EPILOGUE
As he had many times before, Quinn disappeared by daybreak. He had not come back to the house after the shot had been fired. In those early hours, Rory and Briana searched Lear House and found nothing but the landlord’s bags and the two crates of food. However, the landlord’s pistol was missing and couldn’t be found. In the morning, they took what provisions they could pack, along with their funds. Rory turned the ponies out with the sheep before leaving the house.
They ran into the herders as they ascended the hill toward the village and told the men that they were leaving upon the owner’s orders and that he had gone to bed the previous night asking not to be disturbed. In another two days the carriage would return from Belmullet to an empty house. The constable, if he came at all to arrest the trespassers, wouldn’t arrive before late afternoon. They would be far away from Carrowteige by then. They planned to avoid the Constabulary, but if detained, they now knew the truth.
Briana looked back at Lear House as they topped the hill. Everything had changed and the world was different. The sun burst forth for a moment on the manor, brightening it to a silvery gleam on the green heath. As far as she knew, she would never see her old home again or the land where she was born. The house and its owner were dead.
As they walked, Rory asked her if she thought Quinn had murdered the Kilbanes. She replied that Quinn’s hatred for the English and the landlord, particularly after Brian’s death, fueled his rage against Sir Thomas. Perhaps he had stumbled on the Kilbanes’ cottage after their murder. Quinn had no reason that she could think of to kill the couple.
When they reached the river where the villagers said good-bye to their loved ones, they held on to each other—Shona strapped to Rory’s chest—and waded through the shallow waters scalloped by rippling whitecaps. The wind whipped against them and reminded Briana of her walks along the cliffs she was leaving behind forever.
They hoped to make Bangor by nightfall and find Connor and his family. If not, they would find shelter and then make their way to Dublin, where it would be easier to book passage out of Ireland than in County Mayo. In Dublin, they would book passage to Liverpool and then America.
She shed no tears as they walked along the road near Carrowmore Lake, the Nephin Beg rising up brownish green in the distance. The walk to Dublin would be long and hard, but a better future awaited them. Her sister, Quinlin, and the Colemans would be their new family, in a home of their own making. Rory’s love would guarantee a home no matter where they lived.
For the first time in many months her soul was filled with hope and peace.