Haunted Ground: A Novel by Erin Hart

Author:Erin Hart [Hart, Erin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780743470995
Publisher: Pocket Star
Published: 2003-04-08T05:00:00+00:00

"I see a hill. Is this some sort of a trick?" Cormac said nothing, but watched her face as the rounded knoll that rose out of the canary-colored sea of dandelions, the shape she had no doubt first seen as a natural feature of the landscape, took on an altogether different profile. He knew that all at once she could see that it was too round, too regular to be an ordinary hill, and one end was cut out, almost like the entrance to a mine shaft. He watched appreciatively as her mouth dropped slowly open, and she turned to face him once more.

"What is it?"

"Could be the remains of a ringfort, or a burial mound." He was pleased that the discovery had made such a profound impression.

"You're giving me goose bumps," she said.

"I swear that wasn't my intention."

They worked for a while in silence. "You know, Raftery said it might be a couple of days before he can get his aunt to speak to us," Nora said. "There must be something else we can do in the meantime."

"What do you propose?"

"Well, we could go to the heritage center you mentioned, see what kinds of records they keep. We could try bribing Robbie with biscuits to dig up all he can about Cathal Mor O'Flaherty." She paused, but he sensed there was more.

"And..."

"Well, what I'd really love is a look inside that tower house. Are you any good at picking locks?"

"Hang on. I'm not going to go breaking in somewhere."

"How else are we supposed to get in?" Nora asked, dumping out the sieve and banging it on the ground to dislodge the last bits of pebble and clay. "There isn't exactly a welcome mat at the door. I suppose you're waiting for an invitation."

"You realize that if you insist, I'll have no other choice but to go along, if only to keep you out of trouble."

"I'm perfectly happy to go on my own," Nora said. "I might have to, if you're going to be squeamish about--"

Cormac raised a finger to his lips to signal silence, and Nora clamped her mouth shut and listened. She heard nothing but the harsh aic-aic of a corncrake.

"There's somebody here," Cormac said under his breath. "Up in the cloister walk. Keep working. Maybe we can get whoever it is to come out." They busied themselves at their work again, stealing an occasional glance toward the cloister wall.

"Let's walk back to the jeep," Cormac said quietly. "Slowly. You go first. Create a distraction. Cut through the cloister at the near end, here, and I'll go to the far end. Unless whoever it is wants to climb out a window, he'll be stuck in the middle." As he spoke, Cormac wondered if he was a physical match for Brendan McGann, if it came down to that.

Nora nodded and stood up, brushed the knees of her jeans, and spoke loudly enough that the eavesdropper could hear. "Well, I can't wait any longer for lunch, I'm ravenous." She walked a diagonal to the corner nearest where the jeep was parked.

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