Part 33 (1/2)

'The crag?' said Tess.

But no one heard her. Uncle Maurice had given his permission, and the children were cheering and racing off to get their boots. Tess followed them into the hall.

'Did you say the crag?' she asked.

Orla nodded.

'You mean the land up there?' Tess pointed in the direction of the mountain, though all that could be seen was the wall of the kitchen.

'Yes,' said Brian. 'We're going to play around up there while they walk the boundaries.'

'But,' said Tess. 'Wait a minute. You mean that's the land that your dad was talking about?'

Orla nodded, a little sadly. 'Want to come?' she asked.

Tess didn't answer the question. She was still finding it difficult to believe what she was hearing. 'You're telling me your dad owns that wild land up there under the mountain. And he's selling it?'

Brian nodded. 'There's no point in trying to make him change his mind,' he said. 'He hates the place. He's been trying to sell it since he inherited the farm. He says he'll take us all on holiday with the money.'

Tess thought back to her experiences of the place. Despite her fear of it, the thought of those wild and beautiful woods being bulldozed and turned into a holiday village filled her with horror.

'But all the wild creatures who live there ...' she began, then stopped, remembering the rats and the promises that Kevin had made to them about their new home. Her cousins were staring at her, waiting for her to finish. When she said no more, Brian said, 'Come with us, Tess. Please.'

Tess climbed into the back of the pick-up with the others, and they set out along the much longer road route to the crag. Behind them the developer and the surveyor followed in their smart, black car. From the mood of her cousins, Tess couldn't be sure whether it was a tragic occasion or a joyful one. It seemed to be both; their excitement at going to the crag counterbalancing their sorrow at having to part with it. Orla was still wheezing slightly but her cheeks, for a change, had a bit of colour. Little Colm spent the whole journey jumping around. Occasionally his red wellies missed their aim on the metal floor and landed on someone's toe, but no amount of complaining could persuade him to sit down.

Tess craned her neck and looked out through the front windscreen, hoping to catch a glimpse of Kevin, but there was no sign of him. She tried to imagine how he must be feeling; how full of anger and bitterness, and she wished that she had decided to go and look for him instead of coming on this family outing. Apart from the irritation of her cousins' manic mood, she was wasting precious Switching time. Like a dark cloak her worries began to close in again and she concentrated on the road ahead.

They were just turning down the stony track that led from the back road to the land around the crag. Behind them the developer followed a bit more slowly, mindful of his suspension. On either side of the track tall hedges of hazel grew up, obscuring the view of the surrounding wilderness and creating a closed-in, tunnel-like effect. The b.u.mpy ride meant that Colm's balance went haywire, but he still couldn't be persuaded to sit still and he ended up pitching wildly from one lap to the next. By the time they finally came to a halt, Tess was suffering from a combination of cabin fever, claustrophobia and bruising. She couldn't wait to get out.

But after the noisy ride, the atmosphere of the crag was uncannily silent. It was a silence that seemed to demand respect, and there was no one in the party who was not sensitive enough to become quiet in response. It was almost as though someone or something was present in their midst, and it made Tess uncomfortable. She looked around at the other members of the party. Her cousins looked thrilled, their eyes bright with excitement. The businessmen looked bewildered, as though they had expected something entirely different. But it was Uncle Maurice's reaction that made a s.h.i.+ver run down Tess's spine. He was standing beside the pick-up, still holding on to the handle of the door as though he wanted to be ready to get back into it in a hurry. The apprehension on his face was almost painful until he noticed Tess looking at him and, with a visible effort, he disguised it.

What was he doing? Did he know about the strange things in the woods as well? If he did, how could he allow his children to come there, and how could he sell the place?

'Right so,' he said, briskly. 'Where do you want to start?'

While the surveyor sorted out his maps and got his bearings, Orla led her brothers off across the rocks.

'Not too far, now, you hear?' said their father.

'OK,' said Orla. 'Come on, Tess.'

Reluctantly, Tess followed.

The place where the track ended and the cars were parked was to the far left of the crag. The mountain rose away less steeply there and the woods were just beginning like the point of a triangle. Orla led the way across the rocks, keeping the crag and the deepening woods to her left. Tess was relieved about that. Although her cousins clearly knew the place better than she did, she couldn't help feeling responsible for them since she was the eldest.

They hadn't gone far when Tess spotted the raven. It was circling above the adults, as though it was checking out what they were doing there, and as she watched, it changed tack and drifted above her, turning its head to look down with its sharp black eye. She looked away only to find, to her amazement, that all three of her cousins were waving cheerfully at the menacing bird.

'What are you doing?' she asked. 'Are you mad?'

But Brian winked, and Orla put her finger to her lips and said, 'Shh.'

To their right, Uncle Maurice and the businessmen were following the boundary wall, which led them away from the children at a wide angle. Still Orla continued along the bare rocks beside the woods. By the time she came to a stop, her father and his companions were three hundred yards away across open country.

Orla changed direction and walked towards the woods. Tess and the others followed. At the ragged tree-line they stopped and looked into the green shadows. Tess felt the familiar ambivalence; the magical attraction overshadowed by fear. Bird wings fluttered loudly among the branches. Orla turned to her and smiled delightedly. If she felt even the slightest anxiety she did not show it, and nor did her brothers. Once again, Tess found herself wondering if her experiences of the place owed more to an overactive imagination than to reality.

Colm led the way in among the trees and Orla and Brian followed. Tess was about to take her first step when she saw, or thought she saw, a vague figure standing in the shadows.

'Wait!' she hissed. The others stopped. She could just make out, far away within the dappled green interior, a figure just that bit too tall to be human. His face was turned towards the newcomers, but he seemed to be made not of flesh but of shadow and light. Tess strained her eyes, trying to get a better view. Was it a trick of the leaf-filtered sunlight, or was there a pair of antlers growing from the figure's head? As she watched he lifted a translucent hand and beckoned.

A cry pressed at Tess's throat but she held it back.

'There! Do you see?' she said to the others. But to her horror they were already moving, running with surprising agility over the mossy rocks and among the trees, straight towards the terrifying figure.

'Stop!' she shouted. 'Wait! Don't you see him?'

Briefly, Orla halted and turned back. 'Of course we do!' she called. 'Come on!'

Above their heads a brilliant light suddenly shone out from the level of the deer-man's eyes, blinding Tess so that she lost her bearings and had to hold on to a tree. The sensation was so disorientating that she wondered whether it was really happening or whether she was suffering from some sort of seizure; a migraine perhaps, or an epileptic fit. By the time her vision cleared, all she could see were branches and occasional flashes of bright, dazzling sunlight between them. There was no figure among the trees. There were no children, either. The woods appeared to be empty.

'Orla?' she called. 'Orla? Brian?'

There was no answer. Abruptly Tess's nerve failed. She turned and, despite the rough going, ran. Uncle Maurice saw her coming and met her halfway across the intervening s.p.a.ce. Panting hard, he grabbed her arm so tight that it hurt.

'What is it? What happened?' he said.

'They're gone. They disappeared,' said Tess.

'What do you mean, disappeared?' said her uncle. 'Where?'

'Under the trees,' said Tess. 'I got dazzled. I ...'

She stopped, aware that her uncle's attention had s.h.i.+fted. He was looking towards the woods, and Tess followed the direction of his gaze. To her amazement and relief, Kevin was standing on the limestone slabs at the edge of the trees. It made sense of everything. The strange figure in the shadows must have been him all along, and the antlers just a trick of the light.

Tess was about to call out to him when she remembered that she wasn't supposed to know him. Then she noticed that there was something odd about the way he was behaving. He was waving over at them, a strange little grin on his face, as though he was sneering. As they watched, the businessmen caught up with them, so there were four witnesses to what happened next. In a gesture whose meaning was unmistakable, Kevin snubbed his nose at them and vanished among the trees.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

THEY SEARCHED FOR HOURS. Tess stayed close to Uncle Maurice, whom she felt safe with despite his foul temper. The businessmen made up a second party to scour the woods. Backwards and forwards they went, lengthwise and crosswise and every possible way in between, until the place became as familiar to Tess as her own back garden. But there was nothing to be seen or heard. No children, no wolfhounds, nothing. Even the wild creatures and the birds stayed silent, so that it seemed that there could be nowhere on earth more tranquil or more innocent.

By the time they gave up, Uncle Maurice was hoa.r.s.e from shouting and from describing what he would do to Kevin if he got his hands on him. Tess's heart was in her boots as she dragged after him and into the pick-up to drive home.

When they broke the news to Aunt Deirdre she lowered herself into a chair.