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A Long Walk
New Year's Day, 1969, The People's Democracy Walk begins and is harassed along the way by Protestants, especially followers of Ian Paisley, who is virulently anti-Catholic. The RUC offers minimal protection and sometimes obstruction. People in Derry follow it on the BBC and radio news, and anger grows at how the marchers are treated as condemnation comes not only from London but also Sinn Fein.
Brendan catches a news image of Eamonn on the march while watching at Danny's house, and keeps checking to see if local protestants are planning any attacks. But there is no buildup of rocks or clubs on the Catholic side of the Foyle. Then on the Third, he takes a lamp to a Protestant woman in The Fountain and is treated brusquely, tries to find Billy but sees he's gone and runs over to a demonstration at the Guildhall. Hundreds of Protestants led by Major Bunting have taken refuge inside the building, intending to disrupt the march, but thousands of Catholics surround it and make threats.
As the crowd disperses, Brendan finds Mairead and Tur and learns some are bussing up to Claudy to join the marchers in the last leg of their walk into Derry. Brendan wants to join them but Bernadette is furious with him for leaving the front door open and slaps him, despite Mai trying to come between them. Brendan tells her he wasn't paid for the lamp, which is a lie, then as his mother talks with neighbors and disparages him in comparison with Eamonn, he decides to walk to Claudy once everyone is asleep.
Claudy
Brendan manages to get out of Derry, with difficulty, and only knows Claudy is down the Dungiven Road. He knows that it runs in front of Altnagelvin hospital so locates it and head on. He loves the solitude and the silence, punctuated only by the sounds of wild nightlife. It's cold and the sky overcast, but he sings The Banks of Claudy as he walks along in the darkness. It's the song from the B side of the Johnstons' record. He pretends Joanna would have joined him, would have agreed with him that people should be allowed to be who they are, and considers just walking on forever, away from Derry and his mother.
Then he hears voices and the clicking of stones being tossed about. He hides when he sees an RUC vehicle coming, then locates where the rocks are...and sees Billy helping lay up stones and cudgels. Before he can get away, he's caught by a constable but, for a moment, convinces the men he's Protestant and learns they will be attacking the marchers, when they pass at Burntollet Creek.
They figure out Brendan is Catholic, so he kicks them and runs off to hide from the constables, then tries to warn people who are en route to Claudy of what the Protestants are planning, but is not believed. One woman who knows him tells people he's simple, so all he can hope is that she will tell Eamonn and he will believe Brendan's warning. Hungry and exhausted, Brendan falls asleep and wakes to the sound of ambulance sirens. The marchers were attacked and he fears the Protestants are slaughtering them.
Altnagelvin
Brendan races up the road to Claudy but happens on a car in a ditch. The driver is unconscious, thanks to a large stone through the driver's window, and there are hurt people are in the back. One mentions Eamonn was hurt. Brendan takes over, gets the car out of the ditch and follows an ambulance to Altnagelvin Casualty, even though he doesn't drive.
Brendan can get no one to tell him if Eamonn has been brought in till a doctor shows him a couple of injured lads, and one is his brother. Unconscious, but he'll be all right; he's being kept till the morning as a precaution. Brendan is taken to the intake desk to give them a name and contact information, and he is to be fed, but he is treated with hostility by the clerk. Hungry, he buys fish and chips from the cafe and goes back to sit by Eamonn, who finally wakes. He tells Brendan a little about the brutal attack, angrily referring to the men who did it as animals...but he had trouble focusing and finally drifts back to sleep.
A nurse comes in and snaps at Brendan that his mother and Father Jack are looking for him. She notices blood on his clothing, but he tells her it is brown sauce (HP Sauce)Bernadette is furious and slaps him, over and over, until Father Jack stops her. She's taken to Eamonn and Brendan is taken to the lavatory to clean up. He excuses himself to use the toilet then nearly collapses into sobs from the fear he'd felt and his fury at those who'd tried to kill his brother. He fights to keep Father Jack from hearing until he can regain control.
En route home, Brendan realizes Father Jack is quietly excited about the attack, thinking it will help their cause. Mixed with his evasions to questions about Father Demian and Danny, Brendan now knows he cannot trust him. At home, Mairead notices Brendan has changed in some way. He cleans up and tells them of his trip over dinner...then that night the RUC comes busting into the Bogside to reassert their dominance in the most violent way possible
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