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Fenian Fiasco in Kayak Mag

Did you ever read about the Fenian Invasion of Canada in history class? When I first heard that a bunch of cranky Irish Civil War vets invaded Canada to free Ireland, I didn't think it was true. But it is and I've written a short story about it.

The Horse Borrower is my latest short story and it appears in the Feb/March issue of Kayak Magazine.

The story is most definitely fiction, but it was inspired by the notes in a Canadian officers journal about a mysterious stranger who borrowed a military horse to hunt Fenians, but was never seen again.

Here's a sample:

It's hard to be a spy when your stuck up a tree. Having two thousand enemy soldiers camped at your feet doesn't help either. How I ended up in this tree was a combination of bad luck, bad timing and bad choice in best friends.

* * *

It all started two nights ago, just after midnight. Owen was waiting for me when I arrived to the docks at Pratts Ironworks. Hundreds of men in green uniforms were there too. They silently loaded wagons of ammunition onto two steam tugs waiting to cross the Niagara River.

"We're invading Canada!" Owen said. My best friend grinned and pushed a faded green jacket into my hands. It was a uniform. "I signed us up, Jake. We're Fenians on an adventure!"

Read the rest of the story in the February/March issue of Kayak, which is available in book stores and magazine shops across Canada. If your book store doesn't carry Kayak, then bug them to. It's a great Canadian magazine that deserves to be read by every kid in the country (and I'm not just saying that because I write for them!)

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