Guard O’Dowd said he was marching Marti up the road to Mam, where if there was any sense left in the woman she would belt the b’Jaysus out of him with a riding crop or some manner of painful strap. Guard O’Dowd still had his very big hand on Marti’s neck when he walked. When Marti didn’t walk fast enough there would be a squeeze on his neck and the guard would say by Christ it’s a whipping such as never was seen in the world I’d deliver if ye were a son of mine. The bicycle made a squeaking noise from the buckled front wheel and Marti could hardly steer at all with the handlebars all pushed to the side. He felt bad when he looked down at the bicycle, but Guard O’Dowd made it hard to look down at all when he was forever at the squeezing with his very big hand.
There were far too many boys
