The Librarian's Treasure

by Katherine H Brown

  ***

  Minutes after hearing the bang of the large library doors shutting, Drake knelt and picked up the papers that Raegan had discarded.

  Snoring from the corner told him that Evie had fallen asleep. No doubt she had experienced more excitement that day than perhaps the rest of the century. Drake tucked the velvet pouch back into its box and placed them on the desk. He carried the papers with him to one of the many reading areas in the main library, far enough away where he could look over them without disturbing Evie but close enough to hear if she became startled again and called out.

  Raegan would be back sometime. He would wait for her. Maybe by then, he would be able to help her make sense of her new property. He couldn’t help but be a little thrilled. If she owned a castle in Ireland, she would want to see it. Who wouldn’t? Maybe, just maybe, it was what he finally needed to get her to travel back with him.

  12.

  C ome on,” Raegan implored. “You can’t be serious. You don’t think me owning a castle in Ireland is a little far-fetched? Or this…this…League of Leprechauns, whoever they are, being interested in me is crazy?” She sat in the kitchen of Lorcan’s pub, pouring out the whole story between bites of shepherd’s pie. Stress eating had seemed the best course of action, especially since her growling stomach reminded her that she’d skipped lunch.

  “A bit sudden, maybe. Something of a surprise, sure. But I must tell you, lass, I had my suspicions that your da’ was one of the wee folks, I did I tell you.” Lorcan shook a big meaty finger at her. “And not just because he was short. No, had a funny way of talking, he did. Loved a good joke. And always a blessing on his lips. Never a bad thing to say. He had this way about him.” Lorcan stood a moment, smiling into the distance, clearly remembering.

  Raegan couldn’t take it. “You think my father was a leprechaun,” she spluttered. “But aren’t leprechauns supposed to hoard gold? And make shoes? My dad owned a library! He never cobbled a shoe in the twelve years I knew him.”

  “Now, now. Nothing to be upset over.” Lorcan patted her shoulder. “Whether he was or he weren’t doesn’t matter much. The fact of the matter is that your da’ made sure you were heir to your ma’s castle. That means he trusted you to take care of it. So, what are you going to do?”

  Raegan pushed mashed potatoes around grumpily with her fork. “Trusted me to take care of it but didn’t think it important enough to mention. Hmph!” She took a bite.

  “Maybe he planned to tell you when you were older,” Joan spoke softly. She had remained quiet for most of the discussion. “Maybe he simply ran out of time.”

  Tears burned the back of Raegan’s eyes. She wished her dad was there. She wanted to ask him about his past, about the castle, about all of it.

  “Maybe you’re right.” Raegan carried her empty plate to the sink. She gave them both a hug. “I promise to think about it and to let you know if I decide to go see the castle or to meet with the League.”

  “We are here for you.” Joan hugged her back.

  Lorcan grinned. “You’ll do the right thing. You’re like your da’ in that.”

  13.

  W hat do you mean you’ve never been on a boat before?” Drake watched as Raegan fidgeted with the picnic basket from Lorcan in her hands and stared warily at the ferry as they made their way toward it.

  “There wasn’t any reason to.” Raegan shrugged. “Besides, in books, many people love boats but just as many people get seasick, or even shipwrecked.”

  Drake shook his head. “There is more to life than books, you know.”

  “There is also more life in books than most people will ever know in their single lifetime,” Raegan countered.

  When their turn came, Drake saw Raegan hesitate. He held out his hand, and warmth stirred through him as she took it. They stepped on together, him tugging her forward around the milling people.

  “Where are we going?”

  “You’ll see.” The ferry began moving, and Raegan clutched his hand tighter. Drake continued to lead her to the front of the small boat. “Here we are,” he said, coming to a stop at the railing. In front of them lay only water.

  Raegan set the picnic basket by her feet, carefully placing her backpack on top, and dropped his hand to clutch the rail. “Is this safe? Shouldn’t we go find somewhere to sit down?”

  Drake chuckled. “Relax. Just look.”

  ***

  Raegan took a deep breath. As she looked out over the expanse of sea, the most magical thing happened. “Are those dolphins?” she gasped. She watched as the two beautiful creatures jumped and squeaked, seeming to beg the ferry to come and play. She laughed at their antics, her fingers uncurling from the rail.

  From the corner of her eye, she noticed her backpack moving around. She retrieved it, sticking a few fingers into the largest pocket. Unfortunately, that was not enough comfort for Nessa, and she let out a loud meow. As Drake turned in surprise, Raegan felt her cheeks heat up.

  “I had to bring her!” she defended before he could say a word. “It isn’t fair to leave the library up to Evie, even with Joan volunteering to help out, and also expect them to care for Nessa.”

  Drake rolled his eyes.

  Eventually, the dolphins ceased their antics and disappeared from sight. The rest of the ferry ride passed pleasantly if uneventfully. She and Drake did find a bench outside so she could continue to enjoy the sights, and as they made their journey to Ireland, they discussed the papers again.

  “It’s so hard to believe that Dún Castle was in my mother’s family for generations.” With the deed, her dad had enclosed a long letter explaining that her mother had been cut off from her family for marrying him. However, with no other heirs, the family home and surrounding land had remained her mother’s, even in her absence. Before she died, her mother willed everything to Raegan. It seemed Raegan’s dad had made certain to see to it that everything transferred properly. The only thing that was left was for Raegan to actually claim the castle—she couldn’t think of it as her home yet—and file the papers with the proper authorities in County Galway.

  What would it be like to walk into the home where her mother had lived? Would she feel the connection, the presence of her mother, that she’d never had before? Would it be warm and welcoming? Or terrible and cold, invoking thoughts of her mother being shunned and disowned by her family? The letter from her father explained that her grandfather had never willed the castle to another person as he’d threatened, but let it pass to her mother instead. Why hadn’t he ever made peace with her mother, then? Sighing for the umpteenth time, Raegan tried to shove aside all of her doubts and anxieties.

  She decided to focus on the practical, the next steps.

  Raegan stroked Nessa, the kitten purring contentedly in her lap. “Where will we go when we arrive in Ireland?”

  “We’ll take a bus from Dublin to Galway. From there, a smaller bus line will take us the rest of the way to Glas, the town where my pub is at. I need to check in, and you can rest a bit before we make the last short leg of the journey by foot to Kilvarleigh, the village where Dún Castle is located.” Drake stretched. “The ferry is the longest part of the journey. Speaking of long, it is long past time to bring out whatever smells so heavenly from the basket, wouldn’t you say?”

  Handing Nessa to Drake, Raegan obliged. She opened the basket and rummaged around, naming off foods as she unpacked them. “Here we are. Grilled chicken. Soda bread. Hummus. Carrot sticks. And two miniature apple tarts.” Spread out between them on the bench, the food looked like a veritable feast, and Raegan felt the first stab of homesickness slice through her. Lorcan, for all his blessings and well wishes, had shed a few tears of his own that morning as she bid him and Joan farewell at the library. They’d insisted on bringing over food for the ferry ride, even though that meant seeing them off from the library before daybreak. She’d laughed, telling them she would return in no time, but in truth she didn’t know how long dealing with the castle, plus possibly me
eting the surreptitious League of Leprechauns, might take. She missed her surrogate family dearly already.

  “What is this fuzzball going to eat?” Drake asked, snapping her free of her thoughts as he thrust Nessa back at her. A cat person he evidently was not.

  “I’ll share my chicken with her. If I make it small enough, I’m sure she’ll do fine.” They ate in silence, the only sound that of the water lapping against the sides of the ferry and the gulls crying overhead. Nessa enjoyed the chicken, perhaps a little too much. Raegan struggled to keep the kitten from swatting her own bites from her hand. Finally, she took the ribbon out of her hair and made a makeshift leash, tying Nessa to one leg of the bench and placing plenty of tiny bites within her reach.

  “So, why were you so eager to swoop into a different country and convince a stranger to go to Ireland?” She asked one of the many questions that had cropped up since she learned the real reason that he’d come to the library what felt like ages before.

  14.

  D rake tore off another chunk of soda bread, chewing slowly while he considered. “Truth?”

  “That would be my preference from now on,” Raegan said wryly.

  Drake nodded. “Because I was well on my way to becoming a drunk, swaying somewhere between depressed and mad at the world. And I was broke. My father was a gambling man, only he never met a bet he could win. When he died, he left me the pub because he’d already lost the house. Truth be told, the pub was about to go under, too. I was angry at him for leaving such a mess of things and angry at myself for missing him so much while I was mad at him.”

  Raegan simply listened, so he continued.

  “The night the four men from the League came in, I was in bad shape. I quit my job days earlier, in no shape to help others when I couldn’t help myself. I’d just had a barstool busted over my head hours before by an idiot starting fights in the pub. I’d drank a whole bottle of Irish whiskey, and I was tired. Tired of the way my life was going.” Drake shrugged. “When they showed up with their fantastic tale and their odd quirks and tricks, I was curious and amused. And I couldn’t remember the last time that I’d felt either of those things.”

  Raegan nodded. “I understand.”

  “The bag of gold they pushed under my nose next, well, that is a horse of a different color.” Drake leaned back and stretched out his legs, folding his arms behind his head. “It was enough to save the pub, pay back most of the debts, and even make some improvements. We were in need of new barstools, if you’ll recall.”

  Raegan laughed, and Drake suddenly wanted nothing more than to make her laugh again. The thought took him by surprise. To cover his discomfort, he straightened and pulled off another chunk of bread to eat. “Tell me more about you. It must have been interesting growing up with Lorcan and Joan.”

  “Interesting is a good word for it, though I was almost a teen by the time I began living with them. I knew them, of course. A fast friend of my dad’s, Lorcan was always around. He met Joan when I was little. I can’t remember exactly when.” Raegan considered. “Joan was as quiet as Lorcan was loud, but she was always there with a kind word, a bandage, or a warm hug. When I started doing badly in school after my dad passed, she simply took up teaching me at home, and I never went back.”

  “She’s English, not Irish, am I correct?”

  “Yes, that’s right.” Raegan smiled. “She tried to introduce me to some nice young men for a time, but most of them were appalled to find that I spent all of my time with my nose in a book.”

  Drake’s chest constricted at the thought of Raegan dating, or even being snubbed and overlooked when dating. He decided to change the subject again. “What do you like to read?”

  “Everything. My favorites would be adventure stories or love conquers all stories. My parents were truly in love. You could still see it in my father’s eyes when he talked about my mother twelve years after she’d been gone. Evidently, they gave up everything for each other—their lives, their families, their country.” Raegan sighed. “Love isn’t worth having if it isn’t worth everything, you know?”

  Nessa, out of chicken and out of patience, meowed and clawed at Raegan’s shoe. Saved by the cat, Drake thought. He bent and put a bit more chicken on the ground for the feisty feline and then started packing up their leftovers.

  The remaining few hours of the ferry trip, Raegan and Drake stuck to lighter topics. As the afternoon sun burned hot overhead, Raegan drifted off to sleep.

  ***

  Raegan blinked slowly as she tried to remember where she was. She felt warm and snug, but it was so bright. There was no way she was home in her bed. Something shifted behind her.

  Definitely not her bed. Her bed did not shift.

  Raegan bolted upright as she realized she’d fallen asleep leaning against Drake. She straightened her rumpled appearance and patted her hair but forgot all about how she looked when she faced Drake. Her heart melted just a little to see sweet Nessa curled up around his neck, fast asleep. The smallest smile tugged at her lips. She and Nessa would turn him into a cat person yet.

  Two short blasts of the ferry horn signaled they were approaching port. Unfortunately, they also signaled the end of Nessa’s peaceful nap. The kitten sank its claws into Drake’s shoulder and hissed madly before leaping down his arm and onto Raegan’s lap.

  “I’m so sorry!” Raegan apologized.

  Drake brushed off her concern. “It’s fine. Let’s get to the front of the line to disembark.” He picked up the picnic basket and swung her backpack over his shoulder with his own.

  Raegan followed him, quietly chastising Nessa along the way.

  15.

  A t the port, Drake led Raegan to a bus stop where they took a complimentary connecting line to the main bus station. The hustle and bustle of the station took Raegan by surprise. Not to mention, it was so much busier than anywhere she’d ever been. She found herself people-watching instead of paying attention and twice nearly tripped over her own feet. Nessa didn’t help matters at all, alternately digging her claws into Raegan’s shirt or trying to jump down to investigate something.

  “Are you coming?”

  Raegan detached Nessa’s tiny, sharp claws from her arm and nodded. “Yes. Right behind you.” She hurried to get in line with Drake as he bought them tickets to Galway Station. “How long is our bus ride?”

  “A little over two hours.” Drake set the bags and picnic basket down in front of the ticket window so he could reach his wallet. “Nothing compared to spending all day on the ferry.”

  “Oh, okay.” Raegan scanned the station. Everything was a novelty. The noise of buses pulling in or out every few minutes, people yelling, the smells of smoke and perfumes. Her senses were going crazy.

  “Raegan. Rae!”

  Jolted, Raegan looked up to find that Drake was across the room and holding the door open to her expectantly. Raegan, tightening her grip on Nessa, skirted in and out of people and joined him outside.

  “Well?”

  “Well, what?” Raegan asked.

  Drake gestured to the buses, the people, the luggage stacked everywhere they looked. “What do you think?”

  “It’s so much busier than I expected,” Raegan admitted. She spun in a slow circle, taking it all in. A bus honked nearby, making her jump. A toddler began screaming and crying as his mother carried him toward the bus. “And louder,” she frowned.

  “Don’t worry,” Drake said. “The village where we’re going is quiet. Almost completely quiet, unless you count the occasional bleat of a sheep or squabbling of some well-meaning farmers about the best direction to lay out the rows of crops in the fields.”

  Across the street from the bus station was a pub and next door to that a haberdashery. Down the row of buildings, a hat store stood out, along with a flower shop. Of course, such shops were common in England as well. Raegan shouldn’t have been so excited about it all, but she was. It was her very own adventure, and nervous as she might be, she determined to enjoy every
bit of it.

  There were similarities to home, as well, mostly in the faces of passersby. Everyone looked busy. Few stopped to greet one another, instead bustling along to their destination in quick, efficient strides. In no time at all, Drake tapped her on the shoulder and said that their bus had arrived.

  Drake stowed their belongings below the seats and was dozing against the window before the bus even left the station. Raegan watched him guiltily. Maybe if she hadn’t slept and left him to deal with Nessa on the ferry, he would have caught some rest earlier. With Drake asleep and blocking most of the window, she ran out of distractions, and her thoughts quickly grew nervous again. What would she find in Kivarleigh? What was she supposed to do with a castle? And how in the world did the League think she was going to save the village? According to Drake, they hadn’t even said what it needed saving from.

  Unable to still her restless thoughts, Raegan turned to the one thing that always calmed her mind: reading. Careful not to let go of Nessa with one hand, she rustled around beneath the seats until she came up with her backpack. From it, she pulled out one of many books she had brought about Ireland. That one happened to be about Irish fairy tales and legends. She lost herself in whimsical descriptions of fairies and sprites and shuddered at the thought of meeting an Abhartach, or Irish vampire.

  By the time they reached Galway, she had completely read through the legends, delving into the next book detailing the history of Ireland. A bit drier reading, to be sure, but at least it didn’t contain the stuff that nightmares were made of.

  The loud brake and shuddering stop of the bus roused Drake from his long nap.

  Rae smiled over at him. “We’ve made it to Galway, I guess.”