Bird of Passage by Catherine Czerkawska Page A

apart and not as man and wife, which was what she would have liked, with the enchantment full on her.  But they travelled all over the place, even sailing over the sea to Scotland, sleeping here and there, at hill forts, or in the wilderness, on beds made of heather, just as the fancy took them. Her man Finn McCool was after them both by this time, and threatening that if he found them he would kill Dermot and punish Grania.’
    Alasdair pulled on his pipe, discovered that it had gone out, lit it again, and blew out a stream of blue, vanilla- scented smoke. ‘So at last they came to the island, and up to the old fortress at Hill Top Town there, which was called Dun Sidhe , or the Hill of the Fairies.
    ‘Why the hill of the fairies?’ asked Finn.
    Kirsty nudged his knee. ‘Just listen will you?’
    Alasdair winked at Finn and resumed his story.
    ‘There was a lord who lived up at Dun Sidhe , an earl of fairyland.  And that was why the place was called the hill of the fairies, and that is what our own house, down below, is called to this very day. ‘
    ‘See,’ said Kirsty, nudging Finn. ‘Now go on with the story, grandad, for those that want to hear it.’
    ‘The earl was a wealthy man for those times, and he set out to charm Grania. Like many of the fairy folk, he played the fiddle and he played it well, a fairy tune that filled her head with dreams. And because poor Dermot was paying her scant attention, she took a liking to this other man, this earl of fairyland, partly to make Dermot jealous, and partly because he was kind to her. He would bring her gulls’ eggs to eat, and fish from the sea, and blaeberries from the moors.’
    ‘I love blaeberries,’ said Kirsty.
    Finn scowled at her. ‘Now who’s interrupting?’
    ‘And he would make her a bed of feathers to lie on, the feathers of the curlew and the corncrake, soft feathers and much more comfortable than any heather bed. And he would play to her, so that she slept deeply and well, and her dreams were sweet because of the feathers and the music.  But soon, this man, the earl of fairyland, came to Grania with a plot that they might kill Dermot, and then she would marry the earl and live with him up at Dun Sidhe where old Finn would never find them.
    So they made a plan that Dermot and the earl would play at a game of dice  together, and whenever the earl saw his chance, he would kill Dermot, and Grania vowed to help him.’
    Finn moved restlessly. ‘I don’t understand,’ he said.
    ‘What’s wrong now?’ asked Kirsty.
    ‘Why would she kill Dermot when she was in love with him? You said she was mad in love with him!’
    ‘You have to listen properly!’ Kirsty exclaimed. The other man was good to her. He fed her and made her a feather bed, and he played music for her.’
    Alasdair paused to relight his pipe and then continued. ‘Well, they were playing at the dice, all fine and nice, and the earl saw his chance and laid his hands upon poor Dermot. But Dermot was younger and stronger, and they began wrestling together. Dermot got him down on the ground. The earl called out to Grania to save him. She took up Dermot’s own knife and stabbed him in the thigh with it.’
    ‘She stabbed Dermot?’
    ‘She did.’
    ‘I still don’t see why she would do that,’ said Finn, mutinously.
    ‘Because she loved him more than he loved her. Isn’t that clear to you?’ said    Kirsty.
    ‘But…’ He saw her face and stopped. ‘Alright. Go on then.’
    ‘Thank-you,’ said Alasdair. ‘So when Dermot saw what she had done, and he saw the blood running down, he took himself off, more dead than alive, and if they thought anything about him at all, they thought that he was dead.   
    But a long time later, Dermot came back to the Dun, and he brought a fine fat salmon with him, and neither of them recognised him, he was so changed. He asked them if he could have leave to roast the fish on their fire, and Grania brought him a wee bowl of water so that