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"Spurred by the sight of her little sisters’ skeletal lilish landlord of theirs, a wealthy man who visited his lands only once or twice a year and was ruht before She knew Seamus would never approve, so she waited until he left for the day, and then, collecting a handful of berries to give her sustenance for the fifteen-kiloe and left their little hut She had no idea what she would say as sheall the landuide her--but she figured she’d know by the ti on in little Marion’s liirl who, like many Irish fares that her kind lived in To see this huge stone building now"
River sets his pint down on a side table, freeing his hands to animate his excitement "Remember, I told you that Seamus’s ancestors came from royalty, and so they didn’t merely live in an estate home They lived in a bloody castle! If you’ve been to Kilkenny, then you’ve seen so like what Marion saw that day--a beautiful horound, with turrets on the ends and half a dozen chilass s! Of course, it wasn’t quite as grand as Kilkenny, but to Marion, it orthy of a king Which spurred her on even more, because that should have been her family’s house So she htsuntil a man’s voice called out to her ‘Who are you?’ She turned to see a young uessed him to be maybe twenty, dressed in trousers and a woolen jacket, his waistcoat peeking out beneath He was an ordinary-lookin’ fella, but he was English and no doubt a Protestant, and therefore she despised hi her ratty shift dress close to her body His horse circled around her oncetwicebefore he hopped off ‘This is lish landlord? She put on a brave face ‘Me name is Marion McNally and me family’s starvin,’ she announced ‘We’re all starvin’ and you’re here, prancin’ around with your fancy horse, wearin’ your fancy clothes, livin’ in your big castle Don’t ya know that people on your land are dying? That ya could feed theland to make your selfish country to River ue to perfection
"The youngto think he ht order her executed for treason ‘I’m sorry, missbut we don’t have much choice If we don’t collect rents and taxes from our farms, then we’ll be forced to evict theether’
" ‘It’s not even your land It’sbastards!’ Marion exclais could carry her, expecting to be run down at any ht later, when the weather had turned cold, a knock sounded on the wooden plank they used for a door to keep out the draft They opened it to find two sacks ofoutside, hidden beneath a few thick woolen blankets The sound of horse hooves could be heard in the distance, galloping away
"Seas inside, because the situation for everyone had becoed There was just enough to keep his girls alive for the winter, he hoped Now, it wasn’t bad enough that the blight had stolen virtually all food for the farmers, but that year saw the harshest winter Ireland had seen in years Cottages were buried to their rooftops in snow as stor, bodies lay everywhere
"But the McNally fa within their one-roo ith the tiniest of fires and those woolen blankets and their body heat, rationing their oats for a daily helping of porridge, using melted snow to o without so he could stay healthy and take care of the, dark days, but he couldn’t bear listening to their hungry cries
"And because of that, he fell ill In the early spring, Sea Marion to care for her four sisters The five of theer than most laborers around because of the h the winter, were able to keep their hut by working the fields as Sea ht was impossible"
He pauses to nod a thanks to Rose as she drops off a fresh pint The Irish really do love their Guinness That’s his fourth now, and there isn’t even a hint--a slur, a lax face, a stray thought--that would suggest it’s affected him in any way
"When Marion heard ruain, she knew she had to visit hi to do, especially after she had spoken to hi man on a horse who dropped theSunday, she againthe stone wall, over the hill, her body weaker froer, her dress even more tattered and filthy Thebefore a two-hectare-sized garden patch, the soil freshly tilled, his arms folded over his chest, his brow furrowed
" ‘What are you going to plant?’ she asked by way of greeting He looked at her for a long , ‘I don’t know, Miss Marion What do you think I should plant here?’ She was surprised to know that he remembered her name but she pretended not to be and said, ‘You’re in Ireland, so potatoes, of course,’ whichout his hand to show her the beans ‘But just in case of that pesky blight, I was thinking these, too And soe’ She nodded her approval Beans and corn were expensive to plant He asked her how her family had fared over the winter, and she shared the news of her father His father had died as well, over Christmas, he admitted When Marion had met this man the fall before, he hadn’t been the landlord, after all His father had in fact owned the land
"The young man’s name was Charles Beasley, and he was happy to see Marion alive and well She had been a pretty young ginger-haired thing the year before, the day she marched onto his fah far too thin for his tastes It had been a long winter for hi in the co if the bags of h to keep her alive It was long enough to concoct a plan He had already inquired about the McNally family in secret on the day he arrived in Ireland and knehat had happened to her father He figured it was only a irl would show up again