strangled him.’
Not Fiona, then. Mara breathed a sigh of relief. Surely a girl as small as Fiona would not have the strength to do that to a young man like Eamon. ‘Would it be difficult to do this?’ she asked.
‘Not terribly,’ said Nuala indifferently. ‘You’d have to know what you were doing, of course. Or else be lucky enough to find the right spot instantly. He would have lost consciousness almost immediately. But,’ she said emphatically, ‘this is the interesting bit. He fell down the mountainside, as we know. He bounced from rock to rock, you can see the marks. And look, here on the scalp, you can see the fall has actually smashed the skull at this point. Come around here to the head.’ Nuala parted the dark hair and showed the depression.
‘But you don’t think that was what killed him?’
‘No, not at all. I’m certain of that. In fact, I think that he was dead before he fell down the mountainside.’
‘What!’
‘That’s right. You see if he hadn’t been dead for a while when this happened the scalp would have poured blood. Scalp wounds bleed more than any other injuries. You’ve probably seen that for yourself if any of the boys got a scalp cut from a hurley or something.’
Mara nodded. ‘They even frighten themselves the first time they see all that blood.’ Her mind went back to Eamon. ‘So you don’t think that he was killed at that spot just beside the flax garden then? So how did he fall and why was that done?’
Nuala shrugged her thin shoulders. ‘I’d say that someone did not want the body to be found where he had been killed. Probably wanted to pretend that it was just an accident.’ She went across the room, picked up her medical bag, checked its contents, looked around the room and then went to the door.
‘I’ll leave you now,’ she said. ‘I want to have a look at my property in Rathborney. Ardal has put a man in there to manage it for me. I’m hoping that when I qualify as a physician next year I will be allowed to live there, even if I can’t find a husband for myself by then. I suppose you haven’t managed to find one for me yet, have you?’
With a dry laugh she went out without waiting for a reply. Mara would not have known what to say, in any case. There was only one man that Nuala wanted – had always wanted – and that was Fachtnan, the nineteen-year-old scholar at Cahermacnaghten law school.
Fachtnan had failed his final examination last year. Mara hoped that he would pass it this year, but Fachtnan had serious memory problems and it was hard to predict how he might react in an examination situation. If he passed then he could earn a living as a lawyer, but if he failed once more, he had another possibility in front of him. If he married Nuala, it would be ‘union of man on a woman’s property’, but he would lack for nothing. Nuala had been left a rich estate at Rathborney and in addition she would have her work as a physician. Even as a young girl the people of the Burren had trusted her more than they trusted her father, Malachy, and had sought her advice and used her medicines with confidence.
But Fachtnan was deeply in love with Fiona. Nuala knew that, and it was probably the reason why she had not stayed to see the arrival of the scholars. She could not bear to see Fachtnan and Fiona together, especially now that Eamon had been removed as an obstacle.
I must talk to Fachtnan, thought Mara. Tell him the truth. Tell him that Fiona has no real interest in him. Try to probe, delicately, his feelings for Nuala. He had been fond of her for years. She would play the matchmaker; a dangerous game, perhaps, but she was sure that Nuala and Fachtnan would be happy together.
But when the scholars arrived, there was no sign of Fachtnan. Mara had gone to the gate of Cahermacnaghten to welcome them, had heard their voices calling greetings to some farmer from a long way off. There they were, Moylan and Aidan in the front, then Hugh and Shane, and
Not Fiona, then. Mara breathed a sigh of relief. Surely a girl as small as Fiona would not have the strength to do that to a young man like Eamon. ‘Would it be difficult to do this?’ she asked.
‘Not terribly,’ said Nuala indifferently. ‘You’d have to know what you were doing, of course. Or else be lucky enough to find the right spot instantly. He would have lost consciousness almost immediately. But,’ she said emphatically, ‘this is the interesting bit. He fell down the mountainside, as we know. He bounced from rock to rock, you can see the marks. And look, here on the scalp, you can see the fall has actually smashed the skull at this point. Come around here to the head.’ Nuala parted the dark hair and showed the depression.
‘But you don’t think that was what killed him?’
‘No, not at all. I’m certain of that. In fact, I think that he was dead before he fell down the mountainside.’
‘What!’
‘That’s right. You see if he hadn’t been dead for a while when this happened the scalp would have poured blood. Scalp wounds bleed more than any other injuries. You’ve probably seen that for yourself if any of the boys got a scalp cut from a hurley or something.’
Mara nodded. ‘They even frighten themselves the first time they see all that blood.’ Her mind went back to Eamon. ‘So you don’t think that he was killed at that spot just beside the flax garden then? So how did he fall and why was that done?’
Nuala shrugged her thin shoulders. ‘I’d say that someone did not want the body to be found where he had been killed. Probably wanted to pretend that it was just an accident.’ She went across the room, picked up her medical bag, checked its contents, looked around the room and then went to the door.
‘I’ll leave you now,’ she said. ‘I want to have a look at my property in Rathborney. Ardal has put a man in there to manage it for me. I’m hoping that when I qualify as a physician next year I will be allowed to live there, even if I can’t find a husband for myself by then. I suppose you haven’t managed to find one for me yet, have you?’
With a dry laugh she went out without waiting for a reply. Mara would not have known what to say, in any case. There was only one man that Nuala wanted – had always wanted – and that was Fachtnan, the nineteen-year-old scholar at Cahermacnaghten law school.
Fachtnan had failed his final examination last year. Mara hoped that he would pass it this year, but Fachtnan had serious memory problems and it was hard to predict how he might react in an examination situation. If he passed then he could earn a living as a lawyer, but if he failed once more, he had another possibility in front of him. If he married Nuala, it would be ‘union of man on a woman’s property’, but he would lack for nothing. Nuala had been left a rich estate at Rathborney and in addition she would have her work as a physician. Even as a young girl the people of the Burren had trusted her more than they trusted her father, Malachy, and had sought her advice and used her medicines with confidence.
But Fachtnan was deeply in love with Fiona. Nuala knew that, and it was probably the reason why she had not stayed to see the arrival of the scholars. She could not bear to see Fachtnan and Fiona together, especially now that Eamon had been removed as an obstacle.
I must talk to Fachtnan, thought Mara. Tell him the truth. Tell him that Fiona has no real interest in him. Try to probe, delicately, his feelings for Nuala. He had been fond of her for years. She would play the matchmaker; a dangerous game, perhaps, but she was sure that Nuala and Fachtnan would be happy together.
But when the scholars arrived, there was no sign of Fachtnan. Mara had gone to the gate of Cahermacnaghten to welcome them, had heard their voices calling greetings to some farmer from a long way off. There they were, Moylan and Aidan in the front, then Hugh and Shane, and
Similar Books
