The Shamrogues

by Patrick Meehan

On Earth’s elements I can call…

  Next to Croga sat Sona, who smiled shyly before beginning thus:

  Caffa named me Sona,

  Creatures all to mind,

  Birds, fish and animals,

  He gave me all their kind…

  Mulligan slapped his knees as he was accustomed to doing. “I hope our two squirrel friends are taking note of all this,” he said. “Kang and Aroo, see how silly you’ve acted. Sona is here to protect you.” He shook his head and stared into the fire before winking to the last and furthest Shamrogue. “Your turn, eventually. You’ve been very patient.”

  The embers crackled and sent a shower of dazzling sparks roofwards. Then the little green Shamrogue piped up:

  Glic I am called,

  Youngest of our band,

  Taking care of every plant,

  That grows upon the land…

  He jumped to his feet on the top of the slab and bowed graciously before beginning a merry dance.

  Mulligan produced his harmonica and began to play a lilting tune that brought them all to their feet. Holding hands, the Shamrogues spun and cavorted to the strains of the haunting music.

  With whooping and excited cries, they danced until the sun outside began to sink and the night-time fullness of the moon began to light the sky. Then it was time to sit and talk some more.

  “I think we need to set our squirrels free from the holding spell,” Trom announced. “I do hope they’ll be quieter.”

  The Shamrogue leader strode to the two bemused animals. Aiming the tips of his fingers at Kang and Aroo, he muttered some inaudible words. The squirrels, although their eyes were already open, blinked several times and peered around. They were released at last.

  “Kang and Aroo,” Mulligan immediately called. “Both of you have some explaining to do. What have you to say about your awful behaviour?”

  They approached him, heads held low, and looked a most unhappy pair.

  “We decided to experiment with some food, having discovered a cluster of honey-yellow mushrooms growing on a tree stump,” Kang said, almost in a whisper.

  “Yes,” Aroo interrupted. “They looked so sweet and sticky and glistened in the sun. And we wanted to harvest some for our larder. But we needed to try some out first and decided to eat one or two before we brought a large stock back.”

  Now it was Kang’s turn to break in. “And they tasted delicious, and we ate the whole lot. We’re really sorry.”

  Gorum appeared to be very puzzled. The squirrels’ story made good sense, but did not explain their behaviour.

  “Why…?” he was about to ask. But Mulligan already knew what he was about to say. The big man raised an index finger. The Shamrogues listened eagerly.

  “Mushrooms,” Mulligan said, “are not suitable food for our squirrel friends. And eating so many obviously made them behave very strangely. But we should also remember that there are many types of very poisonous varieties of mushroom. Only the expert should ever attempt to try some. Kang and Aroo were foolish. I hope they’ve decided to stick to nuts and acorns in future. Up you come, little pals.” He held out his arms and they leaped from the ground to his shoulders, where they perched, evading the swinging plastic flies.

  Glic, who possessed a great knowledge of plants, desired to test Mulligan, who was at that moment putting a light to the storm lantern.

  Shadowy patterns danced on the cavern’s ceiling and walls, and wisps of smoke curled in the dim light.

  “I wasn’t aware mushrooms grew at this early stage of the year?” the wily green creature pretended as he tested their host.

  All attention was focused on Mulligan. His pearly smile reappeared in the mass of red beard and a knowing glint came into his eyes.

  “From what Kang and Aroo told me, I’d reckon that they found some Flammulina Velutipes. They’re one of the very few fungi, or mushroom, to survive the frosts. I sure do wish they had kept some, because they’re great in stew!”

  There was silence for a while as Glic stared wide-eyed at the big man. Then Sona pushed him and teased: “So you’re not such a know-all, it seems. Listen to the voice of knowledge and learn something for a change.”

  There was more laughter, but not at Mulligan. He was certainly turning out to be a most wise and mysterious person. What had brought such a man to this remote section of Coillduff Forest? After tea, by lantern light, it was only sensible to find out.

  Outside, the forest glowed in the blue-white light of the moon, and the night-foraging animals were out of their retreats and searching for food. By day or by night, the woodland never slept, and the hunters and the hunted were out in numbers. But the dangers were never as many as in daylight, and each and every creature knew what the risks were.

  Inside, the cave was warm, cosy and snug. The Shamrogues sat on the glistening slab, the squirrels were curled up on a woolen blanket, and Mulligan softly drew a tune from the harmonica. When he paused to rub the shining instrument in the palm of his hand, Trom asked curiously, “What has you living here in these great woods?”

  The big man with gentle ways and a kindly heart looked into the embers of the fire. He tugged at his long whiskers and thought about where to begin. His was a lengthy story, but for the present he would keep it short. Later, he could reveal so many more things about himself and his past.

  “Well, friends, I suppose I started out like any other young man. My head was filled with all types of wonderful dreams and ambitions, and I went out into the world to search for fame and fortune.”

  “Fame and fortune,” Glic said wistfully, and wriggled a little to make himself more comfortable.

  “Things didn’t exactly go that way,” Mulligan assured the tiny Shamrogue, grinning. “I tried all types of jobs, but none of them seemed to suit me. After some time, I found myself on the vast continent of Australia. In a few words, it was there I came in contact with a wonderful culture that finally appealed to me. So, for fifteen years, and deep in the centre of a place much more remote than this forest, I lived in isolation with my remarkable friends, the Australian Aborigines. They taught me how to travel through the world of dreams, and gave me insight into things I would not know otherwise.”

  “Almost like the powers that were given to us by Caffa and his druids!” Gorum surmised.

  “Something like that,” Mulligan agreed. “But then I experienced the call of my homeland. Ireland beckoned, and I could not but return. That had its problems too. For, having reached the city where I was originally born, I couldn’t get used to living amongst so many people after my isolated life with the Aborigines. So, here I am.” He lapsed into silence.

  Chapter Five

  Fly by Night

  Tiny, high-pitched squeaks could be heard coming from the passage at the rear of the cavern. Mulligan, roused from his thoughts, looked up.

  “Bilin’ Billabongs!” he exclaimed, getting to his feet. “I was forgettin’ all about the other inhabitants of me cave. They used to live in all sorts of hideouts in the woods, but now they hang suspended from the ceiling of me diggings out back…our web-fingered fliers of the night…the Pipistrelle Bats of Coillduff Forest!”

  “Ooooohhh!” the Shamrogues murmured. “Bats!”

  Mulligan went to the passageway and emitted a long shrill whistle. He was met with uneasy silence, and turned to the Shamrogues.

  “They’re the most timid of creatures and are shy about coming out,” Mulligan said. “They probably heard us talking, you see. I think they’re impatient to be on their way.” He pushed aside the screen.

  Trom stood and gazed wisely at Mulligan. “I have an idea of how we could entertain ourselves.”

  The big man smiled and rubbed his nose. “Well, OK, me little mate. Let’s talk to their leader Molag.”

  Sona stepped forward. “I’m sure I could persuade him.”

  “Molag is a female, and queen among her race,” Mulligan informed the Shamrogue. “Well, give it a go.”

  “Your Majesty,” Sona c
alled from the mouth of the passage in bat-talk. “May I come in and have a few words with you? I am very small and not the least bit scary.”

  “Sqik,” came the short reply, meaning “Yes”.

  Sona disappeared from sight and shortly returned on the back of the big-eared bat as it flitted into the cavern and suspended itself from the fabric of one of Mulligan’s sleeves.

  Trom addressed Queen Molag: “I know that I have only just met you. But I can assure you that we Shamrogues are of no threat to you or your followers.”

  Molag shook her leathery wings and drew them around herself. She spoke in a series of high-pitched squeaks: “There’s no need for you to educate me about yourselves. I’m afraid I had the audacity to listen and overhear everything you all had to say. I couldn’t help it. So tell me what you propose.”

  The other Shamrogues looked curiously at their leader. From the way his bushy eyebrows rose and fell, they knew he had a scheme in mind. The flame in the lantern flickered brighter, and the embers in the grate glowed more fiercely, as if to herald some unusual event.

  “I would like to suggest, with your permission of course, that we accompany you on your nightly flight.” And then, with a devious smile uncommon on the leader’s face, he added: “And, of course, I would also very much like…” – and here Trom hesitated before continuing – “to bring Mulligan with us.”

  There was a gasp from Kang and Aroo, who, feeling uneasy whenever the bats were close by, had hidden beneath one of the tables. They sat bolt upright with their furry ears pricked for sharper hearing. “How…?” they asked.

  Mulligan doubted the Shamrogue leader’s words also. “You’re joking, of course. I’ve seen Sona ride on Molag’s back. But it would take the strength of at least five hundred bats to carry me!”

  Gorum felt like speaking. He raised a hand as though in a classroom. Trom nodded. “It would probably even take the strength of thousands,” Gorum estimated. “But there are ways in which it can be accomplished. Believe me.”

  Mulligan laughed. “If you say so, cobber.”

  “Will you agree to take us?” Trom again asked Molag.

  “Why, of course,” the suspended bat replied. “If our friend Mulligan is in agreement with this idea, then we will oblige.”

  “Woweee!” Sona and Glic chorused.

  The squirrels chattered excitedly and looked as though they might start their boisterous play again, until they spotted Molag throwing a glance in their direction.

  “Don’t like the look of them hooky things on the ends of her wings,” Kang whispered.

  “No. Wouldn’t want to get them stuck in your fur, would you?” Aroo softly replied, and they settled back down under the table.

  “Right,” Trom commanded. “Into a circle and hold hands. You too please, Mulligan. Hold tightly!”

  The cavern began to glow with dazzling beams of white light that encircled the group. As Trom recited a magical incantation, the lights changed into the colours of the rainbow, and started to vibrate faster and faster. Meanwhile, the squirrels took fright and dived out of the cave, and Molag, who had been left hanging from a protruding rock on the wall, covered her eyes with her voluminous wings.

  By the flies that hang from Mulligan’s hat,

  That fail to buzz or fuss,

  Make him smaller by magic,

  Just the same as all of us…!

  The spell immediately took effect, and the rotating tube of colours began to slow down.

  Mulligan, who had kept his eyes jammed shut throughout the goings on, opened them. To his amazement he realised he had shrunk to the same size as Croga, the tallest of the Shamrogues. Then the rotating cylinder slowed to a standstill and simply dissolved. With a slightly dazed expression on his face, Mulligan craned his neck to look at the cavern roof far above.

  “Well banjax me boomerang, if that don’t take the biscuit,” he said. Only moments before, he could have reached up and easily touched the stone ceiling. “It seems as distant as the sky,” he added, squinting up.

  Kang and Aroo, both a little nervous, re-entered the cave. Molag uncovered her eyes. What they witnessed was hard to believe: the human was, in fact, the size of the Shamrogues.

  Mulligan stared at them. “Well, what now?” he asked.

  Trom gestured to Molag. “Call up our mounts, Your Majesty. Let’s fly by night!”

  Flying by bat can be a hair-raising experience, as Mulligan and the five Shamrogues quickly found out. They seemed to flit haphazardly through the crowns of the tall trees, and were astounded at how they managed to avoid obstacles when flying beneath the dark canopy. But still they swooped and swerved, and managed to hang on as the bats sped through the air.

  “Yaroooo! Forward!” Glic roared, waving a hand in the air.

  “Aaaaaaagh!” Gorum screamed as he grasped his mount about the neck. He was terrified by the height and speed at which they travelled.

  The full moon crept from behind some clouds and threw silver light over the fleeting landscape below.

  Mulligan’s bat avoided hitting a long-eared owl as it dived for a field mouse, and he almost fell off. But he roared with delight. “Some echolocation system my wonderful charger has!”

  Trom was elated with the total freedom of it all: the wind racing through his white hair, the cold night air and the beautiful star-studded sky.

  They headed for the coast, six shadows flitting across the moon.

  “Where is that?” Gorum called to Mulligan, while trying to stay attached to his bat. They hovered over sand and then water. There was a different smell here.

  “It’s the Irish sea,” Mulligan yelled back over the sound of breaking waves in the stillness of the night. “It stretches far beyond this. Further than the eye can see.”

  Sona, who sat astride Molag, called out: “That must be the wide salty water that TukTuk spoke of. It appears so lovely by moonlight.”

  “And danger lurks somewhere across its silver horizon,” Gorum thought.

  They circled and headed for home. “This certainly beats being stuck in our stuffy chamber,” Croga said. She had even picked up the knack of sitting between her bat’s wings with her arms folded.

  “No kiddin’,” Mulligan yelled back. “That’s if you don’t fall off your perch first.” He slapped his knee and laughed.

  “Whee!” Glic called as they soared through the forest and darted for the entrance to the cavern. “What a crazy way to see the sights.”

  “Yesssss!” Sona joined in. “It’s amazing!”

  Later, when the bats had retired to the rear of the cave, and Kang and Aroo were fast asleep, and Mulligan had been returned to his normal size, Trom spoke to the big man as he lay awake on his bed.

  “It was certainly fate that brought us here. But now I think we should all get some rest. We Shamrogues have had a great day.”

  “And tomorrow will be even better, my friend,” Mulligan promised. “And then I can show you the rest of me diggings. In fact, there’s so much I want to show you. But, that’s for another day. G’dnight… see you in the morning.”

  There was a ‘WHUFFF!’ and the cavern became dark as Mulligan quenched the lantern.

  Chapter Six

  Greedy Fools

  This morning was even more glorious than the previous one. The Shamrogues awoke at the same time as Kang and Aroo, their newfound squirrel friends.

  “SNRRRRRR…PHEWWWWW!” Mulligan snored, and twitched in his sleep. He lay stretched on his homemade bed, his feet sticking out over the end, his toes protruding through his threadbare socks. A deep rumbling sound came from within his heaving chest – “RRROGUESSSSS…… PHEWWWWW!”

  While Mulligan still slept, Sona thought it might not be a bad idea to get to know the creatures with the bushy tails. Yesterday had been a mistake as far as they were concerned. She went to them as they sat grooming and teasing their furry coats. Bright eyed, they greeted her with open smiles.

  “He’s always the same after too much night
air,” Kang said, referring to Mulligan.

  “And too much of that tea he drinks as well,” Aroo added. “It makes him dream all sorts of incredible things to tell us about when he wakes up.”

  “That’s why she loves the mornings so much,” Kang informed Sona. But there was only one word that Sona heard in the last remark.

  “She?” the pink Shamrogue inquired. “I’m afraid I hadn’t realised. It’s so foolish of me.”

  Aroo lowered her head and spoke bashfully. “Although we’re from completely different backgrounds, and our own kind are inclined to…well, disapprove, Kang and I are engaged!”

  Sona looked at both of them. “Well, I never!” was all she could say.

  “We understand,” the squirrels chimed. “Nobody ever thinks of us being a match for one another.”

  “But you are,” Sona said. “You really are!”

  Mulligan stirred and yawned before swinging his feet over the side of the bed and onto the floor. He ruffled his beard and then looked at the palms and backs of his hands. “Ah,” he said. “At least I’m my usual size. Such dreams as I’ve been having all night about our trip to the sea with the bats. It’s still very hard to believe that I could have shrunk like that. But now it’s time for some breakfast, and then a short guided tour of one of my favourite places, the diggings at the rear of my cave.”

  The Shamrogues were amazed at the array of food that comprised the big man’s first meal of the day. There were boiled roots of wild parsnip, silverweed and large evening primrose. Then there were the leaves of wild strawberry and dandelion, and even red deadnettle. All this was washed down by a coffee substitute of dried dandelion root.

  “Remember,” Mulligan advised. “Never try anything gowing out there that you’re remotely unsure of – it could be poisonous!”

  Later, he led the five creatures through the passageway to the cave, as he had promised. Holding the storm lantern aloft, he showed them the massive hollow he had discovered beneath the hill. The place was cold and silent but for the sound of an occasional droplet of water that fell from the limestone formations protruding from the glistening ceiling.