Jim sat quietly in the middle of the Fairy-Fort.

As time went by and nothing happened, he began to feel slightly foolish and just as he was about to give up, hundreds of tiny lights suddenly emerged from between the trees and swarmed around him!

Jim tried to remain calm and slowly raised his right arm. As one of the lights passed close to his nose, he quickly grabbed it.

The others fled.

The light in Jim's hand changed into a tiny person, with wings.

It was a real Fairy!

Jim saw that he had captured an old one and for a moment he felt guilty, but asked her about the things that had happened on his farm. He wanted to know why the Fairies were angry with him.

She replied by saying that it definitely wasn't the Fairies who had done those things, as they knew he was a very kind Human that didn't harm their home.

"Then who was it?" Jim sighed and he let the little Fairy go. To his surprise, she didn't fly away. She stayed and told him who she thought was responsible.

"It sounds like that no good Leprechaun, Shamus. He has been in this county for ages now, just waiting to annoy people."

"But why? I haven't done anything to him."

"You didn't have to," the Fairy replied. "Being one of the nice people, you are a certain target for his boldness. That's all those Leprechauns do, you know."

"So how can I stop him?"

"You know where the Ballynacally woods are, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Well, if you go there very early in the morning, you'll see his horse. Shamus lets it out when everyone's still in bed. It's pure white. It'll only be there for a short while, though, so you'll have to capture him quickly."

"Capture him! " Jim said with surprise. "But why?"

"Oh you see, Leprechauns trust nobody. Not even each other. They tend to hide all their treasures in their horses. Shamus has hidden all his jewels in his horse's mouth. He doesn't know that we know. If you steal his fortune, he'll get so mad that he'll want to leave this area for ever and if he does, all his doings will be undone."

"But how will I recognise the horse? I don't want to mistakenly take some other farmer's animal."

"Simple. All its teeth are made of jewels. Mostly diamonds. In fact, I think he calls the horse Diamond-tooth. Shamus pulled out all its teeth to make room for his precious stuff."

Farmer Jim thanked the Fairy and went home.

The next morning he got up really early, so early that he could hardly stay awake. After finding a good strong rope, he walked to the woods in Ballynacally.

The Fairy was right.

There in front of him was a white horse, casually eating the green grass. When it looked up and smiled, Jim saw its diamond teeth!

"Wow!" he muttered, then remembered what the Fairy had said. I'd better catch it quick, though.

He threw the rope around the horse's neck and led it away. The animal wasn't one bit bothered and gave Jim no trouble at all.

When Farmer Jim got back home, he locked the horse in one of the stables and remembered that the Fairy had said not to let it loose until he was sure that the Leprechaun had gone.

As soon as Shamus discovered that his precious horse, and fortune, had been stolen, he went absolutely crazy. Not knowing who exactly took it, made him even angrier!

For days and days he searched for his white horse until he eventually got fed up and decided to leave. He never wanted to see this part of the country again, so he clicked his fingers and disappeared in a puff of green smoke!

Everything then returned to normal.

As for Diamond-tooth...well, Farmer Jim let him loose and every so often, people would report seeing a strange white horse wandering about the countryside, with diamonds in its teeth.

The End.

Learn more about this author, A.J. Carron.
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