from the shop. David looked around for Clare but she was too young probably. Chrissie couldnât be more different to Clare, he thought. Screeching with laughter and knocking the food off other peopleâs forks. Clare was solemn and much gentler somehow.
David had never had stout before, but the others were drinking it. It almost made him throw up; it didnât taste like a drink should taste. Manfully he finished one bottle and began another. Nolan seemed to like it and he didnât want to look a sissy. Gerry Doyle seemed to notice though.
âYou could have some champagne cider if you like. Itâs a different taste, nice sort of drink,â he suggested.
David sipped some: now this was more like it. Sweet and fizzy, very nice indeed.
Gerry, small and eager, was hunched up over the fire. He looked very knowledgeable.
David held his glass up to the light. âItâs good stuff this,â he said appreciatively.
Later, when he was getting nowhere after the groping had begun, Gerry marked his card again. No use trying anything with that one; she just laughed all the time. There was the one who would be more cooperative. A manly wink which David returned unsteadily. Gerry Doyle was a good friend to steer you in the right direction.
Â
There were mystery ailments all over Castlebay next day, but against all the odds nobody broke ranks and the midnight feast was never discovered. Chrissie OâBrien had come back home covered in mud with cuts all down her legs where she had fallen coming up the steps from the strand, and she was sick twice into a chamberpot in the bedroom. Clare said grumpily she hoped that these midnight feasts werenât going to be going on all the time. Chrissie was too busy plotting the morrow and how she would explain her ripped and mud-covered coat, to answer Clare. In the end she decided she would go out early before anyone saw the state she was in and then she could fall again and be considered too sick to go to school. It worked too, nobody noticed that half the mud had dried and the scabs on her legs had started to heal. Chrissieâs friend Peggy managed to get to school and stick the day but Kath had been sick in the classroom and had to be sent home.
Up in Powerâs house there seemed to be no explanation for the burn that had appeared as if by magic on James Nolanâs mouth. In fact it had come from his eating a sausage directly from the long bit of skewer it was cooked on, but it was announced as being something that had come upon him unexpectedly during the night. Molly Power worried endlessly what his parents would say when he got back and fussed interminably about it when she wasnât fussing about David who was as white as a sheet and had to go to the bathroom every few minutes. The third peculiar thing in the house was Bones. He had apparently let himself out in the night and was found asleep in the garage with a cooked sausage in his paws. Dr. Power told her that in the long run it was often better not to think too hard and try too earnestly to solve all problems. Sometimes it was better for the brain to let things pass.
Gerry Doyleâs father told him at breakfast that there had been terrible caterwauling in the middle of the night and did he know anything about it? It sounded like a whole lot of women or girls crying on the doorstep. Gerry looked at him across the table and said that he thought he had heard that mad dog of the doctorâs wailing and baying around the town during the nightâcould that have been it? It could, his father thought doubtfully and sniffed around him. âThis place smells like Craigâs Bar,â he said to his wife and stamped off to what they all called his office, the front room beside the main bedroom. Gerryâs mother got annoyed and started to slam out the breakfast dishes in a temper.
âBrush your teeth for heavenâs sake, Gerry, and eat an orange or something before you go to
David had never had stout before, but the others were drinking it. It almost made him throw up; it didnât taste like a drink should taste. Manfully he finished one bottle and began another. Nolan seemed to like it and he didnât want to look a sissy. Gerry Doyle seemed to notice though.
âYou could have some champagne cider if you like. Itâs a different taste, nice sort of drink,â he suggested.
David sipped some: now this was more like it. Sweet and fizzy, very nice indeed.
Gerry, small and eager, was hunched up over the fire. He looked very knowledgeable.
David held his glass up to the light. âItâs good stuff this,â he said appreciatively.
Later, when he was getting nowhere after the groping had begun, Gerry marked his card again. No use trying anything with that one; she just laughed all the time. There was the one who would be more cooperative. A manly wink which David returned unsteadily. Gerry Doyle was a good friend to steer you in the right direction.
Â
There were mystery ailments all over Castlebay next day, but against all the odds nobody broke ranks and the midnight feast was never discovered. Chrissie OâBrien had come back home covered in mud with cuts all down her legs where she had fallen coming up the steps from the strand, and she was sick twice into a chamberpot in the bedroom. Clare said grumpily she hoped that these midnight feasts werenât going to be going on all the time. Chrissie was too busy plotting the morrow and how she would explain her ripped and mud-covered coat, to answer Clare. In the end she decided she would go out early before anyone saw the state she was in and then she could fall again and be considered too sick to go to school. It worked too, nobody noticed that half the mud had dried and the scabs on her legs had started to heal. Chrissieâs friend Peggy managed to get to school and stick the day but Kath had been sick in the classroom and had to be sent home.
Up in Powerâs house there seemed to be no explanation for the burn that had appeared as if by magic on James Nolanâs mouth. In fact it had come from his eating a sausage directly from the long bit of skewer it was cooked on, but it was announced as being something that had come upon him unexpectedly during the night. Molly Power worried endlessly what his parents would say when he got back and fussed interminably about it when she wasnât fussing about David who was as white as a sheet and had to go to the bathroom every few minutes. The third peculiar thing in the house was Bones. He had apparently let himself out in the night and was found asleep in the garage with a cooked sausage in his paws. Dr. Power told her that in the long run it was often better not to think too hard and try too earnestly to solve all problems. Sometimes it was better for the brain to let things pass.
Gerry Doyleâs father told him at breakfast that there had been terrible caterwauling in the middle of the night and did he know anything about it? It sounded like a whole lot of women or girls crying on the doorstep. Gerry looked at him across the table and said that he thought he had heard that mad dog of the doctorâs wailing and baying around the town during the nightâcould that have been it? It could, his father thought doubtfully and sniffed around him. âThis place smells like Craigâs Bar,â he said to his wife and stamped off to what they all called his office, the front room beside the main bedroom. Gerryâs mother got annoyed and started to slam out the breakfast dishes in a temper.
âBrush your teeth for heavenâs sake, Gerry, and eat an orange or something before you go to
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