Oh Daddy Where Art Thou?

[Cailin]

It had been a very, very long time since Cai had run away form her knot of thieves to find her Da. She'd nearly given up hope that he'd stumble into Hogsmeade. What would she do if she didn't find him? She couldn't go back they'd kill her for sure. And she didn't want no new family like that chit beth had talked about. She wanted her da and no other. 'side's no one else would want her. She talked funny was rather rude and could take care of herself. She wasn't a need snot nosed brat. But sometimes she needed a taller person so no busybody would think she was homeless and try and steal her.

Cai was crouched behind a couple of trash bins that gave her a pretty good view of the tavern. If there was one place to find a per forming gypsy it'd be there.

[Conan Breandan]

Conan lowered his mug to the table. It was rather early in the day for most drinkers, being only just after sundown in January, which came rather early. However, Conan was not most drinkers, and seeing him drinking before breakfast wasn’t uncommon. Still, he was trying to drink less. He drank significantly less than he had fifteen years ago, and still the amount of alcohol he consumed could be unsettling.

January was a good time to find work, being winter and gloomy often worked in an entertainer’s favor, but Conan was just here to visit. Conan threw some change down on the table and headed outside. A stormfront was supposed to be coming in, and he didn’t want to get stuck in the tavern with all the wizards and witches. Maybe he’d wander around town a little longer before heading back to V’s.

[Cailin]

It was getting cold and Cai was getting tired and grumpy and she just wanted this endless search to be over with. The more she sat there behind the trash cans the more the Beth's comment about finding a new family became more inviting. Maybe she could find a sucker family to take her in for a little bit so she could have a warm bed while she searched for her own da.

Cai was about to give up and head back to her kip when the door opened and a short lumpy old man stumbled out. Well at first he looked old but when Cai peered closer she saw that the man was just a little scruffy. He needed a shave. Had obviously been drinking but when he looked her way, Cai's stomach did a flip and her breath caught in her throat. It was him.

Conan Brenadan. Suddenly Cai's confidence fled her and she just sat there in the dirt staring. He was here. Finally. Before her and she could do nothing. He was nearly down the street when her wits came back and she jumped up dashing after him. She followed behind him as she tried to find a way to approach him. It wouldn't be good form to just walk up and introduce her as his daughter. He'd probably laugh at her and tell her to go back to her mummy. From what she had heard about him he didn't take kind to people playing on his heartstrings as he really wasn't a softy. No he needed a partnership. A more direct approach. Maybe he'd allow her to work for him. Hmmm perhaps she could try the I am an admire approach please let me be your student oh master. Yes every man had an ego and she could stroke his and perhaps he'd let her stay with him and when he liked her well enough she could reveal her secret.


Cai waited for her moment to strike. A woman coming out of a shop had nearly bumped into Conan scattering packages across his path. The little girl slipped out of the shadows and next to Conan her thin hand sliding into his pocket pulling out what she found in there and slipping it into her pouch. Cai moved out of the way down to the corner and waited tossing the object in the air.

[Conan Breandan]

Conan strolled down the street, not having any particular direction. He really didn’t want to go back to Maebh’s house. To be honest it was probably time to move on. He was never comfortable in her house, too tense, and Reckless… they never got along well ever since he’d assumed Conan was out to get Maebh with nefarious intentions. Conan tried, though. At least for V’s sake.

He was startled out of his introspection by a plump matron with her arms full of packages. Those packages had scattered over the snow and ice. With a sigh and a few muttered swearwords, Conan bent with reluctance under the woman’s scolding and helped to gather the packages back into her arms. He didn’t miss the small hand sneaking into the pocket of his cloak. Out of the corned of his eye he saw a small shape dash away, stopping to linger on the corner. So it was to be that way, hmm?

“My deepest apologies, Miss.” He tipped his hat and flourished his cloak as he bowed, showing a bit of the constellations hidden inside. He held out a star-lily to the astonished, now speechless old matron, and made his retreat. Now what was that little guttersnipe after?

“That’s no gonna do ye any good.” He said, palming the smooth little ball from the air as he approached the urchin. He couldn’t be sure in the lighting but it looked like a little girl.

[Cailin]

The old man sure was slow. Cai tossed the little ball up and down as she watched the performer pick up the packages. He didn't even slip a little thing in his pocket for his trouble. Cai watched in amazed horror as Conan actually gave the old pigeon a trinket. It was pretty too. Her fingers itched to snatch it from the woman but she wasn't greedy and it wasn't what she was after. Nope she had bigger pray.

“That’s no gonna do ye any good."

Cai shrugged a thinly clad shoulder. "Gotcha ya here gov'nor," She said buffing her finger nails and glancing up at him through long eyelashes.

"Got a business deal for ya, See I've been wait'n for ya. Ya need me, see. Nowadays acts need cute ones to get attention and I can be that. Plus when ur old'n stuff I can pass on ur legend Conan the Grand never die then,"

[Conan Breandan]

Conan wasn’t fooled by her seeming nonchalance, the little ragamuffin was running some sort of racket, or angling for something. He was an old drunk and a conman, and her tactics were rather blatant. He had to admit though, he was a little curious. What was a little one like this doing on the street? And she surely wasn’t from Hogsmeade, not with that accent. So what was she doing here? He twisted the ball as it ran between his fingers, silken ribbon sprouting from it as if from magic.

“I don’t need ye, see.” He mimicked her in his Irish brogue. “Nor does me act. Don’ need ‘cute’ to draw in th’ crowds. Why don’ ye run back along home, little one?”

[Cailin]

Why did adults have to go and mess up plans? Okay, so maybe she miscalculated. He had done pretty well on his own, but he wasn't as young as he use to be. 'side how did he pick pockets if he was on stage? With his charm he'd have the suckers dazed for sure. It'd been a snap to just dip her fingers into a few plump purses. Only the rich ones of course. And the mean ones. They deserved a little retribution. Even fate needed a little help sometimes.

Cai couldn't help it. She glared. Who was he to tell her to run off back to her mum's skirts. Just cus she was small didn't mean that she couldn't take care of herself. She didn't need him. Hell he didn't need her. Actually no one really did. If she was worth it, her mum wouldn't have given her up now would she? Nope.

A sinking feeling began to deflate Cai's typical bravado. What if the monster had been right. What if she really was unwantable? That her mum had only put up with her as long as she could. And the only reason the monster had put up with her was cus she was paid...but Cai was good at some stuff. She was rather smart. She could throw a punch. Cry on command. She rarely got caught with her hands in someone's pockets. Not a one could out run her. The mums' always thought she was cute. She could pull her own weight. Bloody Hell she'd made it all the way to Hogsmeade hadn't she? An she ain't been caught yet.

She didn't need anyone. Who cared if anyone wanted her? She could take care of herself. Bloody emotional idiot she'd been for thinking that her Da would have wanted her. Foolish. She was nothing better than one of her marks. Conned herself she did. Anger at herself evaporated the tears.

"Nábac sé, amadán" She spit out in the natural language of the Irish Gypsies stomping at his feet with her shoe less ones.

Well that was a bust. 'cept for the sickle she'd snatched. She'd eat on his dime that night. And she'd show him. One of these days she'd surpass him. He'd regret the day he didn't want her. They all would.

(forget it fool)

[Conan Breandan]

(get back you/get back here you)

“Faigh ar ais ort!” Conan grabbed the back of the little girl’s coat, hauling her back as she tried to dart away. He wasn’t particularly harmed—he really could care less, actually, for his feet were booted whereas hers were bare and dirty. He frowned. Where was this kid’s kip, anyways? Not even the mothers in his caravan had let their kids run about in January with no shoes. It was bloody cold out here, it was a wonder she hadn’t any frostbite.

“Gotta quit tha’, lil’ tyke. Wots yew thinkin’, tryna pull tha’ o’er on me? Aint no auld dag, wot cain’t learn new tricks.” He fished the sickle from her little pouch, flipping it into the air where it disappeared. He’d long ago mastered the art of being a wizard while using purely muggle tricks.

“Now wot’s a liddle pixie like yew doin’ out here, eh?” He lowered her to the ground, but kept a firm grip on her. “An’ don’t try an’ git at me things again, lass. I willna be soft iffin ye try it ‘gain.” The wind blew cold around them as he looked her over again. Merlin but she was a wee one. And though she seemed clean at first look, there was the ingrained dirt around her nails and below her chin. Why was it no kid could think to wash their necks? “Out wi’ it now, pixie.” He shook her once, gently, to get her attention.

[Cailin]

Almost free. Cai had sprinted off, but the old dawg was fast. It was almost like his words had snatched her out of the air. Cai let out a high pitch sqeel when the back of her coat was snatched, pulling against her neck. The little girl struggled, causing the fabric to pull tight against her wind pipe. Brown eyes widened and her little legs pumped, as she tried to twist out of his grasp. For a second she was afraid that the Matron had snatched her and not her father. Cai had faked her death to get away from the woman who had "cared" for her for a very long time.

A strange heat emanated from Cai. The girl's skin was rather warm. Almost like her entire body had a fever. Since Cai could remember she had a talent for staying warm. It just came naturally to her. Sure she felt the cold but it was never that bad for her. She could picture a warm day and she could actually feel the sun on her skin, and she wasn't freezing.

“Gotta quit tha’, lil’ tyke. Wots yew thinkin’, tryna pull tha’ o’er on me? Aint no auld dag, wot cain’t learn new tricks.”

The gruff male voice had lessened the strange fear that sometimes overwhelmed Cai and she calmed down a bit. This was not the monster here to take her back. It was her da. The barstard.

"Well ya ain't learn'n them if someone ain't teach'n ya," She managed to snap back, her voice a little weaker than usual but she still tried to sound cheeky and tough. Maybe if she had been a lad he'd have taken her on.

"Now wot’s a liddle pixie like yew doin’ out here, eh?” He lowered her to the ground, but kept a firm grip on her. “An’ don’t try an’ git at me things again, lass. I willna be soft iffin ye try it ‘gain.”

Once on the ground, Cai stood there arms crossed. She wasn't telling him nothing. He made it abundantly clear that he didn't want her. Now she just wanted to leave. Her lower lip trembled and Cai bit it to keep from crying. It hurt that her grand plan was in tatters and now she had nothing. Didn't know what to do and well it made her cry. She hated the tears, except when they were useful but if she used them now then he'd think she was playing him...which she wasn't....much.

The shake brought Cai to the present, jarring her a bit. Her eyes flashed in anger.

"Wot ya care, ye big sod. Not everyone is as big and grand as ye be. Some of us ain't got lovely parents to coddle us, now let me go," She said her body getting warmer as her temper increased. Cai didn't notice that her magic was "leaking" becoming hotter as her temper increased.

[Conan Breandan]

Conan was a squib, but even he could recognize the signs of magic, Particularly when it was leaking and out of control. The little mite might not even know she had it. No parents, was it? No wonder she was so raggedy. With the magic to keep her warm, she might even be living on the streets. She stood there defiantly, arms crossed and lips trembling. Hellfires, she was just a little tyke, she didn’t belong on the streets.

Conan sighed, feeling an old but still familiar tugging. He had always been the older brother, always protective of his siblings and cousins. He still had his hands on her shoulders. Swiftly he lifted her, pinning her arms to her side so she couldn’t escape and strode off towards V’s house. It looked like he would be going back early after all.

“Who are ye, anyway?” He asked as they slipped down dark and empty streets. No one wanted to be outside on a bitter night like tonight. “O’viously ya ken me, mebbe ya should start wi’ yer name.”

[Cailin]

Well Merlin's Gray Beard! The man was fast. Before, Cai could slip past, he had his stubby claws on her flesh again. Her arms were pinned to her side as he hefted her up. All the wriggling in the world didn't give her an inch.

Cai tried to kick but her legs only met air. Blast it all to hell! She glowered at him, her lips snarling, her eyes flashing hotly.

Where was he taking her?

A tiny voice in her head though, reminded her it didn't really matter. She was getting what she wanted after all. Her Da. 'cept now she wasn't so sure she wanted him now.

For a second Cai was half tempted not to say anything. Then she opened her mouth to lie. But the words froze on her tongue. She couldn't lie to him. He'd see it in her eyes. 'Sides she wanted to tell him. Except she didn't remember what her mum had called her. Not her true. She usually called her Brinny, or child. Side's that had been ages ago. She hadn't seen her mum since she was a little mite about five or six.

"Cailin," She said looking him straight in the eye. It was her name. Girl. She didn't really have any other. "I am called Cailin,"

[Conan Breandan]

“Girl? Wot idiot named ye colleen?” Conan groused, looking down at the child under his arm. She was just a mite, thin and light enough to not be there. She was still giving off enough heat to warm a small house. Damn magic-users. Even their children rubbed him wrong sometimes, though the old gypsy was somewhat more tolerant of children. Somewhat.

He shifted the girl a little, all her kicking had amounted to naught. They were almost to V’s anyway—Hogsmeade was a small town. “Loik namin’ a dog Dog, or somesuch.” He groused, unaccountably irritated. Not that he was ever not irritated. The English, though, they could and would name a child anything they damned pleased, just because it sounded nice, no accounting for the actual meaning of the word. Maybe she was English…

[Cailin]

" The Arch Dell," Cai hissed out the name, her throat tight with anger as an image of the leader of her gang of gypsy thieves popped into her mind.
"Ain't the last brat called cailín or buachaill, cus no use know'n names." In truth, Cai couldn't really remember the name her mum had given her. It'd been so long since she'd heard it and she'd adopted so many names. None of her mates even knew it. But best not think of them. She was dead to em now. Better that way.

Eventually, Cai stopped fighting. She didn't like being carried like a sack of potatoes, nor being likened to a dog. But the plan was going pretty well. She was now in the company of her real Da. If her mum was to be believed.

[Conan Breandan]

The Arch Dell.

Well that answered a lot of questions, and yet wasn’t surprising, in its own way. A thievin’ gang. No wonder she was so raggedy and so practiced at manipulating. Probably been raised from a babe as part of the gang. Especially with a name like that. You couldn’t call all your kiddies cailín or buachaill, some at least would need some sort of name.

He turned down a street, readjusting his grip on the girl so she was more upright. She wasn’t struggling, but he didn’t trust her yet. Surely V would know how to handle her. She was a woman, after all. Kiddies came more naturally to them. Right?

“Maebh!” he turned the knob and shouldered the door open, ushered in by a gust of cold wind. After the door shut securely, he gingerly set the girl down, maintaining a grip on her shoulder.

[Maebh Breandan-Pike]

Tucked away in a quiet residential area of Hogsmeade was a house like every other. One would not suspect a gypsy resided in the quaint two story cottage like home. This was the house V had purchased with Reckony. It was supposed to be the place they made their marriage work. Raise their children and live a quiet life. It had been a wonderful dream. But in reality it was placid, tepid and boring. No children to create messes and cause trouble. No little voices to brighten the night.

Slowly, the cookie cutter house became a symbol of their destruction. It was an attempt to settle down that had failed. V found she couldn't give up her dangerous job. The long hours and months of under cover work. Reckony couldn't give up his reckless ways. His trouble making steak and need for adventure. As the years passed they spent less time together. Oh, they were still married but they did better a part than together. They'd live their separate lives and come together when they needed love. It seemed to work. At least it worked better than the traditional marriage they had attempted. Still,y V was lonely at night with no one in her large house. Four bedrooms was much to big. She had been baking bread when her front door opened. Reflexively she pulled the knife that was tucked in the waistband of her rainbow skirt. Only family could open the door.

At the sound of her name a grin broke out across her face. So the wayward rascal returned. V wiped the flour off her hands and dashed out of the large kitchen to see her brother carrying a little girl. A dirty, poorly dressed urchin.

"What's this, your love child?" She teased her brown eyes sparkling.

Cai stiffened at the sound of the woman's voice. She prepared her body to run as soon as Conan had set her feet on the floor. She would have escaped if his bony fingers hadn't been gripping her shoulder as if it were a hard earned galleon. Who knew he had such strength in his bony fingers?

"I ain't nobodies," She blurted out when the woman said she was Conan's love child. Love had nothing to do with it. However, she did pale when the woman so accurately guessed the situation. How did she know? Was she Conan's wife?

This was a mistake. She should never have come.