The Reverend Rory Inkersoll

The Reverend Rory Inkersoll from the Fairy in the Bed series. (2016-) Character Post 10

Rory Inkersoll was born Over There somewhere in the pixie forest in around 1934. He grew up in a tolerant community and had a wide range of friends of different persuasions. At some point in his childhood he learned he was a mutable fay; a fay who looked more or less human but who had the ability to manifest as a different person. It this case, his other side was a ginger kitten. His parents weren't muties, but there would have been some in the family somewhere. 
At twenty, Rory fell in love with a braeside lassie named Emer; the woman he called his 'queen'. Their marriage was a long and happy one and since her death a few years ago, Rory has been single. The couple had a son and a daughter, and adult grandchildren including hob twins Niamh and Helena and Duffy, the only other one of the family with the cat manifestation. Because of this, Rory spent a lot of time with his grandson. 
In his twenties, he took holy orders. He is nominally Christian, but his faith and philosophy lean heavily to John 14: 2,3. Now in his eighties, Rory is a strong-looking man, still upright and active. He has dark red hair going grey and amber eyes. His cat-self is an equally hale but elderly red tom. Rory uses crystals for meditation and focus, and his cat-self, known only as the red cat, is able to read people. This is something Rory insists on doing before agreeing to marry, baptise or otherwise minister to couples he doesn't know. He is a fond father, grandfather and great-grandfather, and, although largely retired, he still takes the occasional service in St Boniface church; a border church on the human side of the gates. Specifically, he often agrees to marry mixed couples. His flock includes fay and human, and he doesn't really differentiate. He expects the same courtesy from them.  
He is quite powerful, and will use his influence to cut through red tape or vacillation, but not to press people he regards as friends or flock. He has some human qualifications and records, but has never learned to drive a car, though he can and sometimes does, drive a pony cart. He dislikes cities, and prefers to spend most of his time at his cottage in the forest. He has taken over the domestic role Emer used to fill, and still mourns her, although he is certain of seeing her again in the afterlife. Quite what that afterlife might be he has never revealed. He sometimes plays the pipes, which he learned to please Emer when they were courting. 
Rory may look austere and sometimes severe, but his love and tolerance are broad. Maybe having two selves has given him a unique perspective.


ABOUT THE BLOG

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 was to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. 2017 is now behind us, but I ran out of year before running out of books. As of February 18th 2018 I STILL haven't run out of books, but many of those still to come are MIA by which I mean I don't have copies and remember little about them. There are more new books to come, and I'll certainly showcase those, but in between times, I'm profiling some of my characters, just for a change. Thank you so much to everyone who's come along on this journey so far!