Chapter 6
His Terrible, Horrible Woes
Several days after his father’s tragic mistake, Liam unlatched the gate, let it slam, and hurried toward the family. “Da, you’ll never guess what happened today.” His father shoveled and spread dirt with fine stones on the pathway to the barn, and Beth snapped beans into a large bowl with Finn on her lap and his tiny hands snatching at them. Are we a happy family, yet?
“Well, when I tried to get water for the gang, a native man nearly shot me!” Liam caught his breath. “He would’ve, if his wife hadn’t grabbed the gun barrel and aimed it at the sky —”
Blackie hurried over to her, wagging his rear end.
“Blackie, you always act as if I’ve been away for a long while.” She waved the book. “I have a surprise.”
Mick grinned at her. “I never took the time to teach Blackie to read, macushla. Though he asked me nicely whilst we worked the sheep.”
“Da.” Bridget snorted as she climbed the porch steps. “You’re always a witty one.” She glanced at Liam. “You look scared, brother. I’ve not seen that. Except maybe when —”
“Your brother is not a fearful one, is he now?” Mick winked at her. “You interrupted our Liam. He was ’bout to tell us, what happened at the rails today, weren’t you boy-o?”
Liam’s eagerness faded somewhat. No matter that he was fifteen, he would always be his father’s boy-o. He released a quiet sigh.
“Really, Liam? You go first, then. It’s dangerous out on the prairie. Why, only yesterday Priscilla Smith told us about her brother nearly getting shot, for no reason! Isn’t Priscilla a pretty name? She says mine is just as pretty —”
“Bridget,” Beth and Mick said together.
Liam leaned against a porch post. “After thinking about it, I’m a little wary of telling you what happened, Da. Don’t want to lose my job. Our family needs the pay.”
Mick sliced the air and wagged his head. “No worries. ’Twill all work out, aye? Tell us who the man was and why he nearly shot you. That, I’d like to know. The railway doesn’t take kindly to that sort of incident.”
“Fine, then. You know the Haggerty farm on the way to the creek? Always go there for a shortcut. If Mr. Haggerty’s home, he restrains his dog and lets me pump water from his well or the creek for the crew. I can make a quick trip of it. But he was gone today, and his fierce dog wasn’t behind the fence.” He grimaced. “Hate it when he’s wandering free. I carefully backed up, kept my eyes on him, and went far around the homestead as quietly as I could. Don’t mind telling you, it slowed me down terribly.”
“Aye.”
“I hope you carry a sturdy stick with you when you fetch water, aye?” Beth’s green eyes flashed, and she paused snapping the beans. “But I’d do the same and go around it. Water, now? ’Tisn’t worth a dog attack.”
“Oh, I’d also say that.” Bridget shuddered. “That would be terrible. Josie Anderson got bit by their neighbor’s dog, and she’s still got the scar on her leg.” “Boys might like a scar like that because they can —”
“Bridget, shush now.” Mick scowled. “You’re sidetracking your brother. Let him finish.”
“Just so you know, Bridget, I don’t want a scar to show off, and watching out for the dog wasn’t the worst part of my day.”
Mick growled. “Tell us ’bout the gunshot, me boy-o.”
Heat rushed up Liam’s chest and neck, then spread to his face and ears. “It’s shameful, but I got lost a little. I wasn’t on my regular path, and the hills look the same out there, Da.”
“Could happen to anyone.” Mick twisted his mustache. “You need a compass, don’t you, now? ’Twill keep you safe.”
“Sure. I’d like that. The crews are getting farther and farther away laying track. Can I ride Storm after this?”
“Aye.”
Bridget sniffed. “Who’s sidetracking now?”
“Thanks, Da. It’s part of the story, Bridget. Anyway, I tracked the direction of the sun, like you taught me, and it seemed right. But I ended up at a house I’d not seen before. It might be on the edge of native land. I try to not do that, you know? They are proud, and been through many tough times.”
Mick nodded. “Aye, they have.”
Liam twisted his fingers. “A woman was in a fenced-in yard feeding her chickens. I was almost at her house when a big gray dog ran around from the back and barked wildly. Thank God he was behind his fence. I still stopped. She spied me, so I politely told her I was a water boy looking for water for the rail crew and I got lost somehow, and could I please fill my buckets with water?”
Bridget giggled. “Of course, you always use your manners, Liam.”
He glanced her way. “The woman nodded. I went closer because everything was going fine, until the front door opened. A man stepped out of it with a rifle already at his shoulder and shot right at me! I ducked below the tall grass. The woman screamed at him in words I didn’t understand. He shot his gun again.”
Mick jumped to his feet with his fists balled. “Twice, you say?”
“Yes, Da, but she kept yelling at him. After a minute, I slowly raised myself enough to peek through the grass. She was whacking him with her fists, and he cowered back into the house. I didn’t fetch any water there.”
Beth groaned. “Rightly so, aye. That’s a terrible thing to do to a boy.”
“I kind of felt sorry for them, Beth. We wouldn’t want our land taken away, would we?”
“No. We’ve experience with that in the Old Country. But someone needs to know. Is it wise to not tell, Mick?” Beth tugged off her gloves and laid them in her lap. “I’m surprised at you men. Am I the only one to think this way?”
Mick scratched his beard. “In Ireland, we fought for centuries to keep the British from taking our land away. I understand that feeling. Yet, shooting at a child! He might’ve killed you, me boy-o. Would be best to report this, nevertheless.”
Liam knelt before his da. “I know. But he didn’t. She wouldn’t let him. Please don’t tell. I won’t be going back that way. I’ll stick to the path I know and plan ahead. If I can take Storm from now on with a compass too, I’ll do much better to not get lost.”
“Aye. Can’t fault a man for trying to protect what’s his. But I’ll not be so generous with me boy’s life in the future.” He ruffled Liam’s hair.
Beth scowled but said nothing.
*** © 2026 E. V. Sparrow
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