Feile Fever

by Joe O'Brien

  ‘So, you’re from Down Under?’ giggled Billy.

  Todd didn’t respond. In fact, he didn’t even lift his head to look at Billy.

  Danny could see that Todd wasn’t going to settle in easily, so he pushed Billy’s arm,

  ‘Snap out of it, Billy’ said Danny. ‘Will you give him a chance to settle before you smother him with your sad-act humour.’

  The new boy gave a slight smile. Billy noticed this and decided to try a bit more chat.

  ‘So! Come here, Todd,’ he said, ‘what’s the story? Dunstan said that you’re from Down Under. Does he mean you’re from the Pit of Hell?’

  Todd just answered ‘right’ in his Australian accent and then bowed his head again.

  Billy was lucky that Mr Breen walked back into the classroom and closed the door behind him, as Danny was just about to flick Billy’s ear with his ruler to show him that he was being a complete idiot towards Todd.

  * * *

  Danny and Splinter were out in the yard having a quick kick-about when they spotted Todd sitting under the shelters, all alone.

  ‘Come on and we’ll go over to Todd,’ suggested Danny.

  ‘I don’t know, Danny,’ huffed Splinter. ‘He’s a bit weird.’

  Danny laughed at Splinter.

  ‘He’s not weird, he’s just new. Come on, let’s see if we can get to know a bit more about him.’

  Splinter slowly followed Danny over to the shelters. Danny sat on one side of Todd and Splinter sat on the other. It was like good cop, bad cop.

  ‘Alright, Todd?’ smiled Danny.

  Todd didn’t answer. He just nodded.

  ‘Come on, Danny,’ urged Splinter. ‘There’s only a few minutes of break left.’

  Danny didn’t want to give up on this new boy. But maybe he needs time and space, and then he’ll come running after us to make friends, he thought.

  Just as the two boys were about to get up, they saw the principal coming across the schoolyard in their direction.

  ‘Ah, no! What’s he want?’ moaned Splinter.

  To Danny’s delight and Splinter’s disgust, Todd laughed.

  ‘Well! If it isn’t the Three Amigos,’ said Principal Dunstan, with a pitiful attempt at a smile. ‘I see you’ve already made new friends, Todd.’

  Todd turned and looked at Danny and Splinter, then nodded at the principal.

  ‘Well, boys. I have some great news for you.’

  Then Mr Dunstan paused and looked off around the yard. This was no surprise to Danny and Splinter as they were well used to his peculiar ways, but Todd just stared at him as if he was looking at a complete alien as he waited to hear what the good news was.

  ‘Your class,’ continued the principal, ‘has won the surprise school field trip. You’ll be going on a day out before the end of term!’

  ‘Savage! I mean, that’s super!’ cheered Splinter.

  Danny smiled at Splinter’s enthusiasm; he knew well that Splinter was only so enthusiastic because it meant a day out of the classroom.

  ‘Where’s the trip to?’ asked Danny.

  There was no immediate reply to Danny’s question.

  Mr Dunstan leaned over towards the three boys with the same expression on his face that he wore at all times.

  Danny and Splinter waited patiently. Todd stared at him again, surprised at the way he was able to lean forward with both of his hands in his pockets, balancing on the tips of his toes.

  Then out of the blue, he spoke again.

  ‘Croke Park,’ whispered the principal.

  Danny jumped off the bench.

  ‘Croker!! Why are we going there?’

  ‘You’re going on the tour of Croke Park, boys. There’s great history in that stadium. A tour well worth taking.’

  Danny and Splinter high fived with pure delight.

  Just as the, now slightly more popular, school principal was about to turn and walk away, Todd spoke,

  ‘Bonzer! Is this trip on the tin roof?’

  Danny and Splinter laughed at Todd.

  ‘Ye mad thing, ye!’ said Splinter. ‘What language was that in?’

  ‘Just kidding with him,’ answered Todd, ‘I asked him if the trip was free.’

  Then he stood up and headed back towards the school, smiling just a little, just enough to tell the two boys that maybe he could fit in after all.

  Chapter Three

  An Aussie Rules Player

  Later that day, Danny, Splinter and Jonathon were having a game of Kick and Catch on Danny’s road, to kill some time before training.

  Every Tuesday and Thursday, Jonathon got the bus from his school to Danny’s house before training. Mick was delighted for Danny to have the company; it had been just the two of them since Danny’s mother had died when he was very young, and he sometimes worried that Danny was lonely in the afternoons when he was at work.

  Jonathon sat on Danny’s wall as he watched his cousin trash Splinter.

  ‘Ah! I think I’ll pack it in, Danny,’ groaned Splinter eventually. ‘I’ll be here all night, trying to beat you.’

  ‘I’ll give you a game, Danny,’ said Jonathon, and he leapt off the wall.

  Just as Danny and Jonathon prepared to play, Deco Savage and Sean Dempsey turned the corner. Both boys played for the Crokes’ rivals, Barnfield, and neither of them was at all popular with Danny or his team-mates. Sean Dempsey, in particular, was no friend of Danny’s, as Mick had kicked him off the Crokes’ team last year for dirty tactics.

  ‘Here! Giz a game?’ Dempsey called out.

  Jonathon looked at Danny with an Are you on for it? look.

  ‘Animal!’ replied Danny. ‘Kick and catch. Me against Deco, and J against you. One player will kick and the other two have to catch, then we switch it around.’

  Danny stayed where he was, while Jonathon and Dempsey ran about three houses down the road, to get ready to catch the ball.

  Danny kicked first and sent the ball high above the catchers. Jonathan leapt high and managed to grab the ball out of the sky. Dempsey was slightly taller than Jonathon, but although Jonathon wasn’t as good at winning balls in the air as Danny, he was better than Dempsey!

  First point to Danny and Jonathon.

  Dempsey kicked next, and Danny and Savage contested.

  Danny caught that one – two nil to Danny and Jonathon!

  Sean ‘Dirty’ Dempsey got it into his head that there was no way he was going to be humiliated in the middle of the road, so he decided to up his game, and the only way he knew how to do that was to play dirty.

  It was Deco Savage’s turn to kick and he kicked it very high indeed.

  Jonathon timed his jump to perfection.

  Dempsey waited and waited and just as it seemed that he’d fallen asleep – THUMP! – he knocked Jonathon out of the way in mid flight and caught the ball.

  ‘Ouch!’ yelped Jonathon, as he fell awkwardly on his ankle.

  Danny ran over to him.

  ‘Are you alright, J?’

  ‘I’m fine!’ panted his cousin. He was obviously in some pain, but tried to keep a brave face in front of Dempsey and Savage.

  ‘Cop on, Dempsey, will ya!’ raged Danny.

  ‘Get stuffed!’ retaliated Dempsey, as he tried to play the innocent, but Danny wasn’t having any of it.

  ‘There’s no need for dirt.’

  ‘That wasn’t dirt!’ interrupted Deco, ‘That was a fair tackle, man. Are we playing on or what?’

  ‘I don’t think I can play on, Danny,’ admitted Jonathon. ‘I can feel my ankle swelling up.’

  ‘Ah, come on, you windbag!’ slagged Dempsey. ‘It wasn’t that bad.’

  Splinter jumped off the wall where he had been watching the whole incident very carefully.

  ‘I’ll play instead, and then we’ll see who’s a windbag.’

  But just as Splinter spoke, another contestant for this very heated game turned up.

  ‘I’ll jump in if that’s alright?’

  It was Todd
Bailey, the new Aussie boy! He’d been watching the whole game from the corner of Danny and Splinter’s road.

  Danny nodded at Splinter. Splinter knew what was on Danny’s mind, and he too was mad keen to see the mysterious Todd in action.

  ‘Go ahead, Todd,’ he said.

  ‘Next point the winner!’ announced Danny.

  Danny knew Sean Dempsey well, as he’d played alongside him for long enough and he knew in his heart that Dempsey would do whatever it took to win this game.

  On the other hand, he was faced with the problem of not knowing Todd at all, but he would just have to trust Todd to bring the points home and send Sean Dempsey and Deco Savage back to Barnfield with their tails between their legs.

  Deco won the toss of a coin to throw in.

  The Barnfield midfielder looked at his team mate and seemed to make a signal.

  Dempsey picked up the signal and grinned.

  Savage kicked the ball short and not too high.

  Dempsey stepped forward to catch it, but just as the ball was coming down right on target, Todd Bailey swooped up behind Dempsey and leapt in the air, landing almost on his opponent’s shoulders, to catch the ball.

  Dempsey tumbled to the hard ground with Todd behind him, but somehow Todd kept the ball glued to his hands.

  Danny, Splinter and Jonathon leapt about in celebration, then Jonathon quickly sat back down on the kerb again, remembering his injured ankle.

  ‘That was a foul!’ shouted Dempsey as he brushed himself off, getting back up.

  Todd stood very tall and very strong with the ball in his hands.

  ‘No it wasn’t, mate!’ he smiled. ‘Don’t be a possum. That was a mark.’

  Just as Dempsey was about to take the disagreement further, Mick drove up the road. As Dempsey was not a favourite of Mick’s, he decided very promptly that he and his friend should head off before Mick got out of his car.

  Todd fisted the ball over to Danny.

  ‘Here you go, mate. I’m gonna take off now. Thanks for the game.’ Then he turned to leave.

  ‘Hold your horses, Todd,’ called Danny. ‘Aussie rules! That’s what that move was. You’re good. You could play GAA for our team.’

  Todd didn’t hang around to take up Danny’s offer, and he disappeared back around the corner leaving the three boys feeling nothing but pure admiration for his display of talent.

  As Mick got out of his car, he called Danny over.

  ‘Back in a minute, lads,’ said Danny, leaving Splinter and Jonathon sitting on the wall.

  ‘Was that Sean Dempsey running off?’ asked Mick.

  Danny nodded.

  ‘What did he want? Was he giving you grief?’

  ‘No he wasn’t, Da. We were playing football and Dempsey and Savage asked for a game. We slaughtered them,’ grinned Danny.

  ‘Keep away from those two,’ ordered Mick. ‘They’re bad news. I don’t want you hanging around with them.’

  ‘I don’t,’ said Danny. ‘It was a one off. The only time I see Dempsey is at training for the Dublin development squad.’

  Mick looked up to the sky in exasperation.

  ‘Is he still in the squad? I can’t believe they let Jonathon go and kept Sean Dempsey.’

  ‘I know,’ agreed Danny. ‘Jonathon was doing really well. I thought he played much better than Dempsey in the Easter tournament.’

  Mick walked toward the house, then turned back to Danny.

  ‘Who was the other lad?’

  ‘What other lad?’

  ‘The big lad that you were talking to a few minutes ago, as I was driving up the road.’

  Danny’s face lit up.

  ‘That’s Todd!’ answered Danny with great enthusiasm. ‘He’s a new lad in our class. He’s from Australia.’

  ‘Australia. Really!’ smiled Mick. ‘He looked older than you, son. They sure know how to grow them down there. All that good sun.’

  ‘You should have seen him, Da. He joined in the game and he skinned Dempsey.’

  Mick raised a brow.

  ‘He’s a player?’

  ‘He’s savage,’ smiled Danny. ‘He pulled off this Aussie Rules move. A mark, that’s the one. Dempsey didn’t know what hit him!’

  In an instant, Mick Wilde’s managerial brain switched on.

  ‘Can you ask him to come training?’

  ‘I’ll try, Da, but he’s not really that easy to get on with.’

  ‘Give him a chance, son. He’s only new to Ireland. Probably missing his pals back home.’

  ‘I’ll ask him tomorrow in school,’ suggested Danny.

  ‘Nice one,’ smiled Mick. ‘We could really do with putting a bit of strength back into the team after losing poor Barry.’

  Mick turned the key in the door.

  ‘Don’t stay out too long. I’m going to put on a bit of dinner for you and Jonathon before training.’

  Chapter Four

  The Barbeque

  All that week at school Danny hounded Todd to come training for the Crokes, but Todd wasn’t having any of it.

  Danny couldn’t work out this new lad at all. Todd wasn’t exactly the easiest person to make friends with, but Danny Wilde wasn’t going to give up on him, and so, even though he couldn’t persuade Todd to join his football team, he at least managed to get him to agree to come to a barbeque at his cousin Jonathon’s house.

  Splinter was going too, and he had cracked a joke to Todd about how the Aussies were the Kings of Barbeques and said that Todd just couldn’t refuse to go. So after some resistance, Todd agreed to tag along, if only to get Splinter and Danny off his case.

  * * *

  Just as Danny had been totally gob-smacked by Jonathon’s house the very first time he set eyes on it, Todd Bailey strolled around the immense gardens of number ten Aylesbridge Close with his eyes wide with amazement.

  He had been to many barbeques back home, but never in such grand surroundings.

  It was Saturday, May 2nd and the bank holiday sun was splitting the stones.

  Larry was in tremendous form. When he wasn’t working hard as a barrister or playing golf, he loved nothing more than to entertain and show off his lovely home and gardens.

  It didn’t take very long for Danny to suggest that he and Jonathon show Splinter and Todd the tennis courts hidden in the far garden through the rose arch.

  Jonathon’s older sister, Lowry, was playing a game with her best friend, Trinity – the girl who Danny had a bit of a soft spot for.

  ‘Who’s the bird with the long blonde hair?’ asked Splinter.

  ‘That’s Trinity,’ answered Jonathon. ‘The other one is my sister, Lowry.’

  ‘She’s eye candy, lads,’ laughed Splinter. ‘What do you think Todd?’

  Todd raised his brows in agreement. ‘I reckon she’s a beauty, alright!’

  Danny wasn’t impressed.

  ‘Shut up will yiz, and let’s watch the game!’

  The four pals sat down and watched the two girls playing for a while.

  ‘They’re not bad,’ observed Splinter, just as Trinity hit a winning pass; Splinter put his fingers to his mouth and whistled at her.

  Trinity and Lowry looked over toward the steps where the boys were sitting. They hadn’t noticed them there up until Splinter’s outburst.

  Lowry made a sort of get moving or else gesture at Jonathon, but Trinity just smiled.

  She liked the idea of sideline admirers, and Todd had really caught her eye. He was different. Bronzed, blond haired and blue-eyed.

  ‘I think she was smiling at you, Todd,’ said Splinter.

  Jonathon noticed Danny’s head dropping a little.

  ‘No! You’re wrong Splinter,’ argued Jonathon. ‘I think it was Danny she was smiling at. Trinity likes Danny.’

  Danny’s face went as red as a tomato.

  ‘Is that right, Danny?’ giggled Splinter. ‘You dark horse! You never told me that you had a girlfriend.’

  ‘Get lost, Splinter,’ growled Danny. ‘S
he’s not my girlfriend.’

  ‘That’s not what Jonathon thinks!’

  Danny scowled at his cousin. Then, to make things worse for Danny, Todd didn’t hesitate to express his interest in Trinity.

  He said, ‘Well, I reckon she’s class, boys. I wouldn’t mind her being my girlfriend.’

  At that moment, Mick came running through the rose arch.

  ‘Danny!’ he called.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ asked Danny.

  Mick Wilde burst out laughing, and all the boys immediately joined in even though they didn’t know what was so funny. Mick’s laugh had that effect – it was infectious.

  Mick finally caught his breath and said,

  ‘You better get a hold of Heffo before your uncle Larry finds him. He’s after eating all of Larry’s steaks for the barbeque, and poor Regina is in floods of tears. Sorry, Jonathon,’ apologised Mick. ‘I’m not making fun of your mammy.’

  Jonathon smiled. He could see the funny side of Mick’s story, but Lowry wouldn’t and she was marching out of the tennis court.

  Mick and the four boys – Danny, Splinter, Jonathon and Todd in fits of laughter – disappeared back through the arch before Lowry caught up with them. While Danny hid Heffo in Larry’s garage, Mick seized the opportunity to have a chat with Todd about joining the team.

  When Danny caught up again with his dad, it was apparent from his long face that Mick had failed to persuade Todd to join the team.

  ‘No luck?’ asked Danny.

  Mick shrugged his shoulders at Danny and shook his head.

  ‘I tried, son. He’s a tough nut to crack.’

  Danny tried to stay out of Larry and Regina’s way for the rest of the day. It had been his idea to bring Heffo to the barbeque and he didn’t make things better for himself when he told his aunt Regina that the only reason Heffo hadn’t eaten the sausages as well as the steaks was because he only liked the good, expensive, organic ones.

  As Danny sat quietly in the front seat of the car on the way home, he reflected on the things that hadn’t really gone to plan for him that week.

  Todd still wouldn’t join the team, and to make matters worse, the new boy from down under had caught Trinity’s eye, and that really worried Danny.