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That evening before the Gregg-Muir Family gathered for a final dinner in Cork, there was much excitement. Jonathan and Candy couldn't wait to get back to the hotel to share their experiences digging peat and what they found—and their parents had the task of delivering a very special gift to the youngsters.
As soon as Carolyn and Daniel rode the elevator back up to their floor, they immediately entered the kids' room adjacent to theirs. Candy and Jonathan were besides themselves, the words tumbling out of their mouths so fast Carolyn begged them to slow down.
"Mom! Dad! You'll never believe it!Itwassocool!" Candy gushed.
"I found mine first! I found mine first!" Jonathan insisted.
"Found what?" Carolyn asked, looking from her children to her husband and then back to the children.
"I'll tell! I'll tell!"
"No, I'll tell, Jonathan. I'm the oldest!" Candy reminded him.
"So? What's that got to do with anything?" he demanded.
The Captain smiled and pinched the bridge of his nose, his patience waning. "Crew, settle down—Captain's orders. Now, Candace—slowly—give your mother and me a full report of today's activities."
"Everything? Even kissing the Blarney Stone?"
Jonathan jumped in, "Not that silly! Tell 'em what we found when used those skinny shovels at the peat mog."
"Bog," Daniel corrected.
"Okay," Candy began. "We were driving and then Aiden spotted some men digging in this field. He drove up and asked them if we could watch what they were doing since we were from America and never even seen peat before."
Jonathan couldn't stand the pace of the story. "And we found gold coins!"
Carolyn exchanged glances with Daniel. "You found what?"
"Jonathan! I was 'posed to tell!" his sister protested. She stamped her feet angrily.
"Then hurry up and tell!"
She made a face at her brother and then addressed her parents. "The farmers let us try digging the peat. They gave each of us one of those funny-looking shovels and told us to step on it and shove it down hard. When the peat fell away—there was this old gold coin in between the peat and my shovel."
"Mine too!" Jonathan shouted. "Look!" He shoved his hand into his pocket and took out his golden coin. He handed it to Daniel. Captain Gregg took the coin and inspected it. He felt it to be heavy enough to be gold and had an elaborate Celtic knot design engraved upon it—but no country of origin or date. He turned it over in his hand and showed the coin to Carolyn.
"Why…it looks like…is that a sea lion?" she exclaimed.
"Aye, looks to be," Daniel agreed. He was just as intrigued as Carolyn and the kids.
Candy soon produced an identical coin. "Aiden said the leprechauns would reward us for saving the baby seal—and they did!"
"Certainly looks that way," Carolyn agreed. "The men there—the men who owned the land—they let you keep this gold? If it is really gold, we don't know that for sure, guys."
"Yuh huh," Jonathan shook his head in the affirmative emphatically. "Aiden told them about us rescuing the seal in the fisherman's net and they said the coins were left for us."
"Yeah—one man said that if anyone stole a gift a leprechaun meant for somebody else to have-bad things would happen to the person who stole it," Candy reported.
"Oh, now think about it, you two," their mother gave them an indulgent smile. "What are the odds you just happen upon a peat bog and just happen to dig in two perfect spots and just happen to find gold? I mean…Aiden could have called some friends; the coins probably were planted there for your benefit." Carolyn was trying to reason. "Let's not get too carried away with this leprechaun business," her words weren't going to convince her children there was any other possibility.
Daniel was a little surprised by her attempt to dissuade the children. Afterall, she should be a 100% believer in Ireland's magic after having to deal with ghosts, gnomes, faeries and apple-throwing leprechauns on the trip thus far. "That reminds me, my dear…we brought the children back a little something from Ballyrossclare?"
"That's right, we did. Come into our room, kids." The family trooped through the connecting door, Jonathan and Candy still clutching their golden prizes in their hands. Carolyn then said. "Close your eyes." They did. "Now listen, we have this for the both of you—promise you'll share with each other whatever is in here. No arguments, promise?"
"Okay, Mommy." Candy pledge.
Jonathan wasn't so eager to agree. "Jonathan?" Carolyn prodded.
"Golly Mom, sort of depends on what's inside." he reasoned stubbornly.
Daniel's voice served as the boy's only warning. "You're pushing it, boyo."
"Okay, sorry. I promise to share with Candy," he said only half-convincingly.
Carolyn produced the bag left for them to discover in the old apple tree. "Okay, you can look now." She handed the sack to her eldest. "Open it and let's see what they—I mean—what's inside. Dump it out on the bed between you two."
Candy allowed Jonathan to tug at the twine enclosing the odd old purse while she held it. When fully loosened she upended the bag and the contents tumbled out. Ten stones fell unto the bed of various colors, shapes and sizes but clearly there were two specimens of each. There would be no worries about sharing the loot equally, in addition there was two pieces of jewelry—a silver brooch in the shape of a trinity knot and an emerald stone ring with a shamrock at its center. "Ooh! Diamonds and rubies!" gushed Candy.
Daniel eyed the small rocks. "I'm afraid not, dear one. But they are minerals and crystals. They are not ordinary rocks by any measure." He picked up a greenish-tinted polished stone with dark swirls. "I'm fairly certain this is Connemara marble."
Jonathan picked up a beautiful stone and held it up against the room's overhead lamp. "This one has like a whole rainbow of colors. Look, Mom!" He offered the mineral specimen to Carolyn.
She took it from his hand and smiled in pleasure. "You can see a rainbow, Jonathan. I'm pretty sure this is opal of some kind. This is valuable, women pay a lot of money for jewelry made from opal. It's a lovely stone."
Daniel was still examining the rest of the "rocks". "I'm a man of the sea, so I'm no expert. But these, just might be emeralds—the true gemstone of Ireland. You have been given a treasure, mates. Gold coins and rare gems. You have been more than rewarded, you've been honored by Ireland's wee folk."
Jonathan big blue eyes grew wide. "Then it's true, Captain? The leprechauns gave us all this stuff?"
Before Daniel could answer the boy, Carolyn interjected. "Now honey, we're not telling you leprechauns left you these gifts. I mean…I didn't see any leprechauns today, did you Captain?"
Daniel hesitated before answering, not exactly sure which direction his wife wanted to sail in. "True. I didn't see any leprechauns with my own eyes." He regarded Carolyn with some scrutiny, "I've yet to grow eyes in the back of my head." He added pointedly.
"What are the rest of these rocks?" Candy wondered. "They sure are pretty. Do I keep the pin and Jonathan gets the ring? I hope so, I can wear the pin now—he'll have to wait a long time before the ring fits his finger."
Before her son could protest Carolyn suggested they put the jewelry away until they were both older. "We should take the coins and the jewelry into a shop to get it checked out by a jeweler. They'll be able to tell us if they are gold and silver or just look-alikes. As for the stones…I don't know but we can find out later. You two scoot back to your room and get washed up for dinner. You have ten minutes—off you go."
After the kids retreated to their room Daniel kept his voice low. "Why deny them the pleasure of the leprechaun tale? They'd have bragging rights from now until doomsday."
Carolyn paused just inside the bathroom. "Daniel, I'm afraid nobody would believe them. Very soon they'll be too old for Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, kids grow out of fairy tales. I don't want them to be mocked and made fun of for believing in real-life versions of the men on "Lucky Charms" boxes in between Saturday morning cartoon shows."
Daniel frowned, "But you know the truth of it all, Carolyn. Next you'll have them believing there's no such things as ghosts!" he huffed.
"Captain Gregg," She took a step towards him, "Why would they believe in ghosts? They don't have any memories of living with the ghost of Gull Cottage, remember?" she reminded him gently.
"It was necessary," he admitted. "It'd would have been too much of secret for them to bear."
"I agree. But trust me on this. Just like the Tooth Fairy and Santa—let them have a little fun with "what if's?" But let's keep them thinking about the possibility of grown-ups helping to manufacture leprechaun gifts. I don't want to ruin their fun and imagination but—kids—and their parents—can be so mean at times. If we tell them leprechauns are real then kids at school will call their parents liars, too and then Candy and Jonathan will be fighting to defend us and themselves. I don't want them to have to deal with that kind of nonsense. Maybe when they're older…" she trailed off.
Again, Daniel acquiesced to Carolyn's wishes. She was the experienced parent; he would always try to maintain a united front with the mother of his children. He tugged his ear, exhaled and nodded. He was just a junior officer when it came to decision-making concerning raising the children. He knew he had much to learn. He would share with Candy and Jonathan the truth about Ireland's supernatural mysteries but Carolyn was right—when they were older. "Right you are, m'dear. Now… My stomach thinks my throat's been cut. Time for supper."
Carolyn understood the sacrifice of the truth Daniel Gregg was making. She took another step towards him, stood on her tiptoes and lightly brushed her lips against his. "One day we'll tell them. I promise."
Later at the restaurant all seven people on this tour of Ireland were seated at a large table in the dining room. Aiden informed the group his sister was an amateur rock hound and had been collecting rock and mineral specimens ever since she was a little girl. She easily identified the Connemara marble, "Oh yes, quite lovely. People make all kinds of jewelry out of this native stone; rings, bracelets, earrings, bolo tie slides." She also agreed with Captain Gregg about the unpolished and uncut emeralds. "These are treasures, kids! Best keep these in a safe place, you'll want an experienced man on lapidary equipment to have a go on these." The other stones she identified as being peridot, "New Age sorts have made claims it can clear away negativity and protects a person's aura."
"What does that mean?" Jonathan side whispered to Candy.
She shrugged, "Dunno."
Cara Kiely went on, "And these little beauties," she held more green crystalline rocks in her hand, "I'm going to say are serpentines. Legend has it they bring the luck of the Irish to whoever owns them," she winked at Carolyn and Daniel. "I'd say whoever put together this wee collection did a very fine job indeed."
Martha reached out to pick up one of the "rainbow" rocks. "And these are?"
"Irish opals. They can be found in many parts of Ireland; in the Wicklow Mountains and the Giants Causeway area up in Northern Ireland are just two places that I know of. Some opals are said to be worth more than diamonds. I'd say these two are right beauties. I'm jealous of your rock collection, so I am!" Both kids beamed with pride at her assessment of the stones.
Martha spread her napkin on her lap. "Well hope you kids do develop an interest in collecting rocks. I've been wanting to start a vegetable garden in the back forty—you two can pick rocks to your heart's content back there—although you'll mostly find "leaverite" in Maine."
"Leaverite?" Cara asked. "I've never heard of that mineral."
"Oh yes," Martha assured her. "Leaverite—as in leave it right there." She chuckled with the rest of her dining companions.
The next day the Kiely Gaelic Tours van was fully packed with luggage and passengers once again. Now Aiden steered them on a westward heading to the community of Killorglin. The Kiely's explained the Gregg-Muir family was in for a great Irish tradition—attending the Puck Fair, held every year since centuries gone by to honor a goat.
"A goat?!" Martha exclaimed. "I've got to hear this story."
Once again, Cara re-arranged her seating to give a very brief history for the beloved festival. As she twisted in the front passenger seat of the van she explained. "First off, nobody really seems to know how the whole thing got started. Some say the male goat-"Puck" is an old symbol of fertility for the first Celtic people who lived on our island. Others say the goat was a hero for the village of Killorglin."
"How can a goat be a hero?" Jonathan wondered. He and his sister had not given up hope of having a pygmy goat as a pet once they got home.
"You see, a herd of goats was grazing peacefully one day when they were startled and frightened when an English raiding party invaded. The terrified goats ran away up into the hills—but one male goat staggered into the center of Killorglin—all frazzled and wild eyed—the people took one look at the poor crayture and realized they were about to be attacked. You see, the goat gave them time to be prepared and, on their guard, and so they were able to defend Killorglin. So ever since to honor that goat they hold a festival and crown a wild mountain goat they call "Puck" as King. They hoist him up on a great platform for all to see."
"Ayuh," Martha observed. "I've got to see this. Sounds like real party."
"Oh it 'tis," Cara agreed. "There'll be horse racing, food booths, Irish dancers, clowns roaming the fairgrounds, a pipe band competition, a fireworks display—oh and two grand parades- of course with King Puck acting as the Grand Marshal of the whole shebang. Then the big moment when the Queen places a crown on Puck's head."
"Wait…the Queen of England crowns a goat?" Candy was confused.
"No, lass," Daniel informed her. "A young girl like yourself is chosen to be the Puck Fair Queen as she
crowns the goat to mark the official beginning of the fair."
Cara added, "'Tis a great honor for the girl who is chosen."
Candy took in the information and then announced solemnly from the rear seat, "I think I'd rather be voted class president."