She then climbed into the driver’s seat just as we’d planned, leaving the door open a crack, so no one would hear the “click.” She put the car in neutral and steered it while the boys and I pushed. The initial hill was killer, despite how compact the vehicle might have been, but we were so pumped on adrenaline there was no stopping us. It took ten minutes to get over the hills and to the edge of the forest with the driving path. It was far enough away that nobody should have been able to hear the engine start, but just in case, we pushed it into the trees before the three of us hopped inside.
Rock sat in front with Cassidy. I’d agreed to drive us home if she drove there.
“It’s so weird to drive on this side of the car,” Cassidy murmured.
My heart jumped when she started the engine. It sounded so loud.
“Go!” I whispered from the back seat. She took off, kicking up a little foliage, and by the time she got to the boulder, the four of us were laughing, exuberant.
“Japers!” Rock exclaimed. “Bloody brilliant!”
“I can’t believe we’re doin’ this,” McKale said, turning to look through the back windshield.
“Are you nervous about being caught?” I wondered aloud.
“Nay, not that. ‘Tis just I’ve ne’er been farther than the end of Rainbow Lane.”
“Rainbow Lane?” I asked. Cassidy turned past the boulder, putting us on the main road.
“Aye.” McKale pointed back over his shoulder. “The lane through the trees. Long ago visitors named it Rainbow Lane. They say each time they came through the forest they’d find a rainbow over the village.”
Cassidy cast me a smile over her shoulder. McKale sat behind her since she was able to pull up her seat to give him more leg room.
“You don’t guard a giant pot of gold, by any chance, do you?” she asked.
“Gold?” McKale shook his head. “We’ve no use for it. Jewels are far more worthy. Only thing we guard is the portal.”
His mention of the portal gave me the heebie-jeebies. I couldn’t wait to be far, far away from that thing for one night.
“So, a giant pot of jewels, then?” Cassidy asked. I wondered if the guys could pick up on her underlying merriment as easily as I could.
“Wha’s with the pots ‘o shiny things?” Rock asked. His arm rested over the back of her seat.
“There are lots of old fables about Leprechauns,” she told him. “People all around the world have heard of you guys.”
“Truly?” asked McKale. “What sort o’ tales?”
Cassidy and I spent the first half hour of the trip telling them all of the different Leprechaun legends. Rock was offended that tales of the Clourichaun were not as well known, and that the Chaun actually received some of the credit for Clour history.
Rock seemed at ease and treated our outing as the adventure it was, but when we quieted McKale sat stiff in his seat peering out of the windows with apprehension. I placed a hand on his warm forearm.
“Are you okay?” I whispered.
He relaxed under my touch.
“Aye,” he whispered back. “’Tis strange, is all.”
Before I could respond, Cassidy’s loud, excited voice filled the car.
“Do me a favor,” she said to Rock. “Say ‘They’re always trying to steal me Lucky Charms.’”
Oh my freakin’ gosh…
Rock and McKale shared a confused, amused look. Then Rock shrugged and said the line with true Irish gusto.
We were all quiet for half a second before I snorted. I’m not sure how Cassidy managed to stay on the road because she and I went into a state of hysterical laughter. Her warble of giggling was so infectious even the guys began to chuckle.
“Wha’s so funny, then?” McKale asked. “Ye all right, Robyn?” I tried to nod, because talking was impossible.
“That’s how she laughs!” Cassidy sputtered. “No sound comes out—she just gasps!”
I was totally self-conscious of my laugh, but some things just couldn’t be helped. And now that McKale knew I was okay, he let himself laugh as well, and patted my back.
When we finally began to calm, Rock said the line again with a big smile, and Cassidy and I went into another fit. I thought I’d pass out from lack of breath. And it didn’t help when Cass sang, “They’re magically delicious!” Her laugh was loud and adorable. I practically made no noise except sucking air as I doubled over, smacking the door rest and shaking my head.
Cassidy tried to explain to them about the cereal commercial, but she wasn’t making much sense through her laughter. Besides, the terminology completely confounded them. Television. Marshmallows.
“Never mind,” I said, able to breathe again at last. “We’ll get you a box of it someday.”
Cassidy turned on the radio, but static filled the reception. After a few minutes of trying, she found a station playing folk music. McKale sat up straighter.
“How’d ye do that? Where’s it coming from?”
We explained radio signals as best as we could, and spent the next half hour showing the guys different gadgets on the car and telling them about the different technologies available. Although they asked a lot of questions, I didn’t think they really believed such things were possible—human magic. The irony was not lost on me, given that they were magical Leprechauns who most humans didn’t believe in.