Our campsite could not possibly have been any better. The tent was right in the center of the entire Irish encampment, which I knew, from my meager experience with Irish people, that we were in party central. It was early in the afternoon, and already there were people stumbling around, greeting friends and strangers alike with drunken embraces. I was almost taken to the ground twice by young men who thought I was their girlfriend, and had to be rescued by Carla, at first, and then by Seamus. Once he threw his arm around my shoulders, however, I seemed to stop getting as much attention.

"Here we go," Mr. Finnegan said, walking back into the tent. He had gone to see a friend of his, who was keeping a hold of our tickets, and had also brought back a jug filled with Merlin knows what. "Do you want me to hold onto them all?"

"Yes, Dad," Carla said quickly before I could get a chance to open my mouth. "I won't be in any shape to keep them safe tonight, and Carrie has a tendency to loose tickets." She stuck her tongue out at me. "It's one thing when it's just to a movie, but if she lost my ticket to see Ireland play in the World Cup, I may have to kill her."

I was going to argue with her, but then I realized that she wasn't joking. If I lost her ticket, she would cheerfully murder me and throw my body to the bottom of a lake where it would never be found. I nodded my head lamely.

"Alright," he said, handing the tickets to his wife, who quickly slipped them into a bag around her neck, which she then tied tightly and slipped down the front of her shirt. They were taking no chances with these, I could see. "So, who wants a drink?"

I was surprised when even Carla's mother walked forward with a plastic glass. Mr. Finnegan filled all of their cups and then looked up at me.

"Do you want some?"

"What is it?"

"Moonshine," he said, nodding proudly. "The best damn moonshine there is. My brother and I make it."

"Is it strong?" I asked.

Seamus laughed loudly, and I glared at him.

"Yes," he told me seriously. "This is strong stuff. I don't know if you could handle it."

I looked at his father and nodded. Carla shook her head, but grinned at me.

"Yeah, I'll take some."

Mr. Finnegan poured me a glass full of the moonshine and handed it to me. I sniffed it, and my stomach trembled.

"You don't have to drink it, you know," Seamus told me, and I was surprised to see that he wasn't laughing. "I was serious, I don't know if you can handle it."

"I'll manage," I told him.

"Here," he said, holding his hand out.

"What?" I pulled my drink away from him.

"Give me your drink," he grinned. "I'll mix it so it's easier to stomach."

I hesitated, know full well what my mother would say about me letting a stranger mix me a drink, but I trusted him. I sighed and let him take my cup from me. He went to the small refrigerator that was in the tent and pulled out a green bottle; I was a little surprised to see that it was just a bottle of 7up. He put my cup to his lips and chugged over half of what was in the cup, and then topped it up with the soda pop.

"Here," he handed it back to me. "That should make it easier to drink."

I took a small sip, and was shocked at how strong it still was. "Wow! How do you drink that stuff straight?"

"I'm used to it," he grinned. "But really, is it still too strong?"

I took another sip, and this time it wasn't too bad. "No, I think it's alright."

"You sure?"

"Yep," I popped my lips around the 'p'. "It's actually kind of good."

He grinned at me, and patted my back. "That's my girl."

We left the tent together, and walked around the site, looking for Carla and her parents. I knew absolutely no one that we met, obviously, but Seamus seemed to be best friends with every third person that we met, and drug me off to meet their entire family.

I had finished my first drink, and had gotten a refill at one of Seamus's cousin's tents. This time, I didn't have anything to mix with, so I sipped the drink carefully. Somehow, the taste didn't seem to be as strong as it had before, and I was able to stomach the moonshine by itself, just in smaller mouthfuls.

As the evening went on, I met more and more people, and drank more and more of the moonshine that was circulating around. At some point, people started bringing out fiddles and pipes, and began playing loudly and proudly. People began to dance, and I couldn't help but laugh and sway along with the time of the music.

At one tent, there were people standing in a circle, clapping their hands and cheering. Seamus and I shoved our way to the front of the crowd and saw that there were a few young men in their early twenties that were moving around in the circle, step-dancing, trying to outdo one another. I laughed and clapped with the rest of the crowd, and then I had an idea. I handed Seamus my glass, now empty for the third time, and stepped out into the middle of the circle. The man who was dancing stopped and looked at me, surprised that I had interrupted him. I thought he looked angry for a moment, but then he laughed at me, and stepped back with a low bow, making room for me to dance with him.

I grinned at him, and curtsied saucily before beginning to dance. He looked surprised that I actually knew what I was doing, and the crowd of people cheered. Then, with a flirty smile, he began to dance with me, following my steps perfectly. I laughed, and picked up the tempo, my feet flying faster than they ever had before, but still keeping with the steps. We turned to face one another and danced while looking each other in the face, laughing.

The song finally ended after a few minutes, and it could not have ended at a better time. My legs were aching with the unaccustomed exercise, and I was out of breath, but I had never felt so good in my life. The cheers from the crowd were deafening, and I looked at them, grinning like a maniac.

My partner wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a tight hug, kissing the top of my head. I hugged him back, and was grateful to have him to lean on, as my legs were starting to get weak.

"I wasn't expecting that," my partner whispered into my ear. "But I'm happy that I've finally found someone who can keep up." He held me close to his side, and I was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. Luckily, Seamus was right there.

"I didn't know you could dance," he grinned. He held his hand out to me and smiled warmly, but I could feel the tension radiating off him, and I looked up at my dance partner, who still hadn't let go of me. He was scowling darkly at Seamus.

"Yeah," I replied, grinning at him and taking his hand in mine. "I took lessons when I was a kid; honestly, I'm surprised that I managed to last that long."

Seamus pulled me rather roughly away from my companion, and hugged me himself, but this one was warm and friendly, and not the least bit sexual. I hugged him back enthusiastically. The man I had danced with skulked away from us and melted into the crowd.

"Carrie!" I pulled away and looked over the heads of the front row and sae Carla pushing her way through the crowd toward us. She was grinning brightly at me. "What was that? I've never seen you dance like that."

"I just don't do it much, anymore," I shrugged. "I took lessons when I was little, to make my Nan happy, but I stopped soon after she died. I've never enjoyed it much, but that was fun."

"Well, I can say that I'm impressed." She smiled at me, and then looked at Seamus's arm still wrapped around my waist and her grin grew so large that I felt that the Joker was standing in front of me. I blushed and stepped away from him, only to stumble and almost fall to the ground.

"Are you feeling okay?" Carla asked, catching me and holding me steady.

"Yesh!" I cried, slurring my words a little. "I'm feeling great."

Carla looked over my shoulder and raised her eyebrow at her brother. "Is she drunk?"

"Um…" he looked down at my empty cup, "I think so. She's had three glasses -"

"Three glasses of moonshine?" Carla exclaimed, looking down at me. "Are you insane? You can't have that much." She seemed genuinely upset.

"Too late," I giggled, hugging her. "Calm down, I'm perfectly okay."

"Yeah, Carla," Seamus said. "I was with her; she was fine."

"That's not the point," Carla snapped. "I was responsible for her, and now she's sloshed."

"That's not my problem," Seamus growled back. "Like you said, you were responsible, but you weren't there. It's not my fault that you were gone off snogging Michael Brooke, Carla." It may have been full dark now, but I could still see her face flame red.

"Who is that?" I asked, looking up at her. "You've never told me about a Michael Brooke."

"He's no one," she said quickly. "Come on, let's get you back to the tent. We should get to bed."

In actuality, I was pretty tired, so I went with her without complaint. I was surprised when Seamus didn't follow us.

"Is he not coming?" I asked, confused.

"Do you want him to come?" Carla looked down at me, her arm still wrapped around my shoulders. I could hear the smirk in her voice.

"No, I was just wondering," I replied, a little too hastily. "Are you just going to let him go off on his own? He's drinking, too, you know."

"Oh, I know he is," she grinned. "But he's not a little girl, and he's got friends all over the place. He'll be fine."

"I'm not a little girl," I grumbled as we reached the campsite. It was still empty.

"Of course you're not."

Carla helped me into the small bedroom that we were sharing, and handing me my pyjamas. She turned around while as I struggled to get into them, and then helped me into bed. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.