Chapter 19 Lingard Estate 1972 Linen Hall Library Thursday, March 10, 2016 TIFF Lingard186 Manuscript I.R.A, Belfast English https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/content/lingard186 Linen Hall Library Linen Hall Library Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/sites/default/files/Lingard186_1.jpg LHL Archive 177 CHAPTER NINETEEN There were disturbances in the night: the sound of gunfire, rumble of armoured cars, shouting in the distance, the flicker of flames agianst the sky. No one in the Jackson house slept very much. Their own street was quiet but the activity ofon the fringe of the ar area kept them on edge. "Sounds like the I.R.A. fighting it out," commented Mr Jackson as he sat drinking tea in the ktchen at two o'clock in the mroning. "How do you know?" said Sadie. "Could be anybody." "I don't know what we're all doing sitting here," said Mrs Jackson. She scratched her scalp between the rollers and yawned. "It's not as if we haven't heard the sound of guns before. It's funny how you get used to the murders after a bit." "You can get used to anything," said Tommy. "You have to live." Sadie looked at the clock. She ought to go to bed and get a few hours sleep. She planned to leave the house before seven to go and meet Kevin but now she was afraid that she might sleep in and he would be sitting waiting for her in a field twenty miles outside Belfast, watching the road thinking she was never coming. But he would wait, she/knew that. "What are you smiling about?" asked her mother. "Can't see anything very funny about shooting matches myself." "I was thinking of something else." Sadie stood up. "I'm off to bed. Oh, and by the way, I'll be going out early in the morning so don't worry if I'm gone when you get up." Text Joan Lingard Tuesday, September 6, 2016 - 10:52 1031 Chapter 19 Lingard Estate 1972 Linen Hall Library Thursday, March 10, 2016 TIFF Lingard187 Manuscript Sleep, Henderson English https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/content/lingard187 Linen Hall Library Linen Hall Library Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/sites/default/files/Lingard187_1.jpg LHL Archive 173 "And where are you off to?" "I'm spending the day with the Hendersons." "I don't know why you don't move out there while you're at it." Sadie left them drinkin more cups of tea and went up to bed. She lay listening to the noises and gradually drifted into sleep. It was light when she woke. It was past seven. She leapt out of b bed and pulled on some clothes. As she was brushing her hair she heard a car come down the road slowly and then stop outside. She pPulleding back the curtain andshe saw that it was the Hendersons' car. Mike Henderson got out and knocked on their door. "Who in the name is that at this hour of the morning?" She heard her father's voice as she spedraced down the stairs. Her arents always slept with the door of their bedroom open. She opened the front door. She looked at hisMike's face and then said, "What's wrong?" "Can I come/in?" She nodded. He stepped in to the narrow hallyway. "Who is it, Sadie?" called her mother. "It's Mr Henderson." "Mr Henderson?" The bed springs creaked, followed by muttering overhead. Sadie took Mike into the kitchen, closed the door. "Tell me quickly, " she said. "They'll be down in a minute to see what's going on." "Sadie - " Mike paused; he put his hands on her shouflders. "I've Text Joan Lingard Tuesday, September 6, 2016 - 10:52 1032 Chapter 19 Lingard Estate 1972 Linen Hall Library Thursday, March 10, 2016 TIFF Lingard188 Manuscript Dead, Bitterly English https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/content/lingard188 Linen Hall Library Linen Hall Library Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/sites/default/files/Lingard188_1.jpg LHL Archive 179 got bad news for you." "I can see that." Her eyes widened. She felt that she had lived through this moment before. Has something happened to Mr Blake?" "Yes." Footsteps above now. "What is it? Is he dead?" Mike nodded. "He can't be dead," Sadie cried. "I saw him yesterday." "Someone threw a petrol bomb into his housebedroomhouse last night. He was killed outrightThe place went up in minutes and he didn't get out. "Oh no!" Sadie stared at himMike. It seemedwas impossible to believe. It was a mistake, a dream, a nightmare. "Swine!" said Mike bitterly, anger blazing in his eyes. "He never hurt anyone in his life." Sadie sat down at the table. "Is it true?" she asked. Now she was beginning to know that it was. The knowledge was seeping through to her brain. Mike sat down beside her. "I'm afraid it's true," he said, quietl now. Sadie was weeping with her head on the table and Mike's arms round her shoulders when Mrs Jackson came in. "What's going on?" "Sadie's had a shock, Mrs Jackson." Sadie lifted her head. "Mr Blake's been killed, Ma." "Killed?" Mrs Jackson put her hadn to her throat. "His house was bombed last night." Mr Jackson came in with his shirt hanging/over his trousers, followed by Tommy in his pyjamas. Text Joan Lingard Tuesday, September 6, 2016 - 10:52 1033 Chapter 19 Lingard Estate 1972 Linen Hall Library Thursday, March 10, 2016 TIFF Lingard189 Manuscript Murdered, Bewilderment English https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/content/lingard189 Linen Hall Library Linen Hall Library Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/sites/default/files/Lingard189_1.jpg LHL Archive "Sadie's' Mr Blake’s been murdered," said Mrs Jackson to them. "It's my fault," cried Sadie. "It’s my fault." ’’Don’t be silly, Sadie," said Mike. "You musn't say that." "It's true, it's true!" Mr Jackson shook his head, "What's it all about? How is it your fault, Sadie?" "It isn't, Mr Jackson," said Mike. "She's had a shock. She doesn' t know what she's saying." "I think I'd better make a cup of tea." Mrs Jackson lifted the kettle. "Jim, get her a glass of brandy from the front room." Mr Jackson, moving in a state of bewilderment, went to fetch the brandy. Tommy sat down on the other side of his sister. The gas flame hissed under the kettle. "I don't know what the world's coming to," aid Mrs Jackson. "You never know who'll be next." Sadie took the glass from her father and drank. She felt sick. She wanted to retchvomit. "Take another sip," said Mike. "It'll settle your stomach." "I think you'd, better tell us what happened," said Mr Jackson. Mike told them what he knew, which was little. No one had seen the bomb bening thrown. No one had noticed any strangers in the district. It was not an area accustomed to bombing. There had never been any trouble there before. Sadie quietened. She dried her tears, drank her sweet tea, leaning on the table for support. She felt weak right to the centre of her body. Then she remembered Kevin who would have set out already for their rendezvousmeeting place, not knowing what had happened. Text Joan Lingard Tuesday, September 6, 2016 - 10:52 1034 Chapter 19 Lingard Estate 1972 Linen Hall Library Thursday, March 10, 2016 TIFF Lingard190 Manuscript Morning, Summer English https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/content/lingard190 Linen Hall Library Linen Hall Library Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/sites/default/files/Lingard190_1.jpg LHL Archive 181 She looked at Mike. "If you're going now I'll come with you." He nodded, knowing by the expression in her eyes that she was t thinking of Kevin. "There's no call for you to go, Sadie," said her father. "I want to go." "I want you to stay in." "He's right," said her mother. "There's nothing for you to do anyway." "I must go. I must." "Let her go," said Tommy. "She'll come to no harm." "I'll look after her", said Mike. Mrs Jackson sighed. "Oh,all right." Sadie pulled on her anorak. "Don't worry, Ma. Coming, Mike?" Mrs Mullet was at her door. She straightened up when she saw Sadie coming out of the house with Mike. "Good morning, Sadie" she called. "Morning," Sadie called back and ducked her head before she could hear any more of what Mrs Mullet had to say. Mrs Mullet watched them drive down the street. "Kevin's waiting for me," said Sadie to Mike. Sadie told Mike that Kevin was waiting for her and he drove her out of town. They passed a few trucks and soldiers patrolling, but the streets were quiet. Once they left the city behind they saw no more kahaki. They went along country roads lined with trees tinged already with russet and yellow and orange. Summer was almost over. Kevin was there, at the spot they had arranged, lying on a grassy bank on his backw, with the sun on his face. He sat up when he Text Joan Lingard Tuesday, September 6, 2016 - 10:52 1035 Chapter 19 Lingard Estate 1972 Linen Hall Library Thursday, March 10, 2016 TIFF Lingard191 Manuscript Procession, Target English https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/content/lingard191 Linen Hall Library Linen Hall Library Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/sites/default/files/Lingard191_1.jpg LHL Archive 182 heard the car. "Well, this is a surprise," he said, nodding tosmiling atMike. Mike and Sadie sat down beside him, one/on either side. HeKevin frowned. "Is there anything up?" he asked. "I'm afraid so," said Mike. There were a lot of mourners at the funeralIt was a big funeral. Mr Blake had been well liked known and liked in the neighbourhood. Sadie sat with Moira in her house watching the procession pass down the street. She saw Kevin's dark head bent down, his face bleak below the dark fa ll of hair. Sadie gulped, covering her mouth with her hands. "Come on, honey," said Moira. "Have this cup of coffee." Sadie took the cup and drank, like an obedient child. In the last few days she had drunk more cups of tea and coffee than she would have thought possible. It wa s something to do. She had never known days could be so long. She went to bed exhausted at night and wept in her pillow and wakened exhausted in the morning to think at once of Mr Blake. "It doesn't seem possible." she said. Moira sank inot an armchair. She, too, looked tired and worrieddrawn. The children were staying with her mother in the country who was worried in case the bomb thrower might choode the Hendersons as his next target. "It's a possibility after allYou never knowMoira" her mother had said. "After all, you're a Catholic and Mike's Protestant. I told you you'xxd have trouble some day. It's not that I'm not fond of Mike, you knew that I am, but it would have been easier if he'd been Catholic." Text Joan Lingard Tuesday, September 6, 2016 - 10:52 1036 Chapter 19 Lingard Estate 1972 Linen Hall Library Thursday, March 10, 2016 TIFF Lingard192 Manuscript Funeral, Whiskey English https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/content/lingard192 Linen Hall Library Linen Hall Library Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/sites/default/files/Lingard192_1.jpg LHL Archive 183 Mike had said his mother-in-law was talking rubbush, that there was no chance of them havinggetting a bomb through the window but Moira had said in the end that it might be as well to have the children out of the way anyway until the funeral was over and they fresh country air would do them good. She might even go down and spend a week with them herself afterwards. "Why don’t you go and live there?Mike had said flung back at her and they had almost had a row. She knew that he himself was anxious about the whole situation in the city. ”We ought to be used to things like this," said Moira. "But when it's someone you know happens to a friend you just feel bewildered at the idea of people wanting to do these thingskill. After the funeral service Mike and Kevin came back. Mike kissedbent over Moira to kiss her and asked,"You all right?" She nodded. Kevin sat down beside Sadies on the settee. She slipped her hand into his. It was ice cold. "Hello," he said, trying to smile at her. "Hello," she said softly. "I think I need a little whisky to warm me up." said Mike openinged the sideboard door. "What about you, Kevin? Do you good." "Just a little." Mike made a afce at Sadie. "You're too young." "I don't like the smell anyway." Mike raised his glass to Kevin’s. "Well," he said "here’s to Mr Bthe memory of Mr Blake. We won’t forget him." "We certainly won’t said,"said Kevin. "And if I ever get my hands on the louts that did it I’ll kill them!" His eyes flashed and Text Joan Lingard Tuesday, September 6, 2016 - 10:52 1037 Chapter 19 Lingard Estate 1972 Linen Hall Library Thursday, March 10, 2016 TIFF Lingard193 Manuscript Rage, Cave Hill English https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/content/lingard193 Linen Hall Library Linen Hall Library Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/sites/default/files/Lingard193_1.jpg LHL Archive 184 colour burned high on his cheekbonesspread across his cheeks. "You wouldn't want to, would you, Kevin?" said Mike, Kevin subsided. He shook his head. "No, I wouldn't want to. But there's times when I feel such rage inside me..." "I know," said Mike quietly. "I feel rage too. But I don't want their blood on my hands." Kevin looked down at the hand that held Sadie's and tightened his hold on hers. "No, I wouldn't want their blood on me either," he said. "Will you come for a walk with me, Sadie?" They walked on Cave Hill, above the city. "I've been thinking," he began. "Yes?" He turned and looked into her face and d said quickly, "Sadie, I've got to go away. I can't stay here any longer. I haven't a jobs and I'm sick of bombs and poeple getting killed! And now that this has happened with Hr Blake..." He paused, then continued, "It's not a case of running away, you mustn't think that. I just don't want any part of what's going on here. It's not living anyway. Not living the way I want it." She did not speak for a moment. She stared down at the Blefast Lough lying below, seeing it blur and then focus and then come sharply into focus again. She swallowed. "When will you go?" she asked. "Next week." Text Joan Lingard Tuesday, September 6, 2016 - 10:52 1038