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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.


After they both ate, he leaned slightly patting his thigh saying, “on the cart.”


Which the dog stairs at the Butcher with his mouth shivering in fear it lays down, the Butcher smiles at the dog slapping his thighs once more saying “come on.”


The dog again cowers even further whimpering, the Butcher realizes what’s it’s scared of, so he slowly walks up to the dog as calmly as possible, with it now growling, but the Butcher moved slowly kneeling putting its hand out petting it, gaining its trust once more.


Putting one arm under the dog's chest and the other behind its tail picking it up him growling and licking its lips but that stopped once it was in the Butchers arm’s, he gets up and walks to the cart placing the dog onto it, petting it as it lay down, he steps over the bar picking it up pushing it along.


As he walked along, he looked back at the dog and saw it sitting there looking around, he thought “why is the dog so trusting?”


Ignoring it he continues to Naas to the marketplace where the dog lays its head down as he got into the town, he walks to a Shopkeeper, where the Shopkeeper gives three barrels of fish to the Butcher telling him to sell one in the markets here and the other two in the Moore Street Markets in Dublin.


The Shopkeeper tells the Butcher that the fish will go off in approximately three days as they put the barrels onto the cart the dog jumps of the cart as they did. The dog kept close to the Butcher, with the Shopkeeper asking about the dog which the Butcher tells him what had happened.


The Shopkeeper understands then tells them to wait a minute and runs back in the shop and as the Shopkeeper did the Butcher puts the dog back on the cart, moments pass, with the Shopkeeper now coming out with some food for both the dog and the Butcher, giving it to them.


He thanks them and moves on to the center of town and using his loud charming personality he sold all the fish just before the sun went down, the dog as he was doing that stayed out of sight of people just watching the Butcher sell it all, so he and the dog then walked just outside the town again to set up his camp once more, thinking (he couldn’t stay in the towns as he only made enough money for food and the essentials.)


Setting up the camp under a tree with the dog bringing him the metal rods, to set up the tent as clouds formed overhead, these are clouds that spout’s rain, in which he set it up just in time before the rain hit, he also put the crate he had in the tent in the far back of it.


He pets the dog for a while, as he eats the food looking out at the rain pondering on his past, he wonders where is his family where are they now, he knows they moved to another country but that’s all, after that he lays down on the somewhat dry ground to fall asleep.


The next day he wakes up with the dog licking his face, he laughs while sitting up petting the dog, he looks at the crate opening it seeing his potatoes with them gone off, so he through them out picking up the apples giving two too the dog and ate a few for himself he packs up and walks along to Dublin.


An entire day passes and he just reaches Dublin as the sun again began to fall once more; he sets up camp once more on a hill looking upon the city, he lights the campfire sitting just staring at the flashing lights and moving carriages going in and out the city, the yellow glows of the lanterns shining on the stones below like hot molten moving back and forth, it reminded him of his family smiling and the heat of the flame reminded them of their warm in brace.


He rubs his eyes then looks at the dog sleeping next to the fire, yawning the Butcher goes back to the tent and falls asleep, the next day arrives, they walk into town with the dog laying down beside the barrels in which they both walk across Father Mathew Bridge with people passing him having the same a types carts selling stuff, also many people lined the bridge with stalls with him simply ignoring them all, continuing heading to the Moore Street Market.


He continues walking right to the shop he had to deliver the barrels to, in which he picks up a barrel giving instruction to the dog to stay, with the dog doing as it was told, the Butcher walks in and quickly goes out getting the second barrel and bringing it in, taking a while to come out to the dog, the dog got worried so it began to yelp and the Butcher came out running and smiling at the dog, with cash in hand.


He walks to the dog smiling petting it saying, “what’s wrong huh?”


Telling the dog to sit and stay as he walk to the push the cart away, so he goes through the stalls buying meats for him and the dog, which he puts them in the trunk with the dog walking over to it sniffing the trunk, they both then the Butcher pushes the cart outside back to the place he set up camp before.


He makes dinner for both and throughout him eating the food he could hear faint rustling in the bushes, but what he heard had stopped, so he let it be.


The dog was asleep a few hours later, as the dog slept the Butcher woke up to take a leak, so he gets up out of the tent with it raining, but he continued just outside the camp with him hearing that rustling once more, seeing eyes pierce through the darkness then out of the bushes came wolfs growling at him.


The Butcher smacking his hands together a few times making himself bigger, scaring the wolves off, he sighs thankful it chose its battle.


He walks back to the camp and the dog was missing. The Butcher looked around shouting for it, but he couldn’t find the dog anywhere after searching for hours but no luck, the dog was gone, he walked back to camp saddened, unable to find the dog.


Months on end he walked back and forth across Ireland doing odd job just to get by, he still unable to find the dog, until one day he goes back to Kildare still pushing the cart, he goes through the town stopping in the middle for it for a break.


He sits on his cart rubbing his feet, then out of the corner of a building a familiar noise, a familiar bark, then outran that same dog he saved months ago, he gets off the cart and runs to it picking it up with a smile on his face, being reunited with the dog that brightened his life since that day.


 

Story by:

Ethan McCloskey


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