Dark Rosaleen (37 page)

The big man nodded. He took his brother's arm and together they returned the way they came.

The bullet had hit Coburn in the elbow, run up under his arm and lodged itself in his shoulder blade. When he had fallen, the bone had snapped. He was still unconscious.

‘Help me, Kate,' said the priest. ‘He's bleeding badly but I don't know how to stop it.'

‘I do,' she said. ‘Let me see his shoulder. Hold him to you as tight as you can. I must first get to the bullet.'

She untied the scarf she wore around her neck, tore it into strips and rolled them into hard balls. She split open his shirt and, as his blood swamped her hand and arm, she felt for the wound. It was not deep. She touched the bullet. With her little finger she massaged it and slowly eased it out from between the folds of flesh until she felt it slip into the palm of her hand. Then, one by one, she wedged the balls of cotton into the hole, prodding them in with her thumb, harder, deeper, tighter. Slowly the bleeding eased and saw the blood begin to congeal.

Father Kenyon cradled him, unconscious, in his arms.

‘You are remarkable, Kate. I would not have believed it if I hadn't watched it with my own eyes. He owes you his life.'

‘Not me, Father. I learnt it from somebody he never met. A dear friend who was a doctor. He owes it to him.'

‘Dare we move him?'

‘If we do he will bleed again. And his arm is broken.'

‘There is only one doctor in town I can trust. Joyce is his name. I know he's still there. I must go to him. We cannot cope on our own. If the soldiers are out there they will not suspect me.'

‘Go then, and be quick, Father. If the wound breaks open again there's nothing more I can do.'

Father Kenyon passed through the military cordon with the bravado he was famous for.

‘Have you caught the treacherous rebel yet?' he asked the sergeant.

‘No, Father, but we will soon,' was the answer.

‘Do you think he is still around here?'

‘No doubt of it,' the sergeant replied. ‘We have him surrounded. There's no other way out.'

‘But there is,' said the priest. ‘Beyond my church there is a new track, cleared a year ago by the Public Works but never recorded and never used. Didn't you know of it?'

‘No, sir, I did not'.

The sergeant immediately split his column in two and sent twenty of his men on a track that led nowhere.

Father Kenyon saw the three bodies that had been dragged out of the undergrowth onto the lane. They lay encircled in their blood. When he returned with Dr Joyce half an hour later, they were still there. It meant Declan and his brother were still free.

Dr Joyce would hear no argument. ‘You cannot move this man now that I've bound him. He will need rest. He has lost much blood and he'll be too weak to walk or ride. Try it and you will kill him. You did well, young lady, to stop the bleeding, but I've taken out what you put in and treated him with my own remedy, sphagnum moss. It grows on the peat in the woods and bogs and it's the best healer nature can provide. I'll leave some with you. If any blood appears, use more of it. His arm is in splints of a sort. It's the best I can do. I doubt he'll ever use it again. When he wakes up dose him with a little of this. It's laudanum, a small tincture of opium. It'll help take away some of the pain and coax him back into deep sleep. And take comfort. Had that shot settled an inch or so lower, we'd be burying him now.'

Once Dr Joyce left, Kate and Father Kenyon kept vigil until it was dark. None of the local people would dare to enter Bansha Woods now, believing, as they did, that banshees wandered there at night. Kate lay close to Coburn to give him warmth.

‘We are trapped again,' she said. ‘First Cashel and now here.'

Father Kenyon nodded. ‘Yes! And you will escape from here just as you did from there.'

‘How?'

‘That I don't know. Remember I'm a man of much faith.'

‘How long can we can stay here?'

‘Again I don't know.'

‘Will the soldiers come in this far?'

‘Probably not. Or maybe in time. But they can know nothing of this old church. We are deep inside. Would you have found it without me?'

‘Never.'

‘It is an old Penal church from the times when we Catholics were forbidden to build churches with stone, only with wood and thatch, nothing permanent. And they had to be beyond the sight of the roads so as not to offend any Protestants who might be passing by. That's why this one is here, well away from everything and everyone. That big flat rock by the door was the Mass rock, our altar. This your hideaway.'

‘It's a gift from God, Father.'

‘Indeed it is and I shall thank Him for it presently. But let us think of tomorrow. In the morning, Kate, I will leave you. I must be seen about my own church. They'll be suspicious otherwise. I'll get a little food and some water and I'll be back around midday. Now you must sleep and I must pray.'

There was still some light. She watched him go to the altar rock and kneel on a carpet of dry leaves where once there might have been a holy rug. She lay still and for many minutes listened to the soft whisperings to his God. Soon she was asleep by her wounded husband.

He was awake but he could not move. Pain engulfed him as if a red-hot iron had been plunged into him. Yet his mind was sharp, uninjured and detached from the bloody mess around it. He could think clearly. Kate's face was close to his. He felt her breath on his cheeks. Her lips were bruised and there were cuts across her forehead where streaks of blood had dried. Dead leaves were caught in her hair. She was his wife of a day and a night.

He knew he could not move from here. He knew too that he dare not let her stay. He would not argue. She could escape even if he could not. When she had gone she would be carrying something of him inside her. That was why she had to go. How simple it was. How terrible. When he had had nothing but his own life he could be brave and reckless. Now he had her and, within her, his child. How could he lose them both? For the first time he experienced fear.

He heard footsteps. He closed his eyes. He would listen to them talk and plan. Kate stirred by his side. Father Kenyon called her name.

‘Wake up, wake up! I've a little food and water for you and a sip of brandy for the patient. Don't ask me where I got it but it's medicine enough. Has he slept well?'

‘I don't think he's moved. I've tried not to touch him.'

‘Difficult enough for a new bride!' He smiled but crossed himself in an apology. ‘Forgive me, Kate, but I'm in need of some humour.'

‘What's happened?'

‘They've taken away the three bodies of the O'Connor brothers. But there's nothing of the other two. I've been praying all night that they're still alive. It's the older one, Declan, who'll know what to do. There's nothing we can do without him, nothing! I can't go to town for help. The army is everywhere. By God! We need those boys and we need them now.'

Declan was the eldest of the O'Connor brothers, Tomás the youngest. They had seen their three siblings stretched out in the lane as soldiers kicked their bodies and spat on their dead faces. All that night they had lain hidden in a culvert behind St Olave's, covered in moss and bracken, not knowing what they should do next. Had Coburn survived? Was he already dead? How would they know? How long could they remain? Should they surrender, or show themselves and fight and die as their brothers had done?

Then, at first light, they glimpsed Father Kenyon leaving his church by the rear door, carrying food and water into the woods. This answered their questions and settled their doubts. Coburn must still be alive. At a distance they followed the Patriot Priest.

Declan and Tomás had been within fifteen paces of Father Kenyon all the way to the ruins of the Penal church and he had not known it. That was their way, their skill, and none did it better than Declan. He was a thief and a poacher, living on his wits to keep his family from starving, tracking his prey and outmanoeuvring those who came hunting for him. He was a large, strong man and no other man dared cross him, but all men knew they could trust him. He had no match in all of Tipperary.

As Father Kenyon crouched over the sleeping Coburn, Declan touched him lightly on the shoulder.

‘Jesus Christ! And Lord forgive the blasphemy. Declan, you frightening man. Did I hear a thing until you were on top of me? If you'd been a Redcoat, we'd all be done for. Don't ever do that again. Holler next time.'

‘Sorry, Father. I wasn't wanting to wake Mr Daniel.'

‘No matter, Declan. You're with us and that's what matters now. We need you to tell us what to do, man, where to go, how to get them both away.'

‘Father, we will never get them away together and time is not with us. I watched the soldiers all last night and they're spreading out. More will be brought here. It will take a regiment to scour these woods but scour them they will.'

‘We're depending on you, Declan.'

‘That I know, Father, which is why you must do as I ask. Tomás here knows these parts every bit as well as me. He must take Kate away and there can be no argument. I'll be with Mr Daniel until he is fit to ride.'

‘I will not leave without him,' said Kate.

‘Kate, you must do as Declan says.'

‘Father, I will not leave until he's ready to go too. That is final.'

‘No, it's not, Kate,' Coburn opened his eyes. ‘You will do as Declan says.'

‘I will not.'

‘Come here, my sweetheart.' He raised his good arm. The blood drained from his face with the pain of the movement. She sat down by his side and nestled his head in her lap. She combed his hair with her fingers.

‘Kate, I am your husband now and the father of your coming child. If they catch the two of us they will hang all three of us. They will not care that you are carrying. Don't you see? You must go. Tomás will look after you and see you through. Isn't that right, Tomás?'

‘Indeed it is, sir. We'll make for Limerick. There are many paths to that city and I know them all. We have family there. My mother will know what to do.'

Coburn reached to touch her face. ‘It is for the best, Kate, and there's no arguing about it. You must go. Say yes.'

She looked at him and said nothing. His face was shining with sweat. She could feel the heat in him and the trembling of his body. She leant down and kissed his forehead. She had often said that he read her thoughts and so it was then.

‘Yes! I will go, Daniel. When I was a baby, they took me from my mother. They will not take my baby from me. Our child will never know the things we know and the things we have seen and it will be better for not knowing. I will go and wait for you to follow.'

Coburn heard her words and closed his eyes. She felt his body relax. He was asleep again.

‘You had better leave soon, Miss Kate,' Declan said in a whisper.

‘How far is Limerick?' she asked.

‘About twenty-five miles as I know it. Tomás is a fast walker. Five hours, perhaps six.'