Coraline Murphy

18.

Coraline and Grace were still in the Garrison, cleaning up after a particularly busy day. It was almost midnight, and Coraline could see that Grace was flagging, feeling the nagging need to sleep herself, knowing that sleep would never actually come for her.

"Do you want to go Grace?" She asked, kindly. She didn't trust the woman as far as she could throw her, but she didn't want her to suffer.

"Oh, no I'm alright Coraline," Grace replied, scrubbing at the same spot again. "Do you?"

"No, it's okay."

"I can hear your stomach rumbling from over here..." Grace teased her, and Coraline gave her a small smile. "You didn't have time for food?"

"I went to see Ada today," Coraline said, causing Grace to look up. "You know, it's been a while since poor Freddie was torn from his own newborn son." She studied Grace's face carefully, watching for a reaction.

"How, how is she?" She looked nervous.

"She's not good," Coraline said. "She's desperately worried for Freddie, as you can imagine."

"Yes, poor Ada..." She was focused on a new spot now. 

"She won't let anyone see her. Won't even eat the food we are leaving for her. I'm worried she'll be harming her baby."

Grace put the cloth down, slamming her hand against the bar perhaps harder than she'd meant to. "Look..."

Before she could continue with what she was about to say, the front door of the Garrison burst open, and Tommy came rushing in, looking around him wildly. His eyes met Coraline's and she saw a sense of relief come over him. 

"Tommy?" Grace broke him from his musings, and he noticed that she too was there. "Are you expecting trouble?" 

"Yeah." He was looking at Coraline. 

"At this hour?" Grace tried to get his attention back.

"Midnight is as good an hour as any." He didn't look away from Coraline.

"What the hell is going on?" Coraline asked, her face concerned.

Tommy's voice was low and intense, his eyes never leaving Coraline's. "When the St Andrews' bell strikes midnight, two IRA men are going to come through that door. When they have what they want, they plan to kill me." Grace gasped and covered her face with her hands, whilst Coraline remained emotionless. 

"It's your job to stop that happening." Tommy added.

"Could have given me some more warning," Coraline replied, a wry smile on her face.

"I just got the message myself. They want to meet here, alone."

"And barmaids don't count?"

"No, barmaids don't count, no." 

Coraline scoffed. "Grace should go."

"No, she might run into them." Coraline conceded, realising that he was right. "You're going to be in that back room. I'm going to be sitting there." He pointed to a corner. "When I make a toast, you're going to come out with that thing raised. You don't shoot, you just point. I'll do the rest." 

Coraline nodded, not questioning anything he was saying.

"Will you kill them?" Grace asked, her voice wavering.

"No. The police want them alive."

Her eyes widened. "The police know about this?"

Tommy didn't respond, and instead handed her a gun. "Look, just hold it up. Just Point, right?"

She nodded, holding the gun at arms length. Coraline smirked, and took the other gun that Tommy handed her, pocketing it expertly.

"Right, go, go!" Coraline headed off to the back room, pulling Grace behind her. "Go on, go!"