“Oh, no,” Rachelle piped in. “It’s no’ because of the Chaun that she sneaks. It’s the Fae who would no’ accept her extended interest in a human. They think of us as working dogs. She’d be shunned by her own kind, she would.” The little woman nodded her head vigorously, curls bouncing on her round shoulders. “And besides, Lady Martineth and the Summer King would be naught too happy to find she’s taken to the Chaun’s ‘last hope.’”
Cassidy’s sickened expression mirrored mine. This did not bode well. I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Thank goodness for my sister who knew me so well. She cleared her throat.
“Well, we’re not going to worry about her right now. What do you know about the Clourichaun?”
“Crazy Clours,” Leilah said with amusement, picking a clover bloom and fiddling with it. I ran my hands over the clovers as Leilah told us the story.
“They’ve always been a rowdy bunch who drink far too much. Some say it’s ‘cause they’re mostly average-sized blokes with no control. No offense.” She stopped to look at Cassidy and me, but we just shrugged it off. She smiled, relieved. “The Clour share this land. They’re on the other side of the forest, and they used to share shoe-making responsibilities. Too often they were behind on orders, and the Leprechaun had to step in and do their work for ‘em in a rush like. Besides that, the Clour were leaving the lands and being careless around humans. Especially females. They’d been warned by the Fae, which was lucky because they’re no’ usually the type to waste time on warnings.
“About two hundred years ago one of the Clour impregnated a nearby farmer’s daughter. It certainly wasn’t the first time, but the Chaun had become good at hiding incidents of their kin’s indiscretions. Ye can only imagine the surprise humans experience when they discover their child can do magic! It was terrible business, switching babies and the like. This one particular time was being dealt with when the portal opened a day early and the Faeries discovered what had happened. It was the last straw. The Fae cursed their bloodlines into extinction.”
“Why didn’t they just take away their magic?” Cassidy asked.
“The magic is so deep in them. To pull it out would require a lot of Fae energy, and t’would make the Clour lose their minds, but the Fae wanted them to live and suffer.”
They didn’t seem to be suffering much to me. But maybe it was all for show. It was kind of sad to think of them watching their family die one by one with nothing but shame to show for it.
We all plucked at the clover for a minute until Leilah spoke.
“Have ye seen the waterfall yet?”
“No, we haven’t seen much of anything,” I answered.
The girls had to get back to work, but they explained how to get to the waterfall. We thanked them and shared a round of hugs with our new friends before going our separate ways.
It was a serene fifteen-minute walk uphill through the edge of the forest, but Leilah had been right. A light path made from frequent footsteps made it easy to find. We heard the rush of water minutes before we saw it.
By the time we came to the gorgeous sight, we were both sweating lightly from the hike and the warm summer air. Down a little farther was a small rocky cliff with the waterfall.
“Wow,” I said. We jogged up to the marshy edge of the fattened stream. Clear water ran crisply over smooth rocks. Some parts looked as shallow as one foot, while other darkened pools closer to the waterfall looked deep. I kicked off my flip-flops and walked into the shallow water. It was warmer than I expected. I sighed and let my head fall back, looking up at the canopy of shading trees overhead and taking in a deep breath of air.
“This is awesome!” Cassidy said. “Let’s walk down to the waterfall and go swimming!”
“Um, hello, no bathing suits,” I pointed out.
“Um, hello,” she said, pulling her shirt over her head and wiggling out of the pajama pants, then standing there smiling in her white bra and pink polka-dotted panties. “It’s just us! Everyone’s working, come on!”
I peered around at the trees for a moment, and then, like usual, I did what Cassidy wanted. I stripped down and piled my clothes neatly next to hers, and then chased her as she ran up the bank. We were lighthearted and breathless by the time we got to the waterfall. Holding hands, we stepped into the shallow edge and walked further in until we were treading water at least seven or eight feet deep.
As always, Cassidy’s idea was exhilarating. We splashed each other, swimming and flipping under the water. We swam to the falls and let the water rush over our heads, joking about how this is where we should come for our morning showers. Then we floated on our backs until the sun was high in the mid-day sky.
“We should probably get back so Mom and Dad don’t worry,” I said after a long while.
Cassidy sighed and agreed. We climbed onto the stream bank and squeezed water from our hair. Cass’s bra was lightly padded, so she bent over and squeezed it by hugging herself. Water gushed out of her cleavage and she chortled like a goof.
A rustling in the trees made us go still. I stared around us for a whole minute with my arms over my chest before shaking my head.
“The wind,” I said, but now I was anxious to get dressed.
We walked back down the length of the stream toward our clothes, shaking our limbs and feeling much more positive about our stay here now that we’d found this spot.
We’d been walking for a while before we both stopped, exchanging confused looks. I scanned up and down the marshy, bright green grass.