The Gift

Visiting relatives on their farm in Ireland, Brian is homesick but cheered by his great-grandfather's wonderful tales of pookas, ginger-haired faeries, banshees, and--especially--leprechauns. When Great-aunt Nora tartly dismisses these stories as foolishness from an old man, Brian feels sorrier for Grandad than he does for himself, and he decides on a scheme: to capture a leprechaun; carry him to the old farmhouse, and make Aunt Nora admit that she is wrong!

Each of Brian's attempts to carry out his plan fails--due, he strongly suspects, to interference from the cat, Blossom, and other farm animals sympathetic to the little people. With his visit coming to an end, Brian makes one last try, bravely venturing alone through a misty glen, late at night, to the ancient castle that is the leprechauns' home....