Free Friend or Foe by Brian Gallagher Page B

isn’t the be-all and end-all.’
    ‘That’s rich coming from you!’ cried Joan. ‘You’re trying like mad to make the team for this gala. You love the swimming club!’
    Before Jack could respond, Gerry turned to Emer. ‘Thanks for the sweet. See you around,’ he added to the others, then started up the hill to his cottage.
    Jack called out a farewell, then faced Joan. ‘Why did you have to say that?’
    ‘Say what?’
    ‘That I love the swimming club. I was trying to play it down, so Gerry wouldn’t feel bad.’
    ‘It’s not my fault if he’s poor.’
    ‘I didn’t say it was. But it must be horrible having no money. We shouldn’t do anything to make him feel worse.’
    ‘There’s loads of poor people in Dublin, Jack,’ argued Joan. ‘Are we supposed to worry about them all? Or apologise ’cause we can afford three pence a week for swimming and they can’t?’
    ‘I never said that.’
    ‘But we’re told to be charitable to the poor,’ interjected Gladys. ‘It says it in the bible.’
    ‘It says lots of things in the bible,’ answered Joan blithely.
    ‘Maybe we should just change things,’ said Emer. ‘Maybe we should really change the country, so no-one is poor. Then nobody would need charity.’
    Jack sensed that the conversation was going to get political, and he was relieved when Ben suddenly held up his hands.
    ‘Enough arguing!’ Ben cried. ‘We came here to have the last swim of the year. So now it’s time for the last picnic of the year. And I’ve got a whole slab of toffee cake. But anyone who wants a bit has to say “pretty please with a cherry on top”!’
    The tension was broken, and Jack joined the others in having their picnic. But he couldn’t help thinking of what Emer had said about really changing the country. If enough people shared her view, then there could be serious trouble ahead.

    Emer stopped dead at the kitchen door when she saw her father holding the gun. The weapon was a Mauser pistol that had been part of a consignment smuggled into the country by the Irish Volunteers. Emer knew that her father was proud to be a captain in the Volunteers, and that he was pleased to be given the gun from the scarce supply of arms, but he didn’t usually handle the Mauser in her presence.
    ‘Emer,’ he said, looking up in surprise, ‘you’re back early.’
    ‘Miss Gildea is sick; the piano lesson was cancelled.’
    ‘Ah,’ said Dad, rising from the table and slipping the pistol into a drawer above the kitchen press. ‘Nothing too serious, I hope?’
    Emer realised that her father had been oiling the gun. She had known all along that the Volunteers were an army that might have to go to war, but she still felt a slight chill on seeing her father servicing a lethal weapon. Dad clearly didn’t want to refer to the gun, however, so Emer followed his cue and instead answered his question. ‘No, she just has a really bad head cold, so she put off the lesson.’
    ‘Fair enough.’
    ‘Dad, can I … can I ask you something?’ said Emer, sitting at the kitchen table.
    ‘Of course.’ Her father looked at her encouragingly and sat beside her. ‘What’s buzzing round in that head of yours?’
    ‘I was just thinking. If the Volunteers have their way, and weget independence … is it … is it definitely going to make things better for people?’
    ‘How could it not? We’d be running our own affairs, instead of being ruled from England.’
    ‘So poor people would get treated better?’
    Her father looked at her enquiringly. ‘What’s brought this on, love?’
    ‘There’s a boy who goes to school with Jack. He’s an orphan living with his uncle, and they’re really poor, and his clothes are old, and his house is all run-down looking. And … well, he couldn’t even afford three pence a week to be in the swimming club.’
    ‘I’m sorry to hear that, pet.’
    ‘So if Ireland gets her freedom, Dad, will it stop people having to live like that?’
    Emer watched