Finns Business

usuall

yhcompletwa

sin controeeverythingofl

Butoda.

yhe

lookedifferen

frightene—

suddenlan

ymucso

olderh .

Afte

halr

afhoun Finr

wan

si thcentrn

eo thfcitye The.

n

she remembered the Blue Moon cafe. 'It's just around the

corner from here,' she thought. 'Maybe I'll stop and have a

quic

cuk .coffeefp

'

Ther

wer

lote

peoplfs

ei thnsmalle

war,

cafem

A.first

t

couldn'Fin

fint

seatd

bu, the

shn

sae won

ewindowbyth e

.

Finlooken

upd younA. womag

nijean

ans dashirre-dT

t

wante

dhavto me owbusinesy ..s twor. .myselffokr

'

'And won't you be able to do that in Paris?'

6

7

until ten or eleven o'clock at night. Finn was really pleased

worksho

becamp

busie

anbusierd

Th. shoe

waEuropht e

a

with both of them. After a few weeks they weren't just her

Hotel was on March 20th and it was already February.

assistants; they became her friends.

Sometime

Finthoughtsn

'We'l, nevelfinisr

time,nh

ub'

t

Then, one day in January, Ricky came to Finn with a

slowly the collection grew, and the small room began to fill

problem

'Thi.

silly,is

hsaid'e 'bu,

havtI etmebodtalktos

y

with coats, dresses, hats and suits.

uoba

itI.gothiyesterday.lette r

showeH' Find nthletter .

On Friday March 12th Meg and Finn left the workshop at

waItmads

froe wordm

cus

newspaperoutot f

11 p.m., but.Ricky said, 'I'm not tired. I'll stay for an hour or

.two H' wamakines

greea jacken

anetwand

finisdto ith .

'This one's really beautiful,' he said. 'And it's my size, too. I

thought, maybe after the show ...'

Finn smiled and gave him her key. 'Perhaps,' she said. 'Now

don't work too late and don't forget to lock the door.'

Ricky smiled. 'Don't worry, boss,' he said. 'Go home and go

to bed. I'll see you both in the morning.'

The phone rang at 1 a.m. Half-asleep, Finn answered it.

'Yes, this is Fiannola McGill,' she said softly. Then she quickly

opene

anhed.eyesr turned do thnlighe

next

ttothbed

'Afire.

!

Onohwhe,

din

d..yes.

yes,

coursf,

e.. I'l

Finn looked at the letter. Her mouth was suddenly dry.immediately

Sh'

pue

thphone downe

Theembere.shn

'Who sent this? Do you know?' she asked.

... 'Ricky!'.

Ricky looked at the floor. 'No,' he replied, 'but it's not the

minuteTe

lates Finr

an

parenthed arrives

outsid

the

e

.first

stoppeH'

fodsecondar

'We'v.

problemgoat

Finn, .

workshop. It was almost impossible to see the building. Smoke

Norther

Irelan

dfulpoliticsis o f

an,somd peopl

thine

kI' m

oug

otwindowsalfthl e

Ther.

wer policofficere

s

on one side and you're on the other.' Neither of them spoke for

pourinwa s

fighteran-fired everywheres

Quickl.

Finy

gon

out

ot thf care

.

several seconds.

On the other side of the street there was a crowd of people. She

'Do you want to stop working here?' asked Finn. 'I don't

Meg'sawcafs inehtcrowe nad dardrawotn

r'e'Whers. s

want to lose you, Ricky, but after this I can understand ...'

Ricky?' she shouted. 'Have they found him?'

'No, I don't want to leave,' said Ricky quickly. He looked

'No, not yet,' replied Meg, 'but I've talked to the police.

aroun

hid mfinisheaalt th-lhalfe

clothed

workshopithn e

'. I

The knoy

thaw

he't

theresin

An.Finnd there'omethin,s

g

can't leave,' he said. 'There's too much to do.' They both

dlse,continush'e

'The. saythay

thfirewasn'e

accident .

smiled. 'I just wanted you to know,' he said. 'That's all.'

Someone started it.'

Fin anRickd

didn'y

eltMelaboug

hlettere Fin.didn'

t

Jushet

policofficena

camtowarde

thesthrougm

th e

tell her parents either. 'Why worry them?' she thought.

crowd'Excus.

me bu,

artlyoeFiannu

McGill?a

askedh'

.

'Perhap

it's jus

batjokeAnywayd.

Ricky',

rights

H.can'e

t

Hwaholdines

parg

theoafle

jacker

tihandshi s

Fin.

n

leavnowThere'. tosmuco ht.doo

'

could see the letters R.I.C. on it. 'One of the fire-fighters found

There certainly was a lot to do. Life in the west Belfast

this inside the building,' he said quietly. 'I'm very sorry.' Meg

14

15

put a hand in front of her face and began to cry. Finn wanted

niFnnaMegwatched dthefire They'.ndid aeptsoseverakf

l

cryto too, bucouldn't,sh e

Sh. juslookedt Ricky'at

jackets

,

minutes. Finn felt completely empty inside. 'Why did I let him

the na htcloue

kdosmf

above workshopthee

Sh.

fel colt

d stay?

thoughtsh'e

kne'.I

abouw

hlettere Wh.didn'y

...It '

and sick.

'Finn! Meg!' It was a voice behind them in the crowd. They

botturneh

lookedand

.

'Wh

waothat?s

sai'

Mequicklydg

The. 'Ricky!n...

sh'

e

shouted.

Ricky pushed through the crowd, then suddenly he was

standin

nexg

themo

H. wawearins

thgreeg jacken

frot

m

Finn's collection. 'My Mum just woke me up,' he said. 'She

saw the fire from her bedroom window. I ran all the way here.'

Finlookedn

himat

'Onfighter.o thfire-f

founs this,d

sh' e

said.

Ricky looked at the leather jacket in her hands. 'You mean,

you thought ...' He looked at both of them and then at the

fire. Nobody spoke.

Later that day Finn, Meg and Ricky went back to the

workshop. Slowly they walked around the black, empty

building

'Wha.

dt

ow now?ed

aske' Megd

.

Finn looked at her sadly. 'Well, we can't start again. There

isn'time,

sh'saide

Th. shoe

w isevei n

daysn

I'v.

stile gol

alt

l

the designs at home, but that doesn't really help us. We just

can'makt

ale thclothee

agais beforn

the.20the

'

That day was like a bad dream for Finn. She had to talk to

policeht

hkt,naeb

ptho,rueE Hotela

Al.thiltoos

klona g

eminta,'nhedsdid

virratmohietnuem.11plShe.adhtaa

b h

and made a cup of coffee. Then she went into her room and sat

on the bed. A few minutes later her father knocked on the

door.

'I'm so sorry, Finn,' he said. 'Can your mother and I do

anything?'

Finn looked at the floor. 'No, Dad,' she said. 'Nothing.'

'What happens now?' he asked. 'Will you go back to

England?'

Finn thought for a moment. 'No,' she said angrily. 'I'll start

mowcompany

herey.again

The'

vern softly

shbegay

nt o

16

17