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Summary chapters 1 - 5
Two young people, Sadie and Kevin, meet incidentally on the street in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Sadie is a Protestant girl - Kevin a Catholic boy. They used to be quite close friends when they were children, but have not seen much of each other for a few years.
They sit for a while in a coffee bar and talk about old days. Afterwards they catch the bus to Cave Hill. While they are waiting for the bus, Sadie's friend Linda Mullet comes along. She is also a Protestant girl. It takes a little while before she finds out who Kevin is, but when she does, she runs home to spread the news that Sadie is with a Catholic boy. Both Sadie and Kevin know what she is going to tell her family and friends, but they don't care.
At Sadie's house, the family are waiting for her to come home. Linda Mullet comes in to see Sadie's brother Tommy, whom she is dating. She says she has seen Sadie with a boyfriend at a bus stop. Sadie's parents ask Linda who the boyfriend was, but at first she will not answer. Tommy tells his parents not to ask about it, and says it does not matter whom she hangs out with.
But Linda can't hold her tongue, and right before she and Tommy leave, she tells them that Sadie is with Kevin - the Catholic boy who used to live in the neighbourhood a few years back. Sadie's parents get a terrible shock, and Tommy is mad with Linda because she told them.
Kevin's family also wonder where he is, and his mother is starting to get worried. Out in the streets, Kevin's younger brother Gerald and all his friends are playing soldiers and pretending that they are in a real war. Brede, Kevin's sister, is also worried about Kevin.
Sadie and Kevin have gone to Cave Hill together. They are talking and dreaming themselves away to Bangor - a peaceful holiday resort in the Republic of Ireland. On their way home they drop by the café, and there Sadie meets some old friends. They all look at Kevin. Although they don't say anything, Sadie knows very well what they are thinking.
While Sadie and Kevin are at the café, they have their first fight. They argue about religion and stuff like that. Both become pretty mad, but soon it blows over they become friends again.
Linda Mullet's mother comes over to visit Mrs.Jakcson a few days later. She says that her daughter has seen Sadie waiting for a bus with a Catholic boy. Mrs.Mullet says she does not like this. It isn't natural.
One day Linda and Tommy are sitting at the café. Sadie and Kevin come in. Kevin has to leave soon, but Sadie joins Linda and her brother. Linda and Sadie start to argue, and Tommy has to go between them. He takes Linda home.
At home Sadie's father is very mad. He says that she was not allowed to meet the Catholic boy Kevin again. Sadie is angry and runs out with her father yelling in the kitchen. Tommy does everything to support Sadie, and he tells his parents that there is nothing serious between Kevin and Sadie.
SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS 6-10
Kevin comes home, and he tells his sister Brede about his meeting with their former friend Sadie Jackson and
how they have gone up on Cave Hill together.
Brian, a friend of Kevin\'s, wants to show Kevin something the next day. Kevin and Brian go up to Brian's room. Brian picks up a rifle he has acquired and some ammunition. Kevin does not like this at all, thinking of Brede who almost got killed in a fight some time ago. Brian gets angry with Kevin and calls him a traitor. Kevin does not care; enough people have been killed.
Sadie and Kevin go to Bangor together and have a great time until they start fighting over the religions again. Kevin is so upset that he walks away and leaves Sadie alone in the rain. After a while Kevin comes back and they become friends again. He holds around her while they kiss. They miss the last bus, so they start walking while trying to get a lift. Finally a car stops, and it is no other than Kevin's Uncle Albert.
Albert offers them a lift. After a while the car breaks down and won't start again. They all have to walk to Belfast. Kevin and Sadie don\'t say anything to Albert about Sadie being a Protestant. Kevin walks Sadie home, but in her street they meet Mr. Jackson, Mr. Mullet and Tommy who are out looking for Sadie..
Mr. Jackson and Mr. Mullet don\'t like that Sadie is with Kevin. When Kevin goes home, he meets Brian, who also doesn't like Kevin seeing a Protestant girl. The next day Kevin and Sadie meet again. They walk hand in hand without thinking of other people. They decide to meet again the next day. When they say goodbye they kiss, and they are in love when they go home that night.
Brede go to see Sadie because she wants to talk to her about Kevin. He had been badly hurt in the fight the night before. The reason was that he had been seeing Sadie - a Protestant girl. Brede does not want Sadie to meet Kevin again. She is afraid he might get hurt again. Sadie does not know what to do; she is in love with Kevin.
Summary Chapters 11-15
Brede goes home to Sadie`s place. She wants to talk to her. Together they go to a café, and Brede tells Sadie that she and Kevin shouldn't see each other any more. Brede is worried for Kevin since he has just been beaten up because of his relationship to Sadie.
Sadie, who has a date with Kevin the same day, thinks about it for a while, but she decides to go and see Kevin after all. She can't let him down. When she comes down to the riverside, she meets Kevin and an old teacher of hers, Mr. Blake. Kevin has bruises all over his body from the fight the night before.
Since Kevin is feeling sick, they all go to Mr. Blake's house, and Mr. Blake calls a doctor. Sadie tells Kevin that this has to be their last meeting. But Kevin doesn't want to stop seeing Sadie. After the doctor has changed Kevin's dressing, Mr. Blake drives them both home. He invites them to supper the coming Friday.
When Sadie comes home, Mrs. McConkey\'s shop has blown up. Mrs. McConkey dies in hospital, and the shop has exploded and burnt down.
Sadie, who has been fired from her job due to her relationship with Kevin, starts working for Mr. Blake as a housekeeper. Then she gets another job as a baby sitter for Moira Henderson\'s children.
Kevin's mother gives birth to a baby-girl, and Kevin breaks up with Kate Kelly, who becomes very angry.
Later the army is having a search in Kevin's street. They find nothing in Kevin\'s house. But later that night some soldiers come back for Kevin. The McCoys are very upset when the soldiers show them a box with a gun and ammunition in it.
The soldiers suspect it belongs to Kevin, because somebody has seen him hiding it in Kelly's scrapyard where he used to work. They bring Kevin to the police station. But they have no firm evidence against him (apart from Kate Kelly\'s testimony), and the police believe him when he protests his innosence and let him go.
When Kevin gets out the next day, he walks in between two houses. He is waiting to have a word with his old \"friend\" Brian Rafferty.
Summary Chapters 16 - 20
Mr. Blake gets a threatening letter in his mail, telling him that he \"has been warned\". Obviouldy, this is because he has taken Kevin and Sadie into his house. Mr. Blake hates anonymous letters, so he burns it. That night, someone writes a message on Tommy and Sadie\'s house: \"Traitors live here\" it says. Tommy and Sadie wash every letter away, so their parents won't notice it. Most likely the message has been written by their former friend Steve who is in the Protestant lodge..
The next morning, Sadie and Kevin are on an outing with Mr Blake to Bangor. While they are driving in Mr Blake\'s car, one of the wheels suddenly falls off. The car crashes against the sea wall. Mr Blake is slightly injured, and they drive him to the hospital. A nurse says that he has to rest for a few days. Next day, two policemen come to his house. They say that it wasn't an accident. Someone had losened the wheels on Mr. Blake's car. Clearly, somebody wants to kill him.
On his way home that afternoon, Kevin meets Mr. Kelly outside the scrapyard. Mr Kelly is Kevin\'s boss. He tells Kevin that he is fired, because his daughter, Kate, has told him that Kevin was the one who had placed the box with the gun in the scrapyard. Later Mr. Kelly apologises for his behaviour, and offers Kevin the job back. But Kevin says no.
The next day Mr. Henderson calls on Sadier. He tells her that Mr. Blake is dead. Someone has thrown a petrol bomb into his house, and he never managed to get out in time.
Many people come to Mr Blake\'s funeral. Sadie sits with Moira and watches the procession pass down the street, while Kevin and Mike take part of it. After the funeral, Sadie and Kevin go to Cave Hill. Kevin tells her that he is sick and tired of bombs and people getting killed. He says that he wants to leave town the next day..
In the morning, Kevin\'s mother makes some food for him for his trip to England, and tells him that she will miss him a lot. His sister Brede follows him down the street, but the last part he wants to walk alone. Standing beside the Liverpool shed he finds Sadie. Kevin is very happy that she managed to come and say good bye. Sadie, however, has a surprise for him. She tells him that she is leaving home too, and that she wants to go to England with him.
They walk hand in hand to the white ship.
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