The Treasure of the Land
by Morgan M.

“A long time ago, before your mum was born, before this very house was built there was a warrior fighting for your life and the land you will one day own.”

 “Who grandma?”

“Listen closely child and I will tell you the story of the treasure of the stone house”

As I jerk awake, I wonder at the sound that arose me. Then I note that, beyond the curtain separating the rooms, that the oil lamp’s wick is still flickering. As I strain to listen, I hear voices talking in low murmurs. I untangle myself from the mass of blankets and ready myself for the blast of cold Scottish air to shoot up my nightgown. As I sit on the side of the bed, I think to myself who would be here this late at night? Slowly I start to walk towards the long curtain. My feet searching for the places that will not squeak in protest. As I part the heavy drape I see four figures, two of them easy to pick out. The one sitting in the rocking chair covered with the blue wool blanket is Mum. Behind her stands father, his broad shoulders filling the temporarily built cabin.

Then I realized who the other two figures were. One was the landowner, Mr. Burns. The other was Duncan, my life long friend. Even in whispers, I could tell what the talk was about. Last winter, almost to the day, we had gone to chapel and came home to find our stone house wrecked and a-flame. Duncan now worked in Edinburgh, only a two mile walk...but so busy was he with contracting job in building the huge mansions for the city folk that he was hardly ever home. As I stood and listened I was amazed at the facts that had been hidden from me the year past. I then herd Duncan speak “I dinna like the looks o’ this. Why would any rich men want our lands?” As I put together the thoughts and ideas that ran through my head I realized that they knew who had burned and wrecked our house. It was the O’Flaherty brothers. Duncan had contracted with them the year before our house was burnt and they had wanted to expand there land and their house plans even more so than they already were.  They wanted to have the loch, the meadow and the valley that our house was in, the valley that we still live in. As I continued to listen Mr. Burns started to talk, “As I said before I don’t want to raise the taxes, you know I love this family but I can’t completely ignore the brothers. If I did they would then take all of the land and my job.” As he said that a silence swept the whole wooden cabin, it seemed that even the smoke from the fire stopped traveling up to the woven reed roof. Just then the board sounded from under me. As quick as a rabbit in the woods Mr. Burns and Duncan were there to see who was the one listening on their conversation.

“Of all the places to be on a cold winters night Martha!” Duncan remarked. As I tumbled out of the curtains I saw the map that was on the table. For three hours we talked and planed. Planed on what to do to stop the O’Flaherty brothers and their want for more and more land and power. Many a’hard times had come upon people that were in there way. Mrs. O'Keefe was put out of her home the day before Christmas, she couldn’t see where any houses were in the snow so she ended up freezing near to death.  If we didn’t watch out all of Ireland could be found homeless just by them writing taxes with their fat and pudgy hands.

The talk I heard was none of which I liked in the least. Duncan was going to go back inside their house and fix up things that really didn’t need to be fixed or try and get a job in the stable, while I was going to go and work as a maid in the great house. Slowly and stealthily we were to take out any pieces of paper that had anything to do with money on them. Then after we had gathered many of the papers we were to get word to all of the towns people and servants that could be trusted, for then we would burn down their immense power and riches. It was a shady plan and it all had to do with Duncan and I getting jobs at the mansion.

Soon after I inquired about a job at the brothers mansion I was working as a maid and Duncan had a job as the stable hand. With my job as the maid I was able to go into all the rooms and poke my head around some to find any papers. The only thing was that younger of the O’Flaherty brothers liked his bed warm and thought his maid should have that job. To continue working I strongly told him that my job was to clean and that was all. I then had to work on the first floor, which was the floor that did not hold the younger brothers office. Amidst all the chamber pot cleaning and dusting I had opportunities to gain insight and information. With Duncan in the stable he would tell me who was coming or going into the house. When we learned that a map maker was coming from England we were alive with questions.

The brothers were to meet with the map maker the next day while I planned to hide in the servants stair to see if I could hear any useful information. When the meeting started I learned the true reason of why the brothers wanted us out of our home and land. They were going to dig up our land and use the ground as soil for farming. They also had ideas that there was supposed to be some magnificent material called coal under our soil that England would pay top money for. I then left the stairway to tell Duncan of the news I heard. He decided to gather up the people of the surrounding towns to tell them all of the plot to get them out of the houses they had lived in all there lives.

As the town malice grew the ideas of hate grew towards the brothers. They soon begin to lock themselves up in their mansions, dismissing workers, and selling animals. They could peek out the windows and see the hateful eyes glaring at them any hour of the day. For the ones that take land, they get their life taken.

As the time past the towns planned on how to keep their land and destroy the brothers.

One late night the townspeople awoke. The little children were kept with the elderly, and the women saddled the horses and hitched up there skirts, daggers under their cloth, and arrows on their backs. The men with swords and knifes at the side, their arrows ready to be on fire and streaming towards the house.

The first arrow was shot, the fire catching on the roof, the thousand s of burning stars came raining down on the house. The house was watched as it burnt through night. As I watched the months pass the land was then cleared, the dirt and ashes of the brothers scattered between the trees that had been kept and owned by two people for more than sixty years.

As the land was added, many families were given the land. The town was then saved by being put out on there front steps. As the years continue to pass the people seem to forget the precious piece of land that they live on. Still to this day Martha and Duncan protect the land that they were turned out of there home for. Together they protect the treasure of Scotland , the land, the dear breath of the Scots.