SHE FOLLOWED ME HOME - ch 11

SHE FOLLOWED ME HOME – ch 11

Mo deas

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A month passed by too quickly for Morena’s liking. She found a part time position in the medical clinic and made herself quite comfortable. Brian, thanks to the local nurseries, found many homeowners looking for a landscaper, especially one like Brian with innovative ideas on how to improve the looks of their front and backyards.

Liz found pleasure in her herb garden and with the advice from Finola, seriously began to consider opening her own herb and potion shop, while Ian with the help of a contractor, began clearing enough of his land for the small animal hospital he always wanted.

Mia and Mickey were back at school and were delighted when they found out that in addition to the normal schoolwork for their respective grades, they’d be learning Gaelic. So many of their classmates were learning the language for the first time, since everyone, except the elderly in Ireland became accustomed to speaking English. To keep the old language from disappearing, it had been decided a few years earlier that Gaelic would become a regular part of the educational system.

The cousins shared their secret that Mia, thanks to her abnormal abilities, was already speaking Gaelic fluently. They kept their secret quiet until one day, the language arts teacher realized that there was something different about Mia and quickly, during class, said, “Mia, is gúna deas é sin. An rud nua é? (That’s a pretty dress. Is it new?” Without thinking, Mia responded, “Sea, a Bhean Mhic Anraí. Cheannaigh Mam dom é an tseachtain seo caite.” (Yes, Mrs. McHenry. Mom bought it for me last week.”

Realizing what just happened, Mia loudly gasped and said, “Oops!”

Mrs. McHenry chuckled and said, “It’s okay, Mia. Some children are born with that knowledge, and some aren’t. It’s nice to meet one who has that ability. If you have a few minutes after class, I’d like to show you something.”

Mia, with her secret out, began to relax and agreed to stay after class. Instinctively, she knew by her teacher’s smile, that she wasn’t in trouble and looked forward to the books she also instinctively knew Mrs. McHenry planned to show her.

When the bell for the last class finally rang, Mia found Mrs. McHenry sitting in the teacher’s lounge, a few books lay on the table where she sat.

“Come in, Mia,” she said in English. “I’m not sure if you’ve had the opportunity to check out our library. Ironically, the school library is adjacent to the town’s public library.”

“I didn’t know that Mrs. McHenry. But my mom was here at the public library a few weeks ago but didn’t wander around much.”

“Mia, from your expertise in the Gaelic language and your, well, somewhat odd behavior, oh, Mia, please don’t frown. I wasn’t trying to insult you. I only meant that I noticed you’re a bit different than most of the children in your class, that’s all. Anyway, knowing what I know from living here my entire life, I guess you could say I’ve developed a sixth sense when it comes to my students. You’re not quite nine so I thought these books might be of interest to you. You can return them to me whenever you’re finished reading them. There’s no rush.”

Mia looked at the three books that lay before her, “Elfism,” “The Child Witch,” “What it means to be Fey.”

She looked at her teacher with surprise in her eyes, “Mrs. McHenry, how did you know?”

With a brilliant smile and a mischievous glow in her eyes, she answers, “We witches know more than we talk about – and no, I’m not a bad witch, and no, I don’t bespell anyone, well, at least not the good people.”

She laughed at the look in Mia’s eyes. “Oh, Mia, I’d better explain that. One time, there was a boy in my class who wouldn’t behave. If I had a million dollars to give him, it wouldn’t have mattered. I tried bribing him with sweets. Offered him a week with no homework, which was really against my own better judgement. I spoke to his parents. No matter what I tried, he wouldn’t listen. He’d yank on the braided hair of the girl who sat in front of him. He’d bring in pebbles from the road and toss them at either the chalk board or another boy’s head. One day, he brought in a box with a few field mice and then let the mice loose in the classroom.” She lowered her head and put her face in her hands.

“Mrs. McHenry, what did you do? Did you kick him out of school? I would have!” Mia said a bit defiantly.

“No, Mia. That decision wasn’t mine and our principal asked me to keep trying. On a Friday afternoon, while the class was at lunch, I stepped into the coat closet and removed a button from his jacket. When school was over for the day, I went home, and using the button, cast a behavioral spell on Timothy. Just something mild so he’d behave a bit better during class. That Monday, I laid the button on my desk and asked the class if anyone was missing a button. Naturally, Timothy took it home with him. He never gave me another ounce of trouble or any other teacher for that matter.”

“Mrs. McHenry, that’s terrific! What happened to him?”

Her teacher smiled and sighed deeply, “Mia, Timothy is now in his thirties, a happily married man with two beautiful babies and a teacher in one of the middle schools in the village of Moy which is the country of Tyrone.”

Mia smiled and wondered what Timothy would have done with his life if her teacher hadn’t bespelled him. Then she quietly thought, “He’d probably be robbing banks or something. Glad I’m not like Timothy.”