The Ghost of Grania O'Malley by Michael Morpurgo

Author:Michael Morpurgo [Morpurgo, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Egmont
Published: 2011-09-17T04:00:00+00:00

8 MISTER BARNEY

BY THE TIME THEY HAD FINISHED EMPTYING the chest, the kitchen was glowing with gold, the dresser festooned with gold chains, the shelves lined with gold goblets and gold beakers. From every knob and every cup hook dangled a jewelled necklace. The table-top was almost invisible, covered as it was with doubloons and crosses, and gold plates piled high with glittering jewels. And in the centre, in pride of place, stood a great golden ewer with a fish’s mouth for a spout. They sat down and simply gazed around them. Jessie put her earrings on and looked down at herself in one of the golden plates. For a long time no one spoke a word.

‘Will someone please pinch me?’ said Jessie’s father at last. ‘This afternoon I thought for certain you were both of you dead and drowned and gone for ever – and here you are sitting in front of me all alive again. And now all this.’

‘The lost treasure of Grania O’Malley,’ breathed Jessie’s mother. ‘You’re right, Jess. It has to be. It’s old Mister Barney’s story come true.’

‘What do you mean?’ Jessie asked, trying not to sound too interested.

Her mother sat back in her chair, quite unable to take her eyes off the treasure. ‘And we all thought the old man was cracked in the head, his mind all to pieces. But he wasn’t at all, was he?’

‘For goodness’ sake, Cath,’ said Jessie’s father, ‘Mister Barney’s stories are just stories. There’s not a word of truth in any of them, everyone knows that. You’ll frighten her silly.’

But Jessie’s mother went on: ‘I was about your age, Jess, when it happened. Mister Barney was already old, but he’d still cut more peat in a day than any man on the island. Us kids, we’d go up to his place to help him stack it sometimes, and afterwards he’d give us a drink of water and we’d sit down and he’d tell us all sorts of tales. I’ve forgotten a lot of them, but not this one. He told us how one day he’d been up on the Big Hill and he’d met the ghost of Grania O’Malley. He said how she’d got talking about her pirating days and how she’d fallen in love with some Spanish captain or admiral – I can’t remember. Anyway, this Spanish captain was blown round the top of Ireland in his galleon – part of the Spanish Armada and all that – and was wrecked on the rocks. Everyone on Clare wanted to kill the lot of them, him and his crew. But she wouldn’t let them do it – it seems she’d taken a bit of a fancy to him. She said there was no need to go killing anyone when they could have all the treasure they liked anyway. More Christian that way, that’s what she told Mister Barney. So she saved her Spanish captain and his crew, and kept the gold. Everyone was happy.’

‘Oh, come on,’ Jessie’s father interrupted.

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