Blasket Spirit Read Online Free PDF Page B

bowls, platters and candleholders. By the fire sat one of the sheep men. As he looked up, I was struck by the startling blue of his eyes.
    ‘I’m sorry, Sue – I didn’t realise you had company. Just called to tell you I saw the falcons again.’
    ‘Sit down. Páid and I are just about to have tea. You’re always in a terrible hurry. Mind you, you’ve slowed down a bit, but you’ve still a way to go.’ I sat down and smiled. I didn’t know quite how to react to that statement. As I looked at the fire to hide my embarrassment, I thought how right she was. Páid said nothing, and just looked at the fire too as Sue settled the teapot and three mugs on the hearth. ‘So where did you spot them, Anita?’
    ‘I was up in the fort, leaning against the bank, when one of them came sailing overhead. It passed over westwards, then began hovering over a spot about fifty yards away. It stayed in the same spot for at least ten minutes, then suddenly folded in its wings and plummeted like a stone. I could hear it cry once or twice and then the second one joined it.’
    ‘It must have killed a rabbit. It’s only recently that they’ve come back to the island. They were nearly extinct all over the country because of DDT. It used to make the eggshells soft and so the chicks died,’ Sue explained.
    ‘I see them when I’m lifting pots off the Lóchar Rocks.’ It was the first time Páid had spoken. He had a very attractive, gentle voice. Immediately, I recalled the small boat I had seen at the Lóchar Rocks, thrashing violently in the waves, 300 metres below the fort, three days previously. In it had been a lone fisherman in yellow oilskins. I had not been able to take my eyes off the toy vessel and the tiny man throwing lobster pots over the side. My imagination had played out the disaster. I would be the only witness. It would take me at least half an hour to get back around to Sue’s to radio for help. Then the lifeboat from Valentia would take, what? Another two hours? He would be dashed to pieces on the rocks. I had given myself palpitations imagining every possible scenario. I could not believe that he would go out in a tiny boat when even the ferries were not running. Mind you, the three of them had crossed into the island when no other boats dared. ‘I think I saw you lifting pots at the Lóchar Rocks on Tuesday’ was all I dared to contribute from the extensive search-and-rescue plan that was replaying in my head.
    ‘That you did’, he replied and we both continued to stare at the fire.
    Sue poured the tea. ‘Páid does woodcarving in the winter and I sell his work here in on the island.’
    When the conversation turned to wood, Páid became animated, showing us unusual grains and telling us how to distinguish the different woods. We took it in turns to stroke the grain of ash, cherry, oak and sycamore. Soon, the floor was covered with as much wood as wool. Sue poured more tea. ‘Is it time to make tea for Páid yet, do you think?’ she asked.
    ‘It is, he should be up shortly,’ Páid said.
    ‘Sorry, I thought that your name was Páid,’ I said.
    ‘It is, but the other man is Páid too.’
    Sue came to the rescue and explained. ‘We call the other man Páidí. Páidí Kearney.’
    Just then Páidí Kearney came in the door, followed by his old sheepdog. Páid pushed him a small milking stool with his foot and said something in Irish. Páidí Kearney then looked at me and smiled. ‘All good I hope.’
    ‘No, no we weren’t talking
about
you,’ I hastened to add. ‘I was just trying to get your names right.’
    ‘Oh sure now, you have me disappointed.’ I was still very anxious with people in general, but a lot less so with the people of the island. Páidí Kearney put me at my ease immediately.
    ‘Have you any connections with the island?’ I asked him.
    ‘My people come from the Great Blasket Island. My uncle was Seán Kearney and he lived and died in the Kearney family home, just below the