The Unicorn Hunter Read online

  The room was a mess and it stank of rotting food and unwashed flesh. By the dim light of an electric fire she could see mounds of rubbish, old clothes, blankets, newspapers and empty food cans lying in heaps, piled on top of a ripped sofa and scattered haphazardly around the floor. There was a hunched and scruffy figure sitting on a wooden chair and he looked up at her as she stepped into the room.

  ‘Bang bang,’ he said softly. ‘You’re dead.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Maddy stared at Bang Bang while Una fussed around them all, wrapping them in filthy blankets and trying to drive the chill out of their bones. Fenris and Nero threw themselves down in a corner and stared in silence, their eyes gleaming in the dim light. They stank to high heaven of wet wolf but the smell of the room was already so bad that the wolf smell could only make it budge up a bit. George had parked himself so close to the electric fire he was in danger of singeing his whiskers. Bran sat bent over double, her long grey hair curtaining her off from the rest of the room. Whether she was bowed from grief or exhaustion or both, Maddy couldn’t tell. Roisin and Danny looked at Bang Bang nervously but said nothing.

  Phrases kept running around Maddy’s head, little things that people had said that really should have warned her that it was Bang Bang, that should have let her know he was the one, that he needed protecting, before she had made those stupid demands, sworn those oaths.

  ‘He was a lovely lad when he was younger – bright and cheerful and always a smile on him. But he turned funny around the age of twelve and he’s never been right since.’

  ‘I’m doing the queen’s business, clearing up all this mess.’

  Bang Bang had been taken at some stage and made it back but it was too late – he had already been driven out of his mind, perhaps by a dark faerie seeking the nourishment of his pain and distress. Maybe by a queen looking to escape Tír na nÓg or cultivate a willing slave who would do whatever she asked in the mortal world. Bang Bang was so faerie-touched he shared their abhorrence of Christianity. When he said he was working for a queen he had been telling the truth; he was tidying up litter for a faerie queen.

  But which faerie queen is it that you think you serve, Bang Bang? she wondered. Which one put the darts in your hand and told you to kill a unicorn?

  ‘Danny, do me a favour,’ she said quietly, while Bang Bang chattered nonsense to Una, who listened to him with a kind, interested smile. Danny looked over at her and raised his eyebrows. ‘Have a look around and try to find something that will tell us who set Bang Bang up.’

  ‘Maddy, that could take hours,’ protested Danny. ‘We haven’t got time.’

  ‘We have to try,’ she insisted.

  Danny nodded, stood up quietly and slunk out of the room. Bang Bang didn’t even notice him leaving.

  ‘You can’t hand him over – you know that, don’t you?’ whispered Roisin.

  ‘I know,’ said Maddy.

  ‘What are you going to do then?’

  ‘Haven’t the foggiest. I was hoping you could come up with a plan.’

  Roisin sighed and rubbed her temples. ‘We’ll have to split up. One of us has to get Bran back to the mound – I don’t think she’s going to last much longer as she is. And one of us has to get Bang Bang to the city. He needs to be surrounded by iron.’

  ‘How are we going to get him to go though? He gets upset very easily,’ said Maddy.

  Danny came back into the room. Maddy looked at him hopefully but he shook his head. ‘The rest of the house is empty. It looks as if he lives in this room,’ he said.

  ‘We have to find something,’ warned Roisin. ‘They are going to catch up with us sooner or later.’

  ‘I know,’ said Maddy. She leaned forward and interrupted Bang Bang’s childish flow of chatter. ‘Bang Bang, I need to ask you something.’

  He stopped talking and turned to look at her but he didn’t say a word.

  ‘Did anyone ask you to do something recently?’ she asked. ‘Did they give you something special to look after or any presents?’

  Bang Bang stayed silent but a sly gleam came into his eyes.

  ‘Because if they did, Bang Bang, we really, really need to know,’ said Maddy. ‘If you’ve hidden it, you need to tell us where. We can help you if we have what they gave you.’

  Bang Bang pouted at her like a grumpy child. ‘You’re trying to get me into trouble.’

  ‘No, I’m not,’ said Maddy. ‘I’m trying to help you.’

  He shook his head. ‘She said this would happen. She said people would come and try to make me tell on her. But I won’t, I won’t tell on her. She’s my beautiful queen and I love her.’

  Maddy’s heart practically stopped in her chest and she made an effort to keep her voice light. ‘Your beautiful queen? That sounds very exciting, Bang Bang? Was her hair black or gold or red?’

  ‘I’m not telling, I’m not telling,’ sang Bang Bang. Maddy gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to slap him.

  ‘Bang Bang, you have to,’ said Roisin. ‘You can trust us!’

  ‘My queen will protect me,’ said Bang Bang.

  ‘She won’t, you idiot!’ yelled Maddy. ‘She’s got you into a huge mess and I don’t see her riding to the rescue, do you? Now tell us who she is!’

  Bang Bang glared at her resentfully. He dropped his head and refused to say another word. Una looked at Maddy and shook her head.

  ‘This is pointless,’ Maddy sighed in exasperation. ‘Danny, call Granda and get him over here. It’s time we explained what’s been going on and we need to get Bang Bang into the city.’

  Danny pulled his mobile phone out and frowned at the screen. ‘It says I’ve got no signal,’ he said, just as Maddy felt a familiar prickle on the back of her neck.

  ‘They’re here!’ she said, jumping to her feet and grabbing her sword as Roisin screamed at a bright eye that peered in at them through a gap in the torn curtains at the window.

  The front door banged open and booted feet marched down the hallway and then stopped outside the door. Fenris and Nero ran to protect Bran as the door swung open and Fachtna, her jaw dark with bruising, stepped into the room, the Pooka at her side.

  The faerie had managed to get hold of some more lime and her hair was stiffened into a Mohican again. Maddy didn’t like to think what that said about her mood.

  ‘Playtime is over, Feral Child,’ she rasped. ‘It’s time to go.’

  Fachtna didn’t make them walk far. The glow from the monarchs illuminated them where they were sitting enthroned in a field behind Bang Bang’s little house, their courts arrayed behind them. The regents of Summer had thrones made of living oak, thick with soft green leaves. The monarchs of Spring had their thrones of cherry-blossom branches. Liadan and Meabh sat alone, the Winter Queen on her throne of carved crystal while Meabh perched elegantly in a twisted, tortured throne of dead branches. Her chin was cupped in one hand while she drummed the long fingers of the other on the arm of her throne. Cernunnos and the unicorns waited in front of them all. The mare was weak and her head hung low as she stood next to her mate, but Maddy was relieved to see she was at least beginning to make a recovery. Cernunnos was still wearing his coat of many skins with his face in shadow.

  Fear dried Maddy’s mouth when she saw how hard and cold the faces were of the Tuatha. They didn’t look as if forgiving was in their nature.

  ‘Welcome, Bran,’ said Cernunnos. ‘You have done well. How can we reward you?’

  The woman ducked her head in thanks as she clutched her rags around her. ‘Let me return to the shape I was,’ she pleaded, her voice hoarse from weeping. ‘Let me forget the cruelty and pain. I wish only to live in the blissful ignorance of an animal.’

  ‘This is your last word?’ asked Cernunnos.

  ‘It is,’ said Bran.

  ‘Then come to me, daughter,’ said Cernunnos as he stretched out his arms.

  Bran approached him and bowed her head as Cernunnos touched her scalp with his palms. Then she sighed and
crumpled to the ground, where her body twisted and shimmered. Grey-brown curly hair sprouted all over her and eventually it was a wolfhound that stood up and raced away, back to the mound, leaving warm rags on the grass. She was gone without even a backward glance of her haunted blue eyes. Maddy sighed to see her disappear.

  ‘And now, Feral Child, we grant your dearest wish,’ said Cernunnos. ‘Justice for the unicorn hunter.’

  ‘The hunt isn’t over yet,’ said Maddy.

  ‘I think it is,’ said Sorcha. ‘Is that not the hunter standing before us?’

  Maddy cast a quick glance at Bang Bang, dirty, dishevelled and hunched. He was humming tunelessly and looking around himself with a vacant smile. At least look at one of them! thought Maddy. Show us who it is, even if you can’t tell us! But Bang Bang looked at no one and just kept humming nonsense to himself.

  ‘Look at him,’ said Maddy. ‘Do you really think he could have done this on his own?’

  ‘We have no reason to believe otherwise,’ said Sorcha.

  ‘Have you tried looking for one?’ asked Maddy, immediately regretting her quick mouth.

  ‘You just cannot bear to think that a human did this,’ said Niamh, while every other monarch, bar Meabh, bristled. Meabh was examining her nails with a bored expression. ‘Your hatred for faerie kind has been noted, Feral Child,’ Niamh continued, ‘but you cannot find any proof that any faerie had a hand in this crime.’

  ‘Even Sorcha suspected the Winter Queen,’ said Maddy.

  ‘When did you hear me say Queen Liadan had anything to do with the unicorn hunt?’ asked Sorcha, her blue eyes flinty.

  ‘Well, you didn’t say it as such–’ began Maddy.

  ‘Then I did not say it,’ snapped Sorcha. ‘Do you have any evidence that Winter aided and abetted this creature in any way to commit this crime?’

  Maddy looked at Bang Bang. ‘Please, Bang Bang,’ she begged. ‘You have to tell. Which of these queens told you to hurt the unicorn?’

  But Bang Bang just gave her his sly look and shook his head.

  ‘This is serious!’ hissed Maddy. ‘You are going to get hurt, Bang Bang, really badly hurt, if you don’t tell us who put you up to this.’

  He just stuck his tongue out at her and began to pout again.

  In desperation, Maddy looked at Cernunnos. ‘Give me some time …’

  ‘There is no more time,’ he said.

  ‘You can tell he’s not well!’ Danny burst out. ‘How can you blame him?’

  ‘He is the only one who stands before us,’ said Meabh.

  ‘Ask the queens!’ said Roisin. ‘They can’t lie, so if they don’t reply, well, that tells you it’s not just him, doesn’t it?’

  The Tuatha stood and looked at her and kept their silence. Meabh had a small smile playing about her lips and Maddy remembered something she had said.

  ‘There is a war coming, but it will come at a time of my choosing and when it benefits my court most.’

  ‘You’re not going to ask them, are you?’ said Roisin, her face crumpling with despair, a silent tear rolling down her cheek.

  ‘Fachtna, speak true,’ said Cernunnos. ‘When you travelled with these mortal children, did you find any evidence that any of the Tír na nÓg queens were involved in this?’

  Fachtna looked at Maddy for a moment and then back at Cernunnos. ‘None, my lord.’

  ‘Then I will not insult a queen regnant by asking her to answer a charge to a crime there is no reason to suspect she has committed,’ said Cernunnos.

  ‘Please,’ said Maddy, her voice breaking up with her tears. ‘I didn’t know what I was asking for.’

  ‘I told you that, child,’ said Cernunnos, ‘but you would not listen. Now someone else will have to pay the price for your pride and your hatred.’

  ‘This isn’t right!’ shouted Danny.

  ‘What is right and what is just are two completely different things,’ said Cernunnos. ‘Hold them!’

  Tuatha stepped forward from the ranks and walked over to Maddy, Danny and Roisin, pinning their arms against their sides. Fenris and Nero growled and snapped, while George cowered in confusion. Una smiled sadly and stroked Bang Bang’s face before walking over to stand beside Maddy.

  ‘You cannot stop what is coming,’ she said. ‘Be brave, a chuisle, and keep your eyes open when he dies. He deserves that from you.’

  ‘Bang Bang, run!’ screamed Roisin, as she twisted in the Tuatha guard’s arms. Bang Bang was clearly upset and confused as he looked about and then he started muttering and staring at his fingers as they twisted about each other.

  Tears streamed down Maddy’s face. ‘Please don’t do this,’ she called to Cernunnos. ‘Meabh … my queen, I beg you, protect him.’

  But Meabh just smiled at Maddy and ran her fingertips lightly over her ruby red lips.

  ‘As the unicorn is the purest creature on earth, the symbol of righteousness, let him avenge his mate,’ said Cernunnos.

  The unicorn stallion lowered his head and broke into a gallop, his horn pointing straight at Bang Bang. Bang Bang looked up at the sound of thundering hoofs, and at the sight of the unicorn a beatific smile broke over his face and he held out his arms just as the stallion’s horn collided with his chest. There was a dull thud and Bang Bang was thrown through the air, to lie still on his back, his open eyes gazing up at the night sky. The unicorn snorted and tossed his head, spattering the grass with beads of blood before returning to the mare’s side.

  All the feeling left Maddy’s legs and she slid to the ground, her eyes fixed on Bang Bang, as the Tuatha guard stepped away from her. She could hear Roisin screaming and Danny shouting as they ran toward Bang Bang. Stunned, she climbed to her feet and staggered over to join them. He was still breathing, his eyes shining with apparent joy as he said something over and over again. Maddy bent to put her ear to his lips while Roisin wept and pressed her jacket against his wound.

  ‘So beautiful,’ Bang Bang whispered. ‘So, so beautiful.’

  His eyes began to close and Maddy shook his shoulder. ‘Don’t go to sleep, Bang Bang. Keep talking to us!’

  ‘So tired …’ he whispered.

  ‘I know, Bang Bang, but you have to keep talking to me. You’ve got to stay awake just a little while longer,’ said Maddy.

  ‘Tell me a bedtime story,’ said Bang Bang. ‘A story full of white castles and pretty queens.’

  The tears were pouring silently down Maddy’s cheeks and she wiped her nose on her sleeve as her voice thickened. ‘I will, Bang Bang, I’ll tell you any story you like, but you have to promise to stay awake.’ George crept over to him and licked his face. Fenris and Nero padded over and looked down at the dying man, their eyes crinkled with distress.

  ‘Story …’ whispered Bang Bang, as his eyelids grew heavier and heavier. ‘I promise …’ His eyes closed as his breath faded and his head drooped to one side.

  ‘Bang Bang? Bang Bang, wake up!’ Maddy shook him hard by the shoulders, but Bang Bang’s head lolled on his neck. Roisin began to cry, huge, hitching sobs that sounded as if they were being torn from her chest. George whimpered, while Danny crouched in the grass, clutching handfuls of his hair in white-knuckled fists and staring at Bang Bang in horror.

  Maddy smelt wet leaves and rain carried on the breeze and looked up to find Meabh standing over her. The dimming glow told her the other courts were leaving, Bang Bang little more than litter left on the ground to them.

  ‘Why couldn’t Cernunnos have shown mercy?’ she asked.

  ‘Because you could not,’ said Meabh. ‘He swore an oath to you and he had to give you what you demanded.’

  ‘I never wanted this,’ she said, half blind with tears.

  ‘Yes, you did,’ said Meabh. ‘When you thought it was one of us, you did. All that hatred and rage inside of you wanted exactly this. You denied what is inside you, girl, so you were blind to what was guiding you. Those twin snakes whispered in your ear and you thought you were being moral and righteous. Tell m
e, hero, how does it feel now?’

  ‘Bad,’ Maddy whispered. ‘But you like the hate and the rage, don’t you? It’s why you tricked me.’

  ‘Aye, girl, I tricked you,’ said Meabh. ‘And now that I’ve collared you and leashed you I’ll stoke those fires in you. And when the time comes and I let loose the dogs of war, the Hound of Ireland will lead my pack, baying for blood.’

  ‘Never,’ said Maddy.

  Meabh tipped her head to one side and smiled. ‘We shall see, Feral Child. I have you for three years. Who knows what I can make you do in that time?’ She bent and pressed her lips to Maddy’s forehead. ‘I am your mother now and I will be seeing you again very, very soon.’

  A wind blew up from nowhere and Meabh disappeared in her whirlwind of fiery autumn leaves. Maddy became aware of Roisin pumping Bang Bang’s chest and counting. The last of the faeries must have left because Danny had a mobile signal. ‘Hello?’ she heard him say. ‘Granda, we need you to come get us. Something really bad has happened …’

  Maddy slumped to one side and gazed dry-eyed at the rising sun, wrapping her arms around George as, still whimpering, he cuddled into her chest.

  EPILOGUE

  The Sighted took Bang Bang’s body away. After all she had done, Maddy felt sick with shame when people touched her with gentle hands and told her with kind voices not to worry, that they would sort everything out. She wanted them to scream and shout and vilify her for what she had done. Bang Bang was dead and it was all her fault. She was going to have to live with that knowledge forever.

  Roisin had been led away sobbing, but Maddy thought she could hear Danny arguing with someone. She couldn’t be bothered to investigate. She just sat on the grass, clutching George to her chest like a favourite soft toy. Familiar feet stopped in front of her and a man crouched down to peer up into her face. Granda.