Description

By Brian Frost

ISBN: 978-1-84991-656-1
Published: 2013
Pages: 129

Description

It is a story of four boys born 1939 in the same ward who’s way of life’s ups and downs in health, love, daily problems, which we all suffer some part of our life, these lads are bonded together unexpectedly by an incident at their infant school by a disabled boy being bullied.

Kevin in 1946 had seen his father the captain of a Royal naval ship shake hands with his officers who served under him the day his naval service ends while waiting with his mother to greet his father home on the quayside home among the crowd of others awaiting their loved one’s seeing as a young boy men leave their ship with many injuries.

This leading to the school sports day an idea comes to Kevin,one lad called George sat near by who had been in the same race sees a lad called Ronnie, who the school knows suffers with epilepsy being bullied having his milk taken off him George rather stocky built races over to warn the to bully to leave the lad alone bringing the lad back to come and sit on the grass with him.

Seeing this Kevin with Ted ask the two to join them.

Eventually getting to know each other an idea comes to Kevin after seeing his father shake hands with his his officers asks the other three young boys to stand up, to shake hands with him to become friends to help each other when having any troubles in life not knowing this would become a lifetime of friendship for life.

Growing up from infant to become men time passes, they all trip over stones in the paths of life leading to three wise older men, sadly one of them to die while at his prime .

So we walk the long paths of these four lads Kevin,Ted, George,and Ronnie.

Which most of it is set in a quite village the very North of Ireland when Ireland was under fear-of it’s fellow men who could not share their thoughts, instead caused death to many.

MAY PEACE STAY IN NORTH AND SOUTH OF IRELAND FOR CHILDS FUTURE

About the Author

Born 24th DECEMBER 1939 Brian Frost was picked up at his place of birth London by us uncle in a brown Austin car, the war was announced, he was to be taken to the town of Grantham were many good memories were left,behind when older.

The woman he called, mother, sent his uncle by her Austin car to save him from the air-aids that followed, he remembered seeing all our British lads, plus Americans, Poles Canadians that were fighting the war , dancing in grandmothers fish and chip rooms while on leave not knowing if they would ever return,being so young Brian not understanding what is was all about.

At seven he demanded he was allowed to be taken to the Goose Fair, he suffered for his demands taking double pneumonia nearly dying his grandmother by his bedside all the time, this leaving him with epilepsy all his life.

Time passed his life with the woman he knew as mother ended after throwing stones at a doctors orchard tree smashing a doctors car window,was walked back home with a police constable , being beat on my..you know what ? by a six foot cobweb brush this was too much for his now ageing grandmother, she decided he be taken by train to Hull, by his uncle which turned into a frightening trip for any young boy.

On the main East railway line,(many will remember) the train that derailed named the ‘Cock O’ The North ‘ 60501 Doncaster to London fourteen deaths twelve injuries a memory he would never forget the train slowly passing the other he peaked out the window till was told to come away.

He arrived at Hull to be met by two people his mother, step father a taxi driver, he had never met before, the fright of being were he was changed, when he saw the bridges lift, watching the big steamer ships,and tugs at work, see them leaving for parts of the world,never at that time thinking ships were to be a chapter in part of his life.

He was the Editor of the school newspaper,when school days ended, having epilepsy he was advised to work in an office,a vacancy came for a copy boy which he took, sad to say it was not to be, through family disputes with his father he decided to leave home to go to sea.

Aged fifteen soaking wet sitting all night, then looking for shipping company next day one company took him on that was not on the Poole, (That was a company were you did six months training at nautical school) through his health jumped ships for some years ( not then realising the danger to his fellow ship mates he could have caused ) went to Africa ,America, plus Ireland were this fiction story partly comes from,he was discharged, then tried the army stationed at Aldershot but they caught up on his health problem after two other jobs for thirty five years eventually retired off by his doctor, which led him to do something he always wanted to do ,write,Tom Hadaway who wrote ‘When The Boats Come In’,Ann. Cleaves,author,Mike Kirkup, became his tutors,he had many poems published,then thanks to Chipmunkapublishing his first book was published,’The Droppings Off a Living Tree’ for encouragement to disabled people ‘ that you can still do something in life it does not end being disabled we all are born with a talent.

Book Extract

THE WAR ENDS

Ted with Kevin had just raced against each other the length of the sports field on school sports day,they both lay sweating on the grass,.” I beat you,” Kevin told his opponent friend,”My fathers in the navy he is clever so next time I will beat you, my daddy has a posh posh car and mammy with a big house,” Ted never replied at first, then told him he lived in a prefab they had a posh cold thing that made lollipops, the lad sat by him told him they were called fridges, his mother had one.

Ted was growing into a strong minded lad being let down by his father, telling his school friend his dad never bothered about him or his mothers fat belly with a baby inside, saying his father was a fisherman, when he came home on the fishing boat from the cold parts of the world he use to hit his mother also giving him the belt because he was always drunk he also use to shout and smash things,”Oh my father when on leave use to use his big posh car he never hit me,” he asked the boy what his name was, he replied Ted, ”Mine is Kevin,” they both laid down on the grass chewing the stem of grass,a fight was taking place on the playground Kevin asked who was fighting, Ted got up, ”It’s that Ronnie who Miss Jones our teacher told us when he takes poorly to get her, to help him get better, ” Ted with his new friend Kevin ran over to the lad who was having his milk taken from him, Ted knew the one taking his milk was one of the schools bullies, he told Ted to clear off he would cure mad Ronnie that was funny in the head,he went to hit him,but Ted grabbed him,” Mansfield give the lad his milk he has an illness,” the rough faced lad rubbed his nose on his sleeve then tried to punch Ted who got the punch in first, grabbed his coat taking him down onto the school playground the teacher blew her whistle telling the four to report to the head mistress the head,who told them all to hold their hands out except Ronnie, it hurt, the one who grabbed Mansfield told Ronnie he was called Ted, warning Mansfield has they left the class to watch out because one day he he was going to be a soldier, poor old Kevin told Ted he got the cane for nothing laughed as Mansfield put his tongue out at him, the lad thanked Ted and another lad called George who helped lay him down Kevin told them all to come on the grass with him, ”Mansfield has a big brother in senior school so watch out for him,” George told them he had seen him fighting before outside school,”Your George that is always getting wrong off the teacher,” he stood up pulling his short trousers up,showing his arm muscles the other three noticing his large fists,Kevin told them to sit like Indians in a circle, ” Look I have an idea when my daddy got his medal a big man in uniform shook hands with him, mammy took me to see it, so if we were like him, shake hands to become a gang like all the sailors, brave so as the bullies cannot not fight or call us.”

So it came to be a friendship that they did not know was going last a life time.