SWNOVELS Chapter 4
Monty looks up from the computer screen which had been his focus towards the timid girl. She looked to be in her late teens or early twenties. Timidly, in a shaky voice, just above a whisper.
“I’m Mira, Mira Watson, a student and a part-time library assistant. There is a small group of us that are students here. We have been following you on the internet.”
The other three that made up the geeky group slowly crept forward until all four of them were standing in front of Monty.
“Are you working on a case?” asked the ginger haired, freckled face male who was standing next to Mira. This was Mira’s secret crush. To her, he looked just like Ron Weasley, from the Harry Potter stories.
Monty carefully considered how much he should tell them. After all, he has signed a non-disclosure agreement with Ms Sullivan. Ms Sullivan is only a mere slip of a girl, but pound for pound she scares him more than any other woman he has encountered. The Irish Gypsy ego part of him, wants him to big note the mission he is on in front of these Montague O’Hara groupies. Monty will tell them a little of what he is doing, but will not mention and names or too much detail.
“Yes I am working on a case I have been hired to solve. It is all very confidential, so I will keep the details to myself.”
Monty continued on.
“As part of this case I need to research an object I am quite unfamiliar with that may have a bearing on this case.”
At this point they all offered to assist with this research in any way that they could. A wary Monty let them know that he did not expect them to be able to contribute much, as for him to find any value in what they could contribute, they would need to be experts in old Irish mythology. The other problem he has, along with the non-disclosure agreement with Ms Sullivan, he is a professional, conning the unsuspecting fools with this paranormal rubbish, parting them from some of their money is how he makes his living. He may be a bit of a crook but involving these bright-eyed youngsters in one of his scams, just didn’t sit right.
“We can read what you instruct us to, and help gather the information you require.” Mira answered.
At this, Monty puts his European Folklore academic hat on and explains why he thinks they would not be much help. Sarcastically he starts.
“Reading all the Harry Potter books several times and watching The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy many times over, or reading all of Tolkien’s books several times will not give the knowledge to decipher Irish Mythology. Next bringing the suppressed University academic lecturer, that he has never been permitted to be, out into the open.
Ireland, its culture myths and legends are old. Newgrange, a prehistoric monument is an exceptionally grand passage tomb built during the Neolithic Period, around 3200 BC, making it older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. It is aligned on the winter solstice sunrise. This is the pre-Celts Ireland. No written history available there, all myths and legends passed orally. As they are long gone not much of these legends from these peoples have survived intact and in their original form.
The legends have Ireland, not having been created, and has been ruled by four different tribes of god-kings each pushing the previous lot out. The Tuatha Dé Danann, are a supernatural race in Irish mythology. Many of them are thought to represent deities of pre-Christian Gaelic Ireland. The Tuatha Dé Danann are often depicted as kings, queens, druids, bards, warriors, heroes, healers, and craftsmen who have supernatural powers. Legend has it they were the last before the humans that inhabit Ireland today. When the Tuatha Dé Danann were defeated they did not leave Ireland but moved to the underworld. There are special places in Ireland that give access to the underworld. Many of these places, the locals do not like going to. They are places that belong to all the paranormal folk.
The Celts and pre-Celts who ruled Ireland did not have a written history. The Druids a very secretive lot passed down these myths and legends as an oral tradition. Unfortunately when the Roman Christians took over they disposed of the Druids. Later Christian monks wrote down as many of the old myths and legends. These monks did not go for accuracy, they had their own agenda, modifying them to suit the new Christian Religion. Many of the old god-kings and goddess-queens were sanitized into Christian saints. The old biblical tradition of Eve being subservient to Adam, the idea that men lead and are strong, women weaker and required to follow men, is contrary to the Celtic mythology as the goddess-queens were as strong and as powerful as the god-kings, some even more powerful. Interpreting the written myths and legends requires much reading between the lines. You need to be able to strip away the monk’s Christianization of the written versions.
Mira Watson, the unofficial leader, of their unofficial paranormal investigations group was most impressed by Montague O’Hara’s impromptu lecture. Brooklyn College should offer an academic position to someone like Mr O’Hara.
James Hennessy, her ginger friend and secret crush was also impressed. The rest of their group consisted of Francine Jones and Jefferson Cartwright.
Montague O’Hara had instantly worked out one part of her character, Her interest in magic, myth, and the paranormal started, when as a young girl, she read her first Harry Potter book. She has read all of them now, several times. But it is not just fantasy she is interested in. European myths and legends she has had an interest in for quite a while. Many have an underling historical truth buried inside them, many are common to more than one culture, some are buried in the bible stories. She has read about Montague O’Hara’s academic achievements, she has read his PhD Thesis, so she can’t understand why he has never held an academic position at a major University.
Monty continued on, undisturbed for a couple of more hours. He was trying to get a start on finding out a bit more about the chest in the basement, but was getting nowhere. He would need to go see it again. Likewise, he was not looking forward to being near it again. He told himself not to be so stupid. This paranormal stuff is all a load of bullshit. It is just an old trunk. All it can do is just sit there. So he arranged for Ms Sullivan to take him to view the trunk again in two days time. Again he had strange dreams that including a Leprechaun named O’Hara claiming to be his father, Gloria Sullivan, again featured in these dreams.
In these dreams, his father, the Leprechaun O’Hara, seemed to be trying to draw them together. Someone like Gloria Sullivan was not the sort of woman for him. So upstanding and forthright, way too serious to put up with any of his sort of his nonsense. She could see right through his sort of bullshit. Just a tiny wee thing and like many “tiny wee things” he had met in the past, she was not afraid of big strong men such as him. He was most certainly scared of Gloria Sullivan. If she ever got her hooks into the likes of him. Surely if this figment of his imagination, his father the Leprechaun O’Hara cared for him, he would keep him well away from the likes of Gloria Sullivan.