The Con - part 15

[otter]

 'Father, this package arrived for you earlier'; announced Maggie putting a carefully wrapped box on the table beside Father Brennan's lasagne.

He opened the package, it contained a beautiful hand crafted wooden clock, its face , a carved trout. A small card was enclosed," Father, I'm home; Sean and Marites Lavelle." Spring is definitely in the air he thought, a time of change, time for renewal. He immediately walked over to the mantelpiece, lifted the horrendous yellow clock and in its place he sat the gift from Sean. When Maggie came back in to clear away the dishes he handed her the old clock; 'For the bin Maggie.'

Maggie gleefully took the clock from him 'Father, that is the worst clock I have ever seen, the bin is too good for it. If you don't mind I am going to bring it home and throw it in the fire, we have to be sure it is dead.'

He had mass at six o'clock that evening, after that a short meeting with the parents committee up at the school. Lifting his phone he rang Liam and told him to meet at Lavelle's at eight o'clock.

The pub was still closed but lights were on inside. As usual he went to the side gate and knocked at least a dozen times before finally Sean came and opened it.

The apparition that greeted him left him a little dazed. Sean, wearing a tea shirt, shorts and sandals, was tanned from head to toe. Sean had lost at least three stone in weight. He hardly recognised him, in fact if he met him on the street he would have been hard pushed to put a name to the face.

'Sean, it is Sean Lavelle? or is it Sean Connery; did you have a facelift or something?'

Sean gave Father Brennan an enormous bear hug; 'James, it's good to see your ugly face. I could say that I missed you but that would be a lie. Come on in and meet Marites, Marites Lavelle.'

Father Brennan had just settled into his stool when Liam arrived. Sitting quietly, they discussed their respective opening day on the river. Liam had fared well, over twenty trout, all stocked fish. On hearing that news, Father Brennan's temper rose; 'Liam, from now on kill any stocked fish that you catch, that's an order not a request We have to rid the river of those vermin.'

Liam looked puzzled; 'Why James? If we do that there will only be small trout to catch. That's why the river is stocked, isn't it?'; Liam genuinely was confused and had no idea why the priest was so upset, sure everyone knew it was one of the best trout rivers in the country.

Lighting a cigarette the old priest looked to heaven; 'God forgive them, they know not what they do. Liam, those trout are half tame, where is the challenge, where is the thrill of the hunt.' Reaching behind the counter he grabbed the photo of his great trout and thrust it into Liam's hand. 'See that trout Liam, as wild as the wind. How do you think it got that big? I'll tell you how, by being clever, cleverer than other trout. That trout came from the same gene pool as the one that you discovered under the Willow at Casey's. Do you remember the thrill of discovering it, of learning how and when it fed. Few if any stocked trout have what it takes to learn the skills to survive that long and grow that size. This river produced plenty of big trout but you had to hunt for them, you had to develop the skills, have to be as clever as them. Egan's father had none of the skills so he cheated, stocked the river with big trout and thought himself to be a great angler when he caught them. Liam if you stick with me, before I die, I will pass those skills on to you and you will experience fly fishing far beyond anything that you have experienced to-date.'

They had not noticed Sean arrive at the counter; 'He is right Liam. I was not as good as James only because he had God on his side. I gave up soon after they started stocking It was great at first but I soon grew tired of catching trout after trout, it was far too easy. Isn't that right Father?'

'Lads I have no idea what you are talking about, but I'm willing to take your word for it'; Liam was not convinced, afraid that the river would be fishless if they stopped stocking.

'Liam, if after three years you do not appreciate the difference, I'll stock the river myself. Deal ?'; James offered Liam his hand to shake.

'Okay Father, you win, deal it is. Sean, where have you been the past five months; James has nearly died of thirst in your absence. Are the rumours true?'

Sean, wearing a most mischievous grin poured two Ballygowan and shouted; 'Marites, come down and meet my friends'; Turning to the two lads; 'No cursing, she hates bad language and no smoking either.'

Moments later Marites appeared behind the counter, all five foot two of her. She was certainly at least twenty years Sean's junior. She shook hands with Liam as they welcomed her. Looking long and hard at Father Brennan before she offered her hand; 'Father I have heard a lot about you, too much perhaps. I am pleased you are taking Lent seriously; she pointed at the glasses of water. Father Brennan noticed the glint in her eye, a woman to be reckoned with, he would enjoy her company.

'Marites, you are a welcome sight. Too long has Sean spent talking to himself and as you well know he is not the best of conversationalists, I was afraid he would bore himself to death. You will be bringing him to mass on Sundays?'

She grinned as she warmly shook Father Brennan's hand; 'Twice a week Father if I have my way.' Father Brennan had little doubt as who would be the boss in the Lavelle household and smirked as she returned upstairs.

'Father, sorry about going to Rome but that is what she wanted, the Popes blessing.' It had cost Sean a fortune but she was worth every penny. What does money matter as long as you were happy was his new philosophy and he was not afraid to tell his friends.

Father Brennan feigned being hurt, let down by his friend; 'I suppose I'm not good enough to oversee a wedding of such international importance, maybe I was an embarrassment Sean.

'If you are that upset, I'll let you do the christening next October if you are not too busy. Off course, you will have to be nice to Marites in the meantime.'

The thought of Sean Lavelle changing a nappy was too much, besides the mention of the Pope prompted him to turn the conversation to more pressing matters. 'We will worry about that Sean when the child is born. The first competition of the season is only three weeks away, it's time to set our traps for Egan. I presume the web site is ready'; Liam nodded; 'The fish tank is in place in Sean's shed, we have our merchandise. Taking out his mobile he rang Jimmy Egan. He explained that he had been on the river but caught nothing and begged Jimmy to take him out the next day. Jimmy agreed and arranged to meet at ten the following morning at the weir pool. Let the fun begin.

To be continued.

[scotgillespie]

 

[bushy palmer]

Lighting a cigarette the old priest looked to heaven; 'God forgive them, they know not what they do.

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