The soldiers had RUC men with them, all armed to the teeth. It would have been farcical to think that it would take this much force to lift one man but they did it in a way that wasn’t funny. No one bundled John Johns; he walked where they wanted him, head and shoulders taller than all the armed men put together. I winced when one of them pushed his head down to make him disappear inside the truck. When he was out of sight one of the English boys came over, all cocksure and finding himself hilarious as he mocked us in a cod Irish accent.

–  Don’t worry, love, he won’t be long gone and I can always come back and check up on you, yeah? Make sure you’re alright! You and yer mammy!

I don’t know why he was being an idiot from Dublin when we were in County Tyrone but I wasn’t about to ask. I suppose we all sounded the same? Bridie was quaking at the half-door; she motioned for me to come in without a word, let them have their fun. Neither of us wanted to make it any harder on John or the other boys.

He came back after three long days, unshaven and tired but otherwise not too bashed up. I waited ’til we were alone in bed before I reached out to touch a purplish bruise blooming on his cheek. I only wanted to acknowledge it; blows to the face can be very sore. He didn’t say how it had happened.

They had kept them up for a couple of nights and given them a few thumps but they couldn’t tell what they didn’t know. I was only glad to have John Johns back, because having anyone snatched away like that makes your blood boil when you have to swallow everything that the other side throws without gagging. An angry Serena wanted to know why they were so mean and we had to remind her that both sides were mean.

Mammy, flying high on the drama of being the mother-in-law to a ‘patriot’, actually walked from The Hill to Johns Farm to announce she wanted to cook us a meal. Even Bridie was to come, Bridie who had prayed on her knees for three days that her only child wouldn’t get his head kicked in behind the high walls of the barracks.