by Joe O'Brien
‘What does she want?’ asked Danny.
‘I don’t know,’ Mick said. ‘Maybe she wants to thank you. Here, sit down son and read it.’
Danny sat down while Mick gave him a bit of privacy and made himself a cup of tea.
It was Danny’s first e-mail from a girl and he couldn’t wait to read what she had to say.
He read:
Dear Danny,
Hi. It’s Clara. I just wanted to say THANKS for what you’re doing for me. It’s really amazing that you and your team-mates are doing this. Dad said that you’re going bag packing in your local food store. I hope it goes well!
God! This is unreal! I have so many things that I want to say but my mind is all mixed up. Okay! Clara, get a grip. Sorry! You’re probably thinking by now that this girl is weird.
Okay! Let me start again. Dad told me that you’re captain of your team, The Crokes. Is that right, Danny? That’s cool! I’m captain of my team too and we play under-fourteens too. We’re called the Boston Blues.
I heard that you guys won your league last season and you did really well in some big tournament this summer. Wow! That’s so amazing! We haven’t won anything yet, but I think maybe soon we will. We’re getting better and better each season.
I’m a huge Dubs fan. I love the ‘Blues’. It’s in the blood. I get it from Dad, of course. We’re always looking at their matches on the net! Bad luck against Kerry this year.
I hear that you want to play for the Dubs one day and that you already play for their junior team. I hope I got that right. Junior doesn’t sound right! Sorry! I’m sure you’ll be a superstar, Danny. You are to me already!
Anyway! Sorry for going on and on. I’m just so excited that you’re helping me. Please say a huge thank you to all your team-mates and your dad, of course. My dad loves him. He’s always talking about him and how great he is and all about their GAA days together before we left for Boston.
Here I go again, on and on. Sorry, Danny. I’ll go now.
I’d love to hear from you and all about your GAA team and stuff?
Bye for now,
Clara
Danny was gobsmacked.
Mick peered around the kitchen door. ‘Everything okay, son?’
Mick was dying to know what Clara had to say in her e-mail to Danny, but this was Danny’s business and he felt that he should give him some privacy and not ask him out straight.
Danny turned around to Mick.
‘She’s wired!’
Mick laughed.
‘What do you mean, son?’
‘She’s just wired – mad. You know, like!’
‘What did she have to say?’ asked Mick. ‘Did she just want to thank you?’
‘Yeah! And about a hundred other things as well. Here, have a read, Da. She’s a mad Dubs’ fan.’
‘I’m not surprised Danny,’ said Mick. ‘She’s Archie’s daughter. Are you going to reply to her?’
Danny looked up at Mick who was now leaning over him, glancing over the e-mail.
‘She sounds lovely, Danny. You have to e-mail her back. Sure yiz have something in common already with the football, and you’re both captains of your teams.’
Danny was uncomfortable.
‘What?’ asked Mick.
‘But –’ stuttered Danny.
‘But what?’
‘I don’t know what to write. You know like, Da. I’m afraid that I might write the wrong thing, like with her not being well and that.’
Mick laughed.
‘Then don’t mention it, son. She sounded real upbeat in her e-mail. She sounds like a fighter Danny, just like you.’
Mick pulled a chair over beside Danny.
‘I never told you this before, but when your mammy was sick – very sick – she used to say to people, Cheer up! I’m not dying with cancer; I’m living with it! Your mammy was just like Clara. Bubbly and happy and always thinking about the good things in her life, son and not worrying too much about the rest.’
Danny loved when his dad talked about his mam, even if it made him a little sad, he didn’t mind. It was special when his dad shared memories with him.
‘Do you think that Clara will be okay, Da?’ asked Danny. ‘She won’t die like Mam, will she?’
Mick put his arm around his son.
‘She’ll be fine, Danny. Mammy was a lot sicker than Clara, and it was a long time ago. Doctors can do wonderful things now. I’m sure once she has this operation, she’ll be brand new.’
Danny felt a bit better.
‘I’m going to reply to her,’ he said.
‘Good man.’
Danny’s email to Clara said:
How ya, Clara?
It’s Danny – Danny Wilde. I got your e-mail. Thanks. We did our collection in Tesco tonight. That’s our local supermarket. Do you have any Tescos in America? Anyway! It went animal. Animal means savage, in case you’re wondering. Sorry! Savage means deadly, I mean good – really good. Sorry! That’s the way we talk here. Well! Most of us.
Anyway! Oh yeah, the bag packing. Complete success. We made loads of money. I’m not sure how much yet cos my da hasn’t counted it yet, but I will let you know soon. Oh! And there’s this ol’ fella, Tommy Dempsey. His son used to play for us last year but my da kicked him off the team cos he was a nutter. Anyway, his da – Tommy that is – put a bet on with me for twenty euro. (We use euro in Ireland) that we wouldn’t finish above Barnfield. Barnfield is the team that his son, Sean, plays for now. Shower of muppets. Muppet means, well I don’t know what muppet means. I think it has something to do with The Muppet Show. So, just imagine a load of muppets in jerseys. That’s Barnfield.
Anyway, we beat Barnfield in the last game of the league last year to win the title and we beat them this year in the semi-final of the Féile too.
The Féile was the tournament that you mentioned. We didn’t win it, but we gave it our best shot. One of our best players, Todd, an Australian guy, was missing for the first half. I think we would have beaten Chapel Hall if Todd was playing for the whole match. He’s going home next week. Can’t believe it. Totally out of the blue!
Anyway, Barnfield. If we finish ahead of them, Tommy’s going to have to hand over his twenty euro. Don’t worry, Clara. I’m going to make him eat his words.
I think it’s savage that you’re captain of your team too. Hard work, isn’t it?
But it’s worth it!
I have to go now cos it’s getting late. I think we might do another collection for you soon. I have to check with my da but I’m sure he said something to Jimmy about doing another one. Oh! Jimmy’s our assistant coach. He’s sound!
Danny
P.S. Happy Halloween. I’m going to a big party in my Uncle Larry’s. Hope you have a great Halloween night on Saturday!
Chapter Eight
The Halloween Party
It was October 31, Halloween night, and an unsuspecting Garda sitting on his motor bike at a red light couldn’t believe his eyes when Mick Wilde’s car pulled up beside him.
The Garda lifted his black visor to reveal his laughing face.
Who could blame him – sitting in the front of the car were Mick and Jimmy dressed as Batman and Robin, with Danny in the back dressed as Wolverine, Splinter dressed as a Rubik’s Cube and his mother, Ann, dressed as Morticia Addams.
The Garda leaned over and tapped on Jimmy’s window.
‘All right, Garda?’ Jimmy asked; he sounded nervous.
The Garda took a few seconds to calm down before saying, ‘Everything’s just fine, lads. Well, now that I know that Batman and Robin are out on patrol. Keep up the good work gentlemen and try and leave a few villains for me, won’t ya?’
The light changed green and the Garda sped off.
When Superheroes and Co. arrived at Larry’s house, Jimmy and Ann seemed amazed at its size.
‘Jaysis!’ Jimmy gasped as Mick’s car pulled up outside.
‘It’s a mansion!’ Ann added.
‘Woul
d ya look at the set up here!’ Mick said.
Larry had gone all out to make the Halloween party one to remember. He felt bad about the previous year’s big upset at Halloween, when Jonathon and Danny sneaked off on a trip and got into trouble, and Larry had a big fight with Mick. Larry wanted to make it up to everyone this year.
There was no expense spared. Larry had hired an entertainment company to provide performers and actors dressed up in scary costumes. He even had the whole house decorated in a Halloween theme, and there was a tall, thin, hideous-looking man waiting at the gate to greet arrivals.
As Mick stopped his car at the gates, spooky music began to play as the electronic gates all covered in cobwebs screeched open. Mick rolled down his window as the tall man approached his car.
‘Jeepers Creepers,’ Mick said. ‘Watch my back, Robin. I don’t like the looks of this fella.’
Everyone laughed.
The tall man bent right over and stuck his head in Mick’s open window. Mick leaned back into Jimmy.
‘Get off me, Batman – I mean Mick,’ Jimmy cried.
‘Are you here for the party in the Haunted Mansion?’ asked the man in a ghoulish voice.
‘No,’ Mick said. ‘We heard there was a break-in so we thought we’d check it out.’
The creepy man’s face was expressionless.
‘Humour. How amusing.’
He stood upright and pointed his long finger toward a parking space in Larry’s massive front driveway.
Danny elbowed Splinter with such excitement that he nearly burst through the box that Splinter had used to make the Rubik’s Cube costume.
‘Careful!’ Splinter laughed.
‘This is going to be savage, Splinter,’ Danny said.
***
Larry’s house was jam-packed. Work colleagues, neighbours, friends – there must have been over a hundred people all dressed in costume at the party.
Larry was dressed as Frankenstein; Regina, his wife, dressed as the bride of Frankenstein looked just as gruesome as Larry.
Jonathon spotted Danny and Splinter and ran over to them.
‘Splinter. You really puzzle me sometimes.’
Splinter stared back at Jonathon for a second, until he got the joke.
‘What? Oh yeah! Good one, J!’ Splinter laughed.
‘Where’s Todd?’ asked Jonathon. He was dressed up as a pirate.
‘He bailed out,’ said Danny with a hint of disappointment in his voice.
‘I don’t blame him,’ said Splinter. ‘There was no way he was going to turn up here dressed up as Tinker Bell!’
The three pals burst out laughing.
‘Hey, Danny,’ Jonathon said. ‘There’s Trinity over there. Why don’t you go and talk to her? You haven’t seen her since the Féile.’
‘I don’t see her,’ said Danny.
‘She’s in a costume,’ Jonathon said. ‘Look! The mummy.’
‘I thought that mummy looked hot!’ said Splinter.
‘That doesn’t make any sense, Splinter,’ said Danny.
Splinter got a bit embarrassed. What he was really thinking was that the mummy had a figure that was way too good looking to be a boy’s.
‘Go on, Danny,’ Jonathon nudged him. ‘She won’t be able to resist your Wolverine charms.’
‘I might just go over and say hello,’ Danny said in a kind of an I’m not too bothered either way! kind of tone, but deep down, he was dying to go over to speak to Trinity.
As Danny wrestled through the crowd, he lost sight of Trinity. He turned around sharply to Splinter and Jonathon with his arms raised. Splinter and Jonathon stood on their heels to see if they could find where she had gone.
Splinter pointed towards the kitchen door.
Danny gave Splinter a thumbs-up and headed in that direction.
There were just as many guests in the kitchen as in the hallway. Danny could see Trinity going out the back door into the garden, so he followed. She was heading across the first garden, toward the second garden where the tennis court was.
Trinity loves tennis, Danny thought. She must be going down to the tennis court. I’ll follow. We’ll be alone. I can say what I really want to say without worrying about anyone hearing.
Danny ran across the circular lawn of the second garden and through the rose arch where he found Trinity sitting on a rock in front of the tennis court.
He sat down beside her.
‘Hi!’
Trinity didn’t reply. She just nodded.
Probably can’t speak with all those bandages wrapped around her face, Danny thought. That’s good. It’ll give me a chance to say what I want to say.
‘I want to tell you something,’ he began. He was very nervous. His mouth was dry and his voice was weak. ‘I know that I went off the head a bit in the summer thinking that you and Todd were going out together, but that was because you went to the pictures with him and it made me jealous.’
He stopped there for a few seconds, waiting for some kind of reply from Trinity.
Trinity just nodded her head to gesture, Go on.
Danny continued, ‘It was only because I like you so much. I mean like, a lot. Todd told me that you talked a lot about me when yiz went to the pictures. Is that because you like me a lot too?’
Trinity nodded.
Danny drew breath. He felt like he hadn’t breathed in any air since the first words that came out of his mouth. His face returned to its natural colour.
‘That’s animal!’ he smiled. Ah! What did I say that for? That was stupid. I have to get this right. Ah! What the hell! Just go for it, Danny.
Then without wasting another second, Danny Wilde did what he wanted to do for a long time and asked Trinity to be his girlfriend.
Trinity started to remove the bandages from her face.
I’m going to get a kiss! he thought.
Slowly she removed the bandages, revealing her face … and said, ‘I only came out here for some peace. I’ve a thumping headache.’
‘You’re not Trinity!’ Danny squealed, shocked.
Sitting in front of him with a smile on her face as wide as Larry’s gates was Jonathon’s seventeen-year-old cousin, Avril.
Avril was related to Jonathon on his mum’s side of the family, and Jonathon despised her for her nastiness.
Danny jumped up in horror. ‘I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.’
‘Apparently. Wait until Trinity Dawson hears this. I can’t wait to tell her.’
Danny was mortified. He had just expressed his feelings for Trinity for the first time and to his complete horror, it wasn’t even to Trinity!
Aw, man! he thought. That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done and it was all for nothing. Now I’m going to look like a proper muppet when she tells Trinity.
***
After Danny scolded Splinter for sending him off chasing the wrong mummy, he spent pretty much of the rest of the night avoiding the right mummy – Trinity – who by now had probably been told everything that Danny had wanted her to hear from him.
But he couldn’t avoid her forever, and before the night was over, she finally caught up with him when the two of them were selected to team up together in a Halloween game.
Regina had been organising games all night and this was to be the last one.
There were ten couples, selected by pulling names out of a hat. Each couple had to be bound together with ribbon, and when Regina decided that everybody had enough ribbon around them she blew a whistle.
The ten couples then had to try to make their way out into the back gardens and find the treasure that Regina and Larry had hid earlier that evening. It was hilarious. Everybody really struggled to get where they wanted to go because the ribbons made it so hard to walk.
Danny had protested when he was initially chosen to take part in the game, but now he was kind of glad. He was close to Trinity, maybe too close, but closer than ever before.
Ten minutes had passed and four out of the five
treasures had been found.
‘Over this way, Danny,’ Trinity whispered in his ear.
Trinity carefully steered Danny beyond the cobbled circle with the water fountain of the boy and girl holding an umbrella. The couple shuffled their way to the end of the first garden where a cluster of neatly clipped bay bushes gathered beneath a tall silver birch tree.
‘In there,’ said Trinity. ‘I knew I could see something glittering.’
Tucked behind one of the bays with a spotlight reflecting off its gleaming red wrapping was the last treasure.
‘How are we going to pick it up?’ Danny asked.
They hunkered down and Danny stretched out his fingers and grasped the treasure.
‘Come on,’ said Danny. ‘Let’s tell the others we found the last one. I wonder what it is …’
Danny was just about to move when Trinity held back.
‘Wait a second, Danny.’
Danny felt his stomach turn, dreading what Trinity had to say next.
‘I’m sorry that Avril did that to you earlier. That was bad.’
Relief washed over Danny. He thought that Trinity was going to go berserk!
‘It’s all right.’ He shrugged. ‘Um, did she say much?’
‘Everything.’
Danny went scarlet.
‘I really like you too, Danny.’ She gave him a smile.
Danny’s eyes widened. ‘Really?’
Trinity nodded. Danny went weak at the knees. This was exactly what he had wished for.
But just as she moved her face in closer to Danny’s, Splinter let an unmerciful roar. ‘Danny and Trinity found the last treasure.’
***
Uncle Larry’s Halloween party was over. The last thing to do was to untie all the couples that had taken part in the treasure hunt and reveal their prizes.
‘Here, Trinity,’ Danny said, once their parcel was opened, ‘You can have it.’
‘What did yiz get?’ asked Mick.