The Faithful Heart (12 page)

“What do you mean, you can’t dock anywhere?” Morgana demanded.

 

 

“We’ve been accused of not paying duty on the goods we trade. Some
of the ships were confiscated in Galway and down in the south at
Waterford and Cork.”

 

 

“Didn’t you try the other ports, Youghal, Kinsale, Baltimore?”
Morgana asked in exasperation.

 

 

“The word has been put out to deny our ships entry until all the
taxes are paid for every single port,” Seamus revealed.

 

 

“How much are these taxes?”

 

 

“About two thousand pounds in all.”

 

 

Morgana gasped. “That’s absurd! We trade wool, fleeces and fish,
with some hides and fur! For those items we trade for wine, salt,
iron and alum for the tanning trade, and some metal ware and dyes
for cloth. Our cargoes are not luxury goods except for a tiny bit of
silk and spices from Pisa. How on earth could they charge us so much
duty on those goods?”

 

 

He shook his head. “I don’t know. All I know is they won’t let us in
until it is paid. As for the other problem, the O’Donnells seem to
think we've done something dreadful to them, which is why we aren’t
allowed into the town. And to make it worse, some of our men have
even been involved in skirmishes whilst out hunting and foraging for
food, though I've tried to keep the peace as best I can,” Seamus
explained.

 

 

She looked at him sharply. “You haven’t been doing your ‘foraging’
on their lands, by any chance, have you?” Morgana demanded.

 

 

Seamus put his hand on his heart. “No, Morgana, I swear, we’ve kept
to our side of the ford. I was hoping the matter would blow over,
but things have just gone from bad to worse.”

 

 

“Haven’t you tried to put the ships in at any of the Scottish ports
to get them repaired?”

 

 

He looked at her grimly. “Whatever is going on, O’Donnell is so
angry with us, he’s formed a blockade of our ships at Assaroe. We
can’t get in or out, though the MacMahon ships are allowed to come
and go as they please.”

 

 

“But they hardly have any ships, about five at the most.”

 

 

“They’ve increased their fleet. They have at least fifteen now.”

 

 

Morgana frowned darkly at this news, and asked quietly, “Any chance
they're ours?”

 

 

Seamus shrugged. “I don’t know the fleet as well as you do, I was in
the overseas trade with the southern ports for a long time. But yes,
I would say so. We both know how it is easy to make ship appear
different, especially with a bit of paint and new sails and pennants
and so on.”

 

 

She ground her teeth in frustration. “Well, I haven’t got time to go
to Assaroe or Kesh to find out now if they were ours, and I have
even less chance of trying to get them back at this point, so
there's no use in lamenting spilled milk. I need to trade the goods
that I've brought with me this morning. So I want you to prepare
three of the best ships, provision them, and load this cargo on
board each one. Head for Sligo, Galway, and Cork with them.”

 

 

“But the taxes!” Seamus protested.

 

 

“I’ll get you the money to pay all the taxes," she said firmly. "You
just get the ships ready, and be prepared to put in at every port in
Ireland to pay off the officials. Make sure you have the sum paid
put down in writing by the port official as well, with a proper seal
on the receipt as well, so that there are no further problems
regarding this matter.”

 

 

“But even if you get the money, we can’t get past Assaroe!” Seamus
emphasised.

 

 

“I'm going to request an audience from O’Donnell. I need to speak
with him regardless. It's damned low water with the whole clan at
the moment, as well you know. We need his help, and I think I can
get it if I'm cautious. We know each other of old, so I think he
will be willing to explain to me what imagined offence we have
committed. Then we will wait and see.”

 

 

"Aye, Morgana, that's all we can do, prepare for the best and hope
for the worst. Though I certainly hope it isn't going to get any
worse that it has been."

 

 

She stood up and clapped the older man on the shoulder."Not if I can
help it. But I won't lie. It won't be easy and it will have to be
all hands to the pumps. If you have a doubt as to anyone's loyalty
or commitment to our cause, let me know now—"

 

 

His bushy brows knitted. "If you're asking me if I've been loyal—"

 

 

"No, of course not!"

 

 

"Because our ships have not been neglected ifI could get the
supplies—"

 

 

She gripped his arm and shook him slightly.   "Seamus, pray
calm yourself. It's no one's fault except those who have been
conspiring against us. And little point in arguing over the past,
when we need to look to the future. All right?"

 

 

He nodded, satisfied, and led the way out onto the deck.

 

 

The ships’ crews began to unload the carts, and Morgana took a
burlap sack and loaded several of the more valuable items into it,
and slung it over her shoulder.

 

 

“I’ll be back soon. Stand the carts by the ford, and wait for me
there,” she instructed before mounting her horse.

 

 

 

CHAPTER EIGHT

 

 

Morgana tied the treasure sack around the pommel of her saddle, and
rode up to the wooden gate of the town on her desperate errand to
help save what was left of her once mighty fleet. She found herself
wishing that Ruairc was with her. He was so good at discerning
people's underlying motives. She had no idea what reception she was
going to get from the the man she was about to see. She only prayed
that it would not be a trip to his dungeon.

 

 

Once she arrived at Belleek, she said to the guardsman on duty, “I
am Morgana Maguire, come to see Ronan O’Donnell on urgent business.”

 

 

With some grumbling by the guards about the early hour, Morgana’s
sword and horse were taken from her, and she was allowed to walk up
the unpaved road to the fortress at the top of the small hill, where
Ronan O’Donnell kept his headquarters.

 

 

Her knees buckled and sweat trickled down her back as she trudged up
to the drawbridge and was told to wait for a reply to her request.
At last she was allowed to drop her sack in the guard house and
continue up the spiral staircase to the main hall, where Ronan
breakfasted with his two sons, Tomas and Declan, and his pack of
Irish wolfhounds.

 

 

At first the dogs growled fiercely when they smelt the intruder, and
one of them lunged for Morgana’s throat. To show fear was to weaken
her cause, so Morgana stood her ground, and then the huge beast
planted its paws on her shoulders and began to lick her joyfully.

 

 

“Who is it?” Ronan demanded in the dim light. “The dog knows you,
whoever you are.”

 

 

“It is I, Morgana Maguire, come to seek an audience with you.”

 

 

“I thought I told the guards that no Maguires were to be let in!”
Ruairc bellowed.

 

 

Morgana stepped forward into the small patch of sunshine filtering
through the tiny window, and Ronan saw the glint of auburn hair.

 

 

“Morgana, it really is you!” The older man smiled, before once more
assuming his gruff expression. His two sons cleared their throats
uncomfortably and looked away from her.

 

 

“It is Morgana, sir, and I would speak to you on urgent business.”

 

 

“I heard you were in a convent! What business have I with a nun?”
Tomas sneered. He was a short, stocky man, with a level head for
business if somewhat less than charming manners.

 

 

“It is true, I am meant to be taking my vows, but circumstances have
called me home,” Morgana replied quickly.

 

 

“And what might those circumstances be, pray? Charges against your
family for your piracy? Pilfering our cargoes right here in our very
own lough? Or in Donegal bay?” Declan, the younger brother, scoffed
as he ate his porridge.

 

 

Declan was as tall as his brother was short, and instead of brown
hair and grey eyes, his long hair was blond and his eyes a piercing
blue like his father’s. Both men were dressed in simple homespun
tunics and cloaks, like their own sailors, and they had no snobbish
pretensions about their roles as heads of the O’Donnell clan.

 

 

Declan, by contrast with Tomas, was thin and charming, and Morgana
had often been amazed at how different they both were, yet they were
almost like two sides of the same coin when they teamed together.
She knew she would have to win them both over if she were to get any
help from Ronan.

 

 

Looking each man directly in the eye as she glanced around the room,
Morgana said proudly, “I know of no such acts of piracy, since I
have been away. But I am certain there has been some
misunderstanding. So I have come to see if the friendship between
our two families can be patched up.”

 

 

Ronan’s black brows dipped down broodingly over his midnight blue
eyes and hawk-like nose, and then lifted as he nodded slowly. “You
were always a fiery child, and I can see even two years in a convent
have not subdued your high spirits. You are brave to come alone and
unarmed. Say what you will, Morgana, and I shall listen.”

 

 

“First, I need to tell you the reason why I have returned home. I
have come back because my father is being slowly poisoned. He is
still alive at the moment, but the attempts upon his life have
weakened him. I am
tanaist
of the
sept
, and must do
my duty to my family in the event he should die.”

 

 

All three men gasped in unison, which answered at least one of
Morgana’s many questions. Whoever was responsible, it was not any of
the O’Donnell leaders.

 

 

“Poison, you say?” Ronan demanded gruffly.

 

 

“Aye, poison. But even worse than that, the lands are infertile,
there is no water in some places, whilst others flood, and the
animals are skeletons.So are the people. Our trade has suffered, we
have barely enough to eat. We also have refugees from the MacMahon’s
land clearances living with us, and the
sept
’s resources
are strained to breaking point. You must have some notion of this,
since you are a fairly near neighbor. Either your family is
suffering the same plight, or we have been singled out for attack on
all fronts.

 

 

“I am told we can’t trade here in Belleek or get provisions and
supplies for the ships, My admiral Seamus has also told me that you
will not let the ships out into the bay because you have blockaded
the river at Assaroe.

 

 

“I therefore beg for your help, and beg your pardon for whatever
offence we are accused of. Please tell me what is amiss, and I will
seek to redress it as quickly as possible. I hae also brought some
treasure with me to pay for the offence and the expenses incurred.”

 

 

Ronan’s sons began to laugh, but Ronan held up his hand for silence.
He sat upright in his chair, and searched Morgana’s face for the
least sign of duplicity.

 

 

At length he said slowly, “I have know this girl since she first
took to the seas, and I have never known her to lie to me. So I will
tell you, Morgana Maguire, that your captains mortally offended me
by attacking the ship from Flanders which carried by daughter
Niamh’s trousseau for her wedding."

 

 

Her eyes widened and she gasped despite herself. It was unthinkable…

 

 

“Moreover, they have fought my ships on the high seas for no reason,
causing two of them to be wrecked, with a heavy loss of lives. If
your family had wished to declare hostilities, they should have done
it openly, not pretended friendship with one face, and sneaked
behind my back with their other face, like the statue on Boa
Island.”

 

 

“This trousseau you mention. Would the dresses have had many jewels
in them?”

 

 

“Yes, yes indeed. Why do you ask?”

 

 

“Because I think I might know where some of them are and who is
responsible for inciting our ships to attack. Fergus MacGee has many
rich pieces in his possession, and my sister has many gowns which
seem to match the ones you have described. I do not protest complete
innocence for my family, but I do claim it for myself, and I am now
acting head of the family during my father’s illness."

 

 

The three men frowned, but said nothing, allowing her to continue..

 

 

“You, Ronan O’Donnell, have taught me much about shipping and trade
over the years, and, dare I say it at the risk of seeming to flatter
you, you have been the father I never had. You have given me
guidance and friendship with no thought of gain for yourself. I have
brought some items here, and I would have you look through them and
see if they are any part of your missing cargo.”

 

 

The bag was brought from the guard room, and it transpired that
three of the pieces out of ten had indeed been thieved fromthe
O’Donnell ship.

 

 

Morgana handed them over without a second thought, and stated,
“There is more treasure on my ships in the harbour, and I would have
you take any items which are fro poor niamh's trousseau.

 

 

"If you will also allow me to sell some of the remaining items I
have brought with me, I would ask you for permission to buy
provisions in the town. I need tar, ropes, tallow, and so on, to
make my fleet seaworthy again. I will take Niamh back with me, if I
may, to survey the wardrobes of gowns, and take back what belongs to
her.”