‘What?’ Rachel says, looking at Solomon. ‘He just said she’s out.’

‘Well it’s happening now!’ Bo raises her hand in the air for a high-five. They both stare at her.

‘Ah, come on, don’t leave me hanging.’

Rachel high-fives her, with a surprised laugh. ‘You are unbelievable. You truly are a piece of work.’

Bo raises her eyebrows, enjoying the praise, hand still in the air and waiting for Solomon.

He folds his arms. ‘I’m not high-fiving anything until you tell me how you changed her mind.’

Bo drops her hand and rolls her eyes. ‘Would you ask another producer that question? Or just me? Because I would like to have the same respect from you as you would give to somebody else, don’t you think that’s fair?’

‘If I was in the room with a producer who got a clear no, and then I left, and he got a yes, then yes, I would ask him.’

‘Why is the producer immediately a him?’ Bo asks.

‘Or her. Who gives a fuck? What did you do to make her say yes?’

‘Okay guys, before you both go off on one, can we first get some of the logistics straight,’ Rachel grabs their attention. ‘I really have to get home to Susie – we have an anatomy scan on Friday, I will not miss it,’ she says, fully serious. ‘I need to know what’s happening. Is there a plan?’

Bo looks at both of them, her eyes wide in shock. ‘Guys,’ she says, exasperated. ‘Can we quit the moaning for a second and embrace, truly acknowledge the fact that we have the subject of a new documentary, confirmed. Can we not ruin the moment right now with a thousand questions, and celebrate?’ She looks at both of them. ‘We’re ready to go again. Whoo! Come on!’ she tries to jazz them up until they eventually cave in and celebrate with her, in a group hug, Rachel and Solomon momentarily hiding their reservations.

‘Congratulations you relentless little shit,’ Solomon says, kissing her.

She laughs. ‘Thank you! Finally, the recognition I deserve.’

‘So…’ Rachel says.

‘I know, I know, Susie,’ Bo says thinking it through. ‘Of course you need to get back to her. My feeling is that all the signs are pointing to filming now,’ Bo says. ‘The weather, for a start. We’ve been here in winter, it’s murky, it’s complicated. Rachel, you slipped on your ass more times than I care to remember and, while it was hilariously funny, it was dangerous – as you pointed out.’

Solomon chuckles.

‘And while I want to film what it’s like for Laura living here in all seasons, because I think that’s important, I want to get the principal stuff done now. I want to show people how we found her. Sleeping Beauty in her hidden cottage in the forest. I want the colour, I want light, I want these sounds,’ she says, seeing it all. ‘It’s a summer vibe. Thirdly, if we leave it too long, there’s a chance Laura will change her mind. I want her immediate thoughts, wishes, dreams, not something she’s figured out a few months down the road. Her life has changed now – bam! We need to follow her now, when she’s right on the cusp. And finally, I don’t know how long Joe is going to allow her to live here. If we leave he may just kick her out of the cottage, if we’re here he might be more likely to allow her to stay.

‘So, bearing that all in mind, we go home today, gather ourselves, I’ll prepare the paperwork, Rachel you gather the equipment, and we’ll return Sunday evening. We begin filming here on Monday for a two-week shoot, tops.’

They all agree.

‘Rachel I know that Susie’s due date is three weeks away, if for whatever reason you have to leave…’ Bo says, starting to think of replacement camera people she’s worked with. ‘I could call Andy and see if-’

‘Andy’s a dickhead, his filming is deeply inferior to mine. Don’t replace me with Andy. It would be an insult. Don’t replace me with anyone,’ Rachel says firmly. ‘This is a story,’ Rachel says, pointing up the mountain to the cottage. ‘I want to work on this.’

At Rachel’s show of support, Solomon feels goosebumps rise on his skin. He’s never heard her so enthusiastic, nor has he felt this way about a project before. They are all eager to begin, hankering to dive into discovering Laura’s story. Buzzing with excitement Bo returns to the cottage to discuss the filming schedule with Laura, however, she emerges moments later with less energy.

‘She’s changed her mind,’ Solomon guesses, feeling his stomach drop.

‘Not quite. She’s panicking. She’s doing the noise thing. She wants you, Sol. Again.’

Solomon closes the door to the cottage. Laura is standing, pacing the small area between her bed, the kitchenette and the living area.

‘Hi,’ he says.

She mimics a sound and he doesn’t know what it is until he closes the door and it is exactly the sound she has just made. The latch closing. Her sounds may be things she desires to happen, Solomon adds this observation to his list of studies.

‘I thought it would be starting tomorrow,’ she says, nervously twisting her fingers.

‘The documentary?’

‘Yes.’

‘No, I’m sorry. It can’t happen instantly. We have to go home, and prepare for the shoot but there’s no need to worry, we’ll be back on Monday for two weeks.’

‘When are you leaving?’ she asks, pacing the room.

‘Today,’ he says. ‘Laura what’s wrong?’

‘If you go, I’ll be here alone.’

She starts to make noises, agitated. Bird sounds, distressed.

‘It’s only five days. You’re always here alone.’

‘Joe doesn’t want me here.’

‘We don’t know that Joe doesn’t want you here,’ Solomon says. ‘He’s in shock, it will take him a bit of time.’

‘But what if he comes over here, when you’re gone, and wants me to leave. What if the garda comes back? What will I do? Where will I go? I don’t know anyone. I don’t have anyone.’

‘You can call me, if that happens. Here,’ he roots around in his pockets for a pen and paper. ‘I’ll give you my number.’

‘How will I call you? I don’t have a phone.’

He stalls, the pen hovering over the page.

‘Please stay. I’d like to film tomorrow,’ she says, swallowing nervously. ‘If this is going to happen, it has to happen tomorrow,’ she says, trying to toughen up.

‘We can’t film tomorrow, Laura,’ he says gently. ‘Look, it’s okay. Please calm down. I have to get to my mam’s this weekend. She’s seventy. She lives in Galway, I can’t miss it. Rachel, the one with the camera, her wife is pregnant, she has to get home to her, and Bo, she’s the director, producer, she’s got a lot of work to do for next week, planning, paperwork, a lecture, that kind of thing. We need more equipment, there’s paperwork to be done, permission to be granted, there’s no way we could start tomorrow.’

‘Can I go with you?’ she asks.

He stares at her in shock, unable to think of how to reply. ‘You want to…’

‘Can I stay with you? I can’t stay here any more. It’s all been changed. I have to… change with the changes.’

She’s panicking, her mind working overtime.

‘Relax, Laura, it’s okay, everything’s okay, nothing’s changed.’ He goes to her, holds her by her arms, gently, tries to get her to look at him. His heart is pounding; just feeling her is sending him into a spin. She looks at him and those grassy eyes probe into him, into his very soul.

‘My dad’s dead,’ she looks at him, eyes piercing. ‘My dad is dead. And I never even called him dad. I never even knew if he knew that I was his daughter. We never even…’ The tears spill down her cheeks.

‘Oh, come here,’ he whispers, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to him so that her head is against his chest and she is completely enveloped in his love and care.

‘How can a place be a home if no one wants you there?’ she asks through her tears. ‘This is not a home.’

He can’t answer that.

He’s the only person she knows. He can’t leave her here.

‘What. The. Fuck,’ Bo says, sitting up, as Solomon walks towards her and Rachel with bags in his hands, closely followed by Laura.

‘She’s coming with us,’ he says, avoiding Bo’s stare, as he puts the bags in the boot of the car.

‘What?’ Bo joins him.

‘She’s scared here. She doesn’t want to wait on her own until we get back. I wonder who scared the shit out of her, Bo,’ he says through his teeth at her, the veins pulsating in his neck. He’s really angry.

‘But – you have to go to your parents’ house.’

‘Yes, and I’ll have to take her with me. She won’t go with you to Dublin,’ he mutters, trying to slot her shopping bags and suitcase into the boot among their recording equipment.

He waits for Bo to tell him no way, this is ridiculous, she is not allowing her boyfriend to travel with a young, beautiful strange woman to his family party, but instead when he looks up, she’s grinning broadly.

‘Laura,’ she calls, holding two thumbs up. ‘This is the best news. The best.’

8

‘Snow White!’ Bo announces, slamming her beer bottle down on the table in the hotel bar, more loudly than she’d intended.