<FONT COLOR=GREEN Size=4>Chapter Six: "A Variety of Boys”</FONT> -- Cindy's Cottage

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Date Posted: 19:59:25 06/30/09 Tue
Author: Carla
Subject: Chapter Six: "A Variety of Boys”

The Bath of Psyche, the picture Pat is copying with Pamela as his model

Pamela is posing naked for Pat on the kitchen table when Casey comes home for the first time since his release from prison. Pamela’s response to Casey is to feel flustered and overheated ;) Casey and Pat readjust to being together and to the changes time has made in them both.

We meet Reverend Lucien Broughton, giving us a glimpse on a personal level of the fanatic hatred on the “other” side in Northern Ireland. Do you believe there are people who are truly so purely evil, or are they a type only found in books and movies?

Pamela and Jamie have a heartfelt conversation about his father and the gift of magic from parent to child. Pamela admits her “life story” is fake, but doesn’t reveal any other facts about her self. She also asks Jamie about taking his father’s seat in Parliament. To herself, she admits that Jamie will never love her.

The more I read about Jamie & Pamela and think about their relationship, the more I think it embodies a concept in ancient Celtic life known as “anam cara” which is a friendship of the soul, the two people are deeply connected and what we think of as soul mates, but in a platonic relationship. (Thank you Elaine, for sending me that book many months ago). Does that description – platonic soul mates – fit your idea/impressions of Pamela and Jamie, or do you think their relationship is something else?

Pamela and Casey met again, and he spontaneously invites her to dinner to celebrate his new job. They talk easily, Casey bringing his charm into play, until Pamela asks him about his time in prison. He tells her the story of his first day out. Why do you think Casey, who is by nature and life experience a very guarded person, is so open and honest with this girl he’s barely met?

Casey recounts in his own mind the physical and psychological brutality of prison and the life lessons he learned there, as well as the ones his father had taught which he is only now coming to fully understand.

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Replies:

Yes, platonic soul mates sounds perfect for them! (NT) -- Tracy, 20:14:57 06/30/09 Tue
That image is so beautiful. I can really see Patrick inserting Pamela as the focal point. (NT) -- E, 06:24:49 07/01/09 Wed
I think Casey opened up to Pamela because he felt comfortable with her - there was something about her. I think there was a connection there before they even knew there was one. (NT) -- Tracy, 07:24:27 07/01/09 Wed
- My word of the day.....there! (NT) -- Tracy, 07:24:50 07/01/09 Wed
- I agree. And I think that she's someone new - there's too much history with Pat (he left him behind, their father's death) and with the others in his life. She's a person he can share with and she's not going to have every detail of his life before prison to hold against him. He can slowly bring her into his life, on his terms. (NT) -- Lil, 09:16:40 07/01/09 Wed
  - Oh yes, very well said (NT) -- CindyS (), 11:52:30 07/01/09 Wed
You know what I think is interesting...that Pamela is modeling for this picture. What does this say about her personality? Confident, comfortable with her body, maybe she likes to shock or push the envelope? Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I know I'd never be a nude model. (NT) -- Lil, 09:06:47 07/01/09 Wed
Although I think there is a physical attraction (how could there not - they are both beautiful!), I agree about the anam cara. I also think that Jamie has figured out who she is and is trying to get her to confess. But I know he's got to be puzzling as to why she's hiding her identity and what she wants. After the time they had that summer, you would think she'd be more up front. I wouldn't have made a reacquaintance the way she did. (NT) -- Lil, 09:14:16 07/01/09 Wed
It was hard to read about Lucien again. He's just so creepy! (you did a great job writing him, Cindy) Unfortunately, I do believe there are evil people like him in the world and some of them gain a lot of power. His hate against Catholics is so disgusting... (NT) -- Lil, 09:24:24 07/01/09 Wed
- Oh yes, I despise Lucien! (NT) -- E, 10:23:20 07/01/09 Wed
- He truly is the absence of everything- you know how in art you learn that black is all colours and white is the absence of all colour? Well, that's why I made him so pale, he's the absence of all the good things that make humans what they are. (NT) -- celtgirl, 11:05:11 07/01/09 Wed
  - I find him reminiscent of Ian Paisley. (NT) -- Sallie, 11:31:28 07/01/09 Wed
    - Whom he was partly based upon. :) (NT) -- celtgirl, 11:50:56 07/01/09 Wed
      - Eeww, that guy. (NT) -- E, 14:00:18 07/01/09 Wed
Part of the reason Casey is so open with her, as he later admits, is that he's knocked sideways by her- and didn't expect someone like her in his life ever. Sometimes if you are just struck by a person like that and are unprepared, you can't keep up the normal walls we all move behind and within in our daily life. (NT) -- celtgirl (), 10:41:44 07/01/09 Wed
- Yes, and she came into his life quickly - he walks into his house and she's there naked on the kitchen table! (NT) -- Tracy, 15:55:51 07/01/09 Wed
  - Imagine when their children ask the typical "So, how did you meet Mom/Dad?" question? I can hear the stammers and see the blushes on their cheeks! (NT) -- Carla, 17:37:46 07/01/09 Wed
    - Bwhaahaaaaa! That would be funny! (NT) -- Tracy, 18:32:57 07/01/09 Wed
      - "Well, your mam, see she was posin' stark nekid on the kitchen table for yer Uncle Pat and meself, well I was just out from prison fer blowin' up a tube station. I didn't kill anybody, though, so it wasna' so bad as it might have been. And yer mam, well, she realised pretty quick that yer Uncle Pat wasna the one fer her, it was meself all along, see." (NT) -- Carla, 18:58:51 07/01/09 Wed
        Ha- do you know how strict this boyo would be with his girls in particular? There's no way he'd tell them about their mam until they were safely married. :) (NT) -- celtgirl, 19:05:43 07/01/09 Wed
        Here's a wee snippet of an older Casey and Pamela- it's not something ever intended for a book, sometimes I just like to work on random bits that have no real place, but speak to me for whatever reason. >>>> -- celtgirl, 19:25:32 07/01/09 Wed
        Lovely wee snippet, Cindy, thank you for sharing. It's a comfort to know you see them old together. And Casey, the poor man, forced to take Pamela to his bed before he was married. Ah, the dreadful things a man is forced to do :) (NT) -- Carla, 19:42:16 07/01/09 Wed
        Casey's the type who understands the need to make occasional sacrifices. ;-) (NT) -- E, 20:24:31 07/01/09 Wed
        Yes, the man is always willing to put himself on the altar of sacrifice when it's required. :) (NT) -- celtgirl, 20:41:49 07/01/09 Wed
        Hahaha! I love it....she was such a nag he had to just give in. LOL! I love the idea of them being married with older children. *sigh* (NT) -- Lil, 21:50:15 07/01/09 Wed
        Ohh , I love that! I get a such a calm and comfy feeling when I know characters grow old together. AND....tha Aga made it too! (NT) -- Tracy, 06:48:49 07/02/09 Thu
        I'm sure Casey would rather have his hand cut off than tell that particular story in such detail! I can just imagine his discomfiture when the question is asked, though and Pamela laughing at the poor boyo. (NT) -- Carla, 19:40:17 07/01/09 Wed

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