Chapter 22

New characters appearing in the next few chapters:

Feidhelm Dunleevy

Mistress of Drumboe Castle, Lady Caoilinn's Cousin, 5'-8" tall, 115 pounds, 34A-22- 30, 29 years old, long blond hair, gray-green eyes, a very pale complexion

Goffraidh

Chief Stockman, 5'-8" tall, 145 pounds, 48 years old, dark brown hair, a heavy Ulster accent

We instantly reappeared on the outskirts of Letterkenny near Niall's stable where I had purchased my horse. I needed to calm both horses again as it was their first transfer, and they were both startled. To my surprise, the twins were able to calm the mare without much help from me. I put it down to their ability with their mental link.

Airmid and Almha were enthralled by the market in Letterkenny when we stopped there to ask directions to the hotel. We tied up our horses in the provided area, and they browsed through the market looking at everything and smiling broadly. They were like children and were excited by the things that they saw.

"We never dreamed that there were places like this with all of these different things!" Airmid told me in a thought filled with delight.

"There are so many different and wonderful looking things. How do you obtain them," Almha asked, staring around her at the many stalls in the market. That was when I needed to explain to them the concept of money and that it involved work to obtain it. I showed them some of the coins that I had in my robe pocket. Of course this led to an explanation of what work was and then one on commerce. By the time I was through, the Sisters were a bit confused. I needed to promise to bring them back to the market later before they would leave.

After a few inquires at the market, we crossed the Swilly to Old Town and were soon on the road to Newmills. The Mount Errigal Hotel was located near the intersection of the Old Town --Newmills Road and the road to Letterleague. It was a large stone building with a fine view of the Swilly River. Sadly, the 2400 foot tall mountain that the hotel was named for was not visible from the hotel being some fifteen miles away and behind the Derryveagh Mountains. The hotel was located just over a mile from the Newmills Grain and Flax Mill.

The Sisters had little trouble driving the cart the short distance to the hotel, as the mare responded well to their mental commands.

The Mount Errigal really was a splendid hotel. It was located just far enough out in the country to be away from the noise and commotion of Letterkenny yet close enough for shopping, or attending any of the events that took place in the city. The Hotel itself was a large three story stone building. Before we entered to check in, we tied up our horses out front. Apparently the man at the counter recognized Lady Caoilinn's horse and cart.

"Is Lady Caoilinn with you?" he asked, as we approached the counter.

"No, she lent us her horse and cart. She said to see the owner, and to tell him that she had sent us," I told him, but had a spell ready in case he doubted us.

"That is a bit unusual, but then Lady Caoilinn does tend to do the unusual. How long will you be with us?" he asked.

"Two nights should be sufficient. We're on our way to Stranorlar and Drumboe Castle," I told him.

"Yes, her Cousin lives there," the man told us with a smile before he handed me the key to a room on the second floor.

"The evening meal will be served in your room at the seventh hour past noon," he informed us next, "and our stableman will look after your horses and the cart."

"It might be better if I looked after my horse. He is a bit stubborn and tends to overreact with strangers," I told him.

"Very well, if you wish to do that. The stableman will show you where to put him, and will take care of the cart and the mare as usual," the man told me. He was about average height for the people here -- about 5'-7" tall or so and maybe 140 pounds with dark brown hair and gray eyes. He appeared to be in his late thirties.

I took the twins up to the room and made sure that they were comfortable before returning to take care of my horse. The stableman was waiting at the cart for me. He had the mare settled down and when I appeared he untied her, and led her and the cart around to the back of the hotel and the stable there. I followed him with my horse.

He backed the cart up under an open shed before releasing the mare from the forks of the cart and then led her into the large stable. There were several other horses in the stalls there already. He put the mare in a stall and indicated that I should place my horse in the next stall. I unsaddled him and brushed him down before giving him some water from a pail there in the stable.

"We'll feed them later, Master," the stableman told me when I had finished. He was an older man about 5'-4" tall and not more than 115 pounds. He had a very thick Ulster accent. I thanked him before returning to the cart to retrieve the Sisters' dresses.

Much of the rest of the day was spent teaching the Sisters to speak. I would enunciate the words very distinctly, and have them repeat them until they could pronounce them fairly well. It was very dry work, and I drew water often so they and I could relieve the dryness of our throats.

The evening meal was served just after seven that evening as promised. It was excellent as was the ale that accompanied it. The hotel's employees were very respectful and accommodating. I later learned that not all guests were served their meals in their rooms and wondered then how much this was going to cost.

The room, like the meal, was also excellent. The walls had a fancy wood wainscot below the painted plaster walls above it. The ceiling was also plastered with fancy plaster moldings on the walls around the room just below ceiling height. There were rugs on the polished wooden floor.

A large bed dominated the room with night stands on either side of it, and a chest at its foot with extra blankets. There was a small dining area off to one side and a dresser for clothing storage with a bowl and pitcher for washing up on top of it along with a small mirror. There was a large brazier for winter use, and a Magic-powered lamp hung in the center of the room.

There was a large window in the exterior wall with a excellent view of the River Swilly. This was definitely a much nicer room than the one that I had at the Laird's Hotel on arriving in Letterkenny, but again I wondered how much it was going to cost us.

We used the basin to wash up that evening in water that I heated, and while it was better than nothing, it wasn't a bath or more importantly a good hot shower which I missed greatly. Even though I had set the privacy and noise suppression spell that evening, the Sisters were very quiet that night, and we slept very comfortably on the hotel's mattress all night with them cuddled up to me.

Breakfast arrived in the morning soon after we arose and had dressed for the day. Later I transferred us to the market in Letterkenny after checking on our horses. Again the twins were enthralled by all that they saw, and we had purchased a few items before they saw the bonnets. They each just had to have one.

"Can we each have one of those?" Almha asked excitedly, as she rubbed up against me suggestively. I bought one for each of them which made them very happy, and they put them on immediately. They had seen other women with them on and understood how to do it.

I transferred us back to the hotel around noon. We hadn't gotten anything to eat at the market, and the girls were hungry when we got back. The hotel doesn't serve food during the day, but we were told that there were several pubs up the road, and one served food all day for the workers at the mill and others working in the area.

We walked to the pubs and got some stew and buttered bread to eat. We met the Head Miller during our meal, and he told me a bit about the mill and its history. He also invited me to visit the mill. The twins were tired by the time we finished, and we transferred back to the room so that they could rest while I returned to the pub so that I could visit the mill.

It seems that these combination mills were mainly found in Ulster Province where they were linked to the products of the surrounding farming communities. The Newmills Grain and Flax Mill, which was located three miles west of Letterkenny, had been built in the late 1700s. The current mill also included a forge and a large farm complex.

The mills are located in a large three story stone building, and all of the apparatus for them, the stones, sieves, bucket elevators, fans and sack hoist are powered by a twenty-five foot diameter waterwheel that turned at three revolutions a minute, generating eight horsepower. The power was transferred from the waterwheel to the equipment by means of gears and belting. The millrace, which carries the water to power the waterwheel, was over half-a-mile long. There was also a kiln in the building for drying the grain before it was ground. The Miller told me that the mill was busy year round grinding the locally grown grains. During the summer months, animal feed was produced.

I visited the mill for a short time and was amazed at how well it ran without the use of electricity, steam, or gas motors. The large waterwheel turned slowly but steadily, and powered everything in the mill, but the Magic-powered lamps which were used to light the areas inside the building. These were much safer than the candles and oil lamps that had been used previously with their inherent danger of fire. Excess power from the waterwheel went to the forge to power the mechanical hammer. I had a very interesting visit and learned a valuable lesson about what ingenious men can do with the resources available to them and a little ingenuity. I returned to the hotel to find Airmid and Almha asleep and the 'Book of Dreams' there with them.

Not wishing to awaken them, I went down to the stable to check on our horses. They were reasonably happy, especially the mare. My horse was anxious to get out of the stable and back on the road. I calmed him down, and assured him that we would be leaving tomorrow. On returning to the room, I found the Sisters were awake, and I had them practice speaking with their voices by going over what they had learned yesterday and then added some new words for today for them to practice.

The evening meal arrived again at 7:00, and was as good as it had been the previous night. Later after a bit more practice, the Sisters were ready for bed and some sex. Almha was the one to go first tonight. We hugged and kissed for a time, but she soon pulled me over on top of herself. I was determined to go for long and slow tonight, and resisted her attempts for a quick orgasm. She did have an orgasm, several in fact, and screamed out her joy and happiness at them before she finally slumped to the mattress totally exhausted but well satisfied after the last one when I filled her with baby batter. Airmid, on the other side of the bed, was as worn out as her Sister was. This again caused me to wonder just how extensive their mental link was, and how much of it was I able to perceive? After recovering some both Sisters cuddled up to me.

"Thank you!" Almha whispered to me with her voice before adding, "That was so wonderful! I never felt that good before." Fortunately, I had remembered to set the privacy spell and the noise suppression spell after the evening meal. We were soon all asleep after this.

Airmid woke me before dawn wanting her turn. She was just as passionate as Almha had been the night before. Again I made her slow down with long slow strokes and passionate kisses to various places on her body. She too had several orgasms and screamed out her joy at each one. I also filled her with baby batter before she collapsed after a final massive orgasm. She just lay there and shuddered for a time, as she tried to recover. I had fallen back between the twins, and both of them cuddled up to me again on recovering enough to move. Arimid didn't say anything for a time. She just crawled half on top of me and cried for a while.

"Are you all right?" I asked when she seemed better.

"Happy!" she whispered before kissing me again very passionately. We all soon drifted back to sleep all tangled together under a light blanket.

We were awakened well after sunrise by someone knocking on the door and a voice saying, "Breakfast, Master!" I quickly canceled the spells and lowered the wards in the door before answering.

"Just a minute!" I called. The noise had awakened the twins, but they just snuggled down under the blanket more as I got up, donned my Master's Robe, and went to the door to admit the Hotel's servants with our breakfast. Two female servants brought our breakfast in and placed it on the table. They smiled on seeing the Sisters still snuggled up under the blanket before departing.

After taking care of my morning business and cleaning up, I sat down to breakfast, but it took the twins a while yet to get out of bed. After taking care of their morning business, they had a request.

"Clean!" they both managed to tell me, and I called up water in the basin and heated it for them so they could clean themselves up from our fun of the previous night. They then had breakfast while I disposed of the water.