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other way.”
    “Hello ladies. Is this
seat taken?” He smiled and pointed at the leather purse doubling as a place
holder.
    Kathy pulled her purse out
of the way and vacated the center seat. “I insist on having a handsome deputy
between us.”
    Joshua stepped beside her
and took his seat between Vivienne and Kathy just as Father William approached
the podium to start the meeting.
    “Good evening.” Father
William’s voice was weak, as the microphone wasn’t yet turned on. There was a
sound of scuffling from the rear of the room as Harriet fiddled with the power
cords to remedy the situation. A bald man dressed in a nice business suit
approached her and from his hands gestures it was obvious he was offering some
kind of much-needed assistance.
    “This instills
confidence.” Kathy whispered to Joshua and Vivienne.
    Vivienne shook her head
and stifled a chuckle.
    Father William looked out
at the crowd of assembled residents and used his best sermon voice to command
attention. “The Lord works in mysterious ways, but I think even he would get
headaches from modern electronics.” He joked.
    The crowd reacted with
laughter and a few seconds later the sound of feedback let everyone know that
the bald man helping Harriet had found the right power cord to plug in. “Ah,
much better.” Father William’s voice crackled through the speakers. “Thank you,
Harriet.”
    Harriet gave him a weak
smile. “It was all this very nice gentleman.” She motioned to the bald man
beside her. He waved meekly and returned to his seat.
    “Who’s that?” Kathy asked
Vivienne.
    “I don’t know.” Vivienne
shrugged. “Maybe one of the vendors coming from Syracuse?”
    “He’s kind of handsome.”
Kathy whispered back. “I’ve never dated a bald guy before.”
    Vivienne poked her gently.
“You’re incorrigible.”
    “That better mean
agelessly beautiful.” Kathy giggled back.
    Father William adjusted
the microphone and continued. “Now, I appreciate the time and energy you all
wish to give to make this year’s ‘Luck of the Irish Carnival’ the most
wonderful one yet. In order for that to happen, we need to assign various
positions to ensure everything goes smoothly.” He gestured to the crowd.
“First, I would like to welcome Mayor Cassandra Pembroke to the podium.”
    Cassandra, dressed in a
smart navy-blue two-piece business suit, jumped up from the front row and
approached Father William. She clutched a paper in her right hand as she stood
at the podium. “I am pleased to present the Luck of the Irish Carnival planning
committee with a permit to allow the closure of Main Street for Saturday and
Sunday, March 15 th and 16 th during the posted operating
hours.”
    The assembled group
responded with applause as Father William accepted the permit from the Mayor.
They posed for a photograph from a reporter for the Cayuga Tribune and then
Father William assumed the podium once more. “With the official permits now in
place, we are set to nominate group leaders for the festivities.”
    “I nominate myself to save
the souls of those local residents who give in to the debauchery of alcohol and
lewd behavior.” A rather loud voice echoed from the back of the room.
    Father William squinted from
the podium. “Whom, may I ask, is addressing the podium?”
    “Seamus Kilpatrick.” The
voice returned. “I’m the interim Pastor at Shoreline Baptist Church here in
town.”
    Father William nodded.
“Pastor Kilpatrick, I welcome your input at this meeting but we must follow the
agenda to ensure we stay on time tonight.”
    Seamus Kilpatrick walked
slowly up the center aisle, between the rows of audience members. He was about
six feet tall, with a full head of chestnut brown hair that was parted in a
conservatively short style. Dressed casually, in a thick brown fisherman’s
sweater pulled over a stiff-collared white shirt that was tucked neatly into a
pair of dark brown pants. The heels of his tasseled leather loafers