The Guardian

Coming Soon in summers: Join the Force
Advertisement: written by Allan Martin
February 16th,1886

Reading the advertisement in the newspaper while travelling by tram to school, Noel heard the bell chime for his stop. The day was unsympathetically over from that thunderous showers to a flamboyant abstract of snowflakes which made the Baggot streets of Dublin look picturesque.

“It can’t be the same as every year!” said Mark to Emile.

Emile looked to the clouds and astonishingly replied,

“I think summers are coming soon. I can see the sun coming up from the other direction”.

Mark faced down and shook his head which perhaps shaped as “Oh! No!” and swung his arm around Emile pushing both off to the school.

Emile was a playful cute little girl who enjoyed being happy at most times unlike his brother noel; a mute and estranged from the family and who was only responsible for his welfare being. Emile had the same notions of her mother as she loved to be with horses and would always try to learn horse riding in the house where her nanny worked.

Both Emile and Noel were children of Mrs Marta Mcright; a well-known jockey player in the early parenthood period situated in the bridge-wood of Nottingham. Mrs Mcright couldn’t bear what she had experienced after a dispersing act of marriage for which took her own life. She left the children to the care of Ms Mary Walsh who was a good friend of hers. Having taken care of the children for Ms Walsh meant more than getting married. Therefore, she couldn’t leave her set of boundaries and prepared herself as a mother of the two. However, since she was not as educated as Mrs Mcright, her day job was to look after the stable and the horses of the wealthy Murchada family.

One day while in class, there was a notice which was brought by the office administrator to have Mark to meet the dean. It was usual for the class to go in complete silence whenever notice was called out. It could probably be situations were fees weren’t paid or someone in the family wasn’t feeling well or the rare possibility was to hear the happy occasion of having an additional born in the family. Emile was submerged into thoughts of not having seeing Mark for a while. Meanwhile, the students were waiting for their next teacher to take in charge of the subject on relequant physics. Moments later Mark returned and asked permission to leave for home taking Emile along with him.

“Aren’t you taking Noel along?” asked muinteoir.

Mark looked at Noel with a grin and shook his head to the muinteoir. Emile left with Mark without giving a hint to Noel. After they left, Noel began panicking and it was difficult for him to be left alone without her sister. The muinteoir calmed him down and said,

“Everything is alright. You may be seated in the library till the dean calls you”.

Confused by her words, he left to the library. His guts felt that there was something wrong back in the house and he had to get there quickly. Though been watched by the librarian, he was drenched with nervousness. He believed that he had to do something quickly. None of the storybooks that he read was going through his head as his chest was gasping for more oxygen due to the awakening of anxiety.

Being a mute, his expression wouldn’t come out as words and screaming for pleading was his only option. Even though the librarian was reluctant to release him; Noel’s disconsolate character made him feel guilty. Noel left the school and rushed back to his house. He didn’t wait for the tram to take him. He crossed the busy road and held on to the edge on the moving Oregon wagon. Though the pathway was busy, most of the carts were giving way to this wagon. Noel was quite surprised to see the juncture. Within in few minutes, reaching Richmond hills, the wagon turned its direction to the north-west of the streets. And for him, this was the time to make that jump from the wagon from the same direction that he climbed upon. His mixed thoughts took him to a wrong decision that as he jumped, his left leg slipped and took him to an open drainage pit. Noel was badly hurt that he kept crying. People walked away from him and wouldn’t dare to help him as he was stinking. He lay in the pit for a while till he regained his upper strength and climbed back to the pathway. His thin and healthy body compromised on the skin layer on his knees where the thin blood vessels gave way to the worldly exposure. Panting for breath, his motions deteriorated.

As the front door was locked, Noel dislodged the lever of the window of his house and made through without breaking the panes on it.

Questions began to fill his mind as he questioned his thoughts,

“What happened to the house? Where is mum?”

The house was partially dismantled but mostly ransacked. It looked as though the house was on fire or had a huge explosion that the roof wasn’t visible anymore. He threw his bag on the table and looked for mum. But in vain she wasn’t anywhere. The tingling feel on his left feet was as painful as getting beaten. He took a shower and then applied some ointment and wrapped the wound with the bandage which he found in mum’s wardrobe. It was still cold and shivering.

The day was getting dark and cold. Though weary, he was determined to know where both Emile and mum were. He went to Murchada’s family, where mum was working. However, as per them, she never came. Instead, the family ordered the maids to have taken him to the stable and provide him with food and shelter. Noel thanked the family and left to the shelter.

It was broad daylight, the next day and Noel left the stable looking for mum and Emile. He was already tensed and helpless. He walked many miles asking people as to where mum could be. Few people tried to guide him which led him to a dead end while the others mislead him for fun. Later afternoon, he went back to the Murchada’s family and asked them to help him find mum by writing on the pieces of paper he had.

A vicious voice staggered,

“Who is looking for Ms Walsh?” asked the wife of the landlord.

Noel held a paper across to her which said,

“I am looking for my mum, Ms Walsh! Please help!”

“You are the mute child of Ms Walsh isn’t it?” asked the lady.

Noel nodded and looked back at her.

“I think you should leave now and stay in the stable for a few days. Do you know how to bathe the horses and clean the stables?” replied the lady.

Noel nodded which meant yes and kept pointing the paper with his finger. She stared at him and the paper and without a word closed the front door in front of him. By this time, he understood that something really went wrong with mum and he had to find both mum and Emile.

Noel stayed in the stables taking care of the horses and feeding them.

Noel was turning twenty-seven on 13th February 1913. It has been seventeen years since both mum and Emile were missing from his chapter. He had given up with all hoping turning grey and that his focus was on horse racing heading as a jockey for Murchada family. Even though working in the stable and with the help of Murchada Family, he completed his schooling.

One day, while bathing the stallion named after the landlord childhood name Josephine; the stallion whined. He stood in two hind legs looking at something or someone. Noel kept the brush aside and looked around to see if anyone was around. Suddenly, the landlord’s lady came sprinting off from the house with a gun on her left hand and pieces of papers on her right to the stable. Noel looked perplexed and tried helping the lady. She nudged him and said that the papers shouldn’t be thrown away and to be used wisely. The lady pushed noel and told him to hop on the horse and take Josephine.

“I always used to believe that you as a person were satirical. But I realized that I was being wrong all the time” said the lady in pain.

“Now go! Take the horse and run away from here before anyone sees you”, she urged.

She ran back to the mansion with the loaded Carbine barrel gun. Noel stood perplexed with Josephine in the stable until he heard few shots fired. He grabbed whatever clothes and the papers he had been given and hoped on Josephine and sprinted away.

Out of many places he knew to hide; with Josephine, the south lotts racing venue would be the best place he could be safe, he thought. He rode to the venue, where he met Mr Vincent Donald. Even though an American, he was married to an Irish and the proprietor for South Lotts racing.

Both Noel and Mr Donald gazed at each other for a while with doubtable questions that linked within their minds. Donald looked at the stallion and said;

“You have a fine stallion out here”, how much do you sell him for?”

He wrote in pieces of papers to the questions he asked.

“I am not here to sell. I am Mrs Martha Mcright’s son Noel. I know she used to race here”, he wrote.

Mr Donald’s eyebrows rose with perplexion.

“Are you her son Noel? Where is your sister Emile? He asked.

Bowing his head down and nodding made Donald believe with different thoughts that something happened to Emile.

Donald gave both food and shelter to them and later heard all the stories from Noel.

“What do you want to do boy?” he asked.

Noel took the advertisement from his pouch and showed him the same advertisement he saw when he was ten years old.

David gave him the opportunity and sent him to join the forces while Josephine was left under Donald’s care.

On 5th October 1924, eleven years later, Noel was dropped at the South Lotts venue in a prestigious vintage Mersarati by the south camping officer Mr Kelly Mac Gabhann. Noel had a walking stick with him. He retired from the force with a leg injury as Briogáidire-ghinearál.

He was welcomed by a well-grown lady; could be in her sixties wearing a tartan earasaid till her toes and a tonnage pinned with a brooch; who smiled at him and tears flowing through her cheeks with joy.

She hugged him tightly and said;

“Oh! My little boy! How much I missed you?”

She began crying clinging on to his shoulders.

Noel was patient enough to withstand the unprecedented action from her. She held his shoulder with her arms and looked at him gracefully.

“You didn’t realize who am I isn’t it?” she asked.

Shaking his head, she held him and asked him to walk her to the house. Mr Kelly Mac Gabhann was also welcomed to the house to have a cup of tea with them.

“Where is Sir Donald?” Noel asked her by using hand signs.

Wiping her tears and holding his hand, she made him sit at the couch.

Mr Vincent Donald came and hugged him with tears of joy and excitement.

“If I may ask, who is she?” he showed signs generously out of respect.

Looking at her with a smile and he said to Noel that she is your nanny, Ms. Mary Walsh.

Before he could explain further, noel dropped his stick and went hopping to her and hugged her tightly. Lots of questions were flowing out from him like the river.

Mr Donald continued saying that she was kidnapped by the Murchada family’s elder brother and was sent to the Nottingham to retrieve the ownership of Murchada mansion’s documents for which they thought to have hidden by one of their family relatives. That’s when and where he found Ms. Walsh. He planned her escape and both of them left Dublin for a long period of time. Time flew and his father promised to give a share to him and as for his wife, purchasing the Lotts venue was her dream.

“After our generation, I want you to take care of it”, he said.

Noel hugged him thanking him for taking care of his nanny.

Later that evening, Noel went to the stable and couldn’t find Josephine. He whistled so many times. But in vain, he turned to see a huge statue at the centre of the venue named Josephine. He knelt down in front of the statue and wept.

Ms Walsh joined Noel by the statue and softly pressed his shoulder and told him that Josephine was a strong horse. They didn’t send Josephine to race at the venue, instead took care just like their child.

“He missed you a lot. There were times where even we couldn’t stabilize him but always used to look surprised when Donald whistled. After his death, we built a statue and commemorate before any races begin” she said.

A few days later, while Noel was tidying his room, a set of papers dropped on the floor. He knelt down slowly parking his support stick by the wall and picked it up. It was an ownership document under his name. He took it to Sir Donald and asked him to check if this was valid or not.

Both Sir Donald and Ms Walsh was shocked and asked,

“Where did you get this? How is this in your name?”

Noel told him that these papers were given to him by his landlord before he fled from the mansion. Sir Donald cried with joy and told him that this document was the owner to the Murchada Mansion which is legally bound under your name.

05th December 1969, Noel was 83 years old lying on his death bed along with his children Carrie and Elizabeth. Both the children were married. However, Carrie was the only girl in the family who stayed in the mansion along with her family and taking care of the racing venue.

The word of the Noel’s dying wish was spread all along with Dublin.

One morning, the guards at the gate alerted that one of the sisters from the Loreto Sisters was arriving to meet Briogáidire-ghinearál Noel Mcright. Stepped into the bedroom with the help of her nanny was Sister Emile Mcright.

Both Noel and Emile looked at each other and cried softly narrating all the stories they had in the past and time along with their hearts left the Murchada mansion into the wilderness of the heavens.