He smiled back and said nothing that the others could hear.
"Well, you come back any time," her aunt said, and grabbed her and hugged her one-armed. "She always does the washing-up," she said to Johnny. "And without wizardry, even."
"Impressive," Johnny said. "But there was something else I was meaning to tell you. ." He sipped his tea. "Oh, that was it. I'd say the odd things aren't quite done happening yet." "Oh?" Everyone at the table looked at him.
"No. I was out for a walk after things settled down last night, and I saw the strangest thing. A party of cats carrying a little coffin. I stopped to watch them go by, and one of them said to me, "This is Magrath. Magrath na Chualainn is dead." And they walked off. ."
Tualha's eyes flew open at that. "What?" she cried. "What? Did you say Magrath?"
"Why, uh, yes. ." Johnny said, sounding uncertain, and concerned. "If it's a relative, I'm. ."
"Relative, never mind that, what relative! Great Powers about us, if Magrath is dead, then I'm the Queen of the Cats!"
She leaped off the table and tore away into the living-room. There was a brief sound of scrabbling, and then from the living-room, sounding slightly bemused, Kit said, "Uh, Annie, your cat just went up the chimney. ."
There was a moment of silence in the kitchen. "Ahem," Nita's aunt said to her after a breath or two.". .Welcome to Ireland. ."
"Are you sure you don't want to stay another couple of weeks?" Johnny said. Nita smiled at him, and went out to the caravan to start packing.
A Small Glossary
ban-galclass="underline" Gall-woman. Possibly an insult, depending on who says it and how they feel about gallain qv.
'Blow-in': A foreigner who settles in Ireland, and is presumed to be likely to leave suddenly; not seen as being seriously attached to the place as it really is, but 'in love' with some romanticized and inaccurate version of it. the Dail (pr. 'Doyle'): The 'lower house' of the Irish Parliament (the Oireachtas ['oyROCKtas']), more or less equivalent to the House of Representatives in the US, or the House of Commons in the UK. A member of theDail is called aTeachta Dail ('TOCKta DOYLE') or T.D. The upper house of theOireachtas is theSeanad ('SHAHnad') or Senate.
Faery: One of the inhabitants of the Otherworlds, in this case particularly Tir na nOg: or something that has to do with them. Originally derived from the Latinfatae or 'fates', in this case meaning the Powers that involve Themselves in the destinies of living things. Unfortunately the term has been corrupted by various storytellers, from Shakespeare down to the mushier writers of Victorian children's moralistic tales, so that it now summons up imagery of tiny flying beings who ride butterflies, live in flowers, etc etcad nauseam. True Faery is beautiful, but extremely dangerous; the casualty rate of those who interact willingly with it is high, even among wizards. Gaeclass="underline" A member or descendant of the Gaelic or Goidelic Celts, who settled in Britain and Ireland during and after the Iron and Bronze Ages. The Welsh, Irish, Scots, and some of the Celts of Brittany and parts of Spain are included in this group. Gall (pi. gallain, pronounced like 'gallon'): A non-Gael.
'Guards, the' — The Garda Siochona (GARda shiKOna) or Civil Guards: the Irish equivalent of police. Also found as 'Garda' (one policeman) orban-Garda (policewoman): the plural is Gardai, (pr. 'garDEE').
Lia Fail (pr. LEEuh FAIL): the Stone of Destiny, supposedly near the Hill of Tara.
rath (pr. 'rawth'): A hill-fort. Sometimes the term includes whatever buildings (halls, towers, etc) are built into or on the rath.
Sidhe (pr."shee'"): the Faery People of Ireland. Sometimes (most inaccurately) confused with elves. Usually considered to be the Tuatha de Danaan, the original Children of the Goddess Danu, one of the mother-Goddesses of Ireland; or descendants of those Children. Some legends identify them with 'weak-minded' fallen angels, too good to be damned, but too fallible for Heaven. Considered by wizards to be descendants of those of the Powers that Be
Who could not bear to leave the place They had, under the instruction of the One, built. They are deathless except by violence, and are expert in some forms of wizardry, especially music, shapechange, illusion, and the manipulation of time; but humans are usually physically stronger, and their wizardries have much more effect on the physical world. Often referred to as'the Good Folk' or'the Good People of the Parish',"the Gentry',"the People of the Hills," (from which is derived their commonest name in Gailge, daoinesidhe,*) and other euphemistic idioms meant to keep from offending them by invoking their real names, or reminding them of portions of their history they prefer to forget. Slan (pr."shlawn'): Hello, or goodbye.
Taoiseach (pr. TEEshock): the Prime Minister of Ireland. Leader of the political party presently in power, has legislative and political powers somewhat like those of the President of the US or the Prime Minister of the UK. By contrast, the Presidency of Ireland is largely a ceremonial position and is considered to be 'above polities'.
Tir na nOg (pr. TEERnaNOHG): the Land of Youth (or of the Ever-Young), the alternate universe or other-Ireland inhabited by the Sidhe. Time runs at a different rate in this universe, or rather entropy does: experience continues unabated while bodily aging proceeds at an infinitesimal fraction of its usual speed, if at all. Humans who venture there frequently experience untoward side effects on attempting to return to universes with different time/entropy rates. See the legend of Oisin for an example.