The Shadowmagic Trilogy. John Lenahan

air! The things you take for granted. I stood up, breathing deeply and stretching, while everyone else went to work.

      Dahy crawled under the wagon and brought out the weapons. Araf and Fergal went about stealing the two guards’ uniforms. The shocking bit was when Mom, Nieve and Essa started tarting themselves up. They unbuttoned their shirts and pushed up their cleavages. Essa and Mom put on skirts with revealing slits in them while Nieve started ripping one in hers.

      Essa caught me staring. ‘What are you looking at?’ she snapped.

      ‘What are you doing?’

      ‘We are blending in,’ Mom said, giving me a practice provocative smile. ‘Women of, how shall I say, dubious virtue are common in Castle Duir these days.’

      ‘Well,’ I said to Essa, ‘you look – great.’

      She didn’t return the compliment with a provocative look. It was more like an evil eye.

      ‘Conor,’ Dad said, ‘stop gawping at the women and help Dahy and me stow the barrels.’

      Dad was being his thorough self. They might not miss the guards, but if someone saw that the wine was still on the wagon, they might know something was up. I promised myself that I would have a word with Gerard about putting his wine in smaller barrels. Man, they were heavy.

      When we were finished, Dahy said, ‘I will stable the horse and then rejoin Gerard. Good luck.’ We hid behind the door as he left.

      Mom gave the naked guards a dose of Shadowmagic that would ensure they slept the rest of the day, and then Dad lined us up for an inspection. People like the women, Dad and me were commonplace in the castle, so we wouldn’t raise too much suspicion. Fergal looked just like the Banshee guard he had stolen the uniform from, but Araf was a problem. Imps were not very welcome in the castle and the guard uniform could not disguise the mop of sandy hair on his head – he stood out like a sore thumb. That’s when Mom pulled out the wig.