Odd Man Out Page #4

All right, Gin. On your way.

Get on with it.

Get up.

- Peelers.

- Sit down.

Let them in but don't talk.

Like some poor old creature

with no spirit?

- I could hold them with my eloquence.

- Now give them a taste of silence.

There's a gun upstairs.

I'd better get rid of it.

- We've orders to search your house.

- Then get on with it.

- Who are you?

- I live here.

- Who occupies this room?

- My father.

Wait downstairs.

It's a fine, brave sight, our James.

They'll never think of searching me.

Where is he?

My father's out.

I wasn't asking you

about your father.

Come on. I know they've been here.

Smoking cigarettes and drinking tea,

the whole bunch of them.

I had friends in to see me.

The fellows who raided the mill.

You were all wondering

how you could find Johnny McQueen.

It was about Johnny.

I can tell you nothing.

You were making plans how

you could find him. That's the truth.

What do you want in this house?

He's gone too far this time

for any of you to help him.

Finish your work here and get out

and leave us in peace.

We're not after him

for taking a shot at us

or for blowing out the windows

of a barracks with explosives.

This time he has shot

and killed a man.

- You know what that means.

- It's his concern.

- And yours.

- I'm not responsible for him.

You're responsible

for what goes on in this house.

I warn you, if there's any evidence

found here,

it will go very hard with you

unless you help us now.

- What do you want me to say?

- I want the truth, that's all.

- You want to know where Johnny is?

- Mm-hm.

- I'm ready.

- There's nothing upstairs.

Take a look around here.

Stand up, old girl.

Give them to me. Them's my sweets.

All right. You can sit down now.

Whose coat is that you're wearing?

- It belongs to my father.

- He hasn't lived here for two years.

I put it round me when I'm cold.

Are you often cold? You shouldn't be

with a crowd always in the house.

These didn't help Johnny.

Or Dennis.

All right. I'll join you later.

- You've searched and found nothing.

- I've found all that I came to find.

- The bandages and the jacket?

- More than that.

- There was nothing more.

- There was.

Something that you couldn't hide.

- I'm not afraid because of that.

- He belongs to the law now.

It might be easier for you if you

could bring yourself to realise that.

If you don't and you try to help him,

you'll be in trouble.

Stay out of this business.

That wasn't a bad fella

as them fellas goes.

- He spoke fair.

- Give it to me, Granny.

There was decency in him.

He spoke sense.

- Give me the revolver.

- What he said was true.

- Let me have what I want.

- Sure, you'll never find Johnny.

I've seen the men go out like he did

and the women go look for them

but they never found them.

Stay here, darlin'.

Where's the sense in running

towards trouble if you can't mend it?

Look at me there.

That was me on me wedding day.

I was 1 9 then

and as lovely as yourself.

I had the fine looks

the same as you have them now.

I had the boys admiring me.

There was Hughie Fitzpatrick -

he wanted to marry me.

He was a rebel on the run

and was never seen again.

Did I go out to look for him?

I did not!

I stayed and had me life

and grand times I had

with Frankie and the rest of them

saying I was an angel of God.

Grand times, thanks be to God.

And the voices of the fine boys

singing the songs.

And I had 11 children, so I had.

Fine boys and girls, all of them.

Colm and Frankie...

And the spirit of them.

See you home, madam? Cab, sir?

Cab, sir?

See you home, madam?

Cab! Cab!

Right, sir. Be with you right away.

Get up.

There's somebody inside, Jack.

You've already got a fare.

The man's drunk.

I'll soon get the heads and tails

of this.

- Out you get.

- Take your hand away.

Oh, it's you.

And I drived you

through the police cordon in my cab.

- Carry on the way you're going.

- I can't, man!

I'm not for you or against you

but I can't afford to get mixed up in this.

Hey, you! Get along there.

Yes, Constable.

Right away, Constable.

Come on, son.

You'll be all right here.

Listen, son.

If you get back to your friends,

tell them I helped you -

me, Gin Jimmy.

But if the police get you,

you won't mention my name, huh?

I saw you, Gin.

Is he hurt bad?

You keep out of this, Shell.

Get away.

But why ask me?

He's got lots of his own crowd.

- But will you help?

- It's an awful risk, Kathleen.

- What time are you leaving?

- Eleven.

It's only eight now. I'll go to

Father Tom. He might know something.

Yes. He usually hears things.

If you do find him, you won't

get through the way you came.

Bring him by Dock Square. I'll see

the gate at the clock tower is open.

Good. I'll be here before eleven.

Out for a little walk, I suppose?

I'm glad you're keeping out

of this business.

It's a nice place.

I thought you might have stayed.

You're wasting your time.

Father Tom can't help you.

- You're going in then?

- Yes.

Why don't you go home?

There, go in if you want to.

But you're too late, miss.

- Is Father Tom in?

- He is but somebody's with him.

Will ye come in a moment?

- You came to ask me about Johnny.

- Do you know him?

I taught him as a child.

I know them all.

I was expecting people

to come inquiring.

I've another visitor.

A poor man whose little bird is sick.

We'd better hear

what he's got to say first.

This is my other visitor.

His name is Shell. You are?

- Kathleen Sullivan.

- How are you, miss?

He's having trouble with his bird.

D'you see this wee creature?

He's a rare one.

It's a budgie. There are thousands.

There's millions of men and women

but there's rare ones among us.

Like this bird. He has a chief.

A devil of a fella.

Always making mischief.

- Just like some fellas does.

- What's his name?

Me and Lukey and Tober -

them's the friends that I live with,

the three of us calls him Johnny.

I must tell you, miss, Johnny is

what you call a menace to society.

We have a rule saying that

the door of his cage must be kept shut

because there's other birds

in my room besides Johnny

and he can't stand them

and they can't stand him.

There's a sort of difference

of opinion, like, between them.

- The bird's almost human!

- How bad is he?

I tell you, he gets out

of his prison...

his cage, I mean,

and off he goes.

But he's back now. You have him.

What happened when he got away?

Murder. D'you see his left wing?

It's hurt.

Poor fella.

He gets out and does mischief.

Killing one fella in the struggle.

But the one he killed

contrived to sort of give him a dig

and there it is - a spot of blood.

How did you manage

to capture him again?

Oh, I got word from a friend

and got me hands on the bird.

- And he's hurt bad.

- How is he now?

Well, this corner

that he's laying in...

it's not the sort of place for him

to sit up proper.

Perhaps he's not long for this world.

There isn't a sound out of him.

If he's that badly wounded, perhaps

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