his seat. “Stay there, big brother. I want to bring you cake.”
    He didn’t know whether to resist. A glance from Genevieve told him to stay put.
    “H E HATES ME NOW ,” Tara said, as Genevieve drew a big knife through her chocolate cake.
    “He’s confused, hurt, angry, puzzled, baffled, and above all he’s been told he can’t ask you any questions. But I know he still loves you.”
    “How do you know that?”
    Genevieve sucked a sliver of cake from her thumb. “If he didn’t love you, he wouldn’t give a damn about any of it.”
    “Not only did I know he’d find someone beautiful, I knew he’d find someone very smart.”
    Genevieve took a step toward Tara. “You seem very nice to me. I think it’s a time for honesty, not charm.”
    “That’s fair. Very fair. I will talk and I will be honest. Right now I’m just trying to find a way to explain what happened. It’s not as easy as you think. For one thing, when I tell him the truth he won’t believe me and he will hate me even more than he does now. He’ll despise me.”
    “I know him, and I know he won’t despise you, whatever it is.”
    “Oh, yes he will. And you will, too. Though you may turn out to be my best hope. It’s certainly not something I can tell Mum and Dad. In fact, I wouldn’t even bother telling anyone, not a soul, except that certain people deserve to hear the truth, whether they believe it or not.”
    “Tara, I haven’t the faintest idea of what you are talking about.”
    “Do you know his friend Richie?”
    “I’ve never met him. He told me they had a falling-out before we met. They haven’t spoken in all these years.”
    Tara put her hands to her face. “That would be my fault that they fell out. They were great friends. Before—”
    “What happened, Tara? Why don’t you just say in simple words what happened?”
    The door opened. It was Mary. “Are you girls baking that cake, or what?”

CHAPTER FOUR
    Are you a witch
    Are you a fairy?
    Are you the wife
    Of Michael Cleary?
    C HILDREN’S RHYME                                   
FROM S OUTHERN T IPPERARY , I RELAND
    N ew Year’s Day. Tara promised to tell Peter everything on New Year’s Day. Why? Peter had asked. Why couldn’t she tell him there and then? She said because after she’d told him, he wouldn’t want to speak to her again, and that she’d wanted to get through Christmas for the sake of Dell and Mary. But, she promised, she would tell him all of it. Everything.
    She asked if they could go for a walk together on New Year’s Day through the Outwoods. He could bring Gen and the kids and the dogs. She pointed out that it used to be a great tradition in the Martin household. Dell, Mary, Peter, and Tara would always walk in the Outwoods, a couple of times with Richie, too, and always with Peter’s terrier Nix.
    “Where is Nix, by the way?” Tara had asked Peter.
    “Hell, Tara, Nix died about fifteen years ago. Dad buried her in the garden in the rose bed.”
    “Oh, of course.” Then Tara had cried bitterly.
    “We had lovely roses come where we buried him.”
    “Don’t.”
    The walks through the Outwoods had stopped after Tara