“Well, that was some night,” Conor commented.“It sure was,” agreed Sean.“Granny must be so worried,” Niamh said seriously. “We will wait here and try and sleep beside the fire. The fire will burn itself out and when it starts to get light we can start to walk to Granny’s house,” Sean said.
The children lay down by the fire but not too close and drifted off to sleep for a few hours. They woke up in the early hours of the morning. The fire had died and some rays from a weak sun rising in the sky, entered the dolmen through the portal, and other gaps in the big rocks.
Les enfants se couchèrent près du feu, mais pas trop près, et s'endormirent pendant quelques heures. Ils se réveillèrent aux premières heures du jour. Le feu était éteint. Quelques rayons d'un faible soleil qui s'élevaient dans le ciel pénétraient à travers le dolmen et dans d'autres espaces entre les rochers.
“Come on,” said Sean, “let’s go and face the music.” “And hope Granny hasn’t got the guards out looking for us,” added Niamh. “Conor stretched and yawned. “Okay,” was all he could say.
The children made their way down the path and back to the main road. They walked without talking, each one deep in thought about the events of the night before. A car came towards them. They looked up.
Les enfants suivirent le chemin et revinrent sur la route principale. Ils marchaient sans parler, chacun pensant aux événements de la nuit précédente. Une voiture s'approcha d'eux. Ils levèrent les yeux.
“It’s Charlie,” Conor cried out.
They started waving at the car. As the car got closer they could see that Granny was with Charlie. The car stopped and Charlie got out.
“Thank God you are okay! I got a flat tyre on the way to pick you up last night. When I got to the hall you were nowhere to be seen. Get into the car now, your Granny has been going out of her mind.”
The children got into the back of the car. Their granny turned around with tears in her eyes.
“Where have you been? Charlie and I have been out searching for you all night. We checked with all the neighbours. We were just about to ring the guards.”“We’re sorry Gran, we went up to the dolmen to shelter from the rain. When Charlie didn’t come we decided to walk back, but then it started raining.” said Niamh between sobs.“And the battery on my phone died, so I couldn’t ring you or Charlie,” said Sean, as he put his arm around his sister.“It was my idea to walk back. It was all my fault,” Conor said miserably.“Don’t worry, I’m just glad you are all safe. You must be tired. Let’s get you home. I will give you a cooked breakfast and tea, and then you can shower and have a nap before your parents come,” Granny said kindly… “And in case you were wondering, your parents don’t know anything yet. I was going to ring them but then we saw you.”“Wait until we tell you everything, you aren’t going to believe it,” Conor answered, cheering up at the thought of breakfast.When they got back to Gran’s house, the first thing she did was to make them all a cup of tea.
“That’s so good Gran,” Niamh said, feeling the tea warming her inside as she drank it.
“That’s so good Gran,” Niamh said, feeling the tea warming her inside as she drank it.
Good to her word, Gran cooked a wonderful breakfast of eggs, sausages, rashers of bacon, and black and white pudding, with toast. This was washed down with more tea.
“That was just marvellous,” said Conor, rubbing his tummy.”“Good, now while I’m washing up and before you have your showers, tell me everything,” said Granny.
Conor started telling her about meeting her husband, her brother Paddy and her cousin Tom. Granny was so amazed, that she had to sit down. Conor relayed the messages from the three men to Granny. She had a strange look on her face.
“Are you okay Gran?”“Yes, it is a bit of a shock, but I believe you. Thank you, I will treasure their words.”“But that’s not all,” added Sean. “We also met Brian Boru, Fionn MacCumhaill, Aillén the fire-breathing goblin, Gráinne Mhaol, Queen Maeve and Morrigan the shape-shifter.”Granny laughed in disbelief, but when she looked at her earnest grandchildren’s faces, she knew they were telling her the truth.
“Well Holy God!” she exclaimed. “Halloween night, sure is a bewitching night, just like the old people said,” said Charlie, taking off his cap and scratching his head. “It all seems like a weird dream now,” said Sean yawning. “You better go upstairs and shower and get out of those costumes. Try and nap and I will call you when your parents are on their way. I will just nod off here in my chair after I’ve finished washing up,” Granny instructed them.“I better be going myself,” said Charlie, “the cows need milking. Somehow I don’t think we will ever forget this Halloween.”
“Well Holy God!” she exclaimed. “Halloween night, sure is a bewitching night, just like the old people said,” said Charlie, taking off his cap and scratching his head. “It all seems like a weird dream now,” said Sean yawning. “You better go upstairs and shower and get out of those costumes. Try and nap and I will call you when your parents are on their way. I will just nod off here in my chair after I’ve finished washing up,” Granny instructed them.“I better be going myself,” said Charlie, “the cows need milking. Somehow I don’t think we will ever forget this Halloween.”
