“But how can you be so sure?” I countered. “We can’t very well go running off in search of something you may or may not have seen.” The diversion with Calhoun had already cost valuable time. For Nora’s sake, I couldn’t afford to lose any more.
Ailish shifted her weight. “She be telling the truth, Selah. I can smell it on her.”
Oh, for heaven’s sake. I released a frustrated breath. These two could chase after signs all they wanted, I had no intention of altering my original course. Maybe once I found Nora, I could give it some thought, but not a minute sooner.
“What would you have us do?” Ailish asked.
“It doesn’t matter—”
“Just what the hound told you,” Fianna said. “Go to Wexford. The rest will become clear to you then.”
My shoulders snapped to attention. “Yes! That’s exactly what we should do. Thank you, Mrs. MacCabe.” I knelt down to wrap up the altar and tuck it away. “Come, Ailish, we’ve a lot of miles to cover today.”
“Seamus will take you,” Fianna said. “Come to the cottage, and I’ll pack you some food. There’s hot tea in the coals to warm your bellies afore you go.” With one last pat to Calhoun’s cheek, she crossed the clearing to the path.
Ailish and I fell in line behind her. At the wood’s edge, Fianna stopped. “Please don’t tell me husband what happened back there. Seamus be a good man, but he’s no understanding o’ the old ways.”
We nodded in unison, both well accustomed to hiding secrets. She gave us a grateful smile in return, and I decided to bite my tongue rather than point out the obvious—that one day Seamus was bound to stumble upon the man-sized stone that had miraculously appeared in his woods.
*
An hour later, Fianna had us settled into the back of the cart, wrapped snug as bugs in the blankets from last night. Eggs, bread and tea bulged in our stomachs. More food filled our bags, sufficient to see us to Wexford and perhaps through the next week. With a gentle pat atop our heads, she watched after us until the cart turned onto the road and disappeared from view.
With the barrels and gunnysacks gone, Ailish and I sat directly behind the driver’s bench this time. Puffs of fragrant smoke drifted back from Seamus’s pipe. “Too bad we didn’t catch that fellow,” he said. “But after the chase we gave him, he’ll think twice about coming after you again.”
I hoped so, for Ailish’s sake. She huddled deeper into the blanket, her mouth pursed tight.
“We didn’t see any trace o’ Calhoun, though there be another horse tied up where we found the lad. It’s locked in the barn now, and the ferry master’s son be staying with Fianna and the girls in case he comes creeping around while I’m away.” Seamus laughed from the depths of his chest. “No-good charlatan, a long walk home would serve him right.”
I laughed as well, sure that Calhoun wouldn’t be going anywhere for a long while. “If you had known the trouble we’d cause, you may not have stopped the cart yesterday.”
“No trouble at all, me lass.”
“Well, you’ve been very kind to help us. Not every man would leave his family so soon after returning home to give two strangers a ride.”
Seamus drew on his pipe and a moment later smoke billowed into the air. “Fianna’s right, you two shouldn’t be wandering the roads alone. I can’t even think if it were me own daughters...” His voice hitched. “It’s the least I can do to see you safe.”
Ailish didn’t say anything, just stared at the passing trees.
Kicking a boot free of the blanket, I nudged her with my toe. We both shuddered from the contact, but at least I’d gotten her attention. Being so close to Seamus, our conversation was limited. Still, there was something I had to say.
“Thank you for protecting me,” I said softly.
She held my gaze, and a shadow of sadness crossed her face. “He’ll come back, you know, and I’m afraid o’ what he’ll ask me to do.”
The weight of her words pressed against my chest. “We’ll figure it out together.”
She nodded, and her eyes turned unnaturally bright. “It’s not very easy, is it, this life we’ve been given. Sometimes...sometimes I wish things was different...that maybe I was different.”
It sounded as though my own heart was speaking. “Me, too. More times than I can remember.”
“We be friends though, right? No matter what happens in Wexford?”
I answered without hesitation. “Yes, Ailish, we’ll always be friends.”
Our gaze held for a moment longer, and a small, sad smile touched her lips. “No matter what happens,” she murmured again before curling beneath the blanket and resting her head on the lumpy burlap sack.
I leaned back against the rail, rather stunned at how much my life had changed since leaving London. To think on it all made my head spin, so I contented myself with watching the landscape as the miles slipped away one by one. After a couple of hours, I even managed to fall into a light sleep, coming to at the sound of Seamus’s booming voice.