Conversation died down. The haunting hum of the pipes was the only sound in the pub. John jumped on top of the eerie buzz, his fiddle producing a long, lone note that suddenly ripped into one of Ben’s favorites, the well-known “Coolea Jig.” A war cry from Paudy came next, and then his accordion and Nora’s banjo galloped into the race. Ben raised his metal D to his lips. Lost in the tune, sustained by its essence, he closed his eyes and dreamed. When the tune went around the standard three times, Paudy let out another whoop and cut into a jig called “The Rolling Wave.” Nora strummed gamely along, but after the tune’s allotted third run, she fiercely hijacked the lead with a vigorous reel called “Toss the Feathers.” Her skillful flatpicking blew Ben away. He stopped playing to watch her, and when she finished, he pointed his whistle at her and shouted her name. The pub erupted in applause. John fiddled into another reel. As Ben joined in, he checked on Gary. So far, the boy had played each note in perfect time. His ecstatic grin and tapping foot affirmed that he was right where he wanted to be. Tom was wrong about the pipes keeping the ghosts away. Ben sensed them all around him, happy spirits, dancing through time. The reel concluded, and Ben laughed out loud at his mother’s shrill whistle. Beside her, Karen waved a hearty thumbs up. Gemma and Kay were busy ordering something from Molly, but Gemma stole a glance at him. The puzzled look on her rosy face mellowed to a smile. It wouldn’t do to play eye games. He turned his attention to his beer, sipping with pleasure, watching his comrades sample their beverages. “We’ll need to slow the pace and catch our breath after that one,” Gary said, part of their prearranged code. This was it. Ben pushed his beer aside and drew the rosewood whistle from his gig bag. * * * * * 5-Star Contemporary Romance - Music, Myth, Laughter, & Love! patmcdermott.net/RosewoodWhistle_Page.html Print & eBook Amazon U.S. tinyurl/klz5f5o Amazon U.K. tinyurl/omxuadf and other Amazon Markets
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 12:08:27 +0000
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