The end was blocked by a large stone. I pushed as hard as I could. The stone trembled slightly, but didn't give way.
"Small problem," I called back to Rob who was now just a few feet behind me. I held the light up to the rock.
"Mmm," Rob agreed. "We'll both have to push." He pulled himself forward until we were lying side by side in the tunnel. "Turn on your side," he said. "I need some more room."
We were nose to nose and hip to hip by this time. I could feel his breath on my face. All I could think of was that if our captors came after us, we'd not be able to maneuver at all. Being a man, Rob saw it differently. "This is nice, isn't it?" he said. I just knew he was grinning there in the darkness. I glared back, even if he couldn't see.
"One, two, three, push!" he said. We both pushed as hard as we could on the stone. It rocked slightly.
"Again!" Rob ordered. We pushed again, then again. The stone started to rock, and finally, with a jerk, moved, then rolled away from the tunnel. Rob pushed me out in front of him, and we were free.
Chapter Eighteen. ON WHOM DO THE STARS SHINE?
SO you want to hear the story of how the Celts came to Ireland, do you? The last great invasion of Ireland. That and the judgment of Amairgen.
Well, the story begins in Spain with a man by the name of Mil. He had a number of descendants as did his brothers. Now one of these boys was called Ith, and one fine day he climbed up on a high tower to see what he could see, contemplating the world about him. And on that clear day in winter, what do you think he saw? Ireland did I hear you say? 'Twas. Ireland for sure. 'Twas just a shadow on the horizon, but he decided to go there. Now some of his relatives were sure he was daft. 'Twas clouds you saw, not land, they told him, and they tried to stop his going. But he went anyway, yes he did. He took some followers and his son Lugaid. And when he got there, he asked the inhabitants-and we know who they were now, Tuatha de, Tuatha de Danaan, Children of the goddess Danu-he asked them, "what do you call this place?" "Inis elga," the people replied."And who's in charge?" Ith asked again. "Mac Cuill, Mac Cecht, and Mac Greine are the kings, " they said.
So Ith and his son went to Ailech and met the three kings, and Ith said many good things about the land, so that he and the kings parted on good terms. But now the story takes a turn for the worse, for some of the Tuatha de worried that Ith and his followers liked their country so much they would take it by force, so they hunted Ith down and killed him. His people took his body back to Spain where his brothers were sorrowful and angry, and vowed revenge.
So they collected their warriors, and all the sons of Mil and their relatives, the poet Amairgen among them, and in sixty-five ships sailed for Ireland. But when they got there, they couldn 't see the island, for the Tuatha de had placed a spell on it, and the Milesians circled the island three times, before finally coming to Slieve Mish. You know Slieve Mish. Then they went on to Eblinne.
Eventually, the Sons of Mil went to Uisnech ofMide. Uisnech you see was, and still is, if only we knew it, the sacred center of Ireland. It sits within the mystical fifth province-the Irish word for province is coiced, don't you know, and that means a fifth. Now that causes problems for some amongst us. Because there are only four provinces, you see: Ulster, Connacht, Leinster, and Munster. Oh, they argue it away by saying that at one time or another Munster was actually two provinces, but those who hold the ancient stories in our hearts know there were five, and the fifth is called Mide-the place where the other four provinces come together.
And so Mide and Uisnech are a very special place. From there, on Uisnech Hill, you can see a ring of mountains all round. The whole of Ireland, if you had the vision, can be seen from there: the sacred sites and political centers of the other four provinces in olden times, Rathcroghan in Connacht; Emain Macha in Ulster; the Hill of Allen in Leinster; and Aine's Hill and Lough Gur in Munster, all lining up across the moun-taintops. And just across another hill, Tara, Seat of the High Kings of Ireland.
And in the old days, the Beltaine fires lit at Uisnech could be repeated on the mountaintops all round, and seen from all of Ireland. Yes, Uisnech is the eye of the fire of the gods. And on its slopes sits Aill na Mireann, the Stone of Divisions, a huge stone cleft in four, yet still together. Just like Ireland. It was a magical place for a long, long time, until St. Patrick cursed its stones and the magic disappeared.
But that was much later. Who would Amairgen and the Sons of Mil meet at such a special place? The goddess Eriu, none other, the third goddess. Eriu, Fotla, Banba, three goddesses in one, like the shamrock or the holy Trinity. She welcomed them to the island, telling them it had been prophecised that they would come and hold the island, the best place in the world, forever. And she asked that her name remain on the island. Amairgen made a solemn promise that hers would be its chief name forever. 'Tis too, as Erin.
Next, they went to Tara, where the three Tuatha de kings, Mac Cuill, Mac Cecht, and Mac Greine, husbands of the three goddesses reigned. The Sons of Mil gave the three kings three choices: Give us a battle, the kingship of Ireland, or a judgment of some kind, they said. The kings chose the judgment and they asked that Amairgen himself deliver it.
Amairgen, in making the very first judgment in Ireland, said the land would belong to the Tuatha de Da-naan until the Sons of Mil returned to take it by force, and, so that the Tuatha de would not be taken by surprise, that the Milesians would sail nine waves away from the shores before returning.
The ships sailed away the nine waves, magic waves they were, and the Tuatha de called upon their druids to cast a spell. A mighty storm overtook the invaders' vessels, and there were many losses, but Amairgen thought it was a druidic storm and not a real one. He sent a man up the mast to see if the storm was higher than the mast of their ships. It was not, but the man died in the telling of it. Then Amairgen made a spell of his own, for the poets in those times were druids, you see, and the sea became calm. At last Amairgen stepped again on Ireland's shores. "I am the sea-swell, I am a furious wave," he said, casting a spell on this isle. Then the Milesians, the Celts as we now know them, made their way to the Slieve Mish Mountains, right here in the Dingle, where a mighty battle was fought with the Tuatha de Danaan; then another battle at Tailtiu, where the three kings of Ireland, and the three goddesses, Banba, Fotla, and Eriu died. And from that time till the Christian era, and some say long after, Ireland belonged to the Celts.
We picked our way carefully across the fields and stone walls heading down toward the sea and the road along the coast. It was very late, but at last we came upon a farmhouse. "I'll go to the door," Rob said. "You hide well back, just in case we've picked the wrong place." But it was all right. The farmer and his wife, once roused, called the local gardai station, and within a few minutes we were on our way back to town. We made statements to the police, and then they dropped me at the Inn, while Rob said he was going to take the police back to try to find the clochan we'd been thrown in.
Wearily I climbed the stairs to my room. It was almost dawn now, and I was very tired. I carefully unlocked the door to the room I shared with Jennifer in order not to wake her. She was not in her bed. On the desk was an envelope with my name on it.
Paddy and I think we can find the treasure, the note read. We're taking his bike. Don't worry, I'll call you tomorrow. I left Dad a note too. Hope he isn 't too mad. Love, Jen.