Aunt Maggie was a sweet natured woman who took the children in as though they were her own but Duncan was a tough man to find common ground with. The opinionated and feisty Hugo especially struggled.
When they sat around the table it was up to Maggie to hold them in pleasant conversation. She liked the family atmosphere. The droughty Swantin townhouse they lived in was old and had dulled plenty over the years. Maggie enjoyed the children’s voices lending some festivity. Dinner was always on the table for Duncan returning from the boats. His pipe was filled and a glass of Macks whiskey ready to warm his innards. The children were cleaned and seated awaiting him to join them before they ate. On this particular afternoon, Alice was making one of her infrequent visits back home. She hadn’t brought her children with her and her husband was busy as always at the office.
Bayside lemon sole had been served on this day. It was fresh from their own family nets. When Duncan finally joined them he noticed Hugo was staring at his plate. He found the young boy difficult. Alice had learned to behave. She was a fine young woman. The two little ones were also agreeable. They mostly stuck to the ‘children should be seen and not heard’ rule of Duncan’s house. Hugo on the other hand had wrinkled his nose at his plate.
“What’s wrong with him now?” Duncan asked, expecting his wife to answer for the boy.
Aunt Maggie looked a little concerned. She didn’t want another argument to flare up between them.
“I have asked that I not be given fish,” Hugo told him. “I don’t like to eat fish. I’m vegan.”
“Do shut up,” Alice snapped at her brother, who had joined them on this day without her own family. “He’s vegan these days …” she added with a roll of her eyes.
“Vegan?” Duncan challenged.
“It means I don’t eat animals,” Hugo returned a little testily.
Heather and Fergie looked to each other but both turned back to their own plates to show they had no issue with the meal.
“It’s fish,” Duncan snarled at his nephew.
“A fish is a living thing,” Hugo said. “I don’t eat living things. I don’t eat animals or their products.”
Alice took her napkin and dropped it onto her lap impatiently.
“Stop being so bloody ungrateful,” she warned. “It’s lovely sole and Aunt Maggie has spent all afternoon preparing it. You’re being disrespectful.”
“If he doesn’t want …” Aunt Maggie tried to protest but her husband took control of the table.
“Are you, the son of a fisherman, refusing to eat fish?”
Alice was shaking her head, holding her fork and still waiting for Duncan to begin before she did.
“I’m saying, eating animals is murder.”
“Hugo!” Alice shrieked. “What has gotten into you?”
“I’ll tell you what has gotten into me, Alice,” Hugo became heated. “For a while now I’ve been saying I am vegan but no one bloody listens. I also refuse to have our father’s name used against me in my life choices. He may have been a fisherman but I’m not. Aunt Maggie, I apologise for any disrespect to you but I will not eat any animal.”
Duncan threw his chair back and stood.
“Come with me now,” he ordered the boy. “We’re going to have some words, pal.”
Hugo stood too, not quite the height of the uncle. The two made their way to the lawns at the rear of the house. Aunt Maggie nervously pulled the kitchen window closed.
Outside, Hugo stepped onto the patio but Duncan continued down the lawns towards the sheds. Hugo had been expecting them to have one of Duncan’s disciplinary discussions. Perhaps he would throw a fist or two. As he watched Duncan head to the sheds he followed after him quickly.
“No!” Hugo started to protest.
He must have found it.
Duncan unlocked the main shed and from within it he dragged a dog by the fur on the back of its neck. The dog was an old thing. It was a mixed breed. Hugo had kept it in the shed for a couple of weeks by then after it had wandered onto their lawns. Duncan would never have allowed it in the house. He firmly believed dogs were working animals.
“What is this!?” Duncan snapped.
“It’s a dog,” Hugo answered sharply. He was concerned but his anger seemed to cover that. “It’s old and tired. I was keeping him comfortable.”
The gardener must have found it.
“Keeping a filthy dog in my sheds!?” Duncan growled. He then threw a shovel to his nephew. “Put it down,” he ordered.
Hugo glared at him. The dog didn’t have much time left anyway. When he hesitated the uncle pushed the shovel into his chest.
“Take care of it. Put the damn thing down before it spreads diseases. You will stop all this animal nonsense or you will get out of my house.”
“I’d rather leave,” Hugo spat back.
Duncan pushed the shovel into his chest once more.
“You will learn your place, boy,” he warned.
Meanwhile, back in the dining room Aunt Maggie looked at the children with some trepidation. She didn’t want them to have to worry. She tried to keep things as calm as she could.
“Maybe we should just go ahead. They could be a while,” she said to them.
Alice cut into her sole. The two little ones watched her take a bite before they began too. They heard a shriek from outside and it sounded very much like Hugo.
It was Hugo. He was screaming. He swung the shovel at Duncan when the uncle kicked the dog. The dog was too weak to try and run away. It’s whimpers infuriated the nephew. Duncan – the old fisherman – was firm enough to dodge his nephew’s swung.
“You should be put down!” Hugo cried. “You have no compassion.”
Duncan threw him back.
“Stop your nonsense, pal or I will make you!”
CLANG!
“What if I put you down, huh? pal!”
CLANG!
Hugo had managed to hit the uncle. Duncan writhed a little. He tried to snatch the shovel back from his nephew’s hand but Hugo swung it and hit him again.
Inside the house the two younger siblings looked to each other again. They always did in times of stress and nothing stressed them more than hearing Hugo’s screaming.
“Would you like some more tatties?” asked Maggie of Fergie. “I know you always liked a little extra.”
Fergie was going to give a reply but he paused and shuddered amidst another cry.
“No thank you, Aunt Maggie,” the little boy replied politely.
Eventually the nephew returned from the gardens. Hugo had left the shovel behind. His brow knotted with fury. He used both hands to smooth back his hair, sharpening the widow’s peak hairline he had taken from their father.
Aunt Maggie, Alice and the children watched him with some wonder.
“Duncan and I have ironed out our differences. He has agreed to respect my decision not to consume animal products. I will also be keeping an old terrier dog in the sheds. He doesn’t have much longer to go so I’m keeping him comfortable and happy in his final days.”
Hugo took his seat at the table again. He pushed the plate of sole away. Aunt Maggie collected it and carried it over to the counter.
“In light of family spirit perhaps you will all join me in a vegan lifestyle. It’s healthy and above all it’s humane.”
“Hugo, darling,” Aunt Maggie pressed. “You loved sole when you were little.”
Hugo nodded.
“Things change, Aunt Maggie. Humans progress and we get a better idea of where we are. Perhaps the little ones would like to help me take care of the dog. He’s very friendly.”
Heather smiled despite it all. “Does it still walk?”
Hugo nodded. “He does. He can make it a little around the yards if you lead him slowly and gently.”
Alice thought of Uncle Duncan. There was an old dog that was going to have to be led gently from now on.
Hugo Webb is passionate about his causes. He is protective of his siblings. When both of them are threatened by an online troll he finds himself racing against the clock to uncover their true identity.
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