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The Puck Fair festivities were in full swing by the time the Kiely motor coach pulled into Glencoe's Bed & Breakfast in Killorglin. The town was a bustle of activities from one end of High Street to the next. Aiden proved himself again as a skilled navigator and driver, expertly weaving through a shortcut maze of crisscrossing back country roads and twisting lanes bordered on both sides by tall hedgerows to arrive at their destination and find a parking space for their over-sized touring auto. Carolyn congratulated him on doing the impossible. "Well done, Aiden! I thought for sure we'd be hiking a mile to get to our B & B!"
"Ah now, Mrs. Gregg," he grinned back at her via the rearview mirror once again. "As you Americans like to say—this isn't my first rodeo. Plus, Killorglin is in our family's back garden, so to speak. You see, our hometown is just over the hill in Tralee. Attending the Puck Fair is a tradition no one in this part of Ireland would ever dream of missing."
"Will you have family in town now?"
"Aye, I expect so," Aiden glanced at his sister. "We'll give Mum & Dad a shout once we've settled you in, perhaps we can arrange to meet for a meal since we're scheduled to be here two days."
"Och—we can do better than that, lad," Daniel said as he reached for the handle to slide open the side door. "Go shove off and have the next days for yourselves. We won't need the car in town—everything is in walking distance, I imagine. We're a hardy lot, am I right, crew?"
"Aye! Aye! Captain," the kids chirped, happy to be set free from the confines of the back seat stuffed between the luggage compartment and the adults. Daniel offered his hand to Martha and Carolyn as they stepped out of the van. Then as Jonathan and Candy squirmed their way to the door, he grabbed them both around the waist and hoisted them to the ground.
Cara Kiely exited the front passenger seat. "You wouldn't mind, Captain, Mrs. Gregg—if we abandoned you for short while?"
Carolyn gave her a friendly smile of reassurance. "Of course not, Cara! Go be with your family. You have our itinerary and we'll be fine muddling through with our spare Irish guide," she ran her hand up and down her husband's back.
Daniel contorted his face into a playful grimace at Carolyn's remark and then encouraged the Kiely siblings again. "You two have been doing yeoman's work since we dropped anchor in Ireland. We appreciate all the time and care you've given to these two," he nodded towards the kids.
"And me!" Martha added. "You've shown me a wonderful time. I can't thank you—or you," she turned towards Carolyn and Daniel, "for this amazing experience. It's been a trip of a lifetime."
Candy came to Martha's side and wrapped her arm around her surrogate grandmother who she loved dearly. "It's a family trip, Martha. We wouldn't be a whole family if you didn't come, too."
"That's right!" Carolyn agreed emphatically while running a loving hand over the top of her daughter's head.
Aiden exchanged a corroborating glance with Cara. "If you're sure you'll be alright without the transport—it would be grand to pop in for a visit with our folks."
Daniel had moved to the rear of the van. "If you could just help with our gear while we get checked-in and settled, then you are officially "off-duty" for the next two days." He offered his hand to Aiden Kiely.
The young man shook the Captain's hand with a strong grip. "It'd be my pleasure." Aiden said gratefully and then began hefting various bags from the van.
Jonathan joined the men to help bring the luggage inside and up to their various rooms. "You get a vacation from our vacation!" he grinned and tugged at a suitcase. It almost thudded to the ground before Aiden lunged to catch it by the handle.
Daniel ruffled Jonathan's hair when he saw the boy's embarrassed frustration. "Smolts grow into salmon, skipper," and then handed the youngster his mother's overnight case.
An hour later after being checked into their rooms Daniel, Carolyn, Martha and the kids headed into the heart of Killorglin. "I'm afraid we've missed The Gathering Parade and the crowning of the goat and Queen of the fair," Captain Gregg said, "but as you can see for yourselves there's much to see and do." The center of town was a mishmash of happy faces with a thousand people milling around the tower in the center of the town's square, many taking photos of King Puck up on high. Many locals had gotten into the spirit of the ancient festival by wearing traditional Irish garb. Many others demonstrated their sense of humor by dressing up in wild and wacky costumes; they came dressed as goats, shamrocks and leprechauns. Candy spotted at least one woman dressed as Little Bo-Peep and she was leading around her two little children dressed in cute, fluffy sheep costumes.
"This must be Ireland's version of Mardi Gras!" Martha laughed jovially.
"I think this is wilder than Mardi Gras!" Carolyn agreed. "So, Captain Gregg," she turned to find Daniel behind her in the jostling crowd. "What is our battle plan? What should we see and do first?"
"Hmm," Daniel swiped his hand across his mustache, "I think it's best to do a reconnaissance of the festival, have some lunch and then prioritize activities." His words and manner were very authoritative and military-sounding as he inspected his crew of women and children.
"Yessss," Carolyn dipped her head, considering his words… "or we could just go where the wind blows us," she grinned impishly. She grabbed Candy and Jonathan's hands, "Let's go, kids!" Caught up in the spirit of frivolity all around her she encouraged them to start skipping as she did as they maneuvered through the throng of fair goers.
Daniel and Martha exchanged incredulous looks. "The woman is skipping," the Captain voiced the obvious. "A naval officer does not skip." He was adamant butnevertheless, he was also amused and delighted to know his wife was clearly enjoying herself.
"You? What about me, Captain?" Martha shook her head in dismay. "My hop, skip and jump has become limp, trudge and slump these days." She watched as Mrs. Gregg and the kids disappeared into the mingling crowd. Then she turned to Daniel, "Captain Gregg, would you be so kind as to escort me to the fair?"
Daniel bowed in a gentlemanly fashion and offered Martha his arm, "It would be my pleasure, Madam."
They caught up with the rest of the family a short distance ahead at the ice-cream booth. "Come on, slow pokes!" Carolyn teased. Jonathan and Candy were happily enjoying chocolate and vanilla double scoop cones. Carolyn was juggling two dishes of the same and was waiting a final scoop in a third. "Please be generous with the chocolate syrup, it's his favorite." Daniel came up beside her and reached for his wallet. "Oh, I got this, darling-my treat," she smiled up at him. She handed one of the dishes to Martha.
The girl behind the counter handed him a bowl containing a hot fudge sundae. His blue eyes twinkled in pleasure, "buíochas," he told the girl as he reached for a napkin. "You do know my weaknesses, my dear," he whispered to his wife as he sidled up beside her, a spoonful of the cold, sweet treat heading for his mouth.
Carolyn giggled, "Not all of them Captain Gregg—but I'm learning." Her words were innocent to the children's ears, but Daniel Gregg knew a double entendre when he heard one.
The rest of the afternoon was spent at a leisurely pace as they enjoyed the comfortable temperatures and blue skies and just being together as a family. At the performance stage Irish dancers stepped lively and high to joyful jigs and hornpipes. Later they strolled amongst the dozens of farmer's market and artisan booths, stopping to admire and purchase a few souvenirs to take back to Gull Cottage. Daniel purchased matching Connemara marble inlaid bracelets for his three favorite ladies and a keychain with the stone for Jonathan. Carolyn selected a beautiful watercolor print of the Upper Lake at Glendalough and arranged for it to be shipped back to Schooner Bay. Jonathan's major purchase of the day was a traditional tweed duncher cap, which transformed him into looking like one of the local County Kerry lads. Candy sank deeper into Daniel Gregg's heart when she was determined to find some item amongst all the stalls with the ancient Gréagór tartan design. She was losing hope when late in the day her adopted dad wrapped a red, blue and green County Cork tartan scarf of pure lamb's wool about her shoulders. Carolyn looked on and couldn't help but to smile with tender affection. She remembered when her Captain had draped a silk shawl around her in a similar loving gesture. Daniel explained his gift to Candy. "In Ireland, most people wear the tartan colors of the county of their birth. Wear this and you'll let the people know you belong to County Cork."
"But she was born in Philadelphia," Jonathan noted, just stating a fact.
"True, lad, true. But I was born in County Cork and now she belongs to me," Daniel leaned down to tap his finger on Candy's nose. He stood up and reached over to pull the brim of Jonathan's new cap over his eyes, "as do you, my boy. Therefore, you are both Corkers—in every sense of the word." He winked at Carolyn.
Candy wrapped her arms about the Captain and gave him a mighty hug. "And you belong to us!"
Daniel returned his daughter's embrace. "Aye, I do, my girl. Forever and always. Now…enough shopping. Let's make our way over to the horses." He looked at his wristwatch, "The last races of the day are set to start soon. I wouldn't mind placing a bet or two."
Though the wild mountain goat was the symbol of the fair—the real stars of the Puck Fair were the horses. The singers, dancers, food booths, parades, fireworks and all the rest were just accompaniments to the main melody—all things having to do with Ireland's love affair with horses. At Puck Fair horses were bought, sold and traded. There were thoroughbred races and dressage events, jumping and steeplechase cross-country events. Horse tack of every imaginable kind was available for sale from custom western and English saddles, martingales and silver concho bridles. Families with young children flocked to the pony and donkey rides, with city youngsters squealing in glee as they rode a "horsie" for the first time.
The family toured the horse barn facilities, petting their fair share of velvety noses and scratching behind the ears of the gentle horses and keeping their distance from the stalls marked with signs warning: "I bite!" They came upon a large pen with three Shetland ponies for sale at £35 each. Carolyn, Martha and the kids couldn't resist the cuteness on display as the three ponies charmed them with their big brown eyes. Daniel again looked at his watch, "We'd best take our seats for the race." He walked off and soon realized he was talking to himself. His family was still back at the Shetland ponies, Candy and Jonathan standing on the lower rails of the corral fence and leaning over to pet, scratch and stroke one of the ponies' withers. Martha was telling a story to Carolyn about how she used to climb upon the family's Percheron draft horse when she lived on the farm as a little girl. He came up unnoticed behind the two ladies and stood quietly for a moment listening to their conversation. Finally, he broke in with a not so subtle "Hh-hem! We're about to miss the start of the race, my dears."
"Oh! Sorry, Daniel. We just couldn't resist petting these cutie-pies," Carolyn apologized. "Come on, kids. Time to go."
"Aww!" came Jonathan's complaint. "Just a little longer?"
Candy got right to the point. "Mom, Dad…we changed our minds. Instead of a baby goat can we get a pony instead?" Her big blue eyes looked up hopefully at her parents.
"Yeah!" Jonathan backed her enthusiastically.
Martha chuffed, "Here we go!" and rolled her eyes skyward.
Daniel did his best to look sorry. "Gull Cottage has no stable and I don't think the airplane's luggage compartment can accommodate Shetland ponies, mates."
"But there's the garage and the old carriage house—can't we make a barn out of one of those?" reasoned Jonathan. "Mom shipped a painting home. Can't we ship a pony home, too? Just put in some food and water?"
Carolyn came to Daniel's rescue. "Now look, you two. Yesterday you wanted a pygmy goat, now we pet a pony for five minutes and you want a horse? How many times during an ordinary week at home do we have to remind you to clean up after Scruffy in the yard, take him for a run or change the water in his bowl?"
"Not very many," Jonathan said meekly.
"Think again, young man," she replied with added sternness to her words.
The Muir children's eyes were downcast, their expressions sad. They knew what the tone of their mother's voice meant. "Okay," Candy sighed. She reached through the boards and petted her favorite chestnut Shetland. "Goodbye, Little Red." Brother and sister scuffed their feet as they left their three equine friends. They followed dutifully behind the adults as they made their way to the makeshift mile long circular racetrack nicknamed affectionately "Killorglin Downs" during the three-day Puck Fair. The family found seats in one of the many sections of bleachers hauled in and scattered around the track for spectators. Captain Gregg glanced down the ranks of his crew to see Jonathan and Candy sitting sullenly, being obedient and yet uncooperative at the same time. Carolyn laid her hand on Daniel's knee and gave it a gentle pat. "Let them pout. They'll live," she advised him quietly.
Martha stage whispered from her seat, "Hungry and over-tired are recipes for grumpiness. May I suggest some dinner and then herding these two back to their room after the run for the roses?"
Carolyn nodded in agreement and reached her right arm out to gently stroke each child's back briefly, acknowledging their disappointment in being denied a pony. "Yes, I think that's a good idea. We've seen and done enough today. The festival will continue tomorrow." She glanced at Daniel, "Do you agree, Captain?"
"Aye," he nodded in agreement. The loudspeaker system crackled to life as the horses were being led to the starting gate. The distraction covered Daniel's words as he leaned close to Carolyn's left ear, "Perhaps later tonight you and I can attend the ceili dancing after lights out?"
She smiled knowingly and leaned against him, "Are you suggesting, Captain Gregg, we sneak out after being restricted to our quarters for the night?"
He wrapped his arm around her and laid a gentle kiss on her temple. "That I am, missus, that I am."
"Mm, count me in. I hope they play a waltz or two," she added and then turned her full attention to the race which was about to start.