Chapter 4: That look

I had spoken with Cindy, Steve and the twins, last night before we turned in. Cindy seemed more at ease in our conversations now. The frequency of them calling had changed so I had hope that she was growing more at ease. In a way, it was very nice to be worried about, but I was certain that I was way past being twelve just as she had reminded me when she wanted to drive and then date all those years ago. It's funny how the roles reverse when children go from being children into being parents in their own right.

I woke spooned to Maeve a firm handful of her fine breast in my hand attached to the arm I had draped over her. I was morning hard and firmly lodged between the globes. I debated for a moment if I should get up or get in.

When I started to move my hand she brought hers up to hold mine in place. That decision had me whispering for her to lift her leg and in was the choice. It was a slow building love we shared until that was no longer acceptable for the lust we shared for each other. I would want to tell you that I whispered sweet things in her ear but that was not the truth. They were dirty words, and this morning that kindled her lust to a burning desire.

I had pulled back to drive all of me into her when I felt her hand push me back at the last moment. Instead of that warm wet sheath I pushed straight and deep in her rear hole. She didn't cry out from the pain she must have been feeling but egged me on with those nasty words about where I was and what I was doing.

We had crossed a line again, moved to a deeper love for one another. Maybe I was bringing more into this than there was but it felt that way to me. It didn't take long to empty myself in her holding her body tight to mine as I did.

"You have ravished all I have to offer or take my Lord," she whispered.

"I believe you helped that happen, my Majesty."

"I like being your princess better my Lord."

"Then you shall always be that, my princess."

I kissed the back of her neck, which had her moving as the nerves fired off, inside her body.

"You make me want to move all over when you do that my Lord."

"Who better to make you do that, than me?" I nibbled on her neck just where it turned up from her shoulder.

"Would you make that for all to see my Lord?"

"I might well do that at some point, princess."

Her body shuddered, no doubt from the thought of it and the small kisses of her neck as I continued.

"We should shower soon. I fear poor Sam and Jonas might starve."

"Then they will be wasted away because I am not ready to release you yet."

I rolled her on top of me and added my other hand to that free breast. As I rolled her nipples in my fingers she began to moan and move. That had me regaining my hardness.

"Are you too sore for another time?"

"You have me all, my Lord. Worry not, I shall be fine."

She began to move using her legs to lift and fall. It was a slow time my spend keeping it lubed for now. She pulled my hands away and sat up facing away from me. Quickly she folded her legs next to me and then rode us to another crashing orgasm.

She lifted so that I popped out and then she turned and fell onto my chest.

"Now I am too sore to continue."

She kissed me and held onto me.

"I need to use the..." I said, and she kissed me again.

"I know, my love."

She rolled off and I got up.

I didn't see Jonas or Sam when I stepped out. I thought about going to look for them but nature's call made itself more pressing. I stopped to take care of that, and added a quick shower, too. I walked back into the bedroom and got dressed. I kissed Maeve and went outside to see if I could find Jonas and Sam.

I walked out the door but they weren't there. So I walked to the front and then around the side and that was where I found the two of them. But something wasn't right. They were both there but also present were six distinct puddles all around them. Jonas was knelling down using his sword to push something out of the puddle.

Sam came over to me and sat at my feet. While I watched Jonas use his sword to lift what looked like an amulet on a chain, from the puddle where he was.

"What is that, Jonas?"

"It is an amulet, Lord Robert."

"Like the one I wear?"

"Yes, but this one is to the cold world."

"I don't understand. If that is an amulet from the cold world, are these six puddles all that are left of the ones from there?"

"Yes, my Lord"

"Did you kill them all?"

"I didn't have the opportunity to."

"I don't understand."

"That makes two of us. Now I would like to wash this off and then return inside."

So we did just that. Maeve had showered and was working on breakfast when we walked inside. Jonas still had the chain and the amulet hanging from his sword and walked to the bathroom. He dipped as much of it as he could into the toilet bowl and then flushed it. Since he had his sword through the chain it didn't get flushed down. He handed me the sword and asked me to wash the rest of it in the shower. I did that and then we took it to the kitchen sink to use some soap on it, as we washed it one more time.

Maeve had been watching us but didn't ask about it. Once it was clean, I took a towel and dried it off and put it on the table. Then her questions started.

"What happened?"

"They found us at some point. There were six of them sneaking up to attack us. Sam and I heard them coming so we went out to meet them."

"So you killed six of them?"

"No, I never laid a blade on one."

"Sam killed them?" she asked.

"He stayed at my side they whole time."

"So how did they end up dead?"

"I don't know," he replied.

"I think we should move along since they found us here," I added.

"Not a bad idea, my Lord," Jonas replied.

"What should we do with that amulet?" Maeve asked.

"We will keep it somewhere safe, for now," Jonas said.

We ate breakfast. Maeve cleaned up from that, while I unhooked us, and we were off.

We drove in silence for a while. My mind was running in circles, wondering what had happened. Finally I had to do something to stop that, so I turned the stereo system and put in a Johnny Cash CD. I had found it was one of the few artists that Sam would not howl along with.

Johnny has that fantastic voice and even though I was not much of a country and western fan, you couldn't help but admire that talent he possessed. The Ring of Fire had just finished playing when Jonas came near tumbling out of his bunk.

"What was that song?" he asked.

"Ring of Fire, why?"

"It holds the answer to this morning somehow, I feel it," his voice was full bodied.

"What do you mean?" Maeve questioned.

"It was fire that had to have killed them." Jonas said.

"Ok, did you see or feel any fire?" I asked.

"No, there was none. But what did he sing about in that song."

So I cued it back up and we listened to it again.

"There, did you hear it. That has to be the fire he is talking about." Jonas was animated about it. "Play it again."

So I replayed the song. "There, that is what had to have done it. You heard it didn't you?"

"Love is a burning thing and it makes a fiery ring." Maeve asked.

"That has to be it. Now you two are in love. What were you doing this morning?"

Maeve blushed, and I stuttered.

"Ah, that is it." Jonas said.

"Well, now, I figured out what killed them. It's your burning love that is a fiery ring. They simply were to close when your ring flew out at them and you basically cooked them."

He was a very happy Leprechaun at the moment.

Maeve and I looked at each other. We cooked them when we were making love this morning. We had generated a fiery ring that exploded out from us. I shook my head trying to get my mind around that idea. Maeve put her hand on mine and just squeezed it.

We drove along and listened to the rest of the CD but it didn't seem to hold anything more for Jonas. I needed to get some more fuel and we still didn't have any new clothes for Jonas so I turned on the GPS and asked to find an outlet center. When it spoke back both Maeve and Jonas held their mouths open in amazement.

"What is that magic that makes it talk to you?" Jonas asked.

"It's not magic, its technology." And then I explained how it worked. He shook his head, not wanting to believe me as I explained it but he had no better explanation so he listened.

"And she speaks to you when you ask her questions?" Maeve asked.

"Only to certain questions that she is programmed to respond to." I replied.

"What do you mean programmed to respond to?" Jonas inquired.

"The unit is for when you're traveling, it gives directions, can tell you about places and do a few other things I have not figured out yet by reading the manual."

"What is a manual?" Jonas asked.

"It is an instruction book that tells you how it works and how to use the features."

"Can I see it?" Maeve asked.

"It is in the back in one of the drawers there." So Maeve and Jonas got up and went back to read the manual. I drove listening to the instructions as I got close to the outlet center.

Maeve and Jonas came back and started to play with the unit. First they listened to all of the voice options. Shaking their heads at the voices they liked and didn't. They took out a cord, plugged it in, and took my phone. Maeve plugged the other end into my phone.

Maeve said "Call Cindy" and I heard it dial and Cindy answer.

"Hi, Dad," Cindy said.

"Hi, Baby."

'What's up?"

"I'm just playing with the GPS. I can add the phone to it, and have hands free calling."

"Never too old to learn Dad," I heard the kids in the background.

"I guess not. Everything ok?"

"The kids are cutting molars, I think, and their crabby as anything."

"Ah, the joys of parenthood."

"Thanks for being so understanding, Dad."

"Been there done that. Love you."

"Love you too, Dad. Call anytime."

She hung up and the GPS ended the call.

"That is so neat." Maeve said.

"What, you have used a cell phone before." I said.

"Lord Robert, sometimes you are almost as clueless as we Leprechauns of the male persuasion." Jonas said.

"What?"

"Your daughter told you about her family and that she loved you."

"We do it all the time."

"That is why it is so special to Maeve."

"But her parents had to have loved her and said that to her when she was growing up."

"Yes they did, but when it is your child and she is talking about your grandchildren. All of which I never thought I would have..." Maeve said a hint of stress in her voice.

"Oh, you're right, Jonas. I'm a little bit thick."

"More than a little I'm afraid, Lord Robert."

We all laughed at that but Maeve was not quite as loud in her laughter.

We made it to the outlet center now with a male voice now telling me where to turn. I parked out near the fast food places, and took the opportunity to point out the Taco Bell to Jonas. I got a cross look from him, and a giggle from Maeve.

I went in and got some KFC instead, with just some biscuits. I wasn't going to chance anything like coleslaw having seen what the beans had done to Jonas. When we had finished lunch, Jonas went up for a nap while Maeve and I took Sam for a quick walk. That done we went to the stores and started looking for clothes for Jonas.

We returned a few hours later with a number of things for him to try on. The hardest things were the shoes. We had bought a number of different sizes and styles. We did that with the clothes, also, having told the cashier that we would likely be returning some of the items.

I handed Jonas a ball cap and he looked at it and scoffed at the idea of wearing it. Once I explained that it was a Boston Celtic cap and their mascot was a Leprechaun the discussion was ended. Right onto his head it went.

Maeve got him to remove the cap long enough for her to cut his hair. We took him back with us to the stores then returning the items he didn't like or that didn't fit and adding some others. When he saw they Celtics jackets that matched the cap and came in his size, there was just no argument about him not having it.

Since it was after six by the time we were done. We had a dinner of sandwiches, and then sat around just talking. Jonas asked if I had any other music so I pulled out my meager CD collection. There were a number of them with a blue stripe running down the edge. Maeve asked me about that and I explained that Sam didn't howl to those.

She looked over at Sam. He just turned his head sideways, looking back at her. She pulled one out. It was Simon and Garfunkel. She asked me to put it in the stereo. I did and the soft songs that they sang started.

We listened to a number of their songs and then the Song of Silence played. I looked over at Jonas and he was staring off. I looked back at Maeve and she shrugged her shoulders. I put my hand on Jonas's arm and I saw what he was seeing. It was dark, there were faces of Leprechauns everywhere, huddled together most crying. Where ever it was full of pain and despair. I must have released my touch on Jonas's arm because the vision was gone. What I saw then was tears rolling down his face. As the song ended he seemed to come back from where he had gone.

"Where was that I saw?" I asked.

"The cold world," Jonas's voice was a monotone.

"Who were all of those Leprechauns?"

"The ones that were taken by her," he had more tears again.

"Can't you go and rescue them?" Maeve asked.

"There are too many enemies there, keeping them, even if we took all of the Leprechauns from the wee lands to do it."

"It looked so dark."

"There is only despair there." he said.

"How did I see that?"

"It is far sight that allowed you to see it."

"Was that the same far sight that Rupert gave to Brian Boru?"

"It was. Rupert gave his away to the High King."

"How is it that you have it?" I asked.

"He and his kin have always had that ability, ' Maeve said.

"You and Rupert are related?" I asked Jonas.

"My brother," he replied.

"Your brother and he gave us the bell and told us about the rules."

"It's a very long story."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, my Lord. But I will if you command it."

"No, that's fine. You can tell us if you want to, some other time."

It was likely that Maeve knew the story If I really needed to know it. For now I didn't. That put a dark mood with us for the rest of the night. I spoke with Cindy and the twins before we headed off to bed.

I just held Maeve. The image of all of those faces burned into my brain. Other than her being close, it was a difficult night for me to rest. Morning found us too soon, and the thoughts of those in such despair did not help our mood in the morning.

We ate a quiet breakfast. After the walk for Sam, we got on the road. Jonas had gotten the amulet we had taken from the cold ones, and was holding it in his hands as we drove along. If that one worked like mine did I knew he would be able to see a trail to their portal with it.

Him not seeing anything as we drove after a while he tired of looking and decided to go and take a nap.

When we heard him softly snoring Maeve turned to me and said, "You know he wants to go and try to rescue them."

"I figured that out, my love."

"He is yours still. He can't leave your side."

"I know that, too."

"Would you release him so he could go after them?"

"I think it would be a suicide mission if he did that."

"He has nothing to go back to. If he rescued just one it would be worth it to him."

"I think that is a high price to pay for just one other, if we lost him in doing so."