Author: rabidsamfan
Title: Nest
Disclaimer: Flight of the Doves belongs to Walter Macken. (But go and read it! It's marvelous!) This story was written for Yuletide 2010.

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Michael was as surprised as anyone when the envelope from Carraigmore landed on his desk, as fat as it was. He slit it open, and out fell half a dozen photographs and three drawings, as well as the letter written in Finn's neat round hand.

"Dear Michael," it began. "Will you come to visit us at Granny's when you can? Derval misses you, and wants to show you her new piglets, because the drawings aren't pink enough."

There was more, about the donkey, and how much Finn liked his new school and all, but that was just filling the page now that the important question had been asked.

"Haven't those two kids caused you enough trouble?" asked his superior, when Michael went in to request a few days off. He'd had to write a disciplinary note for Michael's record after all, because even if things had worked out, it was true that Michael had bent the law so far it had touched nose to the ground, and it wouldn't do to pretend otherwise.

"Perhaps," said Michael. "But I don't like to think that I left the thing undone."

"Go on then," he was told. "Cross the T's and dot the I's."

It was the longest day of the year, and still light when he pulled his little car into the village of Carraigmore, although it was well after the children's bedtime. He was surprised to find Finn sitting on the whitewashed wall outside Granny O'Flaherty's cottage, watching the sun go down into the sea.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" he asked the boy, joining him on the wall.

"So I should," Finn agreed. He reached out to touch Michael's arm. "But I was hoping you'd come." His face was still thin, Michael saw. And there were dark rings beneath his eyes that should have gone by now, with his grandmother and uncles to do the worrying for him.

"And here I am," Michael said. "But I'll have to find a place to sleep for the night."

"You can have my bed, Michael." Derval called from the window. She was wearing a pink nightdress, and her hair had grown long enough to make her look like a girl again. "I can sleep in the chair."

"You can sleep in my bed with me," Finn told her. "You like that."

"Yes," said Derval. "I don't have bad dreams when I'm with you." She closed the window and went down to tell Granny that Michael had come.

"Bad dreams?" Michael asked Finn, in a low voice, as they collected his suitcase from the car.

"Yes," Finn said. "Both of us. There are a lot of American tourists now that it is summer. They sound like Nicko."

"I see," said Michael. He flushed, remembering how foolish he had been when he had confronted Nicko. If Finn had not been clever enough to lead the American gambler into a bog, who knows what the man might have done? "We couldn't arrest him," Michael apologized. "He hadn't actually broken any laws."

"I hoped that Derval wouldn't remember him," Finn said. "She didn't really look at his face. But she heard his voice. That was enough."

Michael squeezed Finn's shoulder. "I don't think Nicko would be foolish enough to come back. Not with your Uncle Paddy and Uncle Joe here to guard you."

Finn shrugged. "Maybe not," he said. "But surely Uncle Gerry has other friends? It feels like we're being hunted, Derval and I. I know what it feels like to be hunted."

Michael frowned. Part of him wanted to tell Finn not to worry, but he had more respect for the boy than that. Finn had survived Uncle Toby, and had had the presence of mind to take advantage of every opportunity which had come his way, travelling across Ireland. It was worth listening to him, if he thought something was wrong.

Finn, for his part, saw Michael's frown and wondered if the policeman would think he was imagining things, the way that Granny and his uncles thought. He wasn't sure that he wasn't, to tell the truth. They remembered Gerry O'Flaherty as he'd been before he'd gone to America. A bit wild, perhaps, but not so bad. They didn't believe he could be dangerous to Finn and Derval. But it was more than that. As much as Granny and Uncle Joe and Uncle Paddy loved Finn, they didn't look at him the way that Michael did, and didn't see that Finn had stopped being a child a long time since. He didn't mind, mostly. It was easier to be a child, and it was good for Derval to be loved like a child should be loved.

But it made it harder to be believed. Michael had been at the castle. He knew that Finn wasn't exaggerating. Finn waited, wanting to bite his thumb with nervousness.

"I can check up on your Uncle Gerry," Michael said slowly. "See if he's come back to Ireland, or sent another one like Nicko in his place."

"That would make us safe for now," Finn said. "I want to make us safe for always. I want you to help me give away the money." He waited for Michael to protest, the way that Granny and Paddy and Joe did, that he would want the money when he was older. But Michael only frowned the harder.

"Who would you give it to?"

"Moses, and Tom, and Mickser, and the other people who helped us. And you."

Michael shook his head. "I couldn't take it. It wouldn't be allowed. That's like a bribe, and policemen aren't allowed to take bribes."

"It would be a reward."

"A reward for doing my job?" Now Michael smiled, but he was still shaking his head. "And me already paid for doing it? No, but thank you, Finn."

Finn's shoulders went down. It was to Michael most of all that he wanted to give the money. "But you'll help me find the others?" he asked.

"I will, so, if you want to reward them for helping. But I'm not certain that giving all your money away is the best way to go about keeping you or Derval safe. It might make your uncle very angry."

The door of the cottage opened, with Derval in her nightdress and bare feet running out from it. Michael caught her up in a hug, while Finn stood back and bit his thumb, worrying about what he hadn't thought to worry over before. What kind of man was his Uncle Gerry O'Flaherty? The kind to get angry, like Uncle Toby? Or worse, like the farmers who had chased the tinkers from their camp with threats and torches. Granny had a temper, no question, and so did Uncle Paddy, even if Finn had never yet been on the wrong side of either of them. His mother had had a temper, and she was Uncle Gerry's sister.

Michael reached out to Finn with the arm that wasn't holding Derval. "Give me a night to think on it."

In the early morning they went down to the strand while the tide was out, Derval and Michael and Finn, while Granny and the uncles were still doing the morning chores. Derval was chattering nineteen to the dozen, showing Michael the little crabs that sidled along the shore, and the holes that meant mussels if you dug fast enough. She knew how to build a sand castle with her pail and spade, but Michael showed her and Finn that if you took the wet sand and let it dribble through your fingers you could pile it into strange constructions of blibs and blobs. At last they grew tired and went to sit on the rocks above the tideline and eat the sandwiches which Granny had sent along and drink lemonade from bottles.

Derval leaned against Michael and fell asleep. Just like that. Michael looked down at her and scratched his head. "Does she do that often?"

Finn laughed. "When she's tired, she sleeps. And it's safe here, with you."

Michael didn't laugh. "Will you never stop looking over your shoulder, Finn?" he asked. He thought of all the long days when Finn and Derval had been hunted by half the police of Ireland. All the days he could have prevented, just by putting them in a car. He'd driven the whole way in a single afternoon. "I did you no favors, leaving you to walk all that way alone, did I? Hungry, dirty, cold..."

"Oh, no," Finn said, taking Michael's hand. "Oh, no. The walking was the best part. If I had never met you and Mickser and Poll and Moses and the rest, I would think the worse of everyone. But so many people helped us, even people who never told us their names. And if we were dirty and cold and hungry we were no dirtier than Moses is all the time, and never so hungry we couldn't sleep. It's just that I can't forget Nicko, or Uncle Toby. I keep waiting for someone to come and try to take Derval away from me."

"Toby won't come anywhere near you," Michael assured Finn. "He doesn't want anyone to start asking who should own the house he is living in. It was your father paid for it, along with your mother, and nothing to do with him at all. Properly, I think, it belongs to you and Derval."

Finn's shoulders relaxed, ever so little. "There's nothing left in it that belongs to a Dove. He burned all of Mammy's things, and he's probably burned ours by now. I don't care about the house. If it keeps Uncle Toby away from Derval and me, he can live in it."

"Which leaves the problem of your Uncle Gerry." Michael hadn't let the grass grow under his feet. "I went to the pub last night, after you and Derval were sleeping to ask about the tourists here. I made some telephone calls too. You are right that there are two men in Carraigmore from the same city as Nicko, but it is a very large city, and there are many families there which started out as someone from Connemara. They have not been asking questions about you, or Derval. They've been visiting the churches and the graveyards, looking for relations." He held up a hand, to keep Finn from interrupting. "Yes, it could be a trick. And they wouldn't have to ask much - just read the newspapers from when you first reached your Granny's house - but I have thought of a plan that I hope you will like."

"What is the plan?" Finn asked.

"We will use some of the money to bring your Uncle Gerry here for a visit. Then you will know if he is someone to be afraid of. And he will know how much Granny O'Flaherty would do to keep you safe from harm. We will have him visit at a time when I can be here too. That will let him know that you have the police on your side and all."

"And if we like him," said Derval, without opening her eyes, "we can share the money with him."

"Derval!" Finn exclaimed. "Did you hear all that?"

"No," said Derval. "I am asleep."

Finn looked at Michael and Michael looked at Finn and then they both burst into laughter.

"All right," Finn said. "We will try your plan." He leaned up against Michael's other side, and Michael put his arm around him.

"You are tired, too, Finn," Michael said. "Why don't you sleep now, while it's safe."

"I slept more than you did," Finn said, and then yawned. "But it was a short night."

"It was, so," said Michael. "Sleep, Finn."

And Finn slept.