The Last of the High Kings (13 page)

Jenny was still the only one up when he got back, so he decided to take her up to see the púka straightaway. He didn't even take off his boots but dropped the rucksack in the workshop and went into the kitchen to collect her.

“Want to come and visit the púka?” he said.

“No,” said Jenny.

“Thing is,” said J.J., “he's very upset about what happened the other day. He said he didn't mean to frighten you and that he's very sorry and he misses you terribly.”

“Tough,” said Jenny firmly.

She hadn't forgotten that the last time she'd gone somewhere with J.J. it turned out that he was trying to get rid of her, and although she was, secretly, quite interested in going to Tír na n'Óg, she intended to do
it when she was good and ready and not before. Besides that, she was frightened of the púka and harbored deep suspicions about his intentions. She had become convinced that she was as much a pawn in his game as she was in J.J.'s, and she was determined to go nowhere near him.

J.J. decided that for once, honesty was the best policy. “The thing is,” he said, “I kind of promised that I would take you to see him. He did something for me, you see, and we made a deal.”

“What did he do for you?” J.J. took her into the workshop and showed her a piece of the unseasoned timber and a piece that the púka had aged for him.

“He made it older?” said Jenny. “How?” J.J. explained about the different worlds, and the big fist, and the splinters of green light, and the grime and the red dust.

“Cool,” said Jenny. “Amazing what he can do, isn't it?”

“Amazing,” said J.J. “And he was so nice about it as well. So will you come with me to see him?”

“Nope,” said Jenny. “No way.”

 

The first thing Donal thought about when he woke up was the púka and the tree, because something as
dramatic and frightening as that took a long time to work its way to the back of a person's mind. The second thing he thought about was Mikey's stick.

He and Jenny and Aisling and even Aidan had all cut sticks for themselves in the woods, but Donal had reserved the best one for Mikey. It was beautifully straight, with no bend or taper at all, and the only bulge in its entire length fell, Donal was certain, just below where Mikey's hand would be and would make it easier for him to grip. It was light but strong, and it was, Donal thought, just a little bit magic. It was a hazel rod for Mikey, to make him young and strong again.

When he got downstairs, he found Jenny in the armchair reading to Aidan. J.J. was in the workshop, sorting and stacking timber and doing a general tidy-up in there. He was in a cantankerous mood, and it was all very noisy, so Donal ate his breakfast as quickly as he could, eager to get out of the house. To his surprise, Jenny was of like mind. As soon as she heard where he was going, she deposited Aidan on the floor and got ready to go with him.

Jenny doubted that the púka was confined to the mountainside behind the house, but she had never seen him descend to the plain. There was a chance, she knew, that he would see them and come looking for
her, but it was a risk worth taking. She was slowly going crazy, cooped up in the house all day, and she longed for the fresh air and the feel of the morning dew beneath her feet.

Donal had his own stick with him as well as Mikey's, and he swung them alternately as he walked, using them like ski poles. Jenny had hers too and planted it firmly on the ground at every step. It made her feel strong and safe.

As they crossed Mikey's fields, Jenny spotted his blue-checked shirt in among the bushes of the old fort, so they changed direction and went to meet him there. They couldn't see anyone else, but as they drew closer, they could hear that Mikey was talking to someone in there, and Donal remembered that this had happened once before.

They stopped and listened.

“Any day now,” Mikey was saying. “Someday very soon. It might take a bit of time, but I'll get up there. Either that or die trying.”

He went quiet for a while, as though expecting a reply, but neither Donal nor Jenny could hear one.

“Ah, I will.” Mikey went on. “Bit by bit. Step by step. One foot in front of the other. Have no fear of it.” He paused again. “I won't fall. Why should I? I'll
take my time. And the Liddy boy is cutting a stick for me. That'll be a great help. I don't know why I didn't think of that a long time ago.”

At that point Donal and Jenny stepped into the fort and pushed through the bushes. They looked around, but there was no one else in there.

“There you are,” said Mikey. “With my stick as well. Good man yourself.”

“Who were you talking to?” said Donal.

“The dog,” said Mikey. “Because I do get tired of talking to myself.”

Belle was greeting them now, wagging her tail with delight.

“Were you talking about going up to the beacon?” said Donal.

“I was,” said Mikey. “Did you hear me?”

“I don't think you should do it, Mikey,” said Donal. “I think it's too dangerous.”

Mikey grinned mischievously. “That's exactly what she said, but I soon set her straight. She won't be coming anyway, the way she gets under my feet, so it's none of her business what I do, and it's none of yours either, Donal Liddy. I'm old enough to make up my own mind, and that's exactly what I'll do.”

It had never occurred to J.J. that Jenny might refuse to go with him, and he was worried about the consequences. There had been no mention of what might happen if he didn't keep his end of the bargain, and now he wished he'd thought of adding some sort of get-out clause to the contract.

He pottered around the workshop for a while, trying to come up with a solution, but in the end he realized that there was no alternative to facing the music. It was far better to explain what had happened to the púka than to wait until he found out.

“I'm just going to have a bit of a stroll,” he told Aisling as he went out. He hadn't let her know about the deal with the púka, and he had no intention of doing so unless it was entirely necessary.

As he had done before, he hailed the púka from the top meadow of the farm, and as he had done before, the púka came down to meet J.J. in the hazel woods.

“She didn't want to come,” J.J. told him anxiously. “If it was any of the other children, I could have just ordered them up here, but Jenny is immune to orders.”

To J.J.'s astonishment the púka didn't seem bothered at all.

“Don't worry about it, J.J.,” he said. “There's no rush.”

“Really?”

“Really,” said the púka. “Give her time. Ask her again in a few days and see how she feels.”

“All right,” said J.J., letting out a huge sigh of relief. “But what if she still doesn't want to?”

“Then leave it again. Wait until she's ready.”

“Okay,” said J.J. “How long have I got?”

“Let's just play it by ear for the moment, shall we?” said the púka. “We can meet again in a week or so and see how it's going then.”

 

Mikey was thrilled with the stick.

“It's perfect,” he said. “Absolutely spot on.”

Donal was thrilled, even though he couldn't help noticing that Mikey was holding it upside down, with
the helpful bulge near the bottom.

“I feel ten years younger already,” he said, walking across the yard and then back again. “There's something magical about hazel, isn't there? What was it now? Did the Salmon of Wisdom eat the hazelnut? Or was it Fionn ate the salmon?”

“Didn't he just touch it while it was cooking and then suck his thumb?” said Donal.

“You're right,” said Mikey. “So where does the hazelnut come in?”

Jenny, who had lingered on in the fort, came around the side of the house.

“Look at this, girleen,” said Mikey, practically striding across the yard, supported by the stick. “I'll be running with it tomorrow.”

Jenny watched him thoughtfully, but Donal sensed that her thoughts were elsewhere.

“If only this stupid dog would get out of my way,” Mikey was saying, and Donal set off to his rescue.

 

Relieved of his worries, J.J. decided to take a proper walk. He felt slightly guilty about leaving Aidan with Aisling, but if he went back for him now, he might get collared to go shopping or help with the housework. All he wanted was a look at the beacon. It wouldn't
take long. But when he got there, the mountaintop beckoned, and this time he did take the long way home, and this time he did visit Colman's church.

And this time he was entirely successful in forgetting that he was supposed to be making a trip to the railway station.

 

As they walked home, Donal said to Jenny: “Do you think we should tell Dad? About this mad idea Mikey has?”

“What mad idea?” said Jenny.

“Climbing to the top of the mountain. Someone ought to stop him.”

“Why?” said Jenny.

“Because he's too old. He'll have a heart attack or something.”

Jenny shrugged. “I think he'll make it. So does the ghost.”

“The ghost?” said Donal. “What does the ghost know about Mikey? He can't possibly see Mikey from up there.”

“Not that ghost,” said Jenny. “The other one.”

“Which other one?” said Donal.

“The one Mikey was talking to when we arrived,” said Jenny. “The one that lives in his fort.”

Luckily Aisling didn't forget the trip to the station. She also went shopping, and she made a roast lamb feast to welcome Hazel home. They waited until Aidan was in bed and asleep before they started, so that they could, for a change, have a peaceful meal.

Hazel was delighted to be home. She had gotten over the disappointment with Desmond and was keen to start getting out and about again. She said she had been bored witless in Dublin, and she'd had more than enough time to think through the consequences of being a teenage mum. She was glad the whole plan had fallen through.

“But we would have looked after the baby,” said Aisling. “You knew that.”

“Yeah,” said Hazel, “but what would my friends
have thought? How could I ever have gotten a decent boyfriend with that kind of baggage tacked on to me?”

“What baby?” said Donal. “What are you all on about?”

“The baby I was supposed to be having in Dublin,” said Hazel. “The reason I went away and hid. Their baby.”

Donal was nonplussed, and J.J. realized that it was time for everybody to be filled in on the whole story. He started at the beginning.

“About twelve years ago I met Aengus Óg and Drowsy Maggie when I was walking in the woods. They had a new baby with them, and Aengus told me that they had come looking for another baby to change it with. The fairy folk have to do that because there's no way their babies can grow up in Tír na n'Óg.”

“Why not?” said Donal.

“Because there's no time there,” said J.J. “You can't grow older in a place where there's no time. So they have to swap their baby with someone else's.”

“A changeling,” said Aisling.

“You've heard the old stories,” said J.J. “The fairies exchange the babies when no one's looking. Well, it really happens, or at least it used to. Then their child
grows up with its new parents, and when it's old enough, it goes back to Tír na n'Óg.”

“But don't people know that their baby has been swapped?” said Donal. “Can't they tell?”

“Yes, they can,” said J.J. “But in the old days there was no way of proving anything, so people just had to put up with it. The problem that Aengus and Maggie were up against is that it's not so easy to do it nowadays. People are much more vigilant than they used to be. More security conscious. They lock their doors at night, and they have baby alarms and all that stuff.”

“And photographs,” said Hazel.

“And DNA testing,” said Donal.

“I hadn't thought of that,” said J.J., “but I suppose that's right. Someone could prove that it wasn't their baby now.”

“And you wouldn't know what they'd find in fairy DNA,” said Hazel.

Everybody laughed, except for Jenny.

“Anyway”—J.J. went on—“your mother and I were expecting a baby ourselves, as it happened. Our second one.”

“Me?” said Donal. J.J. shook his head. “I had just finished my course in Newark, and I was itching to get my hands on some of
that chiming maple, so I suggested the deal to Aengus.”

“You'd look after Jenny,” said Donal.

“Exactly.” He laughed again. “You can imagine what your mother thought about that. I hadn't told her about my visit to Tír na n'Óg, and she got hit with it all in one go.”

“I thought he'd gone stark staring mad,” said Aisling. “I still don't know how he managed to talk me into it.”

“But I did,” said J.J. “So Aengus and Maggie took their baby back to Tír na n'Óg with them.”

Aisling took up the story. “And when my baby was born, when it was a few days old, they brought Jenny back, and we swapped.”

“But what happened to your baby?” said Donal.

“She went back to Tír na n'Óg with them,” said Aisling. “She's still a newborn baby now, just a few days old.”

“Wow,” said Donal.

“So that's why we needed Hazel to fake a pregnancy for us. Because if Jenny had gone back to Tír na n'Óg last week and stayed there, J.J. would have brought our own baby back.”

“And we would have had to explain her sudden appearance,” said J.J.

But Donal shook his head. “But she would be the same age as Jenny,” he said.

“She wouldn't,” said J.J., “because there's no time in Tír na n'Óg. You'd have seen her if we'd gone in there. A beautiful little baby girl.”

“Just as well she was a girl,” said Aisling. “We would have had trouble explaining that one to the authorities.”

She laughed, and so did J.J. and Hazel; but Jenny and Donal both were quite serious.

“But that's there,” said Donal. “She wouldn't still be a new baby when she came back here. She'd be the same age as Jenny.”

J.J. put on his patient father expression and opened his mouth to explain it all again, but then he stopped. He stared at Donal, and his face went pale, and when he glanced across at Aisling, his eyes were full of alarm.

“What is it?” she said.

“It's just—” he began, but he didn't finish. He looked back at Donal, his mind working frantically.

“J.J.?” said Aisling, worried now. “What is it?”

“But it was you who told me how it works,” said Donal. “You don't get any older while you're in Tír na n'Óg, but your life keeps passing on this side. That's
why Father Doherty and Bran died when they came back. Their lives on this side had passed.”

“Is he right, J.J.?” Aisling said. J.J. blew air. “I need to think about this for a minute,” he said.

“Is he, Dad?” said Hazel.

“I am right,” said Donal. “You know I am.”

“Have you got it wrong?” said Aisling.

“It was Aengus,” said J.J. helplessly. “He put me on the wrong track. He said that when Jenny went home, we could have our baby back!”

“And you never worked out that she wouldn't still be a baby?” said Aisling. “So we're going to be landed with an eleven-year-old?”

“If we are,” said Hazel, “it will be an eleven-year-old with the mind of a baby. She won't have learned anything, remember?”

“Not an eleven-year-old,” said J.J. “Jenny isn't going back yet, are you, Jen? Not until you're at least sixteen.”

“That's even worse!” Aisling exploded. “A sixteen-year-old who can't feed herself or talk! Arriving out of nowhere! How are we going to explain that? And—” Her face crumpled, and tears began to gather in the corners of her eyes. “And I won't have had the chance to see my own baby grow up.”

Everyone was so caught up in the emotional roller coaster that no one noticed when Jenny quietly pushed back her chair and slipped out of the room. She didn't know exactly where she was going; but she knew that everyone was unhappy, and she believed that it was all her fault. Aisling and J.J. had lost their new baby, and all because of her. The boy ghost was up on the mountain, condemned to eternal loneliness. She had befriended him and then abandoned him. The world of the ploddies was a miserable one, full of desires and betrayals. She was ready to leave it all behind and go home to her real father and mother, however feckless and forgetful they might be.

But as she closed the front door behind her, she found that an idea had lodged itself in her mind, and by the time she reached the yard gate it was beginning to turn into a plan. Perhaps there was a way to make everyone happy.

She thought it through carefully as she walked across Molly's Place, and the plan gradually turned into a resolve. It wasn't going to be easy. It frightened her and made her legs feel hot and weak. But she was fairly sure she could make it work. However dangerous it might be, Jenny was going to make her own deal with the púka.