Redemption - Leon Uris [306]
“It’s like a miracle took place. Liam wrote and asked for forgiveness. I never heard music so beautiful as the sound of wee Dary reading me his words. Dary says you and Tomas got things turned around. It wasn’t all Liam’s fault, our troubles. I want so badly to make things right at home….
“Uncle Conor, I think I know why I am here in Ireland. I’m in a position to strike a blow. I think I know what I am going to be called upon to do. You’ve got to help me now and give me a sign that what I’m intending to do is the right thing. It’s a right and a wrong too big for me to figure out alone. Send me a message, man….”
Dear Da,
Wee Dary must write this for me until I am fitted with special glasses.
I forgive you. I need forgiveness as well. I have been a shyte of a son trying my best to always torment you. I cannot think of what is better in life now than coming back to New Zealand and dreaming of the grand days we are going to share.
You do realize I have to stay where I am, for I’ve a task. It’s the Larkin fate and I hope I am equal to it.
I cannot write much more except to say I came through Gallipoli much better than many others.
There is one great thing you can try to do for me. I realize that Georgia Norman did not believe I loved her and that I would eventually want to be free of obligations to her. That is why she broke it off, to set me free. But she didn’t tell the truth. She was already divorced from Calvin Norman, but she told me the divorce was not final and she was going to give him another chance after the war.
In actual fact, I met Dr. Norman in Gallipoli only to learn that they were already divorced and he had remarried. He was a great man and tragically has been in and out of mental institutions, but there is hope for his recovery. Mom will be happy to know that I pray every once in a while these days, and I pray for Dr. Norman first.
Da, please find Georgia for me if she is to be found. My love for her is no less great than life itself.
Dary tells me this letter will be personally delivered to you by a priest going to New Zealand aboard a hospital ship in the next few weeks. You will have to do a lot of reading between the lines, but once I’m home we’ve a lifetime to catch up.
I love you, too, Da.
Rory
Time was winding down at the fishing cottage. All bridges had been crossed, except the big one. Dary wasted no time in getting to it.
“What are your plans, Rory?” he asked.
“Probably head back to Belfast and Lady Caroline.
Maybe I’ll take her up on the use of her house in Dublin. Hit the pubs. Make a dent in Dublin. I plan to go to the west. Everyone says it’s beautiful.”
“You’re lying in your teeth, Rory Larkin.”
“Me?”
“When you’ve heard as many Bogside confessions as I have, you become fine-tuned to the modulations in a liar’s voice. You’re going to join Brodhead’s staff, isn’t that what?”
“Maybe.”
“Ho, I’ll say a big ‘maybe’ for you.”
“I don’t want to appear too anxious. What I think is that I’ll ask for a trial period so I can back out. It’s easy enough to use my medical situation as an excuse to leave. Maybe I’ll have some more surgery on the hand. The eyes may have to wait. Just so I can ride a horse. Maybe, I’ll find a lass to read to me.”
“I’m talking about Larkin parading around as Landers inside Dublin Castle. You’d be doing a balancing act on the sharp side of a knife.”
It is family, Rory thought. The man is a priest. Should he know or not? So far, Rory had been able to hold it to himself alone. A secret happens when two or more people know and then it’s not apt to be a secret anymore.
“Let me help you, Rory,” Dary said. “You’ve kept republican matters out of our lovely new friendship. I have not been sympathetic unless it pertained to a family member. Did you know I organized Conor’s escape from Portlaoise Prison?”
“You…what!”
“Of course, you’ve had no way of knowing. I’m serving a beautiful bishop who desperately needs my help. But I’m starting to see things differently-first, since Conor’s death, and in more recent days, in revulsion over the executions.”
“Ah,