Kings of the Boyne Read Online Free PDF Page A

leading her soldiers south to support their saviour, King William of Orange, in the long-awaited battle against James. But first he had an important task to carry out.
    Summoning a handful of his most trusted young soldiersto him, he informed them: ‘Right, lads, we have been told that King William needs more horses and as soon as possible. As it would take too long to bring them over from England, it has been decided that we will make use of what is available to us.’
    Private Daniel Sherrard grew concerned. Neither he nor his brother owned a horse or else they would hand them over to His Majesty. However, this was not what the clergyman meant.
    ‘The quickest way to make up the numbers is to borrow horses from the local population – that is, our local brethren. And you, my boys, have been especially chosen to round them up. So, off you go. And, mind, we need every single horse you can find.’
    ‘Borrow, sir?’ asked Daniel, wanting to be clear about his orders.
    Reverend Walker shrugged impatiently. ‘Well, yes. I suppose. Isn’t that what I said?’
    Daniel did not look convinced, while Robert, his older brother, who had recently been promoted to corporal and had no interest in the finer details, snapped at him, ‘Come on, Dan!’
    Robert saluted the reverend and gave him a confident, ‘Yes, sir. Right away!’
    As usual Robert’s best friend, Henry Campsie, whosefather had twice been elected Mayor of Derry, walked with them and tutted loudly. Daniel ignored him. However, he could not pretend to be deaf to his brother’s exasperated lecture: ‘Why, oh, why must you always ask questions? A soldier’s lot is to carry out orders, not study them. You’re worse than Father!’
    If Robert had meant to insult Daniel, he failed. Instead, Daniel was flattered to be compared with their father, whom, he fervently believed, was the most intelligent man that ever walked the earth.
    Henry smirked. ‘Perhaps you should have stayed at home, Daniel. I always thought you would become a physician like your father.’
    What could Daniel say to this? To take offence would mean sounding critical of his father’s profession, which was, to be honest, something he had thought about for himself. However, he was not going to admit this to Henry, who seemed to think he alone knew all there was to know about anything at all.
    Robert might have distracted his friend, but he was still embarrassed and, therefore, annoyed over Daniel questioning the Reverend Walker, of all people. Surely this sort of behaviour reflected badly on him too. His little brother had a lot to learn.
    ‘It is funny how …’ mused Henry.
    Daniel was absolutely sure that whichever way that sentence ended he would not find it the least bit funny.
    ‘I still have trouble imagining you on a proper battlefield even though you’re wearing the uniform and carrying a musket. Yet I have no problem at all imagining you looking after sick people … yes, and sick animals too. Sure, why not, you’d be great at it.’
    ‘Oh, shut up your mouth, Henry!’ Daniel sniffed, pretending not to care.
    ‘Hey, that’s Corporal Henry to you, Private!’
    Daniel uttered some words that would have displeased his parents had they been there to hear them. Henry laughed and slapped Daniel on the shoulder, saying, ‘Righto, I’m off to steal some horses for the king. See you two later!’
    ‘He makes me so mad!’ declared Daniel unnecessarily.
    Robert rolled his eyes; it was not the first time his brother had said that and nor, he suspected, would it be the last.
    ‘Just ignore him. You know he just likes to annoy you. Anyway, right now, we’ve more important things to think about.’
    ‘Where are we going?’ asked Daniel.
    ‘Let’s just walk for a couple of miles. There are some farms dotted around the place and there’s bound to be a few horses about.’
    Daniel had a thought. ‘Why don’t we split up? We’llcover more ground that way. Or do you not trust me?’
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