Prince of Hazel and Oak. John Lenahan

      I paced around the room for what seemed like an eternity. I don’t think I had ever been so excited, it took all of my willpower to stop from jumping up and down shouting, ‘Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!’ I tried to relax. ‘Right, what should I do?’ I said, talking to myself. ‘Pack.’ I looked around the room and laughed, the only thing there was the emain slate. I picked it up. I paced some more. ‘Come on, come on,’ I said out loud.

      The door flew open and Fallon came storming in. ‘What the hell is going on here?’

      ‘Where is she? What’s happening?’

      ‘There are two women outside on huge horses wearing trick-or-treat outfits. The one who spoke said her name was Deirdre and that the other was called Nieve.’

      ‘Nieve! Nieve’s here? She’s my aunt.’

      Fallon was angry. He grabbed my shirt with both hands and pulled me close to his face. ‘What are you playing at?’

      I tried to be as calm as I could. ‘What did you tell them?’

      ‘I told them they had to wait.’

      ‘You didn’t …?’

      ‘I did.’

      ‘That probably wasn’t a good idea.’

      ‘Why?’

      ‘Well, I don’t know my aunt all that well but waiting isn’t Mom’s strong suit.’

      As if on cue a huge explosion shook the room. Fallon let go of me and said, ‘Stay here!’

      As the door swung behind him I dived across the room and painfully trapped my arm in the doorjamb before it could lock.

      The hallway was filled with dust and smoke. Cops were lying unconscious everywhere. In the distance I could hear screams of ‘My eyes!’ Nieve was casually riding towards me. She had blown out all of the door archways so she didn’t even have to duck. Her right hand was held out to her side and two marble-sized balls of gold were orbiting it like atoms around a nucleus. Two policemen appeared out of a room to her left. Without even looking at them, she flicked her wrist and the gold marbles hit them in the chest. They were thrown back into the room with an explosion of light.

      She spotted me. ‘Conor, are you harmed?’

      ‘No, I’m OK,’ I shouted. ‘Where’s Mom?’

      ‘She is outside preparing a portal. Catch,’ she said, throwing me an oak banta stick.

      I examined it. ‘I prefer hazel.’

      She gave me a dirty look but then smiled. ‘Come,’ she said, holding out her hand.

      I started to reach for it when I heard a voice from behind me say, ‘Freeze!’

      I turned to see Detective Fallon pointing a gun at Nieve. He was obviously freaked.

      ‘Nobody move. Put your hands in the air and get off the horse, lady.’

      ‘Conor,’ Nieve said, ‘what is that in his hand?’

      ‘It’s a weapon, Aunt Nieve.’ She went to reach under her cloak.

      ‘I said freeze!’

      ‘Hold on, Nieve,’ I said, ‘let me talk to him.’

      Fallon kept the gun pointed at Nieve but flicked a glance in my direction. He was real edgy.

      ‘Brendan,’ I said in my calmest voice, ‘this is my Aunt Nieve, my father’s sister. She’s from Tir na Nog, that’s why she is riding a horse. Remember, I told you about that?’

      The muscle in Fallon’s jaw twitched. I wasn’t sure if I was getting through to him.

      ‘I’m going to go with her. Put your gun down and no one will get hurt.’

      ‘What, I’m just supposed to let you walk out of here?’ His gun shook as he spoke. ‘She killed all of my officers.’

      ‘Conor, why are we talking? What is he saying that is so important?’

      ‘He is upset ’cause you killed his men.’

      ‘They will live,’ Nieve said. I could hear the impatience in her voice. ‘Conor, we do not have time for this.’

      She was right. The longer we stood here the more likely it was that more cops would show up and I was desperate to see my mother. I decided to take Fallon out of the equation.

      Unfortunately I was holding my banta stick upside-down so I had to flick the gun out of his hand with the heavy end and then use the light end on his neck. Dahy wouldn’t have been very impressed with the blow but it did the job and the detective went down. I grabbed Nieve’s hand and she lifted me onto the back of the saddle as if I weighed nothing.

      ‘I never got your Christmas card,’ she said as she manoeuvred the horse into the opposite direction.

      ‘Christmas isn’t for two months.’

      ‘Well, that explains it.’ I wasn’t sure if that was a joke or not.

      We rode back through what used to be a police station. No one stopped us. The only sounds were a few moans. Daylight poured through what used to be the front door. I shaded my eyes and was rewarded with the sight of my mother. My heart leapt and I involuntarily kicked the back of the horse, the mount lurched and I almost fell off.

      ‘Be careful, Conor!’ Nieve said. ‘I would prefer not to fall.’

      ‘Of course, sorry.’

      Nieve walked her horse next to Mom’s. I hugged Mom and she returned it. ‘Conor, are you all right?’

      ‘I am now,’ I said.

      ‘Deirdre,’ Nieve said, ‘I do not like this place.’

      ‘How’s Dad?’ I asked, still holding my mother. I never wanted to let go.

      Mom pushed me back. ‘Nieve is right. We must get out of here – we can talk when we get home.’

      Mom took some sap and a gold disc out of her saddlebag and began to chant as she rubbed them both between her hands. Amber light shot from her fingertips and created a spider web that eventually filled in to produce a large glowing disc.

      ‘Are you ready?’ Mom asked.

      ‘Born ready.’

      ‘Everybody stay right where you are!’ It was Fallon – with one hand he held his neck, in the other he held a gun.

      Nieve and Mom stepped their horses sideways for a look. ‘Who is this?’ Mom demanded.

      ‘Mom, this is Detective Fallon – Detective Fallon, this is my mother.’

      Fallon pointed the gun menacingly. ‘Everybody get down, we’re all going back inside.’

      Mom and Nieve started to reach inside their cloaks. I raised my hand and stopped them. ‘No we’re not, Brendan, we don’t belong here – I don’t belong here.’

      ‘I said get down!’

      ‘They can’t, Brendan, it would kill them. You see that glowing disc over there, that’s a door into another world – The Land. We are going to enter it and we will be gone. If we are not, then you can shoot me.’

      ‘I’m warning you, O’Neil.’

      ‘Brendan, I didn’t kill my father, he is right on the other side of that door, you have the wrong man. You said it yourself – I’m not a bad guy. Please – you have to trust me.’

      I could almost hear his brain cells working; he lowered his gun and we walked towards the disc. I didn’t look back.

      We arrived in the Hall of Spells. I expected the