He went over to his piano and lifted the lid. It looked lonely too. Very gently he pressed one of the keys. A single musical sound startled the room. It was sweet toned, luminous, sad. He shut the lid again. It was time to go. There was nothing to stay for any longer. He closed the window and let himself out the hall door. It clicked shut behind him.
As Father Giffley made his way back up the lane a train crossed the bridge. He heard its rumble in the distance, stopped, decided to look. Two children at a window saw his black-coated figure and waved their handkerchiefs at him. He waved back. The sky had filled with a pink light which tinted the inland fields and spread its glowing stain on the sea. They continued to wave at each other, the children with their white handkerchiefs, he with his bloodstained one, until the train had gone a long way and looked like a giant black caterpillar against the fields and the pink sky.
Father Giffley made his way up the lane again. The wasps were still busy about the hedges, the blackberries shone in the evening light. He could hear still the never-ceasing movement of the sea.
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© James Plunkett 1969, 2006, 2012
First edition published by Century 1969
First published by Gill & Macmillan 2006
This ebook edition first published by Gill & Macmillan 2012
978 07171 4058 9 (print)
978 07171 5565 1 (epub)
978 07171 5566 8 (mobi)
Cover design by Sin É Design
Cover photographs: David Kelly as Rashers and Brendan Cauldwell as Hennessy © RTÉ Stills Library; Dublin © National Library of Ireland
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About the Author
The late James Plunkett drew on his city-centre working-class background, and his commitment to the labour movement, as the background for his fiction. Strumpet City is acknowledged as his masterpiece. His other novels include Farewell Companions and The Circus Animals. He was an accomplished short-story writer and also wrote for radio and theatre.
About Gill & Macmillan
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