Monague O'Hara Paranormal Detective

Monty now had lots to do. He would now need to find a place to live. The plan was to have the new European Mythology courses to start over the summer semester, so he would need it all in place by June. Once the new European mythology courses were announced by the College, all the places were quickly filled. The “Montague O’Hara, Paranormal Detective” fan club, unsurprisingly were among the first to apply. The rest of the available places quickly were taken up. It seems the popularity of Harry Potter books and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy has helped him out here.

Monty was running through a list he had made, of the tasks he needed to get on with, when his phone rang. It turned out that the call was from his mother. This, in itself was not terribly unusual. From time to time his mother would ring him, often to organize to meet up somewhere for a meal and a bit of a chat. The unexpected part was, his mother being downstairs in the hotel lobby and could he come down to see her.

On reaching the hotel lobby, Monty was quickly spotted by his mother, Victoria Beaumont. Victoria walked over to Monty and Hugged him tightly. The intensity of this hug, surprised Monty. It was so unlike his reserved mother, a typical British aristocrat to show such unreserved affection in public.

“It is wonderful to see you Monty. If you follow me, I have a car waiting outside. We are going somewhere very important to your father and I. It also is important to you.” said Victoria as she guided Monty out to the front of the hotel.

It was quite a long drive. Eventually the car stopped outside an old stone building, three stories high, in an old part of the Staten Island District of the city.

“Welcome to your home in New York, Monty.” Victoria said to her son. “William, can you please bring in my luggage, and place it in my room. Monty we will go inside. I have a lot to tell you.” Said Victoria as William, the chauffer opened the car door to let her out at the front door of the house.

Monty followed his mother through the front door. On the other side of this door, another surprise awaited him. There to greet them both, was his father, Liam O’Hara. He was not dressed in his normal “leprechaun attire” as he has appeared in the dreams he has been having, but in normal casual clothes. Victoria his mother, in a not very reserved British aristocratic manner, rushed over to Liam, threw her arms around his neck, and slapped a big passionate kiss on his lips.

“I missed you love.” said Victoria, when she broke the kiss to catch her breath.

At the stunned look, he now saw on his shocked son’s face, Liam began to speak.

“While your mother rests and tidies herself up rom her long flight, we will start in the basement. Once you have seen what is down there, I can start to explain a few things, many of which a few weeks ago you would have found impossible.”

Monty then followed his father down into the basement.

In the basement, what he was shown, he would have not expected to find in the basement of an old Staten Island house.

There before him was an old Neolithic circle of standing stones. In this circle there were seven stones. Most unusual was the stone, Connemara marble or “Irish green” is a rare variety of marble found in Connemara, Ireland with a distinct green color. These stones were not that big. Most of the stone circles Monty had seen back in Ireland, even some smaller ones the standing stones would be larger than these. Some larger standing stone circles back in Ireland, the stones, could be quite large. This circle of standing stones, being Connemara marble, has to be quite special. The seven stones were also fairly uniform and shape.

The stones also had carvings on them, the triple spiral, common to many Neolithic stone monuments dotted around Europe, as well as inscriptions in the earliest known Irish language, Ogham.

“Well son,” began Liam, “I would confidently bet my pot of gold that finding this in a Staten Island basement, would be the last thing you would have expected to encounter. How it got here, or why, it is here. I do not know. The presence of this small Irish Megalith in the basement of this house, has been of benefit to me. For around a radius of about 100 miles, centered on this standing circle, I can exist in the real world. I do not have any magical powers, but it has enabled me to have a life with your mother.

One strange thing Monty noticed. The basement was filled with a warm, soft golden light. The light was not coming from a separate light source, in the basement. The light was coming from the circle of standing stones itself.

As Monty and his father returned up the stairs from the basement, Liam, who knew of his son’s position at Brooklyn College, suggested he should come and live here as well.

Victoria would probably sleep for several hours. Monty could go and check out of the hotel, William could take him in the car. He could collect his things and bring them here. After Victoria gets over the jet lag, the three of them would have a meal together. They would be able to tell him more of the story concerning this place. Many hours later, Monty had checked out of the hotel, and moved into one of the empty bedrooms.

Several hours later, Monty, Liam and Victoria, now refreshed having caught up on a bit of sleep were seated in the dining room, about to eat.

The part that Monty was waiting to hear about was to begin. After the main part of the meal was over, Victoria began to fill Monty in on the story of this place.

Starting the conversation, Victoria began.

“Monty. The property that this house here in Staten Island stands on, has been owned by the Beaumont family since the days before the revolution. From what I have found out, the Beaumont family has had this property, possibly as far back as the 1680s, back when this part of the world was a British Colony. It was a normal thing, for many of the old British aristocratic families to use a colony in some far away place to send members of the clan, that, by their behavior, had become an embarrassment to polite society, at the time.”

Victoria, it seems discovered that this place was owned by the Beaumont family, completely by chance. The main part of her family did not realize that this was part of their property holdings. The place had come to her by inheritance. Her great uncle Montague Arthur Wilberforce, had left the place to her in his will.

It seems that great uncle Monty, had been the only one that believed her when she arrived pregnant claiming that the father of her baby was a leprechaun. Having that strange old Irish neolithic standing stone circle in the basement of his secret house, here at Staten Island may have been the contributing factor in his willingness to believe her story.

Montague Arthur Wilberforce, was the black sheep of the family, before Victoria took over, as the one the family all looked down on. Victoria had been given an opportunity to get back in the family’s favor when she first arrived back at her home, pregnant and unmarried. The family had worked out a solution, that would solve, what they saw as two problems. She would marry Roger, a distant cousin, that being gay was starting to embarrass some stuck conservative family members. This was not acceptable to Victoria. Firstly, being gay was Roger’s choice, it was not her place to interfere. Most importantly her son was going to have his father’s surname. If she had agreed to this, Monty with the family name would have been excepted and his career would have progressed with all the advantages of being a Beaumont.

Victoria finished the first part of her story by informing Monty she had, just after he was born, transferred the title to this place to his ownership. This place actually belonged to him. Also, that she had named him Montague after her great uncle Monty.