“There’s someone up there,” he muttered. “Watching us.”

The boys looked up from their examination of the box, following Kellan’s nod. “Right up there.”

“Maybe it’s a fairy,” Riley said. “And maybe this is her box of magic. Let’s go see if we can catch her.” Riley shoved the box at Danny and leaped to his feet, then took off for the path at the bottom of the rocks.

“Wait,” Danny called. “What if it’s a ghost from the house?”

Kellan heard a tiny cry from above him and he watched the girl scamper along the path, climbing up and over the rocks. She looked like a fairy, her long, golden hair draped over her back and crowned by a wreath of wildflowers. But she didn’t have wings, at least none that he could see. She was dressed in an old gown made of a sheer fabric so light it floated around her.

Cursing to himself, Kellan followed his brothers. What was he thinking? He knew fairies weren’t real. Maybe his little brothers believed, but Kellan was far too pragmatic to put any faith in Irish myths and legends. “Leave me to it,” he said, hurrying past Riley. “I can climb faster than you.”

Kellan scrambled up the path, but each time he looked for her, she was putting more distance between them. If she really were a fairy, she’d just fly away. No, this was a girl, a girl he’d never seen before. Kellan knew all the girls living around Ballykirk and not one of them was half as beautiful as this one.

Breathless, he reached the top of the cliff only to find her halfway across the meadow. She turned once and laughed, then took her crown of wildflowers and threw it into the air.

“Wait!” Kellan called. “Don’t go. I want to talk to you.”

She spun around and stood, staring at him, waiting as he ran toward her. When he reached her, Kellan stopped, his heart pounding, gasping for breath. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, features so perfect that they couldn’t belong to anything human.