Read Online The Secret of Kells by Eithne Massey - Free Book Online
Authors: Eithne Massey
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don’t, I will still have to try to do it alone. I have to do it for the Book.’
They sat in silence for a moment. Aisling was crying, and Pangur was trying to lick the tears from her face, winding around her, comforting her with loud purring.
At last, Aisling pushed her long hair back from her face and said, ‘Alright then. I will help you. I will do it for you, and I will do it for the Book. And I will do it for my forest, because it will never be free of fear as long as Crom Cruach lies waiting underground at the heart of the wood.’
But her face had a frightened look that made her seem not like a little girl but someone much, much older.
8 Crom Cruach
T he forest seemed a very different place in the nighttime. The darkness drained it of colour. The shapes of the trees stood out sharply, like black charcoal lines against the brighter sky. A fox cried, its head up, and crows swooped through the gloom, their outline clear against the full moon. Aisling led the way and they moved deeper and deeper into the shadows, away from the moon’s brightness. As they went further into the wood, it grew colder, unnaturally cold. Pangur kept close by them, paying no attention to the rustling noises of small animals, the mice and hedgehogs going about their nightly business in the undergrowth.
Finally, they reached the clearing with the cave mouth and the stone figures. Brendan shivered when he saw the entrance stones, carved with the eye pattern that he now had on his palm. One of the stone figures was still upright; the other lay on the ground where Aisling had pushed it down. Itstill blocked the entrance to the cave, and through the summer, vegetation had grown over it. Not ordinary vegetation, not the nettles and briars and long grass that grew everywhere else in the forest, but something dark and slimy and foul-smelling, as if the darkness from under the earth was trying to creep out. Here even the moonlight had a greenish tinge; not the bright fresh green of the forest but a murky green, as if something had begun to rot. There was a smell too, a smell that reminded Brendan of hot days in Leonardo’s kitchen when meat had begun to go off. But it was not hot; it was horribly cold and still.
‘No life,’ whispered Aisling. ‘No life.’
Pangur leapt into her arms and snuggled down there as if she wanted to be somewhere else entirely.
For a moment, fear gripped Brendan. Was this really the only way to find a crystal like Colmcille’s? Wasn’t he crazy to try to fight a monster that great and saintly warriors had not managed to destroy? As Aisling had said, he was only a little boy. Surely there was no point in trying to do something that was this hopeless? Then heremembered something. The Abbot had once told him the story of how his parents and all his people had fought the Northmen. It was hopeless, but they had continued to fight. And maybe that was how the invaders had missed finding him. Maybe that was how he had survived. Now it was his turn to do something that seemed hopeless. There was no other way to go but forward – into the darkness of the cave.
He looked back at Aisling. She had set Pangur down. Her face was grey; her eyes huge; her body slumped like an old woman’s. She was shivering uncontrollably.
Brendan ran back to her and wrapped his cloak around her shoulders.
‘Aisling, you must go back,’ he said. ‘This place is hurting you. I’ll go on alone. Bring Pangur with you, she’s terrified.’
But Aisling shook her head. ‘I must help you,’ she said.
She went over to where the stone blocked the entrance and began to push. Brendan ran to help her. But before he could reach her, she had used every last inch of her strength to raise the figureupright so that the entrance to the cave was open again. And just as she finished, the wind started.
It was the wind that had tried to suck Brendan in once before. He was being pulled forward. He could see that beside him Aisling was also being pulled
They sat in silence for a moment. Aisling was crying, and Pangur was trying to lick the tears from her face, winding around her, comforting her with loud purring.
At last, Aisling pushed her long hair back from her face and said, ‘Alright then. I will help you. I will do it for you, and I will do it for the Book. And I will do it for my forest, because it will never be free of fear as long as Crom Cruach lies waiting underground at the heart of the wood.’
But her face had a frightened look that made her seem not like a little girl but someone much, much older.
8 Crom Cruach
T he forest seemed a very different place in the nighttime. The darkness drained it of colour. The shapes of the trees stood out sharply, like black charcoal lines against the brighter sky. A fox cried, its head up, and crows swooped through the gloom, their outline clear against the full moon. Aisling led the way and they moved deeper and deeper into the shadows, away from the moon’s brightness. As they went further into the wood, it grew colder, unnaturally cold. Pangur kept close by them, paying no attention to the rustling noises of small animals, the mice and hedgehogs going about their nightly business in the undergrowth.
Finally, they reached the clearing with the cave mouth and the stone figures. Brendan shivered when he saw the entrance stones, carved with the eye pattern that he now had on his palm. One of the stone figures was still upright; the other lay on the ground where Aisling had pushed it down. Itstill blocked the entrance to the cave, and through the summer, vegetation had grown over it. Not ordinary vegetation, not the nettles and briars and long grass that grew everywhere else in the forest, but something dark and slimy and foul-smelling, as if the darkness from under the earth was trying to creep out. Here even the moonlight had a greenish tinge; not the bright fresh green of the forest but a murky green, as if something had begun to rot. There was a smell too, a smell that reminded Brendan of hot days in Leonardo’s kitchen when meat had begun to go off. But it was not hot; it was horribly cold and still.
‘No life,’ whispered Aisling. ‘No life.’
Pangur leapt into her arms and snuggled down there as if she wanted to be somewhere else entirely.
For a moment, fear gripped Brendan. Was this really the only way to find a crystal like Colmcille’s? Wasn’t he crazy to try to fight a monster that great and saintly warriors had not managed to destroy? As Aisling had said, he was only a little boy. Surely there was no point in trying to do something that was this hopeless? Then heremembered something. The Abbot had once told him the story of how his parents and all his people had fought the Northmen. It was hopeless, but they had continued to fight. And maybe that was how the invaders had missed finding him. Maybe that was how he had survived. Now it was his turn to do something that seemed hopeless. There was no other way to go but forward – into the darkness of the cave.
He looked back at Aisling. She had set Pangur down. Her face was grey; her eyes huge; her body slumped like an old woman’s. She was shivering uncontrollably.
Brendan ran back to her and wrapped his cloak around her shoulders.
‘Aisling, you must go back,’ he said. ‘This place is hurting you. I’ll go on alone. Bring Pangur with you, she’s terrified.’
But Aisling shook her head. ‘I must help you,’ she said.
She went over to where the stone blocked the entrance and began to push. Brendan ran to help her. But before he could reach her, she had used every last inch of her strength to raise the figureupright so that the entrance to the cave was open again. And just as she finished, the wind started.
It was the wind that had tried to suck Brendan in once before. He was being pulled forward. He could see that beside him Aisling was also being pulled
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