“So, how’s the plannin’ comin’? Tess gettin’ her wee head around it all?” I asked.
It was sure to be a big acclimatisation for a wee buffer. Traveller girls spent their whole lives planning their weddings, from the moment they were old enough to know what one was. Most had it all laid out, ready to go the moment a fella popped the question. Somehow I doubted that was the case for Tess.
Travellers loved nothing better than a celebration and weddings were always one of the most raucous events. Everything was as lavish and over the top as it was possible to be from the drink to the huge, sparkly wedding dresses. It didn’t strike me as Tess’s cup of tea.
“She’s doin’ well. I try t’ keep outta it, like.” Declan shrugged. “Girls like all that shite, don’t they?”
“F’sure.” I nodded. My thoughts turned to Ronan, as they always seemed to these days. Declan was getting hitched and that made my single life all the more suspicious to the unknowing eye. I lamented how much easier my life would have been if I’d have just had my interests laid out proper, like Declan’s, and yet I couldn’t bring myself to be unhappy about it. My life would forever be more complicated than my mate’s, but I wouldn’t trade my time with Ronan for anything. I did, however, need to keep folks off the scent of what was really going on with me and I sighed heavily, preparing a wee lie, just like I had done my whole life.
“Y’know, I’ll have ta find a wee wife f’meself now, aye? Can’t be dossin’ about like the third wheel forever, like.”
Declan laughed, my dishonesty going completely unnoticed, just as it always did. “It’s about time. The pair o’ us have hung onta the single life longer than we rightly shoulda already, now.”
Aye, an’ f’one of us, that’s f’good reason.
Declan and I stayed at the pub for a few hours, celebrating his engagement and eventually meeting up with some of the lads from the camp. Time was drawing on and whilst I was eager to return to Ronan, Declan was first to suggest we got on our way.
We both finished up our drinks and said our goodbyes to the rest of the lads before wandering home through the dark country lanes. As it always seemed to these days, conversation turned to Tess.
“I’d be thinkin’ y’owe me f’doubtin’ it’d work out between Tess an’ me, y’know,” Declan said with a smirk.
“Aye, I shoulda known better, like,” I replied with a laugh. “Y’always be gettin’ what y’wantin’ in the end, eh?”
“F’sure. So? How ya gonna make it up, like?”
I shoved Declan playfully, making him stumble. “I reckon me takin’ on the task o’ draggin’ y’wee arse around f’as long as I have be more than enough payment, aye.”
Declan chuckled, sighing heavily as he gazed up into the night sky. There was a subtle shift in the mood, and he was silent for a moment.
“It’s been a wee while, aye?” he murmured.
“Do less time f’murder, fella.” I grinned at him. “Nah, coddin’ aside, I’d be happy f’ya. Tess is a craic’er wee girl. Y’set f’life now, eh?”
Declan smiled, but there was a sadness behind his expression. “Y’welcome t’ follow wherever we end up, y’know that, aye? I know f’a fact that Tess enjoys ya company, like.”
I took a moment, fighting for the right words. “Ah, I dunno, fella. Maybe it’s time we followed our own paths, like? Ya’ll have a wife soon, an’ a family too, I’d wager?”
Declan nodded.
“Then it’s not me place t’ be holdin’ ya back. Y’need t’ figure out what y’want y’life t’ be with Tess, an’ I’d be needin’ t’ go me own way.”
“Aye, y’right,” Declan sighed. We gazed at one another, neither of us wanting to be the first to admit how bittersweet this moment was. It was only as we rounded a corner, at the top of the hill that sloped down towards the compound that something caught my eye through the darkness. My heart leapt into my throat, and I reached out to grab the sleeve of Declan’s shirt.
“Oi, is that blue lights?” I muttered, gesturing across the valley. We both stilled, staring at the blue lights of emergency vehicles flashing through the foliage.
“Shite, the filth?” Declan asked, scrubbing a hand down his face.
I shook my head, swallowing thickly. “Nah, looks bigger than that. An ambulance?”
Declan was off in an instant, and we jogged the short distance back to the camp. Whatever was going on down there was a big deal – traveller folks didn’t rely on the authorities for anything unless it was a matter of life and death.
Declan and I sprinted through the gates of the halting site, surprised to see everyone out of the caravans, gathered around the ambulance at the centre of the camp.
I spotted a familiar face – Fiadh. Ronan and Darragh weren’t with her and my stomach churned. I reached out, grabbing her attention.
“The feck is goin’ on?”
She seemed to startle, gazing up at me with wide eyes, shimmering with emotion. “I don’t know, like. I just got here meself. They’re sayin’ someone’s been stabbed.”
