Helen nervously fiddled with the hem of her blouse. She sniffed loudly. ‘Upstairs in her room. I haven’t spoken to her; I thought it was best to wait.’
Father Ryan touched his face. ‘Sensible. You’ve done the right thing. These situations have to be dealt with sensitively. Now, I don’t suppose you could make me a cup of tea, could you? And Helen, not too much milk.’
Helen dutifully jumped into action, getting up from the floor and momentarily putting her anguish to one side. She wiped away her tears. ‘Of course, Father; forgive me. I’ll make you one straight away.’
Father Ryan gave a tight smile, wiping the palm of his hand on his black cassock as he looked at the O’Flanagans. He was pleased they’d come to him instead of calling the doctor or the Gardaí. It made things easier. He was in charge of the parish, responsible for the emotional and spiritual wellbeing of his flock, as well as for saving their souls from sin and temptation. Therefore it was up to him to decide what was going to happen.
‘Right, I’ll go and talk to her. I’d appreciate it if I wasn’t disturbed.’
Helen looked concerned. Her eyes darted from Father Ryan to her husband. Her apprehension at questioning the priest was apparent. ‘Er … don’t … don’t you think it would be best if I came in? Perhaps she’d find it easier to talk if I was there.’
Annoyed at being doubted, Father Ryan scowled momentarily, but his face softened along with his voice. ‘Nonsense, Helen. Mary will speak to me and if she needs to confess anything, she’ll do it without your presence. I can’t see how it will help you fussing around her. Now, I’d really like my tea before I go up. I really am parched.’
Turning briskly, Father Ryan walked out of the parlour and found his way up the wooden stairs.
Tommy Doyle stretched awake, feeling a bolt of pain shoot through his back. He groaned audibly, remembering where he was and why he was there. He hadn’t meant to sleep but he must have dozed off in the early hours and now, although the rain was still beating down, bringing gloom to the skies, he could tell by the light that it was late morning.
Tommy stood up shivering, feeling the damp of his clothes chilling his flesh. Looking around the shed, he knew he needed to get out of where he was. Perhaps make his way across to Castlecove. He had friends there and it’d be easier to get to the mainland if he had a place to hide out for a while.
Reaching into his pocket for his packet of tobacco, Tommy frowned, hearing something. It was the sound of dogs barking. And the more he listened, the more he realised they were coming nearer. Soon they’d be here.
Grabbing his coat, Tommy dashed out of the shed. He ran, slipping on the wet grass as he went. The dogs were getting closer. The only way out was to go down by Lincoln’s farm and along by the river.
Beginning to run across the open field, he heard his name being called.
‘Tommy Doyle, stay where you are!’
There was no way he was going to stop. Picking up his pace, Tommy headed for the far side of the field.
‘Tommy Doyle!’
He raced across the field, trying to keep his balance on the slippery earth. Out of breath, he got to the fence and began to climb, but only a moment later an agonising pain struck him, sending shooting pains through his body. He fell back to the ground with the growling of the dogs tearing into his leg being drowned out by his screams.
‘Get them off me! For feck’s sake get them off me!’
As blood poured from his torn flesh, Tommy heard the sound of men running towards him and giving orders to the dogs to let go. But the absence of the dogs’ teeth ripping into him didn’t free Tommy of the excruciating pain. He held onto his leg, rolling round in the mud crying out. His voice weak and barely audible. ‘Help me! … Help.’
‘There’s no help where you’ll be going, Doyle.’
The men began hauling him up off the ground just as Tommy Doyle blacked out.
Father Ryan stood in the middle of Mary O’Flanagan’s room with a cold cup of tea in his hand. It’d never been hot. It was brought up lukewarm and now there wasn’t even a chance of taking a sip as the thick layer of skin from the milk floated unappetisingly on the surface.
It crossed Father Ryan’s mind that Helen’s housekeeping skills were just as dire as her tea-making and her cooking; perhaps after all this business had been sorted out, it would be time to give the woman her marching orders. He’d only ever hired her as a gesture of goodwill, but that had certainly gone on for far too long.
A big snivel brought Father Ryan back to the present. He looked at Mary who was sitting on the bed shaking, eyes red and swollen from crying.
‘Now then, Mary, I want to know everything. Everything you can tell me. Everything you can remember.’
Mary huddled further down under her overly starched bed sheets, unable to look directly at the priest. Ashamed. Hurt and confused, she curled up in the foetal position, inconsolable and wanting to speak to her mother, wondering why she hadn’t come up.
The cold air from the covers being turned back gave Mary a fright, prompting her to sit up. Suddenly aware that the lower part of her body had been exposed by her nightdress riding up, she quickly tugged down the flannelette garment over her knees.
Hugging herself, she stared at Father Ryan, uncomfortable with his hostile gaze and speech.
‘What sinful acts have you been party to, Mary O’Flanagan?’
Terrified, Mary edged back into the hard metal bed frame as Father Ryan sat down next to her.
‘None, Father.’
‘I’ll ask you again. What sins of the flesh have you partaken in?’
‘None. I swear. On the holy bible, I swear.’
‘Then you need to tell me what happened, otherwise I have no alternative but to think you played some part in this.’
Mary paused and gazed down at her hands. She could see the mud from the woods still under her fingernails, and under her middle fingernail was a slight trace of dried blood.
‘Well?’ Father Ryan’s voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked at his face and saw no kindness.
‘I can’t remember, Father.’
‘Rubbish. Have you forgotten that I am a servant of God, and, that being so, your lies are direct lies to our good Lord?’
Mary buried her head in her hands as tears dripped through her fingers. ‘I swear I can’t remember … please, please can you get my ma?’
‘Your mother wisely wants me to sort this out before she talks to you. She’s worried that perhaps in some way you … how shall I put this, Mary? … You invited this.’
Mary shook her head furiously. ‘No! No! It wasn’t like that.’
‘Then, if it wasn’t, tell me what it was like; otherwise, as I said before, I can only assume the worst.’
With no choice and taking a deep breath, Mary tried to overcome her shame. ‘I was in the woods.’
Father Ryan looked shocked. ‘The woods!’
‘Yes, I was with Patrick, but he saw someone. Patrick told me to stay where I was but I got frightened and followed him. And then, when I was waiting there, I …’
‘Go on.’
‘I got up, thinking I should go back because I couldn’t see Patrick