How to Pronounce Irish Character Names:

Caoilainn sounds like "Kay Lynn".

Tadhg sounds like "Tie-g".

Maebh sounds like "May-v".

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WHEN THEY WERE YOUNG

Caoilainn

"Coming, I'm coming. Hold on," I holler down the stairs as I run towards the door. Jumping off the second to the last step, I land on the entranceway slate with a dull thud. My grandfather says I sound like a herd of Clydesdales when I thunder down steps. I smile as I think of his analogy and open the door.

It is sunny outside. When I step back to see who is at the door, the light is in my eyes.

"Oh, wow," I comment. "It sure is bright out there."

I hear a light chuckle and look up at the tall man standing before me. There's something familiar about him. I know I've met him before but for some reason cannot place him at this moment.

"Can I help you, sir?" I ask, holding my hand over my brow to block my eyes from the glare.

"How old are you, little one?" he asks, avoiding the question.

I frown at the man. "Why do you want to know?" 

"Humor me," he replies.

"Humor you?"

The man laughs a little at my ignorance over his meaning. "Yes, humor me; tell an old guy because he asks out of curiosity."

It occurs to me that I've opened the door without checking to see who it was first. Dang gone. Mama is gonna be upset with me if Ms. MacCrithein tells her I did this. And, father? Well, he's always telling me not to talk to strangers nor to open the door at all. I sigh to myself. Squinting up at the man, I put my hands on my hips.

"Instead of me answering you, will you do me a favor?" I whisper, leaning forward, cupping my hand around my lips to make my voice carry.

Bending down to hear me better, he asks, "What's that?"

"Will you let me close this door and go get Tadhg's mom? I'm not supposed to answer it and I forgot. Ms. MacCrithein is babysitting me and if she answers the door, I won't get in any trouble." At this explanation the man's eyebrows go up. A small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth and I see what I later learn is amusement in his eyes.

"Sure," he whispers back. "Hurry up before you get caught. I'll pretend this never happened. It'll be our little secret."

"Okay, thanks," I gush, relieved. I close the door quietly and then make a loud banging sound on the door. Then I turn around and call Ms. MacCrithein.

"Ms. MacCrithein," I yell down the hall. "Someone is knocking on the door."

As I run towards the kitchen, Tadhg's mom peeks her head out from the kitchen to me. "What's wrong, Caoilainn?" she asks.

"The door," I say again. "Someone's knocking."

"Oh, okay," she answers, wiping her hands on her apron. "I'm coming. I was making soda bread for our picnic, Caoilainn. Tadhg loves it. He'll be thrilled to have some when we pick him up from rugby practice."

As I move towards the kitchen, Tadhg's mom passes me in the hall on her way to the door. I can smell the bread baking in the oven. Rounding the corner, I see she's added raisins to this loaf instead of the usual caraway seeds. Yes! I like raisins better, especially with some warm, melted butter on top. Mmmmmm.

I had been dancing upstairs in my room when I heard the knocking at the door. I had to take off my gillies pretty quickly. Mama always says I should wash my hands after touching my feet, so I go over to the sink to clean them before touching the bread ingredients. I'm playing in the soap bubbles when I hear Ms. MacCrithein's and that man's voice carrying down the hall.

"No, he's not here," she says to the man. "Why would you even come here?"

I reach up to the faucet and turn the water off so I can hear their conversation better.

"No, you can't go there this afternoon. We talked about this. You promised."

"I know I did, Maebh, but it's killing me," he pleads. "Just let me meet-"

"No," she whispers forcefully. "I'm sorry, but I won't allow it."

"This isn't right, Maebh," he whispers back. "You know it isn't."

"This is neither the time nor the place for this conversation," she replies.

"No, it's not," he answers. "But, this discussion needs to take place, Maebh, and soon. He's my-"

"Shhh," she hisses. "Just go away before someone overhears."

While they've been arguing, I've been slowly picking up errant raisins that have rolled from the table down onto the floor. The longer their conversation goes on, the more the unease in my stomach grows. This whole situation seems wrong somehow. Who is that man? Who does he want to see? He said something about seeing someone this afternoon. It sounds like he wants to meet a man or a boy. Is he talking about my dad or does he want to see Tadhg?

None of this makes sense. Why would this man want to see my dad, and if he did, why would Ms. MacCrithein stop him? No, it can't be my dad he wants to see.

Then again, why would some random person want to meet Tadhg? That doesn't make sense either.

As the front door closes, I creep up the back steps of our house to my room, eager to be alone so I can think about things more.

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Thank you to @BrittaSwann and @WriterontheIsland for their editing advice on this chapter!

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