32. Funerals
A soft breeze swept over the tombstones, mingled with the dust, and flew away into the open field. People had surrounded a fresh grave, where the silence was disturbed by the quiet sobbing of the widow wearing all black.
The O’Brians’ friends and neighbors approached Riona, offering her their help and support, while the pipes lamented the departed.
“I am sorry, Riona,” Caitlin McCormack said. “Sorry that you have become a widow so soon, and that your children have lost their father at such a young age.”
“Thank you, Caitlin,” Riona said. “And I hope,” she continued, raising her voice, “that no child in this town will be left parentless, for no child in the world deserves such a lot.”
The McCormacks and the Baldrics frowned and shuffled on their feet. Caitlin McCormack returned to her family and stood between her husband and her daughter. Dinah was supposed to approach Riona, but she couldn’t stop staring at Eric. He was sitting on a rock nearby, looking broken and grieving. Whenever he raised his head, tears glistened in his eyes.
She would have felt sorry for him and might have even tried to console him, but seeing Electra near the one who occupied her always restless mind, she lost all the gentle feelings for Eric. How dare she show up at the graveyard? And how dare she sit there, among all those people, well aware that she and her family were hated and unwanted? Electra was holding Eric by his hand. Once she even dared to sweep the tears away from his face. And he, instead of pushing her away, pressed her hand to his lips, then buried his face in her palms.
Dinah had now forgotten about the primary reason of coming to the graveyard. She had forgotten about her dead neighbor, about the fire that had taken away another two lives and injured hundreds of people. She saw only Eric and Electra taunting her. She saw them look at her, mock her and scorn her, then laugh at her. Everyone around the grave was making fun of her. All eyes were on her, deriding her and ridiculing her for her unrequited feelings. As if it wasn’t enough, the whole family of witches appeared at the grave. Andromeda approached Riona and put her hand on her back. The widow cast a glance at her, and a new wave of sobbing burst out.
“I am so sorry, Mrs. O’Brian, dear Riona.”
“Ohh, Andromeda, my kind lady.” Riona threw herself into her consoler’s arms and started to weep. “Can you do anything? Please say you can. You saved him once. Please, bring my husband back to life. Don’t leave my children fatherless.”
Eleanora felt a gentle touch on her shoulder. Turning around, she met with her favorite grey eyes. “Oh, Jack,” she sobbed, throwing her arms around Jack’s neck. She pressed her face against his chest and cried as bitterly as she had ever cried before.
“Elora, I am so sorry,” Jack said, holding her in his arms.
“Oh, Jack,” she murmured again. “Once more I did the wrong thing. Even after you told me. You told me to think about the words I say. Then I shouted at him, called him bad names, and now he’s gone, and I will never see him again. Oh, Daddy.”
“I am sorry for having been so harsh with you,” Jack said. Eleanora clung tighter to him, and he tried to console her any way he could. But while consoling the one, he had forgotten about the other. Ariadne was standing behind them, with Cassandra and Medea by her sides, and looking at a scene so excruciating that even the grief of the girl in Jack's embrace couldn’t help her from feeling indignant.
“He has to comfort her. She lost her father,” Cassandra said.
“I know. Poor girl.” Ariadne tried to sound sincere, and she hated herself for being jealous of a girl who was going through such misery, but her feelings were stronger than she had thought.
“Now, what are they doing here?” Magnus McCormack muttered.
“Indeed,” Louis Baldric said. “Their presence only worsens the tragedy.” As he took a step towards Colin Fitzroy, Shay MacGavin put his hand on his shoulder.
“Show some respect.”
“Don’t talk about respect, blacksmith. It’s not I who’s friends with a witch-man.”
“A graveyard is no place for arguing,” Uncle Colin said. “Show respect for the loss of the family.”
“I will, if you do the same, Fitzroy. Take your family and leave, and I won’t start a fight.”
Colin went to his wife and explained the situation with just a glance. Andromeda nodded.
“Riona, my dear, we have to go,” she said.
“No, please don’t go,” Riona pleaded. “Your presence is comforting. You know better than anyone here how painful it is to lose the loved ones.”
“If you don’t mind, my dear, I will visit you in the evening. Until then you need to have some rest.”
Riona saw her neighbors roll their eyes and frown. “What do you want?” she cried out. “Why are you driving away the woman who has come to console me on the worst day of my life? My husband is lying in the coffin, he will be buried soon, my children and I have lost him forever, and all you can think of is your stupid ban?”
“It’s not a stupid ban, Mrs. O’Brian,” Magnus McCormack said. “The ban is called to protect our families. And your husband had signed that paper.”
“But I haven’t signed it. And my husband signed it only because he was forced to. I won’t let you drive away the woman who once saved his life. What have you done for Albert? You only poisoned his mind, and put on his shoulders the burden of that pointless ban, ridding him of a chance to thank the person who saved his life. And she didn’t only help him. This woman, whom you hate so much, has helped you too, Caitlin.”
Caitlin turned pale as death. “What—? What are you saying, Riona? Has your grief caused you madness?”
“I demand explanations,” Peter McCormack said.
“The explanation is that last year I gave Caitlin a soothing potion—”
“That’s not true!” Caitlin’s voice shook. “Peter, I swear she’s lying. I have never… would never take anything from that woman.”
Peter frowned, and Caitlin shuddered. “I swear, Peter. By my life. By the lives of my children. Why are you saying those lies?” she yelled at Riona. “You have lost your husband and want me to lose mine? What kind of a bitter woman are you?”
“It’s not a lie,” Riona told Peter. “But she indeed didn’t know. I never told her.”
When the argument had begun, the musicians had stopped playing the pipes, and when Riona’s words silenced everyone, the graveyard plunged into absolute stillness.
Without saying a word, Peter McCormack turned around and walked away. His wife called after him, then rushed after her husband. One after another the Easterners left the place. Magnus McCormack scowled at Riona and muttered something offensive under his breath.
“I am sorry,” Riona told Andromeda after the Easterners left. “I got you into trouble, but they made me so angry, I couldn’t think properly.”
“Don’t apologize,” she said. “You are having a very hard time, and I want you to know that you can always count on me and my family. Call me whenever you need me. I will always be by your side.”
Epilogue
Eric was waiting for Jack and Hector under the Lonely Widower. He was leaving the next morning and wanted to talk to them before his departure.
He didn’t want to leave; he was missing her already. He didn’t know how he would bear the long parting that was to come soon. And he didn’t know when he would be back to Hollow. He had to go to college soon, and it might be a year before he came back.
“Have you heard the news?” Jack asked when he and Hector approached the Lonely Widower. “They’re saying that the witch sent the fire to the East Bank. Can you believe it? As if my mother can send lightning like she’s some kind of Zeus or Thor.”
“That’s ridiculous but not unexpected,” Eric said. “What do you think the sheriff and the Council are going to undertake?”
“I don’t know.” Jack took a seat beside Eric. “Until then I had hopes that everything happening in Hollow was a coincidence, but what I saw in the fi
re deprived me of the last hope.”
Eric stared at Jack. “You saw them too?”
Jack looked at Hector, then turned to Eric. “Are you talking about the silhouettes in fire?”
Eric bounded to his feet. “So it wasn’t a vision? They were real, coming out of the fire?”
“Hush! Calm down.” Jack pulled him down on the grass. “Yes, they were real. They are coming back. Or are back already. It happened as it had been predicted. The Hunters came from the blazing flames. They came through fire, through mischief and trouble.”
“But where are they?”
“I don’t know.”
“They are among us,” Hector said. “They will be here, in Hollow—waiting, planning, anticipating. I won’t be surprised to know they have already met the Council members. They will demand trials. Then they will start the Hunt.”
“I still don’t understand. Where are those people?”
“What people? Eric, wake up. You read the diaries and still didn’t understand that they are not people? They are something else, some creatures that come to Hollow throughout centuries and organize a slaughter.”
“Can we stop them?”
“We will try.”
Eric ran his hand through his hair. “I have so many questions now, more than I had in the beginning, and I have to leave tomorrow. How can I leave when you’re telling me this, and after I’ve seen them with my own eyes?”
“I too wish that you would stay, but I know you can’t. Go back home. If any of us suspects the slightest danger we’ll call you back.”
“I wish I didn’t have to go,” Eric said. “I wish I could stay here forever.”
“Be careful with what you wish for,” Hector said. “It could come true, but not exactly the way you want.”
“Electra has given me paper to use with the magic ink. If something happens, just send me a note, and I’ll be back at once,” Eric said.
He bade good bye to his friend, but stayed under the oak, waiting for Electra. She hadn’t managed to dismount Greylock, when he rushed to her and clasped his arms around her.
“How are your wounds?” Electra asked, looking at his bandaged palms.
“Forget the wounds.” Eric pulled her close again. Who will take care of you when I’m gone? he thought, his heart bleeding. “I don’t want to leave you. Heaven knows how much I wish to take you with me.”
Electra cupped his face and looked him in the eyes. “Your eyes are full of sorrow,” she said. “Don’t torture yourself so much. You know well that I will wait for you.”
Eric took her hands in his. How gentle they were, how soft and beautiful. What would the Hunters do with her? Would they make her walk on the burning coals? Or would they force her to eat poisonous food? Would they drown her, or burn her on the stake? She didn’t even suspect how close the danger was. No, she didn’t know, she would have told him if she knew. But here she was, smiling and comforting him.
“I’ll be back,” Eric said, taking her back into her arms.
“I know you will. What will you do without Hollow?” She kissed him tenderly. “My sisters were sending their goodbyes. They will be waiting for your return.”
The lump pressed against his throat. Poor girls. It wasn’t their fault that they were born that way. They didn’t choose to be witches, and it was unjust to hold them responsible for something over which they had no power. He knew he needed to come back for their sake; he wouldn’t let anything happen to them.
The time was passing quickly. When Eric looked at his watch it was ten already. A cawing sounded from above. That was Morrigan, telling them it was time to part. The crow swept before the lovers and flew up into the sky, fluttered over the gorges and meadows resting under the moonlight, soared above the peaks of the poplars, passed the sharp mountains and hovered around Ostband, where dim flames of fire were burning inside the windows.
The old castle was abandoned no more.
About the Author
I.D. Blind was born and raised in Armenia and still lives in her beautiful country, writing in a third language for readers who, like her, love witches, magic, and Celtic music. Email her at
[email protected]. She is always happy to hear from her readers.
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