7. Funeral Magic

It was two days later that the funeral of Old Da Henderson took place, and he was a man who had been so popular that this was a great occasion.

All the men of Black Ness came home from the haaf that day. There was a tremendous gathering of other mourners as well, and in spite of their own grief for Old Da, the Hendersons were pleased by such respect. They were also determined to carry out all the old funeral customs of the island the way Old Da would have wanted them to do; and so, just before they were all about to start for the burying-ground, Peter came out of the house carrying the straw from the mattress of Old Da’s bed.

The minister was out there with his Bible under his arm. All the mourners stood silently gathered, with the coffin in their midst. Robbie was waiting with a lit torch in his hand, and when his father had set the straw on the ground, he thrust this torch into the heart of it.

Now this custom of burning the bed straw of a dead man – the lik straw, as it was called – was a very ancient custom on the island. It was also very superstitious, for everyone there believed that a footprint could sometimes be seen in the ashes of the lik straw; and this footprint would show which member of the dead man’s family would be next to die.

Naturally enough, therefore, the minister would have nothing to do with such a custom, which he thought was very unchristian. He stood well back from the fire to show his disapproval of it; and since Finn Learson was a stranger to the island and its customs, he also took care to stand back from the fire. Everyone else, however, got as close as they could to it, and every eye was fastened intently on the flames.

For a few moments the straw burned fiercely, then the flames sank and dwindled quickly to nothing more than a lick of fire. A thin column of smoke rose from the smouldering ash, drifting and slowly unwinding in the still summer air. But now the mourners were no longer silent, for they could see a bird winging heavily towards this smoke – a black bird, like a crow, but much bigger than any crow.

It was a raven – the bird of ill omen, the bird with the hoarse and arrogant cry that foretells death, and the mourners muttered fearfully to one another at its approach. They muttered again as it pitched down to light on the roof of the Hendersons’ house. And standing by with a face as sour as if he had been sucking a lemon, the minister opened his Bible to show how much he disapproved of this further show of superstition.

The Henderson family, however, did not hear the mourners and they did not heed the minister; for now the ash was settling, soft and grey, with the last trace of red gone from it. And there, in the middle of all the little mounds and hollows of its final pattern, was the clearly-marked shape of a footprint.

The shape was a small and neat one – the print of a girl’s shoe; and staring at it like someone in a dream, Elspeth recognised it for her own. Slowly she lifted one foot and advanced it towards the ashes. Carefully she set the foot down again, and the sole of her shoe fitted perfectly into the shape of the print.

Janet went sheet-white at this, for it was not in the natural order of things, of course, that anyone so young as Elspeth should be the next in the family to die. Peter and Nicol Anderson were also much shaken by this turn of events, and each of them put out a hand to draw Elspeth hastily back from the ash.

“It can’t be!” said Janet then, staring in dismay at Peter as she spoke. “Elspeth’s so much younger than either of us – it can’t be her turn next!”

This was altogether too much for Elspeth, who gave a little cry and slid in a dead faint to the ground.

“Now look what you’ve done,” said Nicol in dismay; and Janet shouted, “Then help me to undo it, will you, instead of just standing there like a great, stupid gowk!”

As usual with men in such situations, however, Nicol had no ideas at all in his head. Peter was equally useless, and seizing hold of Robbie, Janet commanded, “Off to the house with you, and get some water!” Then shoving Robbie away from her, she got down on her knees beside Elspeth.

Robbie’s mind was all in a daze over what had happened; but he took off instantly, all the same, and was back in less than a minute with a jug of water in his hand. The situation had changed, however, even in that short time, for now it was Nicol who knelt beside Elspeth. Elspeth herself had come round from her faint, and Nicol was raising her from the ground. Finn Learson had stepped forward to help him with this, and the minister was stalking back and forth raging at everyone.

“No one with any sense would believe such superstitious nonsense!” he shouted, and Nicol said awkwardly, “Of course, minister, of course. And Elspeth will be fine now.”

Elspeth, however, was still far from fine, and she could see very well the doubt and fear on all the faces around her. Piteously she glanced around for further comfort, and realised that Finn Learson was smiling at her.