Read Online The Sword of the Banshee by Amanda Hughes - Free Book Online

banging in the public room as if there was a struggle and furniture was being overturned.
    Someone pleaded, “No, no don’t!” and there was the blast of a firearm. 
    She heard the crack of a chair being broken then more cries, a whimper, some calls for help--then silence.
    India had unwittingly stumbled onto one of Colm’s raids. She stood rigidly, staring at a cask of brandy, holding her breath and imagining the carnage in the next room.
    Someone outside the door called in Gaelic, “It’s over.”
    His hand on the latch of the door, the innkeeper looked at India and demanded, “Who are you?”
    “I am Lady Fitzpatrick. I have news for Lord Fitzpatrick.”
    The man’s eyes grew large, and his jaw dropped. He opened the door and called, “I have Lady Fitzpatrick here!”
    Barry Gallagher, one of Colm’s top men leaped across the mangled bodies and took India by the hand, navigating her around the massacre. He was a lean young man with a shock of red hair and freckles. He apologized to her as the hem of her gown sopped up the blood. She nodded and swallowed back the bile as it rose in her throat from the thick, hot smell of bodily fluids. Several of the soldiers had been shot in the face, one lay on the table, and the rest were on the floor in pools of blood.
    Outside the inn the scene was much the same. The soldiers who had harassed her were lying in the road with their throats cut. India looked up at the hills. In the moonlight she could see the repparees from the raid scattering into the woods.
    Gallagher took India’s hand again and they began to run too. Once they were a safe distance from the village, he stooped down into the brush and whispered, “Why did ya come, Lady Fitzpatrick?”
    Panting India said, “You must find Lord Fitzpatrick immediately. I received word that a shipment of guns is arriving tonight from the American Colonies. A vessel awaits him in Reardon’s cove.”
    Gallagher’s jaw dropped then he looked out to sea. He looked back at India as if reluctant to leave her. “I will find my way home,” she assured him.
    Still the young man hesitated and India snapped, “That is an order. Now go!”
    He dashed from the brush and ran down the hill into the night.
    India was still on edge, not sure what to expect from the rest of her journey home. Either way, she knew she must hurry. Stumbling through the brush she found the road back to Gilmore Manor at last. All was quiet when she returned.
    India went to the stable, unsaddled the gelding she rode earlier, and then looked for the estate guards. They were still not to be found. She wondered if they had left the estate to be part of the raid. She had little energy left to speculate so she went to her bedroom and locked the door. Easing herself into a chair by the large open window, she watched and listened for any movement below.
    She dozed off for a short time then woke up with a start, realizing that she must prepare to leave. After tonight’s raid, the British would be everywhere, and they would have to evacuate.
    Colm was not home yet. She assumed he was at the ship dispatching arms. She stuffed her clothing into a bag and went down to the library to empty her desk. She heard someone bang on the main door of the house.
    She went to the entry. “Yes?”
    “Lady Fitzpatrick. It is Barry Gallagher.”
    She pulled open the massive door and there was the young man again standing in the moonlight.  “We rendezvoused with the ship tonight at Reardon’s Cove.”
    “Oh, good,” said India with a sigh, clutching her bodice.
    Gallagher handed her a box with a note attached. “This was with the cargo. It is for you.”       
    “A package for me?” she said taking the box. India looked at him perplexed.
    “I am here for another reason too, Lady Fitzpatrick. I am to take ya to County Armaugh. Your husband had already left.”
    “Had he been informed about the shipment of guns before he departed?”
    “Aye, but he decided to move on