Page 37 of Heart of the Wren (Haunted Hearts: Season of the Witch #2)

LORCAN

WE MET Eddie and Bullseye in the back yard, by the old cottage. They were running at full speed towards us, having finally been let out of the living room.

“The door opened by itself.” Bullseye hugged Carol. “I didn’t know what was after happening to you. Are you alright?”

Carol assured him she was fine and did her best to explain what had happened.

“The whole thing was a joke?” He blew on his hands for warmth. “It doesn't sound very funny to me.”

I showed him the brooch. “This is what started it all and now it’s mine. Officially, this time.”

“You can sell it and fix the kitchen window.” Bullseye nodded to the hole in the wall of the kitchen. The shredded tarpaulin lay bundled on the ground, gathering snow. “And everything else that needs fixing around here.”

After letting the dogs out of the greenhouse and assuring them I was okay, I walked into the kitchen, surveying the damage.

Overturned chairs, broken cups, and doors off their hinges.

Every plate smashed on the floor. The Super-Ser heater dented and lying on its side.

The patch of mould still clinging to the corner of the ceiling.

I walked on. The floor still creaked. The handrail still wobbled. The wallpaper in the living room was still peeling. I bent down to retrieve my book on Ross Castle — my thoughtful gift from Dara. In the melee, it had been trodden on and the cover torn. I clasped it to my chest.

I could sell the brooch, get it all repaired, and do what needed doing to the farm sheds. And then I’d be back to where he was. Then I’d repeat my own pattern. Working day and night to keep the farm going. Alone.

???

It took us an hour to find another tarpaulin and recover the kitchen window, during which hardly anyone spoke. When we were done, we sat at the table. Dara began tidying up the broken pieces of delf but I told him to leave it until the morning.

I picked up my binoculars. What remained of the lenses fell out. “ Do you want to stay the night?”

Bullseye drummed his fingertips on the table. “Ah, no, I won’t. I’d better get back. Aine will be wondering where I am. Carol, are you coming with me?”

Carol and Eddie exchanged glances. “Are you still mad at me, Daddy?” she asked.

Bullseye stopped drumming. “I saw how Eddie tried to protect you. I still don’t like the idea of you moving so far away. But if you’re going to do it for anyone, I’m glad it’s for him. I suppose.”

Carol squealed and hugged his neck, making him gag.

He held out his hand. Eddie shook it.

???

Alone at last, Dara and I kissed in the hall. I rested my forehead against his and sighed. And my sigh became a laugh. “What a feckin’ night.”

We retired to the living room where I poured us a drink. I was too wound up to sleep. Instead of sitting in my favourite armchair, I sat on the couch and held Dara’s hand, stroking it with my thumb.

Dara gave me a quizzical look. “You seem different,” he said. “Your aura has shifted colour.”

I took a sip. “I know she wasn’t really Mairead but seeing her face, saying I was sorry to her… it helped.”

Dara squeezed my hand. “I’m glad some good came from all of this.”

I kissed him. “More than some, I would say. ”

“What are you going to do with the farm?”

“I don’t know anymore. Everything’s changed now.” I took a deep breath and set my glass down. “If… If I decided I was going to stay for another while, at least — and I’m not saying I will — but if I did, would… Would you… I know you want to get moving again, but would you stay? Here. With me?”

Dara kissed the back of my hand. “I’d love to.”

“Did you say I love you? ”

“I said I’d love to. But now you mention it, I do love you. I’d love to and I love you.”

We laughed and kissed again.

I put my hand on the side of Dara’s face. “I love you too. You mad aul witch.”

???

The following few days were spent tidying up the house, binning everything the Wrenboys had broken, and assessing the damage.

There had been no sign of the sheep’s orf infection returning.

Michael had been stumped as he hadn’t even started treating it properly.

He’d been oblivious to any of the supernatural goings-on at the farm in the previous weeks but sure that was Michael all over.

The devil himself could ask him for a light and Michael would just shout at him for getting in his way.

I was able to find someone to replace the kitchen window, thanks to Pat Lynch. If you needed anything done in a hurry, Pat was your man. He always knew a fella, or he knew a fella who knew a fella. I met him in the pub and told him about the brooch.

“Have you reported it yet?” he asked. “Because if you haven’t, I know someone who’ll buy it, no questions asked…”

???

“I need to talk to you.”

Dara shut the door and sat next to me on the bed. “This sounds ominous.”

I smiled at him. “I was talking to Pat Lynch. As it turns out, I can’t simply sell the brooch.

There are laws about finding treasure. Fortunately, the National Museum was so happy to hear about it, as well as the location of where I found it, that they’re sending a team out to examine it. Tomorrow.”

“They’re on the ball.”

“I said the same. I assured them the field wasn’t being used so everything would be left as it is. I don’t know how Clíona is going to feel about having a bunch of archaeologists swarming all over her hill. With any luck, they won’t find anything so they won’t upset her.”

“At least the fairies won’t be here to bother them.”

“I left them out of the story,” I said. “But, if the brooch is from the Bronze Age, and if it’s in as good condition as we think, well, they said they’ll pay me a finder’s fee.”

“Brilliant!” Dara said.

“You’re not going ask how much?”

He shrugged. “It’s none of my business.”

I gazed deep into his eyes. “It’s a lot, Dara. Enough for me to buy a house in town, if I want to.”

Dara tilted his head. “So you’re not going to stay at the farm.”

My belly turned ice cold even as blood pounded loudly in my ears. “I've been thinking about what you said about patterns. Ghosts and gods. How they relive the same patterns, over and over. The same loops. The same cycles.”

With his fingertip, Dara drew circles in his palm. “The witches’ goddess as the moon, moving through phases as maiden, mother, and crone. Persephone journeying to the underworld at the start of every winter and re-emerging every spring. Ra, as the sun, being born and dying every day.”

“A ghost nun walking down the same hallway and lighting the same candle. A farmer working the same fields.” I lay my hands on the windowsill, peering out.

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot and it’s why I wanted to talk to you.

I feel so guilty, its eating me up. You’ve been on the road for basically your entire life and now I’ve…

” I rubbed my face. “Now I’ve dangled a home in front of you only to — maybe — snatch it away? ”

Dara sank into himself. “You’ve changed your mind about me.”

I spun in an instant and dropped to my knee. “No!” I took Dara’s hand. “No. Not that. Never that. I’m not doing this properly. I’ve never had to… I don’t have any practice at this. I want to sell the farm.”

Dara scratched his cheek. “And move into town?”

I shook my head. “I want to go with you.”

“Where am I going?”

My shoulders dropped. “I’m still not explaining myself properly… When Carol and Eddie go to England, I want us to go with them. You and me . In your van. We can drive them to the ferry, bring them across to Essex, and then you and I can go… wherever. Anywhere. Everywhere.”

Dara narrowed his eyes. “Are you serious? What about the farm?”

“When I was telling Pat about the brooch, he mentioned his daughter and son-in-law. They’ve lost their jobs.

So, Pat wants to help them out. He wants to buy my farm and give it to them.

He’s afraid of them emigrating, like his other children.

He wouldn’t say it, of course, but I’ve known him a long time. A long time.”

“You’re actually going to sell it?”

“I think it's the best thing to do. Dad wanted it to stay in the family but either it gets sold after I die or it gets sold now. Either way, it ends with me.” He held his arms wide. “All of this ends with me. I’m the last Fitzgerald who will ever live on Twin Bridge Farm. And if I stay here, even with you, even with your help, the stress of this place will be the death of me. I don’t want to be here.

I’ve been holding onto it, holding on to the past but…

I need a change. I want to see the world the way you see it.

And if I can’t keep the farm in the family then at least it can go to a friend. ”

“You’re sure?”

I nodded. “But we don’t have to do it. If you want to stay, we can. We can make a go of it here. I want to give you a home.”

“And I want to show you the world outside your door. Or as much of it as the van can manage, hah ! We can have a home later. If you don't get sick of me by then.”

“You’ll be stuck in a van with me and my dogs. It’ll be cramped. You might get fed up with me first. ”

“I'm willing to take the chance.” He hugged me. “This place is beautiful. It’s a home. But it’s a home because it’s where you are.

And even if we do it, even if we go travelling, it doesn't have to be forever.

You were going to buy a small house in the village, you can still do it later on.

But we can travel around England first. And Scotland.

Wales is amazing, so many ancient castles we can explore, so much history we can try to experience, like at Ross Castle.

Ooh and there's this lighthouse I’ve heard of that's meant to be cursed and—”

I set my finger on his lips. “I’d love to go sightseeing but let’s not go chasing any more supernatural weirdness. Not for a while, at least.”

“You know it’s part of who I am, though?”

“I know.” I kissed him. “And I wouldn’t change a thing about you.”