Watch for Kelpie the shapeshifting river horse – he’ll snatch you and drag you down
Kate always remembered that
To leave cream for the Good Neighbours
Never to say their name and never give them thanks
Time was at the end of autumn. Kate and Simon were to be up to the high moors to be bringing in the sheep for the winter safe from foul weather
But Simon had broken his leg So Kate was off up the moors with only Rusty the Collie and Old Henry the pony
And Simon was worried
He wove Rowan to Protect on Kate’s hat on Old Henry’s bridle on Rusty’s collar He said Words of Caim to Protect
The sacred three
Your fortress be
Encircling round
Wherever you are bound
Raining roaring stream to cross Kelpie roared in
Caim Protects
Rowan protects
Rusty bites
All the witches and wizards on blackthorn brooms crowded the dark sky with cloud of cackling shadows
Safety found at the Fairy mound with the Old Rowan tree
Out came the Good Neighbours encircling the hill with a ring of magic that the Cackling Shadows could not break
Out came Pipe and drum and dancing a hey around the hill
Till the first light of dawn
Off fled the pack of shadows
Off to gather the sheep and return to the light of the fire
Image from https://www.supercoloring.com/coloring-pages/kelpie Author: Svitlana Struk This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License.
Creative Storytelling