The Witch From The Sea Part 18

I smiled, thinking of suggesting this to Colum and that he might be a little disappointed because I did not choose to have his picture. But would he ever allow himself to be painted? Then of course I might have other children and I should want pictures of them all. While I was thus idly thinking I was stroking the edge of the locket and to my amazement the layer in which was a s.p.a.ce for a picture sprang up and I was looking into a woman's face. She was beautiful, with clouds of dark hair, an olive skin and languorous dark eyes. So cleverly had it been painted that in spite of the fact that it was so small all this was apparent.

How strange that an unknown woman's face should be depicted in a locket which was given to me by my husband. It could only mean that the locket had belonged to someone else before me.

Colum came into the room while I sat there holding it in my hand.

"Look at this, Colum," I said, and I gave it to him.

He took it and looked down at the woman's face.

I could see that he was taken aback.

"This is very strange," he said.

"Clearly it once belonged to someone else. Where did you get it?"

I saw that for the moment he was nonplussed. Then he recovered himself.

"It could not have been the one I wished made for you. The goldsmith has lied to me. People dispose of their valuables and articles of gold, silver and precious stones are sold as new, for how could one be sure whether such articles had been freshly wrought or not?"

"So the goldsmith sold you the locket as new."

"And," said Colum, "it was not. I must take the fellow to task. How do you feel about it now; Can you wear something that was not made especially for you?"

I said: "I don't want to part with the locket. Perhaps some day I might meet this mysterious lady. It is exquisitely done. The painter must have been a man of talent."

"Give it to me," said Colum. "The miniature shall be removed. You can put in something of your own family. I shall have your initials engraved on it. That goldsmith must do this, since he has sold me a secondhand article for a new one."

Later on I said: "I'll keep it as it is. Perhaps I could have pictures of my babies in it. That reminds me." I opened a drawer and took out the amulet. "I found this, Colum," I told him.

He frowned and almost s.n.a.t.c.hed it from me.

"Where?"

"In the courtyard."

He examined it in silence and I wondered whether he was as interested in the article or just trying to control his annoyance.

"Which courtyard?" he snapped.

"The one before Ysella."

"I told you not to go there."

"It was perfectly safe and I must walk somewhere since I can't ride. What is it? I thought it looked like an amulet."

"It is an amulet. I'd say this belonged to a Catharist. I have seen them before."

"What sort of people are they?"

"It is a sect that has been in existence for many years, and has its roots in pre-Christian times. These people, though, profess to believe in two G.o.ds, the good one and the evil one."

"As Christians do."

"It is so. But the general belief is that these people serve the Devil. They profess they do not and this is the kind of amulet they carry with them to prove it. But they meet at midnight in what are called covens and they wors.h.i.+p the Horned Goat. This shows the good triumphant. I have seen this kind of thing before."

"I wonder whose it is. Do you think we have one of the Catharists in the castle?"

"I will discover," he said, holding out his hand for it.

"It is beautifully engraved," I pointed out. "See, there is a name on it. Valdez. That's Spanish, is it not?"

"By G.o.d, so it is. Who could have come by it? A case of another second-hand article I'll swear."

"I like it," I said. "It conveys the idea of virtue prevailing over evil."

"I must find who owns it."

He put it into his pocket.

"Let me know when you do find the owner," I said. "I should like to know who would have such a thing."

I sensed he was faintly disturbed.

Later that afternoon I went down to the sh.o.r.e. It was warm and there was a faint mist in the air. I could see the sorry sight of a vessel caught on the rocks, toppling drunkenly as the waves washed over her. I thought of the people who had confidently set out from some place on their way to a destination which they had never reached and wondered how many had perished in the storm.

Parts of the vessel still floated on the water, useless pieces of wood-the remains of what had once been a stalwart s.h.i.+p; and again I thought of my father, sailing on the treacherous waters which could be so calm and smiling and in a brief hour so cruel. All people who went to sea did so at their own risk, of course. They all knew that they needed good fortune as well as skill to come safely to land. All his life my father had been a sailor and he had come safely through. Men such as he was thought themselves invincible. Even the sea could not tame them.

A piece of wood was being brought in by the tide-in it came and was carried back, in and back, each time a little nearer. I watched it feeling a great desire to hold it in my hands.

Nearer and farther, tossed hither and thither on the waves. Now a big one brought it right to my feet.

I picked it up and I saw that it had letters on it. There they were: San Pedro.

So the s.h.i.+p out there was a Spaniard. A thought flashed into my head then-the amulet which I had found in the courtyard was also Spanish.

There seemed some strange significance in this but I was not sure what.

My time was fast approaching and my mother had come with Damask to stay with us. She brought Edwina and her little boy with her for it was almost Christmas. My father was on the high seas, so were Carlos and Jacko, who was now married.

They had not returned from the East Indies and my mother told me that so much would depend on the success of that first enterprise.

I was always happy to have her with me. I had been so immersed in preparations for the coming of my child that I had not thought very much about the amulet and the locket. Colum said no more to me about the amulet then and I thought he had forgotten them. He went away from time to time on his business and I did not accompany him.

So it was Christmas again and our thoughts were with the men on the high seas. Edwina I could see was anxious; my mother seemed to have a placid belief in my father's survival through all conflicts.

She did tell me during her stay that Fennimore's wife had that September given birth to a son who was named after his father.

My mother and Edwina decorated the castle hall. I was too c.u.mbersome, my confinement being hourly expected.

And on Christmas Day of that year 1590 my child was born.

This time I had a daughter. I think Colum was a little disappointed for he would have preferred another son, but it was only a fleeting displeasure. I was twenty years old and already the mother of two healthy children.

My mother was delighted with the child.

"Daughters can be such a comfort," she told me and kissed me.

Damask loved the baby and in fact when my mother went back to Lyon Court wanted to stay with us. However that was not possible and they left after the New Year.

For some time I was absorbed in my children. Connell was a lively child. I used to tell myself that this was just how Colum must have been at his age. He was going to be tall and strong, I was sure, and fond of his own way. Colum doted on him and was impatient for him to grow up; and sometimes it seemed that the boy was too, for to us in the castle he appeared to be far in advance of his years.

Mothers I know are supposed to love their children equally but I loved my little daughter with a single-mindedness which I believed I could never feel towards any other child I might have. Perhaps it was because her father showed less interest in her than he did in the boy. Perhaps she seemed more vulnerable than Connell ever had. He had appeared to be born with that self-confidence which he had inherited from his father. We called her Tamsyn, the feminine form of Thomas, the name of Colum's father, and I added Catherine to that for my mother.

Through the rest of the winter, the spring and the summer I felt cut off from the outside world, so completely absorbed was I in my nursery.

Jennet adored the baby and she and I became more friendly than we had ever been and I was glad my mother had sent her to me.

In the August of that year my mother came to stay with us. She was eager to see the children. Tamsyn was now nearly eight months old and showing a decided character of her own. She was going to be a spirited girl. She had lost that air of helplessness which she had had as a little baby and was beginning to show a lively interest in everything around her.

My mother's news was a little disturbing. My father with Fennimore and his father, Carlos and Jacko had all returned safely from the expedition to the East Indies. They had brought back rich goods and had started to trade with that part of the world. Alas, the journey had been a hazardous one and not all the s.h.i.+ps which had set out had returned. They had mustered a fleet of fifteen vessels. Some had foundered and gone down with all hands; two had been captured by pirates; three had been engaged in an action against foreign s.h.i.+ps the ident.i.ty of which was unknown but clearly they had been some sort of traders. Out of the fifteen only eight had come into harbour, but they had been richly laden with spices, ivory and gold. Therefore the venture could be said to have been profitable.

"I thank G.o.d that our men returned safely," said my mother, "but I pray for those poor souls who have not been so fortunate."

I nodded and the memory of the San Pedro smashed on the rocks came back to me.

"I sometimes wish," I said, "that my father and the rest were not seafaring folk. How much better if they pursued a profession ash.o.r.e."

"You are fortunate," replied my mother, "in that Colum is occupied with his lands. I am glad for you, Linnet, that he does not make these long and hazardous journeyings."

I nodded, and I thought of Colum who left mysteriously now and then and did not tell me where he had been.

My mother stayed until the end of September. I missed her very much after she had gone and a certain restlessness came over me. It was in this mood that the certainty that a great deal went on in Castle Paling of which I was ignorant persisted.

It was October. The evenings were fast drawing in and there was more than a touch of autumn in the air. Soon, I thought, the gales will be with us and my thoughts again went to the San Pedro which I had never quite been able to get out of my mind.

I found myself in the courtyard facing Ysella where I had discovered the amulet, and as I approached the iron-studded door I was aware of something different about it.

Then I realized what it was. The door moved. It was swinging ajar on its hinges.

The impulse was irresistible. I pushed it open and went in.

The first thing that struck me was the smell. It was strange and yet familiar. The place was close of course-little air came in. Then I realized what it was. It was the odour of sea water, seaweed, and a sort of musty dampness.

The door opened on to the hall which was very similar to that of the other towers. It was dark not only because little light came in but because this hall was full of articles. There were great boxes and piled objects of all kinds strewn about the floor. My foot touched something which made me cry out. I thought it was a man lying there trussed up. It was a bale of cloth. I bent over it. The sea smell was strong. It was slightly damp.

I made my way across the hall, stepping carefully round the objects which littered the floor. There were goods of all descriptions. What on earth could it mean? I could not understand it. How long had these things been here and whence had they come?

I went up the stairs. Along the gallery everywhere was permeated by this damp sea smell.

I pushed open a door and went in. I saw a wooden case. I went over it and looked inside. Some trinkets lay in it. They looked like gold and silver. I lifted one. It was a long gold chain. The workmans.h.i.+p reminded me of the chain Colum had given me with the ruby-studded locket.

As I stood there I heard a noise. I felt the hair on my head rise a little. I remembered suddenly that I was in Ysella's tower, the haunted tower, the tower where Ysella had lived all those years ago in secret.

Almost immediately I overcame my fear. Someone was in the hall below. The door had been opened. Someone must have come in to get something.

I started along the gallery and reached the staircase. There was no one in the hall. Hastily I descended the stairs. A sudden feeling of panic had come over me. It was because the hall seemed darker than it had when I had entered. I saw why. The great iron-studded door which had been open and which I had left open was closed.

I hurried to it. I could not open it. Then I realized that it was locked.

I pulled at the enormous handle, but of course it would not move. The answer was simple. Someone had come in here, had either been in here when I entered and not seen me, or gone out for a while leaving the door unlocked and then returned, and locked the door.

Whatever had happened the fact remained. I was locked in Ysella's tower.

I banged on the door with my fists. Whoever had locked the door could not be far away. But I realized quickly that this could do little but bruise my hands. I shouted, but my voice could not penetrate those thick walls.

I was faced with the alarming fact that I was locked in Ysella's Tower.

What could I do? Was there possibly some other outlet? I must not panic. I must explore. There might well be another door. I knew the layout of the tower because it was similar to the others. I wished I could escape that horrible musty odour which seemed to grow stronger every minute. I found my way into what in Ysella's day must have been the kitchens. There were the great oven, the fireplace and the roasting spits. There were a few cauldrons. They were filled with objects. There were some coins in one. I looked at them; they were not English coins. In another pot there was some more jewellery.

I thought then: When Colum wishes to give a gift to his wife he comes down here and selects it.

There was a door in a small pa.s.sage close to the kitchens. I tried it; it was securely locked. There was no way out there.

I made my way back to the hall. The horrible realization came to me that it would soon be dark but I consoled myself that I should be missed and they would come in search of me. But would they think of looking in Ysella's Tower?

I came into the hall, tried the door again, banged my fists against the stubborn wood, and called at the top of my voice. Then I made my way up the stairs again. Perhaps I could find my way to the ramparts. If I could and made some sign up there it might be possible that someone would see it.

The spiral staircases were like those in the other towers-the stairs narrow at one end and wide at the other, demanding care in mounting and descending and there was a rope banister to help one up or down. They wound round and round so that I had the sudden fear that as I turned a bend I might come face to face with some terrifying sight.

The tower was haunted it was said, haunted by Nonna's ghost, because Nonna had discovered Ysella here and soon afterwards she had died.

She should not have been so curious, Colum had said lightly. And if I had not been so curious I would not now be in this predicament.

I looked into several of the rooms with their long narrow windows cut out of the thick walls. It was chilly and the odour was even up here.

The door on to the ramparts was not locked, I was delighted to see. I pushed it open and was in the fresh air. For a few seconds I could think of nothing but taking in great gulps of it. I looked through the battlements. There was the Seaward Tower looming up before me. I leaned over and looked down. I s.h.i.+vered. Far below was the courtyard where I had found the amulet. I knew now that the amulet, had it not been dropped in the courtyard, would doubtless now be in the wooden box or in one of the cauldrons with the other trinkets.

I looked up at the sky. Clouds were being hustled across it by a tetchy wind. I called out: "I'm here. In Ysella's Tower. Somebody come and get me out."

My voice was lost in the wind. There was in any case no one down there.

I took off my petticoat and waved it between the battlements. I was hoping someone would see it. There was no response.

I called again. Who could possibly hear? Gulls were circling overhead. They were coming inland which was said to mean that the wind was rising and there could be a storm at sea. They made their melancholy cries as they circled overhead.

What am I going to do? I thought. They'll miss me. But will they think of looking in Ysella's Tower?

I shouted again. I waved my petticoat. I was beginning to get a little frightened because it was growing dark rapidly and I had an uneasy feeling that no one was coming back into Ysella's Tower and that no one could see me from the ramparts.