The Feral Child (15 page)
“It’s over,” said Maddy. “I made it home before you could catch me. Keep your word. Let me go.”
Fachtna narrowed her eyes at her. “You’re not home yet,” she snarled.
“Yes, I am,” said Maddy. She stretched out her hand, palm up. “Look.”
The snow tumbled out of the air now, fatter and heavier. It was quickly turning to slush. As Fachtna
turned her sharp face up to the sky, it began to pelt her with raindrops. The gray began to leak away from Maddy’s skin.
“I think someone’s been playing tricks on you,” said Maddy. “Time has passed a lot quicker out here than in your world. The sun is coming up and the Samhain Fesh is over. This earth is in my world now. Keep your word.”
Fachtna glared at her. For a moment, Maddy thought the faerie would still try to slide a blade into her now soft throat as the magic faded and the iron retreated back to the filings in her stomach. But Fachtna turned away without a word, picked up her sword, and followed her comrades into the mound, her injured hand curled against her chest. She walked into the darkness without a backward glance. Liadan hovered by the entrance and hissed “Coward” at her retreating back. She turned her dead white gaze on Maddy.
“I’ll find you again, Maddy, mark my words,” she spat. “You are a burden on those who love you, a walking curse. Hide under a mountain of iron, and I will still find the hate and anger that boil around you, and I will pull you loose, like a badger from its sett. And you know what we do with badgers, don’t you?” She smiled her hideous smile, before yanking the reins and spurring her mount into the darkness of the mound.
Maddy stood up on the crushed and bloodied grass, not daring to believe it was over. Long fingers of sunlight trickled through the lower reaches of the trees as
the sun rose. The air was filled with a rumbling noise as the mound began to close over. Granda ran past her with the howling changeling, which he flung into the dark just as the earth sealed itself. As weakness spread through Maddy, Granda rushed to catch her as she fainted. The last thing she remembered was vomiting up the iron filings.
Maddy was standing in the village square a
few days later, throwing a stick for George with Stephen, when a shadow fell across her. She smiled at the outline of antlers in the grass in front of her and turned around.
“Hiya, Seamus,” she said.
Seamus Hegarty smiled. “How are you feeling, Maddy?”
“Not too bad, considering I’ve had your wife tenderizing me,” she said.
“And the wound in your shoulder?”
“It’s scabbing over,” she said. “It still hurts like mad, but you know, it could be worse.”
“That it could,” said Seamus.
They stood there in silence while Stephen squealed with delight, his chubby chocolate-covered hands
snatching at the terrier’s tail. George’s tongue lolled around the stick as he ran rings around the toddler.
“How’s the wee man?” asked Seamus, nodding at Stephen.
Maddy frowned. “So-so,” she said. “He doesn’t seem to remember anything, but he has been having nightmares.”
Seamus grunted. “He’ll be OK,” he said. “Children that small forget quickly. Has anyone been asking any questions?”
“No, but that has more to do with the fact that we got back on Halloween night,” she said. “Handy that, seeing as it ties in with the whole theory that Stephen’s been sleepwalking. I could have sworn we were in that mound for at least two days.”
“Very handy,” agreed Seamus, folding his arms across his chest and clamming up again. Maddy rolled her eyes.
“Come on, spit it out—how did you manage that?” she demanded.
“Time doesn’t move in a straight line, the way you people think it does,” he said. “It’s a circle, and on the night of the Samhain Fesh, it collapses into chaos. When there’s chaos, you can change all the rules.”
“So I’ve heard,” said Maddy. She thought for a little while, working up the courage for her next question.
“So, any chance you’re going to get a divorce any time soon?”
Seamus gave her a look from the corner of his eye. “Things are bit more complicated than that.”
“That sounds hopeful,” she said. “That’s the kind of thing people say when they are getting a divorce. Along with, ‘Mommy and Daddy still really love you.’”
“And how would you know?”
“I’ve got friends.”
“Have you indeed?”
Maddy blushed. “Yeah, well, I have some now. Things have gotten a bit better lately.”
“So I’ve heard.”
She looked at him and grinned.
“You know what I’ve come to talk to you about, don’t you, Maddy?”
Her smile faded and she nodded. “Granda said you might be dropping by to have a word.” George came bounding up to her and dropped the stick at her feet. Stephen clutched at her jeans, leaving dirty smears on the denim, and he peeped shyly at Seamus from around Maddy’s thigh. Maddy bent and picked up the stick, and as she hefted it in her hand, George twirled on his back legs with excitement.
“Stephen, do you think you can run faster than George?” asked Maddy, stroking his sweaty blond hair back from his forehead. Stephen nodded eagerly. “If I throw this stick, do you think you can beat George to it?”
“A race?” asked Stephen, his face lighting up.
“Exactly, a race,” said Maddy. “If you win, you get another square of chocolate.”
“Yay!”
“OK, ready . . . steady . . . GO!” Maddy swung her arm back and flung the stick as hard as she could. George tore after it, Stephen running awkwardly in his wake.
“How much chocolate has he had already?” asked Seamus.
Maddy turned to glare at him. “Nowhere near enough to make up for everything that’s happened to him.”
“Fair enough,” said Seamus, looking embarrassed.
Maddy watched Stephen’s bright hair as he stumbled after George. She kept her gaze fixed on the little boy as she said, “Tell me quick, before he comes back.”
“Your eyes are open now, and you are Seeing,” said Seamus. “That makes you a target. You’ve got to keep yourself safe and mind the rules. You know what goes on around here now, and solitary faeries are always around. There’s no telling what they might do, when they are not part of a court and have no monarch to control them,” said Seamus.
“Is Stephen in any danger?” she asked. “Will they try to take him again?”
“Stephen’s safe enough,” said Seamus. “He was never the one Liadan wanted in the first place. They’ve been watching you, Maddy. They
knew
you would come after him. And I can’t be looking after you every second of the day.”
She shrugged. “I know.”
The autumn sun was warm on their faces, and the shouts of children playing circled them. George was
crouched in front of Stephen, teasing the child with the stick. Every time Stephen made a grab for it, the dog whirled away, only to crouch down again, tail wagging.
As the quiet began to stretch between them, Seamus sighed. “I can hear your brain working, Maddy. It’s not very subtle. Why don’t you just ask?”
“Everyone we met in there thought you were a big deal,” she said. “They all went wobbly at the sound of your name. So why didn’t you help us? Why didn’t you get Stephen back yourself?”
“It’s complicated . . .”
Maddy scowled. “I nearly died, and you tell me it’s
complicated . . .”
“OK, fine, it’s
politics
,” said Seamus. “If I don’t want someone interfering with the way I run things, I can’t interfere with the courts. It’s all about balance. If all the Tuatha leave each other alone, there will be no fighting. If I start trying to order around other Tuatha regents or the members of their court, it gives them an excuse to start an argument. But it doesn’t mean I can’t give things a nudge.”
“Like telling Granda what’s going on?” she asked. “Is that what you two are always talking about?”
“Yes.”
“And it was you that told him when we were coming back out and to meet us at the mound so he could swap that changeling?”
“Precisely,” said Seamus. “You need to go easy on your granda, Maddy. He’s been living in the shadow of
the mound all his life. He knows only to be fearful. He lost your mother, and you’re such a target . . . well, you can’t blame the man for being cautious.”
“Liadan said I was an ‘agent of destruction.’ Is that true?”
“There’s something about you, Maddy, that sends ripples through our world. You’re the key to something . . .”
“What?” prompted Maddy.
“That I don’t know yet,” said Seamus. “I think life will be more exciting with you around, but whether or not you’re an ‘agent of destruction,’ well, that’s for you to decide.”
“Why
do
you hang around here so much?” asked Maddy.
Seamus looked down at her and grinned, full moons floating in his eyes. “I think it’s an exciting world. Humans, you’re changing all the time, and faerie kind never do. It’s fun to watch.”
“Oh,” said Maddy. “Well, I’m glad we make such good pets.”
Seamus frowned. “That’s not what I said.”
“I know, I know.” She held up her hands. “I just don’t believe your tourist story, but that’s fine. I’m sure I’ll get the truth another time.”
“The
truth
is that when I bound myself to the Land, all those thousands of years ago, it was a mistake to let my strength wax and wane with the seasons,” said Seamus. “It was a
huge
mistake to return to animal form in
the winter. I thought it would keep me humble. All it did was make me weak at certain times of the year. Putting part of myself here, in the mortal world, is my insurance policy against trouble. I might only be a shadow of what I really am, but at least I can watch what goes on over there and in this world. As I said, it lets me give things a nudge.”
“Are things that bad between faeries and humans?” asked Maddy.
He sighed. “Let’s put it this way—powerful beings should never sleep. Not if they care.”
Maddy looked at her watch. “I’d better get home,” she said.
“Busy afternoon?”
“Yeah, I’m helping Granda put up some shelves in my room.”
She whistled for George, and Stephen came panting up to her, his face crumpled and on the verge of tears.
“What’s the matter, nappy bum?” she asked.
“Didn’t win,” Stephen sobbed. “No chocolate.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” said Maddy as she reached down and lifted the child on to her hip, his arms circling her neck. “You came second, and second prize is also a bar of chocolate.”
She nodded a goodbye to Seamus and walked across the square, George trotting by her side, his teeth firmly clamped around the stick. As she got to the wall that divided the village square from the street, she turned to look. Seamus was still standing where she had left him,
his face up to the sunlight, a full spread of antlers only she and a handful of others could see dipping down his back.
Stephen yanked a handful of hair. “Maddeeee,” he whined. “Wan’ go home.”
She hugged him tight. “So do I,” she whispered into his hair.
Roisin (roe-sheen)
—Maddy’s cousin. If she doesn’t know the answer, she’ll Google it. Might get a bit panicky but generally a good person to have in your corner.
Samhain Fesh (sow-en fesh)
—This was the pagan feast that marked the start of winter, when the harvest was gathered in and people got ready to endure the winter months. It is also the time of year where the boundaries between the faerie world, T
ÍR
NA
N
Ó
G
, and the mortal world wear thin and faeries can cross over to us and we can find ourselves lost in their realm. Christians tried to stamp out Samhain by replacing it with All Hallows Eve or Halloween, but the old ways are there, underneath it all, even
if we have forgotten them. So the next time you go trick-or-treating, put a cross around your neck and some iron in your pocket. And always be nice to old ladies you meet on the road—you never know whom you are talking to. Faeries never forget a kind deed or a harshly spoken word.
Tír na nÓg (teer na nogue)
—The Land of Eternal Youth. The fabled realm of the T
UATHA
DE
D
ANNAN
that exists beneath Ireland’s surface, the place the Tuatha fled to when they lost their battles against mortals for control of Ireland. This where the T
UATHA
and the lesser tribes of faeries live. Many, many people search for ways in, but you need a faerie guide to enter the realm, and getting out is never as easy. Something to think about if you have things urgent to do topside—I’d clear your diary.
Sean Rua (shawn roo-a)
—This is a faerie as old as the T
UATHA
DE
D
ANNAN
. He has been mentioned in folklore for thousands of years and seems to pledge allegiance to any court he feels like serving at the time. No one knows exactly what Sean Rua is, but his talent is that he resembles a child and has hypnotic powers of persuasion. He has lured hundreds, if not thousands, of mortals beneath the mounds, and there is no record of any of them returning home.
Tuatha de Dannan (too-ay day dah-nan)
—The Tuatha have many names: “the Shining Ones,” “the Fair Folk,” “the Gentry.” Some call them “faeries,” but they call themselves “gods.” They used to be in charge of Ireland, until St. Patrick came along, and they have serious powers. They can control all the elements (air, water, fire, and earth), cast powerful spells, and change their form at will. They are vain and short-tempered, cruel, and spiteful. They argue so much that fighting has practically become a hobby. They are the most powerful beings in T
ÍR
NA
N
Ó
G,
and they rule it. It’s best not to upset them.
Fionnula (fin-oo-la)—
Not a faerie, but Maddy’s very human aunt. You would not want to bump into her in a dark alleyway.
Liadan (lee-ah-dan)—
Means “gray lady” in Irish. Liadan is an old and powerful elf from the Nordic countries. No one knows why she and her clan came to T
ÍR
NA
N
Ó
G
seeking sanctuary, but she’s as argumentative as the T
UATHA
DE
D
ANNAN
. Do you know someone in school who could start a fight in an empty room? That’s Liadan. The only good thing about her is that she unites the T
UATHA
against her. Everyone needs someone to hate, right?
Cernunnos (ker-noo-nos)
—One of the oldest and most powerful of the T
UATHA
DE
D
ANNAN
, he clings
to the form he took when he was worshipped in pre-Christian Ireland, the Horned God. But he likes to linger in our world too, so he takes on human form for the winter months, calls himself “Seamus” (shay-mus), and lives in Blarney, County Cork, keeping an eye on the mortal world and any coming and goings from T
ÍR
NA
N
Ó
G
. It’s a weird way to spend your holidays, but who’s going to argue with an ancient Celtic god?
The Morrighan (more-i-gan)
—In pre-Christian Ireland the Morrighan was worshipped as a triple-faced goddess. She represents the maiden, the mother, and the crone, and she is the most powerful of the T
UATHA
DE
D
ANNAN
. It is her power that created T
ÍR
NA
N
Ó
G
and her power alone that keeps the boundaries up between the faerie and mortal worlds. The Morrighan is also one of the most dangerous of the T
UATHA
. She is also known as “the Raven Queen” and is the living embodiment of war. Waking the Morrighan is not something that should be done lightly.
Fachtna (fakht-na)
—Means “hostile” in Irish. Says it all really. Fachtna lives, eats, sleeps, and breaths war. Never happier then when she has a knife in her hand.
Glaistig (glay-steeg)
—Glaistigs are either hostile or friendly, depending on who you are. Normally they lurk near water and lure male travelers to their
deaths. They are not very keen on men. But they love children, so much so that mortal women often used to let a local glaistig care for their children while they washed their clothes in the river. Stephen is very lucky to have been cared for and surrounded by glaistigs in Queen L
IADAN
’s court. Any faerie that might have tried to harm him would have found the fingers of A
OIFA
or her sisters wrapped around their throat.
Fir Dorocha (fear dor-ka)
—Means “dark men” in Irish. These faeries are the embodiment of fear. They spread hatred and terror before them and drive mortals crazy. Wherever there is a mob or a riot in progress, the fir dorocha are close by. They have also been known to abduct mortals for the kings and queens they serve. Basically, they do all the nasty jobs L
IADAN
and the T
UATHA
do not want to do themselves. Faeries to avoid at all costs.
Fionn (Fee-on)
—A dryad, which is an elemental faerie, the soul of her tree. Elementals are simple creatures, and the other faeries tend to look down on them for it.
Selkies
—You have heard of werewolves? Well, there are actually lots of werepeople and other animals in the world. Selkies are seals. They can shed their seal fur on land and change into people. If you take a seal-woman’s fur, she has to follow you home, and as long
as you keep her sealskin away from her, she has to stay a woman and cannot go home to the sea. Quite a nasty thing to do to a selkie, no? So don’t do it. Ever.
Aoife (ee-fa)
—A
GLAISTIG
, and a lady-in-waiting to Queen L
IADAN
.
Dullahan (doo-la-han)
—A very nasty dark faerie, the headless dullahan is a soul collector. Sometimes he rides a giant black horse; other times, a coach with four horses. He never speaks, except to say the name of the person whose soul he has come to collect. No door or gate can be barred against him.
Gancanagh (Gan-cah-nah)
—Maddy is lucky that no matter how gorgeous she thinks Connor is, she’s too young to be interested in kissing boys (yuck!). Connor is a gancanagh, a male faerie who has a poison in his skin that makes mortal woman fall in love with him forever. When he leaves them, they die pining for him. One kiss is enough.