Page 61 of Heart of the Wren
The lights in the house flickered back on. Two Wrenboys climbed slowly through the gaping window frame, stepping onto the kitchen counter. “Knock at the knocker and ring at the bell.”
The living haystack followed them in and dragged his staff across the counter, knocking mugs and plates to the floor where they shattered into a thousand pieces. His hands were larger than a child’s, and muddy, as if he’d dug his way out of the earth.
My own hand remained firmly stuck. “Everyone, get back! Get upstairs!” I grabbed my wrist and tugged, to no avail.
Carol remained by my side, poker in hand.
The Wrenboys climbed over the kitchen table, knocking the candles over and snuffing them out. “Give us a copper for singing so well?”
“I’ll give yis a battering!” She swung the poker. It passed through the closest Wrenboy as if he were smoke, causing her to stumble. Still, the Wrenboy grabbed the poker and pulled it from her grasp. It flew across the kitchen floor and smashed into a press, splintering the door. She rummaged in her pocket, withdrawing the black stone I’d given her. She flung it at the Wrenboy who caught it in his hand and simply dropped it.
“Get out, go!” I shouted at her while casting protective sigils in the air with my free hand and cursing myself for not retrieving the unbroken potion bottles from the ground outside.
While the Wrenboys opened every press door and pulled out thedishes and drinking glasses within, Carol retreated to the hallway to join Bullseye, Eddie and Lorcan.
Lorcan grabbed his hurley from behind the coats and held it up, ready to swing.
I lay myself flat against the kitchen door and whispered a silent prayer to my gods and goddesses as the first Wrenboy approached. And walked straight past me. As did the next, and then Mairead, with her shock of white hair and staring eyes.
My back started to sweat as I tried to make sense of it all. I’d encountered a good many supernatural beings, and I’d spoken to deities face to face, but I’d never experienced anything so physical. Touching the supernatural was akin to holding a dream in your mind. It slid, and it slipped, and it changed on a whim. It took focus and concentration to connect with it. But there on that sheep farm in the depths of County Kerry, the supernatural wore masks, and shorts, and a dress, and marched through my lover’s house. I’d told Lorcan how magic looked like a cartoon cel over the real word but these Wrenboys were as real as anything else around me.
Lorcan swung his hurley but it passed harmlessly through the haystack. One of the Wrenboys swiped his cudgel at Carol but Eddie intercepted it and was flung into the living room where he landed awkwardly on the floor. Bullseye attacked the Wrenboy but with a single strike of the cudgel he too went hurtling into the living room, as though he’d been struck by a speeding car. The living room door flung closed of its own accord. Bullseye banged and shouted, the door handle rattled, but like the kitchen door, it held tight.
Lorcan positioned himself in front of Carol, fists clenched.
The Wrenboys continued their song. “For we are the boys that came your way.”
My face dropped. “No…”
The haystack Wrenboy raised his arms, obscuring my view. “To bury the wren on St Stephen’s Day.”
With the final line came a blow from one of the Wrenboy’s cudgels. Lorcan crumpled to the tiled floor of the hallway. The front door opened of its own accord and Carol was thrown out through it. The door slammed shut behind her. The haystack took Lorcan by the ankle and dragged him back through the hallway, towards me.
I shouted, pleaded, and roared at the top of my lungs for Lorcan to wake up, for the Wrenboys to stop, for the spirits of earth and air to intervene. But the Wrenboys marched on, drums banging and tin whistles blaring. Mairead followed last, dancing and jigging all the while. And all of them totally ignored me. As they passed back into the kitchen, I grabbed Lorcan’s clothes but the Wrenboys marched on and broke my grip.
Across the kitchen floor with its mosaic of broken dishes, they dragged poor Lorcan. Out through the back door out into the snow covered yard, free of footprints, but where Lorcan’s body left a wide track.
I could only watch, unable to think clearly. The music. The Wrenboys’s tune muddled my thoughts. My hand still firmly fused to the door handle, I put a finger in one ear and jammed the other to my shoulder. I shut my eyes and hummed, trying to block out the sound. I hummed, and my humming became a whistle, the whistling became Brian Boru’s March, oneof the very oldest Irish melodies. I whistled, and my whistling became a spell, a spell to free my hand. And my hand wrenched free.
Carol forced open the front door and tried to get into the living room. She shrieked and kicked at it but the door refused to budge.
“We have to help Lorcan!” I ran across the kitchen to the back door, only for it to slam violently in my face. I lurched back.
In a flash, Carol was up on the counter and out through the empty window frame. I followed as quickly as I could.
Chapter 36
DARA
UP IN the top field, all of the Wrenboys had gathered in a ring around the holly tree. Each played their instrument, banging out the tune which sought to befuddle the mind. I covered my ears then cast a small charm to protect myself and Carol from their enchantment. The clouds, so heavy with snow all day, had gone, leaving the sky clear and washed with stars.
In front of the holly tree, Lorcan regained consciousness and fought to free himself from the grip of the walking haystack. He rolled over, onto his knees, but the haystack gripped his shoulder, causing him to cry out.
I carefully approached the ring of Wrenboys. Their drums and whistles grew louder and louder, the intensity of their playing matching the thumping of my heartbeat until I threw my arms in the air and cried: “Enough!”
The silence crashed around us. Lorcan, on his knees, me with my arms raised, and Carol clutching the poker, all held our breath.
Mairead stepped forward from the circle and walked right up to Lorcan. Holding out her hand to him, Lorcan flinched.
