Chapter 2: Two Months Later
Days had turned to weeks, weeks had become months, and Paddy and Seamus were still living in the village. The boys had followed the rules and honored their pledge to respect the privacy of the other residents of the village. This didn't stop them from wondering what their neighbors had done to be outcast in the first place. It was, after all, natural to wonder about such things.
Despite their wondering, Paddy and Seamus found life in Damanta Mallaithe to be pretty good for the folk who lived there. They enjoyed living in the village and they liked several the other residents. The young Leprechauns had reasons of their own for not wanting to talk about their past and they had been pleased to learn that the rules of the village protected their privacy as much as anyone else's.
Before arriving at the village, Paddy and Seamus had learnt that being an outcast and a reject was a very lonely prospect. The boys had been exiled from their own village, and had been told to move on from all the other villages they had visited. But when they looked at their neighbors in Damanta Mallaithe and knew that they too were unwanted, it gave them a feeling of belonging, and forged a unique bond that came from their shared unhappiness.
It was now two full months since Paddy and Seamus had arrived at the village. The boys were up early, as usual, and were heading out the door of their hut for their morning walk. This particular morning was special to the two friends. Paddy and Seamus were sharing their 16th birthdays.
Paddy paused after closing the door to their hut and spoke a few words while holding the doorknob. He gave the doorknob a twist, when it refused to budge, he grinned, the smile spreading easily over his youthful sun tanned face. He turned away from the door flicking his long, darkly-streaked hair off his face.
Seamus was standing in an open spot a few feet away enjoying the new morning’s sunshine. He absent-mindedly waved a hand in front of his face, shooing away a bothersome bug that kept diving into his short sandy hair. His bright blue eyes crossed slightly, as the bug dived and bounced off his slightly crooked nose.
Paddy laughed at the sight of Seamus slapping at his lightly freckled face, as he tried to wave away the annoying bug. Seamus’s nose was already bent slightly to the right, having been broken as the result of a misadventure when he and Seamus were younger. The same misadventure, Paddy reflected, was the cause of his own strangely streaked hair coloring and almost obsidian black eyes.
Paddy strode forward, his hand flicked out catching the dive-bombing bug, as it made another dive into Seamus’s hair. He casually threw the bug into a near by bush. “Come on Seamus, no time to be playing with your friends,” he chuckled.
Seamus frowned and then laughed good-naturedly with Paddy, appreciating how amusing his battle with the bug must have looked. Side by side they stepped away from their home and walked at a quick pace through the trees that surrounded their hut. As they walked, Paddy and Seamus chatted quietly, speaking to each other with the ease that comes from a long-standing friendship.
“Later today we must finish repairing the boots for the Snerglers,” Paddy reminded Seamus. “Remember they said they would have something special for us if we got the boots back to them today.”
“Aye, and they said if we did a good job on the boots they would have other repair work for us,” Seamus said.
The two boys had been learning cobbling skills before being forced to leave their home. They hadn't completed their apprenticeship, but they had been close to finishing, and their teacher had been impressed with their skills. When the villagers of Damanta Mallaithe had learned what Paddy and Seamus could do with shoes and boots, they had queued up to get their damaged footwear repaired. The boys now had a solid line of work repairing and making shoes, and this provided them with a means of trading with the other villagers.
Paddy and Seamus made their way quietly through the village, not wanting to disturb anyone. As they passed Mr. Elf’s Adventurer’s Supplies, they caught a whiff of deliciously fresh baked goods coming from the back of the shop.
“Smells like the Aelf has been to Frosty's bakery for his breakfast,” Paddy said, with a grin, as they rounded the corner of the adventurer’s supply shop.
Seamus took a deep sniff and nodded. “We should stop in at Frosty’s on the way back from our walk and get some fresh bread.”
Paddy and Seamus headed towards the eastern edge of the village. As they started up the hill that led away from the village, Glute slithered out onto the path in front of them. Her skin rippled and pulsed, as she turned to face the Leprechauns. “Good morning youngsters,” the greeting sounded quietly in Paddy’s and Seamus’s thoughts.
“Good morning to you, Respected Mother,” Paddy and Seamus thought back. “How fare your younglings this morning?”
“They are well, but hungry, as usual. I am going to dig out some breakfast for them,” she said.
Paddy and Seamus shivered involuntarily. Since arriving at the village, the boys had found out that Heebee Geebees were an unusual and feared creature. They secreted a highly poisonous slime that put their victims in a comatose state, before they killed them. The slug creatures would bury their victim and wait for it to ripen before eating it. They had learnt that Heebee Geebees were not fussy about what they ate either. Any creature showing disrespect or rudeness was usually a good candidate for a quick slime coating and a rapid burial in a slug tunnel.
Glute had lived in Damanta Mallaithe for longer than anyone else and was the head of the village council. She had a cocoon of six young slugs to provide for. If she was going to get some breakfast for her young, it meant that something had been killed and stored in a tunnel to ripen.
Glute slithered forward leaving a glistening trail behind her. Half of her six-foot long body rose off the ground, her murky, yellow eyes blinking slowly. “Be careful when you are out and about boys. There have been some strange comings and goings around the village.” The thoughts wafted gently into Paddy’s and Seamus’s minds. “And there have been a few bodies turning up. Still, I can’t complain. If someone wants to go leaving food lying around, it saves me the effort of having to hunt.”
“We’ll be extra careful, Respected Mother, and thank you for the warning,” Paddy thought back at the slug.
With that, the slug turned, slithered across the path and into the bushes.
“What in the name of The She would cause a Heebee Geebee to be cast out?” Seamus whispered, to Paddy.
“Stop it; she’ll hear you,” Paddy whispered back. “We certainly don’t want to offend her; you know what happens to those who offend a Heebee Geebee.”
Seamus shivered and then thought very loudly, “No disrespect intended, Respected Mother.”
“None taken.” Glute’s thought was tinged with a hint of satisfied amusement.
“Come on then, let’s be about it,” Paddy said, carefully stepping over the slug’s trail.
Seamus followed Paddy and they strode purposefully up the hill side by side. “You know this is the first birthday we've had without O'Shanna,” he said, sadly. O'Shanna was the boys’ care mother and they loved her deeply. She had been heartbroken when the boys were forced to leave their village. O'Shanna had given the Leprechaun village elders a strong earful, but had been unable to change the outcome.
Paddy and Seamus could never forget the day that they had been cast out of the village that they had lived in for the whole of their short lives. The village elders of the Leprechaun community had summoned them to a council meeting and had strongly suggested it was time for them to leave.
This turn of events had not surprised Paddy or Seamus in the least. In fact, they had been expecting something like it to happen. This had not been the beginning of their troubles. The two boy’s problems had started years earlier.
⚔
Flashback (9 years ago, on Paddy’s and Seamus’s 7th Birthday)
Paddy and Seamus were at home alone. They sat together at the small table in the living room of the small three-room house they shared with their ca
re mother. The boys were playing a game of boxes, entertaining themselves, while O’Shanna was preparing something special for their supper.
It was early in the evening and the sun had just gone down. The door to the house opened and a pleasant looking, tidily dressed Leprechaun woman bustled into the room.
Paddy looked up from the game with a welcoming smile on his face. “O’Shanna?”
“Yes, Paddy?” she asked, as she moved to the table and put down the brown bag she was carrying.
“Thank you for today,” Paddy said, affectionately.
Seamus looked up from where he had been studying the game. “The waterhole was wonderful today. The water was just right for swimming in.”
“You’re welcome, boys. I hope you enjoyed your birthday. The waterhole was my favorite place to go when I was your age,” O’Shanna said, warmly.
“Was it the same back then?” Paddy asked.
“What, way back when I turned seven?” O’Shanna teased.
“Well I don’t know about the ‘way back’ bit, but did you really go there on your seventh birthday?” Seamus asked.
“Yes, I did,” O’Shanna said, happily, “and to answer your question, Paddy, yes, it is much the same now, as it was then. Most Leprechauns don’t like to swim, so very few people go there, and it has had no reason to change.”
“That makes it even more special,” Paddy said, getting up from the table. He threw his arms around O’Shanna and gave her a hug. “We’re really lucky to have you as our care mother.”
O’Shanna returned the hug and ran one hand through Paddy’s sandy brown hair. “Speaking of luck, I have a present for each of you.” Reaching over, she pulled something out of the bag she had put on the table.
“What is it, O’Shanna?” Seamus asked, eagerly.
O’Shanna placed a rolled up green cloth on the table and unrolled it gently. The cloth opened to reveal two identical gold shamrocks on delicate gold chains. “These are special four leaf clover shamrocks that have been preserved in gold leaf,” O’Shanna informed them.
“They’re beautiful,” breathed Paddy.
O’Shanna smiled. “The four-leaf clover is very special to the Leprechaun people. Each leaf represents something. The first leaf is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth leaf is for luck.”
O’Shanna handed each of the boys one of the chain-held shamrocks and took great pleasure in watching them examine the gifts.
Paddy and Seamus were thrilled; their sun browned faces flushed with excitement. They had never been given such a fine gift before and they marveled at the delicate and exquisite detail of the shamrocks.
Paddy suddenly looked worried. “O’Shanna, these must have cost a lot. We can’t really keep them.”
“Now don’t worry about that,” O’Shanna said, with a cheeky smile. “Us Leprechauns have ways of getting gold, you know.”
Paddy and Seamus chuckled.
“Here, let me put them around your necks,” O’Shanna said.
The boys obediently lined up in front of their care mother.
O’Shanna gazed into the expectant faces of the boys and leaned forward to put the first chain around Paddy’s neck. “Whatever may come, remember, there is always hope.”
The chain slid over Paddy’s shoulder-length hair and settled on his shoulders, with the shamrock resting on his chest.
“Have faith in yourselves and be true to your hearts,” O’Shanna said, as she picked up the second chain and turned to Seamus. “Love your people, the land and The She,” she intoned, as the chain slid over Seamus’s head.
Standing back from the boys she examined them standing there with the shamrocks hanging from their necks. “And when you need it most, may luck find you and work in your favor.”
The two beaming boys moved as one, throwing their arms around O’Shanna, smothering her in hugs.
“This has been the best birthday ever,” Seamus said, bursting with emotion.
“Good!” O’Shanna replied, wiping a small tear from the corner of her eye. “Now, help yourself to the other treats in the bag, while I get ready.”
“What do you need to get ready for?” Paddy asked.
“When I was out getting the treats I saw Arianne. She told me there’s a village council meeting tonight and I need to attend.”
“What’s that all about then?” Seamus asked, while rummaging through the treat bag.
“Oh it’s probably nothing special,” O’Shanna replied. “If the council want to change something in the village they need to have a certain number of villagers present to get it approved.”
“Sounds pretty dull to me,” Paddy said, faking a yawn. “Have you got time to tell us a story before you go?”
“Yes, we have time for a short story.”
O’Shanna settled herself into her chair and proceeded to tell the boys one of their favorite stories about the times when the Aelfin were still active in the land.
The boys enjoyed the treats while O’Shanna retold the tale about the mad dwarf who challenged a whole Aelfin village to battle, because they had made fun of his cousin. When she had finished the story, the boys made ready for sleep and went to their beds.
O’Shanna stuck her head into the boys’ room. “The council meeting won’t go on for too long,” she said. “I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Goodnight, O’Shanna,” both boys said, at the same time.
“Goodnight, boys,” O’Shanna replied, warmly. She watched them in their beds for a moment, with a smile on her face, then turned and quietly left the house, making her way to the council meeting.
Paddy and Seamus were like other children their age in that they were curious about the affairs of grown-ups. Soon after their care mother had left they rose quietly, slipped on their day clothes and boots and snuck out. The pair of young Leprechauns made their way through the darkness, taking a path that led out and around the village. They certainly didn’t want to be caught out and about when they were supposed to be sleeping.
The boys arrived at a copse of trees, just beyond the council meeting hut, in time to see the village’s headman enter the hut. Sharing a quick mischievous grin, the two boys tiptoed silently to the back wall of the meeting hut and settled down to listen. Paddy and Seamus could hear the voices of the occupants clearly through the wall of the hut.
The first voice they heard was that of Merle, the headman of the Leprechaun village. “All right, this is an unpleasant business, so let’s get right to the matter. O’Shanna, those two that you’re caring for are causing great concern in the village.”
O’Shanna responded calmly, but firmly. “They are just children, Merle. There’s no harm in them,”
Another voice intruded rudely. “They are not normal! There’s something not right about them, I tell you!”
“Now, now, Theresa,” Merle said calmingly.
“Don’t you ‘now, now’ me, Merle Hagen!” snorted Theresa. “I will say what everyone else is thinking. Those two look exactly alike. That, in itself, is strange, but if you use your Leprechaun perceptions you can see they don’t just look alike, they are exactly the same!”
Paddy and Seamus examined each other in the dim light outside the rear wall of the meeting hut. They both wore shocked and hurt expressions on their young faces. They’d had no idea that the council meeting was to be about them.
Theresa continued. “They have the same energy and aura. For the love of The She, they even smell the same!”
Following this statement there was a moment of silence. That silence was broken by their care mother’s sobs. “For pity’s sake,” she cried, “they’re just children.”
“O’Shanna, please,” Merles voice sounded sad.
“No! Don’t you dare, don’t any of you dare!” Now O’Shanna’s voice was strong and determined. “Those boys were given into my care as newborns. I love them, as if they were my own.”
“It’s not your love that we’re questioning, O’Shan
na,” Theresa said. “On top of their other strangeness, they’re failing to learn some of the simplest Leprechaun magic. Yet they can do things that no other Leprechauns can. How is it that they always know where the other one is? And why, when one gets hurt, does the other also feel the pain?”
O’Shanna responded to Theresa with strong contempt in her voice. “Yes, they are different, but that doesn’t make them bad. They have done nothing wrong!”
A new voice, that of Bannion, the village protector, spoke next. “People talk, O’Shanna. News spreads. And when news of those two spreads it will bring nothing but harm to us and ours.”
O’Shanna didn’t miss a beat. “You should all be ashamed of yourselves!” she scolded. “It is our way to protect and care for the young. While I live, I will allow no harm to come to the children.”
Paddy and Seamus felt a simultaneous welling of love and pride for their care mother.
Merle began speaking quietly and the boys had to listen carefully to hear his words. “Help us to understand, O’Shanna. Just tell us what they are.”
A heavy silence hung for a moment, and then Paddy and Seamus heard O’Shanna’s voice. “They are brothers.”
Paddy and Seamus squinted at each other through the darkness and something inside them clicked. Where each had been happy as friends, they now understood their deeper bond. Where they had always thought that they had no real family, they now truly belonged to each other. Brothers!
“Abominations!” Theresa’s voice was shrill. “The She will have no mercy with us for harboring such as them.”
“Now you’re just being ridiculous, Theresa,” came the voice of Arianne, the village healer. “The She is the nurturer of all living things. We will have no trouble from The She over providing for the wellbeing of children.”
O’Shanna drew an audible breath. “Thank you, Arianne.”
Paddy and Seamus had heard enough. They knew that if Arianne was prepared to speak for them, then their care mother would be fine. They nodded to one another and made to move away from the hut.
Merle’s voice stopped them dead in their tracks.
“Where did they really come from, then?” Merle asked. “That story about you finding them abandoned in different places was never very convincing.”
Paddy and Seamus froze where they were. This might get even more interesting they thought.
“Nudge brought them to me,” O’Shanna replied.
“Nudge the Gatherer?” Arianne asked.
“Yes, Arianne,” O’Shanna confirmed. “He appeared in the wee hours of the morning banging on my door. When I opened the door, he thrust the babies at me and said, ‘These are the most precious gifts this world has ever seen. Keep them safe for me and tell no one where they came from. I’ll be back soon.’”
“And?” Theresa asked, now very interested.
“And then he disappeared. One minute he was there and then he simply vanished right before my eyes. I never saw him again. I waited and waited and hoped he’d return, but he never did. After a while, I stopped hoping. And then I fell in love with the babies and didn’t want him to come back for them.”
“Oh, O’Shanna, why didn’t you say something?” Arianne asked compassionately.
Paddy and Seamus moved as one and crept stealthily away from the meeting hut. They were sure that they had heard everything that was important and that they needed to hurry to get back to the hut they shared with O’Shanna. They desperately wanted to talk about what they had just overheard, but they knew that once Arianne took a stand, the rest of the village would do as they were told. O’Shanna would be on her way home soon and they needed to be in their beds when she got there.
Paddy and Seamus slipped into their hut, changed back into their nightclothes and snuggled down into their bed sheets. They whispered excitedly to one another about what had been said and they made plans for their future.
Now they were aware of how the Leprechaun community felt about their differences, they would be very careful not to bring attention to themselves.
A short time later, they heard O’Shanna return to the hut, and they pretended to be asleep. O’Shanna looked in on the still forms of the two boys. She could tell by the nature of their breathing that they weren’t asleep. She smiled to herself and went to her own bed.