Part twenty five: The book

New Home

“Kelly, wake up!” said Prince. “The lifeboat has landed.”

“There’s no one around,” said the captain. “Whoever was here has disappeared, but their fire is still burning. There’s Irish stew in the cast iron pot and green tea,” he said, helping himself.

Kelly recognized her father immediately when she saw him.

“Daddy!” she exclaimed, under her breath.

“Hello there!” her father hollered. "Is there someone here?" 

“Quiet,” ordered Prince, concerned about Kelly’s safety, as well as his own.

“But that is my dad!” Kelly whispered. 

“I see a rowboat and a raft,” said Kelly’s father looking around. “Someone kept that fire going. I have seen its smoke every time we were on the river.”

Suddenly, he spotted the couple sitting on the hearth.

“Come down!” he ordered, not recognizing Kelly at first. 

“Daddy!” exclaimed Kelly. “It is me, Kelly. You found us!”

Prince lowered the ladder and they climbed down.

Kelly saw the huge tears welling up in her father’s eyes, as he realized she was his daughter.  

“Kelly, you are safe. Thank God!” he exclaimed, hugging his daughter tightly. “I’d almost given up. Thank you for taking care of my colleen,” he said to Prince.

“Welcome to our island, sir.” replied Prince with a smile. “I am Prince. Kelly is my colleen now.”

Prince opened the door of the secret room at the bottom of the chimney and brought out the children and Ambrose, the pup.

“Two young children,” said Kelly’s father, with amazement. “And you found a pup, too?”

“This is Molly, Moe and Ambrose, Daddy.”

“Welcome to our family.”

Timothy, Tauren and Jon remained in hiding. Since all three were homeless now, they decided to make the room Prince had discovered, their new home, at least for the time being.     

Years later in a book, a troll recounted Kelly’s dad finding her sitting on the hearth with Prince. Timothy, Tauren and Jon, along with the changelings and the dog, had disappeared down an underground passageway.

A gnome recounted Kelly and Prince as discovered on the island by her father. The captain married them and they raised several children, along with a dog.

A leprechaun recounted everyone living together as a family on the island, happily ever after, with four pots of gold, one for each grandfather. He had Kelly’s four-leaf clover to prove it.

Part twenty four: The romantics

The Celebration

“Look at the lovebirds!” said Molly, delighted to see Prince and Kelly speaking softly to each other, as they held hands and dangled their feet in the water. “This is so romantic!”

“It is silly,” replied Moe. “I’ll never do that with a colleen!”

“You will, too,” replied Molly, smiling.

Timothy was making dancing slippers for Molly and Moe, even though Moe insisted he did not want to dance in front of strangers.

“It’ll be fun,” Kelly promised.

Meanwhile, Tauren and Jon were building a fire pit. Then, they unloaded the contents of the boat and raft and put everything into the room Prince had found. Tauren made Irish stew for supper, while Jon concocted something green to drink.

“This is very pretty,” said Kelly. In the evening light, they could see a fire on the far shoreline. “It’s our very first celebration.”

“And a wonderful one, it is too,” replied Prince. He was in love. Kelly was shy, but stayed close to him, even when the children were around. “We will be together, forever.”

After supper, Timothy pulled out his flute, Tauren, his fiddle and a drum for Jon. They played catchy, alluring Irish tunes. Prince and Kelly taught the children how to dance an Irish jig. Soon, Molly and Moe were the center of attention and had everyone dancing. Later, as they sat in front of the fire pit, Tauren passed around a platter of scones, while Jon took charge of the drinks. 

“This is so perfect,” thought Kelly. “And I still have three more wishes.” 

“The world can be so perfect,” thought Prince. “I was a frog, and now…”  

Suddenly, he spotted the lifeboat heading towards them.

“We’re getting company,” he said calmly. “But, we don’t know who they are.”

For their protection, Timothy, Tauren, Jon and the children, all disappeared into the room at the base of the chimney, while Prince and Kelly climbed up the ladder to the fireplace hearth and pulled the ladder up after them.

As the embers died down, they cuddled close together, watching the moon, like true romantics.

“We are safe here.”

Part twenty three: Spring break

 The Room

“Welcome to our little island,” said Prince to Tauren, Jon, Molly and Moe as he introduced them to Kelly and Timothy. “All we have here is yours.”

“Thank you for rescuing us,” said Tauren. “That was some pretty rough water out there.”

Jon nodded in agreement.

“Thank you for coming to our rescue so quickly!” Prince continued. “Everyone is safe here. We can relax and enjoy this beautiful day, while we decide what to do.”

He smiled as he watched Kelly chatting with the children who he suspected were probably orphans now.

“Are you in school?” asked Kelly. 

“It is spring break,” replied Molly. “Moe just started school this year.”  

Kelly had rescued many books before the schoolhouse had been washed away. She was glad she had been able to save them from the flood. The children would need them now.

Timothy, Tauren and Jon argued about unloading the boat. They were concerned about protecting everything, if it rained.

“We’ll work something out,” said Prince. “We’re not totally stranded here. We still have a raft with the rudder Timothy made for it and your rowboat. We can go anywhere, once the current settles down a bit.”

“What’s behind the third cast-iron door?” he wondered. It was tightly sealed, but he managed to pry it open. “Problem solved. It's a huge room.”  

“Let’s have an Irish jig around the fire, tonight,” suggested Timothy, the good-leprechaun cobbler, pulling a silver flute out of his jacket pocket. “The children will love that!”

“With old-fashioned Irish stew,” added Tauren, grinning with delight.

“We need something green to drink, too,” suggested Jon. “Let’s build a fire pit.”

That is exactly what they started to do.

Suddenly, Prince spotted the men from the ship working their way up upstream, along the distant shoreline.

The captain and Kelly’s dad had seen smoke billowing from the chimney of the old schoolhouse. They had decided to check it out, because each one of them was missing some family members.  

Prince had no idea that this was Kelly’s father. Suddenly, he felt very protective of his colleen, their children and their dog, as well as the three men with them on their island. He knew that leprechauns, gnomes and trolls do not really like men; men do not like them either.

Part twenty two: The joke

Wild Ride

“This is a bad leprechaun’s joke,” shouted Tauren. “Give me an oar!”

Suddenly, Jon awakened to the reality that the strong current was carrying the rowboat downstream.

“That is an eddy!” he replied as the row boat was caught up in swirling water. “This is no joke!”

“Hang on!” Tauren shouted, as the two men struggled to gain control of the rowboat. “Lean the other way!” he said to the children.

Timothy, Prince and Kelly who were standing on the island now formed at the base of the old schoolhouse chimney could only watch.

It turned into a wild ride for everyone on the rowboat.

Molly and Moe hung on for dear life. 

Tauren and Jon struggled with the oars and finally managed to break free of the swirling water.

“There are two children, Kelly,” said Prince, relieved to see two adults  with them, as well. “They may be changelings.”

Prince tossed the rope to Tauren, but they were still too far away and the rope drifted downstream. Prince threw it again.

This time, Tauren caught it and tied it to the rowboat.

“We’ll pull you in,” hollered Prince, beckoning the others to help. He wondered if anyone knew how close the rowboat had come to capsizing.

“Thank you,” said Tauren, relieved to have survived the current for a second time.

Jon jumped out and tied the rowboat to a rock beside the fireplace. Kelly and Prince helped the children to get out of the rowboat and hugged them gently.

Timothy, true to his good, fun-loving leprechaun nature immediately pulled a gold coin out from behind Moe’s ear and handed it to him.

“This rose is for you,” said Molly.

“Thank you,” said Kelly, smiling because it had a new bud. "That is so pretty!"

“My third wish has been fulfilled,” Kelly whispered to Prince. “I wished for children.”

“But I am too young to be a father,” thought Prince. He knew that now, seven people needed rescuing and counting the men on the lifeboat, there were more.

Timothy, Tauren and Jon gazed at each other in sheer amazement. They were almost the same size, but a leprechaun, a gnome and a troll. 

“We brought food for you,” said Tauren.

“Thank you,” replied Timothy. “We really do appreciate your help.”

“And a few other things, as well,” said Jon, handing him all of the items Tauren had given him. 

For the moment, they were stranded.

Part twenty one: The explosion

Caught in the Current

“Me, help you folks?” said Jon, the troll, to Tauren, the gnome. “You will have to give me that copper kettle, the cast iron pot and the brass lantern, if you think I am going to row out to the old school chimney. That is too risky. I am not as young as I used to be, either. My home under the bridge has been washed away and everything else, too so I will have to start all over again.”

Tauren nodded realizing Jon needed help too.

The old troll was tired and cranky, but he appeared to like Molly and Moe.

“You remind me of my own children,” he said, handing each of them a piece of salty, black licorice.

Tauren pondered for a moment and decided to give Jon a silver plate and mug, too. He knew they would find many other items in the floodwater.

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion on the river.

“Oh, no?” exclaimed Tauren. “What was that?”

“The coal furnace on that ship just exploded.” said Jon. “It happens all the time.”

Kelly, Prince and Timothy had heard it too. Prince climbed up the ladder, but all he could see was thick, black smoke rising above the ship.

“That was their broiler,” he said. “And now the ship is sinking!”

Prince watched as a lifeboat carrying several men headed inland. He did not know that it was the captain and Kelly’s dad.      

Then, he spotted Tauren’s rowboat heading downstream towards them. It looked like there were four children on board.

“We are getting company,” he called to Timothy and Kelly. “Put the kettle on!”

He was immediately concerned because whoever was in charge of the rowboat had already lost control. Now it was drifting with the current. 

“We are going to have to help them,” Prince realized. He climbed back down the ladder and grabbed a rope from the raft.

“I’ll need your help, Timothy and Kelly!” he hollered. “Or they will drift out into the river.”

“We’re not big, but we’re strong and we’re rowing right along,” sang everyone, on the rowboat.

They were not yet aware of the danger they were in.

Part twenty: The rose

  

The Troll

“My front tooth is missing!” exclaimed Molly. She had slept through the night beside her little brother, in the rowboat. “The tooth fairy was here! She left me a gold coin and a rose.”

“You have two gold coins now!” Moe exclaimed. “May I have one?”  

The evening before, Tauren had tied the rowboat to a tree and camped on the shore, upstream from where the smoke was still billowing from the old schoolhouse chimney.

“Good morning, children,” he said. 

He knew that the floodwater had dropped and the current would not be as swift now.

“We’ll try to reach your parents, today,” he told them, gently. “If the current catches our rowboat, it will drift directly toward the chimney.”

Suddenly, a wizened and ugly looking little man with a huge nose and large ears, appeared on the scene.

The children were both frightened.

“Who are you?” Tauren asked the little man, concerned about their safety.

“I am Jon, the master troll. I lived under the bridge until it was washed away. You are in my campground.” 

“I am so sorry,” replied Tauren, apologetically.  

He suspected Jon was a good troll and had given Molly the rose and gold coin, as trolls, like fairies often have magical powers that can even make roses bloom. They love gold coins, too.

“You can help us?”

Jon looked at Tauren and Tauren looked back at him. They were almost the same height and build.

“Maybe,” replied Jon, gruffly. “I’ll help you, if you help me get my bridge back.”

“We think our parents are stranded out there in the flood water, where the smoke is coming from the chimney,” said Molly, with a sweet, but now toothless grin. “We need to take some food out to them.”

“You can row the boat,” piped up Moe, wanting to be part of the conversation.

“I don’t know,” he replied. 

“Most people don’t like trolls," said Jon.

“If you help us, you can have this,” said Tauren. He saw Jon’s eyes light up, as he offered him a brass lantern. “I found it in the water.”  

“It needs oil,” replied the troll, grumpily.

Part nineteen: The ship

Watching and Waiting

Kelly, the Irish colleen, stood watch as she hummed the melody to “Danny Boy”, very softly. Ambrose, their pup was asleep on the hearth. 

Timothy O’Leary, the good leprechaun-cobbler, was busy inside the tent, hammering something metal.

The floodwater continued to drop.

Prince climbed down the ladder to the base of the fireplace where he found three, cast-iron doors. Inside the first, there was a shovel. He began to clean out the ashes from behind the second door.

“The fire on the shore just went out,” Kelly called to Prince. “Either they just left, or they’re heading back out here.”

“Maybe their fire simply went out?” said Prince, smiling at Kelly’s conclusion. 

“I am building a rudder,” hollered Timothy, from inside the tent. “But, I will need your help to attach it. Then, we should be able to steer the raft properly.”

“That’s great!” replied Prince, pleasantly surprised at Timothy’s ingenuity. “A sail would be a good idea, too.”

“I can make one out of the canvas on the raft,” offered Kelly.

“You are a sweetheart,” said Prince softly.

“There’s a ship on the river!” said Kelly, excitedly.

Prince and Kelly soon realized it was too far away and heading downstream. It was not going to turn around either, as whoever was on the ship gave no indication of having seen their smoke. The captain had spotted it but decided not to leave the river, as the water would be too shallow.

What Kelly did not know was that her father was on board the ship.

Suddenly, she saw the small rowboat, coming towards them along the shore.

Tauren had decided to row his boat upstream clinging close to the shoreline, rather than risk the strong current. It would be a long way to go, but with young children asleep on board he was not about to take any chances.

There was a lot of debris floating in the water, some of which, he was able to retrieve.

"You folks may need this stuff,” he promised. “We are coming, but it may take a while yet.”