Brian Friel Plays 2 (52 page)

Terry
Well, what are our chances?

Frank
Chances?

Terry
indicates
Carlin’s
house.

Forget him. Next time we’ll bring our own boat.

Terry
Sorry. Not allowed.

Frank
Maybe you’re right. Maybe he still will come. Who’s to say?

Terry
moves
to
the
end
of
the
pier
where
he
sits
by
himself.

Angela
That hit the bottle. Point lost, Trish.

Trish
Didn’t hit it, did it?

Angela
Sorry. Point down. Berna?

Berna,
her
flowers
still
in
her
hand,
picks
up
a
stone
close
to
Frank.
At
the
same
time
she
puts
one
of
her
flowers
in
her
hair
and
blows
a
kiss
to
him.
As
she
does
this
George
plays
‘Bring
Flowers
of
the
Rarest’:

Trish
(
immediately
after
George
plays
the
first
line
and
as
he
continues
playing
)
I know that song, don’t I?

Frank
So do I.

Berna
It’s a hymn – is it?

George
Guess.

Frank
It
is
a hymn – isn’t it?

Berna
Play the chorus, George.

Trish
I do know it, whatever it is.

Frank
I do, too.

George
now
begins
the
chorus:
‘
O
Mary,
we
crown
thee
with
blossoms
today
–
’

Trish
Yes! (
sings
)
‘– Queen of the angels and queen of the May –’

Frank
Haven’t heard that since I was a child.

Trish and Berna
(
sing
)

(
to
George
)
Thank you.

Frank
Not since I was a child.

Brief
pause.
And
immediately
Angela
plunges
into ‘O
Dem
Golden
Slippers
’
.
And
as
she
sings,
George
accompanies
her.
She
picks
up
Frank’s
shoes,
and
singing
loudly,
raucously,
defiantly,
and
waving
the
shoes
above
her
head
she
parades/dances
around
the
pier.
She
sings
the
entire
chorus.
She
stops
suddenly.
The
performance
is
over.
Pause.
Now
she
sings
very
softly
the
first
two
lines
of
the
chorus
of
‘
I
Don’t
Know
Why
I’m
Happy
’
.
She
tails
off
listlessly.
She
looks
at
the
shoes
and
tosses
them
over
to
where
Frank
is
sitting.
She
looks
at
them
all.

Angela
What a goddamn, useless, endless, unhappy outing this has been! (
Pause.
)
I’m sorry, Terry …

Pause.

Frank
(
to
Terry
)
May I (
drink)
?
(
He
pours
a
drink
and
scoops
up
water
.) Should do a rain dance. Well’s almost dry.

Terry
now
rises
and
joins
them.

Terry
I just remembered – I do have a story.

Trish
Too late, Terry. Story time’s over.

Frank
No, it’s not. It’s always story time. Right, Berna?

Berna
Is it?

Frank
Certainly is.

Trish
All right. But make it short, Terry. Short and funny. I need a laugh.

Frank
Terence …?

Terry
Yes. Well. The solicitor who is handling the sale of Oileán Draíochta – he told me this story. We were having lunch together. No; we had finished eating. He was having coffee and I was having tea and we both –

Trish
The story, Terry.

Terry
(
almost
reluctantly
)
Yes – yes – the story. Well, the story he told me was this. Many years ago a young man was killed out there.

Berna
Killed how?

Terry
I suppose … murdered.

Frank
God.

Terry
His name was Sean O’Boyle. He was seventeen years of age. If you were to believe my solicitor friend he was … ritually killed.

Trish
What do you mean?

Terry
A group of young people – he was one of them – seven young men and seven young women. It wasn’t a disagreement, a fight; nothing like that. They were all close friends.

Angela
And what happened?

Terry
The evidence suggests some sort of ritual, during which young O’Boyle was … (
He
shrugs.
)

Trish
Oh, my God.

Berna
What evidence?

Terry
Burned-out fires – empty wine bottles – clothes left behind – blood smeared on rocks. It’s thought there was some sort of orgy. Anyhow, at some point they dismembered him. That’s accurate enough – from the pieces they found.

Frank
Jesus Christ, Terry … oh, Jesus Christ …

Angela
When did this happen?

Terry
1932. On the night of June 26.

Angela
These young people – they were from here?

Terry
Part of a group from this parish who had just returned from Dublin from the Eucharistic Congress. The older people went straight to their homes. The young group – our fourteen – apparently they had been drinking all the way home from Dublin – they stole a half-decker – from this pier actually – and headed out for Oileán Draíochta. Some people say they had poitín stashed out there and that one of the girls was a great fiddler and that they just went out to have a dance. My friend has his own theory. These people were peasants, from a very remote part of the country. And he believes they were still in a
state of intoxication after the Congress – it was the most spectacular, the most incredible thing they had ever witnessed. And that ferment and the wine and the music and the dancing …

Trish
I don’t know what you’re saying, Terry.

Terry
That young O’Boyle was … sacrificed.

Frank
Jesus Christ.

Berna
The other thirteen – they were charged?

Terry
No charges were ever brought.

Trish
Why not?

Angela
The police weren’t brought in?

Terry
Oh, yes. But by then the situation was away beyond their control. The parish was in uproar. Passions were at boiling point. Families were physically attacking one another. The police were helpless. The only person who could control the situation was the bishop of the time. He had led the group that had just made the pilgrimage to the Eucharistic Congress. And every year on August 15 he organized a pilgrimage out to the island.

Trish
So?

Terry
So the thirteen were summoned to the bishop’s palace. All that is known is that they made a solemn pledge never to divulge what happened that night on the island; that they had to leave the country immediately and for ever, and that before the end of the week they had all left for Australia.

Trish
Oh, my God.

Berna
So nobody was ever charged?

Terry
Nobody. O’Boyle was an only child. Both his
parents were dead within the year.

Angela
Oileán Draíochta – wonderful.

Terry
Then the war came. Times were bad. People moved away. Within ten years the area was depopulated – that’s your derelict church back there, Frank. The local belief was that the whole affair brought a curse on the parish and that nothing would ever prosper here again.

Frank
Jesus Christ, what a story! Jesus Christ, we don’t know half of what goes on in the world!

Terry
(
to
Trish
)
I’m sure that’s the real reason why the pilgrimage out there really petered out. Couldn’t have survived that.

Trish
Damn you, Terry Martin, how could you have brought us out to a place like that?

Terry
Trish, it is just an –

Trish
And how could you have bought an evil place like that?

Terry
The place is not evil, Trish.

Trish
I hate that story. That’s a hateful story. You shouldn’t have told us that story. (
She
moves
quickly
away
and
busies
herself
with
her
belongings.
)

Silence.

Berna
(
to
Frank
)
These grew (
her
flowers
)
.

Frank
What’s that?

Berna
He said nothing ever grew again. These did.

Frank
True … that’s true … Going to be another warm day.

Terry
Think so?

Frank
Yes. Very warm. Wonderful.

They
all
drift
apart.

Trish
Shouldn’t we tidy the place up a bit? Carlin could arrive any time.

Berna
You mean Charlie, don’t you?

Trish
Do I? Whatever.

They
begin
tidying
up,
each
attending
to
his/her
own
belongings.
First
they
put
on
their
shoes.
Then
Terry
puts
bottles,
flasks,
etc.
back
into
the
hampers.
Trish
folds
up
sleeping-bags
and
packs
her
other
belongings.
Berna
folds
her
now
dry
clothes
and
puts
them
away.
Frank
looks
after
his
cameras,
binoculars,
etc.
Angela
makes
a
pile
of
the
paper
napkins,
plastic
cups,
etc.,
scattered
around
the
pier.
George
watches
the
others
at
their
tasks.
While
all
this
tidying
up
is
taking
place,
the
following
episodes
happen:

Berna
takes
her
scarf
off
the
lifebelt
stand
and
puts
it
round
her
neck.
Then
she
sees
Angela’s
hat.