They went down.
It tasted like chicken, or maybe wildfowl. It was good. It went well with the eggs.
Owen and Heather talked about TV shows and movies and music to distract themselves.
Heather didn’t say anything more about Tom. Owen already knew.
They talked and ate and drank. Owen told them everything about all the videos on the Primitive Technology channel on YouTube. Heather talked about how low the tide was at the shearwater nests, and Owen explained that it was probably because of the new moon. Olivia and Owen talked about his astronomy worksheet. Everything seemed so much clearer now. Owen recited the planets and got them right this time. They did all they could not to talk about Tom.
Later, Heather sang them all the songs on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
They were tired and they settled down to sleep next to one another by the fire.
Heather picked up the rifle and slid on the safety and slept with one hand on the stock.
“That was weird, looking in the mirror yesterday,” Olivia said. “I’d forgotten what I looked like.”
“You know,” Heather said, “when you look really closely, all mirrors look like eyeballs.”
Olivia thought about that one and smiled.
“Guys, I’m going to try to get some sleep, all right?” Heather said.
Olivia nodded and lay there and thought about the moon.
She closed her eyes.
She began to drift into sleep.
Zodiac, moon, mother.
She sat bolt upright.
“Owen! Your homework. The new moon and the full moon. Isn’t that when the lowest of the low tides are?” Olivia asked.
“Yeah. I think that’s right. The spring tide. Twice a month…” Owen’s face lit up. He saw what Olivia was driving at. He shook Heather.
“What is it? Is everything OK?” she asked.
“We know a way to get out of here,” Owen said.
45
Back up in the backcountry. In the shadow of Slemish.
Aye, take it back. Somewhere in those high hills, the monster.
Escape it. Escape the poverty and the rain. Go with your ticket on the big boat. Make a new life in another land across the sea. Good luck, love, they said. Good luck, love, and that was it.
This new land. This empty land. This land of luck.
The monster following after.
I don’t need this at my age. It finds you. From under the shadow of the black mountain, it comes.
I know all about her. I know the meaning of her. Morrigan the crow knows her too.
These good-for-nothing layabouts. I didn’t get sick. Water? I wouldn’t touch the stuff. These eejits. These larrikins. Me with my bad legs. I could do a better job. She will destroy everything I’ve built if I don’t fix this.
“Matty! Matty, get up here! I have a plan. Matthew, where are you? Get up here!”
Him the only one not soiled by the blood.
“What is it, Ma?”
“Get up here! Your plan didn’t work, but I have a plan to catch the bitch.”
“What plan?” Matt said, opening the door.
“Go to the dresser. Give me that grog. My knees. My bloody knees. Who is she? How did she wreak all this havoc, Matthew?”
“I don’t know, Ma. Tom said she was his massage therapist before he married her.”
“She’s not one of these university types?”
“No, Ma.”
“Then what? What does she have? She looks like a stiff breeze would knock her over.”
“Yes. I sort of thought the same thing.”
“Is she lucky or is she smart?”
“I don’t know.”
Ma swallowed her grog with satisfaction. It was the good stuff. Well over twenty years old, but smooth. And the seaweed under the still reminded her of Bushmills. “Sit next to me on the bed, that’s it. Drink?”
“I’m OK, Ma.”
“I sometimes wonder if we’re made of shit or if we’re made of light—what do you think, Matthew?”
“Um, I don’t know, Ma.”
“You don’t know. You don’t know much, do you, Matty? But I know. I know more than you think. I know you and Terry and Kate talked about setting up some kind of tourist hotel here, Matthew.”
“An eco-lodge, Ma. Terry’s idea. It’s all the rage these days. It would have worked. We could have brought a lot of money in. Rebranded. Secured our future. The trust fund’s running out. We need to think about things like that.”
“I know that! But you know why I didn’t think that was a good idea? You know why I don’t like strangers coming to the island?”