EXT. ROAD OUTSIDE DUNLAVIN - LATER
ROOSTER. ...they almost had me, I'll admit it. But this is great! We got away with it! Our whole lives, Jack, we'll never have to worry.
Jack is silent for a few moments. Then:
JACK. We need to give back the money, Rooster. We need to figure out who they stole it from and give it back.
ROOSTER. What? Jack, are you insane? Are you seriously insane? I risked my life for that money, Jack.
JACK. You risked both our lives.
ROOSTER. I didn't steal it just to give it back.
JACK. It's not ours in the first place.
ROOSTER. What is it you think, Jack? You think you're being a good person by doing this? Because damn that.
JACK. Is it a good thing to do something like this? I know what you could do with this money. What my mother could do with this money. Is it really a good thing to give it back, if giving it back means I can't help the people I love?
ROOSTER. So why are you doing it?
JACK. I don't know.
ROOSTER. But you're going to do it anyway.
JACK. Yes.
ROOSTER (annoyed). Well, in that case, you should know that you're already going in the right direction.
JACK. What?
ROOSTER. They robbed the Lady of Dunlavin. I heard it while I was waiting for them to go to sleep. Her manor is just outside the city.
JACK. Why did you tell me to come this way, then? Were you thinking about giving the money back?
ROOSTER. Yeah right! I just figured the last thing they'd want to do was go back in the direction where everybody must be looking for a band of thieves.
The pair is silent for a few moments.
ROOSTER. You're lucky I...
JACK. Lucky you what? Love me?
ROOSTER (petulantly). You know what.
Jack, smiling, throws his arm around Rooster.
YOU ARE READING
The Enniscorthy Thieves
Short StoryWhen drought strikes his village, Jack, the only son of a widow, must leave his home in order to make a living. Jack has little luck until he runs into a mysterious and attractive boy named Rooster. Together, the two of them begin the long trek to E...
