Chapter Seven

 

Séan arrived punctually with a picnic feast of impressive proportions, then fussed to set places for them all around a crisply laundered check tablecloth. A six-pack of Guinness and two red lemonades were left in the shallow water next to the rowboat to keep cool.

When the remnants of the meal had been packed together, Séan helped Hugh into the boat and paused before sitting on the thwart.

"Will you be needing anything later on, Mr. Mc ..... Uncle Phil? Sandwiches, or a thermos of something warm to see you through the night?"

"That would be nice, Séan!" Kate cut in to spare Phil's blushes as she realised that he was berating himself for not having thought of such a simple thing himself.

"If you row across just about nightfall, that gives me time to potter about and set a few more cameras just the way I want them." Phil said. Séan nodded gravely, giving the impression that this was the approving nod of a ‘fellow professional' photographer.

"Hugh might want you to help him pass an important Announcement around the village" was Phil's parting shot. Sean's eyes grew round as millstones, and he all but caught a crab with a mistimed pull on the oars. A nod between Phil and Hugh indicated that the latter could begin to instruct Séan about Phil's attempt to overtrump the Marriage Feast at Cana.

"That'll be all round the village before nightfall!" commented Kate from behind Phil. She placed her hands on his shoulders, watching Séan's animated features as he spoke rapidly and excitedly to his passenger.

"I hadn't planned it this way, but perhaps it's better in a way that we're not staying in the village tonight as the news gets passed around!" said Phil.

"Speaking of which, I've found a nice, snug little hollow full of a thick layer of dry leaves where we can spread out our sleeping bags. It looks like it's going to stay warm and dry tonight, we won't need a tent or anything - dead romantic, hey?" She dug him in the ribs to emphasise her point.

The copse Kate had literally stumbled across was ideal for a night al fresco. By the time Séan returned with the promised snacks and warm drinks Phil had also placed a number of cameras in prominent positions where Séan could not fail to notice them.

"Hugh says to tell you he'll introduce you to Father Tomàs after Mass on Sunday!" were Séan's first words, almost before the skiff was safely grounded. He was obviously bursting with excitement and curiosity about the message, but too well-mannered to ask why this was important.

"Tell him thank you very much!" Phil replied, and found it difficult not to smile at Séan's chagrin.

"What time is Mass? Would you like to ride with us in the caravan?"

Séan brightened immediately at the prospect.

"Thanks: are you sure you don't mind? We usually cycle over to Ardcarne, it's not that far."

"So you can sling your cycle in the back, if you want: then you won't have to wait for a ride back if we get talking to the priest, will you?"

His disappointment forgotten, Séan rowed back happily, no longer curious about the mystery surrounding the Important Announcement he was to help Hugh to deliver.

Phil breathed a sigh of relief as they were finally left with some privacy for the evening. Considering the relative isolation of the village in the depths of rural Roscommon, they had not had a great deal of time on their own so far. Far from the relaxing holiday they had planned to help Kate cope with her frequent nightmares, it seemed as if they were being drawn inevitably into a scenario not of their own making, one which might even force them to make a number of decisions. It wasn't just the Church blessing of their marriage which was in question. Their whole lifestyle, including employment prospects,  even where and how they chose to live in the future seemed to be in a state of flux: briefly, Phil wondered if he was really in charge of his own destiny at the moment.

"Kate, have you had any of those ..... nasty dreams these last few days?"

"Mm-mm! Not since we left home, anyway. I've slept like a log!"

"I can't help wondering if there's a connection: I know you're not as ‘uptight' as you were before we flew out, but that's what we wanted to happen! I mean what's the point of a holiday if you can't relax, eat too much, get drunk .... "

" ........ get laid" murmured Kate, as she gently led Phil to the nest she had made with their sleeping bags in the leafy hollow. As full night fell, in the seclusion of their own private island, they gently and slowly peeled from each other the few layers of clothing which the warm summer weather had demanded they wear for decency's sake.

*****

*****

Clothed once more, with an additional light sweater against the cool of the night around them, they sipped from coffee laced with Jamesons' finest. Phil sat on a tree stump: Kate lay content with her head in his lap.

The small noises of the night gradually stilled, one by one, as the various daytime animals and birds settled: the ‘night shift' by their very nature were more stealthy in their movements, more difficult to identify. Above, unseen and unheard, an owl swooped by on silent wings.

Keeping to his holiday resolution not to be governed by his wristwatch, Phil was aware of the advent of midnight when the pre-set timers on the cameras he had set out began to click: in the velvet silence of the night, the mechanical whirrs and clicks seemed louder than he would have thought possible.

They had the effect of rousing him from a pleasant state of half-dreaming reverie, and he stirred, easing the muscles in his lower back and thighs. Kate had also been drifting, and roused herself to allow Phil to stand.

A full moon shone in a cloudless sky: every detail of the Chapel was clearly defined. The moon was ideally placed, directly opposite the entrance and the steps. If the mysterious events of the previous night were repeated, there was every chance of clear, unambiguous photographic evidence - but of what, Phil wondered as he sauntered to the edge of the clearing, being careful not to wander in front of any of the strategically placed cameras.

Kate rose and followed him, quietly slipping her hand into his.

Do you think we're likely to see anything?"

"I'm trying to keep an open mind" he said "But I've a sense of peace I've not felt anywhere else in a long time."

A long, inevitable kiss followed. They were distracted by a volley of almost simultaneous shutters being released from different points around the glade. Phil frowned: he had set the cameras to trigger at fairly well-spaced intervals, in the interests of economy of film. He looked over Kate's shoulder to see if there was a reason for this salvo: there was only one possible cause he could think of .........

The hand which had rested tenderly on Kate's shoulder tensed, and he turned her round to witness the scene. A young couple, dressed in clothing of a bygone era, floated rather than walked down the steps from the Chapel. At the bottom of the steps they turned to face each other, joined hands, and knelt facing each other. They seemed unaware of their audience. They were neither solid nor transparent, but almost monochrome, silvery grey or shimmery blue.

From where they were standing they could see a three-quarter view of the man's face. The girl had her back to them, and her face was completely hidden behind a cascade of long, pale hair. The man's lips were moving, but no sound could be heard. He paused, as if listening to a response, then leant forwards and kissed her. As their lips met, the images faded away. Five - perhaps ten - impossibly long seconds of total and utter silence followed. The click-click! of two more photo shots seemed as loud as cannonfire.

Unconsciously imitating the actions of the lovers Phil and Kate turned to face each other, and joined hands as the players of the scene they had just witnessed had done. In perfect unison, they both began the same sentence:

"Did you just see ................. !?"

They stopped speaking at the same instant, and looked each other deep in the eye. Neither knew exactly how they had intended to finish the question. Kate's expression might have been one of surprise tinged with awe, possibly fear of something unknown, unexplained. Phil felt a variety of emotions struggling for supremacy, but for him the most important concern was Kate's wellbeing.

"It was when all the cameras all suddenly fired off at once" Phil murmured into Kate's thick tresses. "I knew that the only thing which could possibly have triggered it was something moving .......... "

She was used to Phil firing off at a tangent in his thinking every now and then, but this was not too big a step compared with previous occasions.

"Tell me what you saw" she insisted, drawing slightly away from his protective arms so that she could focus better on him as she waited for his reply.

"Two people in what I can only describe as ‘old-fashioned' clothes" he began. "I'm no fashion expert, but even I could see that much."

"It seems we both saw the same thing" Kate agreed "And the girl: all I could see was her long, fair hair. I don't suppose you could see any more than me, it must have been more or less the same angle."

"That's right."

"I can make a guess that the clothes are from a period of, I don't know, at least two hundred years ago: but his face, Phil! Did you see his face?"

Phil shook his head, mystified at Kate's agitation. She gripped his forearms fiercely.

"Phil, he was so sad ..... !"

Gently, Phil eased his arms out of her tense grip and stroked her long, thick mane of hair once more, a soothing gesture.

"I saw his lips move, but I heard nothing. I was thinking of the girl with the long, almost  white-blonde hair - and the tale Hugh told of Tomàs and Una Bhan last night ...... if you recall, her name means just that."

"I saw his lips move, but I heard nothing. I was thinking of the girl with the long, almost  white-blonde hair - and the tale Hugh told of Tomàs and Una Bhan last night ...... if you recall, her name means just that."