"I'll shoot you like a dog."

"How will you explain it?"

"Doubt that I'll need to. Times like these."

"Ireland's curse upon you, then."

Caitlin heard the bang when she was standing outside the Brennans' cottage. She ran. She raced up the track towards the car, in time to see that Willy had been pulled onto the ground. A man was walking away. He was carrying a shotgun. She looked down at Willy's face. It wasn't there, just a great red mess of flesh and shot.

She reached under the car seat, and called out. She man turned. She recognised him. Victor Budge. The Black and Tan who'd come looking for Willy. He recognised her, too. The girl who'd known old Rosa. He frowned as he worked it all out.

"You killed him," she called.

"What of that?"

The single shot caught him exactly between the eyes. She hadn't lost her skill. She stared at Budge for a moment, nodded to herself, and put her Webley on Willy's right hand, curling his fingers round it.

She heard voices. She stepped back. Several people were arriving. One of them, she saw at once, was old Fintan O'Byrne.

At first, seeing the bloody mess of the face on the ground, he did not understand. Then, as she came towards him and took his arm, he did. He bowed his head and sank to his knees.

He had been kneeling by Willy for a minute or two when he looked up at her.

"They shot each other?'

"They must have," she said.

"I thought the two shots were some time apart."

"They can't have been."

He paused to look at her a long while.

"No. I must have been mistaken."

He got up stiffly to his feet, walked over to Victor Budge, noted the hole neatly between the eyes, and nodded. As he passed by her again, he touched her arm, and quietly murmured, "Thank you."

Some years later, when Mrs. Rosa Budge passed to her next life, the Rathconan estate was sold. Sometimes new owners of such estates would find the local people a little shy with them. They have learned, after all, to guard against strangers coming to dwell upon their land. It is a lesson learned down many centuries. But the new owner of Rathconan, with her flashing green eyes and her husband and children was always welcome from the first. After all, Caitlin belonged there.

EDWARD RUTHERFURD was born in Salisbury, England, and educated at Cambridge University and Stanford University in California. His bestselling novel Sarum Sarum is based on the history of Salisbury and Stonehenge. is based on the history of Salisbury and Stonehenge. Russka, Russka, his second novel, recounts the sweeping history of Russia. his second novel, recounts the sweeping history of Russia. London London tells the two-thousand-year story of the great city, bringing all of the richness of London's past unforgettably to life. His novel tells the two-thousand-year story of the great city, bringing all of the richness of London's past unforgettably to life. His novel The Forest The Forest is set in England's ancient New Forest. His last novel, is set in England's ancient New Forest. His last novel, The Princes of Ireland, The Princes of Ireland, is the companion to is the companion to The Rebels of Ireland, The Rebels of Ireland, covering the first eleven centuries of Ireland's history. Edward Rutherfurd divides his time between Dublin and New York. covering the first eleven centuries of Ireland's history. Edward Rutherfurd divides his time between Dublin and New York.

ALSO BY EDWARD RUTHERFURD.

Sarum

Russka

London

The Forest

The Princes of Ireland