Captain Gallagher

Chapter 12

It was the day of Tadhg and Aisling's wedding. Eamon and Catriona were both dressed in their best clothes. Catriona had finally gotten her lace shawl, and Eamon was wearing a dark blue coat that he had taken off a traveler.

They rode double on Niamh to the Kavanagh cottage, where several families had already gathered. Some had come on foot, some by horse and cart.

Eamon walked up to Tadhg and clapped him on the back. "Scared?" He asked teasingly.

Tadhg fiddled with his collar. "No...yes." He glanced towards the door of the cottage where all the women were waiting inside with Aisling.

"How was the goose last night?" Eamon asked curiously, referring to the "aitin' of the gander," a custom where the bride's family fed the groom a goose on the night before the wedding. Eamon had never tasted a goose before, and wondered whether it tasted anything like the pheasants he had caught in the past.

"Meat's meat," Tadhg said simply. "I'll take what I can get."

Delma ran outside, giggling as she bounded toward Tadhg and Eamon. "Aisling looks very pretty, Tadhg. You might scare her away!"

Tadhg glared at Eamon, who was snickering. "It's glad I am she'll be wearing a veil."

Eamon nearly choked on his laughter. "You mean she's ugly?" He started to ask.

Delma shook her head and pulled on Tadhg's sleeve. "She hasn't got a veil, Tadhg!"

"No, I wasn't - " Tadhg broke off his sentence. "She hasn't got a veil?" He gulped.

Eamon suddenly imagined himself getting married. He imagined Orla walking towards him and suddenly felt weak and afraid, understanding why Tadhg wanted Aisling to wear a veil.

Delma was shaking her head. "She. Has. No. Veil," she enunciated. "But she looks beautiful, still! Mother says I'll be looking like Aisling someday."

Eamon nodded, looking at Delma speculatively. Both Aisling and Delma had blond hair and fine features, so it was entirely possible that Delma would look like her sister-in-law someday.

Tadhg grinned faintly. "The man who marries you will be fortunate, then." He fell silent as his father approached him.

"Tadhg, it's time." Conall Kavanagh put a hand on his son's shoulder, smiling proudly.

Tadhg turned towards the house. The women were making their way outside and finding their families. The people gathered around the door, forming a lane for Aisling to walk through.

Eamon and Delma drifted away from Tadhg, leaving the groom standing with his father. Eamon found Catriona at the same time that Aisling started to walk out of the house.

The girl's blonde hair, which was braided and twisted on top of her head, was visible under her wreath of lavender flowers and her lace veil.

Her veil! Eamon gaped at the lace that Aisling was wearing on her head, then nudged Catriona. His aunt smiled at him, no longer wearing her lace shawl. She gazed fondly at Aisling and Eamon felt a flare of resentment.

It should be me who's getting married! Then Catriona would have given her shawl to Orla instead. Eamon blinked. Orla? Why am I thinking it's Orla that I'm going to marry? He kicked irritably at the ground with his shoe.

Aisling flashed a grateful smile at Catriona as she continued down the path to Tadgh and Conall. Tadhg was grinning now, but it was a nervous grin. Eamon could feel the uncertainty radiating off his friend.