Chapter Thirteen

A Lonely Voice

‘So, you think the Cloor–’ Shane faltered.

‘Clurichaun.’

‘Uh yeah, him. You think he was trying to warn us about the coachman with that weird little song of his?’ asked Shane, as they picked their way through the muddy field.

‘Maybe,’ Cat replied, pausing to listen for the sound of creaking wheels or clopping hooves but hearing only silence. ‘I mean, it makes sense, doesn’t it?’

‘I suppose … but the real question is, how did he know we’d meet him?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, it’s strange, isn’t it? The coachman could have been anywhere in the whole world, but he was on the exact route we were going to take. It’s like the Clurichaun knew we’d run into him.’

Cat furrowed her brow. Now that Shane mentioned it, it did seem strange. ‘He told us how to defeat him though,’ she said. ‘In a roundabout sort of way. Granny always says fairies never speak straight. Maybe it was just his way of trying to help.’

Suddenly Cat had an idea. She thrust the torch into Shane’s hand, swung her schoolbag off her shoulder and pulled out the Book of Secrets along with a pencil that she found at the bottom of the bag. It was a bit blunt but would have to do.

‘What are you doing?’ asked Shane.

‘Writing down the Clurichaun’s song. I have a feeling it might be important. Do you remember how it went?’

It took a few minutes, but between the two of them they managed to piece the other verses together.

‘Does any of that make sense to you?’ Shane asked, frowning down at the sheet.

Cat shook her head. It didn’t, but she had a sinking feeling it would before long. She was about to slide the copy book back into her bag when Shane stopped her.

‘Wait, can I see that for a second?’

Cat hesitated. She had never shown the Book of Secrets to anyone else before. No one knew about it, not even Granny.

‘I’ll be careful with it, I promise,’ he said.

Reluctantly, Cat handed it over and braced herself for Shane’s mockery. He began flipping through the pages, pausing every now and again to read something.

‘Did you draw this?’ he said, holding up her sketch of the Banshee.

‘Yeah,’ she said, a little more defensively than she would have liked. ‘So?’

‘It’s pretty good!’ Shane said. ‘And look at this – fairies can’t cross over running water; and this – some of the Good Folk have power over the weather and farmyard animals. Did you know that?’

‘Duh, I wrote it,’ said Cat, rolling her eyes although she was secretly pleased that Shane wasn’t making fun of her.

‘Oh, yeah,’ said Shane, blushing slightly. ‘It’s really useful information though. It’s a good thing you brought it.’

‘Come on,’ said Cat, holding her hand out for the Book of Secrets. ‘We’d better keep going.’