The Faithful Heart

by MacMurrough, Sorcha

  But as the sky lightened, she could see that the timbers were rotten in some places, the canvas sails mouldy, and the ropes frayed or missing. She went from ship to ship rousing the men, and their astonishment at seeing her again was evident.

  “Morgana! Morgana!” they all gasped as she summoned each crew on deck and strode amongst them so they could all see it was really her.

  She finally found her old friend Seamus. He was chief captain in Finn and Patrick’s absence, and she demanded an explanation from him for the woeful state of affairs.

  He sighed heavily and sat down beside her in the captain's cabin of three-masted The Irish Rose.

  “It couldn’t be helped, Morgana," the weathered sea captain said with a shake of his head. "Not even you can control the weather, though I have to admit, I've wondered about you sometimes. You certainly seem to have the most amazing luck. Or at least you did have until Conor was killed. There have been lots of storms, and we haven’t been able to put the ships in anywhere to repair them except here. And here we can’t get supplies. We've been banned from the town.”

  “What do you mean, you can’t dock anywhere?” Morgana demanded.

  “We’ve been accused of not paying duty on the goods we trade. Some of the ships were confiscated in Galway and down in the south at Waterford and Cork.”

  “Didn’t you try the other ports, Youghal, Kinsale, Baltimore?” Morgana asked in exasperation.

  “The word has been put out to deny our ships entry until all the taxes are paid for every single port,” Seamus revealed.

  “How much are these taxes?”

  “About two thousand pounds in all.”

  Morgana gasped. “That’s absurd! We trade wool, fleeces and fish, with some hides and fur! For those items we trade for wine, salt, iron and alum for the tanning trade, and some metal ware and dyes for cloth. Our cargoes are not luxury goods except for a tiny bit of silk and spices from Pisa. How on earth could they charge us so much duty on those goods?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. All I know is they won’t let us in until it is paid. As for the other problem, the O’Donnells seem to think we've done something dreadful to them, which is why we aren’t allowed into the town. And to make it worse, some of our men have even been involved in skirmishes whilst out hunting and foraging for food, though I've tried to keep the peace as best I can,” Seamus explained.

  She looked at him sharply. “You haven’t been doing your ‘foraging’ on their lands, by any chance, have you?” Morgana demanded.

  Seamus put his hand on his heart. “No, Morgana, I swear, we’ve kept to our side of the ford. I was hoping the matter would blow over, but things have just gone from bad to worse.”

  “Haven’t you tried to put the ships in at any of the Scottish ports to get them repaired?”

  He looked at her grimly. “Whatever is going on, O’Donnell is so angry with us, he’s formed a blockade of our ships at Assaroe. We can’t get in or out, though the MacMahon ships are allowed to come and go as they please.”

  “But they hardly have any ships, about five at the most.”

  “They’ve increased their fleet. They have at least fifteen now.”

  Morgana frowned darkly at this news, and asked quietly, “Any chance they're ours?”

  Seamus shrugged. “I don’t know the fleet as well as you do, I was in the overseas trade with the southern ports for a long time. But yes, I would say so. We both know how it is easy to make ship appear different, especially with a bit of paint and new sails and pennants and so on.”

  She ground her teeth in frustration. “Well, I haven’t got time to go to Assaroe or Kesh to find out now if they were ours, and I have even less chance of trying to get them back at this point, so there's no use in lamenting spilled milk. I need to trade the goods that I've brought with me this morning. So I want you to prepare three of the best ships, provision them, and load this cargo on board each one. Head for Sligo, Galway, and Cork with them.”

  “But the taxes!” Seamus protested.

  “I’ll get you the money to pay all the taxes," she said firmly. "You just get the ships ready, and be prepared to put in at every port in Ireland to pay off the officials. Make sure you have the sum paid put down in writing by the port official as well, with a proper seal on the receipt as well, so that there are no further problems regarding this matter.”

  “But even if you get the money, we can’t get past Assaroe!” Seamus emphasised.

  “I'm going to request an audience from O’Donnell. I need to speak with him regardless. It's damned low water with the whole clan at the moment, as well you know. We need his help, and I think I can get it if I'm cautious. We know each other of old, so I think he will be willing to explain to me what imagined offence we have committed. Then we will wait and see.”

  "Aye, Morgana, that's all we can do, prepare for the best and hope for the worst. Though I certainly hope it isn't going to get any worse that it has been."

  She stood up and clapped the older man on the shoulder."Not if I can help it. But I won't lie. It won't be easy and it will have to be all hands to the pumps. If you have a doubt as to anyone's loyalty or commitment to our cause, let me know now—"

  His bushy brows knitted. "If you're asking me if I've been loyal—"

  "No, of course not!"

  "Because our ships have not been neglected ifI could get the supplies—"

  She gripped his arm and shook him slightly. "Seamus, pray calm yourself. It's no one's fault except those who have been conspiring against us. And little point in arguing over the past, when we need to look to the future. All right?"

  He nodded, satisfied, and led the way out onto the deck.

  The ships’ crews began to unload the carts, and Morgana took a burlap sack and loaded several of the more valuable items into it, and slung it over her shoulder.

  “I’ll be back soon. Stand the carts by the ford, and wait for me there,” she instructed before mounting her horse.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Morgana tied the treasure sack around the pommel of her saddle, and rode up to the wooden gate of the town on her desperate errand to help save what was left of her once mighty fleet. She found herself wishing that Ruairc was with her. He was so good at discerning people's underlying motives. She had no idea what reception she was going to get from the the man she was about to see. She only prayed that it would not be a trip to his dungeon.

  Once she arrived at Belleek, she said to the guardsman on duty, “I am Morgana Maguire, come to see Ronan O’Donnell on urgent business.”

  With some grumbling by the guards about the early hour, Morgana’s sword and horse were taken from her, and she was allowed to walk up the unpaved road to the fortress at the top of the small hill, where Ronan O’Donnell kept his headquarters.

  Her knees buckled and sweat trickled down her back as she trudged up to the drawbridge and was told to wait for a reply to her request. At last she was allowed to drop her sack in the guard house and continue up the spiral staircase to the main hall, where Ronan breakfasted with his two sons, Tomas and Declan, and his pack of Irish wolfhounds.

  At first the dogs growled fiercely when they smelt the intruder, and one of them lunged for Morgana’s throat. To show fear was to weaken her cause, so Morgana stood her ground, and then the huge beast planted its paws on her shoulders and began to lick her joyfully.

  “Who is it?” Ronan demanded in the dim light. “The dog knows you, whoever you are.”

  “It is I, Morgana Maguire, come to seek an audience with you.”

  “I thought I told the guards that no Maguires were to be let in!” Ruairc bellowed.

  Morgana stepped forward into the small patch of sunshine filtering through the tiny window, and Ronan saw the glint of auburn hair.

  “Morgana, it really is you!” The older man smiled, before once more assuming his gruff expression. His two sons cleared their throats uncomfortably and looked away from her.

  “It is Morgana, si
r, and I would speak to you on urgent business.”

  “I heard you were in a convent! What business have I with a nun?” Tomas sneered. He was a short, stocky man, with a level head for business if somewhat less than charming manners.

  “It is true, I am meant to be taking my vows, but circumstances have called me home,” Morgana replied quickly.

  “And what might those circumstances be, pray? Charges against your family for your piracy? Pilfering our cargoes right here in our very own lough? Or in Donegal bay?” Declan, the younger brother, scoffed as he ate his porridge.

  Declan was as tall as his brother was short, and instead of brown hair and grey eyes, his long hair was blond and his eyes a piercing blue like his father’s. Both men were dressed in simple homespun tunics and cloaks, like their own sailors, and they had no snobbish pretensions about their roles as heads of the O’Donnell clan.

  Declan, by contrast with Tomas, was thin and charming, and Morgana had often been amazed at how different they both were, yet they were almost like two sides of the same coin when they teamed together. She knew she would have to win them both over if she were to get any help from Ronan.

  Looking each man directly in the eye as she glanced around the room, Morgana said proudly, “I know of no such acts of piracy, since I have been away. But I am certain there has been some misunderstanding. So I have come to see if the friendship between our two families can be patched up.”

  Ronan’s black brows dipped down broodingly over his midnight blue eyes and hawk-like nose, and then lifted as he nodded slowly. “You were always a fiery child, and I can see even two years in a convent have not subdued your high spirits. You are brave to come alone and unarmed. Say what you will, Morgana, and I shall listen.”

  “First, I need to tell you the reason why I have returned home. I have come back because my father is being slowly poisoned. He is still alive at the moment, but the attempts upon his life have weakened him. I am tanaist of the sept , and must do my duty to my family in the event he should die.”

  All three men gasped in unison, which answered at least one of Morgana’s many questions. Whoever was responsible, it was not any of the O’Donnell leaders.

  “Poison, you say?” Ronan demanded gruffly.

  “Aye, poison. But even worse than that, the lands are infertile, there is no water in some places, whilst others flood, and the animals are skeletons.So are the people. Our trade has suffered, we have barely enough to eat. We also have refugees from the MacMahon’s land clearances living with us, and the sept ’s resources are strained to breaking point. You must have some notion of this, since you are a fairly near neighbor. Either your family is suffering the same plight, or we have been singled out for attack on all fronts.

  “I am told we can’t trade here in Belleek or get provisions and supplies for the ships, My admiral Seamus has also told me that you will not let the ships out into the bay because you have blockaded the river at Assaroe.

  “I therefore beg for your help, and beg your pardon for whatever offence we are accused of. Please tell me what is amiss, and I will seek to redress it as quickly as possible. I hae also brought some treasure with me to pay for the offence and the expenses incurred.”

  Ronan’s sons began to laugh, but Ronan held up his hand for silence. He sat upright in his chair, and searched Morgana’s face for the least sign of duplicity.

  At length he said slowly, “I have know this girl since she first took to the seas, and I have never known her to lie to me. So I will tell you, Morgana Maguire, that your captains mortally offended me by attacking the ship from Flanders which carried by daughter Niamh’s trousseau for her wedding."

  Her eyes widened and she gasped despite herself. It was unthinkable…

  “Moreover, they have fought my ships on the high seas for no reason, causing two of them to be wrecked, with a heavy loss of lives. If your family had wished to declare hostilities, they should have done it openly, not pretended friendship with one face, and sneaked behind my back with their other face, like the statue on Boa Island.”

  “This trousseau you mention. Would the dresses have had many jewels in them?”

  “Yes, yes indeed. Why do you ask?”

  “Because I think I might know where some of them are and who is responsible for inciting our ships to attack. Fergus MacGee has many rich pieces in his possession, and my sister has many gowns which seem to match the ones you have described. I do not protest complete innocence for my family, but I do claim it for myself, and I am now acting head of the family during my father’s illness."

  The three men frowned, but said nothing, allowing her to continue..

  “You, Ronan O’Donnell, have taught me much about shipping and trade over the years, and, dare I say it at the risk of seeming to flatter you, you have been the father I never had. You have given me guidance and friendship with no thought of gain for yourself. I have brought some items here, and I would have you look through them and see if they are any part of your missing cargo.”

  The bag was brought from the guard room, and it transpired that three of the pieces out of ten had indeed been thieved fromthe O’Donnell ship.

  Morgana handed them over without a second thought, and stated, “There is more treasure on my ships in the harbour, and I would have you take any items which are fro poor niamh's trousseau.

  "If you will also allow me to sell some of the remaining items I have brought with me, I would ask you for permission to buy provisions in the town. I need tar, ropes, tallow, and so on, to make my fleet seaworthy again. I will take Niamh back with me, if I may, to survey the wardrobes of gowns, and take back what belongs to her.”

  The three men stared at Morgana silently, and finally Ronan nodded. “I will agree to your requests, but your restitution, generous though it is, doesn’t explain the hostilities in the first place.”

  “You may question my captains personally about the matter, but Seamus swears to me that they have no idea why you have blocked their trade in the town or halted the ships at Assaroe,” Morgana maintained.

  She cleared her throat, and asked quietly, “Are you sure they were our ships? We have made many ships for other families in the past, though not so much in recent years. Where they Irish or Spanish made?”

  “They were Irish made, with your pennants,” Tomas said firmly.

  “How long ago was the last incident you can recall?”

  “About six months ago the piracy started, and the cargo was stolen from Flanders about three months ago,” Declan replied. “I was there myself, and though I recognised none of the men, it was one of your ships, I am sure.”

  “I’m afraid that they were ships which deliberately appeared to be ours. Seamus tells me our fleet has been dwindling for the past year. I have no Irish made ships left, only my ten Spanish ones,” Morgana announced.

  They looked from one to another at that news.

  “Renegade crews, then?” Tomas suggested.

  Morgana shook her head, and said with more certainty than she felt, “For what benefit? To make sure they could never return to their own home ports again because of your ire? That makes no sense. They couldn’t trade once they had left themselves open to charges of piracy, nor could they enter any other ports once the word got around. Nor can any of my ships enter any ports at the minute, since the English government officials are claiming we owe two thousand pounds of duty.”

  “Two thousand pounds!” Declan gasped. "It's not possible."

  Morgana nodded. "Exactly my point. Even if my fleet were trading at full strength and I was blessed with all the weather gods, I would never be able to move that much cargo. But as it is I have scarcely any ships left compared with when I left for the convent at Killour.

  “Now you see why I need your help, Ronan. I must have money to pay those taxes, and I need seaworthy ships which can go to each port to pay them. I also need to know what happened to the twenty ships which seem to have vanished without a trace."

  She pac
ed up and down in front of the hearth for a moment as they considered her words.

  Then she looked the older man straight in the eye. "And I am not too proud to admit that I can’t restore my family fortunes on my own. With Father ill, and Finn and Patrick away, I am all alone. The Maguires and the homeless MacMahons who have taken refuge from their own clan are counting on me, and I can’t let them down. Please, Ronan, Tomas, Declan, will you help me repair my last remaining ships, and find my lost ones, and all the men who have disappeared?” Morgana beseeched them.

  Once again the men looked from one to the other. They were giving nothing away, but nor did she senses any treachery. God help her family if they had become enemies….

  “Morgana Maguire, we have listened to your appeal, and would like you to wait outside until we have discussed the matter,” Ronan stated.