Chapter Four: 'Separation and Betrayal'.
The couple's return needed to be delayed a further two weeks longer than was originally planned, due to Aunt Sarah's depression. Both father and daughter were due to return to Portlaw on Sunday the 15th, August. Sean was anxious to see Sarah again and to discover what had disturbed her break in Donegal and how badly her aunt was.
It was Friday evening, two days before Sarah's planned return and Sean went to the pub for a few pints of Guinness. He'd decided to have a few pints and get out of the house before he got roped in to babysitting his 8-year-old brother while his mother went to evening confession. His father had left the house two hours earlier. There was no way that Sean had intended to stay in on a Friday night when he could be re-acquainting himself with all the old pubs in Waterford, which had refused to modernise and have machines rattling in the background instead of the sound of the old squeeze box, a fiddle and a few rousing rebel songs sung in good company. Such places were so popular with the real Irish men that one could hardly make one's way through the fog of smoke that hit you as you walked to the bar. Sean had discovered that although a mere sixteen years old, he could still pass for eighteen years with ease.
It was Friday evening, two days before Sarah's planned return and Sean went to the pub for a few pints of Guinness. He'd decided to have a few pints and get out of the house before he got roped in to babysitting his 8-year-old brother while his mother went to evening confession. His father had left the house two hours earlier. There was no way that Sean had intended to stay in on a Friday night when he could be re-acquainting himself with all the old pubs in Waterford, which had refused to modernise and have machines rattling in the background instead of the sound of the old squeeze box, a fiddle and a few rousing rebel songs sung in good company. Such places were so popular with the real Irish men that one could hardly make one's way through the fog of smoke that hit you as you walked to the bar. Sean had discovered that although a mere sixteen years old, he could still pass for eighteen years with ease.
He arrived back home around 11.30 pm and was ready for his bed. His mother had just finished a pile of ironing and was retiring for the night herself after she'd brewed Sean a pot of tea. It was ironic that viewed from the outside, the Fanning household looked very basic and even a bit grubby now that the mural on the gable end had started to fade and flake in places with the weather. Inside however, despite having a large family and being overcrowded, Sean's mother made the place her palace. She kept it as clean and as smart as many a house would have loved to be. She was house proud in every sense, in spite of the fact that Sean's father was never once heard to compliment his wife on keeping a tidy home.
"I see he's not home yet?" Sean said sarcastically to his mother. "He's never in most nights these days. I don't know where he gets the brass to drink all he does!"
"Who knows? I've stopped caring, son. He's not the man I wed, I'll tell you that! We all have our own burden to carry in this life. Anyway, it's bed for me. Leave the latch off. He's got a key."
"I see he's not home yet?" Sean said sarcastically to his mother. "He's never in most nights these days. I don't know where he gets the brass to drink all he does!"
"Who knows? I've stopped caring, son. He's not the man I wed, I'll tell you that! We all have our own burden to carry in this life. Anyway, it's bed for me. Leave the latch off. He's got a key."
As Sean went to bed that Friday night, he was worried about his mother's overall health, especially her bouts of depression, which seemed to occur more frequently these past twelve months. In spite of her daily attempts to keep herself looking an attractive thirty-eight-year-old, the birth of seven children and her struggle to stay on top of things was now starting to make her look like an old work horse who'd laboured too hard for far too long and who wasn't far off the knacker's yard if she didn't slow down.
It was around 2.00 am when Sean heard the door to the house open. His father had returned and his footsteps indicated that he went straight to his bedroom. Sean slept soundly that night and awoke at 10.00 am the next morning. It being a Saturday, he hadn't any reason not to sleep in. This was something that he later greatly regretted, as it would be many a year before Sean would get another good night's sleep.
Sean heard loud voices. His parents were arguing and the two youngest children were crying. Sean's 12-year-old sister Teresa entered his bedroom and yelled, 'Come, Sean. Ma and da are shouting and breaking plates. Come quick!
It was around 2.00 am when Sean heard the door to the house open. His father had returned and his footsteps indicated that he went straight to his bedroom. Sean slept soundly that night and awoke at 10.00 am the next morning. It being a Saturday, he hadn't any reason not to sleep in. This was something that he later greatly regretted, as it would be many a year before Sean would get another good night's sleep.
Sean heard loud voices. His parents were arguing and the two youngest children were crying. Sean's 12-year-old sister Teresa entered his bedroom and yelled, 'Come, Sean. Ma and da are shouting and breaking plates. Come quick!
Sean quickly looked to pull a shirt over his naked body, but couldn't find one and after pulling up his jeans he entered the kitchen bare chested. As he entered, he heard his father slam the front door of the house as he stormed off. Then he saw his mother crying and holding her head in her hands as she lamented the end of her 17-year-old marriage, "The faking fool! Seven bairns I've borne him and he still looks for it elsewhere at the first opportunity. The faking hypocrite! He'll not set foot inside my bed again. The faking traitor!"
While in itself, the swear word his mother had used was common enough to hear in most conversations around Portlaw, Sean had never heard his mother use any swear word in the whole of his life. Now, to hear her resort to using it, and three times within a matter of seconds, spelled out nothing less than marital calamity!
Eventually the sad tale of his father's adultery and her best friend's betrayal gradually emerged and Sean's world seemed to close in on him. As he listened, although he attempted to comfort his mother, it was himself that he was primarily focusing on. He couldn't but help consider what impact such news would have on his own relationship with Sarah.
While in itself, the swear word his mother had used was common enough to hear in most conversations around Portlaw, Sean had never heard his mother use any swear word in the whole of his life. Now, to hear her resort to using it, and three times within a matter of seconds, spelled out nothing less than marital calamity!
Eventually the sad tale of his father's adultery and her best friend's betrayal gradually emerged and Sean's world seemed to close in on him. As he listened, although he attempted to comfort his mother, it was himself that he was primarily focusing on. He couldn't but help consider what impact such news would have on his own relationship with Sarah.
Sean's mother had been the first to rise that morning, much as she was to do every morning. It had been shortly after 8.30am when she had gone to the top of the Square to buy two freshly baked loaves for the day. She used to bake her own bread when she first married, but the rapid increase in the price of flour and yeast over the years had made this impractical with a large family to feed. The shop bread didn't taste as nice or was as good as home-made bread, but neither was it as expensive to produce, and as many a large household needs to bear in mind, 'beggars can't be choosers!'
As Maureen Fanning was approaching the bread shop in the Square that morning, she met a man who would change her life for the worse! It was none other than her friend Molly's husband, Thomas Platt. He was fuming and frothing at the mouth as he saw Sean's mother and instantly made a beeline towards her. He confronted her face on and totally ignored the two passers-by who'd sensed the unfolding of a street drama and stopped to earwig. The two busy bodies overheard every word he spoke, or rather shouted out.
"I never did set any store with you and my Molly being so close, Maureen Fanning," he said angrily, "but I never expected such unwise association to lead to betrayal. I should have known better from your kind. You're all no better than Tipperary tinkers.....Not an ounce of breeding in the lot of ya... no more ranking in this world than gutter snipes!"
"Betrayal of what?" asked Sean's mother. "Why are you so angry, man?"
"And you'd be angry too, if you came back home after looking after a grieving sister for five weeks, to find another man having just left your wife's bed! I saw him.......running out of the bedroom, tucking his shirt inside his trousers and dashing out the back door and off across the fields. It was past one o'clock in the morning and I found my wife naked in a well-used bed! That look on her face that she gave me and our daughter was enough to shame the devil. That shame mocked every sad morsel of whatever marriage we'd ever had; it betrayed both our marriage and the church and left our sweet Sarah bereft to see her mother as no more than a harlot who couldn't manage to keep her legs closed for a mere month. Oh my God, the shame of it. Damn you Fannings! Damn the lot of you!"
"But............. why tell me?" Mrs Fanning had started to ask, but no sooner than she'd mouthed the question, she started to fear the very answer that would come back to bite her on the rear end. As Mr. Platt replied, she covered her face in shame by what she heard.
"Because it was your man whom we caught with my wife! It was him in my wife's bed when he should have been in yours! He needn't think he's getting away with it Scot free. He isn't. He's had her, God only knows how many times, and so he can keep her. I've thrown the hussy out on the street. So tell your man he can put her up at his. After all, you and her have always been close buddies, so you won't mind having three in a bed, will you? It wouldn't surprise me to learn that you even knew about it."
"How long....how long has it been going on?" Maureen Fanning asked as she tried to assess the scale of the calamity that had been thrown at her door.
"Too bloody long I suspect! She admitted to the past eighteen months to me, but I couldn't believe the liar any farther than I could throw her. You all deserve each other!" Thomas Platt replied.
After ventilating his anger, Thomas Platt marched off back towards the farm. He was not the type of man to resort to fighting and brawling in the streets and so he was therefore pleased that he'd done what he'd wanted to do and had shamed both his wife and her lover, Sean Fanning Senior in public. He knew that before noon, every person from Portlaw to Bally Duff would have heard of the affair, along with the fact that with regard to the sanctity of marriage, he was not a husband to be cuckold and to stand idly by. He was the aggrieved party in his marriage and he wanted the whole of Portlaw and the world to know this; believing that most respectable and God-fearing people would sanction the action he's taken against the adulteress; his unfaithful wife.
"Betrayal of what?" asked Sean's mother. "Why are you so angry, man?"
"And you'd be angry too, if you came back home after looking after a grieving sister for five weeks, to find another man having just left your wife's bed! I saw him.......running out of the bedroom, tucking his shirt inside his trousers and dashing out the back door and off across the fields. It was past one o'clock in the morning and I found my wife naked in a well-used bed! That look on her face that she gave me and our daughter was enough to shame the devil. That shame mocked every sad morsel of whatever marriage we'd ever had; it betrayed both our marriage and the church and left our sweet Sarah bereft to see her mother as no more than a harlot who couldn't manage to keep her legs closed for a mere month. Oh my God, the shame of it. Damn you Fannings! Damn the lot of you!"
"But............. why tell me?" Mrs Fanning had started to ask, but no sooner than she'd mouthed the question, she started to fear the very answer that would come back to bite her on the rear end. As Mr. Platt replied, she covered her face in shame by what she heard.
"Because it was your man whom we caught with my wife! It was him in my wife's bed when he should have been in yours! He needn't think he's getting away with it Scot free. He isn't. He's had her, God only knows how many times, and so he can keep her. I've thrown the hussy out on the street. So tell your man he can put her up at his. After all, you and her have always been close buddies, so you won't mind having three in a bed, will you? It wouldn't surprise me to learn that you even knew about it."
"How long....how long has it been going on?" Maureen Fanning asked as she tried to assess the scale of the calamity that had been thrown at her door.
"Too bloody long I suspect! She admitted to the past eighteen months to me, but I couldn't believe the liar any farther than I could throw her. You all deserve each other!" Thomas Platt replied.
After ventilating his anger, Thomas Platt marched off back towards the farm. He was not the type of man to resort to fighting and brawling in the streets and so he was therefore pleased that he'd done what he'd wanted to do and had shamed both his wife and her lover, Sean Fanning Senior in public. He knew that before noon, every person from Portlaw to Bally Duff would have heard of the affair, along with the fact that with regard to the sanctity of marriage, he was not a husband to be cuckold and to stand idly by. He was the aggrieved party in his marriage and he wanted the whole of Portlaw and the world to know this; believing that most respectable and God-fearing people would sanction the action he's taken against the adulteress; his unfaithful wife.
Maureen Fanning stormed down home to confront her husband. Although usually a placid woman, this morning she was seething with rage and carried within her a deep sense of betrayal. The use of the word 'betrayal' by Thomas Platt was one that clearly resonated with both marriage partners who'd learned that their spouses had broken their sacred marriage vows with each other. Having been so close to Molly Platt for the past sixteen years, it only seemed one stage removed from being somewhat incestuous; and to have the innocent girl, Sarah, being forced to witness her mother's scene of adultery was also unthinkable! Had she had the pleasure of having Molly Platt in front of her now, she would have scratched her eyes out and throttled her!
When Maureen Fanning arrived home, her husband was in the kitchen. He was in the process of making himself a pot of tea and was allowing it to brew for a few minutes before pouring. Maureen stormed in, picked up the freshly-brewed pot of tea and poured it directly into his lap, scalding his loins and genital area. He jumped up in excruciating pain as his furious wife yelled, "I'll give you something to take off your trousers for, you....you faking apology of a man. I swear on my mother's grave that you'll not sleep in my bed ever again. You've made your own bed; now lie in it! I won't leave you or break up this home any more than you've already wrecked it with your feeble wantonness. I'll cook, wash and iron for you, but I'll be no more wife to you, except in name only for the children's sake. Don't you ever so much as put any part of your miserable body close to mine again. I faking hate you! I'll never forgive you...and.....with my best friend! How could you? How could you have sunk so low as to do it with her, of all people? You faking traitor!"
When Maureen Fanning arrived home, her husband was in the kitchen. He was in the process of making himself a pot of tea and was allowing it to brew for a few minutes before pouring. Maureen stormed in, picked up the freshly-brewed pot of tea and poured it directly into his lap, scalding his loins and genital area. He jumped up in excruciating pain as his furious wife yelled, "I'll give you something to take off your trousers for, you....you faking apology of a man. I swear on my mother's grave that you'll not sleep in my bed ever again. You've made your own bed; now lie in it! I won't leave you or break up this home any more than you've already wrecked it with your feeble wantonness. I'll cook, wash and iron for you, but I'll be no more wife to you, except in name only for the children's sake. Don't you ever so much as put any part of your miserable body close to mine again. I faking hate you! I'll never forgive you...and.....with my best friend! How could you? How could you have sunk so low as to do it with her, of all people? You faking traitor!"
Maureen Fanning was seething with enragement and she started throwing the best dinner service at her husband. Her husband had started to get his own anger up by this time, even though he'd been the one who'd been caught with his pants down. "It wasn't like I needed to force her," he coldly remarked. "She was well up for it, and if it hadn't been me it would have been some other willing man; anyone except that spineless gobshite she's married to! All Molly ever needed was a real man to bed her, not that spineless gobshite she saddled herself with! And besides, woman.......if you'd been more of a wife and less of a saint, I'd never have wanted to go elsewhere, let alone needed to!"
With that excuse of a jibe having been spat out, he went back in his bedroom and after hurriedly changing his wet trousers, he barged out of the front door, just as Sean came into the kitchen to check upon the commotion.
With that excuse of a jibe having been spat out, he went back in his bedroom and after hurriedly changing his wet trousers, he barged out of the front door, just as Sean came into the kitchen to check upon the commotion.
Sean could hardly believe his ears as his mother revealed his father's affair with her best friend, Molly Platt, amid her intermittent tears. When he heard that it had been Sarah's mother that his father had been having an affair with, Sean was as angry as hell, but when his mother went on to reveal that both Sarah and her father had caught the couple together in the act, he was incandescent with rage. He instantly wanted to smash his father's skull into smithereens. He held his head within his hands in such a vice-like grip that he feared it would explode before repeatedly banging it on the wall. "You stupid man! You stupid faker; you've ruined everything!" he kept repeating as his head pounded the hard wall.
That day when Sean considered it safe to leave his mother for half an hour, he made a visit to see Sarah. Her father answered the door and by his look, he didn't even need to speak for Sean to realise that there had never been a time when his presence at the farm was less welcome than it was today.
"I've come to see Sarah, Mr Platt," Sean said politely. "It has absolutely nothing to do with me and Sarah. It's between you and my da."
"Clear off before I set the dogs on you. You're a Fanning; the same as him and you're not welcome here. You keep away from my Sarah. If you ever show your Fenian face on my property again, I'll have you for trespass and take a shotgun to you. Clear off, Fanning! Clear off!"
Sean was obliged to leave. For a full ten minutes, he shouted for Sarah from the other side of the gate, but she never showed.
For the next three days, Sean went to the place in the woods that Sarah had said she would meet up with him when she returned from Donegal. For a number of hours each day, he waited at the end of the lane that led to the farm, just in case she appeared. When after three full days he'd neither seen hide nor hair of Sarah, Sean knew that this was no ordinary family argument between the two households that would ever be likely to blow over or be forgotten with the passage of time. His father's relationship with Sarah's mother was starting to look like it could herald the end of his own relationship with Sarah herself.
"I've come to see Sarah, Mr Platt," Sean said politely. "It has absolutely nothing to do with me and Sarah. It's between you and my da."
"Clear off before I set the dogs on you. You're a Fanning; the same as him and you're not welcome here. You keep away from my Sarah. If you ever show your Fenian face on my property again, I'll have you for trespass and take a shotgun to you. Clear off, Fanning! Clear off!"
Sean was obliged to leave. For a full ten minutes, he shouted for Sarah from the other side of the gate, but she never showed.
For the next three days, Sean went to the place in the woods that Sarah had said she would meet up with him when she returned from Donegal. For a number of hours each day, he waited at the end of the lane that led to the farm, just in case she appeared. When after three full days he'd neither seen hide nor hair of Sarah, Sean knew that this was no ordinary family argument between the two households that would ever be likely to blow over or be forgotten with the passage of time. His father's relationship with Sarah's mother was starting to look like it could herald the end of his own relationship with Sarah herself.
His mother was still deeply distressed and it seemed that she'd never be able to pull out of it and become her sweet self again. One evening Sean came across a photograph of his mother in one of her happier moods that had been taken only four years earlier. His mother had now aged considerably and she'd not yet reached her 39th landmark. She nearly always used to have a smile on her face, but now she could be found crying non-stop from morning 'til night. In many ways, Sean was pleased his father had made himself scarce, otherwise there would have been an almighty row that would probably have led to blows and who knows what else?
Gossip was rampant in the village about the recent ill will that had emerged between the two families and much speculation grew as to where it might lead. Any slight hope that things would work themselves out for him and Sarah were quickly knocked on the head after a new crisis overtook events; a mere three days after the previous one.
The morning after he'd caught his wife and Sean's father at the farm, Mr. Platt turned his wife Molly out without a penny in her purse. He was so angry that although he didn't hit her, he did refuse to allow her back inside the farm house to even pack a few necessary items in a small suitcase. While this was happening, Sarah and her brothers had been told to remain in their bedrooms. He also told her that he would make arrangements through his solicitor with regard to her future contact with the children, but as far as their custody was concerned, they were staying with him!
Two days later, Molly Platt turned up dead! Her corpse was found when her body was washed up on the beach in Tramore. The irony was that it was only less than twenty meters away from where Sean and Sarah often visited during their past year of courtship. Given the circumstances of Molly's death, a Coroner's Inquest needed to be convened before her body could be buried.
The morning after he'd caught his wife and Sean's father at the farm, Mr. Platt turned his wife Molly out without a penny in her purse. He was so angry that although he didn't hit her, he did refuse to allow her back inside the farm house to even pack a few necessary items in a small suitcase. While this was happening, Sarah and her brothers had been told to remain in their bedrooms. He also told her that he would make arrangements through his solicitor with regard to her future contact with the children, but as far as their custody was concerned, they were staying with him!
Two days later, Molly Platt turned up dead! Her corpse was found when her body was washed up on the beach in Tramore. The irony was that it was only less than twenty meters away from where Sean and Sarah often visited during their past year of courtship. Given the circumstances of Molly's death, a Coroner's Inquest needed to be convened before her body could be buried.
During this three week period as the whole village of Portlaw waited in anticipation of the Inquest, Sean's mother had warned him about trespassing on the Platt Farm against Mr. Platt's expressed wishes for him to stay clear. Sean's father had wisely made himself scarce and had decided to spend a month at his brother's home in Kilkenny, some forty miles away.
On most nights in bed, Sean cried for the love he now hadn't seen nor heard from for almost two whole months. One night while looking at some photographs he'd taken of Sarah, he came across one that he'd taken of her, not more than twenty meters of where her mother's body had washed up. In it, Sarah looked so happy and carefree; as though she hadn't a worry in the world. Sean's angry hands crumpled up the snap shot and then proceeded to tear it into small pieces. It was irony incarnate!
On most nights in bed, Sean cried for the love he now hadn't seen nor heard from for almost two whole months. One night while looking at some photographs he'd taken of Sarah, he came across one that he'd taken of her, not more than twenty meters of where her mother's body had washed up. In it, Sarah looked so happy and carefree; as though she hadn't a worry in the world. Sean's angry hands crumpled up the snap shot and then proceeded to tear it into small pieces. It was irony incarnate!
The tragic death of Molly Platt and the affair that she'd had with Sean's father was all that Portlaw folk could speak of over the next three weeks, during which time Molly's burial needed to be delayed until after the Coroner's Inquest had been held. The Coroner's findings resulted in an 'open verdict' being returned.
It was also revealed at the Inquest that Molly Platt had been three months pregnant at the time of her death.
While there had been some mention of her having been very unhappy and depressed at the time of her death, nothing specific about Molly and Sean Fanning Senior's affair was referred to during the Inquest; even though almost everyone in Portlaw certainly knew of this by now. It was as though the village, being composed of a population who were 95% Catholic, had entered into a religious conspiracy of silence. They knew that if a suicide verdict had been returned by the Coroner, the poor, heartbroken husband she'd cheated on wouldn't be allowed to bury Molly Platt on hallowed ground in the graveyard of 'St Michael's Roman Catholic Church'. So with their heart and sympathy clearly resting with the betrayed husband and his five innocent children, everyone connived and went along with the charade until Molly was safely six foot under and put to final rest.
It was also revealed at the Inquest that Molly Platt had been three months pregnant at the time of her death.
While there had been some mention of her having been very unhappy and depressed at the time of her death, nothing specific about Molly and Sean Fanning Senior's affair was referred to during the Inquest; even though almost everyone in Portlaw certainly knew of this by now. It was as though the village, being composed of a population who were 95% Catholic, had entered into a religious conspiracy of silence. They knew that if a suicide verdict had been returned by the Coroner, the poor, heartbroken husband she'd cheated on wouldn't be allowed to bury Molly Platt on hallowed ground in the graveyard of 'St Michael's Roman Catholic Church'. So with their heart and sympathy clearly resting with the betrayed husband and his five innocent children, everyone connived and went along with the charade until Molly was safely six foot under and put to final rest.
The day of the funeral arrived and Sean's mother decided to stay in bed that morning. One of her cousins from Waterford had spent the past week at the Fanning household to help out as there was simply no way that Maureen Fanning was up to fending for her children; a task she'd done every single day since they'd been born. Since her husband's adultery had come to her attention, she slept with Sam, the family mongrel. She knew that her husband would never share a bed with a dog under any circumstances and therefore this practice acted as an extra safety net to ensure he kept away from her!
The parish priest had made a special visit to the Fanning household a few days earlier on the pretence of comforting Sean's mother. Being parish priest means that one is usually aware of 'all' the sins of the parish, and those they don't hear in the confessional box, they'll usually hear through gossip or feedback from the 'parish snoop.'
The main purpose of Father O'Tool was to prevent Sean from attending the funeral service of Molly Platt, had he been disposed to go. The parish priest simply wanted to get this funeral service and burial out of the way as quickly as possible without any unnecessary upset for the grieving family. He wanted nobody's presence causing a breach of the peace. The deceased's husband had specifically asked for a 'quiet do' under the circumstances. Father O'Tool had heard the gossip about the 'affair' on the grape vine and had arrived at his own provisional conclusion as to how Molly Platt had died. He reckoned that the sooner she was buried in hallowed ground, the better it would be for the church and all its parishioners.
The parish priest had made a special visit to the Fanning household a few days earlier on the pretence of comforting Sean's mother. Being parish priest means that one is usually aware of 'all' the sins of the parish, and those they don't hear in the confessional box, they'll usually hear through gossip or feedback from the 'parish snoop.'
The main purpose of Father O'Tool was to prevent Sean from attending the funeral service of Molly Platt, had he been disposed to go. The parish priest simply wanted to get this funeral service and burial out of the way as quickly as possible without any unnecessary upset for the grieving family. He wanted nobody's presence causing a breach of the peace. The deceased's husband had specifically asked for a 'quiet do' under the circumstances. Father O'Tool had heard the gossip about the 'affair' on the grape vine and had arrived at his own provisional conclusion as to how Molly Platt had died. He reckoned that the sooner she was buried in hallowed ground, the better it would be for the church and all its parishioners.
The church service was attended by nearly all the parishioners in Portlaw. The priest kept the church service as short as possible and didn't perform the more usual full Requiem Mass. Towards the end of the service, the priest announced from the pulpit that Mr. Platt and his children wanted to restrict the graveside burial to family members only and asked that the rest of the congregation return to their homes and offer up prayers for the Platt family. He reminded them that their individual prayers for the deceased and her family would mark their Catholic duty as having been properly carried out.
Sean complied with the request of the parish priest and didn't attended the church service. However, as the rest of the parishioners gawped over the boundary wall to see the small family of mourners huddled around Molly Platt's open graveside, Sean looked on with them. He could make out which was Sarah because she was the only one wearing a veil across her face. She held the hands of two of her younger brothers as the priest performed the graveside ceremony and then the two graveyatd diggers lowered the coffin to its rest.
Thomas Platt looked upon his wife's coffin for the final time. Despite her having cheated on him, inwardly his feelings were ones of confusion. He still held both love and hate for the mother of his children. As he gazed down into the space that the coffin had been lowered into, for a second he imagined his wife's image flash before his eyes. It was as though he could see her lain reposed, looking precisely as she'd looked after she's been washed up on the beach, with her mouth having been left open to reflect how she had looked at the point of breathing her last.
After the graveside ceremony had been completed and the handfuls of earth flung upon the lowered coffin, the Platt family walked a few yards to the funeral car that was stationed nearby and set off towards the church-grounds exit at a speed that was as fast as safety would allow. As the car passed the crowd, Sean looked out for Sarah, but the darkened windows concealed proper view of its passengers and only provided the fleeting glimpse of a veiled figure that whizzed past.
Thomas Platt looked upon his wife's coffin for the final time. Despite her having cheated on him, inwardly his feelings were ones of confusion. He still held both love and hate for the mother of his children. As he gazed down into the space that the coffin had been lowered into, for a second he imagined his wife's image flash before his eyes. It was as though he could see her lain reposed, looking precisely as she'd looked after she's been washed up on the beach, with her mouth having been left open to reflect how she had looked at the point of breathing her last.
After the graveside ceremony had been completed and the handfuls of earth flung upon the lowered coffin, the Platt family walked a few yards to the funeral car that was stationed nearby and set off towards the church-grounds exit at a speed that was as fast as safety would allow. As the car passed the crowd, Sean looked out for Sarah, but the darkened windows concealed proper view of its passengers and only provided the fleeting glimpse of a veiled figure that whizzed past.
As the hearse sped from the church grounds, the superstitious folk of Portlaw were, according to Maggie Spenser, given an omen of the devil's presence when she caught sight of the longest worm she had ever seen crawling along the church path towards Molly Platt's burial spot.
The worm was over a meter in length and unlike all other worms that Maggie had ever encountered, she said that she thought she'd heard it 'hissing.'
For many folk, they seemed inclined to go along with Maggie's assertions that the woman who'd drowned herself after having committed a mortal sin, and without having received the 'Last Sacraments,' was undoubtedly on her way to Hell and old Lucifer himself, in the form of a gigantic worm, would gorge her body flesh and take her there!
The worm was over a meter in length and unlike all other worms that Maggie had ever encountered, she said that she thought she'd heard it 'hissing.'
For many folk, they seemed inclined to go along with Maggie's assertions that the woman who'd drowned herself after having committed a mortal sin, and without having received the 'Last Sacraments,' was undoubtedly on her way to Hell and old Lucifer himself, in the form of a gigantic worm, would gorge her body flesh and take her there!
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