Lucky Me

by Cindy Callaghan

  I wiped tears from my eyes.

  Finn said, “Maybe there’s a stipulation that someone else can forgive you for e-mailing a chain letter? Maybe one of your new aunts.”

  I shook my head and sat on the ground, leaning against Grandma Leona’s tombstone. “I doubt it.” I sighed.

  “Why didn’t Quilly tell us she was dead?” Finn asked, and then he sat next to me like he had in Paddy Flanigan’s backyard when we’d played checkers.

  “I want to punch Quilly. He could’ve told us, you know, that she was dead before we came here,” I said angrily. “For a little while I actually believed I was going to see her.”

  After a few minutes of quiet, Finn said, “I think it’s kind of cool that she sent that chain letter before she died and it ended up reuniting her children. That’s, like, the best luck of all.”

  “Maybe she should’ve thought things through, because now she’s dead and I’m cursed for life.”

  “I’ve been thinking about that,” Finn said. “I’ve been with you for three days now, and you’ve pointed out how we’ve had all this bad luck. And maybe some things haven’t been great, but look at what you’ve found.”

  “Cousins?”

  “And aunts and uncles. You have this amazing surprise for your da. You have, like, the most incredible—what do you say? Bestie?—in the world. She thought you were in trouble and she found you here,” Finn said. “Maybe unlucky stuff just happens all on its own. Do you think everyone down on their luck is cursed?”

  “Maybe they are and they don’t know it,” I said.

  Finn said, “I guess that’s possible.” For the first time I noticed the light freckles under his eyes. I pointed to them. “Were these darker when you were a kid?”

  “Oh, yeah. I had a lot more of them too.”

  “Do you miss them?”

  “Not really. I never liked them.”

  “I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”

  “And I wouldn’t have had so much fun this week without you. That curse turned out to be very lucky for me.”

  I took my eyes away from Finn’s and looked into the distance, where there was something incredible. Très epic, as Carissa would say. Over the cliffs of Wicklow was a rainbow.

  Then it got even better—it doubled. I wanted to put this moment into a snow globe—well, sans cemetery, dead granny, and cursed-for-life parts—and save it forever.

  “I guess we can go back to Castle Ballymore,” I said.

  “Let’s get Carissa and Mrs. Buck and hop on a bus.”

  “What about the car?” I asked.

  “I’ll take care of it with Owen and Gene later.” He stood up, held his hand out for me, and pulled me up with more muscle than I’d expected. When I stood, I was really close to his face. So close that I thought he might kiss me, but he didn’t. He took my hand and led me to the sidewalk and down a street in Wicklow.

  Could he be looking for a more perfect place to kiss me?

  Could there be anything better than a double rainbow backdrop?

  Maybe a fountain with little fairies surrounding us with flowers and twinkle lights?

  We stopped at the church. Finn went in to get Mrs. Buck while I went to the little shop to get Carissa, who had bought T-shirts for all of us that said KISS ME I’M IRISH.

  “I’m starving,” Carissa said as Finn and Mrs. Buck were coming out of the church.

  In response to that comment, Mrs. Buck clapped to get our attention. (As if I didn’t know she’d been selectively talking this whole time.) Then she pointed to her open mouth. She was hungry too.

  “That lady is a hoot,” Carissa said, and copied the I’m hungry motion as if Mrs. Buck was a real jokester.

  Finn said, “I’ll never turn down a burger.” We followed him down the street to a pub. He held the door open for me and led us to a booth with worn red leather seats and a sticky table.

  Carissa and I ordered Cokes with ice and french fries, extra well done. Finn ordered burgers for himself and Mrs. Buck.

  “So, what happened?” Carissa asked.

  “She’s dead,” I replied. “Grandma Leona was nothing more than a tombstone.”

  “What are you gonna do?” Carissa asked.

  “I guess I could wrap myself in bubble wrap and stay away from people for the rest of my life,” I said.

  Mrs. Buck nodded in agreement.

  Carissa slurped the bottom of her Coke. “I’m gonna tell you something, but you have to promise not to get mad.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “What?”

  “Remember the day we were in the bathroom stall together?” She looked at Mrs. Buck. “Only place we could have privacy,” she explained. Mrs. Buck nodded and took a huge bite of her burger.

  “Yup,” I said. “That day is imprinted on my brain forever, even though I’ve tried to forget it.”

  “So,” she started. “Actually, you might find this funny. It’s funny when you think about it.” She bit a fry.

  Somehow I didn’t think I was going to find this funny.

  “You know how we were looking up chain letter stuff on my phone and I told you what you needed to do to undo the bad luck?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I kinda remember that clearly because that’s why we’re all here.”

  “Totally.” She nervously put another fry into her mouth. “You see, the thing is . . .”

  “What?” I yelled. Mrs. Buck jumped.

  In one breath Carissa said, “I sorta kinda made some of that up.”

  “You what? How much did you ‘sorta kinda’ make up?” I yelled.

  “Sorta kinda all of it.” She pushed more fries into her mouth.

  Thirty

  I told Carissa I wasn’t talking to her. But that didn’t stop her from talking to me. Mostly she said, “I’m sorry.”

  We waited at the Wicklow bus stop and let several buses pass because I wanted Quilly’s bus. He was going to feel the wrath of Meghan McGlinchey, who was now in a very bad mood.

  The sun began to set. Finn said, “I think we should take the next bus, or we might be stuck here all night. They stop running eventually.”

  “Don’t even,” I said, holding up my hand. “I am going to see Quilly tonight.”

  “But it doesn’t matter if none of this reversal stuff was true in the first place,” Finn argued.

  “It matters to me.”

  A bus approached with its lights on. I knew we’d have to take it whether it was Quilly’s or not.

  The door opened, and I recognized the driver. Someone behind him yelled, “We’re full.” It was Quilly.

  We got on anyway. The bus was mostly empty.

  I sat close to him and wasted no time letting him know what I felt. “You could’ve told us she was dead.” I refrained from punching him in the nose and calling him a moron. He didn’t offer an explanation, and he didn’t talk to me.

  I was too tired to yell at him anymore. I’d made my point.

  Carissa and I stared at the patchwork-quilted countryside slowly turning gray in the sunset.

  That’s when I saw it. At first it was just a flash of color. Then it became more clear. I elbowed Finn and yelled, “The ribbon! It’s the red ribbon! The sheep with a red bow! Over there! I found it!”

  Carissa asked, “What ribbon?”

  I ignored her.

  Finn yelled, “Stop the bus!”

  Everyone shifted to our side of the bus and looked out the window. Carissa asked the entire bus, “What ribbon?” No one answered. They were all too excited looking at the field.

  The bus stopped, and I ran out, Finn right behind me. I heard Carissa say, “I’ll stay here.”

  I think Mrs. Buck said “Me too,” but I didn’t turn around to check.

  I slowed as I got closer. I thought I might scare him away, but I didn’t. He was all alone, bent over chomping on damp grass.

  “Hey there, buddy,” I said calmly and sweetly. “Let me get that pesky bow off your neck for you.” I pul
led the bow’s velvety tail. It untied easily in my hand. I waved it over my head. Everyone on the bus cheered, including Carissa, who apparently had gotten the details from someone, probably Mrs. Buck, who was secretly talking again.

  I leapt toward Finn and hugged him. I did. And it felt so good—parfait, in fact.

  When we got back on the bus, Quilly had already called someone at the Spring Fling’s headquarters from the bus radio and was explaining what had happened. He let go of the radio button. “They need your name.”

  “Meghan McGlinchey.”

  He pressed the button. “Meghan McGl—” He let go of the button again. “Did you say ‘McGlinchey’?”

  “Yeah. Why?”

  “That was my grandma’s last name. I guess we really are cousins.”

  Quilly pushed the radio button in and finished giving my information to the person at the other end of the line. “You’re all set for Friday,” he said to me.

  Carissa asked, “Dare I ask what Friday is?”

  Finn answered, “It’s the Spring Fling, and now Meghan is the official hostess.”

  “This really is your lucky day,” Carissa said, forgetting that I wasn’t talking to her. I didn’t reply. “I don’t know how you can be mad at me when all of this great stuff is happening to you because of the little teeny tiny lie I told you. You know, you should thank me.”

  Should I? I would be the hostess of the celebration. Once I told my dad what I’d discovered, I would be the hero of my family too.

  Maybe Carissa was right. I’d found cousins, a grandmother (even though she was gone), the sheep with the bow, Owen, Gene, and Finn. Finn.

  Carissa pried Mrs. Buck’s phone away from her. She looked at the screen of the game. “Quite impressive, you freaky cape-wearing gamer.”

  Mrs. Buck was clearly just about to say something, but then changed her mind.

  Carissa took a picture of all of us with the red bow.

  “So,” Finn said. “Do you still think you’re cursed?”

  Could it have been that somehow over the last two days the curse had lifted?

  Thirty-One

  I was thrilled at the sight that greeted me at the castle doors.

  Piper stood on top of a mountain of suitcases. “Our luggage!” Then she saw me. “Meghan’s back! And Carissa! And FINN! EVERYONE! MEGHAN’S BACK!” She took a deep breath in preparation for yelling louder. “EVVEERRRY—”

  “We’re here,” Dad said, and helped her climb off the mountain. “You’re back,” he said, and hugged me. “How was your expedition and night at Mrs. Buck’s brother’s?”

  “In a word,” I said, “eventful.”

  Owen came in and guided me to the parlor, where Gene was serving tea. “Do come in and tell us all about it.”

  Everyone was there. Mom held Hope near the fire, Shannon sat with her foot extended, Mr. Leary delivered scones on fancy plates to the silent ladies, Carissa’s mom and dad sat in matching Queen Anne chairs sipping from dainty teacups, and Eryn’s nose was glued to her phone.

  “There’s so much to tell you that I’m not sure where to start,” I said.

  “How about the curse,” Finn suggested to me under his breath when he handed me a scone.

  “That’s good,” I said. “I’m not cursed anymore! At least I’m pretty sure. There’s one little detail that still needs to be worked out, but generally speaking, I’m not cursed anymore.”

  “Hallelujah,” Piper chanted. “Can somebody gimme an ‘amen’?”

  No one did.

  Shannon asked, “How’d you manage that?”

  “Well, actually, I did what Piper said.”

  “That’s right! It was my idea. Generally speaking, you all don’t think that I have good ideas, but I DO!”

  Dad put his hand on her shoulder. “Of course you do. Let’s let Meghan finish.”

  “I found one link, which led me to another and another and another. They all—pretty much—double hand-shook me and forgave me.”

  “That is good news,” Mr. Leary said.

  “Grand,” Owen said.

  “The grandest,” Gene added.

  “But wait. There’s more,” Carissa announced. I’d decided somewhere between Wicklow and Ballymore that I was talking to her again.

  I held up the red velvet ribbon. The silent ladies gasped.

  “Is it?” Gene asked.

  “Can it be?” Owen asked.

  “What?” Mom asked. “What is it?”

  Mr. Leary said, “I think it is the biggest honor in all the land. Is it?”

  I nodded with a big smile and let Mr. Leary explain to my family and Carissa’s the significance of the red ribbon.

  Shannon asked, “You’re the host of the whole entire festival?”

  “Looks that way.”

  Eryn let out a Pfft of annoyance.

  “Indeed,” Mr. Leary said. “The curse is lifted despite whatever loose end you referred to earlier. No one who finds the red ribbon could be even a little bit cursed.”

  “Not a smidgen,” Owen said.

  “Not even a pigeon!” Gene added, and the two twins laughed at themselves.

  Mr. Leary said, “This calls for a special meal. Why don’t you rest and unpack your very own luggage, and we’ll eat at eleven o’clock. It’s late, but who cares? Any time is perfect to share a good meal with friends.”

  “Sounds like you just suggested a nap. And I like naps,” Carissa said. “You don’t have to ask me twice.”

  I went to retrieve my luggage from the pile, with help from Gene. I was carrying my suitcase up the dark wood stairs when I said, “You know, I was thinking that maybe you should put this suitcase in your donation closet.”

  “Why?” Gene asked.

  “There’s nothing in here that I really need. Besides, now that Carissa is here, she can share her stuff with me.”

  Everyone in the parlor stared at me. They didn’t say anything, but I knew what they were all thinking. “Stop it,” I said to them. “I can go shopping when I get home.”

  My dad came to the foyer and kissed me on the top of my head. Mrs. Buck gave me a thumbs-up.

  “If I give them my stuff, can I go shopping when we get home?” Piper asked. “I can be nice too. Carissa, will you share with me too?”

  “I guess,” Carissa said reluctantly.

  We all looked to Eryn to see what she would do. She shook her head and returned to her silence. It was a refreshing change that I was hoping would be annual, if not monthly.

  Thirty-Two

  It was still dark when Finn whispered into my ear, “You ready?”

  Is this déjà vu?

  “We don’t have to sneak away this time,” I said. “Everyone is going to Spring Fling.”

  “It starts now,” he said.

  “It’s night.”

  “I know. Isn’t it great? We all hike up the hill to welcome the sunrise.”

  Carissa, who was next to me in the saggy twin bed, said, “He’s quite the joker.”

  “I am a pretty good joker, but I’m serious about this.”

  “Why?” Carissa asked. “I thought the Spring Fling was supposed to be fun. Waking up and hiking in the dark is not fun. Trust me.”

  A shoe sailed across the room at Finn and hit him in the back. “Ouch!”

  “Shut up,” Eryn growled.

  “She’s a nasty one. Let her sleep. She doesn’t seem like she’s Spring Fling material,” Carissa said.

  “Ouch!” A second shoe hit him.

  “I’ll see you downstairs,” Finn said to us. “We’ll find you some boots.”

  We dressed in Carissa’s clothes in the dark, to avoid getting things thrown at us.

  She had really nice clothes, and it felt good to dress in style again.

  The boots Finn gave us to use un-styled our outfits a bit.

  Finn gave us each a hat. “It’s nippy out there. You’ll need these till the sun comes out.” He put fur-lined hats—trooper style that came over the ears and
tied under the chin—on our heads. Besides my rabbit’s foot, I’d never touched real fur. “Muskrat,” he said. “Da shot it himself.”

  Ewwww!

  More than gross, now the outfit had really lost style.

  We set out in the dark with the retreaters, the McGlincheys (sans Eryn), Carissa’s parents, and the other castle dwellers (two of them had Shannon in a wagon) hiking up the hill in the dark to greet spring.

  Soon the hike warmed me up. And the hat and the boots, albeit fashion faux pas, worked.

  Owen and Gene arrived first and set up a tarp with chairs and blankets for us. The sun rose over the patchwork of green fields that glistened with dew. The sun was strong and bright and warmed us enough that we could lose the hats. Mine had given me enough static to make my hair stand up like in a science experiment.

  Soon people started playing fiddles, and tables of vendors selling food, drinks, and crafts opened for business.

  A familiar-looking girl walked around with pretzels on a long stick. “Are you still avoiding me?” I yelled to Anna.

  “Are you still cursed?” she yelled back.

  “Do I look cursed?” I held up the red ribbon.

  Anna grinned. “Guess not.” We walked closer together, and I could see that her bruises had turned greenish.

  I asked, “Is your mom here somewhere?”

  Anna pointed to a woman at a table selling handmade sweaters. She was sipping a mug of something steamy. Two other women worked the cash box. “There she is with Aunt Mary and Aunt Colleen.”

  “Do they know about the surprise?”

  “CiCi explained everything.”

  “Did someone say surprise?” CiCi walked up behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist in a hug. Then she did the same to Carissa. “Is this one of your sisters?”

  “No. This is my bestie, Carissa.” CiCi hugged her again.

  “She looks like she could be a McGlinchey. Doesn’t she, Anna?”

  “Sure.” Anna squeezed a packet of mustard onto a pretzel and bit off a huge piece.

  “I need to find Quilly,” I said.

  “I don’t think he’ll come to something like this,” CiCi said. “He has issues with public places.”