The Call of the Sea

Chapter 15

The four men her mother had listed on the piece of paper arrived late in the afternoon to move Aoife to the great room, which was in the centre of the house, where the viewing would take place. Turlough had already begun to transport the food into the room after setting all of the tables with simple and delicate tablecloths and the finest china Bronagh's family had stored away. Bronagh accompanied the men down to the rooms below the house and supervised the retrieval of the litter and her mother's body.

Dahey Ó Floinn, the man that had been on the ferryboat and at the clinic after Bronagh had drowned, and the EMT that had been present when her mother had fallen ill for the final time, happened to be one of the men her mother had chosen to bear her into the viewing. She knew the others just as well – Conall Ó Brádaigh was a constable; Eoghan Ó Corraidhín had been a lobster-man before his father was diagnosed with dementia; and Oisin Mag Raith, a brute of a man whom they had all gone to primary with. They offered their condolences then performed their duty in silence, honouring the dead with unspoken prayers.

In the great room, Turlough was entertaining the guests as they arrived, offering food and drink and listening to the multitude of stories about Aoife that everyone seemed to have. Bronagh could see that he was uncomfortable, but did his due diligence as host and remained with the crowd. However, as Turlough had suggested, Bronagh made a quiet appearance, accepted a few well wishes and listened to a few stories before she disappeared to her bedroom.

Her eyes were heavy and her limbs were tired – she hadn't slept well the night before, and she still had duties to perform before she could fully retreat into her grief. As she sat on her bed, music from the great room drifted through the walls and she recognised her mother's favourite Franz Schubert composition – D 957 Number 4 (Serenade). Aoife had listened to the piece at least once a day for the majority of Bronagh's childhood, so each note of the song was firmly rooted in her memories.

She fell into her pillows, her eyes stinging with tears, and her fingers twisted in her hair. Though her anguished cries drowned out the song to her ears, the notes continued to echo in her mind as she buried her head farther into her bed.

***

The music had been changed hours ago, though the memories it had raised were still fresh in her mind. She lay staring at the ceiling, her vision blurred by focus and tears. Bronagh could hear Turlough thanking the guests and walking them to the front door, and she knew that it was time to take a deep breath and finish the ritual she had begun. With a deep breath, she rolled over and sat up on the bed, her feet embracing the cool wood floor.

She dressed in the robes her mother had set aside for her – where Aoife's dress was a midnight blue with silver lace and pearl accents, Bronagh's was a much lighter blue with soft cream lace. She placed a gold locket around her neck and three gold rings on each hand. The locket had been her mother's, and though it brought comfort to her spirit knowing that she wore something that had been so dear to her, Bronagh was filled with sadness – within the locket lay a small bit of Aoife's hair, tied with a blue ribbon, as both an honouring of tradition and a way to keep yet another piece of her mother close to her heart.

According to the Deasghnátha Sochraide, maidens under the age of thirty were only to wear gold, as silver was seen as an Elder's metal. The final addition to her clothing were two simple anklets with small bells that made soft music as she walked through the house. Her feet were bare, as was tradition, and her hair was loose.

Turlough stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for her – behind him stood the four pallbearers, and Bronagh noticed that Dahey Ó Floinn was staring at her as she descended. Her cheeks warmed and she glanced away, focusing on the white wall behind them.