Cave of Secrets by Morgan Llywelyn

small appetite, but my father never lets her want for anything.’
    ‘He is not a sprissaun , then,’ Muiris said in a low voice, almost as if he were talking to himself.
    ‘What is a sprissaun ?’
    ‘A person of no value,’ the man replied.
    ‘That does not apply to my father,’ said Tom. ‘My father …’ the boy struggled to find the right words. He was not used to defending William Flynn. ‘My father does his best.’
    ‘Which is all a man can do,’ Muiris told him. ‘Now we must talk about you, Tomás, and the possibility of working with us.’ Donal’s father smiled then, though not with his lips. The smile was in his eyes. ‘Did my son explain what we do?’
    ‘He said you make your living from the sea. At first I thought he meant you were sailors. I liked the idea of being a sailor. Then I realised my mistake. In some way your work involves caves as well as ships.’
    Muiris did not agree or disagree. ‘The ships that travel around our coast carry ore and timber and salt,’ he said evenly. ‘How do you connect that to caves?’
    ‘Ships can carry wine, too,’ replied the boy. ‘And even giant teeth, according to Donal.’
    Muiris grinned unexpectedly, his whole face lighting up. ‘My son has a vivid imagination. And you have a clever head, Tomás. You already have put some of the pieces together. You see, King Charles is a greedy man. He has placed huge customs duties on goods brought into Ireland. His tax collectors meet cargo vessels at the dock. But suppose part of a shipment is offloaded at night before the ships reach port?’
    Tom’s stomach did a back flip. ‘You are pirates!’
    ‘Not a bit of it, lad. We are smugglers, which is a safer job of work. I have a wife and children to think of, and no smuggler has yet been hanged in Ireland.’
    ‘But … I thought … are there any pirates around here?’
    ‘Indeed there are, lad; Turks and Algerians and others as well. Wherever you find the sea you find pirates. One of the greatest Gaelic families used to be the terror of the southern coast. My own sept, however, is too small for–’
    ‘Sept?’
    ‘A sept is a branch of a much larger clan,’ Muiris explained. ‘Our sept has only a few men now, we lost some to fever and some to the sea. Because of the pirates, English warships patrol the shipping routes these days. Most merchantmen are supplied with matchlocks and pistols. We avoid such problems by making a business arrangement ahead of time.’
    Tom was both frightened and intrigued. As usual, curiosity won out. ‘What sort of arrangement?’
    ‘Nothing that need concern you, Tomás,’ Muiris replied.‘Are you certain you want to do this?’
    Tom knew he could walk away. He did not understand why Muiris was willing to let him join them at all. But he did not want to walk away. Nothing so thrilling had ever happened to him before. ‘I am certain,’ he said.
    ‘If I should summon you at night, could you come to this cove?’
    ‘After I go to bed they forget about me. I can sneak out without being seen, any time I want. But how will you summon me?’
    ‘Your house has only a few small windows on the side nearest the bay. There is one with solid timber shutters near the corner of the second storey.’
    ‘That’s my bed-chamber! How do you know about it?’
    ‘From that window you should be able to see a signal light,’ Muiris continued without answering Tom’s question. ‘If we need you, there will be two flashes of light shortly after sundown. As soon as you see them, count to five. Then you will see three more. That means come down to the beach as soon as you can. A boat will be waiting for you.’
    A boat will be waiting for you. Tom hugged himself with excitement. He had never been in a boat.
    Muiris said, ‘A cargo vessel will drop anchor at a prearranged place in the bay. We – you and my other men – will row out to meet it.’
    My other men!
    ‘We will load goods from the ship into our boat while the captain