Rundimahair: A new hero for a new adventure by Larry Forkner (summer books .TXT) 📗

“Still not a good thing,” he said forcefully.

“Bye the bye, Sean, I can see the image in your head of an ugly witch stirring her evil brew in her big black pot. I suppose she’s looking into the future to see what you’re up to. Is that how you see me then?”

“Certainly not the ugly part, but the witch part might well apply,” he said.

Ashling looked as though she was going to lose her fine Irish temper, but she managed to take a deep breath and calm down. “Very well, I see your point and I might feel the same if I was walking in your shoes.”

“You think?” Sean asked sarcastically.

She stepped back closer to him and said, “Perhaps this will help. I’ll let you have a wee peek into my mind, and perhaps you’ll stop being as stubborn as a mule and try to understand.”

“I’m not sure I want to look in there,” he said, staring at her intently.

“Oh, you’re definitely of the Irish blood, Sean Quinn. You’re as hard-headed as me own father, so you are.”

Sean noticed that her Irish accent became much more pronounced when she was angry. Even when he was upset with her, he couldn’t help but smile. He found her accent so very charming.

“So, the thought of me as a witch makes you smile, does it? You’re going to see the truth of it whether you like or not!” she said forcefully.

He was mesmerized by the fire in her beautiful eyes and didn’t try to resist when she thumped him hard in the chest with her index finger. Seconds later, Sean realized he couldn’t move. Whatever she’d done to him left him paralyzed from head to toe. He couldn’t even speak.

Once he was immobilized, Ashling put her hands back on his temples and closed her eyes. For a moment, nothing happened. It was the calm before the storm.

Suddenly images began flowing through his mind. He quickly realized they weren’t just images, but also Ashling’s thoughts and feelings. He began to understand that she had only touched his mind when she absolutely had to–only when she thought he was in trouble.

Sean could now see that she’d safe-guarded his privacy as much as she possibly could. Above all, he could feel her genuine concern for his well-being. After a moment, he began to feel another background emotion coming from her. It was deep in the recesses of her mind, but he felt that Ashling was attracted to him. She was actually quite fond of him.

As though Ashling could sense his awareness of her feelings for him, she quickly withdrew her contact with his mind. It took Sean a few moments to recover and realize they were still on the beach in Lincoln City instead of in Rundimahair.

“Wow, that was a very serious rush!” he said enthusiastically. “How in the world do you do that?”

“It’s magic!” she said, as she smiled at him with a sweet, innocent expression. “And I might just add for clarification that I’m not the only one standing here with the gift of magic running through their veins.”

Chapter Seven

A toast to your coffin,

May it be made of 100-year-old oak,

And may we plant the oak tree together, tomorrow

~ Old Irish Saying ~

Sean had been very skeptical when Ashling claimed that not he too might be gifted with magic. He’d almost come to terms with the fact that she was a woman with magical gifts. The way she could read his mind, and the amazing medical cures he’d seen her perform in Rundimahair, had convinced him that she was someone very special. The part about him having such gifts was going to take a lot more convincing.

They were back in his room at the bed-and-breakfast, after walking on the beach until well after dark. She was still trying to explain how they knew that he too was magically gifted.

“The truth of it is, we didn’t save you on that stormy night outside of Rundimahair,” she explained. “We felt someone tap into the invisible, magical, protective sphere that surrounds our fair town. That should have been impossible, even if a very powerful wizard made the attempt.”

“But that’s my point, Ashling. I’m not Merlin the Magician or any other type of make-believe wizard,” he said.

“What makes you think Merlin was make believe?” she asked with a teasing smile. He was Scottish instead of Irish, which is a sad misfortune for him. Still and all, he was a very powerful wizard in his day.”

“I’m not even going to go there,” Sean said. “Let’s stick to one absurd notion at a time, shall we?”

“The only thing that’s absurd is you trying to deny the truth that’s as plain and true as you are stubborn. Bye the bye, that mile-wide stubborn streak in you only proves my point. Only an Irishman could be that rock-headed stubborn, and that’s the truth of it, Sean Quinn.”

“So, you’re saying that I somehow touched a magical globe that surrounds Rundimahair and used its power to save me from going off into the ravine?”

Ashling sighed deeply and said, “The fact that you’re sitting here being stubborn instead of dead at the bottom of that rocky ravine should easily prove my point.”

Sean stared into her eyes intently and realized she was telling him what she believed to be the truth. “Maybe I struck your magic force-field with my SUV and it somehow turned on the magic that saved me and my car,” he said.

She sighed deeply and said, “It doesn’t work that way, Sean. Don’t you think that we’ve exhausted our minds trying to explain what happened? Why do you think we let you stay in our town?”

“I’ve been wondering the same thing,” Sean said. “You could have just let the accident take its course and I’d be dead and gone at the bottom of that ravine. That would have saved you all of this trouble.”

“Sean Quinn!” she shouted. “How could you believe for one moment that we’d let you