Lenny the Leprechaun: The Exodus of the Leprechauns

2013 Margaret McShannock. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 12/12/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4918-8692-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-8693-9 (e)

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Contents

Foreword

1.   Becoming Lenny

2.   Trouble in the Trees

3.   King of the Sprites

4.   The Cry of the Banshee

5.   Escape from the Castle

6.   Incarceration

7.   Arson

8.   Reunited

9.   Imprisoned

10.   The Demon Dog

11.   The Mashie

12.   The Rescue

13.   The Final Battle

14.   The Homecoming

Foreword

This story about a young Leprechaun came to me in a dream one night. Most of it I remembered and started to jot down. Over the coming months I tried to put it together into a novel, because I had enjoyed writing it so much I thought other people would like to read it.

My grandchildren aged 6 and 8 loved the book and the characters and I guess they were another inspiration for me to write the book. The youngest grand-daughter is still too young to appreciate the book but at 3 years old there is still time. I wanted the book to be enjoyed by young and old alike, a fantasy fiction about Leprechauns that have to leave Ireland as it is no longer safe for them to remain. It is filled with magical and mythical creatures.

I would blame my father for my wild imagination when it comes to Irish folklore as he was born in the North Antrim Coast, in Portrush and was quite superstitious but he told the most brilliant stories and captured us for hours on a Sunday evening, his only day off from working a long six day week. Mother always had the oven on all day cooking and baking for us, and by evening beautiful hot buttered scones for after our bath and a story or two from my father, a perfect ending to a Sunday night.

The ten of us children would gather round, many of us sitting on the floor, to listen to his stories. Whilst children you believe most of this and as you get older you get more cynical, which is a shame as these stories will last for eternity and the creatures, beasts and mythical creatures could be there but afraid of what this world would do to them if they ever gave up their secrets.

I hope the reader will enjoy the book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Margaret McShannock

CHAPTER 1

Becoming Lenny

Shamrock was not looking forward to his 11th birthday. He had made some big decisions but he had not told his parents about them. Shamrock was a Leprechaun and he despised his name, he didn’t like most names that were given to Leprechauns, most were called after Mother Nature things, like clover, leaf, rose, stem, branch and so on. His mum said this was a tradition amongst Leprechauns. If they continue to give us silly names, tradition stinks, he thought to himself. He had given himself a new name, Lenny. Lenny is a great name for a Leprechaun and I am going to announce my new name to my parents on my 11th birthday, thought Shamrock. In fact, Lenny did not like much about being a Leprechaun, he didn’t like having to live in the ground, under the roots of the trees, and he didn’t like having to turn into a hare when there was danger about. This was particularly dangerous as Leprechauns had no powers when they had turned into hares other than to turn back to a Leprechaun. Many of his friends had been injured and killed in traps down at the bottom of the mountains. Only now more and more people were coming into the mountains, exploring the mountains, climbing the mountains and even camping on the mountainside. He was curious about the humans, who seemed to invade his world more and more each year. He had never seen a human being in the flesh, he had only heard stories about them and on a few occasions saw peculiar films that the Fairies had dared to show him. He loved the films but he especially enjoyed one film in particular and he loved the characters in it. The film did not do justice, he thought, to the Fairies, but boy oh boy, did he love the main character, Peter Pan. He loved the story of Peter Pan and he loved the lost boys and he also loved Wendy, he longed to see humans ever since the Fairies showed him the film of Peter Pan. Surely the stories we hear about the humans are not true, how they are nasty and vicious and would kill us if they knew we existed, they are made up by our parents to stop us going into the villages way down below the mountain and beyond. This is a magical place to live but I long to see the outside world, he continued to think, but his thoughts were interrupted by his mum who called to him to come in as the dawn approached. He looked up and saw the light creep across the sky, slowly rubbing out the stars as it went.

Sluggishly he went up to the huge tree where he lived with his mum, who was called Wisp, his Dad, who was called Acorn, his little brother, his sister, his Granny who was called Stem and his Granddad who was named Thorn. He was very close to his Granddad. All of their friends and family lived in and around the surrounding trees, many of the trees were huge and the forest beyond went on for miles and miles. "Soon people will come and take away our trees and we will have to move again. Soon there will not be anywhere to go" he remembered hearing his Dad and Granddad saying this many times. He went up to the tree that he called home, the bottom of the tree shifted its roots and he climbed down inside. It was so well lit inside and it felt so cosy and he thought to himself, why am I so discontented with everything? Is it my age as mum keeps saying and will I grow out of it. Surely curiosity is a good thing. Wash up Shamrock mum said, before bedtime. Bedtime, yuk, at this time in the morning when the animals are all just coming awake and we have to go to bed, life is unfair, thought Lenny.

Are you looking forward to your birthday next week then? asked Mum. I suppose so Mum, answered Lenny. What is wrong with you lad? asked Dad. I loved my parents and I didn’t want to hurt them but I had issues that I wanted to tell them about but I knew they would be mad at me so I just told my Dad that everything was okay and I was just tired. He accepted that and I headed to bed. My sister and brother were already in bed but not asleep. Ladybird is my sister’s name and my brother is called Mushroom, pretty silly names too, but not as bad as Shamrock. Ladybird called to me as I passed where she slept. Shamrock, tell me and Mushroom again about Peter Pan and Wendy and Mushroom butted in with, and tell me about the lost boys. Lenny smiled and forgot his troubles for a while. He had told this story so many times to his siblings but he never got sick of telling it to them. He sat on the root of the tree that was curled beneath him into a lovely chair. The room was as beautiful as the rest of the rooms in the tree they called home; the Leprechauns really could create magical worlds to live in, even under the trees. Without the magic of the Leprechauns though, this would not be a good place to live.

Mushroom climbed onto Lenny’s knee and Ladybird sat upright in bed, anxiously waiting to hear the story that Lenny was about to tell. He began his story telling them about Wendy, Peter Pan and the lost boys. He told them about Captain Hook and how Peter Pan had tricked him. Lenny continued after the story to tell them he wanted to be brave like Peter but nothing unusual ever happened to him. Little did Lenny know that all that was about to change and his safe and hidden world would be exposed as never before.

It took Lenny ages to fall asleep as he lay and thought of the time many years previous when he could go outside during the day, but that was when hardly any people came to the mountainside or forest. There was a time when practically no-one came here, even at the height of summer, but technology had changed all that now and people were coming closer and closer to their home and their way of life. It was difficult to remember the happier times before they were condemned to a life in the darkness and he so much wanted to keep those happy times alive. He thought about his brother who had never seen the daytime at all and remembered that he himself was only 4 when he had last seen the natural daylight. He knew that the adults were not telling the younger ones the full details but he could sense that something was wrong; all the adults seemed very tense in the last few weeks. Still, he had a lot of problems of his own, disillusionment with his own life, his name, the way he had to live constantly in the dark with the exception of his home, to name just a few. Finally sleep overtook him and he slept soundly after all.

CHAPTER 2

Trouble in the Trees

Lenny woke up late evening and rushed through to the living area of the house. His Dad and Granddad were there talking with some of the elders, they were called elders because they were like wise men and always knew the answers to everything, or so he thought. We will be back later, Dad called to Mum, who rushed to hug Dad before he set off. Where is Dad going? Lenny asked his mum, but his granny interrupted and told him to get some food and then do his chores. Nobody argued with Granny. Where is Granddad? Lenny asked granny this time but she just told him to get his fruit and then get the other two children up. Lenny could see there was no use asking again and off he went to get some fruit and then he wakened Ladybird and Mushroom. Lenny helped Mushroom get dressed as usual and then carried him through to the living area where he sat him down. You are getting much too heavy Mushroom for me to carry around. Lenny said. He was four now and he was very smart for his age.

Ladybird was almost ten and knew just about everything. She knew how to make the most delicious jam, mmm, Lenny loved his sister’s jam. Butterfly and Soil were at the door calling for Ladybird and Lenny. Butterfly was Ladybirds best friend and Soil was Lenny’s best friend. They were also brother and sister and Soil knew probably more about Lenny than he did, they