Battered Beverly gives Charlie wings

THERE can’t be many people waiting for court verdicts on two different continents at the same time, but then there aren’t many folk who had Red Bull wings before the energy drink was even invented.

Charlie Bird flew, almost literally, into the Four Courts yesterday after flapping through the skies all night in a determined effort to get from Bogota to Beverly without missing the judgments in either case.

True to his reputation as RTÉ’s star reporter, the human dynamo made it on time, clean-shaven and with his trousers on the right way around, living testimony to the strength of Colombian coffee beans and proof that it can’t hurt to ask the pilot of a jumbo jet to go faster.

The five judges of the Supreme Court seemed to be on El Piloto time too because they hurtled through the delivery of their rulings as if they’d laid bets on who would be first to hit G-force and send the public gallery into facial distortions.

Beverly hadn’t time to get a crease in the knees of her good, cream trouser suit when it was all over and the changing winds of fortune had frozen her features somewhere between haughty and horrified.

Coolly, she picked up her Burberry bag, allowed the hems of her slacks to settle around her special occasion shoes, and strode from the court, eyes down but chin up, with her two male companions hurrying to keep pace.

She wasn’t out of sight for long, however, within minutes conspicuously exiting the door closest to where her silver grey 03 Saab was parked, fully prepared to meet the notepads and microphones gathered around it.

It was a champion performance, growing more confident and composed by the second. There were even smiles and a few quips. If the Titanic had been built of similar stuff, it would have sunk the iceberg.

She faltered only once, when Charlie, his propellers still spinning, accidentally taxied across her path, screeched to a near halt, thrust out a hand and offered it eagerly in a gesture of peace-making.

Beverly turned slightly, took the hand briefly and spun back into position. Charlie was left looking at the back of her head as he spurted out an awkward “Sorry”. Sometimes it’s the hardest word to hear.