An Immortal Descent (19 page)

It came as no surprise that Calhoun’s true gift involved suffering and death. “Have either of them ever used it on you?”

“Paddy, no, but Calhoun did it twice, and I swore me brain was being picked to pieces.” She pulled her arms tighter, propped her chin on her knees. “‘Tis the worst pain I’ve ever felt, and that’s including when you near burned me up.”

A recent memory pushed to the front of my thoughts. “He almost used it on me, didn’t he? When we were arguing over the rope.”

“He was thinking about it.” She lifted a shoulder, let it fall. “Maybe he does have a few drops o’ Cailleach’s blood after all and didn’t want to be hurting himself in the bargain.”

Hurting himself indeed.
A broken limb or a laceration would be considered hurting oneself. Having one’s brain picked to pieces qualified as unmitigated agony. The thought alone caused a phantom ache to lodge directly behind my eyes.

Damn Calhoun for a scoundrel.
And damn James for insisting we sail on the
Sea Witch
.
A loud grumble shook my stomach, and I grabbed one of the apples, taking a bite. I took another bite, and yet another, my poor mood growing quicker than the apple disappeared.

Why hadn’t I listened to Justine and Julian and waited for another ship? From first sight, they hadn’t trusted Calhoun, and now here I was stuck in the back of a cart with a mortal enemy for company when I should have been with Henry, the two of us working to save Nora.

Ailish watched me, her expression contemplative. “Do you really love him so?” she asked, the question coming from nowhere.

“Who do you mean?”

“Henry, o’ course.”

My shoulders tensed. “How do you know about him?”

“I listened at the cabin door when you was talking with the other lady. You must love him dearly to give up living so long.” She spoke without the least shame or surprise.

“You know it’s considered rude to listen through doors.”

This got a smile. “Been doing it ever since I can remember, being small for me age and quiet as a mouse. The shadows be the best place to gather me secrets.”

“Did you discover anything else?”

Her face wrinkled with effort as she reached a hand around to itch her back. Dissatisfied with the results, she took to rubbing the space between her shoulder blades against the cart rail. “I saw how the dark gentleman lusts for you.”

My gaze slid past Ailish to the trees lining the road. Scraggly branches and fog mixed with an image of olive skin and dark eyes that seemed to watch me with a visceral awareness. “His name is Lord Stroud. I met him three weeks ago in London.”

She relaxed once the itch was settled. “He wants your heart for his own.”

I nodded. “So he’s told me.”
Over and over again.

“Does he have a claim to you then?”

“In a way,” I admitted. “He’s also descended from Brigid, and it’s tradition for my kind to marry within our bloodline. Under different circumstances, I might have loved him, but my heart already belongs to another.” Fully and irrevocably.

“Is that why you’re in such a hurry to get to Wexford? To wed your true love?”

If only that were the truth. “I’m going to Wexford to save my dearest friend from Deri and perhaps to kill a witch.” Supposing the witch was real. I still held out the smallest hope that Cate and Tom had been mistaken about the little wretch’s true lineage.

Ailish’s face fell slightly. “Wished it were something different. Deri be trouble for anyone who gets in her way, but I guess you’ve no choice, seeing she stole your friend. I just hope you don’t get killed afore you can marry Henry.”

Me, too.
A lump formed in my throat, and I hurriedly changed the subject. “What are you going to do when we get there?” At the latest, we would arrive by tomorrow evening, and I imagined Ailish just as eager as I was to part ways.

She patted the burlap sack in her lap. “I’ve enough coins in me bag to get to England.”

“Then what? Do you have relations there?” She must have to risk the journey.

Ailish shook her head. “I’ll make me way to London to find work.”

“Alone?” She’d be a target from the first.

“Don’t really know anyone except for Calhoun and Paddy, and they’ll not be coming along.”

“London is too dangerous by yourself.” With Cailleach’s power, Ailish would be able to avoid some of the hazards that would normally follow a girl of her age and size. But where would she live? And how would she eat once the meager funds were depleted. “You’ll need references and skills to get employment.” At least the kind that could be done with her clothes on.

Uncertainty tugged at her mouth. “When we were staying in Bristol, I got word o’ this lady in London who helps orphans. She gives them lodgings and teaches them to be bakers and seamstresses and housemaids.”

I barely stifled a groan. “I’ve heard of her, too.”

Excitement lit up Ailish’s face. “She’s real then. I’ve been worried that I’d go all the way and she be a made-up story. Do you know where I can find her?”

“I do, but there’s a problem.”

“What sort o’ problem? I can’t be more an orphan than if’n I crawled out from under a rock instead o’ being born.”

My heart tightened from the inevitable disappointment. “The woman is Lady Cate Dinley.”
Catria
...my great-grandmother.

“That be the name I heard. What else do you know o’ her? Does she train orphans?”

“She does.”

“And is she really so nice as I heard?”

“She is...” I paused for a moment. Ailish watched me expectantly, but there wasn’t an easy way to put the next part. “She’s also Brigid’s strongest living descendant. I... I don’t know if she can help you.”

Ailish held still for the few seconds it took to mull over this newest information. “Because I be from Cailleach.”

“As different as it may seem right now, we’re still mortal enemies.” In truth, I didn’t know what that meant anymore, except that our gifts opposed each other on the most basic level. Even so, I was fairly certain Cate wouldn’t want Ailish living in a room full of vulnerable children when she could gentle one of them away at any moment. She was Cailleach’s descendant, after all, and it stood to reason that her desire to encourage death rivaled my desire to fight it.

Every bit of light had drained from her face, rendering it dull to the point of listless. “I see.”

“Ailish, I’m so sorry. I wish there was something else I could do.” It astonished me just how badly I felt on her behalf.

“Don’t trouble yourself for me. If’n this lady can’t help, I’ll find another way to survive. Anything be better than going back to Calhoun.” Sadness followed as she moved to the front of the cart to nestle into the pile of sacks between the barrels.

I watched her for a moment, a slight form that hardly appeared a bump in the pile. A mop of brown hair pillowed her face. Dirt smudged her forehead and streaked across one cheek. In truth, she looked insignificant in every way, and would have passed unnoticed in most situations. Much like a mouse.

Something about the image caused a complexity of emotions to unfurl in my chest. How had someone so small endured Calhoun’s brutality for all those years? And now, on her own, how would she ever survive in a place as depraved as London? Obviously what Ailish lacked in physical size, she more than made up for in spirit. But after my limited experience in the rookeries, I doubted this would be enough to save her. Even armed with teeth and claws, she was still a mouse, and in all likelihood would be eaten alive.

Drawing in a slow breath, I tried to clear my head of this newest complication. First and foremost, I came to Ireland for Nora’s sake, not pick up stray orphans. No matter how awful I felt about the situation, Ailish would just have to fend for herself. If I managed to survive the next week, then perhaps I could find a way to help. Until that time, I had to stay focused on the task at hand and try my hardest not to get killed. Considering what waited in Wexford, Ailish may well be safer hundreds of miles away in London.

Weariness weighed on me, and whatever body part hadn’t gone numb ached like the dickens. I needed sleep but unlike Ailish could find no rest with the constant jostling of the cart. The horse continued at a steady pace, and it wasn’t long before the fog began to thin and we left the woods behind. As we crested a small hill, I caught the first signs of Passage East.

The horse plodded through the sleepy village to where the road ended at the water’s edge. Ailish lifted a groggy head to glance around while Seamus went to arrange passage. He spoke to the ferry master at length, and after dropping some coins into the man’s hand, they approached the cart together.

The man skimmed a disinterested look over the barrels and gunnysacks. “Drive on,” he called. “The current be in your favor and me lads will have you in Ballyhack ahead o’ the dark.”

Two large men appeared at each side, one slipping a blindfold over the horse’s eyes before guiding the cart across the plank and onto the ferry. Recalling my last venture through a river, I closed my eyes tight and prayed to be spared a near drowning this time. Minutes passed, and I heard the splash of long poles moving in and out of the water. Still, I didn’t dare look, my eyes remaining shut until I felt the horse walk again.

Another hour passed by the time we arrived at a humble cottage. The front door banged open, and a woman rushed out, followed by four young girls. Seamus jumped from the cart and was soon enveloped by his family.

“Did you miss me so?” he asked good-naturedly. “Or are you hoping for a bag o’ sweets?”

“Sweets! Sweets!” the youngest girl cried, who looked no more than three years.

Seamus laughed. “So I thought, me wee darling.” He pulled a small bag from inside his coat. “Take this and go back inside. I need a word alone with your mam.”

The youngest girl took the bag of sweets and dashed indoors with her sisters close behind. When the door closed, Seamus turned to his wife. “I picked up two lasses on the roadside, Jane and Sally Duggan. They’ll be spending the night in the barn, and then be for Wexford in the morning to meet up with their da.”

The woman gave him a resigned smile. “You’re too soft-hearted for your own good.” She turned to us. “Me name’s Fianna. Come on down, and I’ll show you where to bed whilst Seamus sees to the horse.”

Ailish scrambled over the side, her feet landing soundlessly in the dirt. Standing, I rubbed the soreness from my back before grabbing the saddlebags and carefully lowering myself to the ground where Fianna swept us with an appraising eye. Satisfied, she turned toward the barn, and I had to hustle to match her stride.

Near the door, a gray tabby cat bolted across our path. “Good heavens!” I exclaimed, jumping back a step. Neither Ailish nor Fianna seemed surprised by the sudden appearance of the little beast. They continued on, the cat following them into the barn. I came in a split second later to find it rubbing against Ailish’s skirts.

Fianna set the lamp on a barrel. “That hay will serve for tonight,” she said, indicating a good-sized pile nearest to us.

The cat meowed, and Ailish squatted on her haunches to scratch its head. She leaned closer, and for a moment it looked as though she were whispering to the creature.

Fianna barely glanced at the two of them. “There’s a well behind the barn for fresh water. Get yourselves cleaned up, and I’ll send blankets and a plate o’ supper.”

“Thank you.” I dipped an awkward curtsey. “That’s more than we expected.”

She gave me a small smile, then ducked back outside, the cat close on her heels.

We washed quickly, both of us darting nervous glances at the woods that edged the field not far from the well. When we returned, thick wool blankets waited on the hay pile as promised. Atop a nearby barrel sat cups of cider and a plate filled with bread, cheese and two chicken legs. Near starved, we gulped down the meal, cleaning every last speck from the plate. Ailish had hardly spoken a word since learning the truth about Cate, and the silence continued as I scrubbed a rough cloth over my teeth before bedding down a half dozen feet from her.

I blew out the lamp, and nestled even deeper into the hay. Ailish did the same, the soft rustling noises sounding all the louder in the inky darkness. With a full belly and a soft bed, I felt better than I had all day, though Calhoun seemed to lurk in my every thought. I just hoped the ferry master wouldn’t make a connection if the charlatan came sniffing around the river tonight. To be sure, Ailish and I would put up quite a fight, and the man couldn’t capture what he couldn’t catch.

The horse snorted in its stall at the far end of the barn. Ailish rolled over, muttered something under her breath. An eternity seemed to have passed since we ran away, and for all the fuss I’d made at the time, I was now grateful for her company. Exhaustion moved over me, dulling my fears of Calhoun, nudging me closer to sleep...

“Is he very handsome then?”

Ailish’s young voice jerked me awake. My eyes blinked open as I grasped for some sense in her words. “Who?” I asked, giving up.

“Henry. Is he handsome?”

Sleepy-eyed, I pushed to one elbow. “Why do you want to know?”

From the rustle of hay, Ailish also pushed up, though it was too dark to see anything. “No reason. Just curious is all.”

Under normal circumstances I would have tempered the truth for the sake of modesty. But her voice held such eagerness, I didn’t have the heart to lie. “He’s the most handsome man I’ve ever seen.”

“I figured so,” she said in that same dreamy tone from earlier. “Is he brave, too?”

Having started with the truth, I saw no reason to veer from it now. “I’ve never known anyone braver. Not long after we met, someone accused me of witchcraft. Henry faced an entire meeting house full of people to protect me.” Armed with only a pistol and a dagger no less.

A soft sigh escaped her. “Tell me what else he’s done.”

My pulse quickened just thinking about him. “Well, two weeks ago he challenged a score of noblemen on my behalf. And not long after that I saw him fight four savage hounds.” I purposefully omitted how the hounds had been sent by Cailleach to kill me as she believed I threatened the balance between our kind in the human world.