Brothers by Kirk Weddell

Author:Kirk Weddell [Kirk Weddell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781913136499
Publisher: Clink Street Publishing
Published: 2019-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

Owen came up the hill and bristled at the sight of three men milling about at his front door. He didn’t bother trying to hide the scowl on his face, but did quicken his steps a bit when the councilman from the mainland looked up and noticed him approaching. Owen fancied he was charging at the men rather than walking toward them, but O’Connell didn’t appear at all frightened.

The other two men were dressed smartly—not as old-fashioned as O’Connell but conspicuous on Clare Island, where a suit was a bit of a rarity among the local farmers and fishermen.

One of the two strangers spoke into his mobile phone. Owen wouldn’t have listened even if he could hear what he was saying, but he didn’t see the man wait for anyone else to speak, just kept jabbering away. His eyes looked dull, almost lifeless—as vacant as a cow’s lowering stare. But his jaw worked around his torrent of words as though he was chewing them.

The second stranger was similarly engrossed in his mobile, but this one tapped away at the screen with his thumbs. His face twitched a bit here and there around the corners of his mouth and his eyebrows, as though he could hear something or the little device could see his expressions and reacted accordingly. For all Owen knew, that’s precisely what was happening. His clothes seemed somehow too small on him, as though he still thought of himself as a boy—at least when he went shopping.

As Owen got up to the door, O’Connell gave him a stern look and tapped on his cheap watch.

While he unlocked the door and stomped into the living room, not caring whether or not the three mainlanders followed him, Owen imagined various uncomfortable places that he would like to shove O’Connell’s tacky timepiece. He kept going straight into the room, making for the lantern tower—habit making him want to check his readings.

“Mr. Kerrigan,” O’Connell said from behind him, with that voice of his that sounded at once polite and patronizing, “would you mind if these gentlemen had a look around?”

Of course Owen did mind, but still he said gruffly, “Fine.”

Owen stood there in the middle of his living room, realizing that not only was it no longer his living room, but he’d been going to his light to take readings he didn’t need to take anymore. No one wanted his readings anymore. No one would do anything with his readings anymore. The new lighthouse would take the readings now, a robot sending data by radio to a bunch of computers to process and turn into lights on a screen. Owen didn’t know what to do with himself now that it was no longer his living room, no longer his light even, so he just stood there.

The two strangers barely seemed to see him. One put away his mobile phone and produced a tablet computer from a little messenger bag he carried. He started the thing up, and his perfectly clean-shaven face

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