【荆棘鸟】第三章 01

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Section Two

  1921-1928 Ralph

  The road to Drogheda brought back no memories of his youth, thought Father Ralph de Bricassart, eyes half shut against the glare as his new Daimler bounced along in the rutted wheel tracks that marched through the long silver grass. No lovely misty¹ green Ireland, this. And Drogheda? No battlefield, no high seat of power. Or was that strictly² true? Better disciplined these days but acute as ever, his sense of humor conjured³ in his mind an image of a Cromwellian Mary Carson dealing⁴ out her particular brand of imperial malevolence⁵. Not such a highflown comparison, either; the lady surely wielded⁶ as much power and controlled as many individuals as any puissant⁷ war lord of elder days.

  The last gate loomed⁸ up through a stand of box and stringybark; the car came to a throbbing⁹ halt. Clapping a disreputable grey broad-brimmed hat on his head to ward¹⁰ off the sun, Father Ralph got out, plodded¹¹ to the steel bolt on the wooden strut¹², pulled it back and flung the gate open with weary impatience¹³. There were twenty-seven gates between the presbytery in Gillanbone and Drogheda homestead, each one meaning he had to stop, get out of the car, open the gate, get into the car and drive it through, stop, get out, go back to close the gate, then get in the car again and proceed to the next one. Many and many a time he longed to dispense¹⁴ with at least half the ritual, scoot on down the track leaving the gates open like a series of astonished mouths behind him; but even the awesome¹⁵ aura of his calling would not prevent the owners of the gates from tarring and feathering him for it. He wished horses were as fast and efficient as cars, because one could open and close gates from the back of a horse without dismounting.

  "Nothing is given without a disadvantage in it," he said, patting the dashboard of the new Daimler and starting off down the last mile of the grassy¹⁶, treeless Home Paddock, the gate firmly bolted behind him. Even to an Irishman used to castles and mansions¹⁷, this Australian homestead was imposing¹⁸. Drogheda was the oldest and the biggest property in the district, and had been endowed by its late doting¹⁹ owner with a fitting residence.

 

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