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    Mattock Makers
    Mattock Makers
    Mattock Makers
    Ebook91 pages1 hour

    Mattock Makers

    By Benny A. McFadden

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    About this ebook

    From the forward

    The intent of this novel is not historical accuracy. It is meant to entertain the reader, shelve a collection of memories for me, the author, and expose how a person of a younger generation daydreams about how his forbearers who are deceased lived their lives.

    Based on stories passed down from my older relatives and what a great-uncle of mine learned from investigating his ancestry, Mattock Makers, exists as a document of a child of a future generations imagination as it dwells on the past. Of course, there is much liberty taken by me in telling these stories. All characters, completely fictional in their thoughts, character and actions are based on elder relatives of mine now passed.

    This book is dedicated to Mary-Anne Kempton, my maternal grandmother, my favorite woman in the world; the first person in my life to read poetry to me. And; Archie, Ada, Mac, Louise, Ray- “I just wanted to see what was on the other side of the fence.”

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBenny A. McFadden
    Release dateSep 28, 2016
    ISBN9781370156801
    Mattock Makers
    Author

    Benny A. McFadden

    Benny A. McFadden is a writer of poetry and fiction that lives in San Diego, California. An avid hiker, beer drinker news junky, he does not live in a tree but occasionally likes to climb up into one.

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      Book preview

      Mattock Makers - Benny A. McFadden

      Mattock Makers

      by Benny A. McFadden

      Mattock Makers

      Published by Benny A. McFadden at Smashwords

      Copyright 2016 Benny A. McFadden

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.

      If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy.

      Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Mattock Makers

      Book 1

      Traitors and Criminals 1-

      Billy was a petty thief. His problem was that he was good enough at it to be noticed by wealthier, more important criminals. One morning, he woke up with a copper’s foot on the back of his neck and less than two weeks later he was on a British warship headed across the Atlantic to fight Adam’s patriot militia in the Americas.

      The frigate hit a storm at sea midway across. Billy was huddled against the railing near the aft of the upper deck, only a thin cloth covering his body from the cold sleet that fell from the sky and salty waves that cascaded onto the deck as the vessel dipped and leapt through the tumult.

      You a volunteer?

      One of three Welshmen yelled at him who huddled closely together under a big, thick wool blanket.

      I was accused of robbery and forgery and sentenced to serve in the Navy.

      Billy yelled back almost directly into the man’s face.

      I’ve never been on a boat before!

      The Welshman nearest Billy turned and repeated this for his two brothers. All three threw their heads back and laughed. Then, the Welshman closest to Billy pulled a clay jug out from underneath his blanket, uncorked it, and offered it over for Billy to drink.

      We volunteered for George’s navy to go to the Americas and join the Pat’s. We can’t kill Tories legally in Britain but in the colonies, if you kill enough of them, they’ll give you land.

      Just stick with us, son, the Welshman continued. We’ll keep you healthy across the puddle and switch sides as soon as we hit land. Whenever that may be, God willing, if these legalized pirates can even find the continent.

      Billy nodded and took a long drag off the Welshman’s jug. His body instantly warmed and his mind seemed to light up as if becoming fully aware of reality and insight for the first time. The grog in the jug was a kind of liquid stew with small shreds of cabbage, lamb meat, and an alcohol so powerful if it had not been cut into the stew, it probably would have been lethal.

      How old are ya’? The Welshman asked Billy.

      Fourteen, Billy answered.

      Ah! The Welshman exclaimed disgustedly, spitting into the wind and gail.

      Every year they send younger and younger folk to fight a stupid war. They’re askin’ for it. And, they’re gonna feel God’s wrath. You just wait, son. You’ll see. These Brits will get what’s comin’.

      Escape to America 1-

      Fen’s father was half-Irish and half-Scottish. His problem was that he wouldn’t admit to the Irish half and sat in his pub in Glasgow like an ignorant Scottish lord, lauding on about the British Isles someday being unified under the Union Jack if only more Irish potato farmers would sell their land and disappear.

      The other problem Fen’s father had was Doolin, Fen’s lover. Doolin was also half-Irish and half-Scottish but not afraid to admit to the Irish half. Doolin would sit invisibly in the pub watching as Fen labored over the business like a servant girl in a royal palace. Fen’s father, a widower, had no sons and often baited men two or three times Fen’s age into courting and marrying her. He wanted to retire, so the pub was up for sale along with his only daughter, who he could not will it to for profit.

      One early morning, Doolin went into the pub immediately after Fen opened to have his bangers and mash and pint of stout, and froze in horror at the sight of Fen. Her arms and neck were covered in sharp, red lash marks, the kind a person gets when switched with a riding crop. Her left cheek was bruised and swollen, obviously from a fist or boot.

      I’ll kill the man who did that to you, Doolin said to Fen.

      Was my father, Fen replied. I wouldna’ shed a tear.

      Doolin left the pub, no longer hungry, sick with anger and sorrow. It would have to be America. There was no other way.

      He hid himself for over a month and had friends of his spread rumors that he had gone to London looking for work. On a quiet afternoon when he knew Fen’s father was home alone, he snuck through the neighborhood where he and Fen had been children together, climbed through a window into the two-room cottage, caught the man by surprise, and beat him unmercifully with a club until the old slaver was limp and disfigured beyond recognition. Doolin took a butcher’s knife, plunged it into the old man’s chest, and ripped it out with a twist of his arm to make sure the deed was complete.

      Then, he walked out, crossed the street, bent to kiss the ground in the house his family used to live in, and disappeared, to never be seen in Glasgow again.

      Traitors and Criminals 2-

      The British warship Billy was imprisoned on finally found the American continent 80 days after leaving dock from Britain. If it hadn’t been for the Welshmans help, Billy was pretty sure he would have starved to death crossing the Atlantic or died from exposure.

      Before they hit land, one of the Welsh gave him a sharpened cord of oak. The Welsh had all smuggled long, metal blades with them onto the boat. The shiv they gave Billy was as sharp as a dagger, with a rounded handle on the butt-end. Billy tied it loosely inside his baggy leggings, letting it dangle next to his right thigh.

      When we’re on land, we’re going to run, the eldest Welshman told Billy. Whether Pats’ are there, or not. You follow our lead.

      Billy nodded, owing his life to the Welshmen and hoping for a chance to kill one of the Torie sailors in charge of the vessel who behaved more like prison guards than true red coats.

      Ah! Christ be in hell! The main lookout on the bow yelled back to the captain of the ship. The Pats’ have raised their flag over our landing dock!

      As the ship anchored off shore, Billy could see a bit of beach exposed amongst a rocky, tree-lined shoreline. The Brits had built two supply cabins and a rickety dock to tie their landing boats to. Sure enough, Billy could see the flag of the thirteen colonies masted over the supply cabins.

      The captain ordered one landing boat with six of his most trusted men to take shore to review the situation. Billy and the Welshmen stood close by another landing boat, waiting stoically but impatiently for the outcome of the Brits’ reconnaissance mission. The landing boat with the six men bypassed the landing dock, drug their paddle-boat up onto the sand beach, and attempted a quick, stealth-like run at the storage cabins.

      Musket fire sounded from the tree-line when the six poor bastards were so close to the cabins they had no time to turn back to their escape craft. Billy could hear wild, native screaming as more than twenty men ran out of the trees surrounding the cabins, stoning and tomahawking the two or three Brits that had

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