Quinn - A Tuatha Dé Danann Novel

Chapter Four

The rest of my conversation with Eamon was a blur of me being confused, him trying to make me understand, and me winding up more confused. It was a lot to take in all at once. Somehow a whole race of people had gone undetected for over five hundred years, and I was one of them. Well, only half of one of them. Eamon didn't want to worry me with the war, saying it wasn't my fight. I had to agree with him there, it wasn't my fight. Besides, I was only good for one thing in fights, running in the other direction.

Not to say I'm a coward or anything, it's just with my size avoiding conflict is the easier solution. Bullies tend to be bigger kids with a brain half the size of a walnut. I didn't always run from fights, I stood up for myself and got the crap beat out of me. After a few bruises I learned to just turn around and run. At half their size, I was faster than the bullies, so they were easy to outrun. I had gotten so good at running; they didn't bother chasing me. They knew once I got going I was gone.

I had thought about joining the track team, but sports never peaked my interest as much as a good book. I loved books, they taught me better than any teacher could. After years of students who gave up on them, the teachers tended to give up on us, but a book never gave up on me. Math, physics, engineering, and the occasional fantasy book kept my brain fed. In turn I didn't let all that knowledge go to waste, I put it to good use. I scavenged at the local junkyards and thrift shops, and used my meager allowance to buy what I needed to build. I would build anything from small robots to simple pulley systems, all the way to clocks that ran on momentum, or a box that held secrets – usually my lunch money, just in case a bully was lucky enough to corner me.

I entered the school's science fairs, and would always win. Most of the time it was a trophy and a couple hundred dollars that my mother wouldn't let me give to her. So instead I used some of the money to fund more builds. The rest I saved up just in case things got bad. One of my secret boxes under my bed collected dust and my money. This year's science fair won me a scholarship to Littlecreak Technical High School, and I was glad I was going. Kids like me would surround me. No more bullies. No more running. Life was finally looking good.

If I could just make it through one summer with this crazy cult, I could go back to my normal life, where things made sense. Unlike the real world, Cathair Na Crainn didn't have the advancements of modern technology. Their clothing, housing, food, and entertainment came from the surrounding forest. Life here was simple. Except for the fact they thought they were descendants of an ancient civilization of magical creatures, they didn't seem like bad people. I found myself wanting to learn about their day-to-day lives and culture.

Eamon must have sensed my curiosity or had plans of his own in the works, because he assigned Aengus as my guide. He called one of the clansmen over from the end of the hall. He was pretending to not listen and failing at it. A couple whispers later he ran out the door in a flash and in another flash he was back with a grumpy looking Aengus.

"You two seemed to hit it off well," said Eamon. We didn't hit it off well. "So I think you should teach Henry our ways, Aengus." From what I could tell, Aengus would much rather being doing anything else, like wresting a bear for a scrap of food. By the looks of him, he could give the bear a run for his money. Even though he was no taller than me, his body looked like he'd been lifting weights his whole life. Every muscle had a muscle, but he wasn't bulky. Quit the opposite, his muscles were dense and compacted. Years of living in the forest really kept him in shape.

"You're kidding me right?" Aengus was not happy with Eamon's decision. "It's my Unbinding this year. How am I supposed to train with Him attached to my hip?"

"Unbinding?" I didn't see any chains or ropes attached to Aengus. Was this some sort of cult ritual?

"You see, he doesn't even know our ways. He can never understand us, he isn't one of us."

"Enough." Again Aengus had crossed a line. Eamon was red with rage, his white hair stood out more on his blood-rushed face. "It is best to know your place. If I assigned you a boulder to carry while training for your Unbinding, you will gladly accept it."

I couldn't help feel bad for Aengus. Today was just not his day. I felt his pain, this day wasn't doing me any good either. My stomach growled, reminding me I was hungry. The pain shot up into my chest and I had to catch my breath.

"Umm... excuse me," I interrupted the intense stare-down between Aengus and Eamon. "Does anyone happen to know where I could get something to eat?" As if on cue another louder growl rumbled the hall from my stomach. 

"Do I ever," said Aengus holding back a laugh. In an instant, his whole attitude had changed. He grabbed my arm and pulled me out the hall. I don't think my feet touch the ground the entire time I was dragged through the village. When we had stopped, we were in front of another tree house. This one was a bright brown. The trunks were thin with young age, and the shape was a lot more round than long like the one that housed the great hall we had just come from.

Inside the lighting was similar to the one in the great hall, but it had more of a home feel to it. It was small yes, but without the clutter of modern technology, it was very spacious. The living room we now stood in had two couches and a small table fashioned in the same manner as the chair Eamon sat in, but without the hand carvings in the woods. Aengus attitude had completely changed at the mention of food. The boy who wanted nothing to do with me, now smiled and patted me on the shoulder.

"Wait 'til you get a load of my mom's cooking." He ran to the kitchen, it seemed everyone was always running in this place. Two seconds later he had two wooden bowls of steaming soup in his hands. He was very graceful, weaving around the furniture to set the bowls down on the table. The steam wafted in the air and my stomach jump at the thought of home cooked food. Before the food had time to cool I had already downed my bowl. I wiped the wet from my chin and smiled at Aengus. He laughed at me taking my bowl to get me more food.

"At least we have one thing in common. We both like to eat." He had slurped back his bowl of soup and now carried two fresh bowls. "Look, I'm sorry I was so mean before. It's just I have a lot on my plate for this summer, and I wasn't expecting you. None of us were. We don't do well with surprises. "

"Yeah, me neither. I didn't expect all of this when I agreed to come." I continued to eat my soup. For a while we didn't say anything, until Aengus broke the silence.

"Well, you are still an outsider here. I'll try to keep you out of harms way but most of us won't be too happy you are here. We have traditions and rules, and you and Eamon are breaking almost all of them."

"If I'm going to be causing such a ruckus, wouldn't it be better for me to leave?" I wasn't buying the good guy version of Aengus. Although he was good at it, I could tell he was only putting on a face because Eamon had scolded him.

"It's not my decision to make. You can talk with Eamon about that, but I'm sure he would want you to stay, so the village will go along with whatever he says. Eventually."

"Why does he have so much power over everyone here?"

"He isn't just our clan leader. He is one of the originals, and there aren't many left. Forget all of our troubles, you must be exhausted." He pulled me up a small staircase to a room at the top of the tree. "This is my room, you can rest up here." He ran off again, saying he'd go and get my bags. I sat in a wicker hammock strung up in the corner of the room. It was quite sturdy. When I finally lied down, my body relaxed into the hammock and before long I passed out.