The Pooka (special preview)

Due to some lucky circumstances, your family came into a small fortune. In your childhood, your family bought a farm, built a beautiful new home, and raised sheep. Along the property though is a massive blackberry bush that stretches along your property line and the forest.

Your father believes having the blackberries there is a sign of good fortune, on the other hand, your mother believes they will bring misfortune. Ever since your family moved in, every spring, it has been a constant battle of your parent’s wills with what should be done about the blackberries. Your father doesn’t want to get rid of the bush, but your mother doesn’t want the ill will the berries will bring. So, every year, your father allows for the berries to be picked all while your mother sets up a small chain of iron along the fence to ward off the pesky fae and spirits who love them.

In all this time, you have never tried any of the beautiful berries from the bush because your mother strictly forbids it. Every year you toy with the idea of going to the fence and having a small feast of black berries for yourself, but you always chicken out at the last second. You have no clue who to believe, your mother or your father. Having always been close to your father though, you were more inclined to believe that the blackberries would bring good luck, and like him, feared getting rid of the bush entirely. Yet the thought of being swept away after eating the berries, like your mother claimed, gave you a fright too.

During spring, along with the berries, it came time to sheer the sheep of their wool. It was always such a fun time because your family hired extra help to tend to the sheep as well as processing the wool. You always enjoyed the lively feeling of the farm with all the extra hands on board. Dinners were filled with banter and laughter, feeling like a gathering of family. It also was a time to flirt and tease the young men who came. There was always one who caught your eye and reminded you of your feminine wiles.

This year, along with the usual batch of hands, there was a few newer faces. Once such face who had hair and eyes as dark as midnight and wore a silver chain around his neck, stood out to you amongst the bunch. His name was Gerran and he was so handsome, almost pretty, with lashes so long and a smile that was dangerous. You found yourself feeling quite shy and giggly around him because of his lovely visage. Not only that, the sheep seemed to be enamored with him too, and he treated them so tenderly. He talked to them, whispered them secrets, it all added to his lovely yet mysterious package.

One evening, one of your favorite sheep was giving birth. Gerran led the charge, helping birth all three little lambs, the last one was pitch black, matching Gerran’s hair.

“There now, look at that, who’d have thought such a little thing could hold so much inside!” Gerran says as he washes his hands.

“I’m amazed, she’s never had three before. One or two, but this is a first.” You smile at the little black one, already finding a deep fondness for it.

Gerran looks at you and you have to look away. He’s so beautiful he makes you nervous to be near. “Good things take time, and that little one looks pretty great.”

You watch as the three new lambs nurse and gather around their mother. “I am not sure how my mother will feel about him. He looks like one of the blackberries she frets over.”

Gerran sniffs and places his hands to his hips. “She would be a fool not to cherish such a little thing. Dark though he be, there is power in the dark.”

You steal a glance at Gerran from the corner of your eye. His dark hair and eyes certainly do hold their own power, at least, they do over you. “Is that something you were told or something you know personally?”

Gerran’s smile grows and he turns to wink at you, making your face itch and heart rumble. “A little of both,” he sounds so assure of himself. “In dark, there is truth hidden, and what is more frightening than the truth?”

You try your hardest to look at him. “So are you saying there is truth hidden in blackberries?” Once you meet his eyes, you almost swoon. How is it possible for one man, no, one human to be so beautiful?

“Have you ever tried them?” He asks with a smirk.