by Alan Nolan
Chapter Seventeen
Family Tree
The next weekend, Clarissa and Conor had a big barbecue party at their house on Clobberstown Crescent. It seemed like everyone in Clobberstown was invited, and the back garden, front garden and every room in the house were full of happy, chatty people.
Ogg was the chef and was cooking up a storm on a barbecue he had built from rocks in the back garden, next to the new stone hut he had built beside the big oak tree at the back wall. Inside the hut he had painted the walls with pictures of his Stone Age wife and children.
On long trestle tables borrowed from the neighbours, the partygoers sat down to eat delicious burgers, steaks and sausages, all cooked to perfection by Ogg. The scout troop, Dennis Deegan, guards from Clobberstown Station, school friends, Ms. Sniffles and Ms. Hennigan all raised their glasses as Conor stood up to propose a toast.
‘To Uncle Ogg,’ he said. ‘You saved myself and Charlie, and Damian and Gulliver. You’re the best and biggest and OLDEST friend I could ever ask for, and I’m so glad you’re here to stay. Welcome to the family, Uncle Ogg!’
And then Frank surprised everyone, especially Conor’s mum, with a proposal of his own. Getting down on one knee and taking a small velvet ring box out of his pocket, he said, ‘Clarissa, nearly losing Conor has shown me how much this family means to me. I want to be part of it too. Will you marry me?’
The crowd cheered, banging on the trestle tables with the palms of their hands and making the plates of burgers and sausages jump up and down. Then they quieted down, listening for Clarissa’s response.
‘Yes,’ said Clarissa. ‘I think I’d love to, Frank.’
The cheering started again, louder than ever. Ms. Hennigan, in floods of happy tears, sidled over to Ogg and held his hand.
‘I can’t believe it,’ said Conor to Charlie. ‘A new uncle AND a new dad, all in one day!’
Ogg squeezed Ms. Hennigan’s small hand gently in his gi-normous one. Wow, he thought, a new family.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to my eagle-eyed editor Nicola Reddy,
Michael O’Brien, Emma Byrne, Ivan O’Brien
and all at The O’Brien Press.
Extra-special thanks to the staff and students of Church of Ireland
College of Education, the Arts Council and to Children’s Books
Ireland for their excellent Bringing 2 Book initiative.
And extra-extra-special thanks, as ever, to my long-suffering family,
Rachel, Adam, Matthew and Sam.
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About the Author
Alan Nolan lives and works in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland. He is co-creator (with Ian Whelan) of Sancho comic, which was shortlisted for two Eagle awards, and is the author and illustrator of The Big Break Detectives Casebook, the Murder Can Be Fatal series and Fintan’s Fifteen (The O’Brien Press).
Other Books by Alan Nolan
Copyright
This eBook edition first published 2015 by
The O’Brien Press Limited,
12 Terenure Road East,
Rathgar, Dublin 6, Ireland.
First published 2015.
Tel: +353 1 492 3333; Fax: +353 1 429 2777
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.obrien.ie
eBook ISBN: 978-1-84717-800-8
Copyright for text, illustrations and layout design © Alan Nolan 2015
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or in any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Editing: The O’Brien Press Limited
