Gates of Rome

CHAPTER 13

2001, New York

‘Excuse me?’

‘That tunic hanging up there,’ said Sal to the old lady. ‘Can we just take a closer look at it?’

‘The Titanic one?’

Maddy nodded. ‘That’s it.’

The old woman pulled a stool out from behind the counter, stood on it, wobbling precariously as she unhooked the hanger from the railing and brought it down for them. She pushed aside a small stack of second-hand books waiting to be priced and made space on the counter, then spread the jacket out carefully.

‘It’s almost an antique, you know,’ said the old woman. ‘It’s nearly ninety years old.’ She smoothed her wrinkled hands across the cloth. ‘Older than me even.’ She smiled.

Maddy and Sal stared down at it for a moment.

‘I don’t rent it out for fancy dress. And I really don’t know whether I’d want to sell it.’ She shrugged. ‘Except if the price was right.’

Sal leaned over it. ‘There. See?’ She pointed to the shoulder of the tunic. Maddy stooped over, adjusted her glasses and peered closely.

‘You’re right!’

It was there. So faint it was missable unless you were looking for it.

‘What is it, ladies?’

‘A stain,’ said Sal. ‘Red wine or something?’

The old woman lifted glasses on a chain and propped them on the bridge of her nose. She peered closely at where Sal was pointing. ‘Oh my… you know, I never noticed that before!’

‘Can I ask where you got it?’ asked Maddy.

The old woman straightened up, lifted off her glasses and let them dangle on her chest. ‘Well now. It was someone’s attic clean-out if I recall. A job lot I bought for this store. A box full of all sorts of dusty old things. Quite a surprise to find this among all the other bits. But you do find gems like this from time to time — ’

Sal pointed towards the shop’s grimy window. ‘What about that bear?’

The old woman leaned over the counter to see what she was pointing at. ‘On the rocking-chair? The stuffed bear?’

‘Yes.’

‘Oh, I got all those soft toys from a day-care centre… I think.’ She looked back down at the tunic and the faint wine stain. ‘Fascinating. Isn’t it? Something like this… makes history come alive,’ she said to Maddy. ‘Almost like going back in time. You can try and imagine how that stain happened.’ The old woman’s eyes glinted with excitement. ‘Perhaps this crewman was busy delivering a glass of sherry to some duchess when the Titanic hit that iceberg and that’s where the stain came from!’

Maddy humoured her with a nod. ‘Yeah. That’s kind of cool.’ She noticed Sal was still staring at the soft toys on the rocking-chair. She nudged her gently. ‘Sal?’

‘Uh?’ Sal turned back.

‘OK?’

She nodded. Distracted.

A bell chimed and the shop door opened. A man entered with a tuxedo and a ball gown carefully draped over his arms.

‘Ah! Mr Weismuller!’ The old woman stepped from behind her counter. ‘How was your lodge party?’

‘Come on,’ said Maddy. She took hold of Sal’s hand. ‘Let’s go.’ She led Sal out. ‘Miss? Thanks for showing us your tunic!’ she called to the old woman as they both squeezed past her customer and stepped outside. But she was already chattering away to him, barely noticing the pair of them leaving.

Outside on the pavement, Maddy shook her head. ‘My God! You were right. It is… it’s exactly the same!’

Sal was still looking through the window back at the soft toys on the rocking-chair.

‘Sal? What is it?’

She turned back to Maddy, a smile quickly spread on her face. ‘Nothing. Nothing. Just… uh…’ She changed the subject. ‘See, then? I told you. The tunic… what do you think it means? It means something, right? It definitely means something!’

Maddy nodded. ‘Yes… yes, it does.’ She realized it was better Liam wasn’t here with them. Both Liam and Bob had gone out to their local Barnes amp; Noble for some reading matter. Liam was adamant he wanted to read up on how to use computers and the Internet better. Maddy assured them there really was a book entitled The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the World Wide Web, that she wasn’t just being rude.

‘Do you know what I think?’ said Sal. ‘This is going to sound like I’m a complete fakirchana — head. But…’ She took a breath. ‘I think that tunic might be Foster’s!’

Maddy chewed her lip anxiously. Perhaps this was the right time to share what the old man had told her. Sal was so close to the truth… in a way. Secrets. She hated keeping them, particularly this one. It stank.

‘Sal… we need to talk about Liam.’

Sal looked at her sharply. ‘What? What is it?’

‘He’s… well, he’s not who you think he is.’

Sal looked shaken. ‘What?! What do you mean? Who is he?’

‘Let’s go get a coffee. Right now.’

‘Maddy! Tell me!’ She looked upset. No. Frightened. ‘Who is he!?’

‘I need a coffee first.’ Maddy realized she was trembling. Her legs felt like they were set to give way on her and she felt queasy enough to hurl chunks on to the pavement. ‘I need to sit down, Sal. I really need to. I need to gather my thoughts… and I need a freakin’ coffee.’