Michael Belmont and the Tomb of Anubis (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) (6 page)

After lunch, Liam took Michael to see the oubliette.
 
They went to what had once been the throne room, and Liam lifted up the end of a large rug to reveal a trap door in the floor.
 
The boys peered down into the cell, and Michael could see that the bottom was about twenty feet below. A rope ladder hung down from the side of the hole.

"Want to go down?" asked Liam.

"Not really," Michael frowned.

"Oh come on, you won't believe how freaky it is down there," said Liam as he got to the floor and started down the ladder.

"Come on," he shouted back up once he was at the bottom.

Michael followed him down, and once he had reached the floor, it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.
 
The only light coming in was from the trap door up above, and he could imagine that if that door was closed and the rug were placed over it, pitch blackness would consume the cell.

The room was lined with smooth brick.
 
It was barrel shaped to prevent anyone from climbing back up to the door once they had been tossed down the hole.
 
The diameter of the room was about eight to ten feet across.
 
Liam showed Michael where sharp, wooden spikes had once protruded from the floor.

"When we discovered this place there were bones piled up all the way across the room three feet high," Liam said.

Michael was silent.
 
He was trying to imagine how many hopeless souls had lost their lives in the despair of this chamber.
 
He couldn't imagine casting a fate like that on even his worst enemy.
 
Then a thought came to him.

"I wonder if one of the people who died in here was a piper?"

"Who knows," Liam responded.
 
"I wouldn't be surprised if there was one, with the amount of bones that were hauled out of here."

As they stood there in the dark chamber, a chill ran down Michael's body while he thought about the horrors this place had seen.

"Lets get out of here," he told Liam, "maybe Mr. Finnegan has come back from the market by now."

They climbed back up, shutting the trap door behind them.
 
Liam pulled the rug back over it to conceal it from view.

The oubliette was an interesting place to see, but Michael didn't care to ever go back down there again.

When the boys found Mr. Finnegan, he was sitting in a brown leather armchair in the library, his feet up, and his face concealed by a large book.
 
The smoke from his pipe drifted up in a way that made the book look as if it were smoldering.

They sat across from him without saying a word, and stared at him in anticipation.
 
They both knew he had heard them come in.

After a moment, he lowered the book so that only his eyes were visible over the top.
 
This reminded Michael of the looky-loo neighbor back home who was always peering over the fence into their yard.

"Yes?" he said, as if he had just noticed their presence.

"Mr. Finnegan, I was wondering if you could tell us the story of the piper of Argyll," said Liam.

"Are you now?" asked Finnegan rhetorically.

He snapped his book shut fiercely with one hand, so that both boys jumped in their seats.
 
He looked over their faces with a tilted head and raised eyebrow, pipe dangling loosely from his mouth.
 
This made them feel as though they were being scanned for some sort of clue or piece of evidence that could be used to incriminate them.
 
Michael noticed that Liam just sat still in his seat, smiling back dumbly at the plump, bald man.

Finnegan didn't get many chances to be the center of attention, but truly enjoyed and took advantage of the situation whenever it occurred. Liam had come to him for stories quite often as a boy, but since he had gotten older he had been chasing his own interests.
 
Finnegan had missed telling him stories, although he would never have admitted it.

"And why, may I ask, the sudden interest?" he said, continuing to peer at them with a raised eyebrow, trying to see through their eyes into hidden intentions.

"Uh, I just happened to mention the story to Michael and he thought it sounded interesting, but I couldn't remember all the details," Liam responded.

Even Michael thought that Liam was acting suspiciously.
 
Leave it to him to make the simple matter of hearing a ghost story seem as though they were thinking about breaking in to Fort Knox.

Finnegan continued to stare at them in silence for a few moments, before easing his expression.
 
He was, after all, quite used to suspicious behavior from Liam.

"Very well then.
 
I will tell you the tale of the piper.
 
But I must ask you not to interrupt me, for I take my storytelling very seriously, and would not have my concentration broken by foolish questions."
 
He said this with his eyes closed and his nose turned up.

Michael looked at Liam, who gave a slight smirk and a shrug.

And then Mr. Finnegan began the story.

"Overlooking Loch Crinan in Argyll," began Finnegan, "stands Duntrune Castle, an old and mighty fortress not unlike our own McGinty Castle.
 
It is still occupied today, a testimony to the resilience and skill of the Scottish people," he said with an air of pride.

"During the 1600s, it was occupied by the powerful Campbell Clan.
 
This was a time in Scottish history when the clans were all very individualistic, and they fought fiercely with each other to hold control over their regions of influence.
 
This period of time was also one of civil war in Britain.
 
The Campbell clan was supporting the side of Parliament, but many of their enemies, such as the noble MacDonalds, supported King Charles the first."

At this Liam nodded his head proudly.
 
Finnegan winked at him and went on.

"There came a time when the MacDonald chieftain, Alasdair Mac Colla, heard that most of the Campbell men were away from their castle at Duntrune, and he decided to move quickly and take advantage of the situation by attacking their citadel.

He formulated a plan.
 
At dusk, his men crept quietly up to the castle wall, swords drawn at the ready.
 
They scaled the walls and assassinated the lookouts, taking the stronghold with little effort, and proudly raised their clan flag upon its towers."

Liam smiled sweetly, nodding his head as if he were remembering having been there himself.

"That sounds a little brutal," put in Michael.

"It was a brutal time, my lad," Finnegan told him impatiently.

"Now where was I?
 
Oh yes.
 
Soon after the MacDonalds had taken Duntrune Castle, Mac Colla set sail to continue his campaign in support of the King.
 
To guard the castle, he left behind a small garrison of men, and his piper, who was also his most loyal of friends."

"Why would he leave his piper in charge?" broke in Liam.

Finnegan huffed at having been interrupted a second time.

"In those days, pipers held a very prominent position in the Scottish clans.
 
They were well educated and were ranked highly in the households of the chieftains.
 
They also served a very important role in battle, piping the men forward into the fight, giving them a sense of pride and encouragement.
 
The piper was a figurehead of loyalty to his clan."

"Oh," said Liam.
 
"That makes sense then."

"Well, as you can imagine," continued Finnegan, "the Campbells were not happy about having lost Duntrune Castle, and whilst Alasdair Mac Colla was away, they launched a counter attack to retake their former fortress.

Men from both sides fought gallantly, and many died by the edge of the sword that day.
 
It was a bloody affair, but eventually the Campbells recaptured Duntrune, and every surviving MacDonald was executed, all except one, the MacDonald clan Piper."

At this Liam made a fist and punched his own hand in mock anger, grinding his teeth and letting out a growl.
 
Finnegan ignored him.

"As privileged and respected individuals in the clans, pipers were protected, and Alasdair Mac Colla's piper was spared, but he was imprisoned and confined in the castle.
 
Surrounded by his enemies, away from his family and cut off from any friend, he spent his days in loneliness.
 
Yet, he did not despair.

The piper knew that the MacDonalds would return to Duntrune, unaware of the danger that they would be walking into.
 
And so, he kept a close watch for Mac Colla's return, hoping to find a way of warning his master about the Campbells, and a situation that would mean almost certain death."

"He sounds like a very brave man," said Michael.

"Indeed," responded Finnegan, taking a few quick puffs off his pipe.
 
"As day dawned one morning, the piper skimmed the horizon for a glimpse of his master's boat, and saw a shape slowly appear in the distance.
 
He squinted his eyes, and saw the MacDonald galley, which he knew would be carrying his master.

Frantic to help his friends, he did the only thing he could think of to warn the MacDonalds, and began to play his pipes.
 
Drifting across the cold waters, Alasdair Mac Colla began to hear the faint strains of the bagpipes.
 
He smiled at the thought of his loyal friend welcoming his return with a tune, but soon realized that the piper's song was an urgent warning not to return to shore.

The chieftain was heartbroken at the idea of leaving his friend behind, but he knew that they must be vastly outnumbered for the man to give such a warning.
 
Realizing that the piper was risking his own life to save theirs, he honored his sacrifice, and commanded his men to veer the boat from shore.
 
The MacDonalds sailed slowly away to safety."

"Oh no," said Michael in a very concerned voice.
 
"What happened to the piper?"

Finnegan looked at them with a sad smile.

 
"When the Campbells realized what the piper had done, they cut off his hands with an axe, so that he would never again play the pipes.
 
They left him with his wounds, leaving it to fate whether he would live or die.
 
And alas, he died before the night was over, and is said to have been haunting the castle ever since."

"Mr. Finnegan," interrupted Liam once more, "has the piper ever been known to appear anywhere outside of Argyll?"

"No."
 
He responded with a raised nose. "I've never heard any accounts of his appearing anyplace other than Duntrune Castle."

"Do you believe the story?" asked Michael.
 
"Do you think his ghost began to haunt the castle?"

"There have always been those who have dismissed the story as myth, nothing more than a fanciful children's yarn.
 
However, there is evidence to support the story.

Around the year 1880, repairs were being carried out at the castle and some flagstones were being replaced.
 
The men conducting the work lifted up one of the stones only to discover a human skull staring back up at them.
 
They sent for the Lord of the castle, and when additional slabs were lifted, a full human skeleton was revealed, and the three men saw quite clearly that it had no hands, …that they had been chopped off.

The castle Lord knew at once that these must be the remains of the spirit that continued to haunt the castle.
 
A spirit that he himself had seen, a spirit which many others have seen since that day."

"What did they do with the skeleton," asked Liam.
 
"Did they leave it underneath the flagstones?"

"No," responded Finnegan.
 
"The Lord of the castle sent for the bishop, and they gave the remains a proper burial.
 
The bishop was also asked to exorcise the spirit of the piper that haunted Duntrune.
 
He performed a ceremony called the rite of bell, book and candle, but despite the bishop's efforts, the spirit continued to dwell inside the castle.
 
Those living there have reported objects being moved and broken, and pets seeing and hearing things that aren't there.

Even today, a single headstone marks the spot where the skeleton is said to have been buried, and it is known as the pipers grave."

"Mr. Finnegan," said Michael, "do you believe it's possible that the ghost could wander from Duntrune Castle and be heard someplace else?"

"Well I'm certainly no expert on the traveling habits of disembodied spirits," he responded.
 
"Why are you two so concerned about this?
 
Is there something you aren't telling me?"
 
He eyed them over suspiciously.

They looked at each other nervously.

"Uh, no, no," Liam told him. "Just wondering, that's all."

He continued to stare at them with a raised eyebrow as they headed for the door.

"Thanks very much, Mr. Finnegan," Liam nodded while pushing his friend out the door.

"Well, that was interesting," said Michael.

"Yeah," Liam agreed.
 
"But it doesn't really explain what you heard.
 
It doesn't sound like the piper of Duntrune can leave, or maybe doesn't want to leave, Duntrune Castle."

"Well, I know what I heard, and it seems as though whoever or whatever it was wanted me to discover that corridor."

"You're not going on about that again, are you?" asked Liam.
 
He looked at Michael in a way that seemed to say 'You aren't going to fool me with that one.'