Green (6 page)

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"But ... then ... Why didn't you make my hair all long again?" I wailed.

"Well, now, Lil," Bronwyn said. "It's a bit o' magic, not a miracle. Anyway, Kate's finished now, and a fine job too."

Kate beamed. "Shall I fetch the mirror?"

"Maybe later," I said, too depressed to look.

"Out o' that tub, then, and see what we've got for tea," Bronwyn said.

I stood up, streaming water. Lexie dashed down off the stool and came back struggling to see over a folded, human-sized towel in her arms. Alone behind the screen, I took off my wet clothes, dried myself, and wrapped the towel around my body.

The hut's back door had been opened, revealing a wide field of clover ending against a rocky hill. A teapot had appeared on the table with a heaping tray of sandwiches. Despite everything, my stomach growled as I took the only chair. Kate dragged her stool back over, and the leprechauns climbed up to join me.

Bronwyn poured us greenish tea from a teapot twice the size of her head. The three of them slurped from miniature cups as we sat there eyeing each other, equal height for the first time. I felt like I'd been transported back to one of the pretend tea parties I used to give when I was younger, except that instead of my motley assortment of half-bald babies and teddy bears, the other seats at this

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table were filled with, perfect living dolls in seriously collectible outfits.

"Have a sandwich," Bronwyn offered.

I took one off the stack: brown bread, butter, and some sort of wilted green herb. Too hungry to be particular, I stuffed the entire saltine-sized thing into my mouth.

Kate smiled at me over her cup. "It's a little ray o' sunshine having another girl around."

"Yeah, where
are
all the girls?" I asked. "You're totally outnumbered out there."

"That we are, but that's how we like it," Kate said with a wink. "Makes us special, doesn't it?"

"I guess," I said uncertainly.

"We leprechauns live a long time, Lil," Bronwyn explained. "A very long time, indeed, by human standards. If our numbers were equal between the sexes, we'd have overrun you ages ago. But our lasses are born scarcely one to four lads. It's nature's little way o' keeping the folk in check."

"Lexie here hasn't even chosen her first husband yet, let alone increased the clan." Kate poked Lexie in the arm. "Such a shy, delicate blossom," she teased. "Give us a hint, Lexie. There must be some lad you fancy."

Lexie blushed and looked down at the table. "I'll choose when I'm willing," she murmured.

I took another sandwich, preferring not even to think about the subject embarrassing Lexie. Except ...

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"How does a human get leprechaun blood?" I blurted out.

Lexie went even redder. Kate laughed merrily.

"Surely you don't need that explained at your age?" Bronwyn asked. "Your mum didn't teach you about birds and bees?"

My cheeks heated up to match Lexie's. "She taught me birds don't do it with bees," I got out.

"Aye, you've caught me there," Bronwyn said.

"Go on," Kate urged. "Tell her!"

"It happened hundreds o' years ago"--Bronwyn poured more tea, settling into her story--"during a Rendezvous, where the clans meet to mix together. A pack o' lads from all five clans had their fill o' clover ale and were racing dogs in the moonlight when they came upon a dance at the edge of a human village. The sight of so many fine single girls all eager to be wooed by young men near drove our poor lads out of their minds. They knew how heavily the odds weighed against them ever having wives o' their own. So in a fit o' drunken inspiration, they trapped a spotted pisky and demanded a wish for its release."

"More heart than smarts," Kate muttered with a roll of her eyes.

Bronwyn sighed and shook her head. "Piskies are a contrary lot, Lil, and spotted piskies are the worst. Anyone with a whit o' sense would sooner ask for a lump on the head than a wish from a spotted pisky. But those lads were

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in no condition to think things through. They dragged that tetchy pisky right up to the edge o' the dance. 'We wish all these women were o' a size to be our wives!' they said. 'Granted,' said the pisky."

Bronwyn sighed again. "When those young fools picked themselves off the ground, that pisky was long gone and our lads were human size. And that wasn't even the worst o' it--they'd lost their leprechaun strength, were subject to human diseases, and had human life spans too."

"What happened to them?" I asked.

"Most regretted their unlucky wish and lived out their short lives with their brothers," Bronwyn replied, "but a few went ahead and took human wives, living in human villages and never revealing their true nature to anyone for fear o' jeopardizing the clans. In fifty years, they were all dead. But those giants who wed had children, Lil--leplings--and their descendants live on. Like you."

I had no idea what to say to that. I filled the silence by polishing off sandwiches, forcing myself to chew and swallow.

Leprechaun blood!

The mere idea was ridiculous. I wanted to tell them how wrong they were, to recount all the perfectly normal generations of my family. The problem was, my family wasn't that normal.

Rising from the table, I went back to the cupboard.

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There were dresses I recognized and ones I didn't. Two nightgowns hung next to a fuzzy bathrobe. There were a few pairs of pants, some button-up blouses, and, at the end of the pole, a belted sweater with pockets I had seen Gigi wear a hundred times. I stroked its sleeve longingly, as if she were still wearing it.

Somewhere in Providence, my mom was either totally worried or truly irate. I was still pretty worried myself. But how could I doubt now that these leprechauns had known Gigi, maybe even better than I'd known her myself? I didn't believe the lepling story, but I was Gigi's granddaughter through and through, and here, in this strange cottage, I felt her presence more intensely than I ever did at home.

How could I go home without learning why?

Taking Gigi's bathrobe off the hanger, I wrapped it around me and let my towel drop, nothing underneath but bare skin and a fancy gold key. I took a few breaths, steeling up my courage. Then I turned back to the tea party.

"This banquet," I said. "When does it start?"

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Chapter 5

"Don't be nervous," Bronwyn advised, trying to push me out the cottage door and into the night outside.

"I'm not," I lied, not moving. I was wearing my grandmother's green velvet dress, which had been brushed until it looked new. On my feet, a pair of elaborately decorated silver flats matched the dress's intricate embroidery.

"Cobbled by Horace Green himself!" an awed Lexie had told me, taking the shoes from the cupboard. "How do they feel, Lil?"

They felt like leather, pretty much, which was surprising

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considering that they looked like solid silver. The toes were a bit tight for me, but the soles were soft and springy. Having arrived barefoot, I just had to be glad my feet were nearly the same size as Gigi's.

Bronwyn pushed on my calf again. Still I hesitated on the threshold, deeply apprehensive about venturing into whatever came next. My hand sought out the key around my neck, squeezing it for reassurance.
Gigi went to this banquet
, I thought.
I can at least
pretend
to be as brave as she was
.

"Here we go, then," I said at last, stepping into the unknown.

Lexie led the way down deserted streets, carrying a green lantern. Our footsteps echoed off darkened buildings barely taller than my head.

"Where did everyone go?" I asked anxiously.

Kate pointed forward. "Look."

Up where the houses ended, I caught a glimpse of a mammoth crowd, the sky above them lit in an extraordinary way. Floating nearly low enough to touch, brilliant horizontal rainbows of illumination shimmered and flowed like phosphorescence on a night sea.

"Leprechaun lights," Lexie told me proudly.

"Rainbows at night," I breathed. "They're so beautiful!"

Then we cleared the buildings, and the banquet spread before me. Laid out in a darkened field were a few hundred leprechaun-sized tables surrounded by tiny chairs.

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Centerpieces of burning candles lit thousands of pointed faces with, wide excited eyes.

The crowd caught sight of me. "Lilybet! Lilybet!
Greeeeeeeeen!"

As I stepped onto the clover, a volley of emerald fireworks exploded overhead, nearly scaring me out of my flats. Green sparks showered down through the swirling rainbows, and I felt my heart rise up, taking courage in the beauty of the moment.

A bagpipe began playing. Bronwyn nudged my leg, urging me forward. At the center of the field, a large wooden platform held a long, almost-human-height table lit by dozens of candles and surrounded by one normal chair and twenty ladder-legged stools. I made my way to the platform, waving self-consciously to the leprechauns who called my name, pretending not to hear the gossip about me as I passed.

"Lil! Lilybet!"

"If she isn't the spitting image of our Maureen ..."

"Those shoes are Horace Greens!"

"Lil! Lil, over here!"

"Pretty as a picture, she is. No, an
angel."

I climbed the steps to the platform in a daze. I had never felt so popular before--or heard a stranger say I was pretty. In the weirdest surroundings of my life, I actually felt kind of ... normal.

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Five older leprechaun women stood waiting beside the long table, wearing robes of green velvet embroidered with silver. Their white-streaked greenish hair was swept up in intricate dos adorned with jewels and feathers. The most elegant woman in the group had hair that was nearly completely white and wore a robe of pure silver. A tiara of gumball-sized emeralds sparkled above matching crinkled eyes.

"The council," Lexie whispered excitedly, trailing at my heels. "And our Mother, Sosanna, chief o' the Clan o' Green."

The chief's emerald eyes met mine. "Welcome, Lilybet," she said. Her voice was strong and clear despite her obvious age. "You are very welcome."

Sosanna raised a hand and a hush fell over the crowd. "Tonight we feast our sister Lilybet," she called out, "on-trial successor to our beloved Maureen. Let the banquet begin!"

A rowdy cheer went up, drowned by the echoing booms of more green fireworks. The members of the council took seats at the table, assisted by sharply dressed male companions who claimed the stools at their sides.

"Sit down, Lilybet! Take a load off!" a familiar voice urged. Balthazar had found his way onto the platform too. His beard was oiled and braided, and fancy medals covered his coat right down to his round belly. He looked so ridiculously full of himself I almost had to laugh. Instead I showed him my back and took the only chair.

Bronwyn sat on the stool beside me. Lexie got my other

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side. Installing himself next to Bronwyn--who I was starting to think was his girlfriend--Balthazar winked at me. "Brace yourself, Lil. Here comes the cheese!"

Waiters balancing silver platters streamed onto the field. Some made their way to the platform, while dozens more worked the tables below, serving up an assortment of sliced cheeses. A leprechaun with silver pitchers in both hands filled goblets at our table with a nasty-looking green liquid that fizzed up, then skinned over like pond scum. Balthazar drank his down in three gulps and motioned for a refill. The waiter quickly obliged him before reaching toward my goblet.

"I'm sure Lilybet would prefer water," Bronwyn intervened.

Flushing, the leprechaun filled my goblet from his other pitcher and continued on his rounds.

"What
is
that stuff?" I asked.

"Clover ale." Bronwyn sipped hers with obvious enjoyment. "You're a bit young yet. I don't believe you'd like it."

That made two of us. I was about to say so when a new waiter offered me cheese from a gleaming silver platter. Its mirror-like surface reflected a sight I'd hoped never to see: me, wearing a haircut so short it could only be called a pixie.

To my amazement, I wasn't hideous.

My hair framed my face in tufts and wisps, curving into long slender points that made my chin seem less sharp. The craziest part was that spiking my hair made my eyes

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appear closer together. They were still wider than I would have liked, but that whole bug-eyed look? Almost gone.

"You're welcome!" Kate said saucily from a couple of stools away. I grinned with gratitude, unable to believe I was actually happy about having my long hair whacked off.

More waiters made the rounds. Fruit and bread joined the cheese on our plates. The main course was a hot potato casserole with sides of even more cheese, grilled sausages, and stringy stewed greens.

And last but not least came the doughnuts. Bagpipes played again as a new set of waiters walked in balancing trays piled three feet high with an astounding assortment of doughnuts. There were green-frosted rings, long twists sparkling with green sugar, and golden pillows with green custard filling, all stacked up in concentric rings that looked like enormous wedding cakes. The custardy ones were my favorite, the doughnut part light and chewy, the filling flavored with sweet limes.

"Your gran loved those too," Bronwyn told me as I polished off my second one. "We miss her so much."

"Me too."

She reached over to pat my hand. "Well, we have each other now, don't we? And all the years to come, just like Maureen would have wanted."

Instead of feeling sad, I actually felt kind of comforted. At last I wasn't alone in missing Gigi.