Gaelic Tales: A Collection of Short Stories

A Bucher's Life.

Back before cars, there where horses and carts, both costs a fare lump of cash, one single horse or cart costed up to one hundred punt; it may not see like a lot now, but back in the early eighteen century either ones cost, was like giving up an arm and a leg just to get one or the other.

A single short man fatter than most, his hair reseeding yet not fully bold. Wet with sweat, panting as he was out of breath, he wore overalls barely fitting him, he also wore a pair of Wellington boots.

He wipes away the sweat from his brow, handing the last piece of meat from his cart to the customer off. He looks up at the sky as clouds moved overhead, he decides to move into the next city called Naas, so, he walks through the town of Kildare with people greeting him as he walked by pushing the meat cart along the dirt road.

The cart he owned was fully wooden it had two sticks to hold it up straight with another bar going across it that he could push, it was small enough for him to push quite easily and large enough to hold a lot of meat.

Clouds formed overhead fully now but it not raining, he goes through the main road and suddenly stops hearing a faint whimper from somewhere, he drops the cart to the muddy ground and walks over to the whimpering noise.

He walks down a muddy alleyway where it was cluttered with thrown away gear and junk with shit smeared against the walls of the alley, down at the end of the alley there stacked where four boxes and that was where the whimpering was coming from, he walks closer to the boxes looking over them he seen a frightened malnourished dog.

The dog was an Irish Terrier cowering up against the wall of the building, he kneels as far as he could, but falls on his ass. He looks up to the sky shaking his head smiling. Looking back down at the dog, as it lowers itself further to the ground, the Butcher taps his pockets looking for a piece of food which he found in the large front pocket which he picks out a piece of raw bacon, with him holding it out for the dog.

In which the dog slowly crawls up to the Butcher snatching it out of his hand then goes back to the corner to eat it, finishing it the dog slowly walks up to the man once more sniffing him, the Butcher sat still, while the dog started licking his hand and as the it did, the Butcher started petting it and as he did the dog fell down on his lap tired and cold shivering.

The man gets up slightly struggling but managed to get up while holding the dog in his arms, he runs to his cart, placing the dog onto it. With him going to the crate he had attached onto the cart, opening it grabbing his bed cloth rapping it up around the dog.

Then he goes back to the crate and picks up more actual food and a bowl of water to give to the dog, with the dog lifting its head licking the water only slightly he also puts the food into the dog's mouth which it also ate until it was full, so it closed its eyes to sleep.

The Butcher then fixes the cloth on the dog then walks to the front of the cart picking up the bar and starts to walk. Far out of Kildare and half ways to Naas the Butcher sets up camp, night falls upon the land and the Butcher sat beside the dog petting it as he sat up against the wooden cart wheel, as he pocking a fire with a stick, beside the dog lay two bowls one half full bowl of water and the other an empty bowl of food, he had multiple bones eaten beside himself and a pouch of water that was half drunk.

He looks at the dog still petting it then back up at the sky smiling, but as he was zoning out, the dog walked up to him laying back down closer directly up against him knocking the Butcher out of the daze, again putting his hand on the dog's head petting it once more, he leans back and falls asleep.

The next day smoke smoldered from the fire as the Butcher woke up hearing the dog pissing, he opens his eyes to find out the dog was a boy. He gets up to do the same, so he walks behind a tree going for a slash, with that done he walks to the crate picking out a few potatoes throwing two to the dog while eating two of his own.