The Year It All Ended by Kirsty Murray Read Free Book Online Page A

the boys.
    ‘Welcome, Francis and George,’ she said stiffly. ‘Your mother must be so happy to have you home.’ There was something brittle, too composed, about Mama’s politeness, as if the presence of young men in the parlour made Louis’ absence more painful than ever.
    Thea brought tea and slices of seed cake and set the tray on the sideboard, and Tiney helped serve the guests.
    George kept fiddling with his cup, lifting it up, putting it back on the saucer, switching hands, as if he couldn’t decide how best to hold it. When he wasn’t fiddling, just holding the cup, it rattled slightly. Tiney couldn’t understand why his hands were trembling. How could George, smooth, handsome George, possibly be nervous?
    Before the McCaffrey boys went away, George had been the one that everyone secretly loved. Poor, dead Percy had been tall and kind but George had been dashing, while Frank was forever in his older brothers’ shadows, waiting to be noticed. Tiney liked him for that, the way he was always good-humoured though he was often overlooked.
    ‘And now that you’re home, what are your plans?’ asked Mama politely.
    ‘Oh Ma, they’re only just off the boat,’ said Minna. ‘They shouldn’t have to know the answer to that question.’
    George shrugged. ‘I’ll take whatever I’m offered. If anyone will have me.’
    ‘Of course everyone will have you,’ said Mama. ‘Everyone wants our boys to get straight back to work, in good jobs.’
    ‘I’m going to try for the civil service,’ said Frank, running his fingers around his hat.
    Tiney felt confused, as if they had all walked through a mirror where everything was backwards. Frank seemed so much more at ease than before, while George’s gaze flicked back and forth across the room from Minna to Thea to Tiney, as if he were trying to remember who they were exactly. Then he turned his focus on Minna.
    ‘Oi there, Minna, you fancy coming to the pictures with me?’ he asked, as if they were alone in the room.
    Minna smiled, a tiny curve of her lips, but she looked to Thea, not George. ‘Frank should come along too. And Thea,’ she said. ‘We could make it doubles.’
    Thea raised her eyebrows. ‘We should take Tiney as well.’
    ‘Righto,’ said Minna. ‘That would be fun, wouldn’t it? Your very own gang of Cheer-Up girls.’
    George blinked, visibly annoyed. He slapped his hand against his knee and looked at the floor. ‘If you must, bring the whole damn family. Whole bloody lot of you.’
    ‘George,’ said Frank, putting his hand on his brother’s shoulder and glancing at Mama apologetically.
    ‘Nette could join you as a chaperone,’ said Mama, as if she hadn’t noticed George’s rudeness. ‘Her fiancé, Ray Staunton, is due home any day now.’
    ‘Nette’s getting hitched?’ said George. ‘Got over Percy pretty quickly, didn’t she?’
    There was another awkward silence.
    ‘We were sorry to hear about Louis,’ said Frank. ‘He was a great bloke.’
    Mama nodded, as if she could not speak another word. But Minna turned and gazed at Frank with gratitude. ‘Thank you, Frank. We miss Percy too.’

    On the evening of their trip to the picture show, Tiney stood in the bedroom buttoning her summer coat. It was really too warm to wear it but she didn’t want Frank to think she was under-dressed in her simple black cotton dress. She scowled at her reflection as she stood beside Minna in front of the mirror. Minna looked stunning in a very simple smoke-grey dress with a white collar. Tiney noticed its hem fell only just below her knees, revealing Minna’s beautifully turned ankles.
    ‘Aren’t you going to wear a coat?’ asked Tiney.
    ‘I’ve a shawl,’ said Minna. ‘Let’s not fuss. It’s only the pictures. No one can see us in the dark anyway.’
    ‘Papa says we shouldn’t be going at all. He’s worried we’ll catch the Spanish Influenza.’
    ‘Papa loves to worry. There are no cases in Adelaide yet and the Health