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"Just then, Liffey saw her Aunt Jean passing by with an armload of merchandise and two tiaras perched high on her wig which she had sprayed with red highlights.
“Oh no!” Liffey blurted out.
“Please excuse me. Really, really, really nice meeting you!” She nodded a polite good-bye to the raven-haired crone.
Aunt Jean was obviously completely out of control again. She was pulling a light-up, shocking pink, black polka dot suitcase. Her face was orange from another application of fake tan cream and her green sparkly eye shadow made her look like she was a contestant in an eye-glitter pageant. Each of her ears had six red ‘gem tac’ earrings and her lipstick was an ugly peach tone.
‘I knew I should have never left her alone,’ Liffey thought guiltily, knowing full well she was going to ditch her aunt again as soon as she could get her back up to their hotel room and settled in.
‘I did not follow the doctor’s orders about how to treat Aunt Jean’s Post Traumatic Bling Syndrome. I know I should be watching Aunt Jean, but I have to see this Murphy Trophy competition if I am ever going to figure out what is going on with the Derrynaflan Chalice. If Aunt Jean sits down next to me, it will attract unwanted attention.’
Liffey went up to the stage monitor and was told the competition would start in exactly fifteen minutes. ‘Just enough time to get Aunt Jean upstairs and myself back down here again. I will try to think of a good reason why I have to leave the room again. I cannot miss this competition.’
“Aunt Jean!” Liffey called out. Her aunt stopped in the aisle and smiled. “Liffey, darling, where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you!”
Liffey answered untruthfully: “I’ve been looking everywhere for you too, Aunt Jean. Let’s get back to the room and have a look at all the cool stuff you bought.”
***
When Aunt Jean displayed her purchases, Liffey was delighted to see that her aunt had bought an electric rhinestone applicator. ‘This will keep Aunt Jean busy for hours!’ She helped her aunt set up what looked like a mass production assembly line for applying rhinestones and crystals and raced out of the room. ‘I’ll deal with her bling disorder tomorrow on the way to Africa,’ Liffey decided.
‘I wonder how long it will take Aunt Jean to ruin the dress?’"
Brenna Briggs is the author of the Liffey Rivers Irish Dancer Mysteries
