Selkie Story Cont.

We got back to his cottage a while later. He told me that he was going to put the sheep out. I watched him in the doorway as he opened the barn door and the sheep wandered out. They trotted off and he came back inside. “What’d you like to do Keela? You can swim if you’d like or…. Maybe I could teach you how to make my signature mutton stew.” I thought for a moment and said, “I would be very happy if I could swim. Once I’m done I’d love to learn to make stew.” He nodded and gestured towards the hills, the only things separating me and the sea. I smiled gratefully and ran off.
The cool wind was exhilarating and the thought of swimming filled me with new found hope. I was still wearing my blue dress but it wouldn’t get ruined as it was woven with water and magic. I waded out to my waist and ducked underwater. Although I was stuck in my human form, I could still hold my breath as long as a seal could and the salty water didn’t affect my eyes. I swam out further until the coasting rocks were specks in the distance and waited. I heard my sweet sister Allana’s voice in my head. She was excited that I was in the water. A moment later, her red head appeared in front of me and she started singing a happy song. I grabbed one of her flippers and we quickly descended. We approached the bottom and I began to see black spots. My human form couldn’t take it. I franticly kicked my legs and then…. Nothing.

***
Keela had been gone for a very long time. Ailin got on his horse and rode to the beach. As soon as he got there he hopped off and slapped it on the rump. It took off towards the barn. He scanned the water hoping to see something that would let him know that she was alive and/or hadn’t found her pelt. He saw a reddish seal swimming close to the beach. He noticed that it had something clinging to its flipper. He waded out to it and saw that Keela was clinging to its flipper though she was unconscious. He pried her hands off and picked her up out of the water. The seal barked once and swam away. He swam back to the sand and mustered all of his strength. Then he adjusted his hold on Keela and ran up the hill and to the cottage. He set her on the cot and started up the fire.

***
I woke up sputtering and coughing up water. The cottage was warm but the bed was damp from my wet dress. Ailin was sitting by the fire looking worried. I cleared my throat and rasped, “Where can I change clothes?” He smiled and gestured towards a small room which I took to be a bedroom. I saw that my clothing was on the edge of the bed. I took the bundle and went into the bedroom. I put on the white dress and my apron and put the rest of my dresses into a drawer in the back of the room. I came out and again was met with the sudden, but delicious smell of stew. I smiled to myself and sat at the small table by the fire. He set down two bowls and some bread and sat down with me. “Keela, why were you out so far? It’s lucky that the seal saved you.” I swallowed my mouthful of stew and responded, “I wanted to be out with my sisters. They don’t come near the shore very often so I went to them. That seal was my younger sister Allana. Also, my name is Aurnia. You may call me whichever name you please.”
“I’d forgotten for a moment that you were a Selkie. Aurnia is a lovely name but, I think I like the name Keela. You are quite beautiful.”
“Thank you. I suppose you are handsome for a human.” I finished my bowl and scraped my bread around the inside to get the last few drops. “Speaking of names, does the horse I rode today have a name?” I asked. He shook his head. “Well good then because I just thought of one. I think his name should be Breacan.” Ailin laughed. “I wonder why I didn’t think of that!!” I grinned. Breacan meant “freckled”. I turned and glanced out the window. It was dark. “So I suppose you’ll have to teach me to make stew tomorrow since I wasted your time being unconscious.”
“I suppose I will, Keela.” He gave me a lop sided grin and took my empty bowl. I took my apron off and slung it over my chair. “Good night, Ailin.” I whispered.
“Good night, Keela.”
I curled up in the bed and fell asleep immediately.

“Keela? Keela wake up. Come on Keela the sun is already half way across the sky!!” I rubbed my eyes. “I’m so sorry Ailin!! You should’ve woken me sooner!” I sprang out of bed. He shrugged. Suddenly, a smile lit up his face. “I think you should try to make the stew with no instructions. I’ll set all of the ingredients out but you’ll have to experiment.” He chuckled. “Alright Ailin. I’ll do it.” He got busy in the kitchen nook and I tied my apron around my waist. I was sure that I would make a mess. I trotted over to our small kitchen and surveyed the ingredients. There was water, flour, some mutton, potatoes, carrots, and thyme. I grabbed the pot and poured the water into it. Then I was completely lost. I added all of the flour that was given to me, dropped a leg of mutton in, and cut up the potatoes and carrots and threw them in too. For a finishing touch I sprinkled a handful of thyme on it and hung my concoction over the fire. Ailin burst out laughing. I shot him a dirty look and then asked, “You go fishing don’t you? Where are the fish you’ve caught?”
“Yes Keela I do. This morning’s fish are by the door outside.” I nodded and walked out the door. I saw the basket of fish and then headed down to the beach. I waded out into the water and tore seaweed from the sandy bottom. I put the pieces into my apron pocket and then moved on to find something sweet that would balance out the saltiness of the fish and seaweed. I wandered up and down the hill and eventually decided to add goat’s milk to my back up supper. I went back up to the cottage and found a large stone to put the seaweed on to dry. Then I went down to the barn and milked the goat. Somehow I knew how to do that much. I hauled the bucket of milk up the hill and grabbed the seaweed. I put it all in the cottage and then went back outside to get two gutted fish. I went in and found another cooking pot hidden away in the corner. I cut the fish up and sliced the seaweed. I poured in milk and water and plopped my other ingredients in. I set this over the fire also.

A bit later, the sun was setting and my stews were ready. Ailin took a bite of the mutton stew and his eyes watered. I ate some of mine and gagged. We laughed and pushed it to the side and moved on to my other stew. I slurped some and was in awe. It was amazing, combining the land and sea. Ailin sampled his and smiled. “This is delicious Keela.” I laughed and we ate the rest in silence in silence.

That night I couldn’t sleep. I thought about my mother. I wondered if she was still here somewhere. I would ask Ailin about her tomorrow. Her name was Niamh. She had been named after a daughter of a sea god that the humans had worshipped. I also really needed to find my pelt. The thought nagged at me throughout the night and made me feel sad for whatever reason.

“Ailin?”
“Yes?”
“Is there a woman on this island named Niamh?”
He stopped mending his fishing net and stared at me. “Why do you wish to know Keela?”
“She’s my… well she’s my mother.” His eyes narrowed for an instant but he quickly made his expression neutral.
“I’ll tell you a story, Keela. About thirteen years ago, a fisherman named Neil O’Mardiggan saw a strange woman on the beach. She had the dark hair and eyes of a Selkie so he searched the rocks and beach for her pelt. He found it in a small cave. As soon as he touched it, the woman wailed loud enough that the whole island could hear it. Neil could hear her saying something about her daughters between sobs but he wasn’t about to just let her go free. He took her back to his home and they lived a fairly normal life except for Niamh wasn’t ever truly happy. She got tired easily and often but could always be found gazing out the window in the direction of the sea. Neil told me she always talked about her beautiful daughters over supper. She pined for the sea and Neil didn’t know what to do. He was too selfish to understand that she needed to go back. One stormy evening, Neil walked into the house and Niamh was singing a haunting song that was depressing and happy at the same time. She died of sadness that evening.” I thought about it and for some reason, I wasn’t surprised. We had all assumed she’d either died or had just never found her pelt. I used to think that she’d gone of her own accord but, it had just been a fantasy. My eyes stung and Ailin got down on his knees and held my hand. “I’m so sorry Keela. I shouldn’t have told you.”
No it wasn’t a problem. It’s better now that I know the truth.” I quickly wiped my eyes. He rose and asked, “What would you like to do today?” I really wanted to go swimming again but I didn’t want him to be worried about me.
“Why don’t we go on a picnic?” He smiled broadly at my thought.
“Sounds lovely. We’ll take some of your stew and wear our best clothes. I have the perfect place to have it.” It sounded amazing so I quickly ran into the bedroom and put my “coasting” dress on. I then searched for a basket and a satchel for the stew. I poured the stew into the satchel and put a few chunks of bread in the basket. I figured that we could find fruit or edible flowers wherever we were going to I saved a space for those. Ailin came out of the room wearing a clean white shirt, good trousers and shiny boots. We smiled at each other and I picked up the picnic basket. We walked down to a small cove near the beach and got into a little row boat. We pushed off and were cutting through the glassy water. I looked down into the water and wished I was swimming along side the boat. Ailin seemed to read my mind. “Go ahead lassie. Please be careful.” I smiled gratefully and jumped into the water. It was cold but I didn’t mind. Something nudged me from behind. I whirled around and saw Dubheasa’s dark eyes. We both surfaced for air and she “oorfed” gleefully. We swam in the small wake of the boat and although I was not a seal, I was blissfully happy. We approached a small green island and Dubheasa left. I hoisted myself into the boat and Ailin got out and tied the boat to a sharp rock. After that, we waded in to the warm sand. The tiny island was just a few hills and a beach. We trudged up a hill and sat on the top. Luckily, Ailin had remembered bowls so I poured what I had decided to call “Selkie stew” into them. It was cold but delicious all the same. I saved my bread for later and then got up and danced around. Ailin laughed and joined in. We did a quick jig and fell to the ground giggling like children. “This was a good place to picnic Ailin.” I sang.
“Thank you Keela. Maybe I’ll build us a cottage here if you like it so.” I thought it was a wonderful idea but we weren’t even married yet!! And what was I thinking, marrying my captor. But the picture of a little cottage on the highest hill here stayed in my mind. I imagined it with three whole bedrooms and a proper kitchen area. The outside would be painted white. My daydream was interrupted by Ailin saying, “Keela! Keela!! I said would you marry me?"


Weird twist right??