Blind childlike elderlyDo you think? Not for me it doesn’t. Nothing can conclude matters for me. I figured that while I’m here, Fergus — while I am back in the country for this brief spell to answer your questions — I might as well pay a visit to the castle before departing these shores again. See what became of it sort of thing. It could be decades before I return again, if I ever return at all. I have no idea who even owns it any more, or whether anyone even owns it. It may languish still in that holding pen created by the Irish State for all I know, that portfolio of unsaleable property generated by the doom — I mean, the boom; impounded like a stray in the dogs’ home begging passers-by to take pity on it. Good home wanted for a good home. One careless owner. I am afraid to ask. I am afraid to ask what became of my castle. Why am I smiling? Because I’m sad. Because it’s sad. Because I don’t know what else to do with my big stupid mouth. Allow me to do that afterward, says Yves. “Yes, ma’am.” The mysterious island in the fog, Papey, takes its name from Irish hermits who came to Iceland before its history was written and left things behind— bells and crosiers, according to old books. There’s nothing to find on Papey now, though; it’s been rooted around on for decades. I put coffee on, went into the living room, and abruptly grew wings. I was free from my sad earth, floating in neutral tranquility over my vale of tears, and I wanted to hear about anyone other than me and my delinquent child. Yes, as I recalled, D?rfinna had retired relatively recently from her midwife job after almost half a century. Oh, yes there was. You’ve seen him since. At last the train came. It was heading for New Orleans. There’s nothing wrong with her, R?sa hisses. She’s just a naughty brat. “You did right,” Duncan confirmed, then hurried to the basin to wash his hands. With Rush assisting, they had the treacherous piece of wood out within minutes. Rush began stitching the flesh together. “You’re going by yourself?” The way she spoke — accusatory and bewildered all at once — made going to the rally alone seem like the most ridiculous thing in the world. And so, for the second time in as many responses, I lied. One of Teague’s men darted out of the front door and was instantly rendered unconscious by Ononyot, who materialized out of the shadows by the door. Another man made the mistake of leaning out a first-floor window and was instantly pulled out, headfirst, by Hyanka. They all looked at the housekeeper. There were so many other things as well— and each of them in itself would have been enough to make him unbearable. ‘Larney?’ I said in amazement. ‘You’re still alive?’ I had to keep from blurting, gauging that he must be over a hundred by now, for Larney had been an old man when I was a boy, and a young man when Father was a boy, having served our family since he himself was a boy. “Her mother must curse the day she was born,” my mother-in-law said. Night had fallen by the time the meeting was called to a close. I stood on the kerb and waited for a taxi. None arrived. I checked my phone. No missed calls. No instructions from M. Deauville. I had missed the late flight.. |