The king of PJ Freeman, Thornbow Silverline, was a stern man of strong convictions. His opinion on a leprechauns place in society was rock-solid. Unsurprisingly, he vocally disapproved of his daughter’s friendship with Buck.
“A Snagglepot, of all leprechauns,” he said to Penny as she made her way to the front door of their cottage. The Silverline living area was twice the size of the Snagglepot’s. The hearth of their fire was noticeably larger and their pots and pans were clearly newer.
Thornbow’s greatest fear was that Buck and Penny’s relationship would evolve into something more than just friendship. He had tried to put a stop to it in the past but had failed miserably at every attempt.
“It’s my life Dad, I can choose my own friends,” she replied while opening their wooden front door.
There was a spark of resolve in her blue eyes that Thoenbow may have valued had she not been born a girl. Penny had always insisted on doing things her way, she even refused to wear a dress like the other respectable young girls in Glen of the Fine Dwellings.
“Girls don’t wear pants Penny,” he pleaded with her.
“This one does obviously,” she replied without missing a beat.
“What will the neighbours think?” he asked not expecting a reply. “And that blue cardigan. You look like one of the lower downs. The neighbours will think we‘re broke!”
Penny’s mother, the diminutive Plum Silverline, tried to reason with her daughter. “Listen to your father honey, he knows what’s best,” was all Plum could muster.
Plum’s slender frame and short stature contrasted Thornbow’s shadowing presence and stocky physique. Plum’s role in arguments with Penny usually amounted to nothing more than a vocal backup of whatever point it was her husband was currently making.
There were many aspects of life on Innis Freeish that Penny really hated. Ranked number one on her list was the expectation that girl leprechauns should be seen rather than heard. And being seen wasn’t actively encouraged.
Penny ended the argument with her parents by marching out of the Silverline house, her long auburn hair trailed in her wake.
The king and his wife stood in their living area feeling perplexed. Thornbow ran his fingers through his hair. The king’s hair cut was so neat, so tidy, its edges so sharp that his head could have been used as a sun dial had he cause to sit still for long enough. It’s gravely colour made it look like it might have a gravely texture as well.
Offering Buck a summer internship position in his bank was a way of keeping a firm eye on his daughter’s friend. Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies in your employment was one of his sayings. Besides, he thought, maybe a long summer of accounts was exactly what the young Snagglepot needed to straighten him out. Not that he would approve of his daughter being friends with a Snagglepot even if he was good at accounts and had neat hair. Buck was one of the lower downs after all.
Thornbow Silverline had four daughters; his two eldest were already married to leprechauns of what he considered of fine social status. Both marriages met Thornbow’s seal of approval, which was convenient as he was the one who had organised the introductions. His two son-in-laws had risen to prominent positions at PJ Freeman and they often cut their hair more than that once a week. The king would frequently describe them as fine young respectable leprechauns who owned nice sandstone houses.
“Where did we go wrong?” Thornbow asked his wife.
“It’s that Snagglepot boy,” Plum responded with a shake of her head, “he’s the cause. And what kind of hair is that? He looks like a fishrechaun”.
“And she’s still no interest in the embroidery classes?” Thornbow inquired.
“She approaches them with indifference, and nothing more.”
Thornbow was convinced that it was through excelling at embroidery that his daughter would give up her foolish behaviour. His two married daughters were keen embroidery enthusiasts and he was immensely proud of how they turned out.
He had tried to introduce Penny to what he considered some of the most eligible young friends on Innis Freeish. According to Thornbow they were the finest young boys and girls that Glen of the Fine Dwellings could muster. Hard working, well-mannered and practically minded leprechauns with great prospects. Exactly the kind of friends he himself would have liked to have known as a youngster.
Thornbow sat down on a wicker seat and picked up some sheets of financial reports. Outwardly he appeared to be inspecting the transactions. Secretly he was contemplating his next move.
As Penny was leaving her parent’s house in Glen of the Fine Dwellings, Buck was in his bedroom packing a grey backpack. He was meeting Penny in an hour near the olden pier. Buck felt much more comfortable in his casual cloths now that he had a day free from his stuffy PJ Freeman’s suit. He wore a dark grey loose-fitting flax shirt, baggy woollen blue pants and plain sandals.
Buck carefully placed one of his magic books into the bag and covered it with a spare sweater. Fido jumped into Buck’s bag and peaked out.
“You can come, but only if you behave.”
Fido vigorously nodding his head.
Buck turned back to his bookshelf and looked at its contents. He was the proud owner of ten books on magic, all stolen from the Innis Freeish library. It had been against the rules to take these kinds of books home, and the library administrators had begun destroying the remaining magic books several years ago. Buck had smuggled them out by switching their front covers with gardening book covers. Leprechauns have little time for gardening. And so it was gardening books that found their way into the library incinerator. Buck Senior couldn’t understand why his son had so many gardening books, but didn’t mind so long as he wasn’t thinking about magic.
Buck picked up ‘Killroy Strangefellow’s Tome on Advances in Applied and Theoretical Magic’. He leafed through a few of the pages. The faded text and frayed edges betrayed the old age of the book. Aside from Buck it had been many generations since eyes had studied the contents.
Buck was still struggling with the opening chapter of Killroy Strangefellow’s influential work and finding the going tough. He had accidently turned Fido’s fur purple a week earlier while trying to levitate an acorn. Fortunately he was able to reverse the spell before his small friend noticed anything was wrong.
Buck placed the book back on the book shelf. He would only have time to show Penny one spell before Sunday’s yik-yak. The yik-yak was a weekly event where all the leprechauns on the island learned about the monomyth. The book hidden in his bag, ‘Artright Humperman’s Introduction to Magical Pursuits’, would have to do. It was the easiest of all the books he had and the least likely to mess up. The spell he had been practicing on the margins of various PJ Freeman’s ledgers was on page seven.
Buck made his way to the front door of their cottage with Fido on his shoulder. Buck Senior was smoking his pipe on the rocking chair in the living area. The yellow parchment he was looking at the previous night was on his lap. Buck assumed the document must be important to warrant so much of his father’s attention.
“You’ll be ready for the yik-yak at noon?” Buck Senior enquired.
“I’m just meeting up with some friends.”
“Would a certain young Silverline leprechaun happen to be included in this group of friends?”
“And?,” Buck asked.
“Just remember,” Buck Senior said as he got up from his chair, “tell her all about your successes on the tenth floor. Any errors you spotted in the ledgers, improvements you’ve suggested to your duty manager, that sort of thing.”
“She’ll be fascinated.”
“Of course she will. Who in their right mind wouldn’t be?”
Buck Senior looked at his son for a moment then cleared his throat. “And don’t feel shy,” he said coyly, “about mentioning that Huckleton account I balanced yesterday. Even though I was using that cursed new font.”
“Why would she care about the Huckleton account?”
“Well, it’s an important account. I even got stuff to balance that wasn’t supposed to. Her father might find it interesting.”
“I’ll see if it comes up.”
Buck opened the door and was about to leave when Buck Senior grabbed his arm.
“And no magic son, alright? Like Finbar.”
“See you at noon Dad.”
Buck closed the door and started walking in the direction of the olden pier.
The olden pier was a crumbling wooden structure that provided the perfect hide out from inquisitive eyes. Inquisitive eyes on Innis Freeish tended to report magical happenings to Abnor.
The pier stretched over twenty feet into the air and protruded across the southern beach into the chilly water below. A leprechaun standing beside it was dwarfed by its size. It was supported on both sides by a wall of timber planks. During the day sunlight snuck in through a multitude of cracks on every side to illuminate the inside with sharp rays of light. Buck would often stare up at the pier and wonder what fantastically large ships were once moored at its side in times gone by.
Buck was thinking of the spell he had been practicing the night before as he approached the olden pier from a small dirt road. It was still early on Innis Freeish and the crisp morning air filled his lungs with freshness.
Buck took a num num out of his bag and handed it to Fido who gobbled down in extra quick time. Crumbs flew everywhere. Fido then climbed off Buck’s shoulder to the ground below. He then let out a few chirps and quickly limped down the side of a steep sand dune to the beach below. The tide was out which meant the entire base of the pier was accessible.
Buck took out his copy of Introduction to Magical Pursuits and went to page seven. He was reading the first paragraph when he received a soft but firm blow to his left arm. It was quickly followed by a challenge:
“Last one down is a rotten tuna,” Penny said excitedly.
Wasting no time Penny started sprinting down the sand dune. Buck followed her in hot pursuit but was unable to catch up before getting to the bottom.
“Getting slow in your old age Snagglepot,” Penny said with a playful smile on her face.
“A punch in the arm and a head start,” Buck added while rubbing his arm, “and you think that’s fair?”
“But I’m just a poor defenceless little girl,” Penny said pouting her lips.
“Defenceless? Yeah right.”
“So what is it this week?”
“Follow me,” Buck replied.
Buck pushed aside a loose timber plank that opened a gap large enough for them both to slip through into the underbelly of the pier. Fido had already snuck in through a small hole. He was leaping around on the sand pretending to fight off some imaginary foe with an even more imaginary sword. With one fatal thrust of his sword Fido vanquished his enemy. He stood on his hind legs, raised both his arms and took a bow to no one in particular.
“That’s one bizarre puka, you know that?” Penny said as she looked at Fido.
“Tell me about it,” Buck replied, “but in his defence, he’s just eaten a num num.”
Buck placed Introduction to Magical Pursuits on the ground. He picked up a handful of sand with his right hand and tightly clenched it with his fist. He then placed his left hand flat out on top of his fist and started making a series of rotations with both hands. He finally whispered something to his fist before opening it. Then, nothing.
“So is something supposed to happen, or do we just…?” Penny started to say before Buck interrupted her.
“Close your eyes.”
“Why?” Penny asked cautiously.
“Just trust me”.
Penny closed her eyes but did so with a suspicious look that said this better be good. She also folded her arms to highlight her reluctance.
A moment later a few grains leapt out of Buck’s hand and were accompanied by quiet popping sounds. The popping carried on for around five seconds then the grains of sand started to glow bright yellow.
“What’s happening?” Penny asked nervously.
“No peeking.”
The glowing sand then slowly rose from Buck’s hand before hovering in front of his face for a moment. The grains finally spread out, flying to different locations underneath the pier. There they floated in the mid-air, producing a bright yellow glowing light.
“Now, open your eyes.”
Penny opened her eyes. She was impressed, very impressed. The glowing effect of the sand generated a delicate radiance that mixed with the natural sunlight to form a beautiful floating vista of illumination. Even Fido calmed down for a moment and seemed to be spellbound by the beauty of the sight.
“Not bad Snagglepot, not bad at all,” Penny finally said.
Buck was relieved he had managed to pull it off. It took all his concentration to keep the sand from falling. He was also trying to make it look effortless, which it wasn’t. And he would have succeeded in keeping the sand both floating and glowing a little longer if there wasn’t a loud banging on the side of the pier wall.
BANG – BANG – BANG.
The sand fell straight to the ground and resumed its regular non-glowing sandy colour.
“In the name of the Department of Abnormal Affairs,” shouted a male voice from outside, “open up. We have reports of unauthorized magic at this location.”
Buck looked at Penny and shook his head.
“Come out with your hands up,” the voice instructed, “and prepare to surrender.”
Buck shouted back, “that wasn’t even funny the first time you did it Banyan.”
“We also have confirmed reports you’re harbouring a puka that’s not right in the head,” the voice added.
One of the wooden panels swung open and Banyan Bollard stuck his head in. He looked at Fido, “no offence little fella.”
Fido was too busy fighting another imaginary enemy to take any notice.
Banyan was one of Buck’s best friends. His scraggly dark hair had often singled him out for additional bullying when growing up. The other leprechauns in his class at school would normally tease him in the form of a crude rhyme in an attempt to rile him up. Unfortunately for Banyan they were usually successful as he was quick to temper. This led him down the path to physical fights at regular intervals.
Banyon’s grey pants and red shirt were noticeably more worn than either Buck’s or Penny’s. He had a patch on the left knee of his trousers, and another on the buttocks region. His shirt was starting to look frayed at the sleeves, it had seen better days.
Banyon joined them under the pier and did a little curtsey in Penny’s direction.
“What finds the royal princess in such a ram shackled structure as this? And in the company of one of the lower downs?”
“Get lost Banyon,” Penny replied.
“Her royal highness is not amused?”
“Call me her royal highness again and you’ll find out just how amused I am.”
“What do you think Buck?” Banyon asked, “I’ve been on the receiving end of her right hook before”.
“I’m staying out of it,” Buck replied as he picked up his copy of Magical Pursuits. Banyon noticed the cover.
“Tell me that’s one of your magic books,” Banyon pleaded, “and that you two haven’t been practicing gardening down here.”
“Have you ever seen floating sand that glows?” Penny asked.
“No.”
“Well I have, it was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen,” Penny said.
“I want to see,” Banyon said with great concern, worried he had missed out on something.
“Maybe you should have been here on time?” Penny threw back at him.
“I’m afraid your father’s head wasn’t around to use as a timepiece Penny,” Banyon replied.
Penny took a few steps closer to Banyon: “Well at least he isn’t a…”
“A what?” Banyon asked.
“Nothing.”
“Guys!” Buck interrupted, “look at Fido.”
They looked around and saw Fido chewing on his tail. It was a habit of his to nibble the end of his tail whenever he felt stressed or frightened. When Banyon saw this he put his arm around Penny.
“Just playing Fido,” Banyon said cheerily, “we’re best of friends.”
Penny didn’t look too comfortable in Banyon’s embrace, but she managed a smile. “All best of friends Fido,” she said reluctantly.
Buck felt a tinge of jealousy shoot through him when he saw Banyon’s arm around Penny. But then he just reminded himself of how often Banyon teased Penny, there was obviously nothing between them he assured himself.
When Fido saw the hug he scampered over to Banyon and joined in, although lower down at the foot level.
“Come on guys,” Buck said as he placed the book safely back into his bag, “we don’t want to be late.” Fido climbed back onto Buck’s shoulder and grabbed a chunk of Snagglepot hair for balance.
“Let’s skip it this week,” Banyon pleaded.
“You can skip it if you want,” Buck replied, “but I’m not getting in trouble.”
“It’s so boring!”
“It’s only an hour a week Banyon,” Penny reminded him.
“And we told Molly and Dolly we’d meet them before it starts,” Buck added.
Banyon reluctantly joined then as the friends left the olden pier behind to make their way north towards the Valley of Fictus.