nodded and exhaled.
The lady returned with a small glass bowl filled with creamy, white butter.
âWhat are your names?â
âIâm Finn from Castle Ballymore. And this is Meghan.â
âPeople call me Honey. Iâll go to the barn and check for the petrol. You make yourselves cozy.â
Finn buttered his bread. âI love soda bread.â
âIâve never had it.â
âWhat kind of Irish American are you?â
âThe kind whose mom works a lot and who doesnât have a grandmother.â I looked at the bread. âAre you going to eat that? We donât even know her. How do you know itâs safe?â
âIâll take a bite, and if I die instantly, then itâs not safe, and you shouldnât eat it.â He bit. Swallowed. A second later he grabbed his throat and started gagging.
Poison!
Finn made a gurgling noise from his throat that didnât sound exactly like choking, but then again, Iâd never seen anyone being poisoned before. I was standing over him, ready to do CPR, when I noticed that he wasnât choking;he was laughing. He wiped tears from his eyes and tossed another chunk of bread into his mouth.
âNot funny,â I said angrily.
âIt was a little funny. You should see your face.â
I figured everything was safe, so I tried a piece of the bread. It was kind of like a cross between cake and bread, with raisins. And the rich whipped butter melted right into it. âI always wanted a grandmother.â I looked at the soda bread and the cottage. It all felt very grandmotherly, once you got past the âHansel and Gretelâ thing.
âAre your grandparents alive?â Finn asked.
âMy momâs parents died before I was born. You and your dad probably know more about my dadâs family than I do.â
Finn shook his head. âAll I know is that your fatherâs father died young and something happened to separate the rest of the family. Your father came to live at Ballymore Home for Boys, which is where he met my da when they were about six. A few years later a nice coupleâyour grandparentsâtook him to America.â
âWhy America?â I asked.
âI guess because there were more opportunities there,â Finn said.
Honey came back into the cottage. âSorry. Iâve somebad news. No petrol.â She held up an empty can. âI got bicycles in the barn. Youâre welcome tâ borrow dem.â
I thought weâd follow her outside to get the bikes. Instead she sat down and slathered a piece of bread. She âMmmedâ as she savored the bite.
She asked all about Ballymore, the weather, and the current rankings of the rugby teams. I was anxious to leave, find Anna, plan the huge surprise for my father, and undo a curse, but Honey was very interested in visiting with us.
Before we left on the bikes, she gave me a paisley handkerchief like hers, which I tied around my bulging curls. I was turning to wave good-bye, when I saw something I hadnât noticed on the way in. It was a rock with one word etched on the side.
OâToole.
Nineteen
T hatâs Annaâs last name!â I went back to the door. âAre you an OâToole?â
âYou mean the rock? No, that was here long before I moved in, but itâs too heavy to move.â
I slumped onto the bike. For a second Iâd thought Iâd gotten lucky.
And guess what happened then? It started to drizzle. Again.
âWhatâs with the weather here?â I asked Finn.
âItâs an island. We get a lot of rain. But just look around at what we get for it, all of this beautiful green.â We called Mrs. Buck and told her we would pedal to Newcastle, look for Anna, get gas, and bring it to her. She really couldnât argue. My back and legs got plenty wet on the ride.
âItâs only about fifteen miles,â Finn called over his shoulder.
Only fifteen miles? Pedaling