Behind the Walls Read Online Free Page A

empty house meant he could go upstairs and lie on the boys’ bed. This cheered him up in no time and he managed a husky woof of fond farewell when the family finally headed out the door.
    The streets were thronged with people of all ages and class. Daniel could hear the word ‘letter’ reverberate throughout. It was a rather cool December afternoon. The sky threatened rain. Indeed that’s what Daniel felt hung heavy in the air, a threat, both from the sky above and from whatever they were about to hear.
    Robert walked ahead of his parents, politely dipping his head as his friends and their parents greeted him. Daniel watched him with pride. He knows just about everyone . MrSherrard gave the barest nod of his head, leaving his wife to do the smiling and hello-ing. He was not what one might call sociable. Daniel once heard him tell his mother that he had no real need for friends; he had enough with his family. His only social excursion was to the cathedral on Sundays. Even then, when the men gathered outside after the service, to talk business and politics, Mr Sherrard would only wish them a cordial good day as he passed them by.
    At the Markethouse Alderman Tomkins was waiting to start. The letter was in his hand; he kept his head down as if he were re-reading it over and over again. His face was grave; whatever was in the letter was serious. A large semi-circle formed in front of him, thus allowing as many people as possible to see and hear him. A group of church leaders and elders stood in silence behind him. They watched the crowd with the same grave expression.
    When it was judged that the community at large was before him, Alderman Tomkins raised a hand, signifying that the chatter must cease because he was about to unveil the reason for the meeting. A great deal of shushing and hushing ensued with some individuals bent on shushing more people than anyone else. The volume of their shushing made the younger children giggle. They thought they were witnessing a new game and some even joined in, roaring ‘HUSH’ in delight until their red-faced mothersswiped at them in embarrassment.
    Finally there was silence. The crowd waited for the alderman to begin, but the good man, relishing the attention, would not be rushed into speaking. As he perused the sheet in his hand, one more time, his index finger pushed against his lips, one cheeky five-year-old demanded of his mother, ‘What are we waiting for, Mama?’
    Pretending not to hear the question, Alderman Tomkins was set to stand there a little while longer but a short ‘ahem!’ from one of his colleagues had the desired effect.
    He peered at the faces in front of him as if it had only just now come to his attention that hundreds of people were impatiently waiting to hear him speak. ‘Yes, yes!’ he said, stretching out the page in his hand. ‘We, that is, my esteemed colleagues and I, have brought you here today because a matter of the utmost importance has come to our attention.’ He paused, feeling a break was appropriate here. This time the silence was broken by the mother of the five-year-old, who was already weary of waiting. ‘But what is it? What’s happening?’
    Alderman Tomkins sniffed in his most pompous manner, ‘In fact, madam, I am about to read it if you would be so kind as to allow me to continue.’ Someone somewhere groaned. ‘Before I read this,’ he said, holding up the sheet, ‘I should tell you that this is a copy of a letter that was found on a street in Comber, County Down. The writerdoes not provide his name but it is addressed to a Lord Mount Alexander.’
    At this point one of the church leaders, Reverend James Gordon, a Presbyterian minister, longed to take the letter himself and read it out. All of this time-wasting was, in his opinion, absolutely scurrilous. He gave another brief cough, hoping to accelerate the proceedings. However, it wasn’t necessary. At long last Alderman Tomkins opened his mouth and read out the following