The Golden Years - chapter 1 and 2

Chapter 1 - The ship crash

Chapter 2- Master John’s true leadership

Chapter 3-Master John reveals the truth about himself to Tom

Chapter 4- Peter and Joseph find the truth about Jack

Chapter 5-Happy times          

Chapter 6- Boar hunting

Chapter 7- Joseph tells Tom about his past

Chapter 8- Bob is mean to Tom

Chapter 9- Accidental killing

Chapter 1- The ship crash

It was late, midnight, in London pouring down with very heavy wind blowing. It was on this night that there walked by a man named Joseph Marley who appeared to be very poor on the streets with his two sons Peter and Fred who kept asking him the same question over and over again, “Father can you please tell when mother will accept us once again? We really feel like having a good nap” but all he could do was weep for them “I’m sorry my children. I cannot answer this question of yours because she too had been left with no other choice at the time. You both don’t worry too much over this issue, I’ll write letters to her everyday saying how much we truly miss her and until then we’ll find a sheltered place for ourselves to stay”, as luck would have it they did for Joseph spotted a tall tree nearby this big seaside to rest in so he took them there during the night laying to sleep when all of a sudden out of nowhere they heard a man shout behind them “come on gentlemen! Let’s all head for the ship because that’s our destination to Manchester”.

They came to notice that a lot of men came rushing by him in complete joy towards this big ship which made him feel very happy too, “boys, you better get up now because our wish has finally come true. We can get on this ship that will take us all the way to Manchester to make a new home for ourselves”, the children jumped up and down at the thought of excitement so he pushed through to this huge crowd to try and step in first.  Suddenly a rich looking young man with a black beard appeared onto the scene to notice how much trouble these men were causing so he stepped in front of them with a bold face ready to handle a tough crowd “shouldn’t you people know much better than to get onto this ship especially when it’s so late at night? I suggest you all go back because it’s very likely that you could get attacked by a storm”, a frail looking man named Jack Robins stepped forward “I still think that it would be fair if you let us get onto the ship with you, please?”

 He replied getting angry, “I’m Albert Thomas Johnston and this is my ship, you’ve all got to get lost.”

Jack pleaded to him with his hands folded, “please Albert, try and understand our condition as well, we have nowhere else to stay. We just got out of prison for stealing food from the market and the truth is we are innocent poor men who no longer have a family to be with so this ship is our only destination to take us to another better home for living in”.  Joseph replied “no, I feel you should heed this person’s words and all go back for the better to not make the situation worse so maybe it’s not our lucky fortune today after all,” Albert pretended to give Joseph a friendly grin as if he suddenly really cared about them because he found out how weak they all are at being so understanding. He changed his mind.

“Ok gentlemen you all have an agreement, don’t worry, I’ll take you to your destination, hop onto the ship everybody!” He said waving everybody on.

 During the midway of the journey, Jack was the only one who could sense by hearing a lot of strong wind close by that there really was a fierce storm heading their way this time so he shouted at Albert, “STEER FASTER ALBERT BECAUSE I CAN SENSE THAT THE STORM’S HEADING TOWARDS US, PLEASE STEER FASTER” so Albert’s eyes were still on the wheel even though he was completely aware of the storm coming too then they started falling around getting even more frightened. Then with complete force it blew the ship to pieces which made everyone sink to the riverbed.

Once they were in the river, they weren’t feeling very happy with themselves once they got to know the fact that they hadn’t made it to Manchester but a huge island called the Isle of Wight.

Albert could see how upset they were so he cheered them up “Follow me! we’ll swim together towards our new home” then Jack disagreed with him “no Albert, I can understand that you’re only saying this to make us feel better but I don’t think I’ll be able to make a home on an island so I’m leaving, farewell”.
Albert jumps in front of him, “don’t be ridiculous Jack, have you gone out of your mind? I mean I apologise to you all that we’ve ended up on this island by mistake and it’s my fault entirely but I want to make it up to you by proving that I can be a good leader so will you give me the chance?”

Fred agreed straightaway “yes, I’m willing to give you the chance because you’ve rescued my family .”
 
“You see those pieces of wood there everyone?” He said pointing to the large pieces of wood from the broken ship which were laying all around the river everywhere.
“What’s your point?” Joseph asked with curiosity hoping he’d come up with a good solution.
“My point is that we can all use these pieces of wood to build a town with homes in and I’ll name it John’s island, what do you say?” They all replied together “sounds like a good plan, let’s do it”.

Suddenly Peter could hear a voice of a little baby crying so he rushed to the sound where it lead to and he found this basket in a big beach with a letter which read; “we never wanted a son but a daughter so we’re giving this child away for free adoption.” Peter picked it up and hugged it tightly, Joseph was proud to see the fact that his own young son had the heart to care “that’s my boy, well done Peter, you’ve actually done a great deed by finding this lost child to give it lots of love when his selfish parents didn’t even once bother to look back for him.”  Albert thought now was the perfect opportunity to make this baby look like his precious gold by becoming his father so he stepped forward and smiled at Peter rubbing his head, “Peter what you did was excellent but I too care a lot about this baby so can I also have a feel of it ? I wish to be his father which will help me forget my sorrows,” he slowly placed it in Albert’s arms who looked down giving a nasty grin but changed his expression quickly to fool the people, “oh look at you! You’re so adorable as a baby and I don’t think they deserve to be called your parents after abandoning you but don’t you worry because I’ll be your new father and look after you for the rest of your life till you grow up,” he looked up to face everyone “what do you say gentlemen? Shall we adopt him?” then they all gave a loud cheer lifting Albert up “you are a good man to us all so henceforth your name shall no longer be Albert but Master John, our leader.”

 Chapter 2- Master John’s true leadership

 It was the fourth year on the island where everyone was sitting round at the table at Master John’s big wonderful garden having a party  outside his house since they decided to celebrate the anniversary of his leadership so after they had finished drinking hot chocolate shouted “cheers to Master John, many more years to come, we wish you the very best” then they all applauded ,he gave a happy smile to everyone “I’m extremely grateful  and feel proud as leader of you all for agreeing with my idea because this day can really mean something for me because my son will do the chores my way in the future”.

Everyone was waiting for their soup.  Jack had been told he had 5 minutes to cook soup for everyone; this was his morning chore that had been handed out to him, so that no one is let down at his party.  Before everyone could become impatient, he thought it would be better to convince all of them for their satisfaction  “since Jack has agreed to become a family member of our island , I thought it be best for him to do some work and he told me himself today that he’ll be the one responsible to cook our soup which he’ll serve to all of us when he’s done with it and don’t you worry I trust him that he’ll do a splendid job in just few minutes that will please us all , Jack is our soup ready yet or not?” then he replied cooking in the kitchen “no Albert, it’s not, I suggest you just have patience”.

He got up saying politely “gentlemen would you kindly excuse me while I have a private word with Jack?” He came to the kitchen explaining to him “Jack, I’m counting you as my partner, please cook splendid soup for me first before serving the others because I’m starving sick.  I want it to be prepared in a professional way and it’s very important that these people like it because they’re our guests so can I trust you to not let me down?” Then Jack replied giving a friendly smile “don’t worry , the only thing left to do now is stirring as it is so I’ll be very careful, you can just go outside and talk with the others with complete ease of mind and I think it’s better if you do so because after all they’ve only come here to celebrate your big day”.

Master John gave him a pat on the back “keep up the good work Jack and thank you very much for convincing me for I don’t have to feel anymore tension” and left the kitchen so Jack knowing he had only five minutes left took out the wooden spoon in the left drawer in a rush which was below the counter next to the oven where he was standing, took it out without having to notice that there was a little bit of dust on it and stirred the soup with full speed.

He thought it would be better to serve his leader first before anyone else since he had been desperately waiting so he put it on the table “what do you think Albert? I hope I’ve obeyed your instructions” but the leader was just happy that his wish had been fulfilled and then looked up “splendid work Jack!” Then even Joseph sitting to the right of the head felt amazed himself to see his splendid work  “yes Jack , well done, a huge round of applause for him would do good” then Master John raised his hand in the air “no don’t applaud yet because although he’s prepared it well, I still am not convinced about how it might taste for me ” but just as he picked up the spoon ready to eat his precious meal, he suddenly  jumped back looking very shocked to find bits of dust everywhere.

He silently got up and dragged him to a corner far away from the others angrily asking  “were you so busy on focusing on making the soup alone that you were not attentive enough to notice that there was dust on the wooden spoon you stupid person? Give me an answer.”

Jack became alarmed, “oh my god! I’m so sorry about the terrible mistake that I had made but it’s a good thing you didn’t eat it Albert otherwise you would have choked to death. Please give me another chance to convince you that I can be a better partner for you”.

Master John replied “forget it Jack, you have ruined my special day already by proving to me how irresponsible you actually are, I demand you to go push all those rocks up there so that they get all cleared completely to become a camp once again” he said pointing straight at them behind him so when Jack turned around to have a good look, he became shocked to see these very big heavy rocks that was uphill.

“You have to do this everyday morning to night and I don’t give a damn as to how tired you might feel” then Jack fell to his knees and pleaded “no Albert please, I beg you to not punish me. I really don’t deserve to do this for I have weak arms and I can prove to you to be a better person but please don’t snatch my Tom, Peter and Fred away from me in a flash because it’s not fair when you’ve promised me that you shall return back a new life which I feel I should truly deserve”.

 He gave a very stern look, “get up Jack, don’t be such a fool because I don’t want to know about your weak arms or about your life because I’ve already made my decision and you will obey me whether you like it or not. Period.”

Master John dragged Jack uphill and left him there “I’ll be watching out for you. Get on with it.” Jack began to cry a lot of tears.

 When the leader returned, he knew very well that people would question him about Jack feeling worried .He thought of telling a fake story so he came back pretending everything was alright which made Tom feel curious “daddy what happened? Where has Uncle Jack gone?” He looked down at his son giving a fatherly pat in the head and then looked up again “everybody else listen up for I have a very important announcement to make about Jack. He has decided to go to scout for a camp to have a vacation since he needs to get rest after all the hard work and effort he put in his cooking today which I don’t blame him for so as a fair boss should, I told he deserves it after the way he’s helped me out as a good partner and I give you my word that he will return in a year to join us once again so ask me no further questions and let’s enjoy our soup.”

Tom smiled up at his father, “daddy that’s good news” then Joseph could figure out that from the way he was talking there must have been something fishy “are you sure he’s actually gone scout camping or is there some other truth that you’re trying to hide from us?”

Hearing this Master John became all defensive for himself, “what are you saying Joseph? I’m your leader so it surprises me that you would think that I would ever hide anything from you and I would be honest enough to admit the truth to everyone if I had done something which was wrong so don’t you dare suspect me in this manner without full proof ever again because I’m now known to be the head of this town which means that I would want you treat me with a lot of respect just like everybody else should so quietly eat your soup.” Joseph still doubted his character but thought it would better to let the matter go . Fred said “Master John, we are very grateful to you for spreading the good news so we want you to spread our message across wishing him good luck for he is my dear beloved uncle too.”

The leader now put on a fake smile not that he really cared for everyone but only acted so that people can begin to see the goodness in him replying back “I’m sure that he would also want luck to be on our side since we’ve showered so much love onto him as one big happy home. We all shall miss him terribly.”