Chapter 18

The few remaining days of 2011 were very quiet. I spent time reading the current book of Magic that I was working on and practiced Bataireacht with the staff. My wives practiced their music, cleaned the house, did the laundry, and cooked. Our nights were fairly quiet with some hugging, kissing, and a little slow loving sex.

The sisters had considered going out on New Year's Eve, but had never found a bar or club in Statesboro that suited them, as they considered them all to be too noisy, and didn't care for the food at the locations that served it. Instead we stayed home. My wives cooked what they liked to have on New Year's, and we had ale and listened to music in the music room.

Actually, we had more ale than we should have, and by midnight my wives were very tipsy, and I was fairly drunk. Close to midnight, we went up to the sitting room, and watched the broadcast of the New Year's celebration in Times Square in New York on their television. We took a large pitcher of ale with us and by the time the New Year arrived it was fairly empty and we were full. We all collapsed in bed shortly after midnight and woke at various times during the night and early morning for pit stops. Ale, especially when you have had a lot of it, has a tendency to do that.

On New Year's morning of 2012, we all needed the spell for sobering up, but didn't feel like going into town for church. My wives and I did go to their chapel for a while later that morning for some prayers. The rest of New Year's day was spent very quietly and without any ale.

On Monday, I made a decision to start working out with Fragarach three days a week and with Bata on the other three days with one day of rest. I had two weeks to get in a good bit of practice before classes resumed on the 17th of January. I had preregistered before school ended in December and only needed to go in to get my schedule and pick up books before classes started.

January and most of February were very bad months for my wives. While I had school, exercising, and my Magic studies to keep me busy, they had little to do. They cleaned, cooked, did the laundry, and worked on their music. They even watched television some, but basically they were bored, bored, bored. The weather wasn't any help either, being cold with rain and a little, thankfully very little, snow.

I took them out shopping, but they weren't interested in the current trends in clothes or movies, and we didn't need that much in groceries except meat, as they had canned or frozen a lot of last year's harvest. For Valentine's Day I got my wives wedding bands and presented them to them on February 14th.

Also by mid-February we started making plans for the garden and crops for this year. I checked out the MT tractor and changed the oil. I also checked the brakes and charged the battery in addition to letting my wives assist me in readying the accessories for use.

Late February and early March were warm and we started on the garden. I also plowed under the cover growth in the fields and later used the disk harrow to prepare them for planting during spring break which was the 12th - 16th of March this year. The weather was a little rainy the week of spring break, but we got the seeds planted and everything fertilized by Saturday the 17th, Saint Patrick's Day. We celebrated that evening with the last of the O'Connell's ale. The spell on the firkin had kept it fresh all of this time.

Sunday the 18th after church, I attempted something new. I contacted Brian in the Otherworld. He was happy to hear from me and we discussed my training and when we would visit him again. I also sent him the empty firkin. My wives were amazed that I could do that.

The remainder of the academic year was very busy with studying and work on the fields. Final exams were held between the 7th and 11th of May, and then school was out for the summer.

We had been discussing plans for what to do this summer for some time that spring, and when I talked to Brian, he had suggested that we get to know those in the Irish Magic Community here in the U.S. or 'Stait Aontaithe Mheiricea' as he called it. He also told me that they were headquartered in Boston and how to find them.

Katie booked tickets for Monday, the 9th of July, for a midday flight from Atlanta. We left for Atlanta very early on the 9th in our pickup. We only took carry ons as we were only staying a few days. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time to check in and go through security to catch our 12:43 PM flight. Our flight delivered us to Boston's Logan airport at 3:20 PM and after reaching the concourse we got the shuttle to our hotel, the La Quinta Inn and Suites in Somerville a suburb of Boston.

Katie had reserved a room there with a king-size bed which was large enough for the three of us. We dined in their restaurant after checking in and leaving our luggage in the room. We had an excellent night's sleep and in the morning had breakfast in the restaurant before we went out for some sight-seeing in the nearby area.

That evening we got a cab to take us to an Irish pub, 'The Burren' on Elm Street. It seemed like a nice enough place, and we had the name of a particular individual whom we were to inquire about in the back room there. Once there, we ordered some of the local ale, which wasn't too bad, and when our server brought our order, we asked if Mr. O'Seanassaigh had arrived yet tonight. She seemed rather confused by our request.

"There's no Mr. O'Seanassaigh that comes here," she told us, as a large man approached our table.

"I'll handle this, Rose," he told the server.

"So you would be lookin for Mr. O'Seanassaigh would you now?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered, "A friend said that we could contact him here."

"A friend you say?"

"Yes, his name is Brian."

"I see," he said, and then added, "Finish your ale and we'll take a wee walk." We finished our ale and rose to follow the large man, who hadn't identified himself. He led us over to a door on the side of the room that I was pretty sure hadn't been there when we came in and wouldn't be there once we went through it.

The door opened into a small closet, but once we stepped through it, we were in a large room lit by candles with three other men, and the man we had followed through the door was now a three foot tall elf.

"Now just who sent you?" he demanded in a squeaky voice.

"Brian the Druid from the Otherworld," I told them.

"Yes, we felt your Talent when you entered the pub. What is it you seek?" an older man with a short, well-trimmed beard asked.

"He merely suggested that we contact those in the Irish Magical Community in America," I told them.

"And he used the word 'America'?" the bearded man inquired.

"No, he actually called it, 'Stait Aontaithe Mheiricea'," I told him.

"You speak Gaelic then?" he asked in Gaelic.

"Yes, I can speak, read and write it - even in Ogham," I told him, "As do my wives."

"And both of these ladies would be your wives?" he asked in English.

"Yes, Brian married us last year before we returned to the States." Katie informed him.

"I find your tale hardly believable," the bearded man said. "I think you're some kind of rogue wizard sent here to test us, and I propose to vanish you to where you will cause no further trouble," he told us and made a sign in the air as he started a spell.

Immediately flames from my power source appeared all around us and Fragarach appeared in my hand as my body assumed an offensive stance. The flames devoured his spell even as it formed on his lips, and the men stared at us in disbelief.

"How did you do that?" the younger looking of the three men asked in shock.

"My power source did most of it," I told him, modestly.

"And that sword?" he asked, even more startled.

"Is Fragarach," I answered. "I reforged it."

"The sword of Lugh!? The one called 'the Answerer'!?" he demanded in shock.

"Yes, the very one," I told him seriously.

"You must forgive us for being careful, Young Sorcerer," a much older man said as he stepped forward from the shadows. "Others have contacted us with less than good intentions, although none were as powerful as you appear to be." The flames had died out and Fragarach vanished when he began to speak.

"Won't you all have a seat at the table and have some ale with us," he continued, gesturing toward a large table further back in the dimly lit room. Candles sprang to life at his gesture providing more light to see by, and a large pitcher of ale and glasses also appeared. We moved toward the table.

Once seated with my wives and I on one side of the table and those three on the other, the younger man poured the ale and passed the glasses around. My wives and I didn't drink any, instead waiting for the others to start.

"You may safely drink it," the old man told us. "It isn't poisoned or enchanted," he added with a smile. The three men then began sipping their ale. I tasted mine but could detect nothing harmful in it, and signaled my wives that it was safe. After everyone had tasted the ale, the old man spoke again.

"My name is O'Hennessy. Sean Patrick Martin O'Hennessy. I'm the head of the Council here, and these other two are also members of our Council. Whom might you be?" he asked. He knew that giving me his whole name would give me power over him, yet he had done it willingly.

"Kent, Mark Kent, and these are the O'Connell sisters, Mary Kathleen and Mary Margaret," I told him.

"I see," he said quietly. "Kent is a rather unusual name for one associated with Irish Magic."

"My father's last name is Kent, but it was changed from the German sometime ago."

"But that doesn't account for your power. There are few German Sorcerers with the kind of power you have shown," the younger man said.

"My power came through my maternal great-grandmother. She was a Mac Tavish," I told him.

"Yes!" said the elf, whom we had all ignored until now, who had a large volume open there beside the table. "There were a number of Mac Tavish women that emigrated here. Some were noted witches, but their power seemed to diminish here," the elf continued.

"Yes," the bearded man confirmed, "the women always carry the power, even if they themselves can't use it. That would explain it or most of it. Yet yours is an extraordinarily powerful Talent. Can you explain that?"

"My biological father is my mother's older brother, who has some talent. I didn't even realize that I had the Talent until about 16 months ago or so. My wives first saw it in me. They needed the power to remove the curse placed on them by a witch some 160 years ago," I explained.

"Do not say her name here," the old man warned.

"No, Brian warned me not to use her name," I told them.

"And this curse?" he then asked.

"They remain young while all around them whom they know and love ages and dies,"I told him.

"Yes, a very strong and horrible curse. It must be removed by the one that cast it. You will have trouble convincing her to do that," the bearded man said.

"I will try when I'm ready," I told him.

"We wish you luck. Where do you live? We knew nothing of you before this visit," the younger man stated.

"We live in Georgia, just outside of Statesboro on the remains of our family plantation," Katie told him. "Mark's family live in north Georgia."

"Yes, we only have a few contacts in Georgia, but many more in Alabama. If there is anything we can assist you with please let us know. Have you access to books of Magic and a teacher?" the old man, Sean, asked.

"Yes, I have access to the library in the Otherworld, and I can speak with Brian when I need to or have a question," I told him.

"Yes, Brian is a very powerful Sorcerer and they have a wonderful library there. You are very fortunate to have access to it," Sean told me.

"Will you be able to help us find the witch when we are ready?" Margie asked, speaking for the first time.

"Oh yes, we can help you with that, but it will require a lot of power to enter the realm where she is without an invitation," the bearded man told her. "However, I believe this young man has more than sufficient power for that."

"How long will you be here in Boston?" Sean asked.

"For a few more days," Katie told him.

"Can you return to The Burren tomorrow night and perhaps the night after?" Sean asked.

"Yes, we don't leave until Friday morning. We weren't sure how long it would take to contact you," Katie told him.

"We'll have some of our people here for the next two nights to meet you and get acquainted," the younger man told us. We left after signing their enchanted book and leaving them our address, phone number and the sisters' e-mail address. When we came back through the portal in the closet, it was quite late but we caught the last of the Irish band that was playing. We had another ale before calling a cab to take us back to our hotel for the night.

We spent the daytime for the next two days sight-seeing around Boston, and at night we returned to The Burren for the food and entertainment. I had moved my wives' harps and the fancy dresses they bought in Dublin here from Georgia, and they wore them each night and carried their small Irish harps with them to the pub. Wednesday and Thursday nights are part of the acoustic nights in the backroom at The Burren, and the harps certainly qualified for that.