Free Katie's War by Aubrey Flegg

Nenagh.
    â€˜Gid-up, Barney,’ she called as Dafydd floundered about at her feet. The crash of his fall had frightened Barney, who trotted faster, ears back, a short jerking motion. Katie stood up and braced her feet apart. She hadn’t changed her clothesbefore coming out. Her blouse was old, her skirt patched – and she wanted to sing. She pulled the ribbon from her head and shook her hair free. Dafydd had clambered on to the seat and was holding on grimly; his ears flashed as they passed in and out of sunlight, but Katie was thinking of someone else. He would know what to do, when she found him, and between them they would stop this fight, perhaps even the whole war.
    She imagined their meeting clearly. In the street, or perhaps down at the railway station again. He’d be there, smiling a surprised greeting. She’d drag Barney to a halt. Then, leaning from the trap, she’d tell him that a mutiny was planned. She imagined him looking up at her, as he had at the station, eyes intent but smiling. Perhaps he’d put his hand in hers for a second, but there’d be no time for more. He’d go to his officer then, and she would slip away. There would be some arrests perhaps, but no fighting because the mutiny would have been caught in the bud. Seamus would come home and she could shake off Father’s shadow and be free to get on with her life.
    The jolting motion of the trap irritated her so she flicked the reins. Immediately the jolting stopped and the trap took on a wave-like motion as Barney cantered. The hedges streamed past and Katie couldn’t resist another slap with the reins.
    â€˜Feel that, Dafydd!’ she yelled as the motion changed again, this time to a smooth, breath-taking flow. Barney had never galloped in the trap before. The wind whipped at Katie’s hair, and she leant into the bend as the road swung to the left. ‘Finn MacCool would have driven like this!’ she called.
    The fallen tree took her completely by surprise. She dragged on Barney’s reins but he seemed unable to stop.
    â€˜Watch out, Dafydd!’ But the barrier across the road grew and grew. Barney’s chest was almost into the branches before they pulled up and she lost her footing. Terrified, Barney beganto back. The trap was slewing to one side and in a second it would overturn. At that moment a soldier rose from the ditch and seized Barney’s halter. The horse reared, but the soldier held him down.
    â€˜Where the hell do you think you’re going!’ roared a voice ahead of them. The branches quaked. Katie, tangled up in Dafydd’s legs, struggled to get up off the floor. ‘Hold them there, Corporal, don’t let go.’ An officer, Sam Brown belt shining, pushed into sight through the branches. His cap was knocked awry, one arm was in a sling and the other held a long-barrelled pistol which he raised and pointed at Katie. ‘Stand up! Put your hands up. Who else have you got in there?’ Dafydd appeared from the floor, pale and clearly shaken. ‘You too; your hands where I can see them. Well? Who are you, and where are you going?’
    â€˜We’re just doing messages, going into Nenagh,’ said Katie, answering his last question first. ‘I’m Katie O’Brien, this is Dafydd – he’s from Wales, he doesn’t speak English.’ Why had she repeated that stupid lie?
    â€˜Messages? At the gallop?’
    â€˜What’s happened?’ she asked.
    â€˜What business is that of yours?’ the officer snapped without lowering his pistol.
    â€˜None, none at all,’ she stammered.
    â€˜I’ll tell you what’s bloody well happened.’ Katie could see that his hand was shaking. She’d never seen anyone so angry before and was terrified the pistol would go off. ‘A friend of mine, an officer, an Irishman – one of the best, one who fought with me against the English – has been shot dead in