Bartholomew Heathcote-MacKenzie, the owner of a stately home that had seen better days, was sadly looking at the old main gate that had been struck by a freak tornado. Indeed the gates themselves where nowhere to be seen and the piers were reduced to mounds of rubble.
Hearing a faint cry for help that seemed to come from a bramble thicket he looked across and was astonished to see a leprechaun caught in a tangle of brambles, and being stalked by a rather fierce looking fox. Without a thought Bartholomew grabbed a brick, ran over and threw it at the fox to drive it off, then bent down and very carefully helped the little fellow out of his predicament.
"'Twas a fine thing ye did there sir." The leprechaun said with a little bow. "Saved me life f'sure." and with a shiver "Wasna payn' attention. Not lookin' where I be goin' too. Me own damn fault."
"I guess it was your good luck that I came out just now to look at the damage" Bartholomew sighed.
"F'sure. An' I be lookin' at it too." The little guy said. "'Twill take a deal o' work to put it to rights."
"I won't be able to." Bartholomew said sadly "I don't have a fraction of the fortune my ancestors did. I can barely afford to live here at all."
The leprechaun frowned and stroked his chin, then started going through his pockets (of which there were many). Finally he pulled out two small brown nuts.
"Now ye jus' saved me life sir, so dis may give ye a little help. 'Tis only right." He said, proffering them to Bartholomew.
"Well that most kind of you, but what is the point?" Bartholomew said somewhat puzzled.
"Now don' ye be askin' questions." the leprechaun laughed, wagging a finger. "Take 'em inside, and night o' next full moon place 'em exactly where de old gate posts were. Don't bury 'em just leave 'em in the moonlight."
Bartholomew took them and was about to speak but was interrupted.
"No questions. No answers. Just do as I say, and I promise ye won' regret it". With that he stood on one leg, held his nose... and vanished.
Bartholomew wandered back up the drive to the house, and going inside dropped the nuts on a window ledge, and promptly forgot about them.
A couple of weeks later he woke suddenly in the middle of the night, to a rattling sound downstairs. Going down cautiously, he was surprised to see a bright ray of moonlight streaming in a window, but then was astonished to see the two nuts the leprechaun had given him bouncing against the window pane. What was more, they were no longer a dull brown but brilliantly silver.
He reached out, and as his hand shaded them they stopped moving and faded to dull brown. Withdrew his hand and they lit up again. He didn't really need to look, but yes, it was a full moon.
Remembering the leprechaun's words, he thew on a coat over his pajamas, picked up the nuts, and shuffled down the drive to the gateway in his slippers. As instructed, he placed the nuts on the remnants of the piers, and they immediately lit up, quickly becoming so bright it was too painful to look at them.
Shaking his head in wonderment, he went back to the house, and feeling strangely very tired went straight to bed and fell asleep.
It will come as no surprise that he overslept. However, he was eventually woken by a commotion outside. Looking out of the bedroom window he could see a crowd of people through the gates. Then he did a double take. Yes gates! Beautifully detailed black wrought iron gates with intricate gold leaf highlights, set in a stunning carved stone arch. The finishing touch was that the keystone carried the ancient family crest - something he'd not seen since he was a child.
He dressed, and went out for a closer look. To his further amazement he was able to open the gates with just the lightest touch. Everyone was smiling and congratulating him, until a burly man barged through scowling at everyone. He was Thomas Featherstonhaugh, a well known highly aggressive landowner.
"So you lied." He shouted at Bartholomew. "Claiming you were so poor you can hardly eat.", then gesturing at the gates "So how did these get here, fairies?".
"Well not quite." Bartholomew began.
"Leprechauns" An elderly lady piped up.
"You can shut up" Thomas spat out. "You and your stupid little people".
"Actually she's right" Bartholomew said firmly.
"What! You as well." Thomas bellowed red in the face "Have you lost your sanity as well as being a liar? And don't you poke your nose in." he gestured to the old lady, who was about to speak.
Bartholomew was an easy going person and generally avoided confrontation, but now he was really angry, moreso for the old lady, and indeed the entire village who lived in fear of this bully.
"All these people here I count as friends." He said firmly, drawing himself up to his full height (which was considerably greater than Thomas). "You are not. You are an insufferable bore, and a cowardly bully too."
Thomas was about to interject, but Bartholomew was really on a roll now.
"You are also trespassing on my property. You will leave immediately and never return."
Finally, to cheers from the crowd, "If you fail to do so, you will be forcibly removed".
Without a word, Thomas turned on his heel and marched swiftly away, the sound of the jeering crowd ringing in his ears.
Bartholomew felt a tug on his coat, and turned to see the old lady with a beaming smile on her face.
"The leprechaun, did he stand on one leg, hold his nose and disappear?" she asked.
"Why yes" Bartholomew replied enthusiastically.
"So that'd be old Niall." She said positively. "You are a lucky man, he is very frugal with his gifts so must have seen something worthy in you."
Gesturing at the gates, Bartholomew said "Well I must confess I'm very grateful, but I've no idea how two ordinary looking nuts could have been turned into this."
"Well clearly they've been proper gated." she grinned.
