Erinsong Read Online Free PDF Page A

conspired to put slow dye in the soap and
turn all the hands in the keep bright
yellow is not destined for a life of contemplation.”
    Brenna chuckled at the
memory. “It did take a bit for Da to
figure that one out. But at least, we could tell who washed and who
didn’t!”
    Moira laughed. “No doubt ye’d have bedeviled
the abbess with more of the same if ye’d taken the vows.” Her smile
faded. “Yet now ye’ve come back, ye’re still betwixt and between.
I’ve a feeling ye haven’t quite decided to live amongst us.
Whatever happened to ye at Clonmacnoise?”
    Brenna bit her bottom lip.
She and Moira had born each other’s
secrets since Moira was old enough to put two words together. Yet
looking into her sister’s fresh, innocent
eyes, Brenna couldn’t bring herself to tell her. Better to let her stay ignorant, even if she pouted. It was bad enough Da knew. She didn’t
think she could bear it if Moira looked at
her with the same reproach she saw in her
father’s eyes.
    “Never ye mind,” Brenna said briskly. “We’ve
enough to do this day without stirring up the past.”
    Moira shrugged and
chattered happily as they chugged down the path to the stream. She
invited Brenna to admire her newly crimsoned nails and wondered
aloud if she could talk their father into buying that darling
little silver cross the peddler had shown
her last month. She wanted to wear it for next St. Brigid’s feast day, she said. Moira fervently
hoped the old man who traveled about
hawking his wares didn’t sell it before he
made his way back to Donegal.
    Brenna loved her sister
dearly, but she had learned early on to
detach her ears when Moira was on a prattle.
    As they neared the stream, she heard a sound
she couldn’t identify. Brenna froze.
    “Hush ye now,” she ordered Moira.
    The sound came from the
water, a snarling fierce sound that made her wonder if they’d
stumbled onto a wolf pack. She eased the
buckets down and stole over to the edge of
the embankment to peer at the water below.
    She caught a glimpse of
fair hair. The growling noise came from
the Northman, and from the regular rhythm of the sound, Brenna could only guess that he was trying to sing. She parted the bracken to sneak a
bet ter look.
    He was standing hip-deep in
midstream, naked as Adam in all his
glory.
    No, Brenna thought as she sucked in her breath. Not Adam. With dawn
burnishing his hair gold, this man was
surely more like Lucifer the Fallen. An an gel of light designed to pull the unwary into outer
darkness.
    Water slid from his broad
shoulders and down his chest. When he
stretched languidly, the muscles in his arms and torso rippled in perfection. In the soft
light, the fine hairs on his flat abdomen
glistened like the fur on a bee’s belly.
He plunged himself under the water and
came up shaking his head, like one of the wolf hounds, splattering droplets in every direction. Then he started to wade out of the stream.
    From behind her, Brenna
heard Moira’s breath hiss over her
teeth.
    “Oh, Brennie, would ye look at his—”
    Brenna wheeled around, dragging her sister
away from the ledge.
    “Get ye back to the keep
this instant, I tell ye, and guard the
innocence of your eyes!” Brenna whis pered
furiously, giving Moira a fierce shake.
    “And what of your eyes?”
    “Don’t ye be bothering your
head about that,” Brenna said crossly.
“Mind me now or I’ll tell Da and he’ll lock ye in the keep till
ye’re wrinkled as a winter apple and twice
as sour.”
    A flicker of concern
flitted across Moira’s face. “ But is it
safe for ye? To be here alone, I mean?”
    “ ‘Twill be fine,” she said
with more confidence than she felt. “Get
ye gone now and I’ll be along directly.”
    Brenna watched as Moira skittered up the
path. Then she edged over to the embankment and leaned against a
tree, facing away from the water. She was determined not to look at
him again. Once was definitely enough.
    “Northman!” she called out.
    “Is