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It was mid-morning the next day, the Captain and Carolyn Gregg had checked out of their bungalow and were relaxing in the hotel lobby, when amongst the throng of day visitors, they spotted two flaxen-blonde headed children they recognized as belonging to them. "Mom! Captain!" Jonathan yelled loudly and ran to them where they had been seated on a large sofa. He launched himself across their laps and giggled happily. Carolyn grabbed her son's face in her hands and rained kisses down on his cheeks while Captain Gregg gave a playful smack to the boy's bottom in a fatherly type of greeting. Jonathan rolled off them as his sister came up just as eager to rejoin her parents. She settled for a less rambunctious but tight hug from both Daniel and Carolyn. "Did you miss us?" Candy wanted to know.

"Of course, we did, sweetie! Did you have fun in Wicklow?"

"It was great!" Jonathan proclaimed. "Aiden took us out for pizza, and we had cheeseburgers once for dinner!"

Daniel tugged his ear and gave Jonathan a dubious smile. "Skipper, did you do anything else besides eat?"

Candy bobbed her head up and down earnestly. "We had lots of fun. There was a traveling carnival with a Ferris wheel and a merry-go-round—"

"—and bumper cars!" her brother interjected excitedly. "I crashed into Candy a million times."

"Did not!" she disagreed. "Maybe once or twice, that's all. But Martha got us both good!"

Carolyn and Daniel exchanged surprised looks. "Martha did? Our Martha?"

At that moment Martha Grant and Cara Kiely joined the family in the lobby. "Yes, your Martha," Cara vouched. "It was great fun watching her whiz about in her dodgem car. She'd sneak up behind your unsuspecting two and give them a good ram." She smacked her fist into the palm of her other hand.

"Go away with you! Our Martha?" Daniel reached out a hand in greeting to her.

Martha clasped Daniel's hand affectionately and smiled at both children. "It was fun. Didn't even get a minor case of whiplash. 'Course—they had to use a crowbar to pry me out of that little car when the ride was over, but they managed." She laughed heartily with her own usual self-deprecating sense of humor.

Carolyn stood and gave a hug to her dear friend. "You are wonderful." She turned back to her kids. "So, you ate pizza and went to a carnival. Did you two have any other adventures? You know I'll be writing an article about our trip—I'll need some exciting stories."

Martha and Cara exchanged knowing looks and waited for Jonathan and Candy to tell their tale. But Jonathan and his secret jackknife were given a reprieve as Aiden came up to them all. "I see the family has reunited, that's grand so it 'tis." He clasped his hands together and then spoke with Captain Gregg, "I filled the van with petrol on the drive over. I'll carry your bags down and load them up and we'll be ready to head down to Cork any time you like, Captain."

Daniel looked to Carolyn with his question, "What are our plans, dear?"

Carolyn was standing between her son and daughter, her arms draped over their slim shoulders. "Well, we'll have lunch and then I think the kids should see a little bit of the old monastery—the ruins and perhaps the graveyard. I'd like a have a family photo of us all—maybe by the waterfall or the lower lake. That's not too far. Will we have time?" she fretted. "How far is the drive to Cork, Aiden?"

"I reckon it's a good hundred miles or so, if we hit the road by one or two o'clock, we'll be there to have our tea, I imagine. Shouldn't be problem. They keep the sheep off the main roads we'll be traveling on."

"Sheep on the road?" Martha inquired.

"Och yes," Cara explained. "Ireland's back roads and country lanes are all fair play for the farmers to use to move their flocks from one field to the next. The locals all know and leave extra time for their travels to town."

Jonathan's reprieve was short-lived. Shortly after placing their food orders Aiden Kiely leaned forward at their table and inquired of his employers. "Well, now what do you think about your two heroes?"

Jonathan winced.

"What was that?" Daniel asked curiously. He looked at his wife expectantly across the table and then glanced down at the children sitting on either side of him.

"About the big rescue, of course! Didn't they tell you?" Aiden looked a little surprised. "I'm right proud of these two sprouts, I am."

Jonathan looked uncomfortable and Candy tried to look innocent—if only in a sisterly alliance with her brother. Carolyn suspected the pair were hiding some important piece of information. "Care to explain, kids?" One of her perfect eyebrows arched in suspicion.

Candy sighed and took the lead explaining about the beach hike, the ensnared seal pup and how Aiden held the seal down as Jonathan cut away the fishing net to free the pup and how it reunited with its mother. She also explained how she hoped the pictures she took of the rescue would come out when the film was developed. Jonathan didn't say anything but slowly reached into his front jeans pocket, fished out his knife and laid it on the table—fearing Mother Wrath. Daniel picked it up and opened the blade, examining it briefly and then closing it back up. It was times like this he wasn't quite sure how to proceed as a stepfather and disciplinarian. He waited for Carolyn to take the lead.

Jonathan held his breath for her reaction. Luckily for him, she was obviously in a relaxed, good mood. He explained Grandpa Ralph had gifted him with the knife and told him not to let her know he had it. He had brought it along on the trip in case of an emergency—and wasn't saving the baby seal an emergency? Daniel lent moral support to the boy by wrapping his arm about Jonathan's shoulders. Carolyn told Jonathan and Candy she was proud of them both and remembered her own desire to see to it that poor, adorable Algae was set free. She couldn't fault Jonathan for obeying his grandfather's wishes. Ruefully she thought-once again, Ralph Muir had managed to find a way to interfere with how she raised her son. But she kept her feelings towards her former father-in-law to herself. Now she looked to Daniel for his suggestion as to how to handle Jonathan's deception about the knife he knew she wouldn't want him to have. Daniel cleared his throat and picked up the knife and slipped it into the pocket of his sport coat. "In view of the fact it was a gift from your grandfather—and you did use it for a noble purpose—I think it's best I hold on to this for you, mate. Your mum can decide when you're old enough to have it back. In the meantime, there might be occasions where you and I will have need of a fine tool like this one—say on our next fishing trip, eh?"

Carolyn nodded in approval and the crisis was over. The waitress arrived and lunch was served. After eating the group headed down the now familiar pathway to the ruins of St. Kevin's monastery. Candy gazed at the ancient stone masonry, crumbling and vine covered in some dark corners. "Golly, this place is old!"

Cara Kiely explained. "Yes, it 'tis. It was built oh…five or six hundred years ago."

In the nearby cemetery, Martha wandered amongst the old headstones. Many were so weather-beaten and moss-covered the inscribed names were no longer legible. Jonathan came to her side in front of a massive monument. It was elaborately decorated with a Celtic cross and shamrocks and it stood taller than Martha. The boy began to read. "Erected by Daniel Stedman in memory of his beloved wife Elizabeth who departed this life 10th November 1928 aged 63 years. Also their son Thomas who departed this life age 22nd March 1918 aged 23 years. Also two of their children who died young. Also the above named Daniel Stedman who died 31st December 1950 aged 87 years." Jonathan glanced up at Martha Grant. "Gee, a whole family is buried here."

"Yes." Martha replied. "Most of these are family plots."

Jonathan was quiet a moment and then said wisely, "It must be nice to be buried together as a family. Nobody ever gets lonely, that way."

Martha smiled solicitously at the boy she loved as a grandson. "You're absolutely right, Jonathan." She took his hand when Carolyn waved everyone over to her side.

"Let's walk a way up to the lower lake. I really want a photo of us as a family." She held Candy's hand as they passed under twin stone arches following the crushed stone path which led up the gentle incline to the lake. It was a popular photo spot for the tourists and the Gregg-Muir family waited until they could take up positions. Carolyn and Candy handed over their cameras to Aiden and Cara as the family posed together with the majestic landscape as their backdrop. The Kiely's took several photos and made a move to hand back the cameras. "Not so fast you two!" Carolyn smiled. "You need to get into a shot." Carolyn hailed two college kids with backpacks and hiking sticks coming up the trail towards them. "Excuse me," Carolyn held up her camera, "Would you mind?"

The hikers were happy to help. Cara and Aiden squeezed into the shot and the photograph was taken. "You'll have to send us a copy of the snap," Aiden requested. "We're working on a new brochure for Kiely Gaelic Tours."

"You got it," Carolyn promised. "Plus, you'll get some free advertising once I get my article written of our trip. You'll be turning customers away!"

"Lord—don't say that!" Cara laughed. "That'd be a nice problem to have. Now…shall we head to County Cork?"

Carolyn smiled up at Daniel and slipped her arm through his. "Let's."