The Ground She Walks Upon Read Online Free PDF

be feeling mighty foolish!"
    "Father, " Trevallyan interrupted, putting his hand on the priest's shoulder, "if you have your doubts, why did you summon me here?"
    The priest looked at Trevallyan, then at Drummond. His face turned pale and, gravely, he resumed his seat. "I haven't any doubts, " he conceded, the fight gone out of his voice. "Reverend Drummond, English land-grabber that he is, is telling the truth. It's time for us to explain the geis. "
    "Then explain it. All of you. This instant, " Trevallyan demanded, scowling at each of the four men until they bowed their gray heads in contrition.
    "A family of millers had your land before the Trevallyans were deeded it by the English Henry, " Father Nolan began.
    "When they found out that the land was no longer theirs, they had a sorcerer put a geis on the Trevallyan men, " said Drummond.
    "The male heir of each generation was to marry before his twentieth year or the geis would go into effect, " finished the mayor.
    "And tell me what the geis is. " Trevallyan looked at each man. They all looked at Griffen O'Rooney.
    Griffen eerily began speaking as if on cue. "I'll tell you about the geis, me boy. " He stared at Trevallyan, his aged and sunken eyes still bright with intelligence. "Your geis has four parts because Lir has four fields separated by the standing stone with the ogham written upon it.
    "The first part is that the cross must pick your bride. The second part states that this girl must be a commoner from our beloved Lir. Part three is that she must be found in the twentieth year of the Trevallyan heir. The story of the Trevallyan geis has been kept secret. It's been handed down, father to son, for hundreds of years, and the men you see before you are the only ones left who are descendents of the original council. "
    The room grew silent as all watched Trevallyan's reaction. The young man looked extremely solemn. Then, all at once, he let out a boisterous laugh. "This is a prank. It must be. You cannot expect me to believe that you four are to pick my bride. "
    "We are not to pick your bride, my son, this is to pick your bride. " Drummond withdrew the cross from his coat pocket. The men let out a gasp at its beauty. The cross almost seemed alive. It glowed and glittered in the firelight, and the sheer exquisiteness of the scrollwork seemed impossibly fine to have been wrought by human hands.
    Trevallyan took the cross and held it at eye level. Purple sparks seemed to shoot from the center of the amethyst, and the scrollwork seemed to turn liquid like writhing snakes. He stared at it like a king meeting his nemesis.
    "My lord, " Drummond whispered, "in all the years I've kept the cross, I've never seen it so full of fire. The geis must be true. This must be a sign. "
    " 'Tis just the firelight that makes it look strange. " Niall tossed the amulet to the reverend. The men gasped. Drummond strove to catch it as if it were a falling babe.
    " 'Tis not good to tempt the Otherworld, my son, " said Griffen. He stared at the young man, his eyes filled with pity as if he had once peeked into Trevallyan's future and had seen the misery Trevallyan scoffed at now.
    O'Rooney's stare seemed to make Trevallyan falter as if he had cut into the young man's arrogance and seen his soul. But ever the master, Trevallyan collected himself, and said evenly, coolly, though his pale green-blue eyes snapped with ire, "I cannot tempt a thing that does not exist. This is rubbish. I don't believe a word. This, " he gestured to the cross, " 'tis a beautiful work of Celtic art, but it is not made of magic and it cannot find me a bride. For, tell me, is it to grow wings and fly around the county in search of her?"
    "The cross has already found the girl. "
    All the men shifted to look at Drummond. His face was deathly pale. "It's true. I went out in my hack this evening, thinking the cross might give me a sign of who the girl might be. I told my driver to just go blindly where I told him to go, that