Cave of Secrets Read Free Page A

wear!’
    ‘Not here, they don’t. It would get in the way.’
    ‘In the way of what?’
    Donal narrowed his eyes. ‘You ask too many questions.’
    ‘I don’t ask as many as you,’ Tom snapped.
    The two boys glared at each other. For a moment they were close to blows. Then the moment passed, and they laughed instead.
    Donal released Tom’s arm. ‘You made enough noise coming down that cliff for a whole company of soldiers,’ he said in a friendlier tone. ‘What was chasing you? Wolves?’
    Tom resisted the urge to rub his arm. ‘Something worse,’ he replied ruefully. ‘I was running from my father. He said he would kill me.’
    Donal grinned, revealing a missing tooth. ‘Not a day passes but my father threatens to roast me over a slow fire. He doesn’t mean it.’
    ‘Mine does,’ said Tom. ‘He hates me.’
    ‘You must have got it wrong. Men value their sons above everything. My father and I are as close as the fingers on your hand. He is An Rí – the king,’ Donal added proudly, translating to be sure the other boy understood.
    ‘Now you have it wrong. Charles Stuart is the king.’
    ‘Phah!’ Donal said. ‘He’s only the king of the Sasanach . My father, Muiris, is a chieftain. A real king.’
    Tom was not sure what Donal meant. The education ofWilliam Flynn’s children did not include the Irish culture. ‘You know where I live,’ he said to Donal, ‘so tell me where you live.’
    Donal turned and pointed in the dusk. ‘My people live a short distance down the coast, you can’t see the place from here. They were fishermen for generations.’
    ‘What do you mean, “were”? Don’t they fish now?’
    The other boy hesitated. ‘We still make our living from the sea,’ he said.
    ‘Do you have a large family?’
    ‘There was a large family. Now there’s only Maura and me.’ Donal’s merry face had turned to stone. His eyes warned Tom not to ask more questions.
    But curiosity was too strong. ‘What happened to them? Were they taken ill?’
    Donal stared bleakly into space. ‘Before I was born, my parents had three other boys and another girl. They died of fever. People say it comes on the ships sometimes.’
    Tom wished he could take back his words. He fumbled for something to say which would not cause pain to the other boy. ‘I don’t have any brothers either,’ he offered.
    Donal’s expression softened. ‘Maura’s almost as good as a brother, even if she is a girl. She’s only little but she’s as cute as a pet fox.’
    ‘She doesn’t sound much like my sisters. I have three without a thought in their heads. As useless as a platter ofair, the lot of them.’
    ‘How do you know? Do you ever talk to them?’
    Tom looked startled. ‘Talk? To girls?’
    ‘Maura and I talk all the time.’
    ‘How old is she?’
    ‘Younger than me. Four summers.’
    ‘How old are you, Donal?’
    ‘Almost eleven summers. And yourself?’
    ‘A bit older than that,’ Tom replied, embarrassed to admit his exact age to the smaller but stronger boy.
    From the corner of his eye Donal glimpsed a flash of light in the bay. He stiffened in concentration. The light flashed again. Twice. ‘You can’t stay here, Tom Flynn,’ he said briskly. ‘You have to go back where you came from.’
    ‘I can’t! I mean … I can’t climb that cliff.’
    ‘Is that all? There are easier ways. Follow me; you’ll be home before hounds can scratch fleas.’ Seizing Tom’s arm again, Donal ran up the beach.
    The wind howled over Roaringwater Bay.

CHAPTER THREE

In the Mist
    T om was crawling into bed when he heard footsteps in the passage outside his door. He pulled the bedclothes over his head and lay still.
    While he was with Donal some of the other boy’s confidence had rubbed off on him. For a brief time he could imagine that he too was part of a close family, and had a father who would be glad to see him again. That confidence was gone now.
    A woman carrying a candle in a pewter candlestick entered