‘You can tell me later, Matty,’ said Mr McCoy.
‘Nope, what happens in Blackpool stays in Blackpool,’ said Matty. ‘Besides, a gentleman never tells.’
‘Oh, is there a gentleman in this vehicle, is there?’ said Mrs McCoy with a smile.
‘Meee!’ said Ronan and we all burst into laughter.
‘Well, you’re more than welcome on the next trip, Ronan,’said Matty. ‘It’s gentlemen only, so you’ll meet the criteria perfectly. And you too, Brendan, if you’re up to it?’
‘I think I’ll stick to the usual family trips to Portrush, thanks, Matty,’ I said.
‘Suit yourself,’ he said.
‘Is that where you go on your family holidays, Brendan?’ asked Mrs McCoy, as if to say,Who on earth goes there?
‘Ah, no, just a day trip like today, we do lots of wee trips during the summer instead of one big holiday. Although we didn’t do any last summer because Mum wasn’t up to it.’
‘Oh, is she OK?’
‘Yes, well, her mummy died and she found all last year tough, but she’s much better now. I think we’ll be doing our trips this summer,’ I said, feeling Mrs McCoy’s gaze on me in the same spirit as Mrs O’Neill, inviting me to share more. ‘That’s why today feels so good,’ I said, ‘it’s been ages since I’ve been away. It’s like my summer’s come a bit early. I know it’s not something big and exciting like your summers in Boston or the skiing, but it’s actually pretty exciting for me. I even get excited about Portrush with my family,’ I said, laughing self-consciously.
‘Brendan, sorry, I wasn’t putting your family trips to Portrush down,’ she said hurriedly, ‘the opposite! Because yes, OK, we have done the Boston trips and the ski trips; we always planned big, but now … well, a day at Portrush as a family sounds just wonderful.’
‘Well, we can easily do that, can we not?’ I said. ‘We could do a trip up there next week after we see how today goes with Ronan being out and about?’
‘Brendan,’ she said, looking at me with great warmth, ‘you’re absolutely right, of course we can, after we see how today goes. Aaron!’ she called and he turned. ‘Portrush next week?’
‘What? Portrush? That dump? What do you want to go there for?’
Mrs McCoy and me laughed.
‘Well, we’ll get there and find out, won’t we?’ she said.
‘I don’t know what that woman’s on about,’ said Mr McCoy to Matty as he turned back.
‘It’s why I never tied the knot, Aaron,’ said Matty. ‘Young, free and single … well … maybe not the young part anymore,’ he said, glancing at himself in the mirror and giving a quick laugh. ‘Right, next stop, Kilmare Forest Park!’
Despite it being the first day of the Easter holidays the park wasn’t busy, but we had planned to arrive as early as possible just in case it was. The parking area only had a couple of cars in it and Matty drove over to the spaces for wheelchair users in front of the café.
‘Benefits of having a VIP on board,’ said Matty, ‘is VIP parking.’
I helped Matty with the electric ramp and we lowered Ronan down as Mrs McCoy organised the backpacks.
‘Right,’ she said, a bit breathless, ‘shall we go?’
‘Yeah, let’s go,’ I said.
‘Yeah-sh,’ said Ronan.
‘Alright, Scout Master McCoy here shall lead you on your way,’ said Mr McCoy, with his hands on the shoulder straps of his backpack.
‘Your scout days are long gone,’ said Mrs McCoy. She turned to Matty: ‘Are you sure you don’t want to come for a bit of a dander with us, Matty?’
‘Nah,’ he said, smoking a cigarette, ‘too much of that aowl fresh air doesn’t agree with me.’
It sounded like a joke but part of me wondered if he actually believed that.
We set off; me pushing Ronan and Mr and Mrs McCoy walking together behind. It was warm enough to wear a T-shirt but Mrs McCoy had packed fleeces in our backpacks just incase. We followed the tarmac path across the lawn that had lots of wooden picnic tables dotted across it; only a couple of them were occupied by some elderly people sharing flasks of tea.
