Prince of Hazel and Oak
John Lenahan
Dedication
For the oh so achingly beautiful Nadene
Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Detective Fallon
Chapter Two
Jail Break
Chapter Three
Dad
Chapter Four
Prisoner Fallon
Chapter Five
Fand
Chapter Six
Mom
Chapter Seven
The Armoury
Chapter Eight
Spideog
Chapter Nine
Mother Oak
Chapter Ten
The Athrú
Chapter Eleven
Essa
Chapter Twelve
The Turlow
Chapter Thirteen
The Grey Ones
Chapter Fourteen
The Yew House
Chapter Fifteen
Broken Bow
Chapter Sixteen
The Green Knife
Chapter Seventeen
Pop-head
Chapter Eighteen
The Pinelands
Chapter Nineteen
Hawathiee
Chapter Twenty
Tuan
Chapter Twenty-One
Barush
Chapter Twenty-Two
Moran
Chapter Twenty-Three
Re-Pookalation
Chapter Twenty-Four
Yogi Bear
Chapter Twenty-Five
The Alderlands
Chapter Twenty-Six
Dell and What’s-His-Name
Chapter Twenty-Seven
King Bwika
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Fearn Peninsula
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Fire Dancing
Chapter Thirty
Red
Chapter Thirty-One
The Digs
Chapter Thirty-Two
The Invisible Man
Chapter Thirty-Three
Graysea
Chapter Thirty-Four
The Mertain King
Chapter Thirty-Five
The Stream
Chapter Thirty-Six
Ona’s Book
Chapter Thirty-Seven
War
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Ribbons of Gold
Chapter Thirty-Nine
There Will Be Blood
Chapter Forty
The Isles
Chapter Forty-One
The Green Dragon
Chapter Forty-Two
Friends and Enemies
Chapter Forty-Three
Get a Room
Acknowledgements
Other Books by John Lenahan
Copyright
About the Publisher
Chapter One
Detective Fallon
Detective Fallon seemed to have given up on shouting.
‘I’ve seen people get off by claiming insanity,’ he said, sitting back in his chair. ‘Conor, you ain’t doing it right.’
‘So you don’t think I’m crazy then?’ I asked.
‘Oh, I think you’re plenty crazy but not insane.’
‘Aren’t they synonyms?’
‘Not in my thesaurus. If you want to get off by reason of insanity you have to be a nutcase all the time, you know, with the drooling and the swatting at imaginary bats. You, on the other hand, kill your father and then act completely normal – except for claiming that Daddy was attacked by Imps and Pixies from Faerieland.’
‘Tir na Nog,’ I corrected.
‘Sorry, from Tir na Nog.’
‘And there are no Pixies in Tir na Nog.’
‘Look, O’Neil’ – Detective Fallon leaned in and I could see he was inches away from returning to shouting mode – ‘you’ve been arrested for murder. They’ve got a death penalty in this state.’
‘I didn’t kill my father – honest. If I killed him where’s the body? If there is no body there can’t be a murder.’
‘You’ve been watching too much TV, O’Neil. You can fry without a body – trust me.’
‘So what do you suggest I do?’
Fallon softened back into his good-cop mode. ‘Tell the truth.’
‘Oh that. I was kinda hoping you had a better suggestion.’
The truth – telling the truth is how I had gotten into this mess in the first place. As soon as I returned to what the Tir na Nogians call ‘the Real World’, all of the Real World problems crashed in on me like a tidal wave. I’ve never been very good at lying but what else could I do? Dad’s boss had reported him missing and the cops were waiting for me when I returned. They had lots of questions after finding the front door wide open and the living room trashed. I made up a lame excuse about a boisterous party and told them that Dad was on a spontaneous trip with old fishing buddies. The cops accepted that explanation, but as I later found out, they didn’t believe it.
Sally was really mad at me. She went on and on about how worried