Me and My Shadow - Mirror...Mirror - Chapter 13

True to his word Father Mulcahy prepared his sermon with total conviction and a fervor that far surpassed any of his previous religious diatribes. Although not a Hell Fire and Damnation evangelist by nature Father Mulcahy was determined to pull out all the stops on this fiery oration. In order to create maximum impact he carefully weighed the most subtle nuances of each and every word he uttered. Once satisfied with his eloquent masterpiece he rehearsed and choreographed his delivery in front of a large full length mirror. His final dress rehearsal was so intense the priest himself was nearly caught up by the tone and intensity of his own message. 

 If Claudius was guilty he would most certainly feel impelled to confess… and to perform penance in hopes of avoiding eternal damnation.

In the meantime Hamlet played the role of the dutiful son in mourning. By day Hamlet spent his leisure time sitting on the castle wall smoking weed and joking with his buds Guildenstern and Rosencrantz. His nights he spent in the loving arms of Ophelia, but alas it was all for show. In spite of her alluring feminine wiles his heart just wasn’t in it.

For Hamlet the days and hours passed slowly. His blood nearly boiled each time he observed Claudius’s lame attempts at seducing his mother. He was full of anger and rage but dared not show it lest he alert Claudius to the nature of his true intentions. Even his beloved mother the Queen could not know what was in his heart.

It was already Wednesday when he received a message from Father Mulcahy requesting that he visit the church under the pretense of making final arrangements for his father’s funeral.. Father Mulcahy set up this meeting with Hamlet at great personal risk. He did not disclose the contents of his sermon to Hamlet. He assured him however that he was ready with an explosive oration that was certain to produce the desired effect. 

 It would be far too dangerous for the priest to contact Hamlet directly with details concerning the date and time of Claudius anticipated confession. In order for Hamlet’s plan to succeed he must receive this critical information in a timely manner to allow himself time to prepare.

It would be far too risky to use a messenger. 

Claudius would certainly order his personal guard to intercept anyone entering or leaving the castle. This posed a dilemma of epic proportions. Both Hamlet and the priest were in a deep quandary. If their plot were to be exposed they would most certainly be hung for treason. 

As the two sat together in stony silence the great church bell rang out signaling the noon hour. Like a bolt of lightning a brilliant idea flashed through Mulcahy’s brain.

 “Hamlet… I generally handle formal confessions by appointment only Monday through Friday between 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM. We can use the Church bell as our signal On the day that Claudius is scheduled to appear the church bell will ring 13 times on the noon hour. That will give you a two hour lead… Oh and Hamlet …You better have a ready made excuse available for your absence. You are not very good at adlibbing and you are a terrible liar….”

The sordid details of this clandestine meeting were relayed to Shadow by his faithful side kick Arty. 

Thus far Shadow’s random explorations had not yielded much useful new information. Shadow knew the castle staff and guards were vaguely aware of his presence. For the most part he had remained somewhat aloof. They had spotted him lurking in the narrow walk ways along the castle wall. A few of the palace guards had left food for him and one or two actually tried to scratch him behind his ears. 

Arty’s latest report was Shadow’s call to action.

Shadow’s first order of business was to ingratiate himself with Queen Gertrude. For this phase of the plan he enlisted the aid of his trusty side kick Arty. 

The plan was for Arty to expose himself to the Queen. When the Queen started screaming in panic Shadow would come dashing out of a dark corner and in full view of the Queen grab Arty by the neck and drag him away. Shadow would then put the icing on the cake by coming back to the Queen, rubbing his back against her leg and purring softly.This heroic ploy was certain to melt her heart and win her favor. 

There was a great element of risk for Arty however. He could meet his doom if he failed to attract the Queen’s attention before a guard or other staff member spotted him. 

Shadow had to be in position and ready to spring into action to make certain he was the first to arrive and the only one to take action. It was a brilliant scam that required precision timing and expert execution. This ploy was certain to test Shadow’s ninja skills to the max. 

Shadow knew that if Arty survived this ordeal he would definitely owe him big time. (Of course Shadow never expressed his ever so slight misgivings while in Arty’s presence.)