I came too when someone nudged me awake. I had fallen over on the bench. There was a man standing in front of me, a frown on his face. He was tall, slender and had dark hair. What was peculiar about him though was that he dressed in a fashion 30 years too late.
“You can’t stay here boy. Off with you before I call the North West Mounted Police on you.”
I sat up, and rubbed my eyes, still in shock from the night before. Why did this guy say North West Mounted Police?
“If you are not gone by the time I get back to my house, I will be phoning them. Now be gone.” The man turned and walked back across the street to McConnell House. It was R.L. McConnell himself. His wife was sitting on the porch, and three kids were playing in the yard. One boy was an Indian.
The house had gone back to its neutered state, no different from any other house in the neighborhood.
McConnell shut the gate behind, then turned around to look at me. I stood up, grabbed my bag that I had left under the bench, and walked back to Inglewood road. I could feel his gaze on my back the whole time.
There was a large crowd along the side of Inglewood road. How the excited chatter from the people there hadn’t woken me up, I don’t know. It was on both sides, and stretch down both ways out of sight. They were ready for a parade.
It didn’t take me long to find out that the royal couple were going to drive down the street, and everyone here wanted a glimpse of the King and Queen. Their cross country tour had been a huge success, and Calgary wasn’t any different.
I joined and waited with the others. It wasn’t every day you got to see the Queen that Karl insisted he had an affair with, and her husband. There was an excitement in the air, and happiness. People were ready to leave the ten dark years of the Great Depression behind, and this would be a good jumping point for better years. War still loomed on the horizon, but this would be an enemy we could fight.
RCMP lined the road, keeping the people back and looking for trouble. They weren’t the only ones though, there were CPS officers everywhere also. I wasn’t too worried, as I figured that protecting the King and Queen took priority over catching me, if they were trying to at all.
The crowd started to cheer, people waving Canada flags in the air. A vehicle was spotted coming down the street. People started to jostle, trying to get closer to see, but no one seemed to mind they were so happy. The excitement was catching, as I was with the rest of them trying to see the vehicle coming down the road, the horror of the night before melting away.
The royal couple were out front, in the back seat of a Lincoln Convertible. Behind them were mounted police, wearing their ceremonial uniforms. There were other cars further back, local politicians and VIPs.
We all waited in bated breath to see them pass right by us. Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed someone different from the rest. On closer inspection, I noticed that he wasn’t cheering with the rest of us. Worse still, the person was looking directly at me. Ever worse than that was that it was Inspector Deane.
We had a three second staring contest, then he looked back to where the royal car was closing in on us. There was another man on my side of the street looking at me from that direction. It was none other than Sgt. Foley, twirling his baton and smiling at me. As much as I wanted to see the royal couple go by, I decided to get out of there.
I clawed my way to the back of the crowd, which wasn’t too hard since three people took my spot. Sgt. Foley did the same. He was still some lengths behind me, so I started walking the other way. I hoped only Foley and Deane were after me, so I didn’t run, just strolled as if I had all the time in the world.
Foley kept pace behind me. Deane was also matching my stroll, except he was walking in front of the crowd, looking at both Foley and me. It they hoped I would be foolish enough to turn off to some abandoned street, then they were the fools.
I picked up the pace, but the both of them matched it. The crowd’s cheering became ecstatic as the Lincoln the royal couple was in came closer and closer. The King and Queen were waving to the crowd, and their loyal subjects were waving back. I looked back to Deane, who now was motioning to someone in front of me.
Two more policemen stepped out of the crowd in front of me. I was now trapped with them in front, Foley behind me, the crowd to my left and a house to my right. Foley smile had gotten wider, and he moved rapidly toward me, the two officer’s doing the same in front.
Soon my freedom would be taken from me, and possibly my life. I turned toward the street to watch the royal couple drive by. The citizens of Calgary continued to cheer, unaware of the drama that was happening behind them. I joined them, hoping that the Queen would look my way. Her eyes looking my way for just a second, and I felt a special moment between us, before they moved on. I had always felt like an outsider since coming to this town, but at that moment, I felt truly Calgarian. Foley, Deane, and McConnell house could go to hell.
One of the policeman grabbed me, and then threw me to the ground. I hit the ground hard, scraping my palms on the pavement. The policemen were then yelling stop. I couldn’t have been any more stopped then I was now.
I looked up and saw them running from me, toward Foley. Foley swung his baton at the lead officer, striking his head and causing him to hit dirt. He tried the same with the second officer, but this one was smarter and grabbed Foley’s wrist, wrestling with him for his baton. Foley was screaming, and thrashing around like a wild animal, causing some of the citizens to turn and see what was going on.
Inspector Deane came up behind him, grabbed the baton belonging to the first fallen officer, and then bashed Foley’s head in from behind.
Page 8 of the Lethbridge Tribune:
CHILD MURDERER HANGED.
Lethbridge – At 10:00 AM earlier today, Patrick Sean Foley, former member of the Calgary Police Service, was hanged for the murder of Billy Breton of Lethbridge, and Thomas Wilford of Medicine Hat. Last month Foley was sentenced by Judge Newcombe for the two boy’s deaths. The jury was that found Foley guilty had only recessed for 15 minutes before returning to the courtroom to announce their verdict.
The verdict was hardly surprising, as Foley, himself admitted that he had killed the boys. Foley represented himself with an unorthodox defense. He claimed he was forced to murder the boys by a haunted house.
To most that would be crazy, but the same defense had worked earlier this year. In May, Foley was arrested by the Calgary Police Service in connection to two other boys’ deaths. When arrested, he claimed he had been forced by a house, that the people around Calgary called McConnell House, to kill the two boys to feed the house.
That would seem preposterous to anyone. Anyone outside of Calgary. The Calgary jury did not think so, finding Foley not guilty of the two murders. That did not stop the Calgary Police Service from running Foley out of town.
The families of Billy Breton and Thomas Wilford have the citizens of Calgary to thank for their deaths. How a miscarriage of justice could have ever happened is beyond me and this newspaper. May they rest in peace. – Harris
BINABASA MO ANG
McConnell House
Historical FictionTy, a young man riding the rails is swept up in the events of the Great Depression. He has seen many hardships, like most of that era, and has survived them. But he is about to encounter something even more disturbing when he arrives in Calgary...
