Fireflies Read online

  “Ennis? Ennis please speak to me,” Liffey said pulling him close to her and speaking softly in his ear. “It’s Liffey Ennis. It’s Liffey. I know you can hear me.”

  “Liffey? Where are we?” Ennis asked, just as the carriage pulled up in front of the Olsens’ home.

  “We’ve come to visit the Olsens, Ennis, remember?” Liffey said, still speaking softly into his ear.

  “That’s right. We’ve come to help them. We need to see them. We need to see Mrs. Olsen and the girls,” Ennis said softly, almost in a whisper.

  “How can we help them Ennis?” asked Liffey.

  “They are frightened. They’re afraid to leave the house. They’re afraid that…” Ennis stopped speaking as the front door of the Olsens’ home swung open with a loud bang.

  “What do you want here?!” shouted Mr. Olsen. He looked disheveled and very angry. “Get off my land!”

  Teagan told Liffey and Connell to stay in the carriage and she slowly stepped down to the ground. Mr. Olsen sounded different. He sounded as if he were having a difficult time forming his words. He seemed off balance as well and he was leaning against the doorway with all of his weight yet could still barely stand.

  “It’s just me, Mr. Olsen. It’s Teagan Whelan. My sister Liffey and I have come to call. We were wondering if the girls were at home?” Teagan said cheerfully. For some reason unknown to her, she was terrified of Mr. Olsen. She’d never been afraid of him and had always found him to be quite amiable. The man standing in the doorway was not the Mr. Olsen she knew. He looked very different from the man they saw at church on Sunday and the man who sold them dry goods in town on Thursdays.

  “Whelan aye? Well my girls are doin’ their chores, Miss Whelan, and they can’t see anyone right now. Maybe your pa lets you girls run wild and do what ya’ like but it’s not that way ‘round here!” Mr. Olsen slurred as he stumbled to the porch steps and held onto the railing.

  “Connell, I’m getting worried. Maybe you should say something to him. He looks very ill. Maybe we should just leave and go get Da?” Liffey whispered.

  “No! We can’t leave! We have to help them!” Ennis screamed.

  “Ennis, shush,” whispered Liffey as she tried to put her hand over his mouth.

  “What ya’ got there?” Mr. Olsen asked, staggering down the front steps and walking toward the carriage.

  “Mr. Olsen, that’s just my little brother. He asked to come along with us,” Teagan replied trying to distract him.

  “You hush up girl! Old Owen has no rule over you kids does he?!” Mr. Olsen growled as he grabbed on the side of the carriage to look inside.

  “That’s quite enough Mr. Olsen. You’re intoxicated and I’d suggest you remove your hands from my father’s carriage or…” Connell spoke sternly to Mr. Olsen.

  “Or you’ll what doctor boy? You’ll do nothing!” Mr. Olsen bellowed, as he reached up and snatched Connell by the arm, yanking him down from the carriage.

  Liffey was screaming for help as Mr. Olsen pulled Connell across the ground by his shirt, dragging the heels of his boots through the dirt as he struggled to stay on his feet.

  “Connell!” Teagan screamed as she ran towards them and lunged at Mr. Olsen’s huge back, thumping him hard. “You turn my brother loose this instant, you big ox!”

  Mr. Olsen swatted at her with his huge paw of a hand, sending her flying to the ground and rolling in the dirt, all the while still holding onto Connell by the shirt with the other, then flinging him like a rag doll down next to her.

  “Stephan Olsen!” roared the voice of his wife from the front porch. “What in Heaven’s name have you done?” she cried. “Children, please run along home now. Mr. Olsen has had a very bad day and he’s not himself!”

  “Not himself is right, Mrs. Olsen, and when my da hears about this, his day will certainly get much worse!” shouted Connell, helping Teagan to her feet and dusting off her clothes.

  “Son, you don’t understand…” Mrs. Olsen said, obviously full of embarrassment and horror.

  “I understand what my sisters do not. I understand Mr. Olsen is full of whiskey. I could smell it a yard away,” Connell said, when suddenly, he noticed the discoloration in Mrs. Olsen cheek. “Mrs. Olsen, has he hit you?” asked Connell, stepping towards her to get a closer look.

  “You get away from my wife you little bastard!” Said Mr. Olsen as he started toward Connell and stumbled flat to his face.

  “There! That’s what you get!” exclaimed Teagan, who had placed her boot in his path and flattened him.

  “Good on you, Teag!” shouted Liffey from the carriage. She had throughout the entire ordeal, sat with her hands covering Ennis’ eyes and he hadn’t muttered a word.

  “Ennis, are you all right? I’m so sorry,” she apologized and quickly removed her hands.

  “What’s happening, Lif? Is everyone okay?” he inquired, turning to look at his sister curiously.

  “Something’s amiss with Mr. Olsen, Ennis. He’s behaving terribly and he’s attacked Teagan and Connell,” Liffey whispered.

  Mr. Olsen lay flat on his belly in the dirt as Teagan limped to the carriage to check on Liffey and Ennis while Connell was assessing Mrs. Olsen’s swollen cheek and blackened eye.

  “It’s fine son. I’m fine,” she said, turning her full round face away from him.

  “Teagan, look,” Liffey said, noticing Mary and the girls as they came walking out of the house onto the porch.

  “Mary!” Teagan said running up the steps and then stopping abruptly just a few feet away.

  Mary turned her face away from Teagan but she had plainly seen Mary’s face was swollen and bruised. The left side of her mouth looked cut and a scab was forming around it.

  “He came after us girls when he was through with Ma. I had to protect them,” was all she said before her body began to tremble and then shake with sobs.

  Teagan rushed towards her and took her in her arms and held her close.

  “Oh Mary, why didn’t you tell? Why didn’t any of you tell?” Teagan asked, with her own tears now pouring from her eyes.

  “We were so frightened. He said he wouldn’t drink anymore but he did. He’s been drinking since the other night. Now what will we do, Teagan?” Mary asked.

  “I’ll tell you what you’re going to do. You’ll not be having this beast treating you like this any longer,” stated Connell, looking down at Mr. Olsen, now passed out with a mouth full of earth.

  Connell looked up and saw Liffey and Ennis stepping out of the carriage. Ennis walked slowly over to Mr. Olsen and Connell called out to him, “Ennis, no!”

  “Connell wait. It’s alright. Let him go,” said Liffey.

  Teagan let go of Mary and wiped her tears on her shirt sleeve. She moved slowly down the steps and walked towards Ennis, as he kneeled down next to Mr. Olsen.

  “Ennis, are you sure you want to do this?” Teagan asked.

  “I told you Teagan, I have to. I don’t know what else to do. I just have to,” Ennis spoke while he lifted his tiny hands and placed them down easily on Mr. Olsen’s head.

  “I don’t understand,” said Mrs. Olsen as she stepped away from Connell and began descending the steps.

  “Wait Mrs. Olsen. Let Ennis do what he needs to do. Afterwards, we’ll tell you. To be honest, we probably won’t need to tell you,” said Connell, shaking his head.

  They all stood unmoving with wide wet eyes, watching Ennis as he laid hands on Mr. Olsen. Only moments later, Ennis stood and turned, walking toward them.

  “He’ll sleep a while lyin’ there. He was very sick. He had very bad memories which made him hurt inside. They’re all gone now. He only has the good ones left and he won’t be thirsty like before,” Ennis said. “The rest of you will be alright. The angel said Mr. Olsen will remember what he done to ya’ and he should see you like ya’ are so he can repent and that way, he won’t ever do it to ya’ again.”

  Ennis walked to Teagan and squeezed her tight. “Are you alright Teag?
You took a nasty tumble.”

  “I’ll be fine, Ennis. How are you feeling?” Teagan asked, giving him a good look over.

  “Much better now. I didn’t like seeing Mr. Olsen’s memories but the angel said they will pass by morning. It hurt me to see how sad his life was as a child. It was cold and dark and lonely. No wonder he was so sick and angry,” Ennis replied with a pout.

  “Mary, can I speak to you for a moment please?” asked Teagan.

  Mary stepped toward her slowly, covering her mouth with her hand.

  “Mary, will you come with us and see Fagan? He’s so hurt and heartbroken.”

  “I can’t see him like this, Teagan. What will he think? What must you all think?” Mary cried.

  “We think your da was a very sick man and I don’t know how long you all have had to live like this, but I’m sure Fagan loves you enough that all he cares about is you’re all right,” Teagan said, taking Mary’s hand. “Mary, I have a confession to make to you. I’ve said some things about you that weren’t very kind because I didn’t know and I didn’t understand what your life was like. I want to apologize.”

  “Please, Teagan, I understand. We all understand. Yes. I’ll go with you as long as my ma says it’s all right. I want to see Fagan and tell him how sorry I am for all of this,” Mary replied. “I don’t know what Ennis did or how he did it but we are forever grateful.”

  “Mary, Ennis has a gift. He has many gifts. We only recently realized them and we don’t want everyone in the county to find out. I hope we can trust your family never to speak of this,” Teagan said, walking with Mary to the carriage.

  “Teagan, if this were your family’s deep dark secret, would you want anyone to know about it?”

  “No, I suppose not. We have to leave. Go and ask your ma if you can come and I’m sure Fagan will be more than happy to bring you home,” Teagan said. “Ennis, Liffey, Connell. Let’s go.”

  Mrs. Olsen was kneeling down next to her husband, stroking his hair. Her tears were still pouring from her eyes. Just the sight had Liffey in tears still as well. Connell was speaking with Beatrice by the porch and he was brushing the hair away from her face and drying her tears with his handkerchief.

  “Connell? Let’s go please!” Teagan called.

  Connell spoke quickly to Mrs. Olsen and she stood up, placed her hands on his face sweetly and kissed his cheek. He gave her a smile and then came bounding to the carriage and hopped up into his seat. They all looked over as Mary spoke to her mother and took her in a loving embrace.

  “Is Mary coming with us, Teagan?” asked Connell.

  “I believe she is. She needs to see Fagan,” answered Teagan.

  Mary joined them in the carriage and they were on their way back home.

  “Do you all think Ma is going to be upset with me?” Ennis asked.

  Liffey wrapped Ennis tightly in her arms and said to him, “Well, maybe Ma needs a little touch of you, too.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Owen and Sarah were sitting on the front porch when Connell pulled the carriage up to the front of the house.

  Sarah stood up instantly and inquired as to how their visit was with the Olsen girls before any of them had even exited the carriage. Connell looked up at her with a crooked grin as he helped Liffey and then Ennis out of the carriage. Teagan had helped Mary out from the other side and they walked around the carriage together and toward the porch.

  “Well hello, Mary what…” Sarah started to greet Mary when she noticed her face and her battered lip as she and Teagan were climbing the porch steps. “What on Earth happened, child?”

  “Ma, Da, we all need to have a word with you,” said Connell, holding the front door open for everyone to enter.

  Sarah wrapped her arm around Mary’s shoulder and comforted her as they entered the house and they all took a seat in the parlor. Sarah had Mary tucked under her arm next to her on the sofa.

  “First, someone needs to tell me what’s happened to this child’s face!” shouted Owen loudly.

  “Da please sit and we’ll explain everything,” Connell answered.

  Ennis sat on the other side of his mother and placed his hand in hers. “Ennis, are you alright dear?” Sarah asked, squeezing his hand and pulling it to her lips.

  “I’m quite fine, Ma,” Ennis replied.

  “Someone please begin explainin’!” demanded Owen.

  “Da, first, we need to confess to you we went to the Olsens’ to find out why Mary’s ma had turned Fagan away this afternoon and told him Mary didn’t want to see him anymore,” Teagan boldly explained.

  “What?!” Owen gasped.

  “Da, please wait!” Teagan cried. “This was all my idea but I’ll let Connell tell you.”

  “Da, when we got there, Mr. Olsen was not himself,” Connell said, looking over at Mary.

  Mary nodded at him, giving him her permission to expose the entire truth of the events.

  “Da, Mr. Olsen was stinking drunk on whiskey,” Connell said lowering his head.

  “Stephan? Naw it can’t be?” Owen said in disbelief.

  “Oh Da, we can all assure you, he was three sheets to the wind,” Connell said.

  “Connell! Where did you hear such a vulgar expression?” asked Sarah.

  “Sarah, the boy comes into town with me nearly every day. Surely he’s seen and heard much more than either of us would like. Go on, Connell,” Owen insisted.

  “He came out of the house and attacked Teagan and me. Teagan got in a good lick trying to get him off me but he’s a big man, Da. He tossed us both. Then, Mrs. Olsen came out of the house and…”

  “Dr. Whelan, my pa was beating us. He’s been doing it for years. When things got bad at the store or money was tight, he would have a lot more than his usual glass of scotch after dinner. He’d have a bottle or more and he’d start in on my Ma and I’d hide the girls and then he’d start in on me,” said Mary sheepishly. Once again her tears began to flow.

  “Oh you poor, poor, child,” said Sarah, pulling Mary into her arms. “Owen, we have to do something about this! We can’t just let him get away with these things!”

  “Da, there’s more,” said Connell, giving Ennis a look.

  “Mr. Olsen was sick, Da. He was all twisted inside from when he was a little boy. I felt it and now, he’ll be much better,” said Ennis.

  “Connell, what happened?” Owen asked sternly.

  “Da, Mr. Olsen was coming for me again and Teagan tripped him and he fell flat on the ground and passed out. When I was tending to Mrs. Olsen and Teagan was tending to Mary, Ennis got out of the carriage and put his hands on Mr. Olsen. Ennis said he’s healed from the drink,” Connell said, again shaking his head.

  “What’s this? What’s everyone talking about? Mary, is that you?” said Fagan entering the room from the kitchen.

  Mary sat up slowly and raised her eyes to meet Fagan’s.

  “What’s happened to you?! What’s happened to your face?” Fagan shouted as he ran and scooped Mary up in his arms, holding her close.

  “Oh Fagan, please, not so tight!” Mary cried.

  “Fagan, why don’t you take Mary into the kitchen and I’m sure she can explain things to you,” said Owen. “Right now, I want to hear how Ennis is feeling.”

  “I feel fine, Da!” Ennis said loudly. “Like I told them, I didn’t like those sad feelings that came out of Mr. Olsen but the angel said they won’t stick with me. I feel very good I was able to help Mr. Olsen not hurt so much so he won’t be three sheets anymore,” Ennis smiled wide.

  “Oh Lord!” Sarah exclaimed.

  “Ma, I want to help people. I need to do it. I can feel them reaching out to me for help and I want to give any help I can,” Ennis said as he climbed into his mother’s lap.

  “Owen? What do we do?” Sarah said holding Ennis tightly in her arms.

  “We still have a few days before he’ll be surrounded by people, Sarah. Sunday at church will be the test I suppose. Maybe I should have listened t
o Pastor Lincoln this mornin.’ Why do I have to be so stubborn?”

  “Owen, we decided to handle this on our own but it appears Ennis has his own thoughts and ideas. If come Sunday, we feel he is any danger, we will leave church and come home immediately,” said Sarah.

  “Ma, you should have seen him,” said Liffey with pride.

  “Ma, he was like the angel himself and the way he spoke after he laid his hands on Mr. Olsen. We were all in awe,” said Teagan.

  “Well, I’m going upstairs to wash up and study. It’s been a very exhausting evening to say the least! Goodnight everyone,” said Connell.

  “Connell?” Owen asked.

  “Yes, Da?”

  “Thank ya’ son for taking care of ya’ sisters and Ennis,” Owen said in gratitude.

  Connell just smiled and continued up the stairs. Patrick and Brogan came running in from outside, completely unaware that anything had happened and were ushered upstairs along with Ennis to wash up for bed. Sarah escorted them all for a change and allowed Liffey and Teagan to chat alone in their room for a bit before reminding them of the hour as well.

  “Liffey, you were so wonderful this evening. I’m so proud you’re my sister,” said Teagan.

  “For goodness sakes, me? You were the heroine the way you hurled yourself at Mr. Olsen to try and save Connell! Of course at that point I was glad we hadn’t gone to give Mary a lickin’ as the poor thing might have never recovered from you!” Liffey said laughing.

  “Poor Mary. All of this time we’ve been so cruel thinking she was stuck up or odd and Mrs. Olsen as well. No wonder the poor woman wouldn’t stay after church. She had to rush home to mind Mr. Olsen,” said Teagan, now frowning and blue.

  “Oh Teagan, how could we have known? We had no idea. We’ve never even smelled alcohol before tonight and we’ve certainly never seen anyone under its influence,” Liffey said as she began washing her face.

  “How I envy Connell. Imagine the things he gets to experience when he goes to town with Da,” Teagan said, staring out the bedroom window.