like that. Why couldn’t she be like Laura, who was excellent at asserting herself and expressing her anger rationally, instead of losing control and becoming inarticulate and resorting
to violence. Pitiful behaviour and not very adult, she chastised herself. She had really demeaned herself and Barbara would rub it in for weeks.
Resentment overcame guilt. To think that Nora had intended to let her go to the party after all. If Jack had been able to persuade her to let Cassie go
before
they had gone to the wake,
there wouldn’t have been any row. Nora could be dead unreasonable at times. Well, there was nothing for it! She was going to that party, come hell or high water. She couldn’t be in much
worse trouble than she was in already. John was going to help her getting out and getting in. They had made their plans earlier in the evening. He was a real pet. It had been his suggestion that
she go to the party, despite the fact that her mother had forbidden her to go.
‘It’s only because Ma’s in a tizzy over blooming Aunt Elsie. She’s not herself. Otherwise she’d have let you go.’ So John rationalized as they sat feeling
sorry for themselves over mugs of hot chocolate at bedtime. ‘Martin and me weren’t even allowed to go to the scouts.’
‘Martin and I,’ corrected Cassie glumly, wishing that Aunt Elsie could be transported to another planet.
‘Why don’t you go anyway? You can climb out my bedroom window and no-one will know. And I’ll let you in whenever you get back.’
Cassie’s eyes widened. The thought had never crossed her mind. It all seemed so simple. Slip into John’s room when everybody was asleep, climb out his bedroom window and climb back
in when she got home. No-one would be any the wiser.
‘What if Martin wakes up?’
‘He won’t!’ John assured her. ‘He sleeps through thunderstorms and everything. Anyway, he’s not a snitch. He wouldn’t tell!’
‘What if Barbara wakes up to go to the loo and sees I’m gone?’
‘Hmm . . .’ John pondered this trickier one. ‘We’ll just have to put a dummy in the bed. You know your big old teddy?’ Cassie nodded. When she was a child the teddy
had been bigger than her. ‘Put a nightdress on it and put it curled up in the middle of the bed, with the head under the pillow. No-one will ever know the difference.’
‘Thanks!’ grinned Cassie, beginning to accept the feasibility of the plan. More than anything she wanted to go to that party, even if she spent only a couple of hours at it. She
really would love to see Donie Kiely, with his gorgeous brown eyes that always seemed to be looking at her lately. Even Aileen had commented on it.
‘He fancies you, I’m telling you, girl. You’d better do something about it at this party.’ She was currently having a hot and heavy romance with a soldier she had met at
a barbecue on the beach. In fact, she had told the girls earnestly, this was ‘it.’ Her soldier was fast becoming the love of her life and she was seriously contemplating going the whole
way with him. Cassie and Laura envied Aileen her courage. They would never have the nerve to do it, they decided after long and serious discussion; Laura because of her elder sister Jill, who was
an unmarried mother, banned from the family home by her father, and finding the going tough. She had belatedly discovered that her pilot boyfriend, the father of her child, was married and already
the father of two. He just didn’t want to know about Jill and her baby.
Cassie knew that she’d feel so guilty it wouldn’t be worth it. She’d never be able to look Nora in the face again. Nora was terribly strict about matters like that. Religion,
mothers – nothing like that would put a halt to Aileen’s gallop once she made up her mind about something. Aileen always had the courage of her convictions and Cassie and Laura admired
her greatly. Unfortunately, Aileen’s soldier wouldn’t be at the party tonight but Donie Kiely
to violence. Pitiful behaviour and not very adult, she chastised herself. She had really demeaned herself and Barbara would rub it in for weeks.
Resentment overcame guilt. To think that Nora had intended to let her go to the party after all. If Jack had been able to persuade her to let Cassie go
before
they had gone to the wake,
there wouldn’t have been any row. Nora could be dead unreasonable at times. Well, there was nothing for it! She was going to that party, come hell or high water. She couldn’t be in much
worse trouble than she was in already. John was going to help her getting out and getting in. They had made their plans earlier in the evening. He was a real pet. It had been his suggestion that
she go to the party, despite the fact that her mother had forbidden her to go.
‘It’s only because Ma’s in a tizzy over blooming Aunt Elsie. She’s not herself. Otherwise she’d have let you go.’ So John rationalized as they sat feeling
sorry for themselves over mugs of hot chocolate at bedtime. ‘Martin and me weren’t even allowed to go to the scouts.’
‘Martin and I,’ corrected Cassie glumly, wishing that Aunt Elsie could be transported to another planet.
‘Why don’t you go anyway? You can climb out my bedroom window and no-one will know. And I’ll let you in whenever you get back.’
Cassie’s eyes widened. The thought had never crossed her mind. It all seemed so simple. Slip into John’s room when everybody was asleep, climb out his bedroom window and climb back
in when she got home. No-one would be any the wiser.
‘What if Martin wakes up?’
‘He won’t!’ John assured her. ‘He sleeps through thunderstorms and everything. Anyway, he’s not a snitch. He wouldn’t tell!’
‘What if Barbara wakes up to go to the loo and sees I’m gone?’
‘Hmm . . .’ John pondered this trickier one. ‘We’ll just have to put a dummy in the bed. You know your big old teddy?’ Cassie nodded. When she was a child the teddy
had been bigger than her. ‘Put a nightdress on it and put it curled up in the middle of the bed, with the head under the pillow. No-one will ever know the difference.’
‘Thanks!’ grinned Cassie, beginning to accept the feasibility of the plan. More than anything she wanted to go to that party, even if she spent only a couple of hours at it. She
really would love to see Donie Kiely, with his gorgeous brown eyes that always seemed to be looking at her lately. Even Aileen had commented on it.
‘He fancies you, I’m telling you, girl. You’d better do something about it at this party.’ She was currently having a hot and heavy romance with a soldier she had met at
a barbecue on the beach. In fact, she had told the girls earnestly, this was ‘it.’ Her soldier was fast becoming the love of her life and she was seriously contemplating going the whole
way with him. Cassie and Laura envied Aileen her courage. They would never have the nerve to do it, they decided after long and serious discussion; Laura because of her elder sister Jill, who was
an unmarried mother, banned from the family home by her father, and finding the going tough. She had belatedly discovered that her pilot boyfriend, the father of her child, was married and already
the father of two. He just didn’t want to know about Jill and her baby.
Cassie knew that she’d feel so guilty it wouldn’t be worth it. She’d never be able to look Nora in the face again. Nora was terribly strict about matters like that. Religion,
mothers – nothing like that would put a halt to Aileen’s gallop once she made up her mind about something. Aileen always had the courage of her convictions and Cassie and Laura admired
her greatly. Unfortunately, Aileen’s soldier wouldn’t be at the party tonight but Donie Kiely
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