Kyle heard the leprechaun's snores after an evening meal of boiled beef, cabbage, and plentiful ale. He knew that the hours after the meal represented his best hope of getting into the library unobserved. He tiptoed past the dining hall. As he opened the door to the library, the heavy wooden door creaked on its hinges. Kyle imagined the creaking as louder than necessary to wake the leprechaun, but the little imp continued to snore fitfully.
Inside the library, he walked to the far wall and removed the heavy tome from the shelf. He had memorized its location and was relieved to find the book where he had last seen it. He carried the book to the leprechaun's desk and climbed into the little imp's chair. He began leafing through the parchment pages, which felt dry and crinkly to his touch. A single candle provided all the illumination he dared to use.
The early pages made for dull, unhelpful reading. He soon determined he wasn't dealing with a typical leprechaun. For instance, he had seen no evidence that his leprechaun wore a leather apron or manufactured shoes. He did note with grim satisfaction a mention of leprechaun greed and looked to the side of the desk where the self-centered sprite stacked its ledger books.
"How can I defeat him?" Kyle whined as he failed to find any quick answers.
A sudden breeze caused the candle to sputter and flipped through several pages before coming to rest on a section of the book titled "Vulnerabilities." He read more of the helpful page and learned that leprechauns are considered cowardly. If captured and threatened with bodily violence, these beings might submit to one's will.
Kyle groaned. Fat chance he had of using physical intimidation against the leprechaun, not when the sprite had wisely shrunk him down into the form of a weak-bodied boy.
"A-ha!" Kyle exclaimed in an excited boyish voice when he read a passage that might offer more substance for his efforts.
The book revealed that all leprechauns obtain their power from a horde of treasure that they keep concealed. "He might, if his captor keeps his eyes on him, reveal its hiding place," Kyle read aloud in his little boy voice.
Of course, the book hedged its bets. "But usually the captor is tricked into glancing away, and the fairy vanishes," Kyle read.
The boy giggled. "Fairy?" He kept reading and learned that leprechauns were simply a variety of fairy, a fact he found quite amusing. He stifled his laughter, however, so as to not chance discovery by the leprechaun.
He was ready to close the book when he read something else. Leprechauns, he read, rank as among the most spiteful and vengeful creatures. Crossing leprechauns can result in a wide range of magical curses being inflicted in retaliation by an indignant leprechaun.
"He's already turned me into a boy," Kyle thought to himself. "What else could he do to me?"
Nevertheless, he decided that he better be sure of his action, just in case. He would need to find the leprechaun's hidden treasure. Then, and only then, he could bargain from a position of strength.
He lugged the book back to the shelf. The heavy tome felt like it weighed more than the logs Kyle had to fetch three times a day to keep the leprechaun's fireplace equipped with wood for burning. After he placed the book back on the shelf, he returned to the desk and blew out the candle.
He was walking back down the hallway when he heard the snores cease and the leprechaun shift in his chair. "Boyo!"
Kyle hurried to the doorway. "Yes, master?"
"There you are," the leprechaun said, sounding relieved. He chose not to tell the boy a bad dream about Kyle discovering his horde of treasure.
He frowned at the boy as if looking for a reason to criticize. Finding none, he muttered an order for Kyle to clear the table. "When you're finished, bring me a snifter of my good brandy to my room," the leprechaun said and rose from the table.
Kyle began to instantly clear away the plates, dishes, and utensils, all the time while speculating about the location of the leprechaun's secret horde of treasure. He worked quickly, but he had just finished when he heard his lord and master bellow in his imperious voice. "Boyo! Where's my brandy?"
Kyle walked into the leprechaun's bedroom a few minutes later. He hated entering the dark, untidy room. The leprechaun never seemed to organize the room, but he also, strangely enough, never ordered Kyle to tidy in the bedroom. As Kyle placed the brandy snifter on the nightstand adjacent to the bed, he wondered if the leprechaun's treasure might be concealed within the messy room.
The leprechaun sipped the brandy and narrowed his eyes. "Off to bed with you, then," he said. "I won't be a-needing you 'til morning. Be sure you're up at cock's crow and draw me a hot bath. I'll be traveling tomorrow to settle accounts with some of my tenants who are in arrear in their payments."
Kyle tried to hide his excitement. He might have an entire day to search the leprechaun's home from top to bottom! He would be sure to find the treasure.
"Did you hear me, boyo?" The leprechaun asked and reached out to slap Kyle's little bare bottom. "Get yourself to bed," he said. "You'll need your rest, for I'll have plenty of tasks for you to do in my absence."
The leprechaun quaffed the remaining brandy. "Take that back to the kitchen before you go to bed," he said, handing the glass into the boy's small hands.