Stolen Child

Chapter Seven

Sive led me by the hand to the bridge. I ducked beneath and we took shelter there from the rain. I was feeling stiff and shaken as I sat on the uncomfortable stones, but being in Sive's presence at least allowed me to be warm. "We heard a sound in the middle of the night," I told her. "The window shattered everywhere and something invisible dragged her out. She was just gone."

"It would have been a Fomorian or perhaps an Aes Sidhe of the Dim World. How Lucy was put in pishrogues, I don't know," Sive said and put a hand on the side of her face that was sinking deep into thought. "My sister Niamh, she always spoke of someone who knew of these things: a human who has grown Otherworldly. Ye call them Faerie Doctors or maybe Druids."

"Well, where is he?"

"Not a he. She is Fial: the owl-faced one of Kyle Dortha. Not officially, mind you. It's just something she has taken up for her love of the wild places. If there is a way to help us, she will know."

I shrugged and ran a hand over my damp hair. "It's the only lead we have, I suppose. Let's go then."

"Kyle Dortha is at Coole Park," Sive said. "Near the border of county Clare."

"That's like a ten hour walk! Are you crazy?"

Sive grinned. "But it is November first until the clock strikes midnight."

"Are you one hundred percent positive that we can trust this púca?" I asked as we hiked up through the woods of Knockma again. It must have been afternoon by now and forty degrees at most. The rain was seeping into my bones so I wasn't moving very far or very fast.

"He is required to behave civilly today - the gobshite - can ye imagine? The púca being civil!" Sive scoffed. "But it's the truth." She was moving quickly up the hill and it appeared as though she was untouched by any raindrops. I struggled to keep up until she stopped and laid a delicate hand on that circle of stones that I seemed to keep returning to. "I've got no clue about his fascination with these ruins," she said.

As expected, our arrival was met with the púca's footsteps coming through a thicket where the trees drew together. He emerged from behind a gnarled oak tree and stood directly in front of me and Sive. His mane of black fur was matted and dripping wet.

"Well, are ye goin' to give us a lift? Ye owe us one!" Sive said sternly. I would be lying if I said her confidence wasn't impressive because one guttural snort from the creature absolutely petrified me. Each breath sent a puff of warm vapor out of his nose. Slowly, he raised his right hand, palm up and we were suddenly surrounded by green lights. They flared up like stars out of thin air, twinkling and floating all around us of all sizes: big orbs, small orbs, orbs only as big as a speck of dust. The fear melted away to awe as the púca drew the ghostly lights to his hand, combining them into one burning flame that illuminated his face in the darkness under the clouds and the treetops. He observed us carefully for a few moments, tilting his head to and fro. Finally, the silence broke:

"I will happily oblige Lady Unfading and her Solemn-Eyed," echoed a disembodied voice. The Puca's lips didn't move, but I knew it somehow came from him. The creature crushed the green light in his hand and upon opening his bony fingers, the orbs scattered. Quickly, almost instantly, he transformed into a huge white stallion with rippling muscles and a lashing tail. The only thing that remained of the goat-man was his glowing dead-eyes and black horns. 

Sive didn't hesitate. She leaped easily onto the back of the horse, bent over and quietly said "Kyle Dortha" into his ear. Then she stretched her hand out to me with a carefree laugh. I grasped it and was pulled up onto the horse. Immediately it took off.

We galloped at practically a thousand miles per hour, down the slope of Knockma and South-bound, out into the countryside. I held fast to Sive who was arched over the horse's curved neck and held tightly onto his snowy mane. I went on a trail ride with Dad a few years ago, but this wasn't at all like a trail ride. The journey was incredibly smooth which seemed unreal when I glanced downward and saw hooves dashing across the rugged green grass and sailing over stone walls.