Mercy Thompson 01-05 - THE MERCY THOMPSON COLLECTION

trying to walk through the narrow aisle in the opposite direction. “Sorry it took me so long, Mercy, but I took a minute to stop and talk.” He set a little red plastic marker with a black 34 on top of the table next to Tim’s pizza. “Mr. Milanovich,” he said as he sat down next to me. “Good to see you.”
    Of course Samuel would remember his name; he was like that. Tim was flattered to be recognized; it was written all over his earnest face.
    â€œAnd this is Austin Summers,” I yelled pleasantly, louder than I needed to, since Samuel’s hearing was at least as good as mine. “Austin, meet the folksinging physician, Dr. Samuel Cornick.” Ever since I heard them introduce him as “the folksinging physician,” I’d known he hated it—and I’d known I had to use it.
    Samuel gave me an irritated look before turning a blandly smiling expression to the men we shared the table with.
    I kept a genial expression on my face to conceal my triumph at irritating him while Samuel and Tim fell into a discussion of common themes in English and Welsh folk songs; Samuel charming and Tim pedantic. Tim spoke less and less as they continued.
    I noticed that Austin watched his friend and Samuel with the same pleasantly interested expression that I’d adopted, and I wondered what he was thinking about that he felt he had to conceal.
    A tall man stood up on a chair and gave a whistle that would have cut through a bigger crowd than this one. When everyone was silent, he welcomed us, said a few words of thanks to various people responsible for the Tumbleweed.
    â€œNow,” he said, “I know that you all know the Scallywags…” He bent down and picked up a bodhran. He sprayed the drumhead with a small water bottle and then spread the water around with a hand as he spoke with a studied casualness that drew attention. “Now the Scallywags have been singing here since the very first Tumbleweed—and I happen to know something about them that you all don’t.”
    â€œWhat’s that?” someone shouted from the crowd.
    â€œThat their fair singer, Sandra Hennessy, has a birthday today. And it’s not just any birthday.”
    â€œI’ll get you for this,” a woman’s voice rang out. “You just see if I don’t, John Martin.”
    â€œSandra is turning forty today. I think she needs a birthday dirge, whatd’ you all think?”
    The crowd erupted into applause that quickly settled into anticipatory silence.
    â€œHap-py birthday.” He sang the minor notes of the opening of the “Volga Boatmen” in a gloriously deep bass that needed no mike to carry over the crowd, then hit the bodhran once with a small double-headed mallet. THUMP.
    â€œIt’s your birthday.” THUMP.
    â€œGloom and doom and dark despair,
    â€œPeople dying everywhere.
    â€œHappy birthday.” THUMP. “It’s your birthday.”
    Then the rest of the room, including Samuel, started to sing the mournful tune with great cheer.
    There were well over a hundred people in the room, and most of them were professional musicians. The whole restaurant vibrated like a tuning fork as they managed to turn the silly song into a choral piece.
    Once the music started, it didn’t stop. Instruments came out to join the bodhran: guitars, banjos, a violin, and a pair of Irish penny whistles. As soon as one song finished, someone stood up and started another, with the crowd falling in on the chorus.
    Austin had a fine tenor. Tim couldn’t sing on pitch if his life depended upon it, but there were enough people singing that it didn’t matter. I sang until our pizza arrived, then I ate while everyone else sang.
    Finally, I got up to refill my soda, and by the time I returned, Samuel had borrowed a guitar and was at the far end of the room leading a rousing chorus of a ribald drinking song.
    The only one left at our table was Tim.
    â€œWe’ve been deserted,” he said. “Your Dr. Cornick was summoned to play, and Austin’s gone out to the car to get his guitar.”
    I nodded. “Once you get him singing”—I waved vaguely to indicate Samuel—“you’re in for it for a while.”
    â€œAre the two of you dating?” he asked, rolling the Parmesan jar between his hands before setting it down.
    I turned to look at Samuel, who was singing a verse alone. His fingers flew on the