Of Man and Boy

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. Of Man and Boy is the latest addition to Paul's catalogue and takes the reader on an emotional saga starting in wartime Glasgow.

Sujets

• Historical fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 26 septembre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783332649
• Langue: English

Extrait

Title Page
OF MAN AND BOY
By
Paul Kelly



Publisher Information
Published in 2013 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 2013
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 want to be a carpenter”... I want to be an electrician; a plumber; a teacher; a policeman...”
I could hear the boys calling out what they wanted to be when they grew up and left school, but I was lost. I didn’t want to be any of those things. I just didn’t know what I wanted, except that whatever I became, I HOPED TO BE A GOOD MAN... so where and how could I become that? Was there a university for good people? Would I have to go back to school and learn again?
My mother had died giving me birth and I only had my father to give me advice. He was a plumber by trade and had been that way ever since he left school, so perhaps that was what I was meant to be, but again, I was lost. I went to Mass and said a prayer that God would show me what way to go and as I watched my father kneeling beside me saying his rosary, I began to realize that whatever I became in life as a man, if I was anything like my father then I would be fine. I wanted to be content with that, but still there was a nagging feeling inside me that left me feeling so very much alone.
If my mother had been alive, she would have told me what to do... I know that. She was a practising Catholic and would have told me what to do with my life, but she wasn’t with me now.
After having spoken to Mr.Hathaway who was my school teacher, I was advised that as I had no particular idea of what I wanted to become, and could only think that ur Reverence... suggested that my best bet was to go and see the Bishop and he would be sure to tell me what was best for me with the ambitions I had and although I was afraid of what the Bishop might say to me, I knew there was no other answer and whatever advise I was given by the Reverend Gentleman of the cloth, I would have to accept it and by this time I was beginning to meet several of the boys who were at school with me and they seemed so jovial, saying they were being apprenticed to a joinery factor or that they were in a Super Market helping to stack shelves or even one boy with great intentions, whose name I could not remember told me that he was hoping to be a soliciter (but he said the word as SILLITER) and he was doing the filing at the office as well as making the teas... and this was the nearest approach to what I was doing myself. A tea boy for God, I thought and sighed heavily as I made my way home to dad...
The very THOUGHT of going to see the Bishop, frightened me as I had heard he was a very holy and strict man and I was sure he would laugh at my intentions and send me packing, with a flea in my ear, no doubt... However, the deed had to be done and I doubled my prayers and asked God to help me explain myself when I eventually could see the Bishop... and then I wondered how I would address him. Would it be FATHER... or YOUR GRACE; or YOUR HOLINESS... and then I remembered
That it was only the Pope who was address as YOUR HOLINESS and with that, I lay back in my bed and went to sleep.
The following morning my dad told me that the only way to speak to a Bishop was to address him as his Lordship and I would have to say, MY LORD if I was to speak at all, but that I should remember that I should only speak when I was spoken to and I should never, never interrupt or question what was being said to me, NEVER...



Chapter Two
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 Carmichael 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 heavily 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 as Josh Macfarlane obviously had and the priesthood was something that I considered to be way above my head as my education was sadly lacking in so many ways.
The Priesthood was never in my mind... and I had no mammy to guide me.
I waited... regardless of my thoughts as I did so want to do something useful with my 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... Her son seemed to be murmuring something but I couldn’t understand what was being said. I had the strange feeling that he was swearing by the way his mouth twisted as he walked away, but I am sure I was wrong to think that when the lad had only just come away from this great man of the cloth...
“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”... I hesitated as I made my address... remembering how my dad had told me to approach the Bishop... “Fergus Carmichael,” 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, thinking that was a curious question to ask me as I wouldn’t have come to see a Catholic Bishop if I was a Jew, would I?
“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 schoolin