It was past eleven when Daniel, Fergus and Christy entered the kitchen. The Cumann na mBan girls had done the cleaning and disappeared into the night, so only Hannah, Nuala and their mother were left in the kitchen.
‘I’m for my bed, wife,’ said Daniel. He turned to Nuala. ‘There’s someone waiting for you outside.’ He indicated the back door. ‘Don’t you be long, I’ve eyes everywhere and you two aren’t wed yet.’
Nuala’s heart bounced at the thought of her fiancé waiting for her outside. Her a farmer’s daughter with limited education and an unfinished nursing diploma, and him with a grand job as a teacher.
I wish I could tell him I can play chess, she thought as she walked towards the outhouse they were using to store the laundry, but she knew she couldn’t.
In the dark, she could only see the glow of his cigarette.
‘Is that you?’ he whispered.
‘’Tis me,’ she smiled.
Finn stamped out his cigarette and pulled her into his arms. He kissed her and, as always, her legs went shaky, and parts of her burnt with longing for what could only happen after they were married. Eventually, he led her out of the courtyard and onto the coarse grass, where they lay down and she snuggled into his arms.
‘What if someone sees us here?’ she whispered.
‘Nuala, ’tis pitch black, but sure, I’d be more afraid of your daddy catching us like this than a whole patrol of Black and Tans,’ he chuckled.
‘We’ve no worries there, Finn, I could smell the whiskey on Daddy’s breath from across the kitchen. He’ll not surface until the cows are mooing for their milking in the morning.’
‘Then I might just have my wicked way with you,’ he murmured as he pulled her on top of him.
‘Finnbar Casey! Don’t you even be thinking such thoughts, so. I’m walking into that church as pure as the day I was born. Besides, what would all your schoolchildren think if they knew Mr Casey was taking a roll in the grass with his girl?’
‘I’m sure they’d give me a round of applause, especially the boys.’
As Nuala’s eyesight adjusted to the dimness and the moon appeared from behind a cloud, she could make out his features. She traced them with her fingertips.
‘I love you, darlin’, and I can’t wait to be your wife.’
Some more gorgeous kissing happened, then Nuala rolled off of him and nestled her head on one of his arms, looking up at the stars.
‘’Tis a beautiful night. Calm, peaceful, so,’ she said.
‘It is, yes,’ he murmured. ‘And what’s this I’ve been hearing about you nursing the Fitzgerald son up at the Big House?’
‘Who told you?’
‘Sure, I had a dispatch from one of the Cumann na mBan girls last night.’
Nuala sat up. ‘You did not!’
‘No, Nuala, I didn’t, I’m just teasing you. Your daddy mentioned it earlier, said he’d told you ’twas a good idea.’
‘And you, Finn? What do you think?’
‘However much I’d prefer to stand waist-deep in a field of cow shite than have my girl carousing with the enemy, I think your daddy’s right. What with me being a school teacher and you up the Fitzgeralds’, ’twill mean we’re not suspected. For now... The Black and Tan raids on local houses are after getting more frequent. I heard of three who had their farms searched last night, and their occupants scared half to death. The Buckleys’ house was burnt to the ground. ’Twas in retaliation for the shooting of that louser, Mulhern.’
‘Did Tom Hales order his shooting, d’you think?’
‘I’d say he’d a hand in it, for sure. He’s the commandant of the brigade – or was,’ he sighed.
‘What’s going to happen now?’
‘Charlie will take over until Tom’s released. But there’s no telling what kind of state the poor fellow will be in when he is. His family are all beside themselves, especially his brother Sean.’
‘I won’t ever let you fall into the hands of those British lousers,’ she whispered fiercely to him.
