Bridget
I didn't like having to cater to Colum's whims, but I was no fool. At least if I played by his rules I could do things my own way. Surely I could find someone he would approve of who would let me have all the freedom I wanted. Well, no. I wasn't all that optimistic actually. I was beginning to imagine life with Aunt Maggie. It wouldn't be so bad, would it? I could just see going shopping with her and the school I'd go to with all of those handsome English boys. It wasn't such a bad thought, that. I'd resigned myself to it, in fact.
And then someone slipped me a name - Michel Scarselli. Some of the girls that worked with him lived with him as well, and it was even the same line of work Patrick had introduced me to. It couldn't be more perfect. Par tof me worrie dthat Colum would find some reason not to like him, but a deal was a deal, wasn't it?
Colum had already made it clear that he wanted to meet whoever I stayed with, but I had to meet him first, didn't I? I couldn't decide if I even wanted to stay with this Michel Scarselli, or if he'd have me, if I didn't have a talk with him.
So with a little help, I met Michel. I kept going over what I'd say to him. I really wanted to stay there. Oh, things would have been just fine with Aunt Maggie, but I liked being on my own. So I wondered about things like whether I should take my gun. Would he know if I was any good if I didn't take a gun to demonstrate? (I wasn't, but I had improved quite a bit by then.) Or would it offend him? In the end I took it, mostly because I was afraid Colum would find it, and then wouldn't he change his mind altogether?
Michel, it turns out, was very nice, and I wasn't the only straggler than had wandered his way. I knew right away that I'd like to stay with him. It helped that he was young and handsome, didn't it? And that he had a younger brother not much older than me.
I explained to him what was going on and that I could help him out and that I would work hard to get even better, and then of course that Colum was an eejit and wouldn't it be best if he didn't know anything about what Michel did, but yes, he wanted to meet him. I was so nervous I probably talked too much by half, but it worked out just fine, didn't it?
And wasn't Colum surprised that I'd found someone at all? And don't you think he regretted ever making that deal with me? But he had. So then he went to see Michel. And Michel must have been a charmer, because didn't Colum say it would be fine?
I hugged him and asked if he'd be going back to Ireland then and he said he would. He looked a bit sad about it, but I wasn't going to let him go back on his word just to get him to stop looking at me with those terrible puppy dog eyes. I did let him stay long enough to see me moved in with Michel, but back home he went after that. And wasn't I glad to see him go?