Read Online Deed of Murder by Cora Harrison - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Cora Harrison
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Fiona riding rather soberly behind them.
‘Where is Fachtnan?’ she asked as they came close and they looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
‘I thought he was here, Brehon,’ said Moylan.
‘Not at Ballinalacken,’ said Aidan. ‘Not unless he’s in the eagle’s nest. Did you know that there’s a golden eagle nesting just above the castle, Brehon?’
‘Shut up,’ muttered Moylan.
‘Oh, I forgot.’ Aidan crimsoned with embarrassment and the two younger boys blushed in sympathy with him. It would be all quite unreal to them that one of their own who had eaten and slept beside them for the last couple of weeks was now lying dead.
‘I’d like you all to leave your horses and ponies here for the moment and go across to the fields and gather some flowers – there are tons of early orchids out and I think it would be nice to put them in the coffin,’ said Mara. Her quick ear had caught the sound of a heavy cart coming trundling up the road. That would be Blár with the coffin. She had not reckoned on Fiona’s presence, thinking that she would have been too upset to come. She did not want the girl to see Eamon, who had loved her, lying dead on the table in her house.
‘Make sure that you get a very big bunch. I’ll call you when Eamon has been coffined and then we’ll walk with the coffin down to the church. Father O’Connor will receive the body and he will be buried tomorrow morning.’
The walk down to Noughaval Church had been a silent affair. The scholars had prayed with sincerity in the church, joining in the priest’s prayers for eternal rest to be granted to the young man whom they had known so well for a short time.
When they emerged from the church Fiona was shivering and the two younger boys looked pale. Mara looked at them with understanding. It was an age when they felt eternal and now they had had a shock when one of their companions had been killed.
‘One thing that we can do for Eamon, now, is to find out who killed him and make that person pay,’ she said, making her voice as matter-of-fact as she could. Beside her, she heard Fiona take in a deep breath, but no more was said until they returned to the law school.
Somehow everything was better then. This was the place where legal questions were debated and the familiarity of the well-worn desks, the wooden press full of law books and scrolls, the board on the wall, regularly whitewashed by Cumhal, with its ledge beneath for the charcoal sticks and the damp sponge – all of these familiar objects seemed to settle the scholars into a steady, though sombre, frame of mind.
‘Nuala feels that Eamon was dead, perhaps for as long as an hour, before his body was hurled over the side of the cliff below the flax garden,’ began Mara and she outlined Nuala’s reasoning to them, watching the heads nod with comprehension. The Cahermacnaghten scholars knew Nuala well and respected her learning.
‘Why did you leave him, Fiona?’ asked Shane curiously.
Fiona hesitated for a moment, colour rushing into her pale face, and then she said uncertainly, ‘He started to . . . I . . .’
‘Anything to do with Heptad forty-seven?’ asked Moylan delicately, assuming the airs of a man of the world, while Aidan blushed for his friend.
‘Heptad forty-seven? What’s that?’ murmured Hugh to Shane, who rapidly licked his finger, looked directly ahead at Mara in an attentive manner while writing RAPE in damp letters on to his desk.
‘Nothing like that,’ assured Fiona with the ghost of a smile.
‘You should read Bretha Nemed toisech , my lad,’ said Moylan to Hugh in an undertone. ‘Essential reading for a boy of your age! Would make your hair stand on end. Full honour price penalty if a woman is kissed against her will! Read Cáin Adomnain , too. Ten ounces of silver for touching . . .’
‘That’s enough, Moylan,’ said Mara, but she was grateful to him for lightening the atmosphere. Fiona was laughing in a natural manner
‘Where is Fachtnan?’ she asked as they came close and they looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
‘I thought he was here, Brehon,’ said Moylan.
‘Not at Ballinalacken,’ said Aidan. ‘Not unless he’s in the eagle’s nest. Did you know that there’s a golden eagle nesting just above the castle, Brehon?’
‘Shut up,’ muttered Moylan.
‘Oh, I forgot.’ Aidan crimsoned with embarrassment and the two younger boys blushed in sympathy with him. It would be all quite unreal to them that one of their own who had eaten and slept beside them for the last couple of weeks was now lying dead.
‘I’d like you all to leave your horses and ponies here for the moment and go across to the fields and gather some flowers – there are tons of early orchids out and I think it would be nice to put them in the coffin,’ said Mara. Her quick ear had caught the sound of a heavy cart coming trundling up the road. That would be Blár with the coffin. She had not reckoned on Fiona’s presence, thinking that she would have been too upset to come. She did not want the girl to see Eamon, who had loved her, lying dead on the table in her house.
‘Make sure that you get a very big bunch. I’ll call you when Eamon has been coffined and then we’ll walk with the coffin down to the church. Father O’Connor will receive the body and he will be buried tomorrow morning.’
The walk down to Noughaval Church had been a silent affair. The scholars had prayed with sincerity in the church, joining in the priest’s prayers for eternal rest to be granted to the young man whom they had known so well for a short time.
When they emerged from the church Fiona was shivering and the two younger boys looked pale. Mara looked at them with understanding. It was an age when they felt eternal and now they had had a shock when one of their companions had been killed.
‘One thing that we can do for Eamon, now, is to find out who killed him and make that person pay,’ she said, making her voice as matter-of-fact as she could. Beside her, she heard Fiona take in a deep breath, but no more was said until they returned to the law school.
Somehow everything was better then. This was the place where legal questions were debated and the familiarity of the well-worn desks, the wooden press full of law books and scrolls, the board on the wall, regularly whitewashed by Cumhal, with its ledge beneath for the charcoal sticks and the damp sponge – all of these familiar objects seemed to settle the scholars into a steady, though sombre, frame of mind.
‘Nuala feels that Eamon was dead, perhaps for as long as an hour, before his body was hurled over the side of the cliff below the flax garden,’ began Mara and she outlined Nuala’s reasoning to them, watching the heads nod with comprehension. The Cahermacnaghten scholars knew Nuala well and respected her learning.
‘Why did you leave him, Fiona?’ asked Shane curiously.
Fiona hesitated for a moment, colour rushing into her pale face, and then she said uncertainly, ‘He started to . . . I . . .’
‘Anything to do with Heptad forty-seven?’ asked Moylan delicately, assuming the airs of a man of the world, while Aidan blushed for his friend.
‘Heptad forty-seven? What’s that?’ murmured Hugh to Shane, who rapidly licked his finger, looked directly ahead at Mara in an attentive manner while writing RAPE in damp letters on to his desk.
‘Nothing like that,’ assured Fiona with the ghost of a smile.
‘You should read Bretha Nemed toisech , my lad,’ said Moylan to Hugh in an undertone. ‘Essential reading for a boy of your age! Would make your hair stand on end. Full honour price penalty if a woman is kissed against her will! Read Cáin Adomnain , too. Ten ounces of silver for touching . . .’
‘That’s enough, Moylan,’ said Mara, but she was grateful to him for lightening the atmosphere. Fiona was laughing in a natural manner
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