The Eden Tree Read Online Free PDF Page B

flea for its hide and fat.”
    Linn coughed delicately, struggling not to laugh. He wasn’t trying to be funny.
    “The other is Seamus Martin, the schanachie . He must be taking a break.”
    “The what?” Linn inquired.
    “Schanachie. Storyteller. This time of day he’s usually in the pub, spinning yarns for pints of stout. He hasn’t done a lick of work a day in his life, since one could not expect such a revered folk artist to soil his hands. At this point, the sight of him engaged in gainful employment would stun the population for a range of ten kilometers in every direction.”
    “What sort of stories does he tell?”
    “Gaelic folktales filled with pookahs and dullaghans and witches ripe for burning. For an extra grog he’ll throw in a heroic saga or two. He’s a spellbinder, I’ll give him that. His audience is rarely disappointed.”
    “What’s a pookah, and a…dullaghan?” Linn asked.
    “I see that your education is sorely lacking,” Clay responded. “A pookah is a spirit horse with breath of fire and crystalline eyes. And a dullaghan is a headless horseman. He brings the death coach for a departing soul to take it on the journey to the afterlife. Rumor has it that he carries his head on the seat next to him.”
    Shades of Sleepy Hollow , Linn thought. “He knows all those stories by heart?” Linn asked.
    “Hundreds of them, possibly thousands. His is an oral tradition passed down from father to son. Seamus has an amazing repertoire; it’s a wonderful thing to hear him.”
    Linn sensed that Clay admired the schanachie no matter how he criticized his lack of ambition. She concealed her disappointment as Clay stopped the car in front of what was obviously Mr. Fitzgibbon’s office. “Lawrence Fitzgibbon, Sol.” was printed in gold letters on the window glass.
    “There you go,” Clay said. He took an envelope from the seat next to him and handed it to Linn. “Will you give this to Fitz for me? He’ll know what to do.”
    Linn nodded and took it. They looked at one another.
    Linn seemed to be having some difficulty getting out of the car.
    “Shall I come back to fetch you?” Clay asked.
    “That would be nice. I don’t know how long this will take though.”
    “I’ll stop off at four. You can have a look around the town if you finish early. Not that there’s much to see.”
    “I’ve already seen the town characters,” Linn said, smiling.
    “This town is full of characters,” Clay answered. “You’ve only seen two of them.”
    Linn grinned and Clay smiled back. He looked over her shoulder at the window.
    “There’s Fitz,” he announced. “I’d have a care if I were you. He looks ready to pounce.”
    “Bridie said he was a blatherskite.”
    Clay chuckled. “Did she indeed? You must consider the source of that information. Bridie has a tendency toward exaggeration.”
    “What is a blatherskite?”
    “Oh, a scoundrel, an opportunist. What you might call an operator.”
    “I see. Like a shyster lawyer.”
    Clay smiled sagely. “Very like.”
    Linn was getting worried. “Is that true?”
    Clay waved his hand, dismissing the notion. “You must overlook a great deal of Bridie’s blarney. She thinks silence is her mortal enemy; she’ll batter your ears ‘til they need a holiday. She had a bit of a romance with Fitz when they were young and it ended badly somehow. She’s never forgiven him. She takes every opportunity to blacken his name. He’s not above some fancy dancing but in his profession that’s almost a necessity. Just keep your wits about you, but don’t be put off by Bridie’s nonsense.”
    “She said that he’d taken the pledge at least ten times.”
    Clay chuckled. “I’ve no doubt of it.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “The pledge is a vow to give up strong drink. We’ve a grand lot of pledge takers around here. It’s the national pastime, like your baseball.”
    Linn laughed. “I’d better go,” she said, reaching for the door handle. She