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Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall,
The people of Colchester huddled within their homes as cannon fire rang out through the town. Royalist cannons were firing from within the city wall, including the massive cannon that sat on the wall next to the church and was said to rain down fire on its enemy.
Mary and her children didn’t mind those cannons, they made a horrible noise but at least they weren’t attacking them. Hiding in their house, the little girl kneeling under the table as Mary’s son clutched at her hand, they waited for the parliamentary cannons to fire back.
“Mummy, I’m hungry,” the little boy complained. Mary didn’t answer. Their cupboards were empty. They had been locked within their own city for over two months. She didn’t have the heart to tell her children that for the past few days they had been eating cat.
An almighty roar signalled the attack of the New Model Army, causing Mary’s boy to scurry under the table. Their cannons were firing directly into the city of Colchester, the metal cannonballs uncaring whether they hit Royalist soldiers or innocent townsfolk.
Somewhere someone was screaming and then there was a massive bang and Mary flung open her front door to see what had happened.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
The wall next to the church had been blown apart, crumbling to the floor along with the giant cannon that had sat next to it. All down the street people were peeking their heads around doors and through windows to see what had happened as a rush of royalist troops sprinted down the street.
Mary felt a stab of anger as she saw their uniforms. She knew that they were not the ones that were firing at her or stopping her feed her children, but she didn’t care. If they hadn’t come to hide in the city then the New Model Army wouldn’t have arrived either.
She hated them both. It was one thing to fight against other people in a far-off distant land, but this was a war between family and friends.
She knew from tiny bits of conversations that she heard from the soldiers that they were fighting a war between divine right and the might of parliament, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t care less who ruled over her as long as whoever did it made sure that there was food for her family to eat. And both sides were failing at that part.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men,
“Soldiers, get that cannon back up the highest wall you can,” an officer ordered from atop his horse. “We need something to counter this attack.” “ Sir,” a soldier said, freeing the cannon from a pile of rubble. Even from her door, Mary could see the large crack that ran down the barrel of the cannon. It was completely useless.
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
Here is Richard reading the story to you.
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