Boys of the Bog
by David Bucher
About the Book
In this conclusion of Bucher's two-book 1800’s saga, Boys of the Bog follows the marriage of Dominick and Mary Tansey as they are separated by Dom’s incarceration on Spike Island off the coast of Ireland for a murder he didn’t commit. There is some doubt whether their love will survive when Mary’s childhood infatuation appears on her doorstep.
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268 pages
Boys of the Bog - Excerpt 1
This tall man made a beeline for Dom, his head raised in the air like he had a fish hook in his nostrils and was being pulled into the clouds; like a real snob, in other words. He stopped a good distance away from Dom, which wasn’t a bad idea in the prison, not knowing what disease a character might be harboring.
“You give some indication of being high-born,” the strange fellow said, as if the idea didn’t impress him very much. “I am Sir Geofrey Tichborne, formerly of Belfast, born in Wimbledon England and a Knight of the Crown. I couldn’t help but notice your correct use of the English language and I thought that perhaps your education might extend beyond Spike Island.”
The way Sir Geofrey delivered his introduction made Dom think that he might be the real thing but he decided to proceed cautiously. He told him that he only went to a Catholic elementary school in Cork, though he had read a good deal.
“Would you by any chance be acquainted with John Francis Dwyer of Cork?”
“I can’t say that I am.”
“Well you know who he is, don’t you?”
“I can’t say that I do,” Dom said, determined not to feel like a disappointment.
“Pity. Well who do you know?”
“Not anyone you know, I’m sure.”
“What are you in for, if you don’t mind me asking.”
“You know it’s considered bad manners to ask a man what he’s
in for?”
“Oh my,” Sir Geofrey said, flustered, but inching closer to Dom anyway. “It must be very bad.”
“I’m in for murder.”
“Oh dear me!” Sir Geofrey tootled like a goose and started to run for it.
Boys of the Bog - Excerpt 2
With the knowledge heavy in him that his father would be tried for treason, Joseph did what he always did when he was troubled: he went and pulled weeds in the fields. There was something very satisfying about pulling up big weeds. If only life was always so simple, he would think, that he could just give his troubles a good yank and leave them in the dirt to die. It was unbearable to consider the possibility that he wouldn’t see his father outside prison for another ten years or more. Though he’d asked to go with his grandfather to meet his father, Grandfather had insisted that it would not be a good idea yet, but Joseph would demand it now. If his father was going to survive, maybe Joseph might give him the reason to live.