Wild Irish Witch by Tricia O'Malley

Author:Tricia O'Malley [O'Malley, Tricia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-01-08T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Six

Fiona kept her mouth shut as the room rioted around her. Calling a priest’s behavior into question was sacrilegious and something even the more lenient villagers found appalling, to judge from the expressions on their faces. A giddy sense of inevitability washed through her and she sat back to watch the show.

“That’s blasphemy! He can’t accuse me of such a thing!” Father Patrick shouted. “The devil is at work here today.”

A few members of the church crossed themselves and looked nervously around. The air was thick with tension as everyone waited to see what would happen.

“John, that’s a serious allegation. Can you present evidence to support that?” Garda Roarke said easily, his expression calm as he studied John. Fiona bit her lip as she wondered just how John planned to prove the theft.

“Yes. I’d like to introduce a few witnesses. First, I’ll bring in Sean Connor from the next town over. If you recall, there was a big fundraiser for Sean earlier this year because his house had burnt to the ground. Except not only has Sean never heard of this fundraiser, he also never received any money from it.” A gasp went through the crowd as a man who had been leaning against the back wall stepped forward.

“Are you Sean Connor?”

“Aye, I am.”

“Did your house burn down?”

“Unfortunately, it did. The chimney for our peat fireplace went up and the thatch caught quickly after that,” Sean said, running a hand nervously through his red hair.

Murmurs laced the crowd. Everyone knew all too well the fears of living with a thatched roof on your cottage. Fire was always the biggest concern.

“Mr. Connor, were you aware that the parish had hosted a fundraiser for your home?”

“Ah, no, I wasn’t.” Sean looked around nervously and raised a hand in apology. “I’m sorry, I am, for I would’ve come over to thank ye all for the donations. It was quite kind of ye to think of us during our hard time.”

Fiona glanced at Father Patrick to see how he was taking it all. His face had turned an odd shade of red and he was puffing out little breaths through his nose.

“Father Patrick, as I recall, the parish had raised a sizeable donation― enough for at least a new roof. Isn’t that right?” Garda Roarke looked around at the crowd and several people nodded in affirmation.

“I sent the money along to him. He’s clearly lying,” Father Patrick said, pointing at Sean. “Shame on you for lying in this holy house.”

Fear raced across Sean’s face and he turned to the left and the right to look at the villagers.

“I’m not lying, I swear it to you. I’m a good Catholic and me mum’s raised me to not tell falsehoods.”

“I’ve more evidence,” John spoke up to interrupt Father Patrick’s tirade. “The outreach program Father Patrick takes donations for? The one for orphan children in Dublin? Well, it seems that the nuns have never received any monies from Father Patrick,” he continued, his eyes hard in his face as he glared at Father Patrick.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.