Free Rugby Flyer by Gerard Siggins

‘I most certainly didn’t follow you. I’m here to play rugby for the Leinster Academy Under-15 team. We are in a tournament down in the Stoop Ground and came up here for a tour of the stadium. I just got lost and that’s why I bumped into you.’
    Alex eyed him suspiciously. ‘And how can you seeme? I’ve been around here for many years and almost nobody has disturbed me. I came across a journalist in the press box late one night – he must have been slow finishing in his work – and he recognised me. He wrote a story called ‘Obolensky’s Ghost Haunts Twickenham’ which caused me no end of trouble. I didn’t get a minute’s peace for months after that, but nobody else has ever noticed me.’
    ‘I seem to have a knack,’ sighed Eoin. ‘I’ve met four ghosts in Dublin over the last couple of years. And what’s this about treasure?’
    Obolensky stopped and looked over Eoin’s shoulder, from where he could hear voices. Eoin popped his head around the corner to see two groundsmen discussing their work.
    ‘Hey, what are you doing here, son? This isn’t a public area,’ one of them called.
    ‘Sorry, I just got lost. Which way is the car park?’ asked Eoin.
    The men showed him the way out, but when Eoin turned to look at where Alex had been standing, he was no longer to be seen.
    He arrived down in the car park a little rattled by his encounter with Alex. He stared up at the modern stadium and tried to imagine what it was like whenthe ghost had played there. He decided to revisit the museum when he got a chance.
    Killian, Charlie and Páidí arrived down soon afterwards, with Charlie’s bulging pockets hinting that he had organised an unofficial doggy bag for himself. They asked one of the coaches’ permission to go to watch the Ulster game and after crossing a footbridge they strolled down through rows of houses to the ground.
    They arrived in time to see Sam kicking the ball over the crossbar and were impressed to see that he had just increased Ulster’s lead over the Italian side to a whopping 33 points.
    ‘These guys don’t look as bad as the scoreline makes them out to be,’ said Killian. ‘Ulster must be a pretty good side.’
    The Stoop was a compact stadium, with plenty of room for maybe 15,000 people more than the handful that were watching the game today. Eoin studied the goalposts and where they were situated. He wondered how the wind might affect his goal-kicking, and whether the grandstands were high enough to shield his kicks. He watched closely while the players were taking shots at goal.
    But he found it hard to concentrate on the game, and his mind kept returning to the encounter with Alex. Itwas a strange coincidence and very puzzling – and why had Alex accused him of wanting ‘treasure’? He really wanted to talk to Alan and Dylan about this, but one was back home in Dublin and the other was somewhere else in this huge city.
    The final whistle was sounded with Ulster’s victory margin over 50 points. He waved to Sam and Paddy as they came off and followed Killian down the steps as they made for the exit.
    ‘Hey, Madden, are you not staying for the big game?’ came a roar from just outside the players’ tunnel. Eoin grinned down at Dylan, wearing his red shirt, and gave him a wave back. ‘I suppose I’ll have to, now you spotted me trying to sneak out,’ he called. His other friends were just as happy to stay and watch Eoin’s pal make his debut for his beloved province.
    The Leinster players stretched themselves out on the nice seats in the committee box and enjoyed tossing friendly insults at the Munster team. Eoin kept quiet while this went on, still uncomfortable with the idea that Munster were the enemy.
    Dylan’s team were taking on Glasgow and it was a hard, close game. Roger Savage, who had been at school with Eoin in Ormondstown, was sent off for fighting with the Scottish club’s second row but Munster werestill two points ahead when the final whistle