The Unicorn Hunter (14 page)

‘I really think Danny and Maddy should be taken into hospital,' said Dr Malloy to Granda. ‘Have someone check them over thoroughly, just to be safe and keep an eye on them.'

‘I can do that here,' Granda interrupted.

‘Think about this, Bat,' urged Dr Malloy. ‘The hospital is in the middle of the city, surrounded by iron, and staff can stay with them. It will be a lot easier on you.'

‘Not if my wife finds out I sent them in,' said Granda. ‘She wants them here, where she can mind them herself, and neither of us wants them moved around. The doors and windows will be locked and bolted; they will be safe enough. Besides –' he looked at Maddy – ‘they will all be moved into the city tomorrow anyway. Maddy is going to stay with her cousins there. They will be safe enough then.'

Dr Malloy shook his head doubtfully. ‘Still, I'd be a lot happier if they went into the city tonight. Your wife hasn't the Sight …'

‘But I do,' said Granda. ‘And nothing is getting into
this house tonight.' He shot a warning look at Maddy and she realized Granda hadn't told the doctor about Meabh's visit.

Dr Malloy sighed. ‘It's up to you, Bat, but you know what I think. You knew this was going to happen, and we will need to make a decision soon. Drink plenty of water, Maddy, and rest. I mean that – no running about for the next few days and no school either, although I'm sure you won't find that a hardship.'

There was a loud knocking at the front door and Granda groaned. ‘Who now?' he asked no one in particular before going into the front room, where Granny was bustling around a visitor. Maddy peered around Dr Malloy and her heart sank when she realized it was Sergeant O'Leary. He wasn't one of the Sighted, and while he wasn't very bright, once he got an idea in his head he was like a dog with a bone. Maddy had made the mistake of telling him last year that a faerie had taken little Stephen Forest when he went missing. Needless to say, he hadn't believed her and he now considered Maddy to be a troublemaker and an outrageous liar to boot. Which is why Maddy was convinced he was as thick as two short planks – what ten-year-old would make up a story about faeries?

‘Come up here, you,' she heard Aunt Fionnula say. ‘We want to have a word.'

Maddy didn't need to be told who the ‘you' was. Things were getting bad if her aunt couldn't even be bothered to use her name. She sighed and eased herself off the bed.

‘You should be staying in bed,' warned Dr Malloy.

‘She'll just make me get up anyway,' said Maddy.

As she walked toward her bedroom door she could feel her face setting itself hard into the look it always wore when she had to deal with Aunt Fionnula – sullen and bad-tempered. It was like a red rag to a bull as far as her aunt was concerned, and it didn't do her any favours with Sergeant O'Leary either, but Maddy couldn't stomach trying to be the child that Aunt Fionnula wanted her to be. That was Roisin. Maddy loved Roisin, but she didn't have it in her to be that timid or eager to please, not with Aunt Fionnula – just the thought of it made her want to vomit.

So the face that appeared around the bedroom door into the sitting room of her grandparents' cottage was angry and, more importantly, guilty-looking. She could tell from the look of triumph in her aunt's eyes.

‘We would like you to explain, madam,' she said in a quiet, gloating hiss, ‘how those yobs came to the school today and why it was you they beat up.'

All the Sighted knew the school had been attacked by Fachtna and a few of her mates out on a jolly. But
ordinary mortals saw what their brains told them was logical. So the teachers at the school had seen a gang of teenagers breaking in and destroying the place.

Sergeant O'Leary cleared his throat and opened his notebook. ‘According to one of the teachers, a Miss Stone, you know the gang who broke into the school,' he said.

‘No,' said Maddy, folding her arms.

‘What do you mean?' asked Sergeant O'Leary.

‘I mean, no, I don't know them,' said Maddy.

‘But you ran when you saw them coming up the street?' asked Sergeant O'Leary.

‘Yeah, well, they didn't look very friendly and I felt safer inside the school,' said Maddy. ‘Besides, Danny was the one who set off the fire alarm.' Danny glared at her as his mother swung around to stare at him, her eyes popping from her head in anger. Maddy felt a stab of guilt about dropping Danny in it, but it did feel good to show Aunt Fionnula up. Let one of
her
kids be Public Enemy Number One for a change.

‘Ahem, yes,' said Sergeant O'Leary, clearing his throat and looking at his notes again. ‘Miss Stone did mention that. Danny, could you tell me what you were doing at the girls' primary school in Blarney this morning, when you should have been at the secondary in Cork?'

Danny's face went bright red as everyone in the room stared at him. What with the grandparents, Sergeant O'Leary, Dr Malloy, Aunt Fionnula, Roisin, Maddy and himself, it was getting very hot and crowded in the cottage's tiny sitting room. ‘I, um, I …' Danny stammered, his face blazing hotter and hotter. ‘I just, um … I felt like bunking off this morning. And I wanted to see if Maddy wanted to come with me.' He threw her a look. ‘Maddy bunks off a lot.'

‘You did
what
?' screeched Aunt Fionnula. ‘Just wait until I get you home!'

‘So why did you set off the fire alarm and run away then, Danny?' asked the sergeant. ‘And why did they attack yourself and Maddy?'

‘Well, like Maddy said, they didn't look very friendly,' said Danny. ‘I just had a bad feeling.'
Which isn't a million miles away from the truth
, thought Maddy.

‘Can you think of any reason why they would want to hurt yourself or Maddy or why they attacked Miss Stone?' Sergeant O'Leary asked.

‘No, I can't. I'd never seen any of them before in my life,' said Danny. ‘I don't think people like that need a reason.'

‘What are you going to do about this?' Aunt Fionnula demanded. ‘My son was very badly hurt – he could have been killed! And I
know
she is at the bottom of it all.'
She rounded on Maddy and jabbed a sharp finger in her direction. ‘She always is.'

Maddy widened her eyes in mock innocence and watched Aunt Fionnula's face flush with anger.

‘The problem I have, Mrs O'Shea, is that no one seems to know who these teenagers were,' said Sergeant O'Leary as he tucked his notebook away inside his jacket.

‘Surely some of the teachers must have recognized them! They walked right past them to get into the school,' said Granny.

‘They did indeed, but again, none of the staff recognized them either and they ran by so quickly that no one has been able to give me more than a vague description,' said Sergeant O'Leary. ‘Poor Miss Stone was so frightened she really can't remember much. So unless someone can come forward with more detailed information –' he paused and looked hard at Maddy and Danny – ‘I really do not have much to go on. Maybe after a good night's sleep something will come to you, eh?' Maddy and Danny looked back at him and said nothing. He sighed. ‘This is serious business here. We're talking assault, battery, criminal damage and God only knows what else. Those lads are in big trouble and so is anyone who tries to protect them or tells me lies. Do you still have nothing to say?' Again, stony silence. ‘Well, if that's all, I'll be on my way,' he said.

Granda walked over to let the sergeant out. ‘If they think of anything, Bat, anything at all, no matter how small or unimportant it might seem, give me a call straightaway, won't you?' said Sergeant O'Leary as he pulled his hat firmly on to his head.

‘I will, Sergeant,' said Granda, as Sergeant O'Leary stepped out into the street.

‘I'd best be going myself,' said Dr Malloy. ‘Any problems during the night, give me a call at home. You know the number, don't you?'

‘That we do, Doctor. Thanks for coming out,' said Granny.

‘My pleasure,' said Dr Malloy. ‘Keep an eye on these two now and I will see them tomorrow morning in the surgery for a check-up.'

They all called their goodbyes as Dr Malloy left, but as soon as the front door closed a tense silence descended. Maddy's eyes shifted nervously around as she tried to look anywhere but at Aunt Fionnula.

‘There is something funny going on around here,' said Aunt Fionnula. ‘Gangs of teenagers do not just appear out of the blue, vandalize a primary school and beat up pupils and teachers. And I intend to get to the bottom of it.'

‘The children have said they know nothing about it,' said Granny. ‘And why should they? I know Maddy
doesn't spend her time hanging out with sixteen-year-olds.'

‘Nor does Danny,' said Aunt Fionnula, her kilowatt glare never leaving Maddy's face.

‘It was probably one of them Facebook things – you know, when they tell each other to meet up at a certain place and behave badly,' said Granny.

‘What do you know about Facebook?' asked Granda.

‘I'm not as green as I look, Bartholomew Kiely,' warned Granny. ‘There's plenty of things I know about.' Granda rolled his eyes.

‘In Blarney? At nine in the morning?' said Aunt Fionnula.

‘Well, what else are you suggesting?' asked Granda, not even bothering to keep the exasperation from his voice.

‘I don't know!' shouted Fionnula, her temper finally boiling over. ‘I haven't a clue what's going on around here, but ever since she turned up, there's been trouble!'

Granny tutted. ‘You've no proof that Maddy has done anything at all, Fionnula. If you can believe that Danny was hurt for just being there, then I don't see why you would think that gang had a reason for hurting Maddy.'

‘Because my children behave themselves!' yelled Aunt Fionnula. ‘My children would not dare do anything to cause trouble like this! They weren't dragged up!'

In the shocked silence that followed, Aunt Fionnula's face went white as she realized that she really had gone too far this time. Everyone stared at her in disbelief, but as her words sank in, Maddy's anger began to boil to the surface.

‘Don't you dare …' she said, her voice choked with tears of rage. ‘Don't you dare talk about my parents like that.'

‘I'm sorry,' Fionnula whispered, looking not at Maddy but at Granny and Granda. ‘I never meant—'

‘You never
think
,' snapped Granda, while Granny's mouth thinned to a white line of disapproval and disappointment. ‘That's what you mean to say. You never think about what you're saying, because if you did you'd know your sister never dragged that child up and nor have we. We might be old, but we're not finished yet.'

‘I'm sorry,' said Fionnula. ‘I'm sorry; she just gets me so angry.'

‘And ask yourself why that is,' said Granny. ‘Because it's nothing this child has done. You need to find some way to have a relationship with your sister's child.'

‘And soon,' said Granda. ‘Seeing as she'll be coming to stay with you tomorrow.'

Maddy looked at him, horrified. ‘You're not still sending me to her place, are you?' she asked. ‘After everything she's said?'

‘It's only going to be for a while, Maddy,' said Granda. ‘I think it would do you both good to get to know each other.' He looked back at Fionnula. ‘It's not right that a family should be fighting like this.'

Maddy and Aunt Fionnula glared at each other and Maddy could read the same thought in Fionnula's eyes that was at the front of her mind –
I hate you
. There was no way she was going to be able to handle five minutes in this woman's house.

‘Look, nothing is going to get sorted out today,' said Granny, as the awkward silence stretched on. ‘Leave Danny and Roisin here tonight and you can pick up all three of them tomorrow. I think a bit of time spent together over the Halloween break is just what you need. I know I can't take much more of this fighting.' She sighed and looked very old for a moment. Maddy felt a twinge of guilt, and even Aunt Fionnula's face softened. Aunt Fionnula grabbed her handbag from an armchair and slung it over her shoulder.

‘Fine,' she said, fidgeting with her car keys. ‘I'll be back in the morning and we can talk about this then.'

‘You really can't expect me to go and stay with her. She's off her head!' said Maddy.

‘Hey!' yelled Danny and Roisin at the same time.

‘That's enough!' roared Granda. ‘Maddy, you are going to do what you are told and accept that sometimes
we know what is best for you, better than you do.'

Aunt Fionnula ignored Maddy and the insult. ‘Have the children ready for me at nine in the morning,' she said as she walked out of the front door without a goodbye to anyone.

Maddy didn't bother to watch after her.

‘You can't make me go anywhere with her,' she told her grandparents in a flat voice. ‘You can't make me go somewhere where I'm hated.'

‘Don't you talk about my mam like that,' warned Danny.

‘You need to go and stay with your aunt for a while,' said Granda. ‘You know you do.'

‘No,' said Maddy, ‘I don't. And I'm not going to.'

She stalked past them all into her bedroom, making sure to give the door a good hard slam.

Maddy was so exhausted from the last few days she fell asleep across her quilt, not even bothering to change into pyjamas. She slept in her school uniform, the clothes twisting around her and creasing her skin as she tossed and turned in a fitful doze. Dreams tumbled out of her subconscious, chasing each other across the insides of her twitching eyelids. They were filled with fragmented images that often made no sense, as disjointed as viewing the real world through a broken kaleidoscope. She woke up once and saw Danny curled in a corner of the double bed, facing the wall with his back to her, sleeping deeply. Granda was slipping an iron cuff on her wrist, its weight rough and cool against her skin. She clasped it with her other hand and felt some of the tension draining out of her body. When she fell back asleep, the dreams were sweeter.