TUS NUA - ch 38

TUS NUA – ch 38

New Beginnings – Mia and Midnight

(*)(*)(*)

The next morning, there was enough movement around Tus Nua to have one think of a minor hurricane.

Tauri, Sybil and Dara were busy in the kitchen. Nora was preparing the table for breakfast. Jules was washing the fresh fruit and vegetables she’d picked earlier from the garden.

As if this activity wasn’t enough, Merry and her sister, Noel, dusted the furniture and Ali began sweeping the floor in the gathering room.

Alistar and Neil walked through the front door with news for Finola.

“Well, hello there Alistar, Neil. You both look smug. What’s going on?” Finola asked.

Neil answered, “Thanks to your witchy cousin and my unwitchy instinct, we found that culprit, Seth.” He looked at Alistar who continued, “Finola, this is where I’d like your help. I know you’re busy, but if you could afford me only thirty minutes, I’d appreciate it.”

“Oh Alistar! After all these years, you still haven’t mastered the art of spelling?”

He laughed and replied, “Not to the grace, dignity, and magnificence you display, my dearest cousin.”

Finola rolled her eyes and laughed. “Ah, cousin, flattery will get you nowhere.” She pulled off her apron, told Dara and Tauri she’d be gone about half an hour, then turned to Alistar and Neil. “Okay, then, let’s go and get this done!”

Alistar’s portal left them in a park not too far from the pub where Seth was having breakfast.

Alistar and Neil heard a soft laugh coming from Finola and turned to see what was so amusing.

“Well, gentlemen, I’ve an idea and I’ll want Neil to agree to this.”

Alistar asked, “What about me? What will I do?”

“Oh, Alistar! Alistar! You’re getting too involved and not reading my thoughts. Try harder, dear cousin.”

Then she turned to Neil who had no witch attributes and said, “For the next few minutes, you’re the man I’m dating but while I’m a very demanding woman, you’re running out of patience with me.”

She whirled her finger above Neil’s head, and he turned into a much younger man who looked nothing like Neil McCloud. Then she swirled her finger over her own head and turned into a woman almost half her age.

Neil gasped, “Oh, my heaven’s, Finola, I’d never know you if I didn’t see you do this!”

She smiled, “That’s the point, mo ghra.”

Alistar’s mind opened and now, he began to laugh. “Oh, Finola, my crafty, wily cousin, if I didn’t know you had the kindest heart, I might be tempted to call you diabolical.”

“Oh, heaven’s, Alistar. May the God and Goddess forbid it!”

She took hold of Neil’s hand and said, “Let’s go, Patrick!”

“Ah, I even a new but temporary name. And what might yours be, my lovely?”

“We’ll go with Bridget.”

“Wait, you’re going to call yourself after your old great Aintin that you never even liked?”

“All the more reason to get this over with and get back to myself.”

They walked across the street towards the pub and Alistar kept walking a few feet down the street.

Neil, still at that point, had only the slightest idea what Finola had in mind and even if he did, had no clue as to how she was going to do it. Then, as he pulled open the thick wooden door to allow her to walk ahead of him, she began, “Patrick, your head is as thick as a pile of cow dung! Probably even thicker.” She stomped ahead of him!

“But Brige, my sweet. We’re out, aren’t we?” He was hoping this is what she wanted him to say.

“You call this going out? I never meant a forty-minute hike from the house to a pub!”

“But Brige, my ghra, you said you wanted breakfast!”

“Ya big lug! I wanted a restaurant, with regular servers, and a decent table to sit at! We walked for forty-minutes, and you brought me here!! If I wanted a pint after supper, this would have been great! But for heaven’s sake, you know bloody well, this is not what I wanted. Oh, but you? I know this is exactly what you wanted! You! You! You! It’s all about you!”

“Poor Neil,” she thought, he never was a fighter and now, she’s got his back against the wall, but she couldn’t stop now. Not if she wanted to go through with her plan.

She looked at the bartender, put a silent, light spell on him by thinking,

a minor detail to go with my will, you’ll mix my tea with a cupful of swill.

Once I leave here, this spell will be broken,

under my cup, you find an appreciative token.

This, I need from you, immediately. So, I request it. So, mote it be.”

Then said aloud, “Scuse me, love. If you’ve got any tea, I’d like a cup!”

The bartender never knew he’d been spelled and brought her the weakest, tasteless cup of tea ever imagined.

Fionola, in her Bridget persona, took a sip and immediately spit it across the bar!

“Oh, my bloody hell! I imagine my cat can pee out better tea than this.” She placed the cup on the saucer, turned to Seth, and said, “I don’t know about you but if this is any indication on what the food is like, I can’t even imagine how you’re managing to eat it.”

Seth smiled brightly at the pretty woman who was now giving him attention. “Well, lass, it’s close to home. Guess I’ve gotten kind of used to it.”

She smiled back and replied, “I could cook better with my eyes closed!” Glancing at the would-be Patrick, she finished, “Not that Patrick, here would ever notice. He’s a big talker, this one, he is. ‘Oh, Brige, when we get married, we’ll live in a grand house. You’ll have the best clothes. We’ll dine out any time it pleases you!’ I’ll tell you, the man’s so full of blarney, I’m surprised the stone hasn’t fallen yet into the sea!”

“Poor, Neil,” she thought, “if only he were a witch and could hear my thoughts.”

Finola plopped her chin into the palm of her hand and allowed Seth to fall deeper into her trap.

Even as he ate his breakfast, rather than tea or coffee, he imbibed in a tall glass of Guinness which she knew was weakening his defenses.

He placed a hand on the back of Finola’s and said, “Missy, I’d be honored to have a sample of your breakfast. If it’s as lovely as you, you’d be making a man very happy.”

He didn’t quite know why he said that, but the words were already spoke and Finola inwardly smiled and thought, “Ah, Seth! Gotcha!”

She hooked are arm through his, winked at Neil and said, “Come on, then, mo stor. I’ll take you to my house and trust me, lovely, it’ll change your life!”

Neil walked out behind them to the waiting Alistar, who was had already opened his portal to take them all to Finola’s cabin.