Kate Welsh - Questions of Honour (Questions of Honor)

“'Tis sorry I am for your heartache, Abaigeal. I wish your mother was here to comfort you, but would a hug from your old da help?” Michael leaned his back against the doorjamb and held out his long arms, calling to her. Abby ran to him and held on for dear life. Why couldn’t Joshua have been half as faithful as her own sweet da?

Daniel quickly changed his pants and shirt to the ripped ones he’d had to smuggle out of the house. He sure wished his ma hadn’t caught him leaving in them. Peeking around the end of the breaker shed, he checking to see if his Uncle Brendan had gone into the mine shaft. He saw no one ahead but Luther Dancy, who was almost to the breaker shed.

An arm caught him from behind around the middle and lifted him off the ground. “Now what would the boss’s boy be doin’ round here at this time of the day?”

“Let me go. My uncle’ll beat you black and blue if you hurt me,” Daniel shouted, squirming to get loose.

The big man squeezed him so tight Daniel couldn’t breathe. Lights exploded in his head then everything dimmed.

“Let the lad go, Dooley,” he heard in the distance. “He’s not lookin’ real comfortable.”

Daniel looked into the kindly eyes of Sean Murphy, the man who was sweet on his ma. “Help,” Daniel pleaded with what felt like his last breath.

Murphy looked suddenly alarmed. “Let the boy go now! Damn you, you drunken sot!”

Daniel felt himself falling then found himself in Murphy’s arms. “Now, there’s a lad,” he said, patting Daniel’s back. “All righty? What were you were doin’ with the likes of Dooley?”

“He came up from behind me. I’m not supposed to have nothing to do with men like him, my ma says.”

“And your ma would be right. That doesn’t explain why you’re here,” the tall, dark-haired man said as he made himself comfortable on the ground next to Daniel.

Daniel knew he had to tell the truth. Murphy might be sympathetic to his cause.

Murphy scratched his head after Daniel shared his plans. “I can see your dilemma. I faced the same choice myself a while back. Tell you what. I’ll introduce you to Luther Dancy myself and get you started. You can clean up at my place after work and maybe put off your folks finding out for a few days.”

“Geez, thanks, Mr. Murphy,” Daniel told him, wondering why so many men made fun of him.

“That’s what friends are for. We miners have to stick together. And we have your mother’s welfare in common, too, don’t we?”

The hair on Daniel’s arms stood up. He didn’t know what he’d heard in the man’s friendly words but something hadn’t sounded quite right. Murphy loved Daniel’s mother. Love was a good thing. Confused, Daniel looked up into Murphy’s eyes and relaxed. His blue eyes sparkled and his smile was kind and friendly. “Thanks again for saving me,” Daniel said.

“No problem a’tall,” Murphy replied and smiled.

It was a friendly smile, Daniel reassured himself. He’d been imagining that Murphy wasn’t what he seemed. Dooley had spooked him. That was all. He took a deep breath. That had to be all. Murphy planned to help him. Wasn’t that proof of his goodwill?

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