She watched Kate turn wide-eyed to look at her. ‘Is this some kind of joke?’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘The poster – why would you do that?’
‘What?’
‘Have this poster created superimposing Dad on one of the cast?’
Clearly, Kate didn’t believe what she was seeing. Bridie sighed. She should have expected this. Kate worshipped their dad. Finding out he’d lied, and worse still he’d lied about being on the stage was going to … well, she didn’t know how Kate was going to take it.
‘I … I’m sorry.’ Perhaps it was best if Kate believed the poster was fake.
Kate said, ‘What’s in the shoebox?’
‘Nothing, really. Why don’t we call it a day?’
‘Call it a day? You expect me just to go home after this?’ Kate suddenly lunged for the shoebox, catching Bridie unawares. The lid flew off, the shoebox tilted in Bridie’s hands, and before she knew what was happening, the whole box tipped sideways, strewing the contents around the stage – photo after photo oftheir dad in various costumes, in various poses, in various plays with other cast members like Reggie.
Kate gasped as she slowly knelt down and picked one up, then another. Bridie watched as she collected every single one.
Bridie sighed. ‘I’m afraid the camera doesn’t lie.’
Kate finally turned to her with the pile of photos. ‘This is … is …’
Bridie wasn’t at all surprised that her sister was lost for words and having a hard time getting her head around the truth.
‘Insane?’ Bridie offered as she held out the shoebox for Kate to return the photos.
‘When were you going to tell me about all this?’
‘I wasn’t – not for the moment, at any rate.’ Bridie thought Kate would have a go, but instead she said, ‘I’m not surprised. We don’t exactly have the best relationship.’
‘Didn’t,’ Bridie corrected her, smiling. ‘Today, as far as I’m concerned, that’s all changed.’
Kate smiled at her affectionately. ‘I think so too.’
Bridie said, ‘When I first discovered this, all I thought about was myself and how betrayed I felt that they’d kept his past, his life on the stage, a secret.’
‘You think Mum knows?’
‘Yes, of course. I spoke with Reggie, the other guy in the poster who used to be Dad’s friend.’
‘Oh, the guy from the music shop?’
‘Yes. Turns out Dad was still working in the theatre when you and Jeremy were toddlers before I came along.’
Bridie searched through the photos and showed Kate the one taken outside a pub, probably after a show, with their mum and dad, Reggie, Isobel, baby Kate, and Jeremy.
‘How did we not know this?’
‘Because they didn’t want us to know,’ Bridie said.
‘But why? Because they didn’t want us to follow in his footsteps and go on the stage?’
‘Maybe.’ Bridie sighed. She didn’t want to get into the possibility that their dad and Isobel Raine had had an affair.
‘I think it has to be more than that,’ Kate said, turning to the poster. ‘I think it had something to do with the actress who disappeared.’
