Finn and I walked up the hill from my old farmhouse in Cúil Íarharcht to Anu’s. We’d arrived just a few hours ago from across the water and we gambled that it was possible Anu might already be back in her own home, if everything had been set to rights. My phone hadn’t given us reason to hope, because she hadn’t answered the calls I’d made to her phone, or the texts. And Saoirse and Smithy’s phones had produced equally no results. I wasn’t even certain they were back here. The confirmation would all have to be done in person.
My lads were high up in the trees when we’d left the house. They’d welcomed us with a reserve that had me laughing until my main lad Rook came down and perched on my shoulder, giving me a saucy peck. And that was it. They were back to squawking and teasing and even now, as we crested the rise leading from my house, I could hear them squawking at each other.
Finn took my hand, squeezed, and I saw him grin, knowing what I was thinking. I leaned my head on his arm, still not believing I was doing that, and that it felt so natural. I inhaled him and the scents around him, feeling completely alive and—happy. Happy? Everything around me was fresh and new. Smelled fresh and new, even though it was autumn. An encouraging sign. Or maybe it was just me and my embarrassing tendency to find beauty in everything at the moment. That dear springy curl of Finn’s that at this moment was flying into his face. That lovely way he caught his upper lip between his teeth when he was trying not to laugh, as he was now.
“I feel that Anu’s there, at the house,” I said.
He looked down at me and smiled. “I know. I feel the same, too. Though it might just be me. You know, the way I feel about you. It’s overflowing into the rest of the world.”
I nodded. “I know. And still.”
“And still,” he says.
The words were there between us. In each other, part of each other. The one who battles with words and the other who battles with swords. Two halves of a whole.
Anu’s house drew into view, the white gable clearly visible through the baring tree branches. It was too early to tell, but I could feel excitement building inside me.
We breached the rise and looked into the yard, but there was nothing to indicate that she was there. I knew someone had looked after the livestock while she’d been at the Beara, Anu would have always ensured that was done. So the presence of a few cows in the lower field was no real confirmation. Just a tiny kernel added to the piles of hope that were getter higher as I drew near.
A door burst open and Saoirse came striding out, hair flying around her, boots, jeans and leather jacket looking as much a part of her as anything ever would or could. A woman come into herself. She turned to the door and broke out laughing at something someone just inside the door had said. A deep voice. Smithy. He emerged a moment later, his stance that bit cocky, but humorously so.
“Ah, Jaysus, will you look at the two of them,” said Smithy, his chin jutting in our direction. He started cooing.
“Oh, feck off out of it, Smithy,” I said, grinning like a banshee at his mocking for us being love birds. Or not a banshee. There was nothing lamentable about what I was feeling.
Saoirse turned back and caught sight of us. Her eyes lit up. “Maura, Finn! You’re back. Great stuff.”
“Anu,” Finn said. “Is she any better?”
“Come in and see for yourself,” said Saoirse.
She and Smithy turned and went back inside the house, leaving the door wide for us to follow. A good sign. I made my way through the door, Finn’s hand at my back, and I loved its feel there. As though it belonged. It did belong.
We went through to the kitchen and there she was, like a picture out of an old book on Ireland, leaning down over the crane to lift the kettle off its hook, a fire burning merrily in the hearth. Her long plait trailed down her back, and when she looked up and saw us approach, her cheeks were flushed a healthy colour.
“Anu,” I said. “You’re here. You’re well?”
“I’m well enough,” she said, smiling warmly. “And always ready to welcome friends and relations into my home.”
“Ah, will I just go then?” I asked in a teasing tone.
“Not at all, my girl. Sit down for a cuppa. Bríd, get the biscuits from the press and the tart. I’m sure there’s some apple tart.”
Saoirse raised her brows. “But Anu, that’s shop bought.”
Anu slid me a sly look. “Morrigan won’t mind. She doesn’t cook herself, so she won’t know the difference.”
I laughed. Relieved in so many ways. The tension that had been between us, or at least it had seemed so to me, was gone. The warmth that Anu had always given all of us, including me, was back and, it seemed, with more added.
“Sit down you two and tell me the when,” Anu said. “And you too Goibhniu, no need to lurk in the background like a ghoul.”
“A ghoul?” said Smithy. “I’m insulted. I thought it was a very manly lurk. Or at least deep and mysterious.”
“Not a hope,” I said.
Smithy looked at Finn, mock outrage on his face. Finn shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I know feck all about that kind of thing. I can’t even lurk properly.”
“Oh, you make up for it in other ways,” I told him in a low voice, feeling myself redden. It still seemed strange to have our relationship on display for everyone to see.
Saoirse came back in, bringing the biscuits and the notorious store bought apple tart. She giggled. “Ah, Smithy, I’ll call you deep and mysterious if you like and you can lurk all you want with me. I like your lurking.”
She placed the biscuits and tart on the table along with a small stack of plates and we all took seats around. Finn sat beside me, took my hand under the table. The need to touch him was overwhelming, and I was glad that he felt no qualms about displaying that need in public.
The tea was poured and Anu had her cup of milk in hand. The warmth, the good feeling was pouring out everywhere and I couldn’t help but feel a little anxious at it.
“Luke, have you heard from him? Is Kayla ok? And the others?”
“On the mend,” said Anu. “All of them. It will take some time, but they have that.”
“And each other,” said Saoirse. “That will go a long way towards getting them well.”
“It will indeed,” said Anu. “They are twined now. They have made their pledge to each other and are bound inseparably.” She looked at Smithy and Saoirse. “Like you two have.”
Saoirse blushed and Smithy took her hand a kissed her knuckles. “We have of course. It’s our time now.”
Anu looked at me. “And so, I ask you two—when?”
I blinked at her. “When?”
“The two of you. Your binding. Your twining? You’ll do it soon?”
I looked at Finn. His eyes were dancing. “She asked you a question. I hope you know the answer.”
The answer was in his eyes and I hoped reflected in mine. “I will of course,” I said, first to him and then turning to Anu, I said it again to her.
He squeezed my hand and I squeezed it back. A moment later I raised his hand to my lips and kissed his knuckles.
Smithy cooed again, the sound containing no mocking. But still, I stuck my tongue out at him.
Anu laughed. “I’m glad to hear it. And for now, there is a strong balance in the world. One that I hope lasts for a good while. At least until we can gather enough strength to help others who face the same peril as we had.”
I thought of Raven and the ongoing fight he faced back in Oklahoma and the rest of America. And all the other places around the world who were dealing with similar challenges. Anu was right. This was an ongoing challenge, but for now, we had eliminated one element in this huge fight. And for now, we must be content with that, and I would find strength and my own contentment with this man beside me. The other to mine. Which together made the whole.