Page 102 of The Other Side

Osian smiled to himself and headed into the kitchen to put the kettle on. He could hear Will playing. When he brought in tea for him and Drum, Will stopped.

“Is it difficult?” Drum asked.

“Not really. There aren’t any tuned notes to learn, so that makes it easier in one sense. You strike the skin with this tipper.” He held up the short wooden stick. “Hold it like a pencil, but slide your fingers back and hold the tip away from you. Then you move your hand back and forth. Your other hand rests inside the drum to change the pitch and dampen the sound. Getting both hands to work together is the tricky bit.”

“Can I have a go?” Drum asked.

“I’ll just take a tea out to Fi,” Osian said. “I’ll leave ours on the table.”

He wasn’t sure what had happened while he was outside, but when he came back in, Will was laughing.

“Having fun?” Osian asked.

Drum handed the bodhrán back with a rueful smile. “Turns out it’s something else I’m useless at.”

Will set the drum on its edge and rubbed the heel of his hand against the skin. “Don’t worry. Everyone’s hopeless the first time.”

Drum looked down at the bodhrán. “You play beautifully.”

Will shrugged as if it wasn’t worth mentioning.

“I mean it.”

Another shrug, but this one wasn’t quite so dismissive.

“Can you play anything else?”

“Mandolin, lyre, dulcimer, zither, shamisen, crwth.”

“Did you suddenly start speaking a foreign language?” Drum asked.

Will laughed.

“I’m useless with my hands,” Drum said. “I nearly took out someone’s eye in woodwork at school. I hit a nail with a hammer and the nail shot across the room. They wouldn’t let me have a go at welding. Probably wise. My handwriting is awful. My artistic ability is non-existent. I wasn’t allowed to play the recorder. I was relieved about that. Apparently drumming belongs on the list too. Along with billiards and rounders and football. I’m ashamed to claim I’m a male of the species.”

A reluctant grin tugged at Will’s mouth. Osian felt something in the room loosen. It wasn’t just that Will was suddenly cheerful, he seemed lighter.

“Drum has the same bracelet as you,” Will said.

“Ah, well spotted, Sherlock Holmes,” Osian said. “And what does that tell you?”

“That you two have known each other for years, since you’ve worn yours all the time we’ve known you.”

“We knew each other as kids. We were both shocked when we saw each other in the pub,” Osian said. “Well, I was shocked. Drum didn’t remember me at first.”

“You don’t talk about your childhood,” Will said.

“Neither do you!” Osian said.

“True. Is Drum why you come here every year?”

“That was a jump.” Osian glanced at Drum.

“A correct jump?” Will asked.

“And if I said it was?”

“I’d worry you weren’t going to come here anymore now you’ve found each other.”