Happy Ever After

Rathbarney is a typical small Irish town inhabited with a bunch of eccentrics, including a few leprechauns and a ghost, who all live in general harmony with each other, mostly at the local pub, The O'Leary Arms named after one of the leading families of the town. For sixty years, wealthy aged General O'Leary has led the jump "over the wall" during the annual fox hunt. This year's jump proves to be the last for the General, who on his deathbed makes some last minute vocal bequeathals not listed in his will, including forgiving all debts owed to him. His will leaves his entire estate to his only living relative, his great nephew Jasper O'Leary, who he's never met and who has never stepped foot in Rathbarney. The townsfolk welcome Jasper to Rathbarney with open arms as a relative of the beloved General, but that changes when they discover Jasper's nature as a fortune hunter. Jasper openly states that he plans to collect on all outstanding debts immediately with exorbitant interest added, will not pay any debts the estate owes unless there is written proof, both which in combination will financially ruin many townsfolk, and cancels any gentlemen's agreements the General would have made. What Jasper doesn't publicly announce is that he plans to squeeze whatever he can out of the estate only to leave town for good, he not caring about its resultant state in that squeeze. The one person who is drawn to Jasper is recently widowed Serena McGlusky, a gold-digger who only just returned to town. Serena has long raised the ire of her siblings, especially sister Kathy McGlusky, for Serena having strung along Dr. Michael Flynn, who she never had any intention of marrying and who Kathy herself loves. Michael still cannot see past Serena's flirts to see her scheming nature. Serena sees in Jasper a now wealthy kindred spirit, Jasper in turn who can lavish her in his financial windfall. The rest of the townsfolk, however, believe they have to figure out a way to rid the proverbial fox from their hen house forever, which may all come to a head on what is called O'Leary Night, when the ghost, an ancestor of the General, is said to roam the halls of the O'Leary mansion. Written by Huggo