The Celtic Riddle

Chapter Five. A HAWK ABOVE THE CLIFF

AS wondrous as the Dagda's cauldron might be, 'twas only one of four great gifts from the gods, one for each of the cities from which the children of the goddess Danu sprang, and each with a tale to be told.

The cauldron, the one that was never empty, was from Murias. From Falias came Lia Fail, the stone that roared and sang when the true king of Ireland stood on it. Brought, some have said, from the East by the goddess Tea to Tara, the stone, for that is what it is, the stone of destiny, is to rest wherever the high king of Scotic reigns. Many the man thought he would be king at Tara, but only a few heard the roar of Lia Fail.

It should never have left Ireland. Never have left. But Fergus, son of Ere, begged his brother, Murtagh mac Ere, to send it to him in lona so that Fergus might be crowned king there. Filled with a care for his brother, Murtagh sent it across the sea. Then Kenneth took it to Scone.

And what happened then to it, this gift from thegods? The bloody English took it! The things the English done to us! The evil Edward carried off the stone of destiny and put it beneath the English throne. Edward thought he took the power with it, but have the English ever heard it roar, I ask you? Have they ever heard it roar?

There's some would say the stone that rests at Tara now, right close to its center, is Lia Fail. But that one too is silent, and should it be Lia Fail, then the magic's left us.

And then there's them that say the English have set their royal arses over a plain old chunk of stone. And Lia Fail is hidden, waiting for a better time, waiting to be found.

"I'm afraid you may think us ungracious," Margaret Byrne said, as she poured tea into delicate ivory cups with a practiced hand, having peremptorily dismissed a rather nervous Deirdre, who'd clattered around with the teacups in an irritating way. "The circumstances…" she said, dropping her eyes delicately. "I hope you understand."

Despite the refined setting, and the hoity-toity manner in which we were being served, the room was awash in tension. I had a feeling that Alex and I, who had hied ourselves off to Second Chance at the request of Michael and Breeta to ferret out the details of the disappearance of Breeta's clue, had interrupted a scene of some drama when we'd arrived. If true, there was no mention made of it.

Margaret looked toward me, awaiting my response. She was neatly dressed, Chanel again, and black again, in a silk blouse and skirt, with expensive-looking pumps: snake, appropriately enough. The expression on her carefully made-up face was one of perpetual faint surprise, the result, I thought maliciously, of one too many face-lifts. But she was an attractive woman, nonetheless. She looked to be in her late forties, but I assumed she was probably ten years older than that. She sat framed against two oil portraits on the wall behind her, one of Eamon Byrne in happier and healthier times, another a man who was, if the thin lip line and resolute jaw was anything to go by, her father.

Seated next to her was her eldest daughter, Eithne. Eithne, who looked almost the same age as her mother, also dressed very much like her, but in a subdued shade of blue. Where Margaret looked rather smart, however, Eithne instead looked a bit old-fashioned, even frumpy, for her age. She restricted her interaction with the group to nodding favorably whenever her mother spoke and frowning when her mother did, which was often.

On the other side was Fionuala. Daughter number two had not inherited her mother's elegance and good taste, it was plain to see. Her dress, while expensive, I'd imagine, was way too tight for someone with her tendency to softness about the middle. Her jewelry looked just a little gaudy, a rhinestone pin that might be best for evening. Her attention was focused almost entirely on her hands.

Ungracious! I thought, pondering Margaret's opening words and the general unpleasantness of having to face the three hags across a tea tray. On the way to the house, we'd been virtually forced off the road, finding ourselves and the car in a close encounter with a fuchsia hedge, as Conail O'Connor, the predator on the cliff of the previous day, had come rocketing down the lane, his face contorted in what I took to be rage. He didn't even slow down when he saw us. "I'd say he drives very much the way he sails," Alex said mildly, voicing the same thoughts as mine, as I pulled the car back onthe road again, the scratching of branches along the car door accompanying the maneuver. Alex and I shared the same conclusion as to the identity of the skipper of the boat that had run us down.

As well, Margaret was clearly in a very bad mood when we arrived. One of the family's two solicitors, which one I wasn't sure, was just leaving as we approached the front door. "I am truly very sorry about this," I heard him say as he shook her hand, holding it rather longer than necessary, I would have thought. "Truly sorry. I will see what I can do." He nodded curtly at Alex and me as he brushed by us.

Whatever it was he had to be sorry about, it had blackened Margaret's already dark outlook on life. She barely spoke to us as we were ushered into the house. No, the word ungracious didn't quite cut it when it came to describing the Byrne family.

"Of course," I replied to her request for understanding, however. "Alex and I feel very badly that our presence may have added to the stress you and the family are feeling at such a sad time." Really, butter wouldn't melt in my mouth sometimes.

"Indeed," Alex agreed. We all nodded at each other, giving a completely erroneous impression of consensus.

The conversation continued in much the same vein for a few minutes, insincere pleasantry heaped upon cloying sentiment, Eithne nodding in support of her mother's every word, until exhausted by the effort of being nice to each other, we edged our way toward the business at hand. As we sipped our tea, I tried to take in my surroundings. I watched through the back windows as Sean McHugh, Eithne's husband, crossed the grounds to the rear. He was looking rather tweedy, leather patches at the elbows kind of thing, with big boots and a cap. I remembered Eamon's description of McHugh as an English squire, and could see it was apt. Michael Davis, who was also in view, was working in the gardens casting surreptitious glances back toward the house, perhaps in a vain attempt to see how we were doing. He bent and straightened, pulled weeds, straightened plants in a nice rhythm, and I found it comforting to see him out there. He was quite the nicest thing about Second Chance.

"I understand from Breeta that there's been a robbery at Second Chance," I said at last, sipping tea awkwardly from the cup and saucer she'd handed me. I really dislike those delicate little teacups that don't give you enough room to put even one finger through the handle, forcing you to hold on for dear life lest you dump the contents on the wool rug at your feet. But everything about Margaret Byrne was like that. The room was filled with delicate little ornaments of crystal and china, some balanced breathlessly on the edges of glass shelves and side tables with delicately carved legs. I found myself wondering what she and Eamon Byrne, who favored dark wood and ancient swords, had ever found in common.

"Yes," she replied, eyes downcast once more. "At such a time…" her voice trailed off again. It was a favorite conversational gambit of hers, I noticed, to allow others to finish off sentences for her, without having to voice the hypocrisies personally.

"Breeta says her clue was stolen from the safe in your husband's study," I said, ignoring her attempts at delicacy. "Who would do that, do you think?"

"But she, you, couldn't think this robbery was about a clue," Margaret said, her chronic expression of surprise heightened at the thought. Eithne raised her eye-brows the same way her mother did. "They were looking for money, surely."

"Was money taken?" I asked,

"There was very little money in the safe," she said. "Just a little housekeeping money. But yes, it was taken."

"Was anything else stolen?" I asked.

"Nothing of value, just some of Eamon's things," she said. Then, thinking perhaps that might sound callous, she added, "Though, of great sentimental value, of course."

"Of course," I agreed. "How dreadful for you. I hope you called the police." At least on this score I was sincere. I could hardly wait to send Rob back down to the garda station to inquire about signs of forcible entry and so on. Not that I thought there'd be any. I was prepared to bet the store this had been an inside job.

Margaret shook her head. "There was really no need to bother them about something so minor."

"What things of your husband's did they take?" I asked, trying to sound sympathetic, which in many ways I was. Not about the robbery, perhaps. I just didn't believe her on that score. But the situation, her deceased husband's rather callous remarks, and the little treasure hunt he'd concocted for his heirs must have been truly upsetting for them all. I told myself to be more understanding about their general demeanor.

"His diary, and two of his maps."

"Surely the maps are worth something?" I went on doggedly.

"But they weren't any of the old ones," she said. "Perhaps the thief was unaware of the value of what he missed. My husband's collection of weapons and manuscripts is quite valuable. Regrettably, he has left these things to Trinity College." Her tone hardened.

"Now," she said setting down her teacup and looking straight at me, so that I saw for the first time her eyes, hard as polished diamonds, and the firm lines around her mouth that even surgery couldn't erase. "If I have satisfied your curiosity, I have a request to make of you. Please leave us to our grief. This treasure hunt of my husband's is cruel and inappropriate, and the family has decided we will have nothing whatsoever to do with it."

Really, I thought. And maybe pigs can fly, babies are brought by storks, and the Little People do live at the end of the garden. She was right, though, about her husband. His cutting words on that video must have been truly awful for them. I decided I should be more tolerant.

"I would ask you to do the same," Margaret went on. "Please leave us to deal with our grief as best we can. Which brings me to one more matter we wish to discuss with you." She said we, but so far, she'd done all the talking.

"Rose Cottage is a place of considerable sentimental value for the family," she continued. Eithne nodded vigorously, and even Fionuala looked up from her study of her hands. "It was a place where Eamon…" she paused for effect. "Where Eamon spent a great deal of time. We were somewhat surprised that someone whom Eamon had known so slightly, and so long ago, should come to possess it. We would ask that you consider returning it to the family."

Alex looked startled, and after a second, he opened his mouth to speak.

"I don't think we'll be doing that," I said quickly, before he could say anything, and as any glimmer of sympathy I'd felt for the widow Byrne vanished in an instant."Then you will understand the family will feel compelled to pursue whatever legal options we have to bring Rose Cottage back where it belongs. My husband was very ill and didn't know what he was doing. Otherwise, I am sure he would never have left the cottage to Mr. Stewart." She spoke as if Alex wasn't even in the room.

I was about to say "see you in court" or something, when Margaret set her teacup rather firmly on the silver tray in front of her and rose from her chair. The other two stood up immediately as well. Fionuala, who had not uttered a single word, not even a hello, got out of her chair and left the room without so much as a backward glance. The audience, apparently, was at an end.

There was one more defining moment, however, in the revelation of Margaret Byrne's character. As she stepped forward, the slow and steady Vigs lumbered out from under the sofa, causing her to start and lose her balance for a moment. She clutched at the tea trolley, and one of the delicate teacups fell over and broke. "Deirdre!" she hissed. "Deirdre! Get this dreadful creature out of here-permanently." There was no reply from the maid.

"Thank you for coming," Margaret said in an imperial tone, gesturing toward the hall. I gathered we were supposed to let ourselves out. I was very close to losing my temper, and had to stifle an impulse to say something truly nasty. I kept seeing in my mind the expression on Alex's face when he first laid eyes on the little cottage. It was not enough, I thought, that the Byrne family should have this palatial home, more villa than house, their servants, and acres and acres of land, with their roses and orchids and palm trees, and a stunning view of the water. No, they had to have Rose Cottage, too. Over my dead body, I thought, glaring at Margaret. I was suddenly absolutely determined that Alex would not only get to keep his cottage, but he would have the money he needed to live there comfortably. If that meant going to court, I thought, so be it. And if living comfortably meant snatching the treasure right out from under their noses, then we were going to do that too.

The trouble was, to do that we needed all the clues, and I was going to have to think of another way of getting them. I had thought for a few golden moments that we wouldn't need them. When I found the clue in the little boat off shore, I had thought we were home free. We knew the first two clues, and they pointed us to a poem by an ancient poet named Amairgen. If each line of the poem led to a real clue, then we didn't need their clues. We had only to try to guess the location that would correspond to the lines of the poem and go get them.

The clue in the boat was, however, a disappointment. It was from Eamon Byrne, all right. At least it was his personal memo paper, with his initials and Second Chance printed across the top. But the clue, if that was what it was, was far from what I was hoping for. I didn't expect something as definitive as, say, a note that told us that the key to the safety-deposit box in Killarney train station was under the third flowerpot on the left side of the driveway, or anything. I had, however, expected more than the doodling that I'd found when the paper had finally dried out, just a series of lines that looked vaguely like a railway track, or the bones of a fish, perhaps. I'd kept the piece of paper, if only because I couldn't believe that Eamon Byrne, or anyone else for that matter, would bother to wrap up doodlings in plastic, either wade, or wait till the tide was out, to the boat, and carefully conceal it betweenthe boards. But my illusions about a quick end to this treasure hunt had been dashed.

I think at that point I'd have been inclined to drop the whole matter, but the convergence of a number of events made me change my mind. One, of course, was this interview with the Byrne women, along with their stated intention of trying to take the cottage away from Alex.

Added to that were a couple of developments that meant I had a little time on my hands, and we know what they say about idle hands. First was Jennifer's decision, with her father's reluctant acquiescence, to take sailing lessons every morning, from Padraig Gil-hooly, no less. Apparently, her damp and frightening introduction to the sport had merely whetted her appetite for it. As far as her father's opinion on the subject was concerned, he wasn't exactly keen on his daughter being anywhere near someone involved, even peripherally, with a murder suspect, but Padraig, it seemed, had an ironclad alibi, vouched for by his lawyer in Cork, no less.

The other was a realization that I wouldn't be seeing much of Rob for the next little while, a turn of events that had been immediately obvious the previous evening when I'd entered a bar on the main street of town with Alex, to find Rob chatting up an attractive woman, slim and rather fit-looking, with a halo of reddish hair around her face, and attractive green eyes.

"Lara," Rob exclaimed as I'd walked up to the bar. I wasn't sure what the tone meant. I suspected it wasn't Lara as in Lara-I'm-so-delighted-to-see-you. He'd picked this bar a couple of blocks from the Inn, in hopes I wouldn't find him, I'd warrant. "Lara, I'd like you to meet Maeve Minogue. Maeve, this is my associate Lara McClintoch." Associate? I see. "How do you do," I said, shaking her hand. She had a very firm handshake.

"It's grand to meet a friend of Robert's," she said. "We're all enjoying having him here."

Who is we, I wondered. The name Minogue was familiar, but it took a minute or two for me to twig to it. This woman was the "chap" Minogue Rob had talked to at the police station. It gave a whole new meaning to the term "improving international relations," to use Rob's own words, and the fact that he'd used the term chap to describe her spoke volumes of his intention to keep her a secret from me.

"Well, Robert," I said, sweetly. "Perhaps you'll excuse me while I go and sit with another of your associates. Lovely to meet you, Maeve."

I went and sat with Alex, trying not to huff. This was a development I found intensely irritating, although I don't know why it incensed me so much. Rob is, after all, free to do as he pleases. I have no claim to his affections. Occasionally, I wonder if he might make a suitable partner for me, but really our lives don't seem to work out in that direction.

When I first met him, he was living with Ms. Perfect, and I was in a long-distance relationship with a Mexican archaeologist. Then I was free, which is to say I got dumped, but Rob was still with Barbara. Then Clive, my ex-husband, persuaded his second wife, Celeste, to buy him the store across the street from Green-halgh McClintoch, setting me off into a fury and putting me off relationships with the opposite sex for some time. After a while Clive ditched Celeste and took up with my best friend Moira, about the time Rob and Barbara parted company. Rob expressed mild interest in me at that time, at least I think he did, but Iwas so traumatized by Clive and Moira, that I ignored him, or at least chose not to notice.

As I think about this, I am beginning to wonder if I might have a career as a scriptwriter for afternoon television, drawing from my own life experience for the plots, should the antiques business, perilous at the best of times, not work out. I do know that as someone who has seen the dark side of forty, I should probably just reconcile myself to the single life, and take up needlepoint, or something, to fill the long evenings, but I don't. Like many of my generation, I feel younger than my years-or at least I delude myself that I do. I no longer feel as if I could live forever, but I don't feel old, either. I am, however, at the stage in life where men my age appear to prefer younger-much younger-women. That made Ireland, that through some demographic anomaly having to do with emigration rates and such, has a population 5percent of which is under the age of twenty-five, pretty much a paradise for forty-somethingish guys like Rob.

But I digress. The final and deciding factor in my renewed resolution to find the treasure was a series of events that took place as Alex and I left Second Chance after our unpleasant session with the inhabitants, to head back to the village. It was late afternoon as I negotiated the rental car down the long driveway toward the main road. It had begun to rain quite hard, and Michael was nowhere to be seen, having presumably gone indoors for shelter. The windshield wipers were waving hypnotically in front of me, and the defroster was working overtime to clear the fog from the windshield. As I rounded a turn a hooded figure stepped out from dense brush at the side of the road and into the path of the car. I slammed on the brakes but, forgetting I was driving a standard shift, didn't depress the clutch in my hurry. The car jerked along then stalled a few feet from the figure.

I rolled down the window and peered out at the face under the hood. It was Deirdre, and she looked genuinely frightened, a trembling little bird on scrawny legs, her hair matted from the rain, despite the hood. "Stay away from Second Chance," she said breathlessly. "You have no idea what's going on here. This family is cursed!" Then she looked over her shoulder and quickly stepped back into the brush and disappeared.

Then I saw what might have startled her. Sean McHugh, son-in-law number one, was walking down the drive toward the house. He was, like his brother-in-law, fair, but a little softer looking, a little jowly perhaps, and less threatening in demeanor, though not, in this case, in stance. He was still in his tweeds and high boots, but he'd added a rain cape swirling behind him-the aforementioned country gentleman look- except that he wasn't looking particularly gentlemanly. He was carrying a gun, a rifle, slung over one shoulder. Even though it wasn't pointed at us, it was an unpleasant moment.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"We've had tea at the house," I replied.

"What are you doing snooping around on the road?"

"I'm not snooping," I replied haughtily. "The car stalled. A rabbit ran in front of us, and I had to stop suddenly." I was speaking, I suppose, metaphorically. There had been more than a little of the frightened rabbit in Deirdre.

"Get moving," McHugh said, looking as if he didn't believe me for a moment. Maybe there weren't any rabbits around here. Regardless, we did what we were told. I consider it a good rule not to argue with a man who holds a gun.I looked over at Alex. "All rather Gothic, wouldn't you say?"

"Gothic, yes, but part of it is true," he said. "To Deirdre's point, I have no idea what is going on here."

"I feel sorry for Vigs," I said. "I figure he's doomed. What do you think she'll do to him? He's too big to flush down the toilet."

"I don't even want to think," Alex murmured. "We should have brought him with us."

"Maybe we should have brought Deirdre, too," I replied. Alex smiled.

"We're going to have to do something about a road into Rose Cottage," I said, seriously. "We can't have Sean McHugh waving a rifle at you every time you try to get there."

"I'll think about it," Alex said. "I haven't decided what to do about the cottage just yet."

"But you know you love it," I said. "And we can't let those awful people intimidate you out of your inheritance!"

Alex just shrugged and took to looking at the scenery. I gathered this was a topic he didn't wish to pursue at the moment.

"Pull over," he said suddenly. "Can you back up? About a hundred yards?"

Surprised, I complied. "What is it?" I exclaimed.

Alex pointed down a little road off to the right. I looked but couldn't figure out what he was talking about. It was just another lane, as far as I could see.

"What?" I said to him, mystified.

"Look at the signs," he said. There were a number of signs hammered into a tree, one of them for a BB, another for a vegetable stand, others individual names. At the very bottom, however, was a crude hand-lettered wooden sign. The Breakers, it said. "Worth a try," I said.

We slowly made our way along the road, checking all the houses as we went. After about five minutes, the pavement ended, and we bounced our way around muddy potholes, then made a sharp left turn down an even worse road.

At the very end was a little house, a shack really, with smoke swirling from the chimney. Beyond it was the sea, huge breakers crashing against black cliffs, the spume rising high up before dissipating into a mist that blew across the little bay. The sign on the gatepost was almost illegible, but apparently we were at The Breakers.

I looked at Alex. We got out of the car and made our way to the door, a little black and white dog yip-ping at our heels.

I knocked, then knocked again. I heard steps inside and the latch being opened, then a familiar face peered out at us.

"Malachy!" I exclaimed.

"Lara!" he replied. "Kev," he shouted. "Put on some tea. It's that nice young girl we talked to at the pier. Lara. And her friend," he added, looking myopically in Alex's direction. I introduced the two of them. "Did you bring some whiskey, by any chance," he whispered.

"Sorry again," I replied. "I didn't know I was coming here." I hoped I didn't wear out my welcome with these two before I got them whiskey.

"Where's Denny?" I asked to change the subject.

"Denny lives with his sister and her family in town," Malachy said. " 'Tis just Kev and me lives here."

Malachy cleared a space on the sofa, sweeping aside papers, and taking unwashed plates to the sink. "Weweren't expecting company," he said. "Please excuse the mess."

"It's fine," I replied, taking a seat and accepting a mug of hot tea.

"To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?" Kev asked loudly.

"Shush, don't be rude," Malachy said, wagging his finger at his brother.

"I just want to know," Kev replied peevishly.

"That's a fair question, Kevin. Actually, we didn't know you lived here. We were just touring around. You have a fabulous view," I said, trying to figure out how to broach the subject I wanted.

"The best," Kevin agreed.

"Grand, isn't it?" Malachy added.

"But now that we're here," I went on, "I have a question for you. Did Eamon Byrne leave anything with you to give to his family or a friend?"

"What did she say?" Kevin said, cupping his hand around his ear.

"She's asking if Eamon Byrne left anything here," Malachy shouted.

"How would she know that?" Kevin asked. Both men turned to look at me.

"Byrne gave everyone who got something from his Will, well, almost everyone, anyway, a riddle to solve. Alex here was one of the people who was included in this riddle, and when we saw your sign for The Breakers, we thought maybe it was a clue." I decided honesty was the best policy, as unlikely as the story might have sounded.

"What did she say?" Kevin said again.

"She said Alex here is one of the people looking for Eamon Byrne's clues," Malachy repeated.

"Good," Kevin said. "I like her better than some of the rest of them. But she has to say the magic words, doesn't she? Does she know the magic words?"

Both men turned to look at me again. "The furious wave," I replied.

"She got it!" Malachy exclaimed. "Get the clue, Kevin. It's hers."

"Where'd we put it?" Kevin said, looking perplexed. My heart sank. For a few minutes the two men shuffled about, pulling open drawers, looking under cushions. I was in despair.

"I got it!" Malachy exclaimed at last, pulling a slim white envelope out of a book. "Here 'tis," he said handing it to me. I resisted the temptation to rip it open on the spot.

At that moment, the little dog started yapping again outside, and we could hear footsteps coming up to the door, then a loud banging.

"Goodness me, another one," Malachy said. "Tree years since somebody came to visit, and now dere's two in one day!"

He opened the door slowly, then tried to close it again. A foot stopped it from closing. "Have you got something from Eamon Byrne?" Conail O'Connor asked harshly.

"No, I don't," Malachy said, rather craftily I thought. I had it, he didn't. But he must have looked suspicious, because O'Connor thrust the door open roughly and grabbed Malachy by the collar. The older man staggered and started to fall, but O'Connor held him up. Kevin grabbed a frying pan. I grabbed the teapot.

"Now see here," Alex said stepping forward, arms up, his hands balled into fists, in a kind of a boxer stance. "You have no right to treat these people this way!"

"Get out of my way, gobshite," O'Connor said, let-ting go of Malachy and stepping toward Alex menacingly. I swung my arm back with the teapot and started to move toward them.

Alex stepped to one side, dodged O'Connor's arm, feinted with his left, then his right hand snapped forward. There was a loud crack, and Conail O'Connor went down for the count.