Where There's a Will by June Francis

Author:June Francis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Canelo Digital Publishing Ltd
Published: 2020-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Within half an hour they were seated at a table in the public house next door to the theatre. Mick had a pint of Guinness and Jimmy a small Guinness shandy, while the girls were happy with lemonade as they were served bowls of the stew that was left over from earlier in the day, served with buttered crusty bread.

It was not until halfway through the meal that Micky laid down his spoon, had another mouthful of Guinness, and said, ‘I drew close to your father, Joseph, when I was staying at the old O’Donnell’s farm just before the fighting broke out in the summer of 1922. Joseph had just sent Bridget and Milly to his mother’s in Liverpool and I told him he was a fool to stay behind and be dragged into the fighting. It was then he told me that he didn’t intend doing much fighting but using the opportunity to try and discover what had happened to his mother’s twin brother, Barnaby.’

‘Presumably he told you about the special bond between them and how Barnaby had been in touch with his mother telepathically,’ said Milly.

Micky shook his head. ‘No, although in Ireland we don’t mock the mystical as the English do. I offered my help, saying I could keep me ears and eyes open as I travelled around Ireland performing. He told me his uncle’s name was Barnaby Milburn and apparently, this uncle did a bit of acting and impersonating and had wanted to go on the stage, but his own father forbade it.’

‘But it was years before that Barnaby went to Ireland and nothing was heard from him afterwards. He seemed to have vanished into thin air,’ said Milly.

‘Well, would you believe I ran into him? Literally! It was in a boarding house in the north, Barnaby was coming down the stairs and I was going up. Later we had a drink and a crack, he told me his name, Bob Milburn, and that he had married an Irish girl from the north, but that he was originally from Lancashire, as if I couldn’t have guessed from his broad accent. He was a good impersonator though and as Englishmen weren’t so welcome at that time, he often used to pass himself off as an Irishman. It wasn’t until he mentioned having a twin sister that I worked out that Bob Milburn was just his stage name and he admitted his real name was Barnaby. He told me he never travelled with his wife.’

‘It must be the same person,’ said Milly, unable to keep still with excitement.

‘So, it was likely he was your father’s uncle, he was sprightly for his age, but he must have retired now,’ said Micky. ‘The travelling company he was with moved on and although I’d see posters advertising the company he was part of, I never met him again.’

‘So, Dad was searching for him with just the information you’d given him to go on,’ said Milly. ‘But Barnaby could be dead by now.

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