Witch Grannies: The Case of the Lonely Banshee

By Gary J Byrnes

Emily’s witch grannies have whisked her away in the night, to the village of Castleconnell in the west of Ireland. The River Shannon is home to a banshee and she’s collecting souls, including Emily’s witch sister, Edna.

The witches must race against time to find the banshee’s lair and free the trapped souls.

But there is an even bigger threat to the river and all her inhabitants. Can the Salmon of Knowledge guide the witches to the nasty trio who plan to use deadly poison in their search for gold? Can they save the river?

WITCH GRANNIES
A STORY FOR ALL AGES

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gary J Byrnes
• Release date: Oct 31, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465812230

Gary J Byrnes

When you buy any of Gary's books, he will fund a hemp plant through his planet-saving, hemp offset and sustainable living platform at Hempoffset.com. Read a thriller, be the thriller, save the world.LOCKDOWN DREAMS is flash fiction by GARY J BYRNES, writer of number one bestselling thriller 9/11 TRILOGY and Crime Writers’ Association Dagger-nominated PURE MAD. Gary works in aviation and space tech marketing and founded sustainability platform Hempoffset.com, crowdfunding a solution to the climate crisis with hemp. Lives in Dublin, Ireland, loves travelling in Europe and America. Ambition is to write The Great Novel of the 21st Century.Favourite writers include George Orwell, Yuval Harari, David Mitchell, Hunter S Thompson, Norman Mailer and Philip K Dick. When not at his laptop, Gary enjoys cooking, encountering great art, exploring cities and trying to make the world a better place, one story at a time.

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WITCH GRANNIES

in

The Case of the Lonely Banshee

By Gary J Byrnes

Published by Gary J Byrnes at Smashwords, 2011.

Copyright Gary J Byrnes, 2011.

The right of Gary J Byrnes to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright & Related Rights Act, 2000. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

http://www.WitchGrannies.com

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Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Also available: Witch Grannies - The Case of the Evil Schoolmaster

Acknowledgements

For my wife, Bernadette. Thank you for your love, encouragement and inspiration. Special thanks also to Tara, Eden and Mylie Rose for their love of bedtime tales. A big shout out to Mary and Suzanne. And thank you, dear reader, for picking up this story. I hope that you really enjoy it. Now turn the page and into the night with you…

Witch Grannies

The Case of the Lonely Banshee

By Gary J Byrnes

2011

CHAPTER 1. THE WIND IN HER HAIR

They flew across the deep night sky, Emily holding tight to her granny as the broomstick rose and fell.

‘A bit of clear air turbulence, darlin’. Nothing to worry about,’ said Granny Annie over her shoulder.

‘You okay, love?’ asked Granny Smith, zooming in close.

‘This is great!’ cried Emily. ‘I missed you both so much.’

The air was clear and crisp, not a cloud in sight. Away in the distance, a cool moon shone, the stars glistened, the night birds shrieked. Emily wanted to ask her grannies why they’d come for her in the middle of the night, why they’d taken her from her bedroom and away into the sky. But she knew they’d only say ‘All in good time’ or something like that. So she didn’t ask. She just enjoyed the trip.

After a time - which could’ve been a minute, could’ve been an hour - a ribbon of glistening silver appeared against the grey landscape far below. The moon caused it to shine dully and Emily knew it must be the River Shannon. They were nearly home. The broomsticks began to slowly descend. Emily’s ears popped, so she worked her jaw up and down and that made it better.

As they got lower, Emily began to make out shapes in the landscape. A big oak tree here, a house on a hillside there, little lights glowing in a farmyard, a car driving along a dark country lane.

Then they swooped down to the river, barely skimming above its smooth surface. Vast volumes of cold water flowed. Bats, hunting for moths, made way for the broomsticks and their passengers. Emily felt her granny tensing, noted that both witches seemed to be watching the river intently, scanning the depths as if with some kind of X-ray vision.

‘Nothing,’ said Granny Annie.

‘Let’s get home,’ said Granny Smith. ‘Then we’ll tell you all about it, Emily.’

The sun crept over the horizon to the east, back where Emily lived. Rushing pinks and oranges bled across the sky and the dark shapes along the river showed their greens and browns.

As they landed at the front door to the grannies’ cottage, a cock crowed at Farmer Blue’s down the road. Granny Smith opened the front door and the smell of freshly baked brown bread wafted out.

‘Home,’ thought Emily.

CHAPTER 2. MONSTER

She darted towards some reeds, all green and wet and flowing. The shadow of the monster loomed behind. Not enough shelter, it’s coming! There, some rocks. The sun shone cruelly, its beams dappling the floor, failing to penetrate the deep shadows between the rocks. A cave, that’s it!

She paused and took breath. The monster circled nearby, prepared to mount the final assault. An invisible cloud passed before the sun and the scene was cast into a murky greyness. Her chance!

She tasted, she breathed, she bolted. With a flash of silver she was in the rocks, then squeezing, pushing between them and into a little cave, black as night, sweet as spring.

The monster came near, so she shrank back, pushed against the smooth rocks, quartz glinting for those who could see it. The monster seemed confused, probing this way and that, rumbling displeasure. She believed that she could taste its breath.

After a time, the monster was distracted by another prey. A shrimp bumbled across the riverbed, oblivious to the nearby drama. So the dragonfly nymph coiled, positioned the ambush.

And the young salmon watched it all, tasting, tasting, always tasting. The fear now succumbing to the tasting and the place and the need to find food.

The dragonfly nymph pounced in a cloud of gravel, its jaws reaching out and lancing through the shrimp. The poor thing didn’t stand a chance. But the baby salmon took her opportunity and escaped.

She met a brother fish, born in the same week, just as scared and tiny. They chatted for a time. Then he wished her well and left, seeking a fresh hiding place.

And over the months that followed, she grew strong and beautiful, commanded the river like a silver missile, fearing nothing but the sleek otters and the humans with their temptations and the strange spirit who lived under the riverbed.

CHAPTER 3. BREAKFAST

Emily sat at the kitchen table and drank tea from a huge, steaming mug. The brown bread tasted as good as it smelled and