The Dolocher Read Online Free PDF

night he noticed their eyes alight with the first hand gossip and the merriness of drink and for whatever reason he pictured the dog who had been bullied away from the body by the pigs. It had waited patiently around the whole time he was at the body, long after the pigs were gone as though he was going to get another go at it and was just waiting for his opportunity. A hungry dog that was willing to wait, how often did you come across that?
     

Chapter 6
     
    It was a pitiful night to be on sentry duty. A clear black sky showered stars over the housetops of Dublin, and a small crescent moon threw what little illumination it had in its thin band over the sleeping city. The lack of cloud cover was the reason that the temperature was so low and there was a chilling wind that whipped through the streets and alleyways that led to the larger space at Cornmarket and then pressed hard against the walls of ‘The Black Dog’ and as a consequence against Martin Gleeson who was on sentry at the foot of the south tower that night.
    The night had been uneventful so far, just a few men from the whiskey cabins and taverns to send on their way and a couple of street walkers teasing him and offering their services. It was late enough now that Gleeson was not expecting to see anyone until the early morning traders going to set up stalls. This was the worst part of guarding the prison at night; there was nothing to do or see for hours to come yet.
    This was a new sentry position that was only used since the mob violence the day Olocher was taken away. The army wanted security standards improved at the prison in case they ever had to place someone there again. Brick protested about finding money to pay for another two guards every night but the rumour was that he was to pay for them himself, or the army would make sure his life was a worse hell than it already was.
    At about four o’clock in the morning, Gleeson was at his most weary and was leaning with his back to the prison walls. Twice his head dropping into sleep had startled him but he felt too tired to stand up straight. That was until he heard a noise coming from one of the thin alleys up the road a little from the prison. He stood erect and looked in the direction of the alley. He couldn’t be fully sure that he had heard something; that it had not been the beginning of a dream, but he listened closely and then he heard it again.
    Then he heard it again, and was sure he heard it this time, a low rolling noise that he couldn’t place and yet there was something familiar about it. He listened more intently and stepped out from the wall to see down the street better. Now there was a new noise and this was one he did know, it was the noise of a pig shuffling through the alleys looking for something to eat; he couldn’t stop his mind from picturing those pigs eating the body of Olocher a few days ago and what those soldiers must have seen from the description (fifth hand) that he had received. He felt a shiver of fear run through him at the thought, and then he heard the other noise again, but it was closer now, and he recognised it as a growling noise.
    The hairs stood up all over his body, and he snapped fully awake. His sensible mind knew that it was probably a dog trying to warn the pig he heard off from whatever little food it had found but the images he had just conjured up of Olocher and the pigs brought fresh images of all kinds of beasts coming at him from the darkness. The noise again, echoing off the cobbled street and stone walls, no mistaking it for anything other than an animalistic growl now, and again it seemed to be closer. Gleeson gripped his short halberd more firmly and glanced around to see if there was anyone around but there was not.
    Cold sweat gathered on his back causing him to shudder at the shock of it and he stood facing where the noises came from; his feet rigid to the spot where he stood and his ears cocked for any sound. A tremendous bark and injured