Poppy's Fall

Chapter 14

“Oh wow,” Ellie stood at Poppy’s door staring at her best friend.

“Do you like it?” Poppy brought her hands to her hair, now yellow.  A very bright yellow.

Ellie didn’t know quite what to say.  She was taken aback that was for sure.  And when had this happened?  She knew Poppy had gone to Galway with Ryan the day before. 

“It’s…uh….” Ellie sputtered.

“I know it’s little bright, but it’ll die down in a couple days.” Poppy moved around her room avoiding looking Ellie in the eye.  If she did then Ellie would know something’s up.  If she did then she’d have to tell her best friend that she was going home in a couple days. 

She and Kyle were end game.  After hearing his voice, Poppy was sure of it.  One thing she wasn’t looking forward to, was having that talk with Ryan.  More than anything she didn’t want to hurt him but knew that would be unavoidable.  Hopefully in time he would forgive her, and they could be even be friends. 

“Are you ready?” Ellie’s eyes narrowed while Poppy “kept busy” at doing nothing.

Poppy bent down with the pretense of needing to tie her shoelaces then realized she was wearing slip on boots.  Instead she buffed out a non-existent scuff to give her time to settle her face and hope Ellie wouldn’t pick up on anything.

“Ready!” She stood up straight and looked at her friend. “Where are we going?”

“I thought we could hit the shops here in Doolin.” Ellie suggested.

“That sounds great, I’d like to get another one of those sweaters you got me.” Poppy grabbed her purse as they left her room.  She was deliberately making herself sound cheerful and hoped it wasn’t over the top.  As far she could tell Ellie was none the wiser. 

“OH!” Mrs. Callaghan put a hand to her heart when she turned around at the sound of footsteps behind her.  There stood Ellie, as lovely as ever, and Poppy with the brightest yellow hair she had ever seen. “Isn’t that…different.”

“I needed a change.” Poppy lifted a hand to her head, frowning slightly. 

“I can see that.” Mrs. Callaghan moved past Poppy and gave Ellie a look of confusion. “Poppy dear, did you get the message that was left in your room?”

“Yes, I did.” And before Ellie could ask any questions that she didn’t want to answer in front of Mrs. Callaghan, she started pushing Ellie out of the kitchen.  “We better get on our way before all the good sweaters are gone.”

                                                                                                ***

She blamed this place, this country.  It was so easy to get lost in the charm and magic of Ireland.  Poppy couldn’t deny it was beautiful here.  Not just Doolin or even Galway but Ireland as whole.  But she didn’t come here to fall in love like Ellie had. 

The sun was out, the air was crisp, birds happily chirped as they flew close by chasing each other through the bushes.  It was a beautiful morning and yet Poppy couldn’t relax.  Ellie was unusually quiet which put her on edge.  She didn’t want another blowout with her friend.  She didn’t want to leave on bad terms. 

As the sound of gravel crunched under their boots Poppy tried several times to tell Ellie about the phone call.  She opened and closed her mouth so many times she was starting to look like a fish.  But try and as she might the words simply wouldn’t come out.  She knew Ellie and she knew her friend would first frown, then realizing she was frowning would attempt to smooth her face and act as though she was supportive of Poppy’s decisions when in-reality she would be anything but. 

“So…uh, Marley called.” God she was going to Hell for this.

“Oh, is that the call Mrs. Callaghan was talking about?” Ellie looked on ahead, a secret smile on her lips.

“Mmmmhmmm,” Poppy glanced over trying to read Ellie’s, face. Why was she smiling like that? “She’s asking when I’ll be coming back.”

Their steps slowed as they neared Dunne’s.  Poppy looked at her watch, it wasn’t quite lunch time yet but maybe Ellie wanted to stop by and see Aidan before spending the day together.  Confusion set in when they stopped in front of the pub but didn’t go in.

“Ellie…” Poppy started and was promptly quieted.

“He’ll be here any second.” Ellie’s secret smile grew wider.

“Who’s going to b…” Again, Poppy was quieted.  This time by a black truck she knew to belong to Ryan.  He was turning into the small parking area just as Aidan was coming out of Dunne’s, picnic basket in tow. 

“This one isn’t going to be a disaster.” Ellie gave Poppy a push toward the truck.  She then grabbed the basket from Aidan and went to Ryan’s window.  “We packed a nice lunch for you and if you look inside there are instructions on how to get there.”

When Poppy hopped into the passenger seat she was relieved to see that Ryan was sporting the same look of bewilderment as she was.  Ok, so he hadn’t conspired with Ellie at least.

“Wait!” Poppy peaked over Ryan. “Get where?”

“You’ll see.” Was all Ellie would offer. 

“I take it from the look on your face you had no idea this was happening.” Ryan put the truck in reverse and with a last look at Aidan and Ellie they drove off. 

Poppy shook her head. “Nope, I thought we were having a girls’ day.  How did they get you here?” 

“Aidan asked if I could bring his order in.” Ryan scratched at his chin; should he say anything about her hair? “I should have known something was up when I could hear Ellie in the background saying it HAD to be me.”

Nodding, Poppy reached into the basket for the instructions Ellie had mentioned. Following it step by step both Poppy and Ryan were curious as to where it would lead them.  The sky was dotted with white fluffy clouds, the sun peaking out every now and again.  It was a beautiful day and Poppy couldn’t really be angry that she was now spending it with Ryan.  It did worry her a little as she was going to have to tell him about Kyle but not yet.  She knew she was being selfish but...Not. Quite. Yet.

                                                                                                *** 

Ryan slowed his truck and nodding he turned into an overgrowth.  How he saw the road in all that was beyond Poppy but from the directions Ellie had given them this seemed like the place. 

“Doesn’t look like we can go much father in the truck.” Ryan noted.  He stopped and put it in park then turned off the ignition.  Something was different about Poppy, he didn’t know what but there was something about her demeanor that was a bit off.

They hopped out, picnic basket in hand and started picking their way through the woods.  The path was easy enough to follow even if it was overgrown.  Ellie knew about their bad luck on dates, why would she push them into another one? 

So many scenarios were running through Poppy’s head.  They could get lost and someone would have to come find them in the middle of the night; Some sort of animal could attack them, the thought making her jump at the rustling of leaves to her left; What if they got attacked, not by an animal but by people?  Dragged bound and gagged into a non-descript white paneled van, their kidneys harvested and then left for dead in a ditch.  Ok, now her imagination was running wild and she was freaking herself out. 

They really hadn’t walked far when the sound of water caught her attention and quite suddenly, they burst through the trees and into a clearing.  And there, right there, in the middle of the forest was a ruined stone tower.  Was this the same place Ellie had told her about?  It must be.  There was the stream her friend had described, the ivy growing up the stone walls.  It felt different in the clearing, the air was heavier somehow, like they were encased in a bubble. 

“Wow” Poppy turned in circle soaking up every detail.  She turned to Ryan. “Did you know about this place?”

Ryan shook his head as he placed a hand on the tower.  “There are places like this all over Ireland, but I’ve never been to this one.”

Poppy stopped dead and just watched Ryan.  A few strands of his reddish hair had come free from where it was tied to the back of his head.  His dark grey raglan shirt with navy sleeves hugged his torso and showed off his thick arms perfectly.  Much like in Galway, she could see him in this place.  Ellie had relayed the story Aidan had made up about the young farmer building this place for his true love only to find out she had been married off to someone else.  It made her almost sad that she could really picture Ryan as the farmer in the story. 

“Let’s settle and have some lunch then.” Ryan gently took the basket from Poppy and rummaged through it finally producing a blanket which he spread near the tower. 

Once seated, their spread before them, Poppy took a deep breath.  It was now or never.

“Tell me about Fiona.”