Peter Clifford walks across the grass, downhill towards the group of friends as they stand, staring back at him. Assumpta is frozen, still bent over Fionn, her back towards Peter as he approaches. Maggie bends slightly towards her, handing her Fionn's leash, and says, "Take Fionn down to the river, get inside the treeline, and wait for me. I will NOT let him find you or know it is you!"

Assumpta straightens, and she and Fionn walk slowly towards the river. Maggie moves towards Peter Clifford as he comes towards the group.

Brendan looks at Maggie, one eyebrow slightly lifted. "Follow my lead, Brendan?" Maggie says softly to him, and he answers, "For her, anything!" The entire group, kids, blankets and baskets in arms, walk to meet the priest as he nears them.

"Well, Father, if we'd guessed you'd be in Dublin today, we'd have invited you!  Since Sean and Niamh are going back to London tonight, Siobhan and I decided we'd have a farewell picnic here in Dublin, and I brought Fionn to say goodbye to Kevin and Padraig as well. Fionn's former mom joined us, too, since she lives in the city and takes every chance to see him." Maggie formulates a plan as she speaks, continuing forward and taking Peter's arm as she walks, turning him away from the river.

"Was that Fionn's previous owner who took him away?" Peter asks her, craning his neck to look backwards.

"Yes, it was," Maggie states, offering no more information.

"But why isn't she coming with you, is she keeping Fionn?" Peter's voice sounds uneasy, he seems puzzled, he can sense the mood of everyone, and knows that something is wrong, and that everyone but himself knows what it is.

"She's not, but she wanted a little time alone with him before I head back to BallyK. We never know if this may be the last time she sees him, after all," Maggie answers Peter, just as the group reaches the parking lot.

"Say, Brendan, why don't you and Siobhan go with Sean and Niamh and Kieran back to their hotel, and take Peter along?  That way you can all chat for a while before they head to the airport?" Maggie has not yet let go of Peter Clifford's arm, and he begins to fidget slightly, not even realizing he is doing so.

"Yes, what a good idea!" Brendan answers, taking Peter's other arm. "Here, Peter, do you know your way 'round Dublin?" Brendan walks Peter towards his car, Siobhan and Aisling, now walking hand in hand, behind. Niamh, Sean, and Kieran head towards their rental car, and Padraig in turn heads towards Brendan.

"Here, Father, why don't I ride with you, get ya back to the hotel where Niamh and Sean and I are all stayin'?" Padraig offers. "We can all have a quiet chat in the bar while the kids take a nap upstairs." Padraig smiles at Peter Clifford, and Peter smiles back, he is comfortable and happy amongst many old friends.

"Sure, sounds great!" he answers, then turns back a bit. "But what about Maggie, will she be joining us?" He sees that Maggie has already turned away and is walking back towards the river, where Fionn and the "mystery woman" disappeared.

"Naw, she'll be headin' back to the pub, she's got a business to run," Padraig answers him, "though I don't see as she'll have much business without Brendan and Siobhan there!" Padraig jokes with his friends, who chuckle, though Brendan does shoot his old friend a disgruntled look, for which he gets a poke in the ribs from Siobhan.

"Just a minute, then, I wanted to talk to Maggie for a second," Peter Clifford steps backwards, and turns towards the river.

"We'll wait for you, Peter," Brendan answers him, "but don't be suprised if you don't even find Maggie, she's a great one for not bein' seen when she doesn't want to be found."

"Not want to be found?" Peter turns back, ever more puzzled by the undercurrent of mystery. "Yeah, Father, it's just that Maggie's friend, who has Fionn, has some bad memories associated with the Church in her youth, pretty painful, I understand, and so she avoids the clergy, and Maggie, well, she's like a mother to the girl, she doesn't want to see her hurt again, so, ya know..." Siobhan shrugs her shoulders, and Peter, having turned back, asks, "What kind of bad memories?"

"She's never said, Father, and I don't ask Maggie to divulge the confidence," Siobhan answers him.

"Gee, does every other young person in Ireland have bad memories of the Church?" he asks, walking back towards the parking lot.

Some slight tension, formerly building, starts to drain back out of the group, but then Kieran, tired already and missing his familiar surroundings, begins to fuss, and Aisling, also tired, starts to tug on her mother's hand.

Niamh says, "Peter, I'm sorry, but we really need to get the children down for a nap, Kieran has a long night ahead of him, and Aisling's younger, and needs a rest, too. Can we please go?"

"Of course, Niamh, lead on!" Peter answers. He moves towards his car, and looks one last time at the treeline, no sign of Maggie, Fionn, or the slender, auburn-haired woman is to be seen. He is nagged by a sense of secrecy amongst his friends, but cannot think of a way to breach the wall he feels around it. Knowing he can ask Brendan and Siobhan later, he gets into his car, Padraig in the passenger seat next to him, but then glances at Niamh's face as she gets in next to Sean, and sees a look he only previously associated with Brian, her father. There is a firm, tough look of resolve on her face, a very firm look indeed. He wonders how much everyone has changed, since he left, even though things seem the same, still, it's like at the same time everything has changed!

The scene shifts to the treeline, just inside it two women stand, peering up the hill towards the parking area. They see three cars
head away, and Assumpta slumps against a tree trunk. She is clearly shaken, but pulls herself together, and clenches her jaw.

"I will NOT let him or any other person rule or ruin my life, not again!  I will be pro-active, not just reactive!" She looks Maggie in the eye. "What can we do to keep him away from me?"

"Well," Maggie answers, "for starters, we can do exactly nothing. He is very unlikely to be in Dublin much, except at the Bishop's residence or the cathedral, and I sorta think he won't see you there, now will he?"

Assumpta snorts, then almost guffaws, "Not bloody likely!" she exclaims. Maggie laughs, and Assumpta chuckles, too, her shoulders relaxing. The women link arms, and head towards the blue van, Fionn walking sedately beside them.

As they walk, Maggie turns to Assumpta and asks, "How would you like to become a blonde for a while?"

"BLONDE!  Get real, Maggie!" Assumpta answers her. They get into the van, Assumpta driving this time, as Maggie helps Fionn into the back.

"Seriously!" Maggie says, getting into the passenger seat. "Odds are that even if he looked you full in the face from the other side of the street, if your hair was blonde, he'd never know it was you. Besides, blondes have more fun, you know!" Maggie winks, and Assumpta turns away from her, looking into traffic, and shaking her head, with a smile on her face.

They say nothing more on the drive back to the wine bar. Assumpta parks the van around back, and Maggie makes sure Fionn is comfortable before going inside with Assumpta. Maggie makes a quick trip to the restroom facilities, and comes back into the kitchen area.

"If you decide to go blonde, let me know, I'll send you something that will keep the color good longer. Or we can try a few other camoflague tricks, too, mess with your looks in several different ways. Or you could just eat like a horse and gain a ton, and that'll change your looks!" Maggie points at the refrigerator door.

"Oh, *thanks*, what a friend you are!" Assumpta crosses her arms as she leans against the counter.

"Hey, if friends can't offer chocolate, what *can* they offer, now, huh?" Maggie replies.

"Well, we could start with tea," Assumpta says, turning towards the stove.

"Careful, or I'll be letting Fionn and me BOTH out somewhere on the roadside on the trip back!  I have a funny reaction to tea, you know!"  Maggie laughs, and sits at the table. "Still, something warm to drink would be nice, I'm always cold."

Assumpta makes a pot of tea, and sits down with her friend to share a cup before parting. The conversation is essentially chit-chat, Maggie brings Assumpta up to date on the ongoing saga of life in BallyK, Assumpta talks about how Kieran and Aisling are growing so quickly, and so on in the same vein. Half an hour passes, and the women part. Maggie lets Fionn out, gives him a drink, then helps him back into the van, and drives off, waving goodbye out the window.

Before long, she is out of Dublin and on the lonely, hilly road wending homewards. It is later than she'd planned, but she knows Orla can handle the predictably slow traffic in the pub, and she takes her time, enjoying again the scenic beauty of the landscape in the setting sun. She does not notice that another car is following some distance behind her, after all, the road is not usually truly deserted.

As she nears the halfway point in the journey, the tea has the predicted effect, and Maggie begins to look for a really deserted
lay-by, and reaches back to pet Fionn as she pulls over. She picks up his leash as she gets out of the car, scanning the highway and landscape in both directions for people or cars. Sighing, she notices the approaching car, and goes to help Fionn out so he, at least, can answer the call of Nature, knowing no embarassment at having the proceedings observed by strangers. She hopes the car will pass, and is horrified to see, as it approaches, that it is the same car that Peter Clifford drove into the park with earlier in the day. Even worse, the driver pulls over behind her in the lay-by!  Peter Clifford gets out of the car.

"You okay?" he asks her, as he approaches.

"Yes, yes, just fine, just letting Fionn here have a little stretch and move about halfway home." Maggie answers him.

"I wanted to talk to you a bit, back at the park, but Niamh and Sean had to go, so I'm really glad I caught up with you!" Peter tells her, walking alongside the van as she helps Fionn back into the back.

"Well, Father, you see, I really can't take the time right now, I need to get home, you see." He can tell Maggie is uncomfortable in his presence, little guessing the reason!

"Do you mind if I follow you back to the pub?" he asks her, and is shocked when she says, "Frankly, yes, I do mind! Why don't you go on ahead, I'll be right behind you in a moment or two." Maggie is looking stern again, her lips are stretched in a tight line across her face, and Peter wonders what he might have done to annoy her, or if this is but a continuation of the annoyance of a couple of evenings ago. "All right, I'm going..." he offers, and gets into his car, driving off. He is determined to talk to her, though, after his discussion earlier in the day with the Bishop. He glances in the rear view mirror, and sees Maggie heading downhill into some shrubbery. Light dawns, and he speeds away, an understanding smile on his face.

Evening is falling over Ballykissangel, as two vehicles drive into town, and pull up in front of the familiar yellow facade. Maggie
helps Fionn down and out of the van, as Peter Clifford gets out of his car.

"I see you did wind up with Fr. Mac's car, after all." Maggie turns to him as he opens the door to the pub.

"I did, yeah, the bishop said I might as well, since it belongs to the parish anyway." Peter answers.

"Back so soon!" Orla O'Connell asks the priest as her friend and he enter the bar. "It can't be Maggie's cookin' yer here after, so it's got to be the beer!"

"Hey, I resemble that remark!" Maggie answers Orla with a grin on her face. "Really, he doesn't know it, but I put a spell on him that will leave him totally under my control any time now, soon he will follow me everywhere!" Maggie says in a stage whisper, leaning across the bar opposite Orla, who leans forward in turn. They both look at Peter Clifford, two steps away, who suddenly looks *completely* mystified. The women break into laughter, and Maggie leads Fionn towards the kitchen.

"Seriously, Father, can I get you a drink?" Orla asks.

"No, no, I'm fine..." Peter tells her, staring at Maggie's retreating back. "She didn't mean that, I mean, did she?  I had to go to Dublin today, the Bishop called.........." his voice trails off.

"Ah, Father, now I can't tell you it was a joke, her Ladyship'd turn me into a nanny-goat for revealin' her secrets!" Orla stage-whispers to him, just in time to be the recipient of a bar towel thrown at her, Maggie coming into the bar area from the kitchen with an "I heard that!" on her lips.

Both women then nearly dissolve into laughter as Peter Clifford glances back and forth from one to the other, not knowing quite what to think.

"Oh, Father, I'm sorry!" Maggie finally says, wiping her eyes.

"We were just having you on, Father!" Orla tells him, "only I didn't think we were that good, we really wound you up!"

"He half believed us, I swear, Orla!  We missed out calling as secret agents for the government!" Maggie turns to her young friend again.

"Speak for yourself!" Orla answers, then glances at her watch.

"Yeah, go on home" Maggie tells her, "this place will be a tomb for another day at least, and you have all those secret transmissions to decode!"

"Oh, you!" Orla laughs as she puts on her jacket, waving goodbye as she leaves the pub by the front door.

"Can I get you some supper, Father?" Maggie asks Peter Clifford, the obvious only customer. "I know the kitchen table seats two, and the 'fridge is full."

"Yes, please, I'm starvin', the Bishop dragged me up to Dublin on short notice, then didn't feed me lunch after I'd missed breakfast!"

"Well, that doesn't suprise me!" Maggie answers, "come on through." She heads back into the kitchen, and Peter follows. Fionn raises his head, and thumps his tail but does not rise. Peter walks over and sits down beside the dog, petting him gently.

"He had a big day in the park with the kids, he'll sleep well tonight, won't you, old man?" Maggie speaks to them both as she goes about fixing sandwiches and soup. "I hope this is okay?" she asks Peter.

"Of course, of course!" he answers.

She puts the pan of soup on the stove, and puts some dog food in a bowl for Fionn, then moves to the refrigerator again, taking out some soft white cheese. She cuts off small lumps, and, reaching into a cabinet, pulls down a pharmacy of pill bottles, one by one, and stuffs a different pill into each chunk of cheese.

"He used to just eat his pills in with his food, then he started picking them out, so I had to put them down him, and now he fights that so badly that I have to trick him with cheese. When that stops working, it'll all be over. I don't blame him, though, he's had to take all this stuff for two years now, and while he fights the good fight most of the time, I can tell he's tired, very tired. I'll let him go when he's had enough, I just hope he gives me enough warning that Siobhan and I can get him up to Dublin so his mom can be with him, too, when he passes." Maggie begins giving Fionn the cheese, which he eagerly gobbles. By the time he's done, the soup is warm, and Maggie ladles some of the broth onto Fionn's food, and sets it down in front of him, then brings the pan to the table. "This will need salt, Father, it's plain vegetable soup, and it's good for him and us as well, but it's bland for human tastes!"

Peter Clifford sits at the table, and puts a sandwich on his plate, then tastes the soup, which, though rich with flavor, is indeed bland. He salts the soup, and starts eating. Maggie joins him, and they eat in silence. When they are done, Maggie goes back to the stove, and puts a kettle on for tea. She turns to the table. "No saying grace? You must have been hungry!"

"Said it quietly while Fionn took his pills!" Peter answers her. "That was wonderful, thank you! I just hope I don't fall asleep
driving home, now I'm all warm and full!"

"I'll make double-strength tea!" Maggie answers him. "After all, it isn't that far home, is it?"

"No, it's not, just three miles, and I can go straight to bed. I have to get up for Mass tomorrow, early, but hopefully I'll be able to get into parish business then. I'd planned to do so today, then the bishop called. Which brings me to what I wanted to talk to you about, earlier today." Peter looks away from Maggie, then back to her. "The Bishop wanted me to be *sure* I knew I was NOT to make friends with you, or associate with you at all. I asked him why, and he told me that you were a heretic and anathema to the Church!"

"Oh, fooey, the old windbag!  I wondered why he didn't come here for MacAnally's wake. Sheesh, you'd think I flew around on a broom and wore a pointy black hat and cape! I suppose, though, that even though this is a free country, it's not quite as free as it ought to be." Maggie sighs, and sets the teapot on the table, as well as mugs. She tastes her tea, and pulls a face, then gets up for cream from the 'fridge, and adds that on top of the sugar she'd stirred in at first. Peter also sips his tea, and decides it is probably triple-strength, not double! He also adds cream.

"Won't you get in really hot water for having supper with me, then?" Maggie asks. "I mean, he can't do a thing to me, and you'd think he'd be more grateful since I gave the curate's house back to the parish free and clear so Father Sheahan didn't have to sleep in the Gard house or a ditch, but he can make your life hard, I know!"

"Well, if he tries, I can tell him what he can do with his ancient superstitions, too," Peter tells her. "But I would like to know, in
all honesty, just what your beliefs are, so I can tell him he's been, shall we say, mis-informed." Peter leans back in the chair, and waits.

"Well, this wasn't how I was planning on doing it, but I will give you the fast doctrine, since you need to know. I'm probably what should be called 'neo-pagan', although it's not like the tradition was totally broken, so we had to all start over from scratch. I worship one main deity, a goddess, as well as owing loyalty and worship to several subsidiary deities. The Goddess has had many names through many years, I just think of her as the Mother or the Earth Mother. I have a special affinity, as well, with the Irish goddess Brigid, in her role as keeper of the hearthfire and patron of craftspeople, especially jewellers. I also have affinity with a god the Celtic people called Cernunnos, or the Horned Lord, master of the Wild Hunt. He's the Lord of the Forest, and thus the god of the animals, and since I've always had animals as integral members of my family, he is special to me, because he protects them. I don't belong to any organized group or coven of Wiccans, although I know that such groups do exist here in Ireland.

"I do practice my own simple rituals four times in the year, at the solstices and the equinoxes, but I do them privately, and they involve only a small quantity of wine, no drugs, and most absolutely no blood of any living thing! I do not dance skyclad across the town on Midsummer morning, nor do I steal children to cut their hearts out to offer to your Satan. I do not seduce men to participate in wild orgies, nor do I steal the souls of the unwary from the customers of this bar.

"My philosphy does not have books full of rules, there is only one rule, the Great Rede;  it covers all of my behaviour, and I follow it to the very best of my ability. It states, very clearly, 'So long as thou do no harm, do as thou wilt.' Now I know that many who are used to ten commandments as well as reams of sermons and epistles will think that is a license to sin mightily, it is not. The phrase 'do no harm' is all inclusive, all life and all living beings are to be considered as affected by my actions. Basically, I guess in modern parlance the phrase would be 'Look before you leap', but more than that, it enjoins us to fully think through any action we are about to take *before* we take it, and to our very best ability be sure that we will harm no one, nothing and nobody at all, from the tiniest bug to another human to a great huge tree. If we take the life of a plant or animal to eat it, we do so in humble reverence, recognizing that all that lives feeds on death in some way, and that death is not an ending, just another part of the great circle of existance. The Rule does not, as so many modern religions do, demand willfull suspension of logic and reason, requiring submission to what an appointed authority wishes us to think, but instead forces us to think for ourselves, considering all consequences for every action, and demanding that we be personally responsible for all our decisions. It isn't easy, but it's the very best Way I have ever heard of for living in harmony with all life under our Mother's loving care.

"There you have it, Father Clifford, in a nutshell. If your Bishop finds evil in that, it is because it is evil he finds in himself, mirrored in the clear glass of self-reflexion. I do harm to none, I lead none away from faith in your God, I give food to the hungry, shelter to the weary, and drink to the thirsty, I protect the weak, and I urge others only to think clearly before they act, and to never willfully be hurtful to any. I am not perfect, I don't think it is possible to be perfect, but I try, and I try willfully, I don't just ramble my way through life, taking what I will, with my eyes closed, nor do I take delight in causing pain to those around me. I think that if others did the same, the world would be a better place." Maggie sits back in her chair, and crosses her arms. She looks at Peter Clifford, who is staring down at the tabletop, silent.

After a long silent moment, Peter Clifford looks squarely at Maggie McAllister. "Thank you. I think I could ask you questions for years about what you think of as gods and goddesses, and how they fit into your scheme of life in the world, but what you call your Rule, the 'do no harm', if that is what governs your actions, then I can't see how you could possibly be what the Church calls evil!  Were you raised Roman Catholic?"

"Yes, I was," Maggie answers him simply.

"Well, that accounts for the 'heretic' part, but there's alot worse than your form of heresy in the world today, there's sins so heinous that they don't bear description, performed by authorities in both the secular and clerical world. All of these sins the Church asks us to believe are forgiveable if the sinner truly repents of them, and yet the Bishop asks me to consider you irretrievably fallen. I prefer to have a little more charity and compassion, considering the call to ecumenism the Holy Father asks of us, especially." Peter looks across the table, Maggie's face has a calm smile on it.

"Well, he defines ecumenism pretty narrowly, since he's only talking about other Christians, and, at a stretch, the Jewish and Islamic faiths, which clearly worship the same deity, with virtually unbroken written documentation to prove the close ties and relationships of the three religions, but perhaps some day some later Pope will broaden that definition, though I can't imagine it!  I'll certainly hang around a while, though, hoping to see some of the more narrow-minded spirits virtually spinning in their proverbial graves!  I wonder where Martin Luther will stand if he's ever asked?" Maggie chuckles, and stands. "Well, now, Father Clifford, you had best be on your way, before you scandalize the town gossips into fits of apoplexy, inducing all manner of retribution from your Bishop!  And who knows, I might even get a customer or two if Siobhan and Brendan get back from Dublin soon!"

"Hey, there's something else I can tell the Bishop, any friend of Brendan and Siobhan is a friend of mine!" Peter Clifford also stands, and steps around the table. He reaches out a hand, which, after a moment's pause, Maggie takes. He shakes her hand. "Thank you, Maggie, you've given me a clear picture of your faith as well as alot to think about. I will certainly be back to talk some more, though, I still have alot of questions!"

"You'll be welcome, Father, and bring your Bishop if he'll come!" Maggie winks.

"Fat chance!" Peter answers, and turns towards the front door, just as it opens to admit, as predicted, Brendan and Siobhan.

"Peter, I see you caught up with Maggie, I trust you got your questions answered?" Brendan asks Peter, glancing at Maggie.

"I did, and got supper besides, so now I'm off home, good night, and thanks for the time in Dublin, it was wonderful to see you all again!" Peter closes the front door behind him, and sees a sleeping Aisling in Brendan's car, then gets in his own and drives away.

"All's well?" Siobhan looks at Maggie, who is sagging against the bar.

"Well, I got a grilling all right, but not along the track I feared, just about religion!  I hope that if Assumpta ever does decide to see him again, she lets me get off the whole bloody Irish island before she does it!  I don't know how in Hades I'll justify my actions in getting Assumpta out of town years ago in light of the 'do no harm' stricture!" Maggie puts her head in her hands.

"Well, he'll have to accept that it was a smaller harm in the cause of a greater good, that's all." Brendan pats Maggie on the shoulder. "We have to go, Maggie, Aisling's asleep in the car, and we left it running, so Frankie will be around any minute." Brendan turns towards the door, and Siobhan leans across the bar to give Maggie a quick hug.

"Don't worry, it'll all come right in the end," she says, and joins Brendan as he leaves. Their car leaves a few seconds later. Maggie goes into the kitchen to tidy the supper dishes, waiting for the bell on the front door to announce a customer, although she knows it unlikely. She soon finishes, and the scene fades as she opens the door of the pub, looks up and down the street, then shuts the door, bolting it, and turning out the light.