by V M Jones
Others came down to greet the soldiers and walked with them into the light.
Two men came down near the tower.
“Father!” exclaimed Prince Nuallan in excitement as he recognized him.
“It’s so good to see you son,” said King Brion with open arms. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
Caoimhe’s face beamed as she recognized her father.
“Hello Caoimhe,” said Suibhne with a smile.
“I’ve missed you Father,” she replied as she looked into her father’s face.
“And I you,” he responded.
Suibhne gave Caoimhe a long hug. She buried her face into his chest.
“It’s time to take you home,” said King Brion smiling at the two.
Prince Nuallan and Caoimhe held hands and walked arm in arm with their fathers. King Brion stopped and turned towards the opening on top of the tower.
“We’re waiting for you,” he said gently raising his hand.
A lone orb gently rose up through the door of the tower. The orb “popped” a few meters from the tower. It was Father Fahey. He was shining a bright white as he caught up to Prince Nuallan and Caoimhe. He turned to Dr. Ryan, Dr. McNamara, and Father O’Brian and gave them a smile and a nod. He placed a hand on each shoulder of Prince Nuallan and Caoimhe. They walked up into the light and began ascending into the sky.
Dr. Ryan stood staring in awe at the beautiful sight. Then he saw her. He recognized her familiar face immediately. It was his beloved wife Tara. She looked as beautiful as he remembered her. She stood afar off in the light but looked directly at Dr. Ryan. She said nothing as they gazed at each other. She smiled at him then gently blew him a kiss. She slowly turned and walked back up into the light.
He noticed he was clutching onto the diamond ring around his neck.
The anger and loneliness in Dr. Ryan’s heart melted away. He now knew that she was happy and safe. He knew she would be there to greet him when his time came to leave this earth. He now felt happy and at peace. Slowly the beam of light began to fade back into the night sky.
Everyone was staring up into the starry sky and didn’t move. Several minutes passed as they just stood in awe of what they had just witnessed. The darkness of night began to fade as the dawning of the sun began to fill the sky with light. There was silence for several more minutes.
Dr. McNamara had mixed emotions. His struggles for the past several weeks had one purpose, to rescue Tevan from the grasp of the paranormal. He achieved that but it had cost the lives of his friend Father Fahey and the young Euan. He lost two to the paranormal but had saved another. He now felt he had partially redeemed himself for the loss of his brother so many years ago. He closed his eyes and embraced the silence.
Dr. Ryan and Father O’Brian reached down and picked up Father Fahey’s body. They carefully carried him to the ladder leading down from the tower. Dr. McNamara was partially down the ladder waiting to help with the body. The three men carefully lowered it to the ground.
Garda Bracken moved in to help. Here was another body without a reasonable explanation of how he died. This was going to be hard to explain at the station.
Ansley ran into the house and returned with a blanket. “Please use this to wrap the body of this brave man. He saved Tevan,” she said as tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Thank you,” replied Father O’Brian as he graciously accepted the blanket.
Everyone somberly watched as the four men carefully wrapped Father Fahey’s body in the blanket.
Patrick, Ansley, Tevan, Siobhan, and Declan were huddled together.
“Our family is now complete,” Ansley said to her husband.
Patrick smiled and brushed away a tear. Siobhan and Declan continued to hold onto Tevan.
“I’m so sorry, Tevan,” said Declan as he looked down at the ground. “If I hadn’t removed the metal plate, none of this would have happened.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” said Tevan as he hugged his brother.
Patrick and Ansley leaned over and hugged the children. Tevan looked up into the face of his parents and began to cry. He buried his face into his mother’s blouse.
She stroked his hair and whispered softly to him, “You are home now, don’t cry.” She too was teary-eyed.
Dr. Ryan looked back up at the sky. He contemplated what he had just experienced and the peace he was now feeling.
“I’m going to go visit my kids for the next week or two,” he said, still gazing up.
“Sounds good to me,” said Dr. McNamara clapping his hands together. “I’m ready for a long vacation as well.”
Ansley rushed over to Dr. Ryan and Dr. McNamara and gave each of them a great big hug.
“I don’t know how I can ever thank you,” she said beaming as she glanced over at Tevan.
“Just seeing him with the family is thanks enough,” said Dr. Ryan with a smile.
Each of the Murphy family followed and shook the hands of their rescuers and thanked them. Ansley couldn’t resist and gave each one another hug.
Patrick walked over to Dr. Ryan and glanced over to Ansley who gave him a nod.
“So Dr. Ryan,” he began, “We have a problem and were wondering if you might be able to help us out.”
“Of course, what can I do for you?” replied Dr. Ryan somewhat bewildered.
“Seems like we have this big castle buried behind our home and we might need someone to help us excavate it,” said Patrick with a smile, “Do you know of anyone who might have some experience?”
“I think I might know someone who could help you,” replied Dr. Ryan with a twinkle in his eye.
“By the way, since it’s your castle, what are you going to call it?” he asked. “Fahey-Nuallan Castle of course,” responded Ansley as she walked over to the two men.
“Sounds like a good name to me,” added Dr. McNamara with a nod.
“What do you plan on doing now?” asked Patrick to Dr. McNamara as he shook his hand.
“I think we have plenty to do. Analyzing data and preparing reports on all the information we have collected on the paranormal here. Besides I have to keep these two busy,” replied Dr. McNamara as he nodded towards Brody and Aine.
Both the assistants smiled as they held hands.
The happiness everyone felt for the Murphy family faded into sadness as they turned to Father O’Brian.
“What can we do to help you with Father Fahey?” asked Dr. Ryan feeling empathy for the priest.
“Just help me get him to the parish. I have a lot of preparations to do,” he replied staring somberly at the body.
Brody walked over to the work truck and started it up. He drove the truck over to where Father Fahey lay near the tower. Dr. Ryan, Dr. McNamara, and Father O’Brian gently laid the body into the back of the truck.
“I’m going to ride here with him,” said Father O’Brian softly.
“As am I,” said Dr. Ryan putting his hand on his shoulder.
“Me too,” added Dr. McNamara with a nod.
The three men climbed into the back of the truck.
“Follow me,” said Garda Bracken as he headed for his car. He started the engine and turned on his emergency lights. Brody started the engine and drove the truck onto the road towards Cahir behind the police escort.
19 a new perspective
The following week, Dr. Ryan, Dr. McNamara, Brody, Aine, the Murphy family, Garda Bracken, and all the others who had worked on Tevan’s rescue were quietly sitting in the cathedral. They had just attended the funeral of Euan Atkins a few days before.
Father O’Brian was leading the funeral service for their friend Father Fahey. The service seemed to be more of a celebration of life than a funeral. Perhaps that was because they knew where Father Fahey was and who he was with. He was missed but they knew he was with friends.
“Father, that was a beautiful service,” said Dr. Ryan to Father O’Brian as he shook his hand.
“Thank you,” he replied with a gentle smil
e. “I’m sure he is grateful to be surrounded by so many of his friends and congregation at this time. He would have been grateful to have spent his last moments on earth with such a brave group of friends. I’m sure if he had to do it again he would to save Tevan.”
“That was the kind of man he was,” agreed Dr. McNamara as he gave a slight nod to the priest.
“Euan was also a brave man to have sacrificed himself for Ansley,” said Patrick grateful for his bravery.
“Aye, the young man was brave just like Father Fahey,” said Father O’Brian.
He gave each of the group a hug and thanked them for everything they had done for Father Fahey and himself.
“What happened with you at the station?” asked Dr. McNamara to Garda Bracken.
“After being severely reprimanded by my superiors, I remain with the Gardaí,” said Garda Bracken with a smile. “They realize now what happened and most of them have accepted it. Others still don’t believe in the paranormal.”
A few months later, Patrick sat in his study. He had received an offer for another programming job which would require him to move back to Dublin. He refused the offer. Instead he decided to work freelance jobs. He also wanted to watch the progress of the excavation of the Fahey-Nuallan Castle.
With the discovery of the buried castle, many archeologists and universities visited the area. There was so much excitement in the air. Patrick could not have imagined the magnitude of his inheritance which now included a castle. He had constant calls from reporters and others. He insisted that Dr. Ryan lead the excavation of the Fahey-Nuallan Castle, to whom he had given exclusive rights. He also had calls from other paranormal groups whom he refused to talk to. His family was now financially secure for the rest of their lives.
Due to the excavation, the Murphy family had to buy one of the neighboring cottages to live in as the original home was now headquarters for Dr. Ryan and his archaeology team. It was also not safe for the family to be there.
Dr. Ryan had brought his team from the Museum in London but was coordinating the excavation with the National Museum in Dublin. The excavation was a huge project, much larger and more dangerous than any other dig he had participated in. The excavation was moving slowly as there were concerns of landslides covering the castle and ruining any progress they had made uncovering it. They had brought in heavy equipment for moving large amounts of earth. The GPR had identified the original cliff face and castle wall integrated with it. They were in process of anchoring concrete barriers at the top of the cliff face above the castle to prevent any more landslides from falling down onto it.
Dr. McNamara, Brody, and Aine had published several articles in paranormal trade magazines of their supernatural encounters at the Fahey-Nuallan Castle and how they aided in the discovery of the structure. Since then they had received many calls for help on researching various paranormal events near archeological digs.
They accepted a request for help at an excavation site in Wales. They were doing well until they hit a snag.
Dr. McNamara placed a call to Dr. Ryan, “Sean, this is Liam. We’re working on a job in Wales. We need your expertise to identify an old dagger that was uncovered at the site. I’m sure it has something to do with the paranormal sightings at the excavation site.”
“I’m pretty busy here,” replied Dr. Ryan as he looked over at the excavation of the caste. “But I could find a few days to come take a look.” He couldn’t refuse his friend especially after all that they had experienced together.
Patrick sat in front of his computer working on a programming project. Ansley entered the study and interrupted.
“I’ve decided to take on a new project,” she told him being very coy. “The cottage house we purchased is fine for the number of kids we have. But I think we are going to have to change the guest room into another family bedroom or we will have to add on.”
Patrick looked perplexed for a few seconds then his eyes widened. “How far along?” he asked excitedly.
“About four weeks,” she replied with a big smile.
Patrick grabbed her and gave her a big hug and kiss. They hurried to the playroom where the kids were busy doing homework.
“Children, we have some good news,” said Patrick as he cleared his throat to get their attention. “Our family is growing.”
“Are we getting a puppy?” asked Declan excitedly.
“No,” said Patrick as he waited for them to guess.
“A cat?” asked Tevan teasing them.
“No,” answered Ansley a bit agitated.
“It’s a baby!” blurted out Siobhan with a big grin.
“Correct,” said Ansley with a gentle smile and a twinkle in her eye.
Siobhan ran over to her mother and gave her a big hug. She rubbed her mom’s tummy then smiled at her.
“What’s it going to be, a girl or a boy?” she asked looking up into her mother’s face.
“We don’t know yet,” replied Ansley looking back down at her.
“It’s going to be a girl,” announced Siobhan proudly as she gave her Ma another hug.
“No, it’s not,” shouted Declan as he stood up. “It’s going to be a boy.”
Tevan looked at his brother and sister and shook his head. “Great, another younger Murphy to fight with,” he said sarcastically.
“You’re wrong, I’m positive it’s going to be a girl,” continued Siobhan arrogantly.
“You’re wrong,” replied Declan glaring at her. “I know it’s a boy.”
Tevan rolled his eyes and turned back to reading his textbook.
Patrick and Ansley left the room as Siobhan and Declan continued arguing about the sex of the unborn baby. They smiled at each other as they closed the playroom door.
That night Patrick went into his study and plopped down on his chair. With the discovery of the castle, he had a renewed desire to research his genealogy. He pulled out several old family books he had inherited from his father as well as his Uncle William. He perused a couple of the books and laid them aside. He picked up one book that was a history of ancestral family crests. He glanced at various pages until he came to the page of the Murphy family crest. He read through the information and stared at the crest.
Something in it seemed to catch his eye. He tried to look closer at the shield inside the crest but it was too small. He picked up a magnifying glass from the drawer in his desk and looked closer at the crest.
To his surprise, he saw the protective Celtic symbol.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
V M Jones was born and raised in Arizona. He has travelled to various places and loves to learn about the local culture in each location. His background is in accounting and financial planning but has grown to love writing. A work in progress for almost three years, The Celtic Symbol resulted from impromptu bedtime stories with his grandson. He and his wife, Pam, live in Gilbert, Arizona and have six children and six grandchildren.
