Page 50 of An Angel's Share
“That is only partially true,” Evie starts.
`“So you are denying you locked him in?”
“No—”
“You’re denying you made him pick out old machinery? All night?”
“No, the building asked for old cabinets, not machinery,” she finishes in a flourish.
We all start to laugh at her. The baby comes off herbreast to look at us all laughing, turns a beautiful smile at us, and goes back to her lunch.
“Even my beautiful little Rio knows you’re barking.”
I can hardly breathe when Jonno goes to kiss the baby’s head. Oh God, how am I going to survive him, survive this thing between us. And the whole swirling mess of potential thievery.
We land back for dinner,tired and dirty, but utterly buzzing. And not just from the café renovation ideas. I can almost see the shape of the cafe to come. Evie has an amazing eye. What I thought of as old rusting cans, she was grabbing ahold of and putting them to be reloved and used. Old bottles, piles of them, I was mentally arranging to be melted down. But not Evie. She suggested we stack them, use them as lights. A feature wall of bottles. Christy and I were in awe.
The twins rush Evie, and Rio once again is given to her to feed. I don’t know how she does it. We’ve worked all day, hardly stopping the rummaging of items. Tommy and Jonno had been called over to haul the bigger items to the front of the doors. I watched her drift off, photograph things, move stuff around. Write things on her phone.
Marshall and my dad even brought the twins, Ryan, and Lara out to us, and they ‘helped’ drag a few items to the doors, ready for pick up. Butthe piece de resistancewas the old cask we found. Partially hidden behind a wall, if Jonno had not tugged so hard on a piece of wood and the bricks caved in, we may never have found it. Someone was trying hard to conceal its hiding place.
“What the devil. Marshall, get over here.” Daddy’s shoutingacross the room, his voice high pitched with excitement. Moving Ryan and the twins out of the way, who were trying to climb into the hole, a hush falls over us all as we watch Marshall and Jonno drag the old cask from behind the brick wall. Old mortar and brick pieces sit on top of it, all covered with a thick layer of dust. But the look on Marshall’s face when he sees the cask fully—pure rapture.
“Christ, that is an old one.” He’s spinning it around on its rim, looking for markings or any distinguishing features. “Look here.” He points to a small mark on the wood.
“Are you sure that’s a mark? Not just a knot?” Jonno has gotten down on the floor to peer at it. “It looks like a knot in the wood, Marshall.” He looks up at my dad and Marshall, who are both smiling at each other knowingly.
“It’s a mark. Definitely,” Marshall states. We just need to check on the archive if we can date it. But I’d say it’s early. Very early.” He’s shaking his head.
Daddy looks like he might be having another heart attack. “What if it’s full, brother? Jaysus. Can you think how much this could be worth?” They’re rocking the cask gently. Trying to gauge if there is anything in it.
“Can we open it? Will it be full?” Ryan asks Dad.
“We can, and no I don’t think it will be full. If anyone’s had any drinks from it, was probably hidden so they could have a few drinks and not be seen. Or maybe to sneak it out and sell it themselves.”
“And then there’s the angel’s share to consider.” Marshall smiles widely at everyone, but widens his eyes at Ryan, Lara, and the twins.
“Do angel’s drink whiskey?” Lara asks in surprise.
“Oh yes, they’ve been drinking this every day since it was hidden here. No wonder there’s a happy atmosphere in this place.” Marshall grins at them all.
“Well, how do they get it out?” She’s touching the barrel, stroking the top where the bung is. It looks very snug and not open at all.
Marshall and daddy are in raptures. “Every day the whiskey is in the cask”—he taps the side—“a little bit evaporates into the air.” He lifts his hands up into the air as he’s talking, waggling his fingers gently. The twins start to try and grab fresh air around him, as do Ryan and Lara. “And the whiskey that escapes, goes to the angels, which is why we call it ‘the angel’s share.’”
“They must be drunk as skunks,” Ryan states in awe, looking up and around him, as if he expects to be able to see a host of drunk angels lolling around in the rafters of the building. Opening and closing his mouth as if he’s drinking, the twins copy him.
“You lot are too young to drink whiskey. We need to get out of here.” Jonno grins at the boys and goes to grab them. They start to squeal.
“Do you think it’s valuable, Dad?” Evie asks Marshall, bringing Rio over with her and stroking the dark aged rough wood as if it’s silk.
“Could be, if I can identify the mark. The old barrel men marked them up. We have an archive of them. But it’s old. I’d say late 17 or 1800s. If there’s anything left in it, it could be worth anything from thousands to millions.” The awe in his voice is palpable. Both he and Daddy can hardly contain their excitement.
“Didn’t one from Scotland sell for over fifteen million?” Jonno asks.
We all stare at the barrel. Like it’s the golden goose.
“Well, that would save us a lot of trouble if it was. But it might also be empty and a good prop for the café. A talking point.” I smile around at everyone. “I’m praying for the first option.” I touch Dad’s shoulder, my love and happiness pouring from me to him. He looks so young, so enthusiastic. Whiskey has been hislife. They love it, both he and Marshall. I love it as much as they do. I hope I can do it justice regardless of the value of this cask.
