An Early Wake Read Online Free Page B

doddering old man, but he was shrewd enough to recognize that Rose was enjoying Tim’s company. “You playing matchmaker now, Billy? I don’t know how long Tim will be around, but he was asking about a place to stay.”
    “Assuming he needs to get back to Dublin for the start of Michaelmas term, that’s not ’til late in the month. So he’s got a bit of time free.”
    Michaelmas? Another label that meant nothing to Maura. In any case, Tim would have a week or two to find out whatever he needed for his paper or whatever. “When he comes back, I’ll tell him to talk to you.”
    “My pleasure. You might tell him to talk to Mick as well.”
    “You don’t mean Old Mick, do you?” Maura teased.
    “Sure and he’s dead, isn’t he? No, Mick Nolan. He was still at school when all the bands were playing here, but he hung around as much as Mick would let him.”
    “Huh,” Maura replied. She’d never seen Mick show the slightest interest in music, but then, he was certainly closemouthed about his own life. Maybe he had hidden depths. Or maybe she should talk to him first, before siccing Tim on him.

Chapter 3

    B y the time Rose and Tim returned an hour later, business had picked up a bit—now there were six men and a lone woman in Sullivan’s, each looking for a quick pint or a cup of coffee before taking off to do errands. Or filling their time, if they had no jobs to go to. About normal, but any one customer made a noticeable impact on the day’s intake. Rose took a quick glance around then hurried to the bar. “Sorry I’ve been so long, but we lost sight of the time.”
    “That’s on me,” Tim said quickly. “It helps me to talk through what I need to know, and what questions I want to ask, so I was trying them out on Rose first.”
    “It’s okay, Rose. Relax,” Maura said, nodding in Billy’s direction. “By the way, Tim, I talked to Billy over there, and he said he’d be glad to fill you in on what used to go on here.”
    Rose beamed. “Oh, that’s brilliant! Tim here was telling me about all the bands back then and all the people who played in ’em. Seems hard to believe, doesn’t it? This place filled with people and music?”
    Sad but true,
Maura thought. “Was it the times that changed, or did Old Mick just let it go downhill? He was getting old.”
    “I couldn’t say,” Rose said. “Old Mick never mentioned the past, at least not to me, but I didn’t know him long. You can try asking young Mick, though.”
    “Has he ever talked about music with you? I mean, not just music here, but anywhere else?”
    Rose considered the question. “Not that I remember. He’s not one for those little music players, like so many of the lads.”
    Mick was hardly a lad, Maura thought, since he was probably ten years older than she was. But MP3 players or mobile phones that played music were nearly universal these days. Not that she’d ever had the money for either one. Shoot, that reminded her of another expense to consider: her pay-as-you-go phone was almost out of minutes. Now she’d have to figure out what she wanted in a phone—and what she could afford. She didn’t have many people to call, but it was good to have a phone just in case.
    Her mind was drifting, so she straightened her shoulders and told Rose, “Will you take over the bar for now? I’d like to hear what Billy has to say too, I guess. Tim, you come with me and we’ll talk to Billy together. The price for his talk is usually a pint.”
    “You said his name was Sheahan? Is he related to the people who run the hotel across the road? The sign there’s kind of hard to miss.”
    “He is, but don’t ask me exactly how. I keep finding that everyone around here is related somehow, even to me. They can’t always explain
how
we’re related, though, so they just call us cousins,” Maura said. “Anyway, come on over and let me introduce you to Billy.” She led the way to the corner next to the fireplace where Billy held court. Billy