The Shoestring Club (14 page)

‘Look, I’ve spent the whole day making those elephants. My fingers are full of paper cuts.’ I hold them out to show her. ‘And I don’t think anyone will notice.’ I pause. ‘How come you know so much about elephants anyway?’

She shrugs. ‘I work with them.’

‘In a circus?’

She doesn’t look too impressed. ‘No! Dublin Zoo.’

‘
You’re
a zookeeper?’ I try not to smile.

‘Yes. What’s so funny about that?’

‘But you’re so gorgeous. I presumed you were a model.’

She gives a dry laugh. ‘You’re funny.’

‘No seriously.’

Finally she smiles, her teeth tiny white pearls against her dark pink gums. She really is extraordinary looking and she obviously has no idea. Glossy dark hair pulled back off her oval face, perfect black skin, a mouth as wide as Julia Roberts’s, and the kind of body most of us would die for; tall and slim, yet not too skinny.

‘How many black models have you seen in the Irish magazines recently?’ she says, her south-Dublin accent tinged with something more exotic.

‘Pretty much none,’ I admit. I am rather an expert on magazines. ‘Point taken.’ She smiles again. ‘Anyway modelling would bore me rigid. All that standing around. I have no interest in clothes, or working with people for that matter. I love working with animals, especially elephants. You know where you are with elephants.’

I don’t know quite what to say to this; luckily I don’t have to. Pandora appears with the Farenze in her arms.

‘Jules, this has to go back into stock tomorrow, I’m so sorry. Will you put it on a mannequin for me?’

Then she notices the girl.

‘Oops, sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt.’

The girl’s eyes are glued to the dress. ‘Is that for sale?’ she asks.

Pandora ignores my glare.

‘It will be in the morning,’ she says. ‘Would you like to try it on?’

The girl nods, her eyes twinkling.

‘Please.’

‘No problem. Your hands clean, Jules?’

I nod and Pandora hands me the dress, the chiffon melting into my outstretched arms, my heart sinking with it.

‘Jules will find you a dressing room, won’t you, Jules?’ she says pointedly.

I nod again wordlessly. I know I have to say goodbye to the dress eventually, but it still hurts.

‘Follow me,’ I say.

‘I’m sorry,’ Pandora whispers in my ear as I walk past her. ‘But a dress like that deserves a good home.’

I hang the Farenze in a vacant changing room, turn around and flash the girl a smile. None of this is her fault and at least she seems to appreciate the dress, even if she is a bit odd.

‘I’ll get you some heels, and a belt maybe,’ I say.

She squirms a little. ‘What about a little jacket or something? It’s quite revealing.’

I smile gently. I can’t believe she wants to cover up that amazing body. ‘Sure, back in a sec.’

Several minutes later the girl sweeps out of the changing room. Out of her jacket and jeans, she looks a different person, and in fact she’s so tall she doesn’t need heels, the chiffon hits her long legs just under her knees. The dark pink is incredible against her skin; the soft material hugs her slim figure but the layers make her hips look curvier, more womanly. I realize that she’s older than I thought, twenty-two or twenty-three maybe.

‘What do you think?’ she asks nervously. She has no idea what to do with her arms, so she twists them in front of her, like she’s doing yoga practice.

I give a low whistle.

‘Stunning. Looks like it’s made for you. Try this over your shoulders.’

I help her arms into a green sequined shrug and tie a green sash-style belt around her waist. I stand back and take a look.

‘Perfect,’ I say.

‘Is it really only a hundred and twenty euro?’ She pirouettes, the material following her like a ballerina’s skirt. ‘It’s beautiful.’

‘Add a nought,’ I say. ‘Twelve hundred.’

She stops twirling and her face falls.

‘I must have read the tag wrong. I’d better take it off. It’s just I have this school reunion thing coming up and I’ve been saving for something special since Christmas, but that’s silly money.’

‘How much do you have?’ I ask. Maybe Pandora will reduce the price a little. Doubtful, but you never know with Pandora.

‘Three hundred tops.’

‘Sorry,’ I say, meaning it. Pandora’s right, if the dress has to go, it should be to someone who loves it as much as I do. ‘It’s being sold for charity.’

‘It’s all right. I understand. I’ll have to face the school witches in something else. Maybe I won’t go after all.’

She takes one last, lingering look in the mirror and then turns back to get changed, her shoulders hunched with disappointment. Before closing the curtain behind her, she goes quiet for a second. Then she blows out all her breath.

‘Don’t you wish you were stinking rich sometimes?’ she says wistfully. ‘So you could just walk into a shop and buy any old dress you wanted.’

I give her a sad smile.

‘I know. That dress is one in a million. I tried it on as soon as it came in, had my eye on it for a special event too. I think it’s magic or something, it seems to suit everyone. Unfortunately like you, I can’t afford it.’

‘If we had six hundred each, we could share it,’ she jokes.

I stare at her. ‘Hang on, what did you just say?’

‘If we had six hundred each, we could share it.’ She stops, looking worried. ‘I’m sorry, was that a really strange thing to say? Sometimes I honestly can’t tell.’

‘Not at all. Would you seriously consider sharing a dress with a complete stranger?’

She shrugs. ‘Normally, no. But for this dress, yes, I definitely would.’

I stare at her. ‘You have three hundred euro, right now?’

‘Correct.’

‘That’s plenty for a deposit. And if I can find another three hundred, we’re halfway there. Then we just need to find two more takers to time share it.’

Her face breaks into the most amazing sun-splitting smile. ‘
We
? Are you serious? You’d really share it with me?’

‘Yes!’

‘I guess I should introduce myself in that case. I’m Arietty, Arietty Pilgrim.’

She doesn’t offer her hand, just smiles at me. I smile back.

‘And I’m Julia Schuster, Jules. And it was your idea, even if you were only joking. When’s your school reunion?’

‘Twentieth of October,’ she says instantly. ‘It’s a Saturday.’

‘And my wedding’s the twenty-seventh, also a Saturday, excellent, it gives us oodles of time to find two more dress partners in crime.’

Arietty’s eyes light up. ‘Wedding? It’s going to be your wedding dress?’

‘Not exactly. Believe me, it’s a long story. But first, we need a plan. What are you doing tomorrow?’

‘Where are we going, Auntie Jules?’ Iris stops dead on the pavement. ‘I’m not walking any more until you tell me. I’m exhausted.’ She leans her back against the metal railings and crosses her arms stubbornly.

I smile to myself. With her jaw set like that she looks the image of her mum. ‘We’re nearly there, Iris. Two more minutes, I promise.’

‘You keep saying that, two more minutes, two more minutes. I’m not moving.’

‘Suit yourself.’ I walk away from her, slowly, hoping she’ll follow me. It starts spitting rain and for once I thank Pandora’s Girl Guide streak. Before we left this morning, she’d insisted on filling a rucksack with a packed lunch for Iris and an umbrella. I pause, pull out the umbrella and put it up. One of the spokes is broken, but it still keeps off the worst of the drizzle.

‘If you keep dilly-dallying you’ll miss all the animals,’ I say loudly without turning around, twirling the umbrella like Mary Poppins.

‘Animals?’ I hear Iris’s trainers slapping on the ground behind me. Her small hand grabs my arm. ‘Did you say animals?’

I nod, try not to smile. ‘This is Phoenix Park, Iris. What’s in Phoenix Park?’

Her eyes bug open and her lips spring into a wide grin.

‘The zoo! Are we really going to the zoo?’

‘Yep.’

She throws her arms around my waist and hugs me tight.

‘Thanks, Auntie Jules. I haven’t been since my school trip last year.’

I feel bad for Iris. She adores the zoo, she’s always asking for someone, anyone to take her, but Pandora works so hard she’s always exhausted on her days off, and the zoo is the last thing on her mind. Bird doesn’t like to park the Mercedes in the city and hates public transport, so she’s a dead loss as the zoo is a bit tricky to get to unless you drive, which only leaves Dad, and he’s often working at the weekends. To be honest, I’m only going today because Arietty invited me to meet her at work to discuss our Farenze scheme, an offer I just couldn’t refuse, which makes me feel even more guilty.

I pick up her plaits and pile them on top of her head, like Heidi. ‘Sorry, Iris, I’ll take you more from now on.’

She looks at me solemnly. ‘Do you swear?’

‘Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.’

She seems satisfied with this. She takes my hand and pulls hard.

‘Come on, Auntie Jules, you’re such a slow coach.’

‘Thought you were tired, you minx.’

She just giggles.

Arietty has left our names with one of the security guards at the gate, and Iris is delighted with herself.

‘We didn’t even have to pay,’ she says. ‘We’re like celebs. Your friend must be very important.’

‘She is,’ I say, shaking the umbrella and folding it away. The rain has stopped, but the sky is still grey and threatening.

Iris skips up the right-hand slope towards the Kaziranga Forest Trail, against the pedestrian traffic as Arietty suggested, and I follow her. Crowds make Iris nervous. She’s always convinced she’s going to get lost. She did once, in Tesco in Dun Laoghaire when she was just three, and the fear seems to have stayed with her.

We pass the low-slung Reptile House and continue down the path, avoiding the peacocks. I’ve never liked peacocks, they have beady, dead looking eyes, and their sharp wail gives me the heebie-jeebies.

I halt beside the leafy entrance to the trail. ‘Here we go. This is where Arietty works. We’re a little early but we can check out her elephant friends while we wait.’

Iris stares at me. ‘Your friend works with the animals?’

I smile back; her eyes are nearly popping out of their sockets again. ‘Yes. She’s the elephant keeper. Didn’t I say?’

She slaps my arm. ‘No! You said she worked in the zoo. I thought you meant in the office or something.’

I chuckle. ‘I wanted to surprise you. Now are we going in or what?’

Iris runs along the twisting concrete path and I follow her. Every now and then she stops at a bend and checks that I’m behind her. The wind is making the tall bamboo plants swish and there’s a waterfall splashing over some rocks. I close my eyes and try to imagine a forest in deepest India. A little hard with the excited shrieks coming from up ahead.

I turn the corner and there they are, Arietty’s elephants, four of them, two babies and two larger ones, all playing at the edge of the concrete pool. As we watch, the babies duck under the water and use their trunks as snorkels.

Iris giggles, her eyes glued to the scene. ‘Look, Auntie Jules, they’re swimming. They’re so cute.’ I sit down in the stepped visitor’s viewing area and watch Iris. She’s in her element, pupils wide, face lit up, totally absorbed in the elephant babies’ antics, her little body straining against the wooden fence to get as close as she possibly can. She’s so engrossed she doesn’t seem to notice the gaggle of children building up either side of her.

I take out my mobile and text Arietty:

A second later a message beeps back:

Minutes later Arietty appears. I almost didn’t recognize her. She’s wearing a green Dublin Zoo sweatshirt, black work boots, green combats, a yellow walkie-talkie and keys hanging off her belt. She looks very official.

‘Hey, Jules.’

I stand up and she hesitates in front of me for a second, as if deciding whether to kiss me or not. She decides not to, instead sits, tucking her hands under her legs. I join her.

‘That your niece?’ she asks, nodding towards the fence.

‘The one practically in the elephant enclosure? That’s Iris all right. She’s mad about animals. Has all kinds of odd pets at home – an ant farm, a wormery, a log covered in woodlice, and a snail collection. Her mum makes her keep her weird menagerie in the shed.’

Arietty laughs, a surprisingly deep, contagious ripple.

‘I was exactly the same at that age. Slightly different mini-beasts though. Stick insects, katydids, and spiders. Used to drive Mum wild.’