Free Far Away (Gypsy Fairy Tale Book Two) by Dana Michelle Burnett Page A

road as a car passed, “Well, Tara is where the high kings of Ireland once lived and I’ll give you one guess who that tribe was...”
    “The Tuatha De Danann?”
    “Yep,” he said as he moved back onto the road. “Your friends the Tuatha De Danann. They brought the stone of destiny and ruled until my ancestors came along.”
    I shifted my backpack again, “So when did you become such a walking encyclopedia?”
    “Twice I’ve been asked to help stop the Tuatha De Danann,” he said. “I guess I just picked a few things up.”
    I wanted to ask him more, but he squared his shoulders and walked a little faster, making it clear that the conversation was over.
    As we got closer, the crowd grew from just a few people now and then to large groups moving about the snowy pasture that was Tara. We passed beautiful young girls in white dresses with long flowing hair, somehow not freezing in the frigid temperatures and groups gathered here and there doing some sort of weaving with green stocks.
    “What are they doing?” I asked.
    “Why would you think I would know?” He snapped.
    “Well don’t you?” I barked right back at him.
    Alec glanced over to where I pointed and sighed, “Looks like they're making St. Brigid's crosses. People hang them in their kitchens to protect their homes.”
    “Seriously?”
    He finally smirked and elbowed me playfully, “You of all people, are going to question old superstitions?”
    I blushed, “I guess not.”
    He smiled, his bad mood fading slightly, “We used to have one hanging up in our kitchen that my grandma made. I made the mistake of asking my grandpa about it and he of course told the whole story.”
    It was an amusing story, making me smile and forget about how cold I was until he passed another group of girls in white dresses. I turned to watch as they lifted a strange doll made of the same green stocks is the crosses and covered in white cloth. It was a morbid sight, reminding me of what was at stake.
    I turned back to Alec, “What if we can’t find them?”
    “We will,” Alec said while keeping his face straight ahead. “The Mileans were certain that they’d be here.”
    We walked row after row of tents where there were more people weaving and more beautiful girls in white. Every time we went down another row, I prayed we’d see Kieran or his family.
    Where were they? What if the millions were already here and found Kieran and his family first?
    I didn’t want to think about that possibility, but I could feel my panic rising as we weaved through the crowd. What if we didn’t find them? How was I supposed to live with that? We couldn’t fail... We just couldn’t.
    Oh Kieran...Where are you?
    As I pushed through another group of people amid hissing complaints about my oversized backpack and my ragged appearance, I heard it.
    Gorger...
    I knew that word! That was the phrase that the travellers used to describe non-travellers. I looked around wildly, searching for the person that spoke that word.
    The crowd seemed to grow in that moment, bumping into me and pushing me from side to side.
    “The day is ripe with gorgers to be sure.”
    Oh my God! I knew that voice. That voice belonged to him . I tiptoed and peered around people until, just across the way, I saw him.
    It was Kieran. He was really there. All the dreams and fantasies over the past months were nothing compared to the reality of him in the flesh. His hair looked even darker, his skin now pale, but it was him .
    Kieran didn’t see me. He stood near an open tent, talking and laughing with a man in a blue wool coat. I watched them talk for a long moment, savoring the sound of his voice and the soft rumble of his laughter. I didn’t care what they were saying; I just wanted to keep listening to him.
    It was such sweet pleasure to see him with my own eyes, the object of my every fantasy, but that was nothing compared to the rush of emotions when he turned those green eyes on me.
    Kieran ...
    I pushed through