Interlude
Opa leaned back, feeling the laughter and soft patter of applause wash over him like a soothing ointment.
"Oh, Opa," sighed Christa, wiping a tear from her eye, "you are truly a master."
Opa accepted the compliment with a nod. "Half my skill is in having such an attentive audience," he said. The adults seemed uninclined to hurry as they rose and gathered their drowsing children. A sure sign that more was wanted. But he would not offer his tales unasked. He waited.
"No," Peter protested sleepily as Timothy lifted the boy off his lap, "I want to hear the rest. What happened when they found the Sobaka, Opa?"
Ava's eyes were wide with sympathy. "Did the troll turn back into a troll?"
"Did the Gold Triad ever find the Gem?" asked Josiah.
"Those are tales for another time," the old storyteller replied easily.
Timothy paused, standing. "It is late," he said.
Opa nodded. "Yes, it is."
Still, the young father hesitated. "I don't suppose…you know, it hardly seems fair; we've heard a story about Cavaliers, and about a Ranger, but we haven't heard a Mystic story."
"No," Opa agreed, "you have not."
"Do you know any? Stories about Mystics, I mean?"
The old man nodded. "Yes, I do."
Christa, baby Raymond in one arm, Ava in the other, stopped beside her husband. "Opa, it's nearly midnight. We really have to put the children to bed now."
"Yes, you do."
"But…." She glanced at her guests. None of them had yet moved toward the house, though their sleeping children nestled in their arms. She returned her gaze, suddenly as childlike as her daughter's, to Opa. "But once the children are settled, would you mind sharing just one more?"
"About Mystics," Timothy added, looking remarkably like his young son.
"Few such tales are fit for children's ears," Opa warned. "But I will tell one such, if that is your wish. Once the children are asleep."
Timothy grinned. "Splendid!" He looked around at his guests. "Shall we settle them down out here? I'll get blankets for everyone."
Opa bent to refill his cup and settled back to wait.
Tales from Opa: Three Tales of Tir na n'Og Page 29
