CHARACTER LIST

Artie Abrams - Irish soldier

Blaine Anderson - Young Irish soldier; Séamus O'Brien

Rachel Berry - Seamus's bride-to-be; Maggie

Adam Crawford - Shipment checker

Terri Del Monico - Preacher Periwinkle's wife; Mrs. Periwinkle

Sam Evans - Lead performer of Gleeful Clems; Samuel

Joe Hart - Priest apprentice; Jonas

Carol Hudson-Hummel - James's mother; Mrs. Waltham

Finn Hudson - Irish soldier; Finnegan O'Brien

Kurt Hummel - Humble English boy; James Waltham

David Karofsky - Raphael

Ryder Lynn - Irish boy; Trevor

Emma Pillsbury - Handmaiden

Brittany Pierce - Weird-minded handmaiden

Noah "Puck" Puckerman - English sheriff

Will Shuester - Preacher Periwinkle

Sue Sylvester - Terrifying Morlina

Lauren Zizes - Married Woman

FIRST LIFE

CHAPTER ONE

DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN, UNITED KINGDOM. JULY 1658

James Waltham walked through the glade toward the lake to fetch water. The morning air breezed with what felt like refreshment from sea water. James paced down by the lake, personally rejoicing in the celebration that will take place in Castletown in a matter of days. Ever since the English victory of the Confederate Wars, there hadn't been much celebration in the kingdom. Victory, however, was not able to relieve James and his mother the painful loss of his father. He was recruited as one of the soldiers in the war, and unfortunately lost his life in 1650. James would have joined the army in the stead of his father, but he had insisted that he remained home with mother. Also, he had been 9 years old back then. According to the law, age 15 was the applicable age for recruitment. It was like God had planned his birth early to make sure his father died at the exact wrong time.

"James, good noon," a familiar rough voice called and snapped James out of his reverie.

He looked up and recognized the figure standing several feet ahead, his face partly foreshadowed by the high trees in the glade. "Good noon, Raphael," he greeted back. "Is everything going well at home?"

It had been some time since he last saw Raphael. The man had gotten wedded the year before, and he heard from acquaintances that his wife was carrying a child. Raphael approached with an axe in hand. "Everything's going smoothly," he answered. "How about you, James?" It has been sometime since we last talked."

"You mean since the wedding."

Raphael chuckled humorously and nodded thoughtfully. "It had been a year. How's your mother?"

James nodded casually. "She's fine, thank you."

The two shared a brief conversation before Raphael departed to join the other woodsmen. James proceeded to walk down to the lake. The breeze of summer daytime blew at his face. The flush of warmth touched his skin like the smell of lilies. He's always with us. His mother's voice echoed in his head. The thought of summer warmth brought a slight sense of melancholy and he didn't need to know why. The reason was always the same. His father. Mother had told him to think of the wind and the times of year as his presence. So that he'd know that wherever they were, he was always with them. The need to sing about it swirled around his chest, readying to burst through his throat. His mother taught him to express himself in songs when he was young. And he wanted to do that now.

"A summer so free, I always had it with me."

"Don't have a father to look up to. But mother always said he was..."

"Good."

"The wind whispers to me, saying he's with me."

"The heat is his embrace, the wind is his comfort touch."

"But it's not enough. I want more, is that too much?"

"In daytime, he walks with me. In the night, he comes to me."

"Smell the flowers to feel his heart, feel the wind to feel his comfort. His comforting touch."

"When summer ends, he comes back"

"As rain and snow. In the wind he says: 'James, don't ever be sad.'"

"The wind whispers to me, saying he's with me."

"The heat is his embrace, the wind is his comfort touch."

"But it's never enough. I want more, is that too much?"

"Is that too... much?"

Down by the riverbank, he knelt down and ran the wooden bucket through the stream, filling it with fresh water. "I want more, is that too... muuuuuuch." With a low sigh, the song came to an end, but not his depression.


Seamus O'Brien peaked out the storage room window of the cargo ship. The vessel slowed, coming close to English shore. Filthy English territory. The country where the English Parliament originated and conquered his home country. Never once in his life had Seamus thought of stepping foot onto the grounds of his enemy. He never would have snuck on the cargo ship were it not for Maggie. Of all people, why did Maggie have to insult the English sheriff? Not that he didn't despise them himself. The mere thought of the English sent a pure sense of boiling hatred running through his veins. His brother Finnegan had lost his life years earlier, during the final period of the Confederate Wars. He was 10 years old then. His brother was 16 and so of warrior age. Maggie was engaged to Finnegan, and he had sworn to return for them to wed. But in the end, he was lost to the war, and in the following the Irish had lost to the English. And now, nothing kept the enemy from walking their country more freely, and whichever side opposed the other always escalated to violent situations that often ended in more deaths for the Irish.

But what had made him feel sick to the stomach was stepping into enemy lands. If it were of his choice, Seamus would have stayed where he was and defended his village. But it wasn't his choice. Maggie had insulted the English county sheriff, and so had been arrested by the officers and taken to 'court' on the Isle of Man. In which case, it was written in his duty to rescue his now bride-to-be from whatever punishment awaited: execution, or worse, shame. So sneaking into fiendish country was really the only choice. It had been a half-day since they snuck onboard the English cargo ship that, according to Seamus's resources, transported shipment to the Isle of Man, the small island where his wife-to-be was taken. No doubt she was brought to the dungeons of Castletown. The vessel took the troops to Douglas, which was only a few hours away. There will be enough time to find Maggie and sneak back to Ireland shore.

"We're nearly there," whispered Allan, one of the three mates who accompanied him on this rescue mission. "You should get ready."

The men put on their English outfits: deep brown sailor vests and jackets as black as Seamus's hair. Seamus only had a second to look at himself in the little mirror hanging loosely on the wall by thick spokes: he looked like a pirate of some sort, even though the designs were anything but. They walked out to the cargo deck where other shipmates were readying for shore; the sails pulled back and the barrels readied to unload. The docks were up close, and Seamus knew that he was getting closer to Maggie. Anchor thrown off deck, thick ropes readied, and boarding planks brought out, everyone readied for departure. No matter the risks, there was no turning back now. They were on enemy lands and the only thing to do was go through.


James had dropped the bucket at home and finished his chores in the stall before heading to town to meet with the circus. Everyone was rejoicing with high-pitched sounds of celebrations when he reached the village as if some kind of news had been given. They were saying out loud about something, but James was too busy to listen; he looked past the crowd and found the corner across the Town hall, where the other crew members were also dancing of rejoice.

"Good noon, everyone," James said. "What's today's news?"

"Oh, you haven't heard?" said Samuel, his clammy blond hair clung to his forehead and almost covered his eyes. "Lord Thomas Fairfax is to be wed in Castletown!"

"Lord Fairfax? When?" James's own lips curled up as the enthusiasm made connection.

"Next Thursday. And the greatest news for us -" He waved an arm from himself to the crew members. "- is that we are appointed for performance that day. Not in the castle, but we are to put on a show in the city. So you can see, it is our time to make the Gleeful Clems known to the rest of the isle. The ceremony shall be our greatest performance of all times." He spoke dreamily. The way his lips moved oddly reminded James of trout. The memory of trout practically clutched in his mind; fishing trout with his father was one of the few memories he had of him.

He pushed that memory away and joined the townsfolk in their celebration. To everyone, the news was royal notification. To the group, it was their chance to make themselves known in the ceremonial performance.

Mr. Franklin approached and shouted to get their attention. "Everyone, we need to start rehearsals. The wedding is next Thursday, which meant we only have days to prepare before that. We will rehearse tonight!"

Everyone cheered, including James.


Seamus, Allan, Keenan and Trevor rolled the barrels from the ship carefully as they followed the other shipmates' moving patterns. It was smooth-sailing so far, the situation. They were all wearings either hoods or long hats to conceal their faces from shipping checkers, who were verifying the shipment. Seamus, while devicing a way to sneak away unnoticed, rolled a barrel onto a carriage with Allan and were about to another one when a voice sounded in the distance. It was Keenan's voice.