Kate Hoffmann
Kellan
A book in the Mighty Quinns series, 2011
Dear Reader,
Another Quinn trilogy is coming to a close and this one has been a lot of fun to write, especially since it took me back to one of my favorite places, Ireland.
Though I’ve only been to Ireland once, I’ve spent the last year thinking about all the wonderful and picturesque towns I visited. Someday, I hope to return for another visit, maybe even during the holidays. I could even search out my one lonely Irish ancestor. I’d drive past the spot on the coast where Ballykirk should be and wander down the country road where Winterhill might have stood. And if I’m lucky, I might even meet a man who looks a little bit like Kellan Quinn. You couldn’t ask for a better Christmas present than that.
If you’ve never had a chance to visit the Emerald Isle, I hope this Quinn trilogy has given you a little taste of one of my favorite places.
Happy holidays,
Kate Hoffmann
Prologue
KELLAN STARED out at the water from the narrow beach, the morning sun gleamed off the glassy surface of the Atlantic. He drew a deep breath and smiled. It was the perfect summer day. Warm without a hint of the damp wind that usually roared along the coast.
“We should sleep here tonight,” he said to his brothers. “Up on the cliff. Da would let us take the tent.” Glancing over his shoulder, he found Riley and Danny squatting down and digging in the sand.
Smuggler’s Cove had become their secret getaway. Just five or six kilometers from their cottage outside Ballykirk, the hidden cove could only be reached from the water. But Danny, Kellan’s youngest brother, had discovered a path down through the rocks, making the spot accessible.
“I’m not spendin’ the night,” Riley said. “There’s ghosts in that old house up there.” He was talking about the abandoned castle and manor house that overlooked the cliff. None of them had ever been brave enough to venture inside, although Kellan had heard the older kids used the place for parties all the time.
“Me, neither,” Danny said.
“What the feck are you two about?” Kellan asked, watching as they scraped sand aside with their fingers.
“There’s something buried in the sand,” Danny said, burrowing after it like a terrier after a bone. “Come here and help, ya lazy git.”
“No way. You’ve been digging in that sand for two years now and you haven’t found a thing. Considering the smugglers are long gone, it’s probably just an old piece of wood. You and your fantasies. They’re a waste of time.”
Riley stopped for a moment. “If Kell doesn’t dig and it is treasure, then he doesn’t get a share.”
“Agreed,” Danny said.
“Yeah,” Kellan said. “Agreed.” But to Kellan’s surprise, Danny and Riley pulled a small tin box out of the sand. “What the feck,” he muttered, striding over to them.
“See,” Danny said smugly. “Told you. Now you don’t get a share.” He brushed the sand off the top of the old biscuit tin.
“Open it,” Riley urged.
Danny reached for the top, then hesitated. “I don’t know. What if it’s cursed? It could be like…like…”
“Pandora’s box,” Kellan told him. “Jaysus, you two are always letting your imagination run away with you. It’s a feckin’ biscuit tin.”
“Should we open it?” Danny asked, looking to Kellan for an answer. They always looked to him for answers. That’s what it was to be the oldest boy in the Quinn family.
Kellan shrugged. “You found it. You open it.” He turned away, determined not to show his interest. But as he did, he caught sight of a movement among the rocks on the cliffside. He stared at the spot for a long moment, then shook his head. But there it was again. A flutter of pale green fabric in the breeze and a slender form scrambling behind another rock.
“There’s someone up there,” he muttered. “Watching us.”
The boys looked up from their examination of the box, following Kellan’s nod. “Right up there.”
“Maybe it’s a fairy,” Riley said. “And maybe this is her box of magic. Let’s go see if we can catch her.” Riley shoved the box at Danny and leaped to his feet, then took off for the path at the bottom of the rocks.
“Wait,” Danny called. “What if it’s a ghost from the house?”
Kellan heard a tiny cry from above him and he watched the girl scamper along the path, climbing up and over the rocks. She looked like a fairy, her long, golden hair draped over her back and crowned by a wreath of wildflowers. But she didn’t have wings, at least none that he could see. She was dressed in an old gown made of a sheer fabric so light it floated around her.
Cursing to himself, Kellan followed his brothers. What was he thinking? He knew fairies weren’t real. Maybe his little brothers believed, but Kellan was far too pragmatic to put any faith in Irish myths and legends. “Leave me to it,” he said, hurrying past Riley. “I can climb faster than you.”
Kellan scrambled up the path, but each time he looked for her, she was putting more distance between them. If she really were a fairy, she’d just fly away. No, this was a girl, a girl he’d never seen before. Kellan knew all the girls living around Ballykirk and not one of them was half as beautiful as this one.
Breathless, he reached the top of the cliff only to find her halfway across the meadow. She turned once and laughed, then took her crown of wildflowers and threw it into the air.
“Wait!” Kellan called. “Don’t go. I want to talk to you.”
She spun around and stood, staring at him, waiting as he ran toward her. When he reached her, Kellan stopped, his heart pounding, gasping for breath. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, features so perfect that they couldn’t belong to anything human.
“Open the box,” she said, the musical tone of her voice ringing in the still summer air. “I put it there for you.”
Kellan heard his brothers behind him, calling his name. “Who are you?”
With a laugh, she came closer and dropped a kiss on his lips. “I’m a dream,” she said. “Close your eyes and I’ll disappear.”
Kellan glanced back to see his brothers quickly approaching, but when he turned to the girl again, she had already run from him. This time, Kellan decided not to follow.
“You’re letting her get away,” Danny called. “Go after her, Kellan.”
“She’s not a fairy,” Kellan said when Danny and Riley reached him. He touched his lips, still warm from her kiss. “She’s just a girl. A silly old girl.”
They watched her retreat together, then Kellan grabbed the tin from beneath Riley’s arm. “Let’s see what’s inside.”
“I thought Danny said it might be cursed.”
“Do you believe everything he says?” Kellan asked. “Riley, sometimes you’re as thick as a post.”
He tugged off the top and peered inside. The tin was filled with a variety of items-a seashell, a few pretty stones, a necklace made of flowers, braided string.
“Aw, it’s nothing but junk,” Riley said.
Danny swore. “I was hoping it might at least be worth a few quid.”
“I think we should bury it again,” Kellan said. If they did, she might come back for it. He could hide in the rocks and watch for her. Catching a fairy was powerful luck, wasn’t it?
“I’m not climbing back down.” Danny started off toward home. “I’m hungry. And Ma will have lunch for us soon.”
Riley followed him, a dejected look on his face. “I thought it would be treasure. I thought we’d be rich.”
Kellan sighed softly, then plopped down onto the grass. Crossing his legs in front of him, he reopened the tin and carefully picked through the contents. There were jeweled buttons and a penny whistle, a scrap of lace and three pieces of butterscotch candy. Why the girl had decided to bury it in the sand, he didn’t know. But he couldn’t help but be intrigued.