Five Leaf Clover by Mark Hayden

Author:Mark Hayden [Hayden, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sort3
Publisher: Paw Press
Published: 2021-05-26T20:00:00+00:00

12 — Cousins

We turned off the narrow country road and I slowed right down.

‘Nothing yet,’ said Eseld. I drove another couple of hundred metres further. ‘Stop. There’s something. On the right. A concealed drive.’

‘What level of concealment? Wards?’

‘Undergraduate stuff. I can pick that apart without getting out of the van. Good job, too, that rain’s got worse again. Close your eyes.’ It took her less than a minute. ‘Open them.’

I turned into the lane, and the slope increased, as did the density of trees. We’d soon be at the river. The lane ended at a T-junction, joining another lane that ran up and down the river. Orla’s car was somewhere to the right. Out of habit, I looked left and quickly put my foot on the brake. Coming down the lane was a man in a long waterproof coat, carrying a staff and accompanied by an enthusiastic Irish setter. Boy, I would not want to be drying that dog’s coat when they got home.

Eseld had turned to see what I was looking at. ‘Do you think that’s him?’

‘Bound to be. There was a dog chewing ring in the rear footwell of Orla’s car. Let’s say hello.’

I grabbed my new sword and slung it over my shoulder before getting out. Now that Lloyd has got to know my magick better, the bond he’d created allowed me to activate the Ancile without touching the hilt first. Handy.

I limped round the car, and Eseld joined me. The man had stopped and told his hound to sit. The dog looked very reluctant to do that.

‘Good morning,’ I said. ‘We’re looking for Cathal Ahearn.’

He’d been looking at Eseld, as usual. Well, she is the proper Mage, isn’t she? He turned to me. ‘Who wants to know?’

Whenever people say that, it’s as good as saying You’ve found him.

‘I’m Conrad Clarke, and this is Eseld Mowbray, half-sister to your cousin, Morwenna. We’ve been talking to your wife, and we left something in her car.’

He frowned. Deeply. ‘You tracked her down at the gym?’

‘’Fraid not. We met by appointment at the craft village.’

He was not a happy bunny, and we were the only ones he could direct his anger at. He thought about it for a second and reached into his pocket. I tensed for half a second until he withdrew nothing more threatening than his phone. Orla answered almost straight away, and this time I had no clue what he was saying because he went straight to Irish. He listened. He gave what sounded like an order. He listened again, and then he disconnected.

‘She’s coming up. I’ll not have you at my home. Either of you.’

If Eseld was thinking about telling him that it was Orla’s home, too, she kept it quiet. Probably because Orla was even less likely to invite us in for a dish of tea. As they don’t actually say in Ireland. Talking of tea…

‘Of course, Cathal,’ I said. ‘Excuse me a second.’ I opened the van door and slung my sword inside. I retrieved our cups of tea and passed Eseld hers, along with a smoke.

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.