“What are you talking about?” Fiona said. “The gypsy women aren’t packing. You’re mental.”
Archie addressed Fiona. “Seems your man told them before he left that you were all leaving the compound.”
“Did he tell you that, Fi?” Sarah asked.
Fiona shook her head. Her shoulders sagged as if she’d had the wind knocked out of her.
A flash of color and motion caught Sarah’s eye. Looking past Archie through the open door she saw two men on the ground beating each other’s brains out. She stared at them in horror.
“Archie, go break that up, please,” Sarah said. “If you have to shoot someone, I don’t care.”
Archie stepped outside and Sarah turned back to Fiona. “Those gypsy women are your people, Fi.”
“My people?” Fiona laughed roughly. “Please.”
“You need to go to them and stop them from leaving.”
“Why? Let them go.”
Sarah grabbed her arm. “I know how you feel, Fiona, who would know better than me? But they’re your people and you—”
“They’re not my people! They never accepted me. Not for a minute. Think about it, Sarah. My child’s been taken. Everyone knows it.” She spread her arms. “See any gypsies here in this room?”
“It’s because they’re all out looking for Ciara and you know that.”
“The women aren’t. The women are packing to leave and I say let ‘em.”
Sarah stared at her in frustration as Archie came back in.
“We might have a problem,” he said. “Those two gallutes was talking about burning the Pikeys out. No offense to you, Missus,” he said to Fiona.
“Are you seriously telling me the morons in this camp are choosing now to pick a race fight?” Sarah said.
“Well, all the Pikey men are gone,” Archie said with a shrug as if to say it actually had some logic to it.
“How many men did you say are left in the compound? Not counting the priest?” Sarah asked.
Archie frowned. “Five, but two of them are usually hammered and one’s a teenager.”
“Do you have a plan?” Fiona asked Sarah.
“No,” Sarah said. She put her hands to her head. “I really don’t have a single idea of what to do.”
Archie stepped into the room and put a hand on Sarah’s shoulder. “It’ll be all right, lass.”
That’s just what I told Siobhan, Sarah thought. When I knew she was going to die.
She turned to Fiona. “Do you have the key to the armory shed?”
Fiona frowned. “Aye. Why?”
“I said we’d defend the compound,” Sarah said, “so that’s what we’ll do. Starting with the stupid buggers inside the camp itself.” She looked at Archie. “First we’ll all go to the gypsy settlement and sort that out. Then we’ll go to the armory shed and see what we have. Fi? Will you come?”
Fiona shrugged, but she stood up from the couch and reached for her jacket. Together they walked out onto the porch when Sarah saw two women directly in front of Fiona’s cottage attempting to pull down one of the battery-operated path torches. Behind them, two more women were dragging food out from a storage hut. Sarah saw them throwing frozen packets of fish and vegetables into large canvas bags.
“They’re… looting!” Fiona said, her mouth dropping open in shock.
Sarah put her hand on Archie’s shoulder and pulled his gun out of his holster. She pointed the gun up and for the second time in two days, the sound of gunfire exploded in the air. As soon as she fired the gun, the looting women screamed and dropped their bags. Doors opened on the cottages that lined the path and several women appeared with small children in their arms or clutching at their pant legs.
Holding the gun down by her side, Sarah pushed ahead of Archie and Fiona. The two women ran away but two more emerged from the shadows. One had a gun.
Shit. Was the armory shed not locked?
Sarah recognized the woman as one of the original compound women. Her husband had died of cancer the year earlier.
“We’ll be saving ourselves, Yank,” the woman said. “We won’t be waiting for the Wicker Man to pick our bones.”
“Just thought you’d take some stuff that wasn’t yours first?” Sarah said. Fiona came up beside her.
“That’s Kendra,” she said to Sarah in a low voice. “She lost her husband last year.”
“I know. I remember.” Sarah pointed the gun at the woman.
“Now, lass,” Archie said from behind her. “Mind yourself.”
“Leave if you want, Kendra,” Sarah said. “No one will stop you. But put the lantern down.”
Kendra was about to answer when a piercing scream filled the air. Sarah snapped her head around to see Abby flying down the main path with arms outstretched.
“He’s here!” she shouted. “The Wicker Man has come for us!”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Thirty yards outside the front gates, a torch had been jammed into the ground to afford the best view of the Wicker Man and its contents. From where Sarah stood on the catwalk, she could see the contorted body crammed inside the wood-ribbed cavity.
Fiona stood beside her and Sarah felt her trembling.
“How could this have happened?” Fiona asked. “How could the bastards have gotten so close to do this?”
“I don’t know.”
“What are we going to do?”
Sarah turned to look down at Archie. It appeared he had issues with heights. He watched them from the ground.
“First thing we need to do is find out who’s inside that thing.”
“Oh, Sarah,” Fiona said.
“I know. But there’s no help for it. Someone will have to go bring him in.”
“Why not send Archie out there?”
Sarah eyed her sister-in-law. “Because I need him,” she said firmly. “Two of the village men can go out there.”
“They won’t go.”
“In that case one way or the other someone’s probably going to get shot,” Sarah said, turning to climb down the wooden ladder to the ground.
In the end, Dez and Patrick, the two men who had been fighting earlier went without cajoling or threats. Sarah and Fiona watched with rifles from the catwalk for any hint of disturbance from the surrounding bushes or trees. The men dragged the contraption through the front gates and Nuala stood by to crank closed the heavy door. Fiona scrambled down the ladder for a better look but Sarah remained on the catwalk. She knew it wasn’t John or Mike in that thing and she could survive whoever else it might be.
If the druids had been watching them retrieve their dead, they were doing it silently. The sound of women’s raised voices within the compound caught Sarah’s attention. The body was one of the gypsy men. An older woman in full sequins and a turban pulled at the body and slapped at anyone trying to help extricate it from the wicker frame.
Archie caught Sarah’s eye. She felt her stomach plummet. The body of the gypsy was one of the searchers who’d gone out with Declan. Dear God, did that mean the others were captured? Or worse? Sarah turned to scan the bushes. It didn’t make sense. Had they really been captured without firing a shot? Ten men? How could all ten be taken? She rubbed a hand over her face.
The gypsy women’s wailing rose and fell. Sarah felt her head begin to throb. She stared out at the bushes again. Were they watching? Listening? Did they know there were only women, children and old men left inside?
The sound of breaking wood made her turn back to look at the people gathered below. Archie was taking an axe to the Wicker Man. It was mezmerizing to watch him hammer into the structure. With each swing of the axe pieces of branch, twig and wood flew in the air. The women were fascinated. Some of them even cheered as they watched the vicious destruction of the wooden monster.
Thank God for Archie. In a way, he was slaying the man’s killer. And while that wasn’t really true, in a sense it was. And in the same sense that the people of New Dublin needed to believe it, well, that was all that
mattered.
*****
The delivery of the slain gypsy could only mean that Declan and his group were taken. Possibly killed. Sarah tried to tell herself it didn’t mean anything as far as Mike and his group were concerned since they had gone out separately. In fact, if anything, it was evidence that Mike was still alive because if Cormac had him, it would surely have been his body in the Wicker Man, not the gypsy’s.
The gypsy women took the body with them to their settlement. Sarah walked back to her cottage flanked by Archie and Fiona. She motioned to Nuala and Abby as they walked away from the front gate.
“Come to my cottage, will you?” Sarah called. “Bring the kids.” They nodded.
Sarah turned to Archie. “It’s a warning. I think it means we have some time or else they’d just have come for us.”
“That sounds right.”
“Will you go house to house and gather every one in?” Sarah asked. “Tell them to come to my place as soon as they can.”
She and Fiona walked to Sarah’s front porch. There was nothing Sarah could say to comfort Fiona. Nothing that wouldn’t sound like a lie. The problem was they didn’t know. They didn’t know if the men were alive or dead. They had to deal with the facts in front of them.
Sarah stood on the porch and counted heads as the remaining compound group gathered. Her heart sank to see so few. She looked at Archie and mouthed, Is this everyone?
He nodded solemnly.
Fifteen people, not counting the eight children. Ten women and five men. The gypsy women numbered right at twenty, most of them strong, resilient and able. But none of them present. A few of the women waiting on Sarah’s porch held babies in their arms. Kendra, who’d waved a gun at Sarah just a few hours earlier, sat on the front step, waiting to hear what Sarah had to say.
Sarah cleared her throat. “Okay, y’all. Here’s the deal. We’re in trouble. I guess you know that.” Nobody spoke. Sarah made a point to look at everyone’s face and try to take the measure of them. They looked afraid but not hysterical. Not yet anyway.
“First I want to say that our dear friend Siobhan Murray died early this morning.” Sarah struggled to take a long ragged breath before she could continue. “We’ll pay our respects to Siobhan and bury her behind her cottage tonight.” She glanced at Father Ryan standing on the edge of the crowd and he gave her a sad smile and an imperceptible nod.
“After that, we’ll need four volunteers to watch the back part of the compound. Tommy Donaghue has been up in the north tower all last night and today and he needs to sleep. So I need someone to take his place tonight and three other people to man the other watchtowers.”
The audience murmured and one of the babies began to cry.
“I know,” Sarah said. “You can look around and see, it’s mostly just us women but that’s what we’ve got. Although, Father? If you could see your way to taking one of the night watches, that’d be a big help.” He nodded.
“Any one else who can do it,” Sarah continued, “please see Archie Kelley who’s in charge of security until Declan gets back. Meanwhile, Fiona Cooper will be handing out guns to every family. You’ll meet her at the gun armory directly after this meeting and she’ll arm you.”
“I’ve heard them singing!” a woman yelled out. “The fairies are already inside the compound.”
“There’s no such thing as fairies,” Sarah said patiently.
“Maybe not where you come from,” another voice called. “But it’s different here. It’s always been different here.”
“Any real questions?” Sarah asked.
“Is that all then?” Kendra asked. “Just bar the door and wait for the men to get back?”
“I don’t know any more than you do, Kendra,” Sarah said, “if that’s what you’re asking.”
A murmur spread throughout the crowd and Sarah held her breath.
“They killed that gypsy lad,” Barney Murdoch said. “You think they killed Declan and his lot?”
“I don’t know,” Sarah said, mindful that Fiona was right behind her on the porch. “Nobody does. Look, all we can do is guard our walls and shoot anyone trying to get over them. That’s all. And pray.”
The group stared at her and then one by one turned and walked away.
“Great pep talk,” Fiona said under her breath. “I hope they don’t use the guns to blow their own brains out.”
Sarah turned to look at her and then spoke carefully so that no one else could hear.
“I hope they don’t blow their brains out, Fi because I really need them to help me protect the compound. But the fact is we have six men, including two drunks, a priest, an old man, and a teenager. Add to that thirty women, twenty of whom are gypsies and won’t even share a meal with us, and I’d say we have our work cut out for us, wouldn’t you?”
“At least we have guns,” Fiona said, frowning.
“So do they.”
“And a fortress.”
“Yeah. A fortress made of wood,” Sarah said. She turned to join Archie waiting for her on the path. “Hand out the guns, Fi, and meet us at Siobhan’s. It’s going to be a long night.”
*****
The torches flickered in the drizzling rain as the men lowered Siobhan’s blanket-wrapped body into the ground. Sarah stood next to Archie, feeling the strength and resolution in him and doing her best to absorb it by proximity. At one point, she laced her fingers through his. She knew he wasn’t related to Mike except through marriage, and that terminated by death, but she felt a connection through Archie Kelley that somehow brought her closer to Mike. It didn’t make sense and Fiona was right. This man who gave her so much strength now, had tried to kill her husband just over a year ago.
It didn’t matter. The world changed hourly these days. Sworn enemies slept with you in shared foxholes while hell rained down upon both of you. Nowadays, you had to take your comfort where you could.
One by one, the women tossed flowers and clods of dirt into the open grave, many crossing themselves or wiping tears away. Siobhan had been loved by everyone. Her loss would affect them all. Father Ryan said a few words and the crowd dispersed as Patrick and Dez filled in the grave. Normally, Sarah would have invited everyone back to her cottage for a drink and remembrances. This evening, she watched the group wander back to their homes—many awkwardly carrying rifles on their shoulders—and she turned for home, herself.
Fiona stood by herself. Sarah knew she was imagining her own child’s burial and her husband’s. Fiona was like a spitting electrical wire warning anyone not to get too close. Except she had no fire in her now.
As Archie supervised the rest of the burial, Sarah went to Fiona.
“I want you to stay with me tonight,” Sarah said.
“Afraid I’ll waste a bullet on meself?”
“I just think it’s a good time for all of us to be together.”
“Is the auld bastard going to be there?”
“Archie lives with us now, yes.”
“Then no thank ye.”
“Mike would want it. You know he would.”
“Burying your husband tonight as well as Siobhan, are ye, Sarah?”
“Nope. In fact, I have strong reason to believe that Mike is alive. Declan too for that matter.”
Fiona looked at her and then back at the men shoveling dirt into the grave.
“You mean because they weren’t the ones delivered to our front gate today.”
Sarah stood quietly by her sister-in-law for a moment.
“Who was it that they killed?” Sarah asked finally.
“Roddy Barker. A cousin of Declan’s.”
“Married?”
“No. Just a mother. A fecking heart-broken mother.”
Sarah touched Fiona’s hand. “They’ll be expecting you to go to them.”
“They won’t be expecting shite.”
Sarah forced down her impatience with Fiona’s resistance. “That’s all the more reason for you to go to them.”
“You j
ust want me to talk them into coming into the fold. I can see right through you, Sarah Donovan.”
“Well, yes, I do. The fact is we need their help. Declan is their leader and your husband. Look, Fiona, I’m drawing the dots for you. Now you need to make a picture out of it. Go talk to them.”
Suddenly, the deafening roar of a single gunshot exploded in the compound.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Archie dropped the shovel and ran in the direction of where the shot came from.
“Shit!” Sarah grabbed Fiona’s arm. “Fiona, run by the armory shed and grab me a rifle. Then meet me behind the first line of cottages. That’s where the shot came from.”
But Fiona merely looked back at the grave where the two men were leaning on their shovels and looking down the path.
Sarah turned from her in frustration and ran down the path that Archie had gone.
Was the invasion coming today after all? But then why only one shot? Were they already in the compound?
She ran past the last house in the line that faced the central cookfire and saw a small group of women standing around Archie and two women, Kendra and Jill, Tommy’s mother. Archie was holding a rifle and had Kendra by the arm. Jill was pointing to a shirt on a wash line. There was a clear bullet hole in the shirt.
“She’s always hated me!” Jill said. “And now she’s ruined me best Sunday blouse!”
“Are you kidding me?” Sarah said as she approached the group. “Did you really shoot off a gun inside the compound?”
Kendra turned to Sarah as if inviting fight and put her hands on her hips. Sarah pushed through the women standing in the circle. She marched over to Kendra and slapped her hard across the face. Then she jerked the Winchester rifle out of Archie’s hand and unlocked the bolt, sending the spent cartridge case flying out. Turning back to Kendra, her eyes flashing, she held out her hand.
“Here’s how I’m going to explain it to the less intelligent ones in the group,” Sarah said, as Kendra, glowering and holding her hand to her face, handed her a cartridge from her shirt pocket.
Irish End Games, Books 4-5-6 Page 19
