Colum
The last thing I ever expected to happen was to find Bridget in Donegal, but there she was with all of her friends. I don't think she was happy to see me, but it was good to see her again after all that time. And didn't that change things altogether? She may not have wanted to see me there at all, but she started to call more often after that - when she was upset or when something was happening. And then she called me to let me know she'd be competing in a tournament, and I thought, "Well, why don't I go watch her?" It was something knowing that she was going on in school and actually telling me about her life. And then there was the other reason I wanted to go. Micah, a lumenatra from home, had told me that it wasn't safe for Bridget to stay in Salaise, and wasn't I a little worried?
There might have been reason for that. I'm told she did well in the first fights of the competition, but I didn't make it in time for those. What I did see was Bridget getting hurt and the entire place going mad. I started to wonder if maybe Micah was right, and nothing after that made me feel any better about her being there.
But Bridget didn't like me being there at all. She really didn't like it after I walked in on her and her boyfriend playing a game of strip poker and threw him out by the ear. I couldn't just leave her there alone though, could I? So I decided I would stay there but let her think I'd gone back. I wrote Uncle Dermot a letter to let him know I wouldn't be visiting for a while, and I talked to Father Sheehy and told him I'd like to rent the house to tourists while I was gone. And then I found a little apartment and a job.
It wasn't that easy to fool Bridget though. Oh, it worked for a while. I let her friends know where I was, and the one time she couldn't find me in Ireland, all they had to do was tell me she was looking for me and I called her back. And then Micah took it upon himself to send her home. And when she couldn't find me, she went to Father Sheehy and he let her know where I was. And then wasn't she angry at me all over again? She said I was trying to control her life. I had left the girl alone so much she didn't even know I was in the same country as her, let alone the same city, and she accused me of "looking over her shoulder."
She didn't stay mad long though, did she? Terrible things were happening, and I think she even wondered if she should leave Salaise a time or two. And what do you think she did when Angel or Michel was hurt or she was scared or upset? She came knocking on my door, and that was just fine with me.
Things did change a bit though. She couldn't hide anymore the sort of things she and the others were doing. It's one thing when I'm in Ireland; it's another when I'm sitting in a hospital room with her. But I think maybe she'd stopped wanted to hide things from me. She started bringing Derik to mass with her and inviting me to go places. She even threw a birthday party for me. Oh, I don't like Derik or the things she does, but I love my sister, and there will be a time for all that. Right now I'm just happy to be a part of her life again, and even though I want to go back to Ireland, for now I'm just staying here. So I'll be looking at seminaries so I can continue school and be near Bridget.