Eoghan and I stayed up all night. When the sun began to glow on the horizon, I dragged myself up out of the bed and got dressed.
“Y’wanna do this again sometime, now?” Eoghan asked, stepping into a pair of jogging bottoms.
“Aye, that’d be grand.”
“Ya boy there seems to be ‘busy’ most nights, aye?”
I laughed. “Declan’s a feckin’ horny bastard, f’sure.”
“Well, whenever he’s distracted, y’come a’knock me. I’ll keep ya entertained.”
I smirked. “I bet ya will, like.”
Eoghan and I gazed at one another for a long moment and without another word, I hopped down from the steps and slipped my trainers on. Eoghan watched me leave from the doorway of his caravan and I shoved my hands into my pockets, breaking out into a jog as I made my way back to my gaff.
Just as I arrived, the door opened. Both me and the girl making a hasty exit startled, not expecting to see one another. She smiled sheepishly, scurrying down the steps in last night’s dress.
“Mornin’,” I muttered, standing aside before climbing inside the caravan.
“Ah, is it not yourself,” Declan called to me. “Where the feck did ya get t’ last night?”
I shrugged. “Slept in the van, like. Couldn’t take another night o’ listenin’ t’ ya bumpin’ an’ moanin’ like a wee bitch, now.”
Declan scoffed. “Ain’tmemakin’ the noise, like, but fair. Musta been freezin’ out there all night, fella.”
I scratched the back of my head, feeling guilty for lying to my best mate. There wasn’t much I didn’t tell Declan – he’d seen me at some of my lowest points in life, but this? This was one secret I was determined to keep.
“Aye, well, I survived.” I shrugged. “Seein’ as y’up early, y’fancy a cheeky Maccies breakfast? I’d a joint or two last night an’ I’m feckin’ starvin’.”
Declan’s face lit up. “Aye, grab y’keys.”
Declan and I stayed at the camp for about five months all told, and they were some of the happiest of my life. Eoghan and I managed to keep our relationship secret, sneaking around and fucking each other like wee rabbits. Once the cork had been popped, there was no replacing it and I swiftly embraced everything Eoghan had to show me. We switched it up – sometimes he’d fuck me, and others I’d fuck him. I learnt what I liked and what I didn’t, discovered what I was good at… It was a crash course I’d sorely needed.
It wasn’t to last though. Eventually, Declan and I finished up our landscaping gig and my mate was pushing to move on. The wee geebag he’d been riding was starting to get some ideas about settling down and Declan was itching to get back on the road to escape her.
Eoghan and I were nothing official, but the last night I’d spent with him had been strangely emotional – for both of us. I was heartened to know that I wasn’t alone in feeling sad to be parting ways. What we’d had was raw and real. I was going to miss Eoghan, and I knew he was going to miss me, too.
I had his number and he had mine. Having a way to contact one another softened the blow, but in our heart of hearts we both knew what we had betweenus was over. Declan and I left the camp in the rearview and headed on to pastures new. Though I left Eoghan behind, the confidence he’d instilled in me remained. He’d set me on this path and for that I would be forever grateful.
When Declan suggested we hop on a ferry and head over into England, I agreed. We travelled around, just as we always did – spending a week or two hitched up before moving on, picking up odd jobs where we saw opportunity.
The end of May brought with it glorious sunshine and a baking heatwave. We hadn’t had a summer so grand since I’d been a wain and my mind was flooded with memories of Appleby – swimming in the river, watching the horses being washed, strawberry ice cream in a cone… Declan and I were already up North. An hour or two’s drive and we’d be there.
I was nervous to suggest my plan to Declan, but it was received eagerly and for the first time in years, we set off for the horse fair.
It was just as good as I remembered it being, if not better. Every year the fair seemed to expand, with more stalls popping up, more horses, and of course, more travellers. We picked a new hitching site, keen not to use the one my da had always insisted on.
True to form, we’d only been in town an hour or two before Declan had set his sights on a girl. Her name was Pearl, and like us, she was in Appleby for the fair, but for an entirely different reason. Her family were fair folk, owning and operating a large fairground business. Pearl was the feisty sort and to say she gave Declan a run for his money was an understatement. I knew my mate, he loved the chase and when Pearl resisted him, he’d pursued her even harder. She gave in eventually though – they always did.
That weekend had been a belter. Declan and I had drunk and partied harder than we ever had and by the time it was over, we were both in bits.
Whilst Declan was saying goodbye to Pearl, I got to work hitching up the caravan, hungover and trying not to chuck up my ringpiece. I’d barely even noticed a woman approaching until she was stood right over me.
“Feck!” I gasped. “Y’scared the shite outta me! What is it y’wantin’?”
“John-Francis, aye? Colm and Mary Ayres’s boy?”
I froze, cold with dread. “Aye, that’d be me.”
