"A Leprechaun?" questioned Paige. "Wait a minute. I thought Leprechauns' wore pointy shoes and brightly colored clothes and those funky top hat things."
"Yeah," said Phoebe. "And aren't you supposed to carry your gold in a pot?"
"Ah, yes, the attire," said Patrick. "We changed that about a hundred years ago, don't ya' know? We decided to be a bit more contemporary in the way we dress. As for me gold, it kept fallin' out of the pot. Making a mess all over everywhere. The chest is much easier to transport and the gold stays inside where it belongs."
"So what is this gold doing in my house?" demanded Piper.
"Well now," said Patrick, "it wasn't your house when it was put into the cellar. It belonged to your grandmother, may God rest her soul. I hid it out back in one of the bushes and she found it. She put it into the cellar for safe keepin' until she had made a decision. Unfortunately, her untimely death changed all that."
"Changed all what?" asked Piper. "And what does this have to do with this transaction you keep speaking about?"
"Don't ya' know anything about Leprechauns?" asked Patrick. "Whoever finds me gold gets one wish. I have to grant that wish, within the limits of me power, of course. Then I get to reclaim me gold and be on me way.
"Unfortunately, your grandmother died before making her wish. I was left in a type of limbo, ya' might say. I couldn't reclaim me gold because I never granted the wish. So, I had to wait until someone else found the gold so I could grant their wish.
"You three found me gold. At that point possession, as it were, of me gold transferred to you. And the wishes as well. Once you make your wishes everything will be back to normal."
"Wait a minute," Piper said. "Why would you be putting your gold in gram's yard? With her power I doubt she would have had need of a Leprechaun."
"Now and you've learned me secret," Patrick said. "I made a wee bit of a mistake, don't you know? I meant to put me gold in another yard but mistook this one for the one I was looking for. By the time I had discovered me mistake, your grandmother had already found it. So she had to make a wish before I could rectify me mistake. Only as I said, she died before she could make her wish."
"So we get a wish?" asked Paige. "Cool."
"Actually," said Patrick, "you each get a wish. Since you were all present when you opened the chest, technically you all found it. And if I hadn't used me power to 'suggest' that you clean the cellar I'd still be waiting for you to find it. I was beginning to think you'd never go down there any time this century."
"Wait a minute," said Paige, "you cast a spell on me? To make me clean the cellar so I'd find the gold?"
"Not cast a spell, exactly," said Patrick. "I don't have that kind of magic. I just implanted a suggestion. You were always free to ignore it. I'm not allowed to alter a person's free will. That's one of the rules."
"A wish?" said Piper nearly hysterical. "You want to grant us a wish? That's not going to happen. Not after what happened last time."
"No," said Phoebe, "no, no, no. No more wishes. Been there. Done that. Not going to happen again, thank you very much."
"Are ya' tellin' me," said Patrick, "that you've been visited by a Leprechaun before?"
"No," said Leo. "A genie."
"Oh, that explains it," said Patrick. "The Djinn can be a bothersome lot. Always twisting you're words and convoluting your meanings. Makin' your wishes come out in the worst possible way. That's not going to happen here, lass. We Leprechauns do everything we can to make sure your wish comes out as close to what you want as possible."
"Forget it," said Piper. "No wishes. Just take your gold and get out of my house. I don't want your gold, your wishes, or you. Just take it and leave."
"I'm afraid that's not allowed," said Patrick. "I can't leave until you make a wish."
"Listen you reject from Munchkin Land," said Piper, her anger in full force, "I said no wishes. Not now, not ever. Just take your gold and get out. That's all I want."
"As I said," said Patrick, "I can't do that. Even if I wanted to, it's not possible."
"Why is that?" demanded Piper.
"Come on," said Patrick, heading for the kitchen. "I'll show you."
They followed Patrick into the kitchen where he took a seat at the table. Everyone gathered around to see what he had to show them.
"Put me chest of gold on the table in front of me," said Patrick.
Cole lifted the chest off the countertop and sat it on the table in front of Patrick. He smiled at them, and then reached up with both hands. He looked at them, and then reached for the chest. As if its own accord, the chest slid across the table to the other side away from Patrick.
"As you can see," said Patrick, "I can't reclaim me gold until I grant your wishes. It is physically impossible for me to even touch it. So just tell me what your wishes are so I can grant them, then I'll be on me way."
"I said no wishes," screamed Piper. "Are you deaf you myopic little dwarf? Take your gold and get out of my house. And I mean now."
"Piper please," started Leo.
"No, Leo," said Piper. "My mind's made up. He's just going to take his gold and move on. I'm going upstairs for a few minutes. When I come down I want him gone. No more discussion."
Without another word, Piper turned and stormed out of the kitchen heading for the stairs. Leo looked around at the rest of the group uncomfortably.
"A bit of a fiery one, isn't she?" asked Patrick.
"You have no idea," said Leo. "I'm going to go talk to her. Maybe get her to listen to reason."
Leo left the kitchen and followed his wife upstairs.
"So you say each of us gets a wish?" asked Phoebe.
"Each of the sisters," said Patrick. "That young lad upstairs, I'm afraid he's not entitled. Whitelighters are not eligible for wishes. Only humans are eligible to receive me wishes."
"What about Cole?" asked Phoebe. "He's human and he was with us when we opened the chest."
"Well that's a bit of a dilemma," said Patrick. "While his demonic half may have been vanquished, he is still half demon. It's the way he was born. It's what he is, powers or no. And I'm afraid I'm forbidden from granting wishes to a demon, even one that's been stripped of his powers."
"Just my luck," said Cole, smiling.
"Listen," said Patrick to Phoebe, "I can understand why you might be a bit skittish what with dealing with the Djinn and all. But I can assure you me wishes are completely above board and honest. I swear on me mother's heart."
"You don't have a mother," said Cole.
"Sure and you'd be right about that," said Patrick. "I just thought it might make the lass a bit more comfortable. But me word is still good. Me wishes will not be twisted or convoluted in the least. You have me word on that."
"I don't know," said Phoebe. "The last time we had a lot of trouble with wishes. I'm not sure I'm comfortable getting another one."
"You be more comfortable than your older sister," said Patrick.
"How do you know so much about us?" asked Paige.
"It's me magic," said Patrick. "It gives me necessary information about the recipients so that I can better grant their wishes. For instance, I know that you're sisters. And you must be witches if you have a Whitelighter in the house. And it tells me also that this strapping young man is, or at least was a demon. And a right powerful one at that."
"I used to be called Belthazor," said Cole. "But I'm good now. And no more demon in me."
"Sure and now this is a rare privilege," said Patrick. "Even in Ireland we know of the powerful Belthazor. But I had heard he was dead. I suppose, though, in a way, he is."
"Yeah," said Phoebe. "Thank goodness. Still, I'm going to have to think about this for a while. Before I decide if I want to be part of it."
"Take your time, darlin'," said Patrick. "Until your sister changes her mind, it doesn't make much of a difference. Now, I think I'll go have a wee bit of a chat with your sister. I'm sure that husband of hers is not having much luck changing her mind."
He smiled at the others then got out of his chair and headed for the stairs to the second floor.