Marti and Pat took off running over the cobbles and Marti was the fastest and had to slow down for Pat, who had the stitch with the laughing. They ran and ran for a very long way, but when they could see there was no one following and they were tired with the running, they stopped and sat down with their backs to a wall. They were miles from St Joseph’s, said Pat, and wasn’t that the reason Dylan and the boys from Brother Declan’s class had given up.
“They’re too scared to mitch off the school. Sure Brother Declan’s a mentaller,” said Pat.
“What’s mitch?” said Marti.
“It’s going on the hop, sure – missing the school.”
“Oh.”
“Oh, indeed. Sure it’s mitching we are now,” said Pat. Marti wondered would they be in trouble?
The brothers would know they were missing for sure, because wasn’t
