Chapter 27: Gathering

Once Ed returned to his workplace, he exited his car and entered the building. Fortunately, he’d taken less than two hours.

He hurried to his cubicle and got busy with the software bug fixes.

Later, his phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Ed, you said you’d call me,” said Ellen.

“Sorry. Something serious came up. Can I visit you tonight and explain?”

“Serious? Of course, I’ll see you after you get off work.”

He ended the call and resumed his work. He’d have to explain about the leprechaun to Ellen.

Ed resumed his work. He had no time to waste. Ellen would expect him this evening, so he couldn’t work late as he’d planned.

Ed prepared a fresh release candidate near the end of the day, including his fixes. He ran it through the automated testing until it passed cleanly.

Ed closed his computer and walked out to his car. He drove to Ellen’s mansion.

Ellen met Ed at the front entrance when he arrived.

“Good evening, Ellen. I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier today. I promise when I explain, you’ll understand why.”

Ellen responded by kissing him on the lips. She held on for at least a minute.

When they parted, Ed was feeling light-headed. He didn’t anticipate that to happen. Ellen took his hand and led him inside. They walked without talking until reaching the family room.

“Sit,” she said. She gestured at the sofa.

Ed sat.

“Coffee?” she asked.

“Yes, please.”

Ellen poured two coffees and sat beside him. Ed took a sip. It was the usual level of perfection.

After he put down his cup, Ellen took both of his hands in hers. “Okay, explain.”

“Well, yesterday my coworker Blake and I went to an Irish pub at lunchtime. I encountered a leprechaun there.”

“A real live leprechaun?”

“Yes. Only I saw him. With me so far?”

“Makes sense, as you can see spirits. Continue,” she said.

“This morning, he appeared in my apartment. I don’t know how he found out where I live. He insisted I give him some gold. He gave me twenty-four hours to get the gold, warning of a curse if I failed.”

“Wow!”

“So, I skipped work and bought some gold coins at a bullion dealer. That’s why I didn’t call you this morning.”

“Show me the coins.”

Ed took the small pouch from his pocket and handed it to Ellen.

“I bought Irish coins, since he’s a leprechaun. I thought they’d be more appealing to him,” said Ed.

Ellen looked at the coins and measured their weight in her hand. Finally, she handed them back to Ed.

“And you’ll give them all to the leprechaun?”

“Would you rather I suffer his curse?”

“I guess not. I’m surprised. This is a lot of money.”

“I know. I had to dig into my emergency savings.”

“If you’d told me, I could have helped you.”

“I agree, but this was my problem.”

“We’re a team now. You can lean on me. In fact, I insist.”

Ellen kissed him again.

“What was that for?”

“Any other man, I’d think they were avoiding me, or worse. Thank you for explaining to me.”

“Yesterday was a tragedy finding the body of that student, and the police interrogation was draining. Then the leprechaun. I’m struggling to keep up!”

“I understand, Ed. There’s no need to face this alone.”

Ellen held Ed in her arms.

Officer Ouray was on patrol when he got a call. He pulled over to answer it.

“Hello, officer. My name is Catherine Clark. We spoke the other day, when you vouched for Ed Tanner.”

“Yes, I remember that. How are you this evening?”

“I’m very good, thank you. Ed warned me about a fake psychic. He saved me a lot of money.”

“I’m glad he could help you. He’s an amazing guy.”

“I was hoping to meet him in person to thank him, but he forgot to give me his contact info.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t give out his information on the phone. But I have an idea. Are you available tomorrow evening?”

“I can be. What’s the plan?”

“Well, Ed and I have an appointment at a social gathering. I could bring you along as my guest.”

“That would be perfect. Let me give you my info.”

She gave him her address, and he wrote it down in his notepad.

“I’ll pick you up on my way to meet Ed. Be ready around five pm tomorrow.”

“Will do. Thanks!”

Officer Ouray ended the call and resumed his patrol.

Next morning, Ed awoke early in his apartment. He showered, dressed, and got his usual coffee.

Ed sat on the sofa and sipped his coffee. He patted his pocket where he kept the gold coins.

He didn’t have long to wait. The leprechaun appeared in the same chair as yesterday.

“Tis another fine morning, is it not?” said the leprechaun.

“Good morning, Sir.”

“Indeed. Did you find me some gold?”

“I did.” Ed took the small pouch from his pocket and handed it to the leprechaun.

The leprechaun examined the coins with a keen interest.

“Out of respect for you, I chose Irish coins. I hope that was alright?” asked Ed.

The leprechaun glanced up from the coins and met Ed’s gaze.

“Fair play. I accept ye token of respect. Ye’ve done well.”

The leprechaun put the small pouch into his waistcoat pocket.

“So, next, we come to de trade. Take off yer shoes.”

Ed immediately removed his shoes. The leprechaun handed him another pair of bright green shoes with large yellow buckles on.

“Well, lad. Put ‘em on.”

Ed looked at the leprechaun with trepidation. He put his feet into the shoes and adjusted the buckles. At once, they adjusted to fit the size of his feet.

“They’re fit for yer feet.”

“Do they have to be bright green?” asked Ed.

“Nay, lad. Yer just consider how yer want them ter look. They’ll change for ye.”

Ed imagined how his old shoes looked. Soon, the shoes changed their appearance. They looked exactly the same as his old shoes, only they felt more comfortable.

“That’s amazing!”

“There be more. When yer wearing de shoes, ye’ll have de luck o’ de Irish.”

“Thank you, Sir. That’s amazing!”

“And dat concludes our trade. I’ll take my leave of ye. Until we next meet.”

The leprechaun disappeared.

Ed looked down at his feet. The shoes looked completely normal. They felt more comfortable than his other shoes, so he kept them on.

Soon, Ed left for work.

Ed drove to work and arrived in record time. He hit all the green lights on his way.

Ed got his choice of parking spot, since he arrived a little earlier than usual.

After parking, Ed exited his car and entered the workplace. He made it early to his cubicle and started up his computer.

Ed blazed through several software bug fixes, completely making up for the time he took off work to buy gold yesterday.

Soon, Blake arrived. “Hello, Ed. You got in early this morning?”

“Yes, just catching up on work I missed yesterday. How are you today?”

“I’m good, thanks.”

Ed got into a tricky bug. He was in his happy place.

Later, his phone rang.

“Ed, it’s Officer Ouray.”

“Hello. How can I help you, Officer?”

“Are you and Ellen free this evening? The Snoqualmie are having a gathering, and you’re invited.”

“Sure. I can pick up Ellen and meet you at the Snoqualmie reservation. She’ll bring her security detail with her like last time.”

“Okay. I’ll see you there.”

“Sounds good. I’ll call Ellen to let her know.”

“Goodbye.”

The call ended. Ed called Ellen.

“Hello, Ed.”

“Ellen, we’re invited to a gathering at the Snoqualmie reservation. Are you okay to go?” asked Ed.

“Sure! I expect it’ll be like the Duwamish gathering. What time?”

“I can pick you up from your place around five. The drive to the Snoqualmie reservation is longer.”

“I’ll be ready.”

“Awesome. Until then.”

Ed ended the call.

After work, Ed drove directly to Ellen’s mansion. She was waiting for him at the main entrance, with her security detail and their SUV at the ready.

Ellen didn’t wait for him to step out of his car. She got into the front passenger seat. Then she leaned over and kissed him.

“I like how punctual you are,” she said.

“Same here. With kisses like that, I’ll be punctual more often. We’ve a long drive ahead.”

They left her mansion and headed East on I90. Fortunately, traffic was light, and he hit an unusual number of green lights along the way.

While they drove, Ed filled her in on the encounter with the leprechaun.

“So, you gave him thousands of dollars worth of gold and he gave you a pair of shoes that look no different from your old ones?”