TUS NUA - ch 44

TUS NUA – ch 44

New Beginnings – Mia and Midnight

(*)(*)(*)

If plants and trees could smile, Mia was sure the Fairy Tree smiled and began to enjoy its new and much larger area where it would have all the room needed to spread and grow. Mia was also happy with her choice of its new location since the fairies that might be drawn to the tree could pay homage Mo Daes, her first feline familiar.

Once inside her home, she placed some leftover haddock in Midnight’s bowl with a smaller bowl of feline milk next to it. Mia felt torn in two directions. “Hmm. I’m hungry but not that hungry. I should eat something, but have no idea what I feel like eating.” She opened the pantry door and saw nothing that grabbed at her palate. Same with the refrigerator.

She read Midnight’s mind. “No, Midnight; I won’t conjour a meal. I’ll just make some tea and have half of a cranberry scone. That’ll do until supper.”

With the cup of tea in one hand and the partial scone in the other, she walked to the table where she kept her laptop.

She chuckled and answered her feline. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I could have used my mirror but there are times that I really enjoy doing things the, well, the unwitchy way. Go have your tongue fish for your fish while I do my own fishing for information.” Midnight gave her a strange look that made Mia laugh. “Yeah, I know. What I said makes no sense. But when you think about it, neither does a talking cat. Now, let me get back to work.”

Almost immediately after opening her email, one pinged. “Hmm, don’t recognize the sender but the email’s ping deemed it as important. What do you think, Midnight? Read or ignore?”

Midnight only gave her a side glance as she licked her whiskers clean.

She clicked “read”:

Dear Ms. Deihl:

I saw your posts on several social media sites and thought I might be the person you’re looking for. My name is or was Ellen Hale. I have (had?) a sister Alice (Ali) who disappeared several years ago.

While I looked everywhere, had the police search, placed posters, there was never a word of a sighting of her. I still haven’t given up hope that I might one day find out what happened. Ali has (had?) blonde hair and hazel eyes. She was six months shy of her 21st birthday when she went missing, at which time, I lived in Maine with my now ex-husband Al Silverman. I am currently married to Neil Byrne and live in Galway. Yes, it’s a long story how we ended up here in Ireland but here we are. And I’m getting off track. Sorry.

In your posts, you hadn’t placed a photo of the young women in your care so I’m sending you a photo I have of my sister. Unfortunately, it’s already several years old.

Please contact me as soon as possible and let me know if this Ali you know is my sister.

Hopefully,

Ellen Byrne

Midnight, if at all possible, would have jumped out of her skin when Mia screamed, “BINGO!!!! WHAHOO!!! YIPPEE!! MIDNIGHT, I FOUND HER!!!”

Taking a breath to calm herself, she, in a softer voice said, “Let’s go. We’ve got to get to Tus Nua and talk to Ali.”

Without waiting to finish her lunch, she shut down her computer and headed for the door when she heard Midnight’s meowing, “Hey Girl! Aren’t you forgetting your dirty dishes? Not to mention that you might want to print that letter for Ali?”

Suddenly feeling guilty for leaving them on the table, she did an about face and said, “You’re right, mo ghra! I shouldn’t leave them for mom and you’re also right about the letter. Ali might want to read it.” She gathered the dishes off the table, carried them to the sink where she washed them and placed them in the drain board.

At that point, Midnight leaped onto her shoulders and whispered, “My chroi, let’s fly!”

Mia smiled, tossed her orb in the air and allowed it to carry her to Tus Nua.

Rather than have her orb open inside the dwelling, she opted for a quiet space outside knowing that would give her time to calm her emotions. Yes, she was excited, but she needed to control herself for the sake of everyone else.

She stood several feet away from the front door, inhaled deeply and said, “Well, Midnight, it’s now or nev …. Hey wait, Aintin isn’t here. Neither is Dara. They’ve gone to New York to bring back Sybil’s family. Huh!”

Although Mia knew she could still give the good news to the woman who resided at Tus Nua, if she wanted to be honest with herself, in her heart, she knew it was only right that Finola be present.

“Oh well, Midnight. The news will have to wait. Let’s go in anyway and see if we can make ourselves useful.”

Inside, Mia found chaos. The two children, despite Nora’s efficiency in sign language, were inconsolable. She tried communication, bribery with sweets, embracing, and nothing seemed to work. The kittens were too timid to be near the very loud sobs of the little girls.

Mia hurried to Nora’s side. “Nora, what’s happening? I thought the girls were comfortable here.”

“They were, or at least I thought they were and I have no idea what triggered this bout of … of, of what? Fear? Sorrow? Pain? The older of the two, Caroleena won’t acknowledge any of us. She’s clinging to her sister like a lifeline. I’m beside myself. We’re all totally lost without an idea what to do. I hope you can help us figure this out. I even tried to get into her mind but she’s blocked me out. Whether that’s intentional or not, I haven’t the foggiest idea. Maybe you can help us figure this out.”