I absently plucked bits of clover and grass as we digested the information, which was all fascinating to me. For years Mom and Dad said, “We’ll tell you everything someday when it’s time.” They loathed speaking of the Fae and their realm.
“Do you guys know anything about McKale and that Freaky Fae Girl?” Cassidy asked. “The Shoe Mistress?”
My stomach clenched at the mention. Leilah and Rachelle shared a grimace.
“You can tell us,” I said.
“It’s all rumor, of course.” Leilah lowered her voice. “Some say the Shoe Mistress has sneaked into the earthly realm alone… to see him.”
Again my stomach spasmed, and I curled an arm around my waist. “Wouldn’t everyone know if she opened the portal?”
“No’ necessarily,” Rachelle squeaked. “She could bribe their doorman and open the tiniest crack, which could only be felt by people standing nearby at the moment of the opening. If she snuck in during the night there would be no one around…”
I gritted my teeth together at the thought of her gliding unsuspectingly into McKale’s room whenever she got the urge.
“Well, they obviously haven’t done the diddy or he’d be brainwashed,” Cassidy blurted. “Right?”
“Really, Cass?” I shot her a look and Rachelle covered her face to hide a scandalized expression.
Leilah continued unfazed. “If you mean what I think, he’s definitely not given his full self or she’d have taken him over to Faerie for keeps. That’s the only way humans are accepted over there: as property.”
“I don’t understand why she has to sneak,” Cassidy said. “Can’t Faeries do whatever they want, anytime they want? Why does she care what the Leprechauns think?”
“Oh, no,” Rachelle piped in. “It’s no’ because of the Chaun that she sneaks. It’s the Fae who would no’ accept her extended interest in a human. They think of us as working dogs. She’d be shunned by her own kind, she would.” The little woman nodded her head vigorously, curls bouncing on her round shoulders. “And besides, Lady Martineth and the Summer King would be naught too happy to find she’s taken to the Chaun’s ‘last hope.’”
Cassidy’s sickened expression mirrored mine. This did not bode well. I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Thank goodness for my sister who knew me so well. She cleared her throat.
“Well, we’re not going to worry about her right now. What do you know about the Clourichaun?”
“Crazy Clours,” Leilah said with amusement, picking a clover bloom and fiddling with it. I ran my hands over the clovers as Leilah told us the story.
“They’ve always been a rowdy bunch who drink far too much. Some say it’s ‘cause they’re mostly average-sized blokes with no control. No offense.” She stopped to look at Cassidy and me, but we just shrugged it off. She smiled, relieved. “The Clour share this land. They’re on the other side of the forest, and they used to share shoe-making responsibilities. Too often they were behind on orders, and the Leprechaun had to step in and do their work for ‘em in a rush like. Besides that, the Clour were leaving the lands and being careless around humans. Especially females. They’d been warned by the Fae, which was lucky because they’re no’ usually the type to waste time on warnings.
“About two hundred years ago one of the Clour impregnated a nearby farmer’s daughter. It certainly wasn’t the first time, but the Chaun had become good at hiding incidents of their kin’s indiscretions. Ye can only imagine the surprise humans experience when they discover their child can do magic! It was terrible business, switching babies and the like. This one particular time was being dealt with when the portal opened a day early and the Faeries discovered what had happened. It was the last straw. The Fae cursed their bloodlines into extinction.”
“Why didn’t they just take away their magic?” Cassidy asked.
“The magic is so deep in them. To pull it out would require a lot of Fae energy, and t’would make the Clour lose their minds, but the Fae wanted them to live and suffer.”
They didn’t seem to be suffering much to me. But maybe it was all for show. It was kind of sad to think of them watching their family die one by one with nothing but shame to show for it.
We all plucked at the clover for a minute until Leilah spoke.
“Have ye seen the waterfall yet?”
“No, we haven’t seen much of anything,” I answered.
The girls had to get back to work, but they explained how to get to the waterfall. We thanked them and shared a round of hugs with our new friends before going our separate ways.
It was a serene fifteen-minute walk uphill through the edge of the forest, but Leilah had been right. A light path made from frequent footsteps made it easy to find. We heard the rush of water minutes before we saw it.
By the time we came to the gorgeous sight, we were both sweating lightly from the hike and the warm summer air. Down a little farther was a small rocky cliff with the waterfall.
“Wow,” I said. We jogged up to the marshy edge of the fattened stream. Clear water ran crisply over smooth rocks. Some parts looked as shallow as one foot, while other darkened pools closer to the waterfall looked deep. I kicked off my flip-flops and walked into the shallow water. It was warmer than I expected. I sighed and let my head fall back, looking up at the canopy of shading trees overhead and taking in a deep breath of air.
“This is awesome!” Cassidy said. “Let’s walk down to the waterfall and go swimming!”
“Um, hello, no bathing suits,” I pointed out.
“Um, hello,” she said, pulling her shirt over her head and wiggling out of the pajama pants, then standing there smiling in her white bra and pink polka-dotted panties. “It’s just us! Everyone’s working, come on!”
I peered around at the trees for a moment, and then, like usual, I did what Cassidy wanted. I stripped down and piled my clothes neatly next to hers, and then chased her as she ran up the bank. We were lighthearted and breathless by the time we got to the waterfall. Holding hands, we stepped into the shallow edge and walked further in until we were treading water at least seven or eight feet deep.
As always, Cassidy’s idea was exhilarating. We splashed each other, swimming and flipping under the water. We swam to the falls and let the water rush over our heads, joking about how this is where we should come for our morning showers. Then we floated on our backs until the sun was high in the mid-day sky.
“We should probably get back so Mom and Dad don’t worry,” I said after a long while.
Cassidy sighed and agreed. We climbed onto the stream bank and squeezed water from our hair. Cass’s bra was lightly padded, so she bent over and squeezed it by hugging herself. Water gushed out of her cleavage and she chortled like a goof.
A rustling in the trees made us go still. I stared around us for a whole minute with my arms over my chest before shaking my head.
“The wind,” I said, but now I was anxious to get dressed.
We walked back down the length of the stream toward our clothes, shaking our limbs and feeling much more positive about our stay here now that we’d found this spot.
We’d been walking for a while before we both stopped, exchanging confused looks. I scanned up and down the marshy, bright green grass.
“Where are our clothes?” I asked.
“I don’t think we were this far down the stream,” Cassidy answered. “Look, the path is back there.” We started walking back up. Our clothes were nowhere in sight. Foreboding filled me.
“Did we put them closer to the trees, up there maybe?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No, they were definitely here in the grass.”
“Do you think an animal took them?”
“What kind of wild animal would take all of our clothes?”
“A smart and talented one?”
“Haha,” I said.
“Well, it can’t be a person because we would have noticed anyone walking around out here,” Cass responded. “Or anything big, at least.”
Anything big. Oh, crap.
“The Clourichaun!” we both said at the same time, and Cassidy threw her head back with hilarity at the possible practical joke.
“It’s not funny,” I said, which made her laugh even harder. I looked down at my satiny black bra and matching panties, which thankfully covered my whole bottom. But they clung to my every contour, and I really did not want to be seen like this. Cassidy darted around peeking behind tree trunks.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” she sang.
“Let’s break up,” I suggested. “You look upstream by the falls. I’ll look around down here.” She agreed and bounded away as if we were playing hide-and-seek.
I crossed my arms over my chest and walked into the trees, standing very still and listening for movement. After a full minute I heard the faintest sound of a high-pitched chuckle. I swung my head to the right where the sound came from. I saw nothing.
“I know you’re there,” I said, feeling foolish. “You may as well come out.”
Another minute passed and then, like a blur, a foot-high man darted out of the trees toward the grass. I took off after him, sprinting. I don’t think he expected the speed of my long strides because he grunted in surprise when I dove on my stomach and snatched him around his middle. I held him tight, careful not to squash him into my chest. I lifted him close to my face as I lay on my stomach, propping up on my elbows. He wiggled furiously like a worm and I recognized the brown curls.
“Rock, you little jerk! Where are our clothes?”
“Aargh! You’re squeezing the life outta me bits and pieces!” he cried.
I did not loosen my hold.
“If you don’t tell me where my clothes are I’m going to crush your tiny bits and pieces.”
A sudden burst of magic caught me in the chest and violently forced my hands apart. I blinked, and found myself unsteady, sprawled on top of full-grown Rock, who lay back on the grass with his hands behind his head, giving me a lazy grin.
“What’s that ye were saying about tiny?” he asked.
“Oh! You perv!” I struggled to roll off of him, but he grabbed me around the waist, chuckling. When I pushed him he grabbed my wrists instead.
So, funny guy wanted to wrestle, huh? No problem. All of my athletic skills surfaced and I twisted my arms hard toward his thumbs, breaking his hold on my wrists. We were sitting up now and I swiftly brought my legs up between us, giving him a kangaroo-kick to the chest that sent him backward before I swung my legs under myself and crouched, ready. Rock was still laughing in between spurts of coughing as he rolled around, clutching his chest.
“Blimey, what the blazes?” The voice came from the trees.
I glanced up and saw a flash of red hair. McKale stood there staring back and forth between the two of us. Oh, no. This probably looked bad.
Cassidy’s soft footfalls came running up the bank. “You found him! And I found these.” She held up our clothes, out of breath but happy, and then looked over where I kept glancing. “Oh, hey, McKale!”
He sputtered something incoherent and covered his eyes to shield against her near-nakedness.
“Rock stole our clothes when we were swimming!” I pointed to the rascal Clourichaun, who was still on the ground, enjoying the view. McKale lowered the hand from his eyes and glared hard at his friend.
“And aren’t ye glad I did, Kale, m’boy?” Rock nodded his head toward me.
McKale’s eyes traveled over to mine, and then slid slowly downward, landing with an abrupt halt on my boobs. He looked like a child who’d just accidentally discovered his Christmas gift. I allowed him two more seconds of gawking before crossing my arms and breaking the spell. I wanted to be flattered, but I was too busy being angry.
I stomped to Cassidy and began pulling my clothes on. She and Rock were making silly eyes at one another.
“Get your clothes on,” I told her.
“Would you relax? It’s the same as a bathing suit.” She cocked her hip in defiance and Rock cocked an eyebrow.
“Now,” I said to her. She sighed and begrudgingly began pulling on her clothes.
Without looking back at Cassidy and Rock, I headed toward the path where McKale stood. He took up silent residence beside me as I speed-walked. It took five minutes for me to slow down and relax.
“Sorry about Rock,” McKale said. “Bit of a gobshite, that one.”
“You don’t have to apologize for him. He’s annoying, but I know he’s harmless.”
“Eh, mostly. Yer sister should still take heed. Rock is like a brother to me, but he’s unpredictable an’ self-serving.”
“Cass doesn’t heed warnings very well. Not when she’s got her mind made up about something.”
“Perhaps they’ll enjoy one another, then.”
He glanced over at me as we walked, and I felt the warmth of him. I looked away, feeling self-conscious as I remembered his heated look at my chest earlier. We walked in silence for a few minutes.
“Do you have any brothers?” I asked. He didn’t answer right away.
“Nay. I’m the only child from my father’s binding to survive.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. How about your mother? Is she here?” I knew the answer the moment the question left my mouth. If she were here, I obviously would have met her.
“They believe something tore internally during my birth and she bled for days before passing. I was too large for her.”
“Oh, McKale,” I said softly. Again with his size.
On impulse, I reached over and took his hand, twining our fingers together. The feel of it must have taken him by surprise because his steps faltered a second. From the corner of my eye I caught him peering down at our hands. My heart was beating way too fast. I’d never held hands with a boy.
I cleared my throat. “Are you on a break from work right now?”
“Aye. Mid-day meal. Leilah saw me and told me she’d sent ye to the falls.”
We walked in silence, holding hands the rest of the way until the thick forest opened up into the bright clearing and we stopped.
“I must return to work,” he said. I heard reluctance there, and it made me smile shyly. I watched his eyes explore my face. In the sunlight the hazel colors were a mix of sea green and light caramel.
Just then an obnoxious kissy noise sounded from behind us, followed by excessive girly cackling. McKale and I broke apart, turning to see Cassidy and Rock coming up the path.
“That was mean!” Cassidy gave Rock a shove. His dark curls bounced around his face and he started tickling her ribs. As they carried on, McKale and I caught each other’s eyes again.
“I guess I’ll see you tonight,” I told him.
He tilted his head down toward me and I melted a little when he replied, “’Til then.”
I TOOK A LONG NAP back in our room while Cassidy found our parents and took them to the falls. I wondered if they’d had the pleasure of meeting Rock yet.
Doubtful.
Several hours later I dragged myself from the soft bed, still groggy. I’d been more tired than I thought. Sounds of people talking and moving came from outside, so it must have been near the end of the workday.
I brushed my hair and teeth. Using the makeshift restroom was not the most enjoyable experience of my life. There were just some things about village life I didn’t think I’d ever get used to.
Cheers sounded from the field as I left my room. I walked out to find a friendly game of what appeared to be soccer. Yes! I looked around for McKale, but he hadn’t come down from work. Joy filled me as I found my family and stood with them, watching the game. The ball was well-crafted brown leather that had been stuffed and stitched firm.
Unlike the version of soccer I knew, they were allowed to touch the ball if it was in the air—a swipe of the hand to knock it down and keep it in play. But it still involved dribbling the ball by foot, passing, and kicking it into a goal, which was made
of rock pillars. I was itching to get in on the action, so when the players broke for water, Cassidy and I approached the leader. He was young, like McKale, with only a small bit of blond facial hair.
“Excuse me, sir?”
He looked up, wiping his brow with a cloth.
“Robyn, isn’t it? The name’s Keefe. What can I do for ye?”
“Hi, Keefe. Um, my sister and I were wondering if we might be able to play?”
His eyebrows went up in surprise and he didn’t answer.
“I mean, unless you think we’re at an unfair advantage because of our height,” I added.
He chuckled, clearly amused and further surprised. “Please don’t take offense, miss, but ‘tis not your height that worries me. I fear ye are the one at a disadvantage because yer…”
He waved his hands up and down at me.
Huh? I’m what?
“A lass!” he sputtered.
What the crap? Okay, this gender thing was getting old. Cass planted both hands on her hips and gave me the stink eye as if to say, “Are you going to let him get away with that?”
I kept my face calm, while petting the hackles on my inner-feminist. She’d actually been a good sport about everything up until that moment. Now all I wanted was a chance to make him eat those words. Cassidy and I shared a conspiratorial smile.
“Where we come from girls play, too,” I told him. “Many of the girls are as good as the men.”
“Or better,” Cass added.
Keefe was plainly trying to hold back a condescending smile. A small crowd of sweaty players gathered around us.
“Just for fun, give us a chance. Please,” I begged. “We promise not to be upset by the outcome. We can be on different teams to make it fair. You just have to make us one promise.”
“Oh, yeah?” Keefe asked, setting his hands on his hips. “And wha’s that?”
“Not to go easy on us because we’re girls.” I grinned and the whole group of little guys cracked up laughing. Keefe grabbed his waist, apparently getting a stitch in his side.
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