Paupers Graveyard
Page 28
‘I won’t forget her,’ Lucy felt the heavy gold chain being slipped into her hand, but she was crying too much to say any more. She watched as Timmy walked over to Elizabeth and hugged her before going back to his mother.
‘I’ll see you up there,’ he pointed towards the sky.
‘You better be waiting when I get there.’
The last thing Lucy heard was the sound of their laughter, as they dissolved into pinpricks of light. The spirits in the trees rushed to join them and they became one, a silver shower of meteorites that rushed upwards, towards the heavens.
‘The sky will be brighter tonight,’ Joe wiped his eyes.
Lucy nodded. She was no longer the same woman who had first come to the field. Nothing in science or medicine could explain what had just happened. It took the love of a mother and a young boy to teach her that life was eternal. That it never dies, only moves on.
‘Do you think they’ll be special in heaven?’ she asked Joe. Only days before this question would have seemed foolish. ‘I mean, do you think they’ll be angels?’
His answer was exactly what she wanted to hear.
‘They were already angels.’
EPILOGUE
It is still there, the evil. It has not been eradicated. The unrest, the destruction, continues. The housing estate lies empty. The once pristine buildings, some still furnished, stand cold and unused like giant doll’s houses. No one who has been to this place remains untouched. Like the builder, who was found hanging from a tree in the estate. Some believe he was driven to suicide, by the generous amounts awarded by the courts to the angry residents claiming compensation. Others say that some unseen force murdered him. But everyone agrees, it is a place best avoided.
The graveyard has been completely dug over and a huge black square marks the place. No grass has grown there since that fateful day. It is a sad reminder to passers-by of the loss of those who once walked the land. At first, the place was a magnet for the curious or the derelict hoping to find comfort within the empty houses, but soon no one dared to go there, as body after body was carried from the place. The deaths served to warn the unwary, the foolish, to stay away.
Some believe the dark shadow they see on the hillside is nothing more than a trick of the light, but they are wrong. He is there. Not welcome in heaven, he lives in his own private hell. He has learned to be patient, and eventually they will come – they always do. Evil does not need to go looking. There are always those who will seek it out.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you to everyone at Mercier Press, especially Eoin Purcell for his vision, to Patrick Crowley, Clodagh Feehan, Wendy Logue and Mary Feehan. To my agent, Jonathan Williams, for his guidance. To Seamus Cashman, for his kind comments and words of encouragement.
To David Rice and Kathleen Thorne of the Killaloe Hedge School of Writing, who held up the torch to light my way.
To my friends, Eileen Townsend for her kindness and unending faith in me, Dympna Moloney, who never failed to bring me treats, laughter and understanding. To my daughter Jessica, for reading and commenting on my work, my son Robert for his patience, and my taskmaster George, who made sure I was seated at my desk by ten each morning. My aunt, Kitty Murphy, for lending me her ear, and the members of the Killaloe Writing Group, too numerous to mention, but you know who you are.
Last, but not least, to my father, Jim Loughman – thanks Dad, for everything.
We hope you enjoyed this book.
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Table of Contents
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
THIRTY
EPILOGUE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS