Page 51 of Beneath Pearly Irish Skies
Chapter Twelve
Megan would be happy about the sunlight.
The berries on the hawthorn trees lining their path glowed like rubies, and the leaves had turned spring green in the bright light—a grand way to start October. Winston paused and gave a shallow bow, as if thanking the weather. Kade had taught him the tricks, as they called them, knowing the pony had poetry in his soul. “We’re almost home, boy,” he said as he rubbed the pony’s neck.
“Pretty lady!” little Fiadh O’Toole called out, pointing straight ahead.
Kade put his hand on Fiadh’s underdeveloped leg and smiled at her. Her large blue eyes, slanted upward in the way of many children with Down syndrome, were fixed on Sorcha, who stood in the middle of the mostly dry path. “You can see her, eh, Fiadh?”
“Yes!” She clapped her hands. “Yay, Kade can see them too. I tell my mom and dad sometimes when I see them, but they don’t want to believe me. I think they’re scared to believe.”
“Who comes to see you?” he asked, giving Sorcha a look as she reached out a slender hand to pet Winston, who neighed.
“My grandma comes to visit me sometimes,” Fiadh said, holding the reins like he’d taught her. “She says she’s a spirit and that she looks after me. But I see other ones too, and sometimes they’re scary. My parents don’t like hearing about them. I don’t know who they are, Kade.”
He’d experienced the same as a boy, but his granny had given him some advice that had helped. He shared it with the little girl. “Tell them to leave your house if you don’t want them there, Fiadh. You say it, and they will listen.”
Not all of them would listen, but most of the time they would. Better to empower her.
“If you ever need help with a spirit you want gone, Fiadh,” Sorcha interjected, “you call Archangel Azrael. He’ll take it away for you.”
The small girl repeated the name. “Oh, I like him.”
Kade wondered if Fiadh had seen the angel before. He’d learned many people with special needs had gifts. “Sorcha, what can I do for you?”
Her white dress waved in the breeze, and her smile was as infectious as the sunlight dancing on the raindrops clinging to the treetops from the earlier shower. “I’ve done some serious arranging for you and Megan, and I came to tell you to be ready. Jamie is taking Ollie home with him. He turned as green as pea soup when I appeared to him in the schoolyard.”
Kade couldn’t help but chuckle. Jamie had only started seeing Sorcha recently, after she came back to help Carrick. He’d even fainted once. “You’ve always been good craic, Sorcha.”
She swayed on the path, causing Fiadh to do the same in the saddle. “Oh, and I prodded a giant of a cow with the wordDateon it to encourage Megan to ask you out.”
“I’ve been letting her set the pace, Sorcha,” Kade said. “You agreed.”
“She’s ready to take a leap,” Sorcha said, looking him up and down. “Someone has a date tonight. Make sure to change out of your farm clothes. You farmers need a guidebook on dating, I swear.”
“I’ll even run a comb through my hair, Sorcha. Now be off with you. This is Fiadh’s pony ride, after all.”
“I like the pretty lady.” She reached out to Sorcha, who edged closer to them.
The ghost touched her little forehead and then laid a hand on his arm. “Guh gir’uh d’eeuh uhn tah ort,” she said.
And then she disappeared.
“What did she say, Kade?”
He patted Winston, marveling over the mystery that was Sorcha. “May God put luck upon you.”
She clapped. “I like luck.”
A rich breeze rolled over him, the kind that came in from the sea, and all the windchimes he kept in the trees rang like church bells. Fiadh clapped again, crying out in delight. Kade wondered if Sorcha had orchestrated it. “So do I. Come. Let’s keep going down our path.”
The metaphor wasn’t lost on him. When they reached the stables, he spotted Megan speaking with Fiadh’s father, who was resting against his red Berlingo. Kade stopped in his tracks.
She’d cut her hair.
The short length accentuated her jawline, making him more aware of her cute pointy chin. The cut made her look taller, and perhaps it was the new way she held herself, but her body looked slender as opposed to thin. God, she was beautiful.
Sorcha’s blessing came to mind again. Had she also been speaking it over him? The way his flesh tingled seemed like a confirmation. He felt a smile break out across his face, and Megan looked over at that exact moment.
