37

(Previous Post: 36)

You close your eyes again and prepare to listen to Roisin's story... to your story.

“When both Aiden and I was young, his ma used to talk about the Good People—about how she used to wrap a piece of bread in his dress when he was just a wee squealer. Or how she listened for the bean sidhe on the day her father, Kuklip, disappeared. She never heard it, and we all know he's a Kavanagh. But, the story I remember best is the one about the tinker fairy.”

Some chuckles rose around the campfire at the thought of a fairy Traveller, but Roisin continued unfazed.

“Aiden's ma, Ena, was interested in a man from another kawmpa—Owen Zachary O'Neill... that was his vardo over there. She loved him and, after some begging to her father, Kuklip talked with the O'Neill's about a marriage between clans. That's about the time Kuklip started taking Owen on the road, to see if he had the qualities a man should have if he was going to marry Ena Kavanagh. Ena told us that, to hear Kuklip tell it, O'Neill could work a buffer like nobody's business. And the engagement was soon secured.

“The wedding was the biggest event in all of America. More Travellers showed up for it than buffers showed up to the Colombian Exhibition. And everyone knew their love would bring good things.

"At some point, a circus was traveling through the same town as a camp, and O'Neill got a job working the crowds, drawing them in to Bailum & Barney's Great Consolidated Shows—'three rings in one tent and a menagerie on the side.' He was the best of the grifters, drawing people in with fast talk and promises of magic. The camp followed the circus for a time, and a lot of folks took up jobs with 'em. Those that didn't sold things to the gadje's who just thought the Traveller camp was part of the show. Ena used to make these wee tin bells and tie them to ribbons. People would buy them for their gadje children to use as noise makers under the circus tent.

“Then came the balloon...”

You notice, suddenly, how quiet everyone is now. Not a shuffle. Not a sniffle. Long gone are the giggles. It's as if everyone has heard the story before, and knows something is coming.

"Ena hated the idea of O'Neill getting up in a balloon.” Roisin continued. “But, Bailum bought it to draw crowds to the circus, and that was O'Neill's job. So, every day before he went up, she would tie one of her wee tin bells to the basket of the balloon and tell him, 'Owen, my spurkera, this is so the tinker fairy knows where you are. She'll blow some fairy dust on ye, to keep you afloat.' And the light tinkle of bells could be heard for the hours he flew above the tents. Ena never failed to bring a new bell before she left, and they soon covered the sides of the basket.

“But, one day, Ena was sick with child. Aiden was a difficult pregnancy for her, and this morning she was too ill to see O'Neill off. She asked him to stay with her, but he couldn't risk losing a day of work. Too many lives were dependent on the circus. So, Ena smiled and kissed him on the cheek, and then she gave him his bell. Now, when Ena tied a bell to the basket, it was with the care of a loving wife, and with the strength of a tinker. She tied it where she thought the fairy was most likely to see it that day. But, O'Neill wasn't one to believe in such things. He tied it in a loose bow where he could be reminded of his lovely wife.

“That day, the weather took a sudden turn. In the turbulent wind the ropes got twisted, so that he couldn't come down again. The balloon went higher and higher, up above the clouds. It went so far that a current of air struck it and carried it many, many miles away.

“Some of the men were almost instantly on horseback, chasing the balloon. They rode until their horses were too flah'ed out to follow, but the balloon was too fast. There was word of a large balloon passing for miles. But, as the days and nights passed, it was evident that the balloon and O'Neill seemed to have vanished.

“When the men went to give Ena the news, she already knew. Despite her sickness, she'd made her way to the doorway of their vardo during the ruckus. And on the ground just outside, was the wee tin bell she'd given her husband. She wasn't there to make sure her offering got to the Good People, so that sídhe tinker took O'Neill instead.”

• If you sit up, to ask what happened to your mother, go to 37
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