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

Ridge but if that’s what you want to do, Sean, I’m happy for you,” Henry told him. John and the others couldn’t understand why the young man who was only twenty-seven would leave the public service to bury himself on the mountain but they had to let him go.
“Ah, lads, you can take the boy out of the Ridge but you can never take the Ridge out of the boy,” he informed them. “My Granddad is seventy-three and his brother is seventy and they have but a short time left. What I want to do is spend it with them and home on the Ridge is where we Donoghues belong. If the Hamish ever come back, well, you know where to find me, but I’m sure you’ll all do a fine job running this great country.” They all hugged and shook hands and he and his boys went back to O’Brien’s Ridge.
They made one stop on their way to the Malweenah Valley to drop off two cannons. King Thunder Cloud was very happy to see them.
“General Donoghue how nice to see you,” he gushed and immediately demanded a demonstration of the cannons. They fired into the mountainside and then of course had to blow up an old house. The Indians were very impressed.
“You do know these are going to stand here forever and no one’s ever going to fire them again,” Young Sean whispered to his Granddad as they placed the cannons into places the King had picked out for them. Sean nodded and thought it lucky that the King insist that they keep the gunpowder in the castle so that no one could fire the cannons without permission. They stacked the cannonballs in a nice stack and they did look impressive.
The King had a big dinner in their honor and Sean was seated across from an old woman who seemed familiar to him. She kept staring at him through out the meal and he couldn’t help but wonder if they had met before. Finally he asked her.
“Lass, I couldn’t help but wonder, have you and I met before?” Sean asked her. The old woman smiled and nodded.
“I met you once, Sean Donoghue, when you were an old man,” she told him and everyone looked at here with wonder. Her granddaughter patted her arm.
“My grandmother has the sight,” she informed everyone. Sean grinned at the old woman who smiled back. There was something in her smile. Then he remembered.
“It was at this table, at a dinner with King Red Cloud, you were but a wee lass and I was with my wife Maggie,” he said and she nodded. Everyone looked at them strangely. Sean continued. “You were sipping you drink and you spilled and instead of crying like most children would have, you laughed instead. Ah, yes, lass, I remember you, your name is Anjulie,” he told her and everyone gasped, especially her granddaughter.
“How did you know that?” she demanded. Sean grinned at her.
“I told you, your grandmother and I have met before, when I was an old man,” he said and the grandmother giggled. Afterwards he and the old woman took a walk on the veranda; he held her arm so she could walk easily. Her granddaughter followed behind.
“My granddaughter is looking for a husband,” the old woman told him. Sean smiled down at her.
“Ah, lass, is she now?” he teased her. Anjulie nodded.
“She’s not happy here, none of the braves suit her, she needs someone stronger, with a strong aura, you have a strong aura, just like hers, you would make her a fine husband,” she informed him. Sean grinned.
“Don’t you think your granddaughter should have something to say about this?” he asked her gently. Anjulie shook her head.
“She’s too stubborn to know what she wants and she’s already twenty-five, she needs babies now before she gets too old,” she insisted. “Just kiss her and see if you like her.” Sean shook his head but the old woman begged him to. The granddaughter was so embarrassed.
“Grandmother, why do you keep asking men to kiss me; have you no shame?” she snapped. Sean laughed at her.
“Maybe we should just kiss and get it over with and your grandmother will be happy,” he suggested. The granddaughter sighed.
“I have kissed so many strange men for this old woman,” she said and put her hands on Sean’s strong shoulders. Sean bent his mouth close to hers and closed his eyes. It had been eight years since he had kissed anyone so he wasn’t prepared for the spark that flew between them. They both gasped and looked at each other with shock. Sean spoke first.
“Let’s try that again, lass, and this time open your mouth a little like this,” he instructed and demonstrated. She obeyed and they kissed for the longest time, until they were both breathless. When they were finished they both looked stunned. The grandmother clapped her hands.
“I knew one time this would happen, if she kissed enough men,” she said, very pleased with herself. Sean held hands with the granddaughter.
“Would you like to get married, lass?” he asked her gently. She nodded. Then he grinned. “It would help if I knew your name,” he teased. She blushed.
“It’s Julie,” she answered shyly. The two women went off to inform their family of the marriage and Sean went off to inform his. They were quite stunned. Ryan and Danny were pleased as hell. They shook his hand and hugged him.
“We’re going to get a new grandmother, finally after all these years,” Ryan exclaimed and they all laughed. Young Sean grinned.
“You’ll be the first man on the Ridge to bring home a Malweenah wife, maybe I should bring home one too,” he said. Sean shook his head.
“Marry a woman because you love her, not because she’s an Indian or not an Indian, lad, love is the key to a successful marriage,” he informed them and they all nodded.
The next afternoon Sean took his third spouse in a lovely ceremony performed by Father Joseph and attended by the whole village, some ten thousand people. They rode out the following day with six wagons full of presents and another dozen wagons filled with Malweenahs who all wanted to come live on the Ridge. He was the happiest he had been in years. Julie was a very strong woman with a strong sense of her own personality; she spoke her own mind and didn’t mind telling him her opinion. She was the perfect mate for him. Not like those simpering girls on the Ridge who batted their eyelashes at him and gushed over his muscles acting like helpless little girls. What man wanted to marry one of those idiots? A man needed a woman at his side, not a silly little girl.
“Sean, this is a lovely house, why did you lie and tell me you were a simple farmer?” Julie asked when she saw the farm house. Sean laughed.
“That’s what I am, lass, just a simple farmer,” he said and the two brothers behind him broke into laughter. She grinned at them and looked at her grandmother.
“Anjulie, are you comfortable?” she asked. The old woman nodded.
“I am fine, Julie, these two men have been keeping me company,” she said. Sean helped them all down from the carriage and put them in rockers on the front porch. The grandmother was the same age as Ryan, seventy-three and very spry for her age. Now they had three old folks again.
Sally came rushing out of the house. A messenger had been sent ahead to tell her of their arrival and Sean’s new bride. All the Ridge had been buzzing for days.
“Granddad, you’re home,” she shouted and threw herself into Sean’s arms. He caught her and spun her around. If Julie thought it strange to hear her young husband being called Granddad she didn’t say, she was getting used to it; all of his men had been calling him that for days, all during the ride home. Then Sally was introduced to the two Indian women who she greeted warmly and Sean and his men unpacked and he sent them home.
“Come and see me any time, boys, we did have a great adventure didn’t we?” Sean said as he hugged them. Young Sean hugged him back.
“We sure did, Granddad, we sure did, but it’s great to be home,” he assured him. Everyone agreed with that and they all waved and went home. Sean showed his bride her new home and she oo’ed and ah’ed over everything and they decided where they would put the new things. She gasped when she saw the three paintings. Sean had put them behind glass to preserve them.
“Oh, my God, Sean, these men look just like you,” she exclaimed and she read the dates on the paintings. “Fifteen twenty-seven, fifteen ninety-six and sixteen fifty-seven; these men could be you,” Julie turned to look at him to compare him to the men in the paintings. Sean grinned.
“That’s why all my relatives call me Granddad, darling, because I look just like the first Sean Donoghue,” he told her and she nodded.
“All of these men are named Sean Donoghue?” she asked and Sean nodded.
“All of these paintings are of Sean Donoghue,” he said and she smiled.
“You’re ancestors are handsome men, I’m glad you look like them,” she said sweetly and her grandmother laughed and shook her head.
“Of course he looks like the men in the paintings granddaughter, he is the men in the paintings,” she told her. Julie frowned at her and led her to her bedroom.
“Don’t be silly, grandmother, for Sean to be the men in the painting he would have to be hundreds of years old and he’s only twenty-seven,” she said. The old woman laughed. Sean looked at the men in the paintings.
“You were a handsome man,” he told himself and wondered what on earth had persuaded him to wear that shirt with Bobby, it was an ugly shirt.
Julie and the other Malweenahs settled into life on the Ridge with ease. Everyone soon realized that they were just like everyone else except with darker skin. Soon mixed marriages between white and Indians became common; all it needed was a first, just like Sam’s marriage to Jeanie on Topanga.
Julie settled into the life of a farmer’s wife with ease. She was used to hard work and waking up at before six wasn’t hard at all. That first morning Sean woke up to go milk the cows she was surprised to find him getting dressed so early.
“Where are you going, it’s still dark outside?” she asked in a sleepy voice. Sean bent over and kissed her.
“I’ve got to meet Betsy and Daisy in the barn, we’re having an affair,” he teased her. Her eyes opened wide and filled with tears. Sean kicked himself, he really had to stop this silly joke; obviously he was the only one who thought it was funny. He took her hand and kissed it.
“They’re the cows, darling, I’ve got to go and milk the cows,” he told her. She smiled and threw herself into his arms.
“For a minute you had me worried, Sean Donoghue,” she said. “I thought I was going to have to kill you before we