The Guns of Easter by Gerard Whelan

almost angrily. She didn’t seem to know what to say. That wasn’t like her. Then she began to talk in a low, serious voice. Jimmy knew Ma’s serious voice: it meant that something was very wrong.
    ‘Jimmy,’ she said, ‘Mick didn’t think he’d get a chance to get here this morning. He was only here for a minute as it was. When he heard they were going to take over the Post Office, he knew we wouldn’t get any money today. So he decided to give us some money of his own – all his savings. It was four pounds, Jimmy. He tried to get over here last night to warn us. He wanted to give us the fourpounds, so that we could get some food and get a doctor for Sarah. But he couldn’t get away – he was moving supplies to Liberty Hall all day yesterday.’
    Four pounds! Jimmy wondered how Mick had saved so much money. Was everything all right after all? But Ma went on before he could ask.
    ‘Mick met Ella in the street,’ Ma said. ‘He warned her what was going to happen. He told her that he had to get the money to us. She said she’d bring it over this morning. She promised, Jimmy, she promised … Mick gave her the money, but …’
    ‘She never came,’ said Jimmy. ‘She knew Sarah was sick, and she never brought the money! She kept it for herself!’
    ‘Hush!’ Ma said, looking nervously over at Sarah. ‘We don’t know that, Jimmy. Anything might have happened to her. Mick said he’ll try and see Ella today to find out what happened. Maybe she’s just delayed.’
    ‘But Mick is with the Citizen Army men down in Stephen’s Green,’ Jimmy pointed out. ‘He’ll never get a chance to see her.’
    Ma gripped his hand tightly. There were tears in her eyes again. ‘Maybe not,’ she said. ‘I said I’d go down to the Green if the fighting didn’t start. But I’m afraid to leave Sarah here on her own. Will you stay with her?’
    Jimmy’s fury faded. Suddenly Ella seemed very unimportant. ‘Will Sarah die?’ he asked.
    His mother finally burst into tears. She hugged him close to her and cried. ‘Oh Jimmy,’ she said. ‘I’m so afraid she will. I’ve never seen any of you so sick, and I don’t know what it is.’
    ‘Then you can’t go,’ Jimmy said. ‘If Sarah gets worse I won’t know what to do. I’ll go and look for Mick. Nobody will notice me.’
    ‘No! I’d be terrified that something might happen to you out in the streets. If fighting starts …’
    ‘And what if you go?’ Jimmy interrupted. ‘What if you go, and something happens to you? Where will we be then?’
    It was true, Lily Conway realised. It would have to be him. There was nobody else left. She looked at her son with a new respect.
    ‘You’re right, son,’ she said. ‘But you have to promise me you’ll come back straight after. See Mick, ask him about Ella, then come back. Promise me that.’
    Jimmy nodded. ‘I promise,’ he said.
    ‘Promise faithfully,’ she said. ‘Cross your heart.’
    Jimmy crossed his heart and repeated his promise. Ma stood up and dried her eyes. She suddenly became businesslike, as if to distract her mind from worry.
    ‘It might take a while for you to get down to the Green,’ she said. ‘I have a little bread left. I’ll make you some tea. It might be all you’ll get for a while.’
    Jimmy wanted to protest. He wanted to start out straightaway. But he knew she was right. As she bustled around getting the food ready, Jimmy sat in her chair and looked up at the old clock. But he wasn’t playing the thinking game: daydreams were unnecessary when the very stuff of dreams seemed to be spilling out onto the streets around him.

9
TO THE GREEN
    BY THE TIME JIMMY HAD FINISHED THE TEA AND BREAD and got out in the streets again it was after one o’clock. He went quickly down Abbey Street, dying to see what had happened. There was no sound of shooting nearby, and there were still people hanging around. They stood in groups, discussing the day’s shocking events.
    At the corner of Sackville