The woman's laugh was long and low and mocking. I ran toward her in sudden anger, swinging the pot as if it were a weapon. I did not see her move yet she must have struck me for I fell to the ground, stunned. When I rose, she was gone, and the candlelight shone welcoming through the window of Tigh-na-Beiste.
Filling up the pot, I returned to the house. Christine had been busy, so we had trout and potatoes to eat, with smiling faces to greet me and the fire keeping the darkness outside. We ate quickly, as befitting hungry women and cared not a whit for greasy fingers and a lack of table manners that would have shocked our peers in the civilised world.
'What happened?' Christine asked.
'When?'
'What happened when you went outside? You were white-faced when you came back in.'
'You're a p
