“By the grace of God, they won’t find them all in the mine,” Nabla said.
“Aren’t there sentries out there?” Nansai said.
“Sentries in that fog!” Nabla said. There isn’t much that anyone could see in fog like that.”
“The person who named it Gleann Ceo,” Nansai said, “christened it correctly.”
“The fog has always been there,” Nabla said, “and it will forever, I believe. God protect every single creature! Was it in the mine that Marcus spent the night?”
“It was,” Triona said. “Listen! Did you hear anything?”
“I heard a man letting a yell out of himself,” Marcaisin said.
They listened; but they were not able to hear anything. Then they heard riffle shots down by the Abhann; and immediately they heard a prolonged volley of shots.
“God between us and harm,” Nabla said, as she shook the holy water.
It wasn’t long until they heard someone coming towards them. And in a few seconds Pol an Greasai appeared, in from the fog, with his riffle and looking frightful.
“Where is Marcus?” he said. There is a ring around the cave.”
“Son of God,” Triona said, “He is in it.”
“He is captured, I’m afraid,” Pol said. “I was lying behind a ditch at the top of the peak watching a group of them coming down under me along the river. I was only just able to see them the fog was so dense. I kept my eyes on them until they came as far as the cave, and then they stood. I didn’t notice until there was another group of them almost on top of me from this side. Were they here?”
“They were,” Triona said with tears in her eyes.
“I went into hiding in a drain,” Pol said, “and I let them pass by me. And then I rushed off when they were gone out of sight around the shoulder of the peak, and I fired a shot. But there was no reply. All they did was to fire that one volley at me. I was trying to lure them away from the cave. But I was foolish. Triona, I am thinking that they have plenty of information about the same cave. They walked a tight narrow line towards it.”
“May God look on the people,” Nabla said.
“Are you saying that a spy is responsible for this? Triona said and her voice was shaking.
“What else could be responsible for it?” Pol said.
“He should be cut into a thousand pieces by right .” Nansai Seimin Ban said.
“The thief.” Nabla said.
“Shush/Silent,” Triona said. “I hear something.”
They listened. A foreign sound came clearly to them through the fog:
“Get out of that hole you pack of murderers!”
“O God Marcus,” Triona said…”I will go down as far as him.”
Pol went in front of her on the road.
“Woman dear,” he said, “the story is bad enough. You cannot go near him. Didn’t I tell you that they have a circle around the cave? There are a hundred and fifty strong, if there is one, between soldiers and police and Black and Tans. Have sense love.”
“Have patience, sister,” old Nabla said, and she was beginning to cry.
“I am going to the other side of the Gleann,” Pol said, “to see how the situation is with them.”
He went away from them into the fog with his riffle in his hand. He took to running down through the fields, and he skipped across the river about fifty yards up from the bridge. He went up the slopes running most of the way, stopping occasionally to listen. He stayed away from the highway and from the houses, although he did have to cross the highway once. As he was crossing a patch of meadow there was a sudden movement, and he flung himself down on his mouth and nose in the grass.
“Who is that?” the person said again, and he recognised then that it was Peadar Guildea.
“Be silent, man,” Pol said under his breath.
Peadar ran towards him through the grass. He was carrying his riffle under his arm.
“Where are you coming from?” Peadar asked.
“Down from Dun le Grein. Marcus is captured.”
“Where?”
“In the cave?”
“In God’s name, how did they discover the cave?”
“They walked straight and narrow to it. I was looking at them.”
“A spy did it.” Peadar said. “They weren’t supposed to know about the back entrance into the mine either. They walked down from Abhann an Eas, and in at the ravine on the river, and they weren’t long coming upon the mouth of the entrance.”
“Are the men in the mine captured?”
“Hard to know!” Peadar said. “Only for God directed me to be down beside the river, and that I seen the enemy approaching, the whole lot of them would have been captured, like fish in a net. We only just had every man out when a circle was formed around the mine.”
“Out the front entrance they came?”
“All except Seimin Ban.” Peadar said. “They have captured him. He was caught coming out the back way.”
“That is awful.” Pol said. “Where did the men go?”
“They are gone up the Gleann. They do not know what to do. What use are riffles in this fog, or machineguns, either? What can we do? The Gleann is full of soldiers and Black and Tans. Listen!”
Down by the cave the soldiers were shouting at the men they had captured; their voices could be heard clearly through the fog:
“Come out of that hole! Come out before we make worm food out of you?”
“In my opinion, Marcus would not give them the satisfaction of capturing him.” Peadar said.
With that they heard the sound of at least two machineguns at the cave. The sound of riffles could also be heard through the noise of the machineguns.
“Is it possible that it is Marcus who is firing at them out of the mouth of the cave?” Peadar asked. “It is like something that he would do.”
“It is a terrible case,” Pol said. “Him down there taking on the entire challenge and not a single person able to help him.”
“We will go down again by the river,” Peadar said. We will go across the highway and across the fields at an angle. We might meet some of our lads.”
They drew carefully to the highway. There was no step to be heard and no person to be seen, as far as they were aware. The two stole across the highway and down the slopes, through meadows and tilling, and across drains and ditches. Passing through a patch of meadow, half way to the Abhann, Una appeared in front of them.
“A crowd of soldiers and Black and Tans have searched out house,” she said. “Barr an Gleanna is full of them.”
“Did you see any of our own men?” Peadar asked.
“I was talking to them back there,” she said. “Feargal is among them and Conn Mac Carty. They do not know what they should be doing. They said that they thought that Marcus and Wallace Woods were in the cave – that cave that I did not know was there until now.”
“Wallace Woods?” Pol said.
“They said that it is likely that he is in it,” she said. “He left the wake house with Marcus, at two o clock this morning, and he hasn’t been seen since. God look on the two of them. This is the end for them, I am afraid.”
“Where are you going love, and all this shooting going on?” Peadar said.
“I am going across to Dun le Grein to Triona,” she said. “She is a pity and the poor children.”
“It is as well for us to face up the Gleann, “ Peadar said, “until we see how the rest of the men are. You mind yourself, girl. Them bucks are on the Droighead, you know. It is not wise for you to be out like this. It is enough for these to be outside who must be out.”
“Couldn’t we leave her across the Abhann,” Pol said. “It is a shame to let her go by herself.”
“Maise my seven blessings on you Pol,” she said, slapping him on the back. “You were always protective. Let’s walk.”
From the minute the three met together the Gleann was at peace, apart from one riffle shot which sounded at Dun le Grein. There wasn’t a thud or a sound ab
out the cave. The fog was as dense as ever. After a little while a nasty barking of a dog could be heard from some place at Barr an Gleanna, and then the same dog let a sharp yelp out of him as if he suffered a ferocious blow. After another little while they heard the sound of a woman, and it was full of fervent vengeance:
“That you might have my seven curses on you!”
“Amen” Una shouted.
They were coming close to the cave when they heard the foreign voice at the cave again: “You have five minutes now to surrender. If you do not come out alive, you will come out dead. Five minutes!”
The man who spoke had barely finished the last word completely when the barking of machineguns was heard as if it was coming out of the cave.
“My poor man,” Peadar said, “it is obvious that he has no intention of surrendering.”
Suddenly the clatter of riffle fire could be heard just above them on the bank of the river. A bullet flew past them in the fog. They threw themselves on the ground.
“That is our own men engaging with the enemy,” Peadar said.
“May God assist them,” Una said.
It seemed to them that the machinegun was firing ceaselessly out of the mouth of the cave, and it also seemed as if all the shooting was from inside the cave only. One of the groups, which were slaughtering each other above them, was fleeing up the side of the mountain towards Dun le Grein, because some of the shots they were firing seemed to be coming from some place half way up the mountain. And they could also be heard firing in places nearer to the top of the mountain every minute. It was as if they had suddenly come on the Republican Army, who defended themselves well, and that the enemy thought they were strong enough to pursue them out over the mountain. The shooting stopped by degrees, and the Gleann was left in peace again.
Una and her guard got to their feet, and they dashed without a sound across the ford. And they only just had reached the other bank when what happened, happened.: a sudden blast which took their breath away, a murderous explosion which put their hearts pounding. It happened at the cave; and for a short time after it, the sound of rocks falling on each other could be heard.
“That is a landmine,” Peadar said. “That is the end of them. Christ! That’s terrible!”
“God be kind to them,” Pol said “They couldn’t be alive after that.”
They listened for a little while; but the Gleann was peaceful again. There was nothing to be heard except Abhann an Eas humming its old tune non -stop.
“My seven curses, and the curse of God to the red furnace be on you!” Una said. “Thanks be to God that our two did not surrender.”
Looking at her Pol realized that she was overwhelmed with anger at that moment; and he also noticed that her face did not get unpleasant looking as other women’s faces might have done. The anger made her even more attractive, he thought. And in his heart he felt more than a mite of joy at the death of Wallace Woods. But when he took stock of himself he was more than a little ashamed, and he asked God to pardon him.
When Triona heard the big blast at the cave she could be patient no longer. She charged down the slopes towards the river. Nansai wanted to follow her down but she was too much afraid. And if old Nabla had any eyesight at all, she would have been step for step with her. Una and the two young men met her before she reached the highway.
“Where are you going, love?” Una asked her.
Marcus,” she said. “He is dead. I knew that he would not surrender.”
Her nut -brown hair was loose around her shoulders. She had a distant look in her eyes. It was obvious that she had lost a part of her life. But there was no sign of tears, none at all. Grief and the pride were equal rivals in her heart at that moment. And she was afraid that the grief would win, in spite of her.
Una returned with her, and Peadar and Pol continued to the top of the mountain their hearts heavy. The two women came as far as the Droighead. When they arrived, they were ordered to go forward with their hands up. Soldiers only were allowed on the Droighead; but Father O Ruairc was in their midst, and he got great satisfaction when he saw the dignified countenance of Triona amongst the enemy.
“God give you strength, sister!” the priest said when he went as far as her and took her two hands in his.
“Is he dead?” she asked, in a low voice.
“He is, sister,” the priest said.
“I knew that he would never surrender,” she said. “I knew that he would die before he would give the British the satisfaction of getting their hands on him.”
She made an effort to cross the bridge but she was stopped.
“Have I not permission to see his body?” she said, with a gentle voice that surprised the soldiers who were blocking her way.”
“I am only doing what I have been ordered to do,” he said.
“I have no permission to go near him either,” the priest said. “May God be kind to the souls of the dead.”
The priest was also watching Una; trying to figure out how she was taking the death of Wallace Woods. Solid hatred for the British around her was her strongest emotion, it seemed to him. She was doing her best to let them know how she felt by the look on her face. But her face was not half as ferocious as she hoped it was. It was possible that Pol was right in thinking that anger made her even more attractive.
After a short time they heard that terrible sound of lorries coming down the Gleann. There were about a dozen of them taking the slopes, steadily through the fog. Some of them went up towards Barr an Gleanna; some of them stopped at the Droighead; and one of them came down the far slope, as far as the squad which was on the iron bridge over Abhann an Eas. The soldiers on this lorry, had a stretcher with them, and they continued all the way down beside the Abhann, to the cave. When Triona saw them returning, carrying their cargo, it was all she could do to maintain her external dignity. But she heard the priest praying sincerely and that gave her strength. She prayed with him, and it wasn’t long until they could see Una’s lips moving too.
Triona looked down over the railings of the bridge at the appearance of the body of her husband. She would not recognise him at all except for his clothes. His torn face was covered with blood. One side of his head was torn by the way that he was dragged by his feet, out of the cave, through the tangled hawthorns, and over the stones in the river. There was only a small piece of skin holding one of his ears, and his jawbone was broken in two pieces and sticking out through the flesh. His hair was saturated in his own blood. She watched the soldiers taking the body from the stretcher and throwing it into the lorry as they would throw a dead dog into a hole. The thud of his head against the boards sent a poisoned dart into her heart.
“That’s the end of Dick Turpin with his tricks,” one of the stretcher team said.
The rest of them laughed.
They came forward with the body of Wallace Woods, and he was mutilated in the same way. He was thrown into the lorry and he fell across the body of Marcus.
“Traitor” one of the soldiers said, as he washed the blood from his hands in the water of the river.
They went back again to the cave with the stretcher, and they had two more bodies with them when they returned, a soldier and a Black and Tan. Una recognised the Black and Tan. It was the lad she had struck the night the hall was burned.- the lad who complained about Wallace Woods. These bodies were laid carefully on the lorry, and they went down again with the stretcher. They returned with the body of another Black and Tan, and with another man who was wounded. Another squad of soldiers and Black and Tans, arrived down beside them by the river, they were carrying two soldiers - who seemed to be very badly wounded. It seemed that they were the ones who were in combat with the men who reached the top of the mountain safely. The two wounded men were put up on the lorry as well. Cans of petrol were taken down to the cave and it was not difficult to guess what they were for. Eventually the yellow flames could be seen by the people on the bridge. The enemy was burning whatever beds and furniture was left in th
e cave. In a short while the entire brigade including soldiers, police and Black and Tans appeared through the fog, bringing the machineguns, which had been used by the defenders of the cave, until they were killed. They had all the arms, from the cave as well. They had ammunition, papers, maps, books, and a typewriter, as well as binoculars, and a few police berets, and lots of other things. All these things were put up on the lorry, and then the squad stood looking down towards the cave, as if they were waiting for something. There were two explosions quickly after each other, and the noise of the rocks falling in the cave was like thunder.
“That is the end of the villains palace!” a lad who was dressed in officer’s clothes and who had a small black moustache said.
The lorry drove off up the slopes, going towards the Droighead. The man in charge put his men standing to attention on the highway, facing the Droighead. He was about to order them to move when he remembered something, and he turned his face towards the three who were still standing on the Droighead.
“If a close relative of Marcus Mac Alastair’s comes to the barrack in Droim Dhilliuir tomorrow morning, “ he said, “I think that he will be allowed to take the body with him.”
He turned on his heel and he delivered a quick order. Himself and his men disappeared out of sight in the fog, and the priest, and the two women were left standing at the Droighead, listening to them taking the slopes in step.
West, in the Foggy Valley Page 18
