Servant to the Servants

Paul Kelly

Description

This fantastic new eBook from well-known author Paul Kelly will make an excellent addition to any fiction-lover's digital shelf. Featuring strong characters and plots which draws you into Kelly's worlds, reviewers have been recommending his titles for years. This latest addition to his catalogue of successes is sure to be another winner.

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 13 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781849899758
• Langue: English

Extrait

Title Page

A SERVANT TO THE SERVANTS




By
Paul Kelly




Publisher Information

A Servant To The Servants
Published in 2011 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

The characters and situations in this book are entirely imaginary and bear no relation to any real person or actual happening.

Copyright © Paul Kelly

The right of Paul Kelly to be identified as author of this book has been asserted in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyrights Designs and Patents Act 1988.



Chapter One

February 12 th 1941
Glasgow

I sat in the little room opposite the Bishop’s office and my lips were trembling. I knew too that my legs were shaking and for the first time since I had formed this idea in my mind that I could and should do something with my life, I wanted to run . . .
I know this sounds ridiculous and I was only fifteen years of age, with my last year at school. I had no real education and I had no serious qualifications for anything, so why was I tormented with this idea that I should be doing something, PARTICULAR AND SERIOUS with my very young life. I had spoken to my father about my ideas and he didn’t seem to understand what I was trying to say.
“Had your mother been here, I’m sure she would have understood what you are talking about,” my father said, “I have been a plumber all my life and I could help you to do something like that, but . . .”
“Had your mother been here, I’m sure she would have understood what you are talking about . . .” I could hear my father’s words again ringing in my ears . . .The memory of my mother was very sore to me as she had died giving birth and I knew nothing of her apart from photographs. I could see she had been a beautiful
lady and I could understand why my father could be so attracted to her, but as she had left this world at the same moment as I came into it, there was little if anything I could do to remember what she was like.; in nature I mean, but I guess as any child would imagine, the mother is always a most loving and caring person to the child of her womb. . .
It seemed an age that I sat there waiting for my interview and suddenly I was startled by another boy coming into the room and sitting down clumsily beside me. He looked at me for a moment and blinked.
“My name’s Josh; Josh MacFarlane . . .What’s yours?” he asked and I thought then he must have a lisp as I could only just understand what he was saying. I told him I was Fergus Bannister and he grinned. “You waiting to see the Bishop?” he asked and I nodded “My mammy tells me I’ll make a good priest,” he went on rather breathlessly as he wiped his lips with his sleeve . . .” Does your mammy think?” but before I could reply a rather stout lady came into the room and sat down rather clumsily in the seat beside me. I moved along a little to give her more space and she sniffed as she threw her head back. The boy leant forward so that he could see me sitting on the other side of the stout lady and whispered something which I imagined to be him saying that the stout lady was his mammy and within a few moments a young priest came out from the Bishop’s office and signalled for one of us to go in to see the Bishop, however before I could move . . . as being the first to come to see the Bishop, I thought I should be first to see him, the stout lady grabbed her son’s hand and rushed forwards. The door to the Bishop’s office closed as the duo went in and I sat back thinking I should get home quickly as I had no thoughts of being a priest and never ever had . . . and I had no mammy to guide me.
I waited . . . regardless of my thoughts as I did so want to do something useful with me life and it wasn’t simply to become a plumber, but after about an hour, the stout lady and her son came out from the Bishop’s office and she had a wide grin on her face as she swept past me as if I didn’t exist. . .
“Will you go in next, please?” the young priest said as he appeared in a moment from what seemed to be a door to my left that I hadn’t noticed before.
“Thank you . . . can I go in now?” I asked, looking at the door opposite to where I was sitting and having serious doubts as to whether I should go in. . . or just run. . .
The priest smiled and beckoned me to do just that and I went in with fear and anxiety to see the person I thought would be able to help me to do what was in my heart. The Bishop did not look up, but I heard him telling me to sit down and I obeyed..
“What is your name please?” the Bishop asked as he studied some papers on his desk, without looking up.
“Fergus, my Lord . . . Fergus Bannister,” I replied and I could see the Bishop raise his eyebrows as he raised his head simultaneously and looked at me over the top of his spectacles.
“Are you a Catholic?” he asked and I assured him that I was. “Do you go to Mass?” was the next question and again I replied that I did and that I went nearly every morning with my father. “And your mother . . . ?” was the next question and I froze . . .
I know I must have looked down at the floor before I replied that my mother was dead and the Bishop told me he was sorry to hear that.
“Do you have your birth certificate with you, Fergus?” the Bishop asked and I felt a sense of being accepted as my Christian name was used. I produced the required document from my inside jacket pocket and the Bishop spread the paper out on his desk to study it carefully. “And why do you want to become a priest?” he asked and his question amazed me. I had never thought to become a priest as I realized that my schooling was hardly that of a potential priest and besides I had failed miserably at many of the subjects at school where most boys either sailed through the exams or at least got through with some degree of success and in that moment I could see my old school teacher scowl and shake his head as he looked at my exam attempts.
“Your Lordship . . . I have never ever thought to become a priest,” I answered and the Bishop looked at me in surprise.
“But why have you come here to see me,” he asked and I swallowed hard as I tried to explain, thinking again of what my father had said.
“I would like to do something useful with my life, your Lordship, but I have no qualifications of any kind. I just want to be good; to lead a good and useful life.” I said, but I felt totally inadequate to explain what was really in my thoughts and definitely IN MY HEART.
The Bishop studied me again over the top of his specs as he smiled.
“How old are you, Fergus?” he asked as he looked again at my birth certificate.
“Fifteen,” I replied immediately, “I was born on November 3 rd 1926.”
“Yes, I can see that . . . but fifteen . . .Don’t you think you are a little too young to want to plan out your life?”
“Yes, I suppose I am your Lordship but as I have told you, I go to Mass regularly with my father and I have watched him pray and think how good a man he must be when I think of some other boys at my school who don’t have a father or if they do have one, he is rather cruel to his family . . . and often he has left his wife for some other lady . . . and . . .” I was about to go on and then I suddenly realized that I had already said far too much and what I had said was piffle and made no sense, but
the Bishop sat back in his chair and looked at me with wide eyes as he removed his glasses.
“Quite a philosopher then, aren’t you,” I could hear him say but I didn’t know what he meant . . . “Now let me see,” he went on , “You don’t think you could become a priest but you want top do some good in your life, young man . . .”
It was my turn to smile as I heard the Bishop call me a young man . . .but I refrained from any more talking.
The Bishop stroked his chin and wrinkled his face as he looked at me with one eye.
“I think the best thing for you to do is to come and see me again when you are a little older and then we will talk about your future, yes? There are many ways that you could do good things in this life, Fergus. You could be a carpenter, a baker, or even a plumber.”
I pondered over what he had said knowing that my own father was a plumber and guessed the Bishop had noticed my father’s occupation when he studied my papers. I knew that my dad was a plumber and had done this sort of work all of his working life and he was a good man who wouldn’t do harm to anyone and I was quite happy to do as the Bishop asked, but HOW MUCH OLDER would I need to be for him to be able to help me, I thought . . .
“May I ask please, how old would I have to be, your Lordship?”
“Well, I think we’ll wait until your sixteenth birthday. Will that be alright?” he said and I could see him fold the papers and put them into a drawer in his desk.
I left the Bishop that morning feeling very much better than I had felt for some time and I got a job at MacLelland’s Engineering Factory as a tea-boy as I didn’t expect any promotion there and my mind was thinking all the time that my future was being discussed and sorted out at the Bishop’s palace.




Chapter Two

The waiting for a reply from the Bishop seemed to be endless to me, but eventually a letter arrived from the Bishop to ask me to come along to see him as we had something to discuss and I was more than pleased as this was far short of my agreed sixteenth birthday d