Potato People C3 - Army of Ghost

Chapter 3 : Army of Ghost

Patrick scrambled down the three quickly. He ran as fast as he could to the village. He yelled, "They're coming, they're coming!". Slowly, the villagers appeared from the cottages. They looked like ghost. They were all very thin with dark desperate eyes. They were all dressed in rags.

Sean, a tall man, stopped in front of Patrick. He spoke to the others in a bitter voice. He urged the men to fight back. They must not be driven out of their homes like people in Dunlow whose village was burned two weeks ago.

All the other men were afraid but they nodded their heads. Long ago, before the British came, Sean's family had been rich and powerful. They owned all the land. They had a solid old castle which was pulled down to build Lord Egham's fine house. Now, Sean was penniless and had nothing except the rags on his back.

Sean was a lord without land. He was a general without an army. He spent most of his time playing the Irish harp and singing beatiful sad songs.

Patrick told Sean that he saw soldiers in red coats. The people in the village were not trained to fight soldiers. They had no proper weapons and no guns. They were helpless and poor. They were hungry and desperate. Sean was nervous and the others looked frightened.

Sean pick up an old rusty axe and started to walk towards the end of the village. All the men followed him slowly. Patrick also followed them.

The soldiers stopped at the outskirts of the village. There were twenty of them. The soldiers were lead by an officer riding a big brown horse. The officer had a big, bushy moustache and open kind face. Behind the soldiers were Mr. Graystone and his men. Big Finn Mc Donnald who loved fighting was behind Mr. Graystone.

Sean and his men were blocking the track down to the village. The soldiers stopped thirty yards away. An order wa given. The soldiers took their rifles off their shoulders and fixed bayonets. They then marched forward quickly.

Sean stood in the middle of the track waiting for the attack. Suddenly, the officer on the brown horse ordered his men to halt. He rode up to Sean, smiled and spoke to him. Sean moved off the track and put his axe down. All the men followed Sean.

All the villagers watched helplessly as the soldiers marched past them into the village. There was no fighting. Patrick saw Sean sitting in the mud with his head buried in his hands. Sean was very upset. He felt very helpless.