Oddo was woken by the sounds of yells and thuds. He peered over the side of the pigsty, where he’d been sleeping. Beside him, Dúngal rolled over and squelched in a heap of dung.
‘What’s happening?’ he groaned.
Oddo squinted into the gloom. Over the cries of alarm, he could hear something heavy smashing against the gate of the fort.
‘I think someone’s trying to break in,’ he said.
The next moment a scattering of guards came flying past and dived into the longhouse. Behind them, thundering out of the darkness, galloped a black giant of a horse. Oddo goggled at the flames that shot from its eye sockets, and the smoke pouring from its nostrils. Then he lifted his gaze and saw a girl astride the gleaming, quivering flanks, her hands twisted through the long black mane.
‘Thora?!’
‘Oddo! Dúngal!’
The horse slowed to a halt. There was a yip and Hairydog erupted out of the darkness. She threw herself at the wall of the sty, her tail wagging frantically.
‘Thora, what on earth . . .?’
Oddo hurdled the wall, then stepped back hastily as the black horse stamped and snorted. To his astonishment, Thora calmly patted its neck, then reached for a knotted corner of her cloak. She drew out a flower, leaned forward, and popped it between the horse’s gnashing teeth. The creature gave a soft whinny and lowered its head to chew.
‘Quick!’ called Thora. ‘Climb up.’
‘No!’ Dúngal clutched Oddo’s arm. ‘It’s the horse of the Sídaigi. Look!’
He pointed downwards with a shaking finger. The ground was rippling as if it were covered with waves. There were a myriad tiny figures, hardly more solid than shadows, running across the surface.
‘What are they?’ whispered Oddo.
‘The Sídaigi. The Little Folk. If we can see them, then tonight must be Lugnasad – one of the nights when they cross over from the Other World.’
‘Come on!’ cried Thora. ‘Hurry up, before the guards come back.’
Oddo tried to step towards her, but Dúngal held him in a fierce grip.
‘You mustn’t,’ he said. ‘The Sídaigi will be furious.’
‘Why?’
‘Because that’s their horse!’ he exploded. ‘Their magic horse. I don’t know how Thora’s managed to ride it, but they won’t be happy. And we haven’t put out food or gifts for them or anything. We don’t even have rowan branches for protection.’
‘Bursting blueberries,’ yelled Thora. ‘Don’t you two want to escape?’
She slid off the horse’s back, and Oddo watched, fascinated, as the Sídaigi parted and streamed around her feet like a river round a rock. The next instant, he heard the squeals of piglets in the sty, and spinning round he saw the Sídaigi tugging at their curly tails. The same moment, there was a frightened lowing from the byre, and startled squawks from the hen roosts.
It was then he felt the first tickling at his ankles. He looked down and saw the Sídaigi swarming over his feet. In seconds, he could feel thousands of tiny fingers and toes crawling up his body, tugging and pinching, all the way up to the top of his head. He hopped and squirmed, attempting to brush them away, but they clung as tight as limpets to a rock. When he grabbed them and tried to pull them off, they wound themselves in his hair. Hairydog whirled around, yelping and snapping at her tiny tormentors. Dúngal bellowed in Irish.
‘How do we get rid of them?’ cried Oddo.
‘I think,’ panted Dúngal, ‘they follow their horse.’ He let out a few more Irish curses. ‘We’ve got to get rid of that beast!’
‘But I brought it so you could run away!’ wailed Thora.
‘Then take it back again!’
At that moment, Oddo managed to wrench one of the Sídaigi out of his hair. He stared at it writhing on his palm, and then it disappeared. He felt a trickling sensation running from the top of his head, and realised it was the other Sídaigi pouring downwards. For a second, the ground was covered again with the tiny running figures, then they seemed to melt and vanish into the earth, like snow under the warmth of the sun.
‘They’ve gone!’ he croaked.
He turned slowly on his heel. Even the black horse had vanished. And in the east, a tiny finger of light was showing in the sky.
‘It’s dawn,’ breathed Dúngal. ‘Lugnasad’s over!’
At that moment, there were bellows of rage from the longhouse. The guards burst out again, looking sheepish, and headed back to the gate. All around the fort, other figures began to creep outdoors. They peered around, and broke into excited chatter.
Oddo turned to look at Thora. She was drooping now with disappointment, and he wanted to fling out his arms and hug her tight. But when she sensed him looking at her, she gave a wobbly smile and shrugged her shoulders.
‘Well,’ she said,‘at least we’re all together again. Now what are we going to do?’
