43
That night the men of the castle moved the four bodies to the room where Fiona had sat with Beryl and Declan’s body two weeks earlier. Four bodies. Saoirse, Shaun, Margo and Catriona.
Kevin had taken a bullet in the leg which had needed to be dealt with immediately, and Robby was shot in the hand although the bullet had gone straight through. Liddy’s forehead was creased by a ricochet but otherwise there were no other serious injuries.
Mary stayed in the clinic with Kevin nursing him after the bullet was removed. Everyone else ate a meal of wine and leftover cold rabbit because nobody was up for cooking. Then they all retired for the evening.
The remaining members of Shaun’s group—eleven women and two children—were easily locked in their rooms for the night.
Sarah sat in her room, Siobhan asleep in her arms, and watched Mike undress with all the exhaustion of a man who’d just run a marathon. His initial plan had been to turn the women out immediately into the night but temperatures had dropped and it had begun to rain.
Sarah wasn’t sure they should be turned out at all. Their crime was really one of passive acceptance of the horrors of their leader. But they’d all known what was going on.
So there was that.
Sarah thought back to the evening meal—how loud the room had been with everyone laughing and talking at once. There were tears, too. They had lost dear Catriona after all, who left behind a four-month-old baby daughter. Nuala’s boys were quiet too. Especially Damian who’d spent most of the evening sitting at Nuala’s feet with his arms wrapped around one of the dogs. Sarah noticed Mike talking to him at one point. She knew he’d keep an eye on him going forward.
And then there was Fiona.
As terrifying as the day was, it somehow served as a catalyst to push Fiona out of her malaise. For the first time since they buried Declan, she showed signs of coming back to them. To lose a husband was a terrible thing and nobody knew that better than Sarah. But the day would come when Fiona would love again and laugh again. And her memories of Declan would be bittersweet. But mostly sweet.
Mike groaned as he sat down on the bed. It was well past midnight. He had bathed before coming to bed.
“You never told me why you didn’t wait for Shaun to let down the drawbridge for you. What made you suspicious?”
Mike rubbed his face with both hands and leaned back on their bed as Sarah settled the baby in her cot and tucked her in.
“His reason for why we couldn’t come inside didn’t ring true,” Mike said. “I mean I could well believe something was the matter with the fecking door but when you added it up with all the other things that didn’t make sense, it set off alarm bells.”
“What other things?”
“Like the fact that everyone in the castle was malnourished but not underweight. And how they said the area was hunted out but Gav and I always found plenty to trap. Plus they never planted a garden. And then there were the dogs. Most people nowadays have trouble feeding themselves, but this lot had pets. So how were they all eating?”
“So you always thought they might be cannibals?”
“Let’s just say it crossed me mind.”
“You acted like he was your long lost brother the way the two of you celebrated after the battle.”
“Aye, well, to an American I can imagine it looked exactly as it was supposed to.”
She sat down next to him on the bed. “Tricky Irish bastard.”
He kissed her on the mouth. “And don’t you forget it.”
“So once you knew there was something fishy going on, how exactly did you get in?”
“Beryl knew all the castle’s secrets and she’d never had a more eager audience than Tommy and Gavin.”
“So there was another way in besides the secret tunnel?”
“Not a very pleasant way. It has to do with the castle sewer system but aye. I figured if I was wrong the worst that would happen was I’d be little embarrassed. When we got inside and I heard the gunshots, I knew I wasn’t wrong.”
“You came just in time.”
“Nay, lass. We came too late for Damian. If you hadn’t gotten to him when you did the lad would have died. Until I heard the gunshots, I had no clue which way to go.”
Sarah’s eyes closed sleepily as she snuggled next to him in the bed, trying to stay awake long enough to focus on the warmth and comfort of the moment.
“You know what’s weird, Mike? After all that’s happened, I think you were right after all.”
“Now those are words a husband doesn’t hear very often. How so?”
“I think we’re safe here. In fact I think it would take a miracle to get in and most people aren’t like us. They’re not so stubborn that they’ll cling to a wall like a human fly with a nest of jagged rocks below or swim through human waste to get inside or continue to kick at a locked door while some maniac shoots at them. You know?”
“By God, I think you’re right.
And even though it hurt like fire because of the cut on her stomach, Sarah laughed and laughed. And the feeling of being safe—and even a little invincible—drifted over like the best drugs money could buy, and with her husband’s strong, loving arms around her, she fell asleep without a care in the world.
The next morning the snow had stopped. Mike had approved a hearty breakfast for everyone—castle women included—but it was a somber affair. All of the women ate staring at their plates and Sarah could well imagine most of them were wondering where their next meal would come from.
At one point in the morning she debated trying to talk Mike into letting them stay but decided against it. There was only room for one hundred people in the castle to be sustained comfortably, and while it was true they didn’t have nearly that many yet, it did occur to Sarah they might hand pick their community going forward.
And those people with a history of eating their neighbors would probably not make the cut.
The plan this morning was that all the people in the castle would join together to bury their dead. After that, the eleven castle women and their children would begin their walk down the road—never to return.
Sarah held Siobhan in her arms as they walked out of the castle heading toward the garden cemetery that they were quickly filling up. She saw Ava in the group ahead of her. Her eyes were downcast and her little girl’s hand was tightly in hers. Both were dressed warmly. Sarah had given instructions for the women to have a bundle of whatever meat, bread and ibuprofen they could spare.
Isn’t this what I was afraid would happen? That we’d invade a castle and throw the people out to starve or be murdered? But the thought wouldn’t gel. These people were the murderers, Sarah reminded herself. Better that the people they meet should be mindful of them.
“All right, love?” Mike came up behind Sarah and put an arm around her.
“I’m good,” Sarah said. “Sick of funerals though.”
“Aye. This should last us awhile.”
Nuala spotted Sarah in the crowd and waved. Sarah grinned.
“Nuala’s so happy,” Sarah said.
“There’s nothing like nearly losing your most precious treasure to help you focus on what’s important.”
Sarah looked into Siobhan’s sleepy face. “You’re exactly right,” she said. Mike had promised her last night that they would go back to the convent first thing in the morning. The thought that every step was now taking her closer to John buoyed her heart like nothing she could ever remember feeling.
She was so sure she would see him. She couldn’t even entertain the possibility that he wouldn’t be there.
“I’ll go help the lads,” Mike said, “if you’re sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine,” Sarah said.
“Aye, ye are,” he said, kissing her before turning away.
Sarah watched as the group arranged themselves near where the bodies would be lowered into the ground. She could see Mike standing heads and shoulders above the other men and giving directions. She couldn’t help but grin.
“Sarah,” a small voice said and Sarah turned to see Ava standing at her elbow. “I wanted to say sorry.”
Ava’s face was white with dark circles under her eyes. Sarah felt a twinge of guilt for what she and Mike were doing to her. And then she remembered…
“You ran to get Shaun when you saw me in the hall, didn’t you?”
Ava looked beyond the group toward where the bodies waited to go in the ground.
“I have no defense. I loved him.”
Sarah rearranged Siobhan in her sling and winced as she shifted the baby across the shallow cut Saoirse had scored on her stomach. Not enough for stitches, but still painful.
“Did Mike tell you Keeva and the other children could stay?”
“He did and I thanked him. But a child needs her mother. She’ll be better off with me.”
Some people can convince themselves of anything.
“Catriona died last night partly because of you. She leaves a baby not four months old. So I agree with you, Ava, that a child needs her mother but thanks to you, Teagan doesn’t have one. ”
“You have every reason to hate me.”
“I don’t need you to tell me that.”
Ava turned and gazed back at the castle walls and her eyes filled with tears.
“This castle has been my home for nearly five years.”
“It’s my castle now,” Sarah said coldly.
Ava nodded. “I know,” she said as she turned away. “I just wanted to say sorry.”
Sarah watched her move to the front of the group. She knew Ava mourned Shaun maybe even more than she mourned the loss of a warm, safe home.
But when Sarah tried to feel regret or guilt over throwing Ava and the rest of them out into the cold, the image of that mountain of bones in the castle basement—some as small as Siobhan’s—jumped to her mind. And then she couldn’t feel anything at all.
The day after the castle folk left broke sunny and cold. It was early December and already the women were planning Christmas and the spring garden. Work details were created to remove the branches, debris and weeds in the garden that five years of neglect had generated. There would also be a second garden inside the castle walls where the lawn and courtyard were now. They had the seeds that Sarah had brought back from the States the year before and Mike and Sarah would bring back more from the compound.
Nuala stood in the courtyard with Siobhan in one arm and little Darcy in the other. The boys Damian and Dennis, who were deemed old enough to help Gavin with the horses, were in the stables working with him.
Mike checked and double-checked the harness on the two horses attached to their biggest wagon. Sarah knew he didn’t like traveling just the two of them. He would have preferred to bring Gavin or someone to ride shotgun—literally. But there was so much work to do at the castle to get ready for winter that they couldn’t spare even one man to come with them.
“I’ll take good care of her, Sarah,” Nuala said, giving Siobhan a squeeze. “You’re not to worry while you’re gone.”
“I know,” Sarah said. “I’m not worried.” Sarah tweaked Siobhan’s cheek and ran her hands down her jeans as if she could rub off her extra energy. She was so excited to finally be going that it was all she could do not to jump in the wagon and grab the reins and race out the front gate.
“Mike says it’ll take us at least five days to get there.”
“That’ll be hard going after four weeks sleeping in a warm bed with a fireplace at your feet, I’ll wager,” Nuala said.
“Nothing feels warmer to me than knowing I’ll see John soon,” Sarah said. “Not even a fireplace as big as the ones in the grand dining hall.” Nuala nodded but didn’t smile. Sarah knew Nuala worried about how Sarah might react if John wasn’t at the convent.
She shouldn’t worry about that.
He’ll be there. He has to be.
Fiona came out to the wagon with her hands holding a basket.
“You know we’re trying to travel light,” Mike said to his sister, “so that we have room to cart stuff back.”
“This is for the road,” Fiona said. “Blankets and water and the like. Do you have a lighter? A lot easier to build a fire if you have a lighter.”
“Thank you, Fiona,” Mike said with exaggerated patience. “We have everything we need. Ready, Sarah?”
“You never said what you’ll do after that,” Nuala said as she walked with them to the wagon.
“After the convent,” Mike said, “we’ll go to the compound and pack up as much as we can carry.”
“What about the nuns?” Fiona said. “Won’t you bring them back too?”
“If we find them,” Sarah said. “And they want to come.” She climbed up to the wagon seat and nodded to Terry standing by the crank on the drawbridge even before Mike was seated.
Fiona reached up and touched Sarah’s shoe to get her attention.
“Today’s the day, isn’t it? The day he said he’d come?”
Tears sprang to Sarah’s eyes that Fiona remembered. December first. It was the day John had told Sarah he’d come back.
And miracle or not, Sarah had no doubt he’d be there—waiting for her. She had an image of him, six years old, his little backpack at his feet, as he waited for her to pick him up from carpool all those many years ago—his face searching for each car to see if it was her, his eyes brightening when he found her.
He had to be there.
“Oy! Mike!” Tommy called down from the top parapet where he was scanning the environs before the door opened. “There’s people coming!”
Mike frowned and Sarah grabbed his arm. “Mike, we’re still going,” she said.
“Aye, Sarah. Let’s just see who’s come calling first though, do ye mind?”
Frustration welled up inside Sarah to see her journey delayed even an hour. It was probably nothing. People came down the road from time to time. Half the time they didn’t even call up to the castle. It occurred to Sarah that it might be one of the castle women coming to beg to be taken back in.
She squinted up at Tommy. He had the pair of binoculars they’d taken off Hurley.
“Can you see who it is?” she called up to him.
Suddenly, Tommy turned away and disappeared down the stairwell. When he emerged, in the courtyard he ran to where Terry stood by the drawbridge handle.
“Raise the drawbridge! Raise it!” he shouted. “It’s John! He’s come home!”