The Legend of the Corrib King by Tom McCaughren Page B

to see you, my darlings,’ he smiled. ‘It’s lucky I got my hands free, or I’d never have got out.’
    Tapser and Cowlick also came back and they helped Pakie to rub the cramps out of his wrists and ankles.
    â€˜I’m grand now, I’m grand,’ he assured them, and struggling to the doorway, asked, ‘How’s it going Jamesie?’
    â€˜We’ll never catch them,’ Jamesie shouted back. In desperation he urged Nuadha on, but it was obvious that the caravan was much heavier than the trap.
    â€˜Look,’ cried Rachel, who was craning her neck around the edge of the door, ‘it’s the Little People!’
    Glancing around, Jamesie was delighted to see Titania’s Little People coming abreast of them. He also saw the look of astonishment on Pakie’s face, and explained, ‘They’re from the funfair. They said they would help us if they could.’
    The others were crowding around the doorway now, and they waved and cheered when they saw what was happening, for the Little People were going like the wind, for all the world like the fairytale warriors of long ago riding across the Plain of Southern Moytura.
    Soon the little riders had left the caravan behind, and were catching up with the trap when it careered around a corner and disappeared down a side road. The little riders followed and a few minutes later Jamesie turned in too. Before long they came to the Corrib, and what an amazing sight met their eyes.
    Fleeing madly from the Little People as if their lives depended on it, the men in the trap urged their pony on towards the lake shore. There they suddenly came upon a party of gardaí who immediately raised their hands to try and stop them. Ignoring the gardaí, they kept going, and for a moment it looked as if they were going to drive straight into the lake. However, their’s was no enchanted water-horse. The frightened animal swerved abruptly, and the two of them were thrown into the water.
    Afraid that the pony might crash into someone or injure itself, the gardaí gathered around to stop it. Seizing their chance, the two men gathered themselves up, and high-stepping frantically across the shallows, scrambled into a thicket of alders. A few seconds later there was the roar of an engine and a boat streaked out of an inlet behind the thicket.
    â€˜It’s the motor cruiser,’ cried Róisín. ‘But how …’
    Before she could finish, the engine spluttered into silence and the boat glided to a halt. For a moment the two men and those on shore looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Then they heard the sound of another engine and a launch with gardaí on board came into view. It drew alongside the motor cruiser and several gardaí jumped on board.
    Martin was among the gardaí waiting on shore to take the two men into custody, and Pakie, who had suffered from them for so long, gave a helping hand.
    â€˜There’s no way they’re going to escape this time,’ grinned Cowlick.
    Rachel laughed. ‘Not unless they know a good fairy who can open handcuffs.’
    â€˜Look at the heap of netting they had,’ said Tapser.
    Róisín smiled. ‘And look at the name of the boat …’
    â€˜Would you believe it?’ said Jamesie. ‘The Fairy Queen !’
    * * *
    Pakie, who looked thin and underfed at the best of times, had lost weight during his captivity. Otherwise, he assured everyone when he arrived back at Big Jim’s house, there was nothing wrong with him that a good bite to eat wouldn’t cure.
    Mag and Mary were overjoyed to have their brother back safe and sound, and it wasn’t long before they had a hefty meal ready for him. As he devoured it, he listened while Jamesie and his cousins told him how they had tried to solve the riddle of the poem and how they had come to find him at the funfair. By the time they had finished their story, he had finished his meal and,