She got up and walked over to the chest under the window. She lifted the lid. ‘This treasure came from the Santa Felicia, one of the great galleons of the Spanish Armada, driven on to the rocks in the worst gale I ever saw. We rescued most of the crew, and the treasure, and the captain too – Don Pedro. He was a sick man, so I nursed him like a good Christian woman should. He was handsome too, eyes so dark you could drown in them – but then that’s another story.’ She seemed suddenly sad. ‘Another story for another day maybe. Let’s just say that, ever since, we’ve been keeping Don Pedro’s treasure for a rainy day, and now the rainy day has come. There’s more gold in this chest than they’ll ever find inside the Big Hill. It’ll be you that finds it, so by rights it’ll be you that decides what’s to be done with it. All you have to do is to tell them that you’re happy for everybody on the island to share the treasure, providing they leave the Big Hill alone. How would that be now?’
‘That’s cool,’ said Jack, a broad grin on his face, ‘that’s real cool.’
‘That’s what I thought too,’ said Grania O’Malley.
‘Can I look?’ Jessie asked. Her legs were stiff with cold, and walking wasn’t easy, but she had to get up and look. The chest was filled to the very top with gold cups, gold plates, gold doubloons, and gold chains. There were crosses that sparkled with emeralds and rubies, there were rings and pearls and bracelets and necklaces, and heaven knows what else.
‘Is this where my earring came from?’ she asked.
‘Both of them,’ said Grania O’Malley.
Jessie dug her hand in, cupped a handful of coins and let them run out through her fingers. ‘It’ll work,’ she said. ‘It’ll really work. Once they see this, once they touch it they’ll forget all about the gold on the Big Hill, they’re bound to.’ They looked up together as they heard a helicopter flying low overhead. ‘They’ll be out searching for us,’ said Jessie. ‘My mum and dad, they’ll be worried sick.’
‘They won’t have to be worried for much longer,’ said Grania O’Malley. Jack ran to the window. The helicopter was heading out over the islands of Clew Bay, out towards Clare. ‘We’ll get you home soon enough,’ said Grania O’Malley. ‘We’ll wait just a little for the high tide to float the galley off the beach and then we’ll be on our way.’ She was gone down the stairs and they were left alone.
Jack stared down into the chest. ‘I do not believe this,’ he said. ‘I just do not believe this.’ Jessie draped a necklace around his neck and filled his hands with coins.
‘Believe it now?’ she said.
There were raised voices downstairs, and then they heard Grania O’Malley shouting above the others. ‘Will you be still and just listen! Did I ever let you down, did I?’
‘Yes,’ said one of the pirates.
‘Well, maybe I did, but not often. And we always shared and shared alike, the good times and the bad? And we all agreed, didn’t we? The treasure has to go, so we can save the Big Hill.’ There were still rumblings of discontent. ‘Tell me this, will you?’ she went on. ‘Being a rich ghost, does it make any one of us happier? Well, does it?’ There was a long silence. ‘Brendan, Donal, upstairs with you, and get that chest down. And be nice to those children while you’re at it. Try smiling, for God’s sake. It won’t hurt. There’s nothing I hate worse than a bunch of sulking pirates.’
The two pirates that came up the stairs shortly after did try to smile at them, but not very successfully. They looked longingly into the chest for a moment, before they closed the lid and carried it away downstairs. It wasn’t long after that Grania O’Malley came for them, took them back down the winding stone stairs, and led them out of Rockfleet Castle and into the bright light of day. Both she and Jack took a hand each and helped Jessie down over the rocks towards the waiting galley.
High in the stern, with Grania O’Malley sitting on the treasure chest beside them, they went one last time through the plan to be sure they all understood, but it was difficult for Jack and Jessie to concentrate. There were two helicopters buzzing about overhead. The lifeboat was out looking, and the ferry too. It looked as if every boat on the island was at sea. As they came out into the open ocean, out of the shelter of Clew Bay, the ferry passed within hailing distance, the deck lined with searchers – Michael Murphy was there, Father Gerald too, and Mrs O’Leary from the pub. Some of them had binoculars trained right on them. But none of them seemed to be able to see them at all. The galley raced on, dipping into the wash the ferry had left behind, the spray showering everyone on board.
‘You’d think they’d look where they were going,’ laughed Grania O’Malley, wiping her face. ‘Now have you been hearing me, you two? They only have my treasure if they leave off the mining on the Big Hill. Are we clear? It’ll work a treat, you see if it won’t.’
As they neared the shore, Grania O’Malley took the tiller herself and navigated the galley in through the surging seas. She waited for the right wave, gave the word, and then they surfed the crest of it through a narrow opening in the reef and into the calmer waters of a hidden inlet. Half the pirates shipped their oars now and scrambled forward, leaping into the sea and wading waist-high towards the shore. Heaving on the ropes, they hauled the galley in. They unloaded the treasure chest first, and with the greatest care. Then came the children’s turn to be handed over the side. They were carried – a lot less carefully, Jessie thought – out of the shallows, up the shingle, and dumped on the beach beside the chest.
‘We’ll be off then,’ said Grania O’Malley, ‘before we all change our minds.’ The crew looked their last at the chest, like dogs that have had their favourite bones taken away. Grania O’Malley bent down and patted the chest. ‘Parting is such sweet sorrow,’ she said wistfully, and then she smiled at them. ‘Shakespeare. Now there’s a fellow I’d like to have met. Maybe I will one day. But there’s a lot of things I never did that I should have done, and many more things I did that I should not have done. Maybe that’s why I’m doing this. Who knows?’
She ruffled Jack’s hair; and then stood, hands on her hips, looking down at Jessie. ‘Well, do I get a kiss, or don’t I?’ Jessie did not hesitate. She reached up, put her arms round Grania O’Malley’s neck, kissed her on the cheek and hugged her. ‘I’ll know it if you need me,’ said Grania O’Malley, ‘and not a word to a soul about me and the boys. Promise? They’d not believe you anyway.’
She turned and strode out through the shallows towards the galley. The last they saw of her, she was standing on the prow of the galley, just as Jessie had seen her in her dream. She waved, and the galley simply vanished. They were left standing alone on the beach, the treasure chest beside them, the retreating surf hissing over the shingle.
* * *
The chest was unbelievably heavy. At first they wondered if they could shift it at all. But they knew they had to. They didn’t want anyone to see it until the time was right, until they were ready. It had to be hidden. One heave at a time they dragged the chest up the beach and into the dark depths of the cave until they could drag it no further. They were still sitting on it, trying to get their breath back, when they heard voices from high above them on the clifftop. ‘Shall we answer?’ Jessie said.
But Jack had noticed something. ‘Not with your earring on,’ he said. Jessie clapped her hand to her ear. She had forgotten all about it. She took it off quickly, and slipped it into the pocket of her jeans.
‘Ready,’ she said.
‘Let’s go,’ said Jack, and they walked out of the cave and began to shout. ‘Down here! Down here!’
Even as they shouted, their voices were drowned by the sudden thunderous din of a helicopter overhead. It hovered for some moments over the cliffs, swooped out to sea, dipped and turned back towards them. There was a man leaning out and waving, and then he was being lowered towards them. The down-draught blew Jessie on to her bottom and she stayed sitting where she was on the wet pebbles as the man landed and ran over towards her. He crouched down beside them. ‘Nothing m
ore to worry about,’ he said. ‘You’ll be fine now, just fine. Bit cold, are you?’
‘A bit,’ said Jack.
‘We’ll get you back soon enough,’ said the man. ‘Ladies first, eh? I’ll be back for you in a minute.’ He put his hand on Jack’s shoulder. ‘Just stay where you are. Won’t be long.’
He snapped Jessie into the dangling harness and up they went, turning and swirling in the air together. Strong arms grabbed her and hauled her into the helicopter. She was strapped in at once and smothered in blankets. It seemed no time at all before Jack was beside her in the helicopter, and they were skimming low over the fields, over the quay, over the abbey ruins and the school; and there was the farm below them, and the house, and the ‘creatures’ in the garden. Jessie found Jack’s hand, squeezed it hard and got a squeeze back in reply.
As they landed in the field, the sheep scattering in all directions, they saw Jessie’s mother and father come running out of the house and Panda too, his hair flattened along his back, barking at the helicopter. Mole was scampering away in amongst the sheep as fast as his legs could carry him. The hugging seemed to go on for ever, two at a time, and then all four of them together. Jessie thought they’d never let go. The helicopter rotors slowed at last to a whine and then stopped. There was quiet again, except for Mole braying his indignation, and Panda still barking at this extraterrestrial invasion.
There was a hot bath, hot chocolate and peanut butter sandwiches, and all the time the questions. Jessie answered them – that’s what they had both agreed. She kept as close to the truth as possible. She had slipped on the rocks and fallen into the sea. Jack had dived in after her and saved her. They were a long time in the sea, and so cold, and then they’d been swept into this inlet and had found shelter in a a cave. Jack had tried to climb the cliff but he couldn’t, so they just waited there in a cave. She kept it simple, and if they asked more, she said she couldn’t remember.
Dr Brady was helicoptered over from the mainland to examine them. He said they were remarkably well, considering the ordeal they had been through. There were more questions. They stuck to their story and everybody seemed to believe them. There were cups of tea for the helicopter crew in the kitchen; and then the entire island, it seemed, came visiting. Even Marion Murphy came – and that was the first time she’d ever set foot in Jessie’s house – but of course she turned out to be a lot more interested in Jack than she was in Jessie.
There were more tears, more hugs, and still more questions. Through it all, Jessie could think only of how she was going to tell her mother and father about the plan to save the Big Hill without mentioning Grania O’Malley. It wasn’t going to be easy.
She waited until everyone had gone and caught Jack’s eye across the sitting-room. The time had come. She was still wondering how she was going to make it sound at all convincing when her father helped her. ‘I still can’t think how you managed it, Jack,’ he was saying. ‘The current against you, tide against you. And how come no one spotted you sooner? I tell you, it’s a miracle, a miracle.’
‘We were inside the cave a long time,’ said Jessie, seizing her moment. ‘I expect that’s why no one saw us. It’s deep, like a long tunnel and we just went in to get out of the wind, didn’t we, Jack?’ Jack nodded, but he didn’t say anything. He clearly wasn’t going to be much help. ‘And then Jack went off exploring. That’s when he found it.’ They were looking at her, expecting more. There was no stopping now. ‘We thought we should tell you first, didn’t we, Jack? I mean it’s ours, because we found it, and we’ve decided what to do with it, haven’t we?’
‘With what?’ said Jessie’s mother, completely bewildered by now. ‘What on earth are you talking about, Jess?’
And that was when, quite unexpectedly, Jack spoke up. ‘Treasure. Gold. I found a whole chest of it at the back of the cave. Jess says it’s Grania O’Malley’s treasure, whoever she is.’
Jessie’s mother and father looked at each other for a moment. ‘Let’s get this straight, Jack,’ said her father. ‘You were in the cave and you found a chest full of gold, is that what you’re trying to tell us?’
‘Yes, sir,’ Jack replied. ‘Right at the back of the cave, like I said. Pretty dark in there too, but you could see just about enough.’ Jessie did her best to keep her smile inside herself.
Her father laughed, a nervous laugh. ‘Are you kidding, or what?’ he said.
‘I can prove it too,’ said Jessie triumphantly, ‘I brought some of it back.’
‘You’ve got some of the treasure, some of the gold? You’ve got it here?’
‘Upstairs. In my jeans pocket. I’ll fetch it.’
She found all her clothes where she’d left them, in a heap on the bathroom floor. The earring fell out as she picked up the jeans. Barry panicked when her hand came into his bowl and circled manically until Jessie had retrieved the other earring from under the stones. ‘Not yours, you know,’ she whispered. They were still silent in the kitchen when she came downstairs again. She beamed at Jack and opened her hand. Her mother took them from her one by one, and held them up to the light.
‘They’re beautiful,’ she whispered. ‘Just beautiful.’
‘I pinched them,’ Jessie said. ‘I pinched them from the treasure chest. There’s a whole lot of stuff like this, chains and crosses and plates – all sorts. And it’s all gold, isn’t it, Jack?’
Jessie’s father was on his feet. ‘And it’s still there?’ he said. ‘Still in Piper’s Hole?’ Jessie nodded. ‘I’ll have to take the boat, and I’ll need a torch.’
‘I’m coming too,’ said her mother, putting on her coat. ‘You two stay here, stay in the warm.’
When they were quite sure they had gone, the two of them looked at each other, smiled and then burst out laughing. They laughed until it hurt, out of joy, out of relief. Suddenly Jack stopped laughing and grabbed her arm.
‘Jess, I just hope Grania O’Malley hasn’t changed her mind and come back and taken it away. Some of those pirate guys weren’t at all happy about giving it away, you know, and neither was she.’
‘You can trust her,’ said Jessie, and she was quite sure of it; but the longer they waited the less sure of it she became.
It was nearly two hours later, and dark outside, when they heard Panda barking and Clatterbang come rattling up the lane. They ran outside. Jessie’s mother and father were struggling to carry the chest between them across the yard. Jack ran to help, while Jessie held the door back for them. They heaved it up on to the kitchen table. Her father leaned on the table, shaking his head.
‘You were right,’ said her mother breathlessly.
‘Have you seen inside?’ Jessie asked.
‘It’s the real thing,’ said her father. ‘It’s real treasure. I can’t believe it. I just cannot believe it.’
‘And it’s ours,’ said Jessie. ‘All ours!’
8 MISTER BARNEY
BY THE TIME THEY HAD FINISHED EMPTYING the chest, the kitchen was glowing with gold, the dresser festooned with gold chains, the shelves lined with gold goblets and gold beakers. From every knob and every cup hook dangled a jewelled necklace. The table-top was almost invisible, covered as it was with doubloons and crosses, and gold plates piled high with glittering jewels. And in the centre, in pride of place, stood a great golden ewer with a fish’s mouth for a spout. They sat down and simply gazed around them. Jessie put her earrings on and looked down at herself in one of the golden plates. For a long time no one spoke a word.
‘Will someone please pinch me?’ said Jessie’s father at last. ‘This afternoon I thought for certain you were both of you dead and drowned and gone for ever – and here you are sitting in front of me all alive again. And now all this.’
‘The lost treasure of Grania O’Malley,’ breathed Jessie’s mother. ‘You’re right, Jess. It has to be. It’s old Mister Barney’s story come true.’
‘What do you mean?’ Jessie asked, trying not to sound too interested.
Her mother
sat back in her chair, quite unable to take her eyes off the treasure. ‘And we all thought the old man was cracked in the head, his mind all to pieces. But he wasn’t at all, was he?’
‘For goodness’ sake, Cath,’ said Jessie’s father, ‘Mister Barney’s stories are just stories. There’s not a word of truth in any of them, everyone knows that. You’ll frighten her silly.’
But Jessie’s mother went on: ‘I was about your age, Jess, when it happened. Mister Barney was already old, but he’d still cut more peat in a day than any man on the island. Us kids, we’d go up to his place to help him stack it sometimes, and afterwards he’d give us a drink of water and we’d sit down and he’d tell us all sorts of tales. I’ve forgotten a lot of them, but not this one. He told us how one day he’d been up on the Big Hill and he’d met the ghost of Grania O’Malley. He said how she’d got talking about her pirating days and how she’d fallen in love with some Spanish captain or admiral – I can’t remember. Anyway, this Spanish captain was blown round the top of Ireland in his galleon – part of the Spanish Armada and all that – and was wrecked on the rocks. Everyone on Clare wanted to kill the lot of them, him and his crew. But she wouldn’t let them do it – it seems she’d taken a bit of a fancy to him. She said there was no need to go killing anyone when they could have all the treasure they liked anyway. More Christian that way, that’s what she told Mister Barney. So she saved her Spanish captain and his crew, and kept the gold. Everyone was happy.’
‘Oh, come on,’ Jessie’s father interrupted. ‘You can’t seriously believe all that stuff.’
Jessie’s mother gave him a long and withering look. ‘As I was saying,’ she said, ‘she looked after the treasure herself and the captain and his crew stayed for a while. He was ill and she nursed him back to life. She told Mister Barney that it was the only time in her whole life she ever met a man she could be truly happy with. But then there was some quarrel, and the captain – I think he was called Don . . . Don Pedro, that’s it, Don Pedro – anyway, he was wounded, and on his deathbed he made her promise she would take his crew safely back to Spain. So she did, but she kept his treasure of course. She hid it away because she didn’t want the marauding English to find it. And then later, when she was older, she still kept it hidden – keeping it for a rainy day, that’s what she told Mister Barney.
The Ghost of Grania O'Malley Page 8
