The

McConles

Oops!  I tend to forget not every one reads ogham. *G*

The McConnels:

There, that's much better, huh?

The Guardian and Protector of The Clan, Tribe and Caer of Galloway County, Arkansas.

Caragh "Mike" Michaels-McConnel

An old friend of Blair Sandburg's from back in his early years at Rainier University, Caragh (or Mike, as she prefers) acted as Blair's "Big Sister" at first, then became a good friend and later, a roommate.  (Strictly platonic, sheesh!) 

Mike hails from a small town in Arkansas and was attending Rainy U as part of her pursuit to obtain her Ph.D. in Anthropology and Archeaology.  She did get her Doctorate in Anthropology, but not at Rainier.  She was called back home to Arkansas in the midst of a dig in New Mexico and, over the years, slowly lost contact with her "brother" Blayre.  (Yes, she calls him Blayre.)

Growing up in the rich enviroment of Galloway County, the seat of the Clan & Tribe, Mike always knew her extended family was a little -- different.  Her parents were killed in a freak auto accident when she was quite young but her maternal grandparents, Seamus and Maire/Moira Michaels, adopted her as their own and opened her eyes to the world of the Caer.   Caragh is trained as a Siomahka and a Guardian and until she got the call from home about a potential Protector's arrival in Galloway County, had pretty much resigned herself to never finding one.  The last one she knew, and worked with, had been her grandfather, Seamus. 

Shortly after her return to the Caer, Mike met Sean McConnel while helping the local Sheriff's Department on a manhunt for a federal fugitive.  Their relationship got off to a bad start, but through sheer stubborness, Mike wore down the defensive walls Sean had emplaced around his soul and they were married a little over a year after they first met.

Sean Patrick McConnel

A former active duty Marine, Sean originally hails from the mountain region of Virginia.  Mostly joined the Corps to escape rampant poverty and to gain an education.  It was while he was stationed at Camp LeJuene in North Carolina, that he had the happy occassion to meet a member of Caragh's extended Clan.  Gunnery Sergeant Thaddeus Flint.  Sgt. Flint noticed a few odd quirks about the young Marine assigned to his command (after a long, isolated stint a weather station in the South Atlantic) and managed to persuade the Marine to take an 'early-out' option on his enlistment and try to find a place to "relax, fish and basically get in touch with yourself."

Sean, not too keen on returning home and having listened to the Gunny's tales of the fishing in Arkansas, decided to take Flint up on his offer to stay with Flint's family in Willow Springs.  Within a few days of arriving in the small, yet active, college town Sean decided to stay for a long time and joined the Galloway County Sheriff's Department.  It was only a few weeks after returning from his time at the Police Academy that Sean met Mike McConnel -- totally unaware that he'd been pegged as a potential "Protector" by Mike's grandmother, Maire/Moira Michaels. 

Sheriff Leland "Lee" Andrews and his whole department, including Reserve Deputies, were called into action by the FBI and CIA to hunt down a federal fugitive in the extremely mountainous regions of Galloway County, Arkansas.   Given the 'inside scoop' on his newest deputy, Sheriff Andrews teamed McConnel up with one of his best Reservists -- Caragh Micheals.  While the federal agents insisted on tracking their fugitive in one direction, Micheals managed to convince McConnel to 'read the trails' and they tracked the supposedly unarmed, rogue agent to an old weapons depot in the back of beyond.  The fugitive was armed and easily managed to get the drop on the two officers of the law who'd tracked him, leaving both wounded when he left the abandoned depot with whatever it was he'd come for.  It was not a good start to the relationship of McConnel and Micheals and Sean hated the idea that his 'whacked out senses' had allowed the perp to take Caragh hostage.  Soon after their hospital stay, Caragh started bugging Sean about some old legends in the area, about a tribal Protector and the Guardian that always watched the Protector's backside and helped the Protector to understand and control their heightened senses.

After weeks of hounding by Caragh, and one too many episodes of lost time where he couldn't recall anything he'd done, Sean gave in and allowed her to test him for hyperactive senses.  He was a little surprised, and relieved, to find out he wasn't losing his mind, that he was, in essence, a Protector.  That Caragh was a trained Guardian and Siomanka {shaman in the old tongue} bothered him until she reassured him she could take care of herself.  They married roughly a year after they met for the first time. 

Guardian & Protector

In case you haven't figured it out by now, "Guardian" is the local term in Galloway County for a "Guide" and "Protector" is the local equivilant to a "Sentinel."  But you guessed that already, didn't you?  The Guardian not only helps the Protector but, in cases where they're also a Siomahka, they are also keepers of knowledge for the Clan & Tribe.  A history that goes back to ancient times before Columbus found the new world, a history that is kept in records that can only be read by those trained to decipher the words.