When All Is Said(20)

‘I couldn’t pretend, Tony,’ I offered in my defence, mounting my bike, with the few messages under my arm and pedalling my way home.

Even before he’d died the Dollard fortunes had been slipping. Some said it was gambling, others bad investments. To me, it was payback. By sixty-three we’d already bought Moran’s land, then Byrne’s and finally Stanley’s, until my land surrounded Dollard’s on three sides. Slowly, I began to eat into theirs.

The strategy for buying their land was the same as with any other man. Offer low. But with them, it felt extra exhilarating. Invariably, the price I paid was paltry. Every couple of years they sold off a little more and each time my offer got lower. Until, that is, the last time.

One evening back in the early seventies, I opened my door to a young man I’d never set eyes on before.

‘Good evening, Mr Hannigan,’ he said, with a smile so wide it caused me to wince. ‘I know these things are normally left to the agents, but I felt I had to come talk to you myself about your recent offer on the Dollard land.’

‘And you are?’

‘Forgive me, I’m Jason. Jason Bruton. I’m married to Hilary.’

He put out his hand.

‘Hilary?’

‘Yes, Rachel Dollard’s daughter Hilary?’

Let me go back, son. Thomas’s sister, Rachel, who’d all those years before stood and watched her brother inflict that scar on my face had left the house as soon as she was old enough. Was she even sixteen? I’m not sure. Went off to marry Reggie, some English toff. Not wealthy as it turned out and so they ended up back at the house after a few years with Amelia, the mother, after the Dollard senior died. They had one daughter, Hilary. And this Jason Bruton was Hilary’s husband. When I offered him nothing to this news of who he was, he continued anyway, pulling back his unshaken hand, looking at it to make sure he wasn’t mistaken, ‘as I was saying, this land business—’

‘Business. Now there you have it – business, not charity. Just in case that’s what you’re here for.’

‘Quite. Well, I’d like to call a spade a spade also,’ he said, clearing his throat. ‘Yours is the only offer we’ve received. I could stand here and say we have another buyer. But you are no fool, as is plain. Therefore, I’ve come to ask that you consider bringing up your offer, not of course to the selling price but to one that is more … reasonable.’

‘Well now, Jackson—’

‘Jason. It’s Jason.’

‘And tell me, why might I want to do that?’

‘May I come in, Mr Hannigan? To talk this over further, in private,’ he said, looking about him as if my house was right in the middle of a housing estate.

‘You may not,’ I replied, pulling the door in closer behind me, emphasising my position and ensuring Sadie might not overhear.

‘I see,’ he said, drawing in a considered breath and then laughing. ‘They did tell me this was a waste of time. Rachel and Reggie. And yet here I am, wishing I’d listened to them.’

‘How’s your uncle-in-law?’

‘My uncle-in-law? Thomas you mean. I’ve no idea. I don’t hear much about him. Did you know him well?’ he replied, clutching at whatever straw I was willing to throw.

‘You could say that.’

‘He’s in London. Got married again.’

‘Did he now? Did he murder the first one?’

‘I … I…’

‘Listen, John. You’ve no idea how brave you are to stand at my door asking me for more money for them,’ I said, jabbing my finger in the direction of the house. I paused as we held the other’s eye. ‘Now, unless you’re telling me something I don’t already know about that land, I see no reason why I would “up” the offer.’

That fairly shut him up. Or so I thought. He swallowed hard, readying himself for the battle he’d never wanted.

‘Decency, Mr Hannigan, that’s why. Your offer is criminal, no other word for it.’

I hadn’t expected that.

‘I thought if we talked it over man to man you might see your way to being fair. But it appears I’m not always right. I know when to admit defeat.’ And off he went.

I liked him.

‘Five.’ I called into the darkness.

‘Pardon?’ his voice replied, before his body stepped back into the reach of my porch light.

‘I’ll give five thousand more. For you, mind, and that pair of balls you have. Much more impressive than any Dollard male could ever boast.’

I hoped Tony was listening.

The land was worth so much more. I knew it. He knew it. A part of me wanted to invite him in, to have a whiskey and thrash it out further, but I got over that quick enough. He stood there, looking at me, ever so slightly dazed.

‘I’ll ring my man in the morning, to tell him of our gentleman’s agreement. You might want to go back now and tell them how you wrestled it out of me,’ I added.

But before he could take a step, I called him back.

‘But tell me this, Jason. There’s not much land left over there now. What’s the plan, when this lot of my money runs out?’

He didn’t answer straight away but looked at me from squinted eyes. Eventually, he said: