The Dagda's Harp by Sharan Newman

Author:Sharan Newman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Diversion Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The sun shining on his face woke Michael the next morning. Looking around, he saw that he was on the edge of the woods, many miles away from Tara. After his terrifying night, he at first just lay in the leaves and savored the warmth. Finally he propped himself up.

A few yards away he noticed a small form curled up under an aspen tree. As he watched, it moved and then rolled over and raised its head. Shana! Michael leapt up and ran to her with a glad cry.

“Are you all right? What happened? Did Maebdh attack you? How did we get here?” He helped her up and together they tried to piece out the events of the previous night.

“She set traps for us, for me anyway,” Shana said. “But I’m sure the Formorians didn’t send us here. They wanted to defeat us. Something happened to keep them from trying a second time. Some other force took us away from danger.” She glanced back at the aspen tree, motionless now.

Michael thought of the sorrowful woman who had given him the strength to resist Maebdh. But it was still too raw to speak of. Shana, too, was reluctant to talk of her experiences in the dark.

They stood silently a moment, letting the peaceful morning refresh them. A harsh sound rent the still air. They both spun around and saw Colin, lying on a pile of leaves, snoring loudly. Broga lay a few feet away, still clutching his pipe.

The happy shouts of Michael and Shana woke them. There was a moment in which everyone was hugging everyone else and crying with relief. Then Michael noticed that Patrik was missing.

“He must be here somewhere,” Shana said. “We were all apart when we woke.”

They searched in a wide circle but found no trace of the Briton slave.

“Oh, no!” Shana bit her lip. “Proinsias dream. ‘One will be missing’. Perhaps his years in slavery destroyed his ability to resist the Formorians. Poor Patrik!”

“We have to save him!” Michael remembered the nightmare he had been through. What if Patrik were trapped in something like that?

“Now, wait,” Broga interrupted. “There’s nothin’ to say that Patrik was captured. He isn’t here, but he’s not of Ierne. Why should he even be tested?”

“Of course,” Colin agreed. “He’s probably back at Tara with everyone else.”

“If anyone is left there,” Broga added darkly.

”But Proinsias said only three of us would succeed,” Michael argued.

“Do he didn’t, Michael. Remember?” Shana said. “Proinsias said only that he didn’t see the fourth one, not that he was lost.”

“The four of us are here,” Colin reminded them. “Proinsias wasn’t even thinking of Patrik.”

“True enough,” Broga nodded. “But I don’t think it’s our duty to find him. Proinsias said, if I remember correctly,” He glanced at Shana, who blushed. “We went, or will go, to the bogs, that way.” He pointed west. “We must get through them somehow. That’s where our fate leads. We have to let others take care of Patrik.”

“I agree,” Colin said. He looked at Broga.

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