“He means you don’t know how superstitious we are,” Michael told Rocky.
“You mean about the banshee wailing last night at midnight?” Sheriff Murphy asked. “Oh, indeed, I heard about it early this morning. The sound was heard clear down the slope. Yes, we are a superstitious people. Whether a legend is true or not is not really the point, though, is it?”
“You mean you think that both Collum and Brendan believed it—and had heart attacks?” Rocky asked.
“Possibly,” Sheriff Murphy said. “We’ll have to pray that Brendan comes out of this—and if he does, perhaps he’ll tell us just what he battled. As it stands now, I’ve nothing to investigate. There’s no sign of forced entry anywhere, there’s no witnesses—there’s no harm can be seen that was done to either Collum or Brendan.” He turned to Rocky again. “Young man, seems you’re a fine enough fellow yourself. If you find anything I can go on, I shall be delighted to throw myself and all my forces against it.” He turned to Michael. “What will we announce to the people? We have to get something out on the radio—Father Flannery must say something at mass. ’Tis a hard thing. The castle has always been the center of our celebration, and St. Patrick’s Day is a saint’s day and holy to us. Day after tomorrow. Do we allow our five days of festival to go on?”
Michael and Aidan looked at one another. It appeared, Rocky thought, that the brothers didn’t want the responsibility of making a decision.
“Would be Seamus needs to answer that question now, Sheriff,” Michael said.
“Seamus is at the hospital with his brother,” Sheriff Murphy said. “As is Kelly. This decision lies with the two of you.”
Rocky was startled when they turned to look at him.
“There’s tradition,” Michael said.
“And bad taste, too,” Aidan added.
“It was one thing with Collum dead and buried,” Michael said.
“But now Brendan! Aye, and both of them, fine men,” Aidan said.
“And traditionalists,” Michael said. “Rocky, what would you do?”
“I say carry on,” Rocky told them. “Brendan isn’t dead. Not that we know. And Brendan would want the celebration of the saint carried on.”
Michael nodded and turned to the sheriff. “We carry on,” he said.
“And you’re satisfied, Mr. Rockwell?” Sheriff Murphy asked.
“Until I have something to give you, sir, as you’ve said,” Rocky told him.
Michael walked with Murphy to the door. Aidan stood awkwardly by Rocky. He looked at him. “You think that something is going on here, don’t you? I suppose you think we’re all a bit daft, thinking that there be leprechauns and banshees and all. They’re just legends. Stories we’ve been told for years. Like Dracula and all that.” He grimaced. “Another great tale written by an Irishman,” he added sheepishly.
“I don’t think you’re daft at all,” Rocky said. Aidan apparently wasn’t aware that he belonged to—what even old friends in the agency referred to as—the ghost squad.
“But,” he added, smiling. “I’ve yet to find a ghost or supernatural creature who could commit murder—or even attempted murder. I think that something is going on. And I do intend to find out what it is. Aidan, if you or Michael need me, I’ll be up in the old master’s chambers.”
He left Michael and headed upstairs to the room he shared with Devin.
The room in which Collum—and many a Karney before him—had died.
Chapter 8
Devin spent a tense hour in the waiting room with Seamus and Kelly.
The three of them knew that they were hanging on by a thread and every second now mattered for Brendan Karney.
He teetered on the edge of death.
Devin didn’t tell Kelly that she’d believed that Brendan was dead when she’d seen him on his back in the great hall. She wanted to think that they might have saved him now. She knew the odds were against him.
For the hour, she sometimes paced. She sometimes hugged Kelly or Seamus. She sometimes watched them hug one another—wishing there was something that she could do.
And then, miraculously, after they waited that tense hour, a doctor came out to talk to them.
Brendan Karney wasn’t out of the woods.
But he was stable.
He was unconscious—yes, a coma. But, for now, that was best.
Seamus and Kelly asked if they could just sit with him. The doctor said that they could.
And so, after the waiting, Devin decided that she’d just give him a kiss on the forehead and then leave him to his brother and his niece and head back. When one of them wanted to come home, someone in the family would come for them.
She called Rocky and reported the situation. He told her how pleased he was that it seemed Brendan had a chance. He was, he told her, exploring the master’s chambers—and then he’d go beyond. She was to take her time and return to the castle when she was ready.