The Circle

by Cindy Cipriano

  “Laurel, I’m sorry,” said Calum. “We had no idea.”

  “No one does. You guys are the only ones I’ve ever told. Except for Mr. Girvan.”

  “Who’s he?” asked Calum.

  “A private investigator my parents hired to find Daniel,” said Laurel. “He sends them a report every month.” A full minute passed before she spoke again. “What did you call me, Hagen? Duine daonna? What does that mean?”

  “It’s Gaelic for human being,” Hagen grumbled.

  “He spends a lot of time in Ireland,” said Calum. “Sometimes his Irish side comes out.”

  “You all seem so normal, so nice. I just don’t understand it. How can you guys take someone’s kid?” demanded Laurel.

  “Our clans don’t,” Hagen said defensively.

  “But other clans do,” said Calum. “Well, did. It’s against the law now.”

  “How do they do it?” asked Laurel.

  “The circle you saw in the grass was made by Sidhe. It was a temporary threshold to their mound. If a human steps into the circle, they’re trapped. We call these humans Additions because they’re added to the clan.”

  “What’s going to happen now?” asked Laurel.

  “That depends on whether or not we can trust you to keep our secret,” said Hagen.

  “I’ll keep your secret,” said Laurel. She stared at Hagen, as if sizing him up. “For a price. I’ve searched for years for some explanation for Daniel’s disappearance. Now that I’ve got it, if you help me find Daniel, I’ll keep your secret.”

  “Sidhe don’t take kindly to threats from duine daonna,” said Hagen.

  Calum saw the anger flash in Hagen’s eyes. Easy, cousin.

  “So think of it as a deal instead. Are you in or out?” asked Laurel, sliding her pendant across her necklace.

  Calum stared at the Hobayeth mark. We need her help. Maybe that’s what happened to Finley.

  Maybe, thought Hagen. “I don’t like it, but I’m in.” He turned to Laurel. “But we’re in charge, and you’ll have to do what we say.”

  Laurel looked at him, puzzled. “What can I do? I’m not faerie.”

  “No, but your stone belongs to one,” said Hagen. “The small symbol is the mark of the Hobayeth. I’m guessing the other mark belongs to the Fairy Stone.”

  “Your stone might be a token, a key into their mound,” said Calum.

  “So take it.” Laurel reached to unfasten the chain.

  “We can’t take it,” Hagen said impatiently. “In order for a token to work properly, it can only be given away by a clan member. You’re not a Fairy Stone Sidhe. If you give the token away, it will lose its magic. If I take the token from you, it will disintegrate in my hand. That’s how the token is protected. And even if I had a token of my own, I still wouldn’t be able to rescue Daniel.”

  “Why not?” Calum raised an eyebrow.

  “Additions can only be claimed by a blood relative. So, we need your help, Laurel. Are you in or out?” Hagen asked abruptly.

  Laurel smiled a sad smile. “It’s been so long. After all these years. Sometimes I’ve been afraid I’d imagined the whole thing.” She wiped her eyes. “I mean, I never saw any proof your world existed, other than what I thought had happened to Daniel.”

  “I’ll bet you have seen proof.” Hagen’s tone softened. “Have you ever seen a bubble moving across a field that seemed to come from nowhere?”

  Laurel thought for a second. “Yes. I really have.”

  “A stray bubble is a piece of the Sidhe world that has spilled out. If you followed the bubble, you’d see it travels forever without bursting.”

  Laurel looked skeptical. “I’m sitting here listening to you, and at the same time it sounds crazy. Like it can’t be real, you know?”

  “It is real. And I can prove you have experience with our magic,” said Calum. He strode to the fireplace, retrieving the vase of Particulars. He pulled the honey-colored twig from the vase. “Do you remember what Kenzie said when you handed this to her?

  “Secrets,” said Laurel. “I’d tell one and learn one.”

  “After a prediction comes true, it appears at the bottom of the Particular with the name of the person the prediction was made for. Look here,” said Calum. “It says, Secrets. Laurel.”

  Laurel took the Particular from Calum and studied the words. “I told one and I learned one.” She turned the Particular over and over in her hands. “What’s all this at the top?” she asked. “It looks like squished up words.”

  “The Particular records every prediction it makes,” said Hagen. “Over time, the older predictions move to the tip. Here, I’ll show you.” He took the Particular from her. “Defluo.” Hagen tapped the bottom of the Particular on the ground. The letters at the tip spread out and flowed down, making the words at the bottom now impossible to read.

  Calum saw Laurel’s name carved in the middle of the Particular and leaned in to get a better look. Before he could read the words, they formed a pile of scribbles at the bottom.

  “So, are you in?” asked Hagen, more gently this time.

  “In,” said Laurel. “Definitely in.”

  “Me too,” said Calum.

  “Just what I need.” Hagen sighed. “A duine daonna and an untrained Sidhe stomping through the Otherworld looking for an Addition.”

  “But you will do it?” Laurel asked desperately.

  “Yeah,” said Hagen. “We’ll do it.”

  “You’ll do what?” Donnelly suddenly appeared in the doorway.

  Calum jumped at his uncle’s voice. “We’ll—”

  “Save it, Calum,” said Hagen. “They already know. You know they do.”

  Calum paused momentarily, calling his grandfather to him.

  “Uilleam is already here,” said Donnelly. “Kenzie called him. He’s waiting for you and Laurel in the leabharlann. Hagen, you come with me. We’re to get the bittersweets.”

  “The what?” asked Laurel.

  “Too many questions, duine daonna,” said Donnelly. “You already know more than you should.”

  Calum cast a glance at Hagen. Donnelly wouldn’t…he couldn’t take Laurel’s memory away. I won’t let him.

  “Anything you want to ask me, Calum?” asked Donnelly, raising one eyebrow.

  Calum shook his head, but he couldn’t shake his worries. Too late, he realized he hadn’t protected his thoughts and his uncle must have read them.

  “I think you’d better work on shutting that door,” said Donnelly. He walked out with Hagen, leaving Calum and Laurel in the game room.

  Chapter Eleven

  The Fairy Stone

  Calum led Laurel to the library, where he pointed to one of the ceramic tiles in the floor “The leabharlann’s down there.”

  “You’re kidding. We’re going through that?” asked Laurel.

  “It’s easy, watch.” Calum moved his hands in a sweeping motion. “Amplifico.”

  Nothing happened. Calum blushed deeply. He was so anxious to get Laurel away from Donnelly, he couldn’t focus. Got to get a grip on my nerves. He sucked in a deep breath and tried two more times before the tile stretched wider and taller, rising on its edge perpendicular to the floor. Calum and Laurel entered the passageway and walked down a winding staircase. Knowing Uilleam waited for them at the bottom of the stairs, Calum began to relax. “That’s the most interesting part of this room,” he said. “Everything else down here’s a snore fest.”

  An earthy smell filled Calum’s nostrils. Blackened sconces lined stone walls in a downward spiral, each with a tiny black candle that automatically lighted as they approached. They reached the leabharlann and followed a curved path between piles of books and unlabeled boxes to where Uilleam’s tall frame was bent over a heavy writing desk. Working by candlelight, his red hair shone like copper as he reviewed an aged catalog of clan artifacts.

  “Uilleam,” said Calum, relieved to see his grandfather’s face. “You’re going to help, right?” he asked, anxiously.r />
  “Windesco,” said Uilleam. “Before I can answer that, I need to know what’s going on.” He smiled and offered his right hand to Laurel. “I am Uilleam.”

  Laurel looked at Calum and mouthed, “Windesco?”

  “He always says that,” whispered Calum. “I don’t know why.”

  “It’s nice to meet you Uilleam.” Laurel shook his hand.

  “Please, sit down and tell me your words,” said Uilleam. Laurel sat on a leather ottoman and told him about Daniel. When she held up the pendant, Uilleam’s gaze locked onto it. “May I see that please?”

  Laurel raised the pendant toward Uilleam.

  “Hagen was right,” he said. “These are the marks of the Hobayeth and the Fairy Stone clans.”

  “The park rangers said these stones were easy to find,” said Laurel.

  “Some fairy stones are. But not ones like this,” said Uilleam. “I think I need to tell you about the Fairy Stone before we go on. They were a gentle clan, peace loving, nature loving. Years ago, the duine daonna petitioned the State of Virginia to develop several hundred acres of Fairy Stone Park. The faeries that lived in those woods scattered fairy stones by the thousands, hoping to convince the State of Virginia the park was a special and historical area that shouldn’t be disturbed. They succeeded. In fact, it’s one of the few times faeries have been able to halt the thinning of our world. Remind me to tell you about Stonehenge another time.” He smiled at her. “Your stone is similar to one of the fairy stones, but it’s actually a token used by that clan to enter their mound.”

  “So their threshold’s sealed?” asked Laurel.

  “You have been doing your homework,” said Uilleam. “Yes, it’s sealed. And you need their token to get in or out. I’m certain Daniel has been what the duine daonna call ‘pixie led’. That means he was tricked and added to their clan. You were given the token by someone whom we must assume is a part of that clan. The token is your invitation to visit their mound.”

  “That’s weird,” said Calum. “If a Sidhe betrayed his own clan like that, he’d get banished. Why would anyone do that?”

  “Why indeed?” asked Uilleam. “As you can think of no reason to betray your clan to a stranger, a strange duine daonna at that—no offense, Laurel—what does it mean?”

  “That whoever gave Laurel the token was not a member of the Fairy Stone clan,” said Calum. “But then, how would he have a token to give away?”

  “That’s a good question,” said Uilleam. “Another good question is why Laurel remembers anything at all? Why didn’t he clear her memory?”

  “Sidhe can do that?” asked Laurel.

  “We can and do,” said Uilleam. “Quite often.”

  Calum shivered, thinking of Donnelly waiting for them upstairs. “That Sidhe let Laurel keep her memory, and gave her the token because he wanted her to find Daniel.”

  “If Daniel’s in Fairy Stone, and I’ve been invited there, I want to go. Now.” Laurel jumped to her feet. “Please Calum, take me to their town.”

  “Sit down, child,” Uilleam said gently.

  Laurel stood firm, her arms folded across her chest.

  Calum stared at her. She’s pretty brave for a duine daonna.

  “When moral courage feels that it is in the right, there is no personal daring for which it is incapable. Leigh Hunt was a great duine daonna poet,” said Uilleam. He smiled at Laurel, but she didn’t budge. “I agree you must go to their mound to seek your brother. But there’s more for us to understand, and obviously much more for you to learn before you may go. Town, indeed.” He chuckled. “We live in mounds. Please, sit down.” This time Laurel obeyed. “I will go to Fairy Stone Park tonight and look for a threshold to the Fairy Stone Mound.”

  “What can I do?” asked Laurel.

  “More important is what you can’t do,” said Uilleam. “You can’t tell anyone about what you’ve learned. For one thing, who would believe you? And there’s no sense in concerning your parents. They’ve already lost one child. They don’t need to worry about losing you.”

  “I’ll do whatever you say, I just want Daniel home.”

  “I believe you,” said Uilleam.

  Calum relaxed. He knew Uilleam would protect her from Donnelly’s desire to erase her memory.

  “Tell me, Laurel, when did Daniel disappear?” asked Uilleam.

  “Almost seven years ago, during Memorial Day weekend,” said Laurel. “May twenty-seventh.”

  “Time is hurrying us,” said Uilleam. “We must retrieve Daniel before midnight on May twenty-seventh.”

  “Why before then?” asked Laurel.

  “If an Addition isn’t rescued within seven years, he’s stuck in the Otherworld forever,” said Uilleam. “Daniel will never leave because he’ll be convinced he never wants to.” He lifted his candle. “Let’s get back to the others. We need to get started.”

  Calum and Laurel followed him upstairs and to the kitchen where everyone else waited.

  “Do you have the bittersweet berries?” asked Uilleam.

  “Right here,” said Hagen, indicating a wooden bowl on the table. It was filled with orange berries, their golden husks hanging loosely at the tops.

  “Our secret is safe with Laurel,” Uilleam said to Donnelly.

  Donnelly didn’t speak but nodded his agreement.

  “I shouldn’t be long,” said Uilleam.

  “I’ll go with you,” said Donnelly. “This has something to do with the Hobayeth. You’ll need my help.”

  “You’re right. I do,” said Uilleam. “I need your help here.”

  Donnelly rose from the table. “You don’t understand, Uilleam. The Hobayeth are dangerous.”

  Uilleam’s eyes narrowed. “I understand better than you think. Which is why I want you to stay where you will be of more use. And don’t worry about me.” He raised an eyebrow. “I know how to handle the Hobayeth.”

  Donnelly let out a sigh, raising both palms in the air. “Fine. Have it your way, but we’ll be watching. If I see anything, I’m coming right away.”

  “Me too,” said Kenzie.

  “We all will,” said Tullia.

  “Agreed. It will be one big party,” said Uilleam. “But it won’t be necessary.” He turned and disappeared.

  Laurel gave a soft squeak.

  “He just went through the threshold,” Calum explained. “Like what’s in the polder.” He led Laurel to the table, where she sat down timidly.

  Kenzie gave Laurel a kind smile before pushing the bowl of bittersweet berries to the middle of the table. She put her hands on the wooden bowl, turning it halfway around left, right, and left again. When she let go, the berries spun furiously in a counterclockwise direction in the motionless bowl. An image of Uilleam rose inside the spinning berries. He stood at the entrance to Fairy Stone Park. Calum watched the scene play out before him as if he were watching a 3D movie. Two park rangers worked to secure the gate, seemingly unaware of him.

  Uilleam strolled down a man-made path deep into the woods. The path turned left and looped back to the park. He veered off the path and headed toward the right side of a large boulder. He ambled through the woods, stopping here and there to study the way the leaves moved in the light breeze or the direction in which branches were shaped on an old oak tree. He chuckled as the toe of his shoe nudged a rusty watering can.

  “That’s their post,” said Hagen.

  Calum looked at him curiously.

  “Something ordinary out of the ordinary,” Hagen explained. “It points to their threshold.”

  At that moment, Calum caught his breath when he saw a greasy blob of a man creep up behind Uilleam. The man’s rust-colored skin was covered in scars. Barbed wire held his hair in a long stringy ponytail. His shirt was loose, but his pants appeared tattooed to his skin. Both were covered in slime and filth.

  Uilleam did not turn around. “Say your words.”

  “I say my words?” replied the man, indignation in his tone. “You’re the one who sho
uld state your purpose, wandering around where you don’t belong.”

  Uilleam gathered himself to his full height and turned to face the man. “I am Uilleam Lindsey, and I belong wherever I wish to be.”

  This seemed to change the situation, for the other voice now spoke in a false friendly tone. “No harm meant, Uilleam. Please, call me Brownshire.” He offered his right hand, but Uilleam ignored it.

  “Why would I call you that?” asked Uilleam. “It’s clearly not your name. But I will learn your true name before we meet again.”

  Brownshire glared at Uilleam. “I am the Keeper of the Fairy Stone Mound. We sensed your presence. What do you seek?”

  “You are the Keeper? Forgive me, but that does not seem correct. My guess is you’ve stolen this role rather than earned it by birthright. Keeper is not usually given to someone who is only part Sidhe.” He looked the squat man up and down. “Where is the true Keeper?”

  Brownshire once again found his courage. “I’m the Keeper, like it or not. State your purpose or you will have to leave.”

  “You may leave if you wish,” Uilleam responded. “But I will leave only when I’m ready to do so.” He turned his back on the stubby man.

  Brownshire disappeared with a loud thunderclap.

  Uilleam continued searching the wood unbothered. A short time later he said, “I think that’s enough for now, daughter. I’ll see you soon.” He made a wide gesture with his hands and closed his fingers one at a time. The bittersweet berries fell back into the bowl and Calum and the others were left in silence.

  Twenty minutes later, Uilleam returned to the kitchen. Calum felt the tension leave his body when he realized his grandfather was safe.

  “It’s about time. We were getting worried,” said Kenzie, rising from the table.

  “There was no need, for as you can see I’m fine.” His green eyes met hers. “I found these.” He fished around his coat pocket and he handed Donnelly several stones. “They’re like the one Laurel has, but without the Hobayeth mark. I didn’t find tokens, nor did I expect to. No Sidhe would carelessly throw about their token.”