The Fourth Life of Sean Donoghue by Trish Hanan (children's books read aloud .txt) 📕

and I’m pretty sure I’ve forgotten where it was by now,” he told her seriously. She nodded.
“I can’t remember anything when I was twelve,” Marianne said and sighed. She said goodbye and left him. Sean sighed and turned back to Maggie.
“Her parents are going to have their hands full with that one,” he told her. Suddenly he heard a twig snap and he glanced around.
“Marianne is that you, lass?” Sean asked and he heard a rifle shoot and felt something hit him right between his eyes and then he felt nothing.
A few minutes later two pairs of feet came running up and a male voice spoke.
“Is he dead, did you kill Satan?” Another voice answered.
“I got the bastard; that will teach him to stick his nose in other people’s business.”
Then the feet ran away and the afternoon passed. Sean lain on the ground, his eyes staring up at the sky, but they saw nothing. Birds flew by and one landed on him and pecked at his nose and then flew away. Bees buzzed around, one landed on his face and then flew away.
A few hours passed and then Sean groaned and his hand went to his forehead and came away and he tried to sit up, but fell back down too dizzy. His head ached so badly and his eyes were dried and itchy, he blinked furiously trying to get them to tear. Eventually they did and he was able to see from them. He was still in the graveyard and it was night. The summer air was warm and there were bugs crawling on him.
“Fuck,” he exclaimed and brushed them away. Then he felt his forehead and damned if it didn’t feel like a hole or something there, it was all swollen. Did someone throw a rock or something at him? He staggered to his feet and walked to where he had left Sir William and the horse was still there tied to the tree. Sean gave him some water; if it was dark the poor beast had been there all day. Then he dragged himself onto him and rode slowly home taking the back way in case whoever threw the rock was waiting to attack him again. He’d give a thousand gilders that it was either that idiot of a priest or that stupid Ted Stevens, only they would be so stupid as to throw rocks at people.
Sean put Sir William in the barn and fed him, and then he stumbled up the slope and into the house. Everyone rushed to the door and gasped with shock when they saw him.
“My God, Sean, what happened to you,” Ryan exclaimed and he tried to help his Granddad to his chair. Sean waved him aside.
“I’ve got to pee really bad, lad, get me to the bathroom,” he instructed and they helped him there. Sean leaned up against the wall and told them what had happened.
“The priest threw a rock at you while you were visiting grandmom’s grave, that son-of-a-bitch, I’ll kill him,” Ryan exhorted and Danny agreed. Sean nodded.
“If I didn’t feel so bad, I’d help you, lads,” he said and grinned. He walked over to the sink and washed his hands and then splashed hot water and soap on his face. Then he peered in the mirror and got a closer look at his forehead and a wave of shock washed over him.
“Well, fuck me,” he yelled. Danny and Ryan looked shocked. Sean turned around.
“Look at this both of you and tell me that I’m not seeing a bullet in my head,” he demanded. Danny and Ryan looked at each other and then Sean sat on the toilet to let them get a better look. They both gasped with shock and outrage.
“Fuck, son-of-a-bitch fuck!” Ryan shouted.
“That cock-sucking bastard, I’ll kill him with my bare hands!” Danny shouted. Outside the bathroom the women heard all of this and looked at one another with wonder. What on earth was going on in the bathroom? The door slammed open the men helped Sean to the kitchen and sat him down on a chair.
“Sally, get the first aid kit please,” Sean asked softly and Sally rushed to get it. Bill who was standing by was instructed to run and fetch Lizzie and Douglas. He ran out. Annie who was standing there saw the shock and rage on her men’s faces.
“What’s going on?” she asked, her voice trembling. Danny hugged her.
“Someone shot Granddad in the head while he was in the graveyard visiting grandmom,” he told her as gently as he could. She had to sit down.
“Who would do such a thing, when you find him, I’m going to kill him with my bare hands,” she spat and they all laughed. Sally came with the kit and they had her make up a paste with the green leaves. She was glad to have something to do with her hands. Doug and Lizzie came and they both took a peek at Sean’s head. They both gasped with shock.
“Yep, that’s a bullet alright,” Doug said with wonder in his voice. Lizzie nodded.
“Who would do such a thing, everyone likes you, Granddad,” she said. Sean shook his head.
“I can name two people who don’t, in fact I was warned a few months ago to beware of them,” he informed them. “Ted Stevens and Father Zucker who’s been going around preaching that I’m Satan incarnate and I deserve to be burned at the stake. It seems that one or both of them decided to shoot me instead.” Everyone shook their heads.
“What is this country coming to when a man can’t visit his wife in the graveyard behind a Church for God’s sake without being shot?” Lizzie wondered. Doug patted her on her back. Sean gave instructions for Lizzie who was used to dealing with cuts and bruises to remove the bullet. Of course the head wound began to bleed very badly as head wound do, but they used towels and soon it stopped. Then Lizzie stitched it up and they put green paste on it and wrapped a bandage around Sean’s head.
“You’re going to have a headache for a couple days, Granddad,” Lizzie told him. “And you probably shouldn’t go into a deep sleep, you might not be able to wake up again, that’s what happened to poor Adam when he hit the tree. He just couldn’t wake up again.” Sean nodded. He didn’t tell them all that he had probably died out there on the grass for a while and then his body had come back, he didn’t want to freak them out.
So instead he ate the dinner that he missed and read for a while and told Ryan and Danny that he was going to go dig in the mine for a while.
“Do you think that’s safe, Sean, to go our alone?” Ryan asked, his face looking worried. Sean grinned.
“They think I’m dead, I’m safer tonight that I will be tomorrow when they find out I’ve got a hard head,” he teased and Ryan laughed.
“I suppose you’re right,” he admitted and then added that if Sean should get dizzy, he should stop digging and rest.
“I’ll be find, lad, I just have a bit of a wee headache, that’s all,” he told him and hugged and kissed them all goodnight. Then he dressed all in black, took his knife and sneaked up the back side of the trail and up to the Church. It was all dark, the good priests and his housekeeper were in their rooms, tomorrow was Sunday and they needed their rest for another long two hour sermon.
Sean sneaked into the Church, it was easy, no one locked their doors on the Ridge, who would? Everyone trusted their neighbors. There was a noise down in the cellar; he heard it as he crossed the rectory towards the living part of the Church. Curious, Sean crept down the stairs to investigate. He closed the heavy door on his way down, if the good Father was down there, he wouldn’t want anyone interrupting them.
Sean smiled when he saw it was indeed the good Father Zucker and he was counting gold coins and placing them in the hollows of fake books. So that’s how the Church moved their wealth Sean thought, fake books. Everyone wondered about that, he thought they dropped it into beer barrels but they put it into fake books and books were heavy so no one wondered about it, very clever. Sean purposely creaked the last stair and Father Zucker looked up.
“Fran, is that you, you know I don’t like to be disturb during meditation, please go back to bed,” he sounded irritated. Sean guessed killing someone made you very irritable. He breathed a little louder. Father Zucker gave a big sigh.
“Ted Stevens, how many times have I told you not to bother me at night like this, you’re a very rude man, now go home, I’m tired of hearing about you beating you wife, get control of yourself for God’s sake,” he snapped. Sean made a moaning sound. He heard the rattle of coins and then the sound of footsteps walking nearer. Sean smiled and then the priest rounded the corner and saw him.
“Hello, Father Zucker, how lovely to see you again,” he said cheerfully. The man gasped, his eyes got big and round and his hand moved to his mouth.
“You, you can’t be, I saw you, you’re dead,” he stammered. Sean smiled and moved closer. The pries backed up.
“So that was you in the graveyard this afternoon,” Sean said and he moved his finger back and forth. “Naughty, naughty priest, you shouldn’t go around killing people, it’s not nice.” The priest moaned.
“But I didn’t kill you, it was Ted, Ted Stevens, he’s the one who shot you,” he stammered. And he made the sign of the cross and picked up his cross, holding it out he shouted, “Go away, demon, I command you by God’s holy name.” Sean laughed and reaching out, plucked the cross out of the priest’s hand. Father Zucker moaned and he tried to run away, but Sean blocked his path.
“You cross won’t work against me priest and you know why?” he asked him. Father Zucker shook his head. Sean smiled at him and leaned forward.
“Because I don’t believe in your God, you have to believe in your God for the cross to work, didn’t they teach you anything before they made you a priest?” he teased him and the priest covered his eyes.
“Go away, Satan, go away,” he said and began to sob. Sean gave him the biggest eeriest laugh he could muster and then he pulled out his knife. The priest’s eyes went even bigger than before.
“Have you heard the stories about the cannibals on Topanga priest?” Sean asked him almost casually. The Father nodded. Sean laughed again. “Well, first I’m going to skin you like a deer, and then I’m going to slice you and eat you a little bit at a time and enjoy every bit because that’s what Satan does,” he told him and lifting the knife in the air, Sean walked closer. The priest screamed and then dropped dead. Sean kicked him and laughed.
“Well, that was easy, all I wanted