Chapter 4

Dublin

In the morning, my master woke me up with a knock on my door. I quickly got up to find him and Alice waiting for me, both already dressed up and ready to go.
"We're leaving, lad." The Spook said in a low voice. Alice nodded in agreement.
"But we do not have enough money for the ship ride home!" I argued.
"If you hadn't noticed, the innkeeper has no jobs for us and we would only be wasting time and money staying here longer!" My master took out a small pouch of coins. "We already earned part of the fare and there will be more people sleeping here now that the Jibber's gone. We'd best be off, lad." I nodded. When we left through the door, the innkeeper smiled and waved at us, I realized that he paid us the hefty sum because he was confident in earning it back. Although the inn itself was a horrible place to stay, it was cheaper than most and more people would be willing to pay for it. The Spook led us to a small dirty shack in the edge of town. We hired a cheap and dirty carriage to ride us to Dublin. Throughout the whole day, we rode the carriage only stopping to change the horses. It was night when we reached Dublin, and the streets were bare. I trudged tiredly on, the carriage ride was exhausting. It wasn't until we had a good ten minute walk when the Spook stopped us. In front of us stood a well-lit inn and it seemed to be very luxurious as well. I heard light Irish music drifting through the windows and the sounds of laughter. The smell of lamb stew coming from the chimney made my stomach growl. Even so, I was curious as to why the Spook finally led us to such an expensive inn.
"Well, lad, I bet you're thinking why I brought us here when we barely have any money. The reason is that we need a place to establish the fact that we are spooks looking to earn some money, and a rich inn will be the best place to advertise our trade. If I'm not mistaken, most of the Irish spooks have gone to hiding because of all the recent events with the dark getting stronger. Dublin will need a capable spook." My master replied to my unspoken question in such a timely fashion that surprised me. I quickly nodded in agreement and we walked through the doors. Instantly, the light atmosphere diminished and everyone inside became silent. It was a while before the innkeeper came out and scowled at us.
"What are the likes of you doing here?" He asked with his arms crossed.
"We are looking for some money because we need to pay our fare for the ship ride back to our home." My master explained. The innkeeper narrowed his eyes, but he nodded and looked around.
"And you people might be spooks?" My master nodded again.
"Aye, and we take our job seriously. Our job is to rid you of anything that goes bump in the dark."
"Well then, you can ask Jack Reilly 'bout that, they calls him Crazy O'Reilly they do, and for a good reason at that. Claims he sees witches, demons, and ghosts. He lives just down this road in that old barn of his. I bet you he'll have a job for you three." The Spook thanked him and handed him a few coins. Reluctantly, the innkeeper took the money and handed the keys to our rooms.
"Please, keep a low profile and stay out of trouble, people here don't like living near a spook." He warned. The Spook quickly nodded and we quickly walked into our rooms.

In the morning, the Spook and I left the inn without Alice. Since Alice was a witch, and Jack O'Reilly was said to be able to tell if she was a witch, we didn't want to risk bringing her and scaring him. The path down the town started looking more and more worn, growing muddier by the second. Finally, we reached the barn. Outside, you could see dust flecking the walls. The red paint was coming off and there were patches of brown wood where the paint had completely peeled off. As we walked closer, I saw broken shutters near the top of the barn as well as cobwebs lining the corner. My master rapped on the barn door three times and a crazy eyed man came out. His hair had thick, tangled locks that were coated in dirt and grime. He cowered a bit when he saw the Spook stare down at him.

"What do you want? Leave me be!" He screeched.

"Nay, are you the one they call Crazy O"Reilly?" my master asked him.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not, wots it to you?" At this, my master's eyes glinted.

"We are spooks, and we are looking to find a job that pays well so that we can return to our home. The people over at the inn told us that you could need our help with the dark." With that, O'Reilly's eyes opened wide.

"So you are them spookers that keep out the witches right?" The Spook nodded.

"And you say you're going home, but where to?" O'Reilly narrowed his eyes.

"Back to the County, we need the money for a ship."

"And in return you will get rid of them witches?" Again, my master nodded. I could tell that he was quickly getting impatient. "Well I do need help, but I'm afraid I can't pay you. You see, I don't have much myself, but I knows one of the ferrymen who owes me a little favor. If you sort out this one witch, I could get him to bring you back home."

"Very well, now where is this witch?" O'Reilly pointed towards a forest behind the barn.

"Yonder is a clearing, and that's where I can feel her. Every night, she comes here to kill one of my chickens, but nobody would help me." He took a wild glance back, and I saw that there was indeed a chicken coop filled with 3 chickens.

"You can feel her, but you don't know where she lives?" The Spook raised his eyebrows. This was a common sign of a seventh son of a seventh son. "Well then, lad, let's get started!"