Heir of Earth (Forgotten Gods) (7 page)

“You mean to tell me that you really believe in…
that
? And you feed them? Rose, that’s just insane.” I shook my head afraid Rose was starting to lose her grip on reality just a little bit. Fairytales were for little girls, not grown women.

“Oh, calm down! I’m not crazy!” She laughed at herself, and at me, patting my hand reassuringly. “It’s part of our Irish heritage. We’re a very superstitious people, you know.” Her face pinched into a pucker as she collected her thoughts, clearly never having had to explain this to an outsider before. “Its tradition, especially in this area, that you put a little bit of food out on your doorstep at night. That way if there is a hungry
traveler
passing by, they will eat the food outside and not come in your house. The Sidhe can be very dangerous if you get in their way. We do what we can to be sure our paths don’t cross.” She nodded in a solemn way, the wary look on her face telling me that even if it was superstition, people around here believed it.

It seemed like the lights dimmed for a moment and the wind bellowed a lonely howl outside. I jumped to attention when the sound of the metal plate scratching against the porch floor whispered under the door. Goosebumps prickled my body, but I refused to believe such things, forcing a disbelieving laugh from my throat when I really wanted to hide behind Rose.

“So, you do this every night. And is the food always gone?” The tickle of creepy crawly chills grabbed onto my back and slithered up my neck. I scrunched my shoulders to my ears and shook it away.

“Always,” Rose said in a sinister tone, giving me a spooky look before erupting into laughter. “I dare say poor Cinder is fatter than she should be! No doubt that cat waits in the bushes every night for that plate to hit the porch floor!” Rose said between laughs. “I wish you could have seen your face!”

I shook my head and looked across the room at the little sitting area around the fireplace, somewhat embarrassed Rose had made me question my sensibilities so easily. “But, there is some truth to that story, right? I read in that tourist magazine that Clonlea was a city of the Fai- um, I mean,
Sidhe
?” I asked, being sure to get the proper terminology down. Though it was more for Rose’s sake then the ears of any supernatural creatures that might have been lurking within earshot.

“Oh, yes. So they say. But who are
they
? Clonlea’s been around since before the world was made. The city was established long before the official town records start. Don’t even know when most of the buildings were built, including this very house. See that staircase? That is an entire tree trunk, set at an angle with steps carved into the side of it. I still to this day have never seen a tree that looks like that growing in the wild, but plenty of the houses in Clonlea have that same staircase. I think that was probably some old variety of oak that was all used up in building Clonlea.” Rose paused for a moment to refill her teacup. I took the teapot from her hand and began making her tea for her.

“Go on.” I tried to say it as casually as possible, hoping she thought I was being nice and not because I was so wrapped up in her story I didn’t want her to stop. Rose fought the smug grin trying to spread across her face.

“People like to speculate that the fair folk did it. Probably because they can’t think of any way other than magic that could have built such beauty so long ago. The land itself around Clonlea is the most beautiful in all of Ireland. Fair people are attracted to fair things, so the association was made over the years that it had to be the magic of the fair people who built such a beautiful city in such beautiful surroundings. A story like that helped so much with tourism, no one ever bothered to find out the truth.”

“Do you believe it?” I asked.

“Oh, life’s a lot more fun if you allow yourself to indulge in fantasy every now and then.” Rose’s eyes glazed over a bit, and I could tell she was reaching way back in her memory.

“When I was a little girl, I would venture out into the woods and search for the fair people whenever I got mad at my parents. I would call to them and beg them to come and take me away to their land. In my mind, it was a beautiful world where all you had to do was close your eyes and think about what you wanted and
POOF
it would appear.” A smile spread across her face and she lingered for a moment in her thoughts before she continued.

“I remember thinking that the first thing I would wish for would be a pink pony with a braided purple mane,” Rose rested her head in her hand and looked down into her teacup with a wistful smile as she thought about her childhood dreams that had never come true.

“Then later, when I was about your age, I had my heart broken for the first time. I would dream about the stories from my childhood. Every day, I waited for a prince from the land of the good people to fall in love with me and take me back to live with him forever. Of course, that never happened. But in my mind, those fantasies helped me escape what was really happening enough to get through it.” Rose looked down at the teacup in her hand again, a slight blush pinking her cheeks as she realized how much she had shared. Then she let out a sigh and leaned back in her chair, smiling as she cocked her head to one side.

“So, they’re magic?” I asked.

“Oh, yes. Magic of every kind, and beauty beyond what our eyes can imagine.” She leaned forward in her chair, excitement dancing in her eyes as she told me about the imaginary friends that had shared her childhood. “They live in a secret world created by their magic that is nothing but genteel perfection. When the first humans arrived in Ireland ages ago they brought with them the cruel realities of our world. It was too much for the delicate senses of the Sidhe, so they created their own realm, and retreated from the harshness of our world. They still come back from time to time, because they get bored or because they need to feed on a human soul.”

“What? So they’re like vampires?” I asked, choking on my tea.

“Gracious, no! They don’t kill anyone. They just take a little bit of the strength out of a human soul, the younger the better. Good thing I don’t have anything to worry about...but you on the other hand.” She looked at me with another one of her spooky ghost story looks.

“You’re not scaring me,” I said shaking my head defiantly and giving a little laugh. “I quit believing in fairy tales a long time ago.” My life was too far away from a Disney movie to believe life could be that perfect. “You, on the other hand, should probably watch what you say. They say Alzheimer’s starts with delusional ramblings…” I hinted sarcastically.

“Oh, hush! I’m not that old yet!” she said with fake offense. “Besides, I only believe it because I want to. Life can get pretty boring sometimes. It gives me a little escape when I need it. It’s amazing how much the thought of something else, something other than this boring world being a possibility, can cheer a girl up,” Rose winked at me. “You’d better guard that pretty blonde hair of yours. It would do you no good to make the fair ladies jealous of you now.”

“Rose, you’re crazy!” I smiled at her across the table and recognized something familiar in her eyes. It was the same twinkle that had shined in my own mother’s eyes years ago, before my handicap had surfaced and stolen her normal child. It warmed me to my soul to see that look of love in Rose’s eyes, but it made me utterly homesick, too.

I laid in bed that night
, wiping tears that filled my eyes and rolled sideways into my hair. Despite how right things felt when I was with Rose and Phin, I still doubted that I had made the right decision, coming to Ireland. Rose and Phin couldn’t have more royally welcomed me, but I still couldn’t fight the homesickness that churned in my stomach and ached in my heart. I had never been this far away from home and even though my life was certainly nothing worth missing…I did.

I remembered Rose’s little trick. Escaping to a world of fantasy for a minute when the real world gets too real. I closed my eyes and of course he was the first thing that came to my mind.

I saw him again, dazzling green eyes, standing on top of his chair, well above the crush of the crowd at his feet, looking like a king keeping a watchful eye on the royal subjects below. It was amazing how easily everything in my world had slipped away the moment his eyes met mine. I wasn’t thinking about the knot of homesickness in my stomach or the nerves wringing the rest of my insides. I didn’t think about anything but him.

How could a single moment feel like a lifetime? And why was it that the thought of him made my body feel like it was about to explode? It was a funny feeling, like a million butterflies were flapping their wings inside me, tickling my stomach until I thought I might puke… or maybe pass out. I had never fantasized about any of the boys at my school. I knew that was a waste of time in my old life. But now it didn’t matter. I was starting over this summer, and falling in love with somebody like Dayne seemed the perfect place to start.

My fantasy picked up too easily where reality left off. Our eyes met, but in my dream he knew me. He descended from his perch on the chair, his smile widening at the sight of me. The crowd parted into a straight line that ended at my feet. In two quick strides, he was by my side and took my hand.

“Faye,” he said. My name had never sounded more beautiful falling from anyone’s lips before. Every thought in my brain washed away, and I felt the irrational obsession of my first crush settle heavily into my bones. It was bliss and torture to be filled so full with the only thing I wanted and having nothing but an imagination to satisfy my longing.

With my eyes closed I tried to recall every detail of him. Slowly, as if by magic, he walked out of my dreams and was lying beside me. My pillow became his strong chest and the blankets wrapped around me were his arms holding me closely until sleep found me.

My body completely relaxed and I sunk even deeper into the feather bed. The stresses of travel and homesickness faded from me, and a sleep took over my weary brain that was too deep to be bothered by dreams.

“Wake up, sleepy head! Don’t want to be late for your first day of work!” Rose’s voice reached my door seconds before her gently knock tapped on other side.

For a moment I had forgotten where I was, so it was weird to hear Rose’s voice. As I struggled to pull myself from dreaming to waking, the two worlds collided and a black and white image of a poster nailed to a light pole lingered in my mind. Centered on the paper was a fuzzy picture of a girl, with the word “Missing” across the top in big letters and an Irish phone number scrawled below. It was too blurry to make out anything more than that.

I sat up in bed, grabbing my head between my hands and shaking it furiously back and forth—the way I always did when one of the images crept in.

Get out of my head, stupid Irish stranger!
I thought, secretly relieved the visions were at least back to black and white. Rose knocked again and the door creaked on its hinges.

I managed an unaffected smile when our eyes met. I was used to covering my handicap by now.

“Get up, get up! Phin is leaving here in 15 minutes. You’d better be downstairs and ready. He’s not very pleasant this morning. Too much fun last night.” Rose was already dressed in blue jeans and a crisp flowered shirt. Her strawberry hair was pulled back in a low ponytail. She looked fresh and ready for the day.

“Yeah, right. I must have been exhausted. I completely passed out last night. Where is my…” I tumbled out of bed and began racing around the room trying to remember where I had packed various articles of clothing. Giving up, I grabbed the stack of riding clothes Phin had gotten me. I pulled on the skintight canary britches, the knee-high leather boots and the shirt I had worn last night.

“Ah! That was thanks to my tea no doubt!” Rose called after me as I rushed to my little bathroom to brush my teeth. I pulled my hair into its normal bun at the base of my neck, threw a baseball cap on top of it all and raced down the stairs.

“Thanks, Rose!” I called out as the heavy leather boot heals clomped down the stairs. “You’re awesome!”

Phin was waiting by the door, leaning against the wall in obvious need of support, nursing a mug of piping hot coffee. His eyes were barely open as he turned to me. “No need to make all that racket! We’ve got time enough.” He seemed to wince with pain at the effort of talking.

“Sorry?” I offered, unsure of how to act around someone who had been up drinking all night.

“There’s a biscuit and some tea for you on the table,” Rose called out from the balcony. “Never mind Phin. He’ll be right as rain, soon as that coffee gets in his system. Serves him right for staying out all night.” She wagged a finger at Phin as she made her way down the steps.

“Now, Rose, you know it isn’t in an Irishman’s blood to refuse a free drink. The whole town would’ve been wondering what was wrong with me if I had come home with you last night and left that drink at the bar,” Phin countered in his defense.

“Oh, I’m not saying I expect anything less of you. I’m saying it serves you right if your head is about to explode off of your neck!”

She gave him a stern look but had to fight to keep the corners of her mouth from turning up when he jokingly began to bow down in front of her like she was the queen of England.

“Anything you say, your majesty.” He bowed low and when he heard her choke back a laugh he quickly swept her up in his arms and planted a big kiss on her. I turned away embarrassed by their display. My parents never behaved like that in front of me.

“Come on then.” Phin looked at me and jerked his head to the door, squinting his eyes in pain because he had moved his head too quickly. He walked to the side of the truck and fumbled with the door. I quickly assessed his current state and remembered the horror of driving with Phin on a good day.

“Hey, didn’t you say the farm wasn’t too far away from here? Think we may could walk it so I could get my bearings?” I asked, but pleaded with my eyes and hoped I was convincing him somehow in the process.

Phin looked down and all around him. He patted the pockets on his jean jacket and finally agreed with a nod of the head. I wasn’t sure if he was too exhausted to put up an argument or if he realized he probably shouldn’t be driving either. He grunted, and we were off.

After five minutes of walking quietly beside me and taking large gulps of coffee, Phin began to return to his old self, stretching his neck out and whistling a familiar tune as we continued in silence.

I nibbled my biscuit and marveled at Ireland’s lush beauty, something I had always tried to imagine. That morning, seeing it with my own eyes for the first time, I realized my imagination could’ve never done it justice. The green pastures were just as unreal from this angle as it had been from the airplane yesterday. Everything around me was green, but I had never known there were so many shades. There were hundreds of hues in the grass alone, ranging from bright lime to a green so dark it was almost black. In the distance, the trees appeared brownish moss while the scraggly shrubs growing along the crooked stonewall were a shade close to mint. All this stretched out to meet an unnaturally blue sky on the horizon. At this hour, the sky was a deep teal color, not yet diluted with the full strength of the sun’s rays. When we reached a small crest in the road, I stopped in my tracks.

Below us on the valley floor spread a regal looking estate of epic proportions. It wasn’t merely a castle holding court among the endlessly rolling green fields. It was like a fairytale kingdom with white walls stretching as far as the eye could see and swirling turrets reaching up to the heavens. To one side lay a pond where swans swam in the rising morning mist. Circling the house were forests and fields where animals, both wild and tame, were stretching their limbs after a good night’s sleep. The sun shone down on the sparkling white walls, making them glisten like diamonds. A massive manner house rose from behind the walls, so large it held yet another field inside. The manicured land around reached beyond the horizon and I wondered if it ever stopped.

“I never get tired of going to work.” Phin squinted in the sunshine, holding his hand up to block the strongest rays.

“This is work?” My head jerked back to him and I stared with an incredulous look at the smile dimpling his whiskery chin.

“Welcome to Ennishlough, Faye.” He bowed before me, rolling his hand in a grand gesture as a court page might, mocking the grandeur of the estate below.

He stood back up, winking at me before he continued whistling down the road to the enormous stone pillars guarding the entry.

I skipped along at his heels, peppering him with question after question about the never present DeLaney family, who owned the spectacular spread, and the foals who were sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars in-utero and shipped to every corner of the globe as soon as they were weaned.

He flicked on the light, clucking through his teeth when we entered the old stone barn. Unable to believe my eyes at the magnificent menagerie of horses turning in their stalls to greet us, I stared open-mouthed and dumbly as Phin walked over to pet the first warm muzzle. I had hit the summer job jackpot!

After a quick introduction to the horses—each curious nose sniffing my pockets for treats— I was even more awe-struck than before. The last stall we came to was the largest, and right beside Phin’s office door. In the shadows of the corner an enormous jet-black mare stood silently, swishing her tail at flies.

“This is Hannah. She is due to foal any day now,” Phin said. Her huge belly was swollen with the eleven months of gestation she had already endured.

“Poor girl, she’s about to bust,” I said as Phin quietly entered the stall. He gently touched her side and slid his hand over the slick coat toward her hip, letting her know where he was moving. She flinched at the unexpected touch, but then cocked her back hip and propped the hoof up on its edge, in the typical way horses rest their hind ends. Phin bent at the waist and looked under her belly, back at the large udders between her legs. “Yep, that milk should be coming in soon. Looks like you will get to help us with one of the babies.”

“Me? I get to do that?” I squealed a little bit at the prospect of helping with a delivery. Hannah startled and turned her enormous head to me, obviously not very appreciative of my shrill tone. “Sorry, Hannah girl,” I pleaded to the majestic mother to be.

“Phin?” A voice echoed down the empty hallway. Phin and I were both in the stall rubbing on Hannah.

“Lucas, we’re in with Hannah. Come on down here. I want to introduce you to Faye.” Phin walked over to the stall door and held it open for me to pass through.

Out in the hallway a figure walked towards us. As he got closer I could make out curly sandy blonde hair and the slightly awkward gait of a boy about my age. He was tall, towering over Phin and myself.

He stopped in front of us and tossed his head to the side, moving some of the blonde curls out of the way so I could get a good look at his face. He had sweet looking eyes hiding behind wire-rimmed glasses. His shape was lean, but I knew he had to be able to pick up a bale of hay by himself to work at a barn, so he couldn’t be weak.

“Lucas, this is my niece, or cousin? Wait a minute. I know you call Rose your aunt, but isn’t she actually your cousin?” Phin pushed his hat back on his head and eyed me curiously.

“Um, yeah,” I answered suddenly embarrassed. “She’s my cousin, you’re my cousin. I just always called you guys aunt and uncle.” I looked at the ground, feeling the familiar flush creeping in to my cheeks.

“So, Lucas, this is my cousin-niece. She is staying with us this summer and will be exercising the horses. Faye, this is Lucas. He does all the heavy lifting and feeding around here to save an old man’s back.” A hand reached out toward me and I knew I had to look up to greet him.

“Nice to meet you,” Lucas said.

I was beyond relieved to see that the same crimson color I felt on my face was spread just as plainly across Lucas’ face and neck too. “Hey,” I said, and felt myself smiling before I could be embarrassed further. I shook his hand and we shared a little laugh, recognizing a friend in each other.

“Would you two tomatoes stop it and get to work. There’s no time for that at my barn!” Phin barked orders as he turned and walked to his office. I looked over to Lucas who rolled his eyes and shook his head as he began to follow. I giggled and fell in line too, so glad to have found someone to commiserate with this summer.

That morning I rode three horses before we broke for lunch. Each ride was a short lesson in the ring, on the flat and over some fences, with Phin instructing from the ground. He really was an amazing teacher. I was a pretty good student, too.

Ever since the first day I sat on a horse I seemed to know what they were thinking. It was the way they held their body; loose and relaxed when they understood what you were asking of them, tight and tense when they were confused. I had a way of making them relax and understand that I was a friend.

Phin recognized my natural talent. “Oh, what we couldn’t have done if I would have had you from the beginning, Faye! We’d be packing our bags for the Olympics right now!”

At lunchtime, Phin fished out some sandwich stuff from the mini fridge in his office. We had thick cuts of ham, a loaf of hard bread and stale potato chips, washed down with a hot Coke.

“Um, would you mind if I started packing us lunch in the morning?” I asked Phin when I choked down the last sip of the hot Coke; it burned and bubbled all the way down my throat. I could only imagine what my stomach would feel like after a few more hours of bouncing around on top of a horse.

“And what’s wrong with this? Kids these days are spoiled, just spoiled,” Phin shook his head.

“Not spoiled, I just think something else might be a better lunch for this kind of work.” I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

“Anything would be better than this!” Lucas agreed with me as he made a production of bending a stale, rubbery potato chip before it snapped in half. He chuckled as he tossed it back on the piece of notebook paper he was using as a plate.

“Oh, been here four months, with no complaints, and now all of a sudden this lunch isn’t good enough for you? Back when I was your age I’d be mighty happy to get a lunch at all, this would have been considered a feast! A feast I tell you!” He tossed a chip at Lucas’ head.

“Just for that, you’ll be using your afternoon to show Faye around the rest of the farm. Tack up Penny and Prince and you guys hack out so she can begin learning her way around the trails.”