"The White Merle will show us the way."
"Ah, I see, it is a fairy tale. Well ... Oona, I will tell you a secret. I have heard the song of the White Merle!"
The child's eyes grew big with wonder and excitement.
"When? Where? Was it where the old yews are in the Upper Strath?"
"It was now here and now there."
"But when, when?"
"Whenever Alan called me 'Dream,' and the other names, I heard the song of the White Merle."
"Ah, it is you that I envy! Sorcha, do you think that if Nial called me beautiful names I should hear it, too?"
"I fear not, dearie ... not yet. Perhaps—perhaps if you called Nial those beautiful names he would hear the song."
"Then I will."