Figures moved between the sea and us; others encircled us from behind. We were trapped between two groups. No one had seen us yet, but they would soon enough. It could only be a matter of time, unless fate was kind. If we went any further, we would be caught. So we dropped into a hollow and McLir pulled out his strange tube, which makes far things, seem near. He called the tube a far-seer, one of the wonders his father had brought back and given to him. I never understood how the thing worked, although I have often looked through it and marvelled.
“What are we going to do now?” I asked, my voice shaking from exhaustion and renewed fear.
“Once they find out the cave has been abandoned they’ll think of the ship. They know I must reach Wave Sweeper in order to escape. They would guess the ship is somewhere on this coast, or I would not have used Stoill’s hut so often. They are here to try to cut us off.”
“What can we do if you can no longer reach the ship?”
“Let’s watch to see what they do next. I must find a way to avoid them and get aboard unnoticed.”
“If only you could!”
Edan had been sitting, staring at the shining sea with unseeing eyes. Then he said, “Perhaps there is a way. I can pass among the searchers. They know nothing of my debt to you, so they’ll think I’ve come to help them. Dag knew I went with Sétanta’s men, so they’ll have thought me dead or lying somewhere wounded. Everyone will be pleased to find out I’m still alive. They won’t ask me too many questions because I’m Dag’s brother. If you tell me where Wave Sweeper is hidden, I can sail out to sea until darkness falls. Then I’ll come back to pick you up. You can drop Renny and me somewhere on the coast, when no one is watching, and make your escape. I’ll take Renny back to her village, or to find her mother, if that’s what she wants. She’ll be safe with me. Once you escape, my debt to you is also paid. Agreed?”
“Agreed.” McLir’s voice held no hint of suspicion and so I voiced no protest. He was wiser than I and, if he chose to trust Edan, I would trust him too.
So McLir told him where the ship was hidden, and the places where he might come ashore. “There are several. Make your turn inshore sharp, so I know which one you are heading for and I’ll meet you there. Be careful. Don’t court danger. We’ll lie hidden while we wait for you. There’s time enough for everything we need to do. Good fortune go with you.”
Edan grinned. “And Odin’s favour with you.”
McLir laughed and held out his hand to him. Edan clasped his forearm and the men stood joined together. I have never forgotten the moment, for it was the last time we were all together.
“I thank you for your friendship, son of Ragnar.”
“And I for yours, son of Lir. Fare you well.”
“Farewell.”
Edan slipped down the hill and circled round, away from us. Soon he was out of our sight. We kept watch and waited to find out what happened to him. My sides ached, until I realised I was hardly breathing. I dreaded to hear the cry that would tell us he had been sighted, but no shout came.
Luck was with us that day. The men were still making a diligent search for us, but the ground had many hollows, big enough to hide a man. At first, the searchers seemed to be heading in our direction. I held my breath again, hoping they would come no nearer. They didn’t. Something distracted them and they moved off towards the south and never returned.
“This is Edan’s doing. He’s drawn them away from us as he promised,” McLir said, when we breathed again.
I was stiff with tiredness and I started drifting into sleep, huddled against the warm tangled fur of Shea’s back. McLir never moved. He sat absolutely still, as if he was part of the mountainside itself. Hours later, he spoke to me again. The sun was at its zenith now, but its rays were veiled in mist, cooling us where we lay. Nevertheless, I felt horribly thirsty, but I did not want to move out of hiding to find water. Not yet, anyway. I preferred to stay thirsty than to be discovered.
“There is a ship off the coast. Look,” McLir said when I sat up next to him. His voice sounded dry and hoarse. He handed me his seeing tube. The image seemed to leap at me, although the watery glass distorted its shape.
“It looks like Wave Sweeper,” I whispered. Sudden hope made me feel giddy.
“I think so too. Edan has found the ship and sailed away as he said he would. No one can catch him now. Wave Sweeper is faster than any of the raiders’ ships. We must find out which way Edan turns when he heads back towards the land, so I can meet him.” McLir told me he had made the arrangement because he did not know where the searchers would be when darkness fell.
“From where he is now, he can go north to Cornaa, south to Groudle or directly ashore at Dhoon. Wave Sweeper might land at any of them,” I said thoughtfully. I knew this coast better than McLir. I had come here often as a child, to visit my grandmother, who lived at Cornaa.
“Rest again and I’ll keep watch on him.”
“Máistir, you’re tired. Let me take my turn.”
“No. I have been hunted by men before; you haven’t. Rest now. You’ll need all your strength and wits tonight.”
So I slept again, until thirst woke me, when the evening shadows were lengthening across the hills. McLir handed me a skin of water. I drank, thankful to slake my aching throat at last. Then the realisation hit me; he must have left our hiding place to find a stream.
“Where did you get the water from?” I asked him, horrified at the risk he had taken.
His answer was calm. “The hunt moved away from this side of the hill an hour or so ago. I found a stream lower down in the hollow. Drink. I wasn’t in danger and we still have some hours to wait before we can leave without being seen.”
“Where’s Edan?” I asked, my wits beginning to return.
“He’s been circling in the bay. So far, he’s made no move in any direction. It’s still too light for our purposes. None of the raiders’ ships has arrived to follow him, so he’s safe enough. Don’t fret for him.”
“I’m not fretting, but I wish it was all over and you were safely away from here.”
“I don’t want to leave this land...” McLir said his voice so low I almost did not hear him. He was looking out to sea and his face was hidden from me.
“I don’t want you to go either,” I replied, “but what other choice do you have? Dag’s men will hunt you from one end of the island to the other if you stay here. You can’t hide forever and someone is sure to betray you, if you’re seen. One day they’ll find you and kill you. Your only hope is to escape by sea. If you leave, you can go to many lands where you’ll find people to welcome you for your wisdom and learning. I’m grateful that you stayed with us so long and saved so many of us.”
I was weeping now. Then he said words which were almost more than I could bear. “I had hoped to see your children.”
He turned to face me and, for the first time, I saw the love in his eyes. I knew, in that moment, he would really go. He was sorrowful, but he wouldn’t stay for fear of hurting me. I felt my heart sink, and I almost didn’t listen as he continued:
“On the day you offered yourself to me, I didn’t tell you the real reason why I refused your gift.”
“You said if you lay with a woman, your visions would leave you. You’d be stripped of any knowledge of the future when you needed it most.” I remembered the pain his rejection had given me on that day.
“You were so beautiful that it broke my heart to lie to you.” He put out a hand and stroked my cheek. “I had to give you a reason you’d believe, although you may have doubted since. Most spells and enchantments, as I told you, come from knowledge of the plants and substances of this earth. The only magic I can’t explain is my visions and even those you once shared. No, the real reason is different. I didn’t sleep with you that day because, if I had, you’d have been drawn into the blood feud. Sétanta swore to kill any creature I love, even Shea.” He laid his hand lightly on the wolfhound’s huge head and the great dog mumbled in answer to his caress
. “He would never let you live, if he’d found out what you mean to me.”
“But Sétanta is dead!”
“Blood feuds pass from generation to generation. Sétanta has kin and allies still alive to carry the foul thing on. You’d never be safe, while you’re with me. Always a fugitive, always hunted, always looking over your shoulder, afraid of every shadow. I must leave you, whether I wish to or not. Your future isn’t with me but with Edan. Already you look at each other with kindness and affection. I think it’ll not be long before love grows between you. He’s loyal to those he cares about, as he has proved. He’s a good man, although his loyalties aren’t the same as yours, not yet. He wants you, and you care for him.”
“Not the way I love you, Máistir!”
“You’ll always be in my heart and my mind, but your place is here with him. He can protect you and the people you love, as I can’t. In time your land will be peaceful once more and these days of strife will be only a memory.”
“I love you so much, Máistir. I can’t bear the thought I’ll never see you again.”
“Who knows what will happen in time? I have lived in many places and my journeying isn’t finished yet. Perhaps, one day, the island will call me back. If it does, I’ll answer that call and find my memories still here. The time we spent together, the sight of your face and sunlight turning your hair into flame; these are my memories. You are as beautiful as this island of your birth, Renny. I only wish you were both my own.”
I began to cry in earnest and he held me close. I wanted to hold on to the moment so I would always remember the feel of his arms around me. Tears, though, like all emotions, are fleeting, and, after a while, I had no more to shed.
“Come, we must leave soon,” McLir said gently, drawing away from me. The sun had fallen behind the hills and the land lay now in shadow.
“Where are the Norsemen?” I asked him.
“Some are still on the cliffs above the beach and some are on the shore. There may be others, who are hidden from us here.”
“Then Edan can’t land to pick you up,” I cried, despair in my voice.
“He’ll try. We must distract the watchers or we’ll all be taken.”
“A noise would make them look in the wrong direction,” I said, thinking the problem over, as he had taught me how to do, and he nodded.
“Noise or light. Either would draw them away, but the person who created the distraction would need to be well gone before they went to seek for her.”
“You have an idea?” I said. I knew him well enough to see it written on his face.
“Do you remember the cart you tripped over on the way here?”
“I’m unlikely to forget the accursed thing,” I said. My leg still smarted from the wound, but the rest had helped and I moved more freely now.
“I think the wheels are still intact.”
“So?”
“If dry bracken were tied to the cart and set alight, it could be rolled down the hillside and into the sea. If you lit the bracken and let the wheels go, you should have time to escape. Some minutes will pass before they recover from the surprise and wonder who sent it among them. Such a strange sight would certainly draw their eyes away from the sea for long enough. Edan could come in, pick me up unobserved and sail away again. We’ll go south. I’ll set him ashore where we won’t be seen. He can then make his way back to join you. If this plan is to succeed, though, we must work quickly.”
“Then let’s be swift,” I said in a choked voice. “If you must go, go as safely as you can.”
I can barely remember the next hour of my life. We did everything at a frantic run. We retraced our footsteps to the cart. McLir wrenched off the timbers until only the axle was left. We rolled the wheels down the hill. The two of us had to guide the awkward things, but at last we had them positioned in the right place, aimed right at our enemies. We piled stones under the rims, to hold them fast, until we wanted to set them free. While McLir used his glass to locate our enemies, I gathered huge armfuls of dry bracken. We lashed the bracken to the outside of the wheels and McLir took a pouch out of his carry-sack and emptied its contents over the whole affair. He put his own fire maker into my hand and kissed me. I had seen him use the fire maker often before, but never used it myself. So he showed me how to work the trick.
“Keep it,” he said, “my last gift to you. Don’t stand too close when you kindle the flame. The mixture will flare up and burn fiercely. Use a long stick to push the stones away and don’t stay to watch once you’ve let the contraption go. If we’re lucky and the wheels don’t founder on some obstacle, they should roll right into our enemies. Most of the watchers seem to be at Dhoon, and Edan turned north before he headed in. So I’ll make for the cove at Cornaa. Let the wheels go just as the last light vanishes. Then return to Edan’s cave and wait for him. Approach it carefully, although I doubt anyone will be there now. The fumes will be long gone and no more traces of us should remain. I’ll tell Edan where to find you.”
I nodded. “I’ll do as you say.”
“Then this is goodbye.”
Tears blinded me, but he took me gently in his arms and I felt his lips on mine.
“Goodbye, Renny,” he said softly, after he had kissed me. “I’ll always cherish the memory of the time we spent with each other. May you have as much joy in the rest of your days as you gave me in the short time we’ve been together.”
“Goodbye, Máistir. May the fates keep you safe and bring you back to me some day.”
“Nothing in this life is certain. A kind fate brought me here; the same kind fate may allow me to return. Who knows?”
“You came here in the mist like some creature out of a myth,” I said, smiling at the memory. I had no idea, that day when I saw him arrive, how much he would change my life forever.
“Look for me again in the mist. If my wish is granted, one day I’ll be here.”
He smiled at me, but I could no longer meet his eyes for grief. I threw my arms round Shea, instead, hugging him and stroking his silken ears.
“Goodbye. Look after your master. I’ll miss you too.”
I released him. They both turned and strode away down the valley without another word. The dog followed in McLir’s footsteps, as he always did. The two figures quickly merged into the shadows and were gone.
When the last glimmer of light faded from the west, I kindled the flame as McLir had taught me and set the wheels alight. They fizzled and sparked, making me jump aside. I had found a stick to knock away the stones, as I had been told, so I was not burned. The whole thing plunged downwards, bouncing over the heather and flying through the air. My heart leaped into my mouth, thinking the wheels would falter, but they did not. Sparks flew behind them, leaving multicoloured trails. I held my breath, forgetting my orders for a moment in the spectacle, until I heard a faint shout before me and I remembered. I began to run; crouching low in the heather, hoping no one would notice me. But no one was watching; all eyes were on the flames. I kept glancing behind me as I ran, so I saw the moment when the fiery wheels leaped across the cliff and plunged into the darkness of the sea. No one saw me or the small, grey long-prowed ship as it came to the shore. It departed swiftly and landed again further to the south, leaving behind its passenger.
29
I was waiting near the cave when Edan found me. By then, my tears had dried, but I was still shuddering with the strength of my feelings. I felt relieved at McLir’s escape and happy Edan had returned to me safely. Yet I was crying inside, for I knew I would never see McLir again in my waking life.
For a long time, Edan held me in his arms. He stroked my hair and crooned to me as if I was a fretful child. At last, my shudders ceased. Then he gave me his hand and helped me to my feet.
“Let us climb up. I want to watch him go, if I can.”
“I doubt it. The night is as black as pitch,” I said, but I followed him up the slope to see the ending. And we did. Although the night was so dark, a faint glow on the ho
rizon betrayed the rising moon. By then, Wave Sweeper was a tiny dot against the glimmer, which no one could distinguish, unless they knew exactly where to look. No other vessel followed him.
No one was near us on the mountainside. We stood alone under the stars, our hands entwined, looking out across the sea. Edan kept me close to him, as we strained our eyes at the distant shape, until McLir’s ship faded and we could see him no more. My legs suddenly felt weak and I dropped onto the heather. Edan sat down beside me.
“I will miss him,” Edan said softly. “He taught me many different ways to find renown. Perhaps, one day, healers like him will be more valued than even the bravest warrior.”
“May we live to see that day’s dawn. The land will be poorer now he has left us.”
“Do you believe him, when he said he might return?”
“I would like to, but how can he come back, with his enemies all round? If he were really a magician, he’d return in a fiery chariot. He’d have lightening in his hand to smite his foes. But he is only a man, alone among many. If he returned, he would die for no purpose; better he goes to other lands where he is needed. Perhaps if we grow old, we may see him once again, but I believe, in my heart, I will not.” All my grief was in my voice and slowly Edan rose to his feet and lifted his sword high in tribute.
“Fare you well, Manannan McLir, may all your gods and the gods of this island go with you, wherever you may wander.”
And so the man we loved went away to some other land beyond the eastern sea, and, indeed, we never saw him again. Edan and I are old now. Edan took me to his own people. We made our home in the place where I was born, among his kin and mine. For Edan kept his promise. My loved ones were set free and I was grateful to him for his kindness. Gratitude and friendship did turn to love in time, as McLir had foretold and wished for.
I have always been happy with Edan. Yet if I had been free to choose, I would not have spent my life with him. Often, in dreams, I lie in McLir’s arms and my spirit wanders with him over the deep waters of the world. These visions are bittersweet pleasures, which come to me but rarely. I share them with no one, although I think Edan guesses. If he does, he says nothing. He’s always honoured McLir’s memory and accepted the fact that he was my first love.
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