Synopses & Reviews
Meggy is lucky to attend a hedge school with a fine teacher who makes learning come alive. But every day there is a chance that their hidden school may be discovered. The first of a set of charming stories told with an Irish lilt.
Synopsis
The English have outlawed the education of the Irish Catholics. But the Irish are a resourceful lot and have set-up hedge schools, small places of learning, whose discovery means jail or worse. Meggy is lucky to attend a hedge school with a fine teacher, Master Cleary, who makes learning come alive. But Meggy worries that an informer will give the school away. She fears one day she'll have to hide from the soldiers with her younger brother, Dan, and see her beautiful school destroyed.
Not once, but twice the secret school is discovered, and the second time Meggy is standing watch. Despite her warning signal, Master Cleary is shot and cannot run from the soldiers. It is up to Meggy to find a way to save her beloved teacher and herself. The first of a set of charming stories told with an Irish lilt, a hint of laughter, and sense of high adventure.
Synopsis
"Run, Dan, run This may be the most important hide-and-seek game of our lives."
Danny tumbled. Meggy scooped him up and carried him to the tunnel-like entrance in the hawthorn hedge. She pulled her brother's back to her chest and told him to cover his face with his hands so the thorns wouldn't scratch him. As they trembled there, a rush of footsteps padded by. The sound was too soft for a soldier's boots. Meggy prayed that the owner of the footsteps would soon find a place to hide. She felt something warm on her hands. Blood was trickling down Danny's bare legs where the thorns had scratched them. Still, the hurt was smaller than what they would suffer if the soldiers caught them.
Meggy and Dan escape the notice of the soldiers " this time " but their hedge school is destroyed and they must find another secret place to learn. The English have outlawed the education of Irish Catholics and if they are caught learning, it would mean big trouble for both the children and their families. Meggy and her classmates find another place to learn, but if the soldiers find them again, they may not be so lucky. This is the first of a set of charming stories told with an Irish lilt, a hint of laughter, and sense of high adventure.