Gone Bush with Uncle Quinn: Part 6

By CHARGER MORRISON, Illustrator MARTIN BAILEY

Mum wasn't too clear on the details but it had something to do with a drunk driver coming round a bend on the wrong side of the road. After the funeral Quinn sold all his stock and left the district without telling anybody where he was going or what he intended doing. All kinds of rumours circulated about him being in jail or drowned at sea or having gone back to Ireland but none of them were true. About a year later Ted Thompson, who had been a good friend of Uncle Quinn's and was a mate of Mum's father - that's my grandad - got a letter from Uncle Quinn to say he was shooting deer and trapping possums over on the West Coast of the South Island.

Mum remembered how everyone who had known Quinn, or "The Irishman' as they called him, had wanted to read the letter. Uncle Quinn didn't write much after that, though he did send Mum a telegram on her wedding day wishing her all the best, and when she was in hospital having me, he sent a card and some flowers. That was the last time she'd heard anything from him until getting his letter informing us of his forthcoming visit. I still couldn't see what all the fuss was about and hoped Mum wasn't letting herself in for a big disappointment.

Publisher: Reed Publishing, $12.95
Age group: 10+ years