Across the Road

[Palustris]

Across the Road.

            For the hundredth time at least since I came to live with the Fairies, I looked at the cup of the Elf drink which I drank every day. As I slowly sipped it I wondered what went into the making of it. .I knew that the secret had been given to the Fairies many, many years ago by the Elves before they disappeared. Even the Fairies did not know where the Elves had gone. They only knew, that, as Man felled the trees, the Elves, who called themselves ‘The people of the Trees’ had left for a place where Man could never go. No-one had seen an Elf since that day. The Elf Gift was very special. It had cured me of the disease which was slowly killing me.

            Across the table my wife, Princess Larkspur, was finishing off her breakfast and going through a list of things she needed. She was going away for a few days to stay with her sister, Princess Holly. The Princess was due to give birth any day soon.

            “I have arranged for Peablossom to bring you your Elf drink and to make sure you eat properly, “she said.  “And don’t sigh like that, you know you will forget if you get interested in something.”

            She was right, I often forgot to eat when I was busy writing, but Peablossom was one of those managing females who always seem to be in a bad mood.

            I suppose I ought to say who I am before going on with the story. My name is Shovelock Ellis Hewletts. I used to be a Professor of Entomology before I was magically reduced in size and came to live with the Fairies.  I had first met them as a boy and then spent all my life looking for them, without success until I tried one last time when I became ill.  I do not know how it happened, but this time I succeeded. After a few adventures I was very fortunate to marry Princess Larkspur and since then I had completed an English/Fairy Dictionary and was now busy writing a history of the Fairies.

            This was really for my benefit rather than theirs. Fairies do not die, at least not of old age. They can be killed. Their lives are full of danger.. They are at risk from birds, wasps, frogs, toads, shrews, dragonflies; indeed any creature which will eat insects will take a Fairy.  They can remember everything which happens to them in their often very long lives and that knowledge is passed on to their children who remember it too. That is why I can write a history of them, the oldest Fairy knows of events right back to before Man appeared on the scene.

            King Adonis is the oldest living Fairy. I call him King, but that is not really correct. In Fairy he is called “Eldest.” I refer to his daughters as ‘Princesses’, but they are not princesses in the same way as the daughters of a human King are. If Adonis was killed, the next leader would be the next eldest Fairy, not Larkspur, the eldest daughter. The next king lives somewhere in one of the other nests in the garden.

            So, back to the story.

                        “There is no need to worry, Juniper and Thistle are going with me,” went on Larkspur. “They are the best of Father’s guards.”

            “I know, but I still worry about you when you are away. There are so many dangers out there.” I replied.

            “Silly man. Now give me a kiss and I’ll be on my way.”

            I did as I was told. “Give my love to Holly and Willowby.”

            “I will,” Then with a whirr of her wings she was gone.

            I finished off my breakfast and went to see King Adonis. As usual he was sat in his room in his favourite chair. I often thought of it as his throne as it was far more than just a chair. Someone had carved a single piece of wood into a high backed chair. The arms had been made to look like Stoats whilst the back was covered in carvings of mice doing all sorts of mouse activities. The legs were even more fanciful, looking like flower stems with all kinds of flowers peeping out from between the leaves. I often wondered about the chair as there did not seem to be any Fairies who went in for wood carving like that.  Whenever I had asked about the chair though, the king had changed subjects and not really answered. If anything he looked rather embarrassed by it so I stopped asking.

            “Good morning, sire “I said.

            “Ah yes, so it is. Today is the day when I become a grandfather, or maybe that will be tomorrow, “smiled Adonis. “We can but wait and see what happens.”

            Then he became more business like. “Unfortunately I am not going to be able to carry on telling you the history of my people until later. I am expecting some visitors.”

            There was a knock on the door and a guard came in. “They are here, sire.”

            “Oh dear!” said Adonis. “They are early. Er, tell them I will be with them in a moment.”

            The guard went out.

            To me Adonis said, “I am sorry, I meant to send you a message to ask if you would keep to your rooms today, at least until I sent for you. Would you mind going into my bedroom for a while?”

            “No problem.” I smiled.

            King Adonis opened the door to his room for me and ushered me in. “And please, whatever you do, do not come out or make a sound until I come in for you.”

            I went in and he closed the door behind me. This was intriguing. I had never been in this room before so I had a good look round. There was the usual sort of bed the Fairies used in one corner, another carved chair like the throne. It was not as much decorated, but still a fine looking piece of furniture.

            All round the rest of the room were shelves full of carved wooden objects. There was every kind of animal from shrews to foxes all beautifully carved. On another shelf was a whole set of wooden spoons. I picked one up to look more closely. The handle was carved to look like the stem of a plant with tiny leaves pressed against it and the spoon part was an opened out flower. I have never seen anything so delicately made.  Carefully I put the spoon back. On a third shelf was a set of wooden cups and plates, fairly plain, but perfectly made. The whole room was full of carvings. On a desk next to the bed was a Chess board with the pieces set up for a game. I sat on the bed and picked up the pieces, one by one to examine them more closely. The workmanship was of incredibly high quality. Again I wondered where they had come from. No where in the nest had I ever seen any other carvings at all, never mind ones as wonderful as these.

            The sound of voices in the throne room stopped and a few seconds later the door opened and King Adonis came in. I was still fingering one of the chess men. He almost leapt across the room and held out his hand. “Please!” he said. I handed over the piece and he very carefully replaced it on the board. “Come, my visitors have gone.”

            It was obvious he wanted me out of his room.

            The door was shut firmly behind me. I was about to ask about the carvings, but something in his face stopped me.  I could see that I would get no answers. There was a mystery here.

            “Sorry about that, but my visitors are a bit shy.”

            He sat on the throne and indicated I should sit on the stool next to it.

            For a few moments he sat and looked at the floor and rubbed his hand over the head of the stoat carving.  Then he shook himself and took a deep breath. “Now I had better explain. My visitors were Hedge Fairies. They don’t live in the garden they roam up and down the hedge along the road. We trade with them for things which are not found here and supply them with clothes and things that they do not make.  Living on the edge like they do makes them a bit ‘wild.’”

            “In what way?” I had never met these Hedge fairies. They had never even been mentioned till now.

            “Well, for example, you know the Law which says that a human who sees a Fairy must be killed?” Adonis replied.

            I nodded. I knew that I should have been killed when I first met the Fairies. The reason I was spared was because I had saved the life of a Fairy and I had to be allowed to live until that Fairy repaid the debt. In fact I had saved the lives of three Fairies, King Adonis’ daughters to be exact.

            “Surely they obey the Law that says I cannot be put to death until your daughter’s debt is paid?” I asked.

            King Adonis hesitated, “Er, yes, but they still prefer not to be seen by a human even one who is now an honorary Fairy. We don’t want to upset them so it is better that you keep out of sight when they come to trade.”

            “Fair enough, I would hate to cause any friction between you and them. What do they bring?” I asked.

            King Adonis reached down by the side of the throne and brought up a bag. “These are probably the most important of the things they trade.” He opened the bag to show me what looked like a lot of tiny yellow balls. I reached out to take one, but Adonis snatched away the bag before I could touch them. “No, no, no, you must not touch them. They are very, very poisonous until they have been treated.”

            This was fascinating. “What are they?”

            “They are a kind of fungus which grows inside the trunk of Yew trees. That is the only place they are found. These come from the big one by the old Priory. Do you know the one I mean?”

            I nodded. There was a huge and very ancient Yew tree down the road some distance from the Garden. All that was left now of the Priory was one wall, next to the tree. No-one could decide if the tree was holding up the wall or the wall was holding up the tree.

            “What are they used for?”

            “Believe it or not, they are one of the main things we use to make the Elf Gift. Once they have been cooked, they are no longer poisonous.” The King laughed. “Odd I suppose to think of something which is so deadly being so important in something which keeps us healthy.”

            There was a knock on the door and Peablossom bustled in. She never walked, she always bustled.   I always felt she was hoping to find people doing something they should not be doing, so she could sniff and say “Typical.”

            She sniffed and pointed at the bag in King Adonis’ hand. “We need that down in the kitchens. “

            “Sorry,” said the King and handed it over.

            Peablossom sniffed again and took the bag and bustled out.

            King Adonis looked at me and shook his head. “You would not believe how different she is to her sister, the Princess’s mother. I sometimes think she blames me for her death.” He looked sad for a moment. “Ah, well, let’s get on with this History thing.”

 

[Palustris]

Chapter 2

The Great Storm.

 

            Even the Fairies, who were pretty good at forecasting the weather, did not see the Great Storm coming. It seemed to blow up from nowhere and hit before anyone could do anything about it.  It woke me up just after midnight. The whole room was shaking. I had great difficulty in standing up straight as the floor heaved and bucked.  The noise was tremendous. As best as I could I struggled into my clothes

The whole of the Honeysuckle in which the Fairy nest was built, felt as if it was coming loose from the house wall, up which it was growing. There were bangs and crashes as things tore loose. One crash made the whole Nest vibrate. As I was wondering what to do, Blackthorn, one of the Kings guards, opened the bedroom door.

“Prof!”  Funny how they all called me that rather than by my name, but it did sound like a Fairy word for ‘old man’. He had to really shout to make himself heard. “Everyone is making their way down the stem to the ground. Can you help get the youngsters down there? “

I nodded.

“And whatever you do, don’t let them fly. There is no knowing where they might end up if the wind catches them.”

I made my way to the youngsters sleeping chamber. They were huddled in one corner. Shouting as loudly as I could I got them into a line. There was a length of spider silk rope on the floor. I used it to tie them all together. Like that, we made our way down the Honeysuckle stem to the ground, keeping as best we could to the more sheltered side between the wall and the plant. In some ways it was easier for me, being used to walking everywhere than it was for the sprites (young male fairies who have just got their wings). In normal weather they would have just flown down. Fortunately the Honeysuckle stem was old and offered plenty of hand holds. Still, it was a long hard climb to the ground.

There I found all the others of the Nest, huddled against the House wall.

            It was almost impossible to make one’s voice heard. King Adonis was trying to explain something to one of his guards, but the wind noise was too great. I made my way over to him.

            For a precious few seconds, the wind dropped and I could hear him. “There is a disused mouse hole, just behind the Honeysuckle root. We must get everyone in there. We should be safe in there.”

            With a bit of pushing and shoving, very soon everyone was organised into the hole. It was dark and dirty, but out of the wind and at least a bit quieter. Then the rain began to fall. Raindrops are a not problem to Fairies. They are too small and light for the water to damage them. However, this was not the normal sort of rainfall. This was more like someone pouring water out of a bucket. Very soon water began to run into the mouse hole.  Within a few minutes it was ankle deep.

            “We need to get up higher, “said King Adonis. “Follow the passage along, it comes out under the floor boards of the house. We should be safe in there.”

            We spent the rest of the night huddled together, in the space under the floorboards of the House, uncomfortable and dirty, but safe at least.

            The storm passed over almost as quickly as it had arrived and by the morning it had stopped raining and the wind, though still strong was not as severe. The water stopped coming in through the mouse hole entrance and we able to come out into the daylight. The Honeysuckle was still attached to the House wall and surprisingly it had lost very few leaves. Everyone climbed back up to see what damage the nest itself had suffered. There was less damage than we had feared, mostly from things falling over. However, the place was in a terrible mess.

            I was more worried about Larkspur than the breakages in my room, but King Adonis assured me that no-one had been killed. There were a few broken bones and a lot of bruises, but nothing that a dose of Elf Gift could not cure.

            My room did not take long to tidy and I went to see how King Adonis was getting on tidying his rooms.  The throne was lying on its side in one corner of the room. Blackthorn was trying to lift it, so I helped and soon we had it back on its feet. King Adonis was in his bedroom. I knocked and went in. He had managed to push his bed back in place, but all his carvings were scattered across the room. I helped him pick them up. We piled them on the bed. “I will put them in place later,” he said.  None of them appeared damaged, but I could see that he was going to spend a long time looking at each one very carefully. They obviously meant a lot to him.

            He shook his head “Bad night that. We will have a lot of repairs to make..”

We went back into the throne room. The door was pushed open, and very unusual for her. Peablossom came in, looking very worried and not even bustling as she normally did.

            “You have better come and look at this," she said

            We followed her down to the store room. It was a mess. A large piece of wood had smashed through the wall and completely destroyed all the containers along one side. The Fairy ladies were busy picking up bottles and jars and small barrels. These contained the pollen and nectar and other foodstuffs which the Nest stored for winter use.

            “What was in those barrels?” I asked, pointing to the destroyed ones.

            Grimly, Peablossom replied, “All our newly made Elf Gift for the rest of the year.”

            King Adonis nodded and walked over to examine the ruined barrels. There was not a drop of Elf Gift left.

            “Can you not make more?” I asked.

            “Not without more Yew Fungus,” said Peablossom. “The Hedge Fairies only bring enough for one brewing at a time as the fungus is too dangerous to store.”

            “Will the other nests have some to spare?” I wondered.

            King Adonis shook his head. “All the Elf Gift is made here and we send it out to the other nests. Those barrels were to go out today. The other Nests will only have small amounts left over from the last brewing.”

            “Do none of the other nests make it then? I asked.

            “No, the Hedge fairies were not comfortable going round all the other nests and said that they would only bring the Yew Fungus here. And the stuff is so dangerous that we thought it better if it was kept in just one Nest in case of accidents. Every Fairy knows how to make Elf Gift, but they don’t need to do it. Perhaps we were wrong.”

            “Well, you had better see if the Hedge Fairies will collect some more for us and soon,“  said Peablossom.

[Palustris]

Chapter 3

After the Storm.

            King Adonis and I made our way back to the throne room. It was packed with Fairies. I knew most of them by sight.  I recognised Aruncus, the Elder of Rowan Nest. He looked very tired and, oddly for a Fairy, rather untidy and dirty.

            He saw me looking and came across, “Forgive my looks,” he said. “Rowan Nest was destroyed in the Storm. “

            Seeing my look of horror, he quickly went on. “No-one was seriously injured. We managed to get out before it happened. The rest of the Nest are out collecting up our belongings from where the wind has dropped them. “

Before I could say anything, King Adonis stood up and began to speak. The room went quiet.

            “I am pleased to see you all and delighted that there have been no serious injuries. Rowan Nest, was destroyed, but everyone escaped. I am sure we will all help re-build when our own nests are repaired. In the meantime the people from there are welcome to move in with us. It will be a little crowded, but I am sure we can manage.”

“They can come to us, “ called the Willow Nest Elder. Others added their invitations too.

Rowan Nest Elder bowed his thanks.

“However, that can be sorted out later. I have some very, very bad news that concerns us all.” Adonis was speaking again.

All talking stopped

“The storm has destroyed all of this years brewing of Elf Gift. Until we can get some more Yew Fungus, we will not be able to supply you with any. I suggest that what stocks you have in your Nests you use only for emergencies. I have sent a messenger to the Hedge Fairies to ask them to collect more for us.”

There was a moment of stunned silence then all the Elders began talking at once, shouting questions at King Adonis.

He held up a hand to silence them. “It is not all bad news though, during the storm my daughter Holly, of Willow nest gave birth to twin boys.”

This was a surprise, Fairy twins are extremely unusual. In fact I did not know of any others at all.

“Now, despite the Storm our ladies here have managed to conjure up some food for everyone. We can continue our discussions after lunch.”

Later that afternoon, I was back in the throne room after saying goodbye to the last of the visitors. King Adonis was slumped on the throne. He had been working very hard, sorting out as many of the problems caused by the Storm as he could.

            “I am glad we only get storms like that once every two hundred years or so, “he said. “I remember the last one and that was bad enough.”

The throne room door burst open and in marched three Fairies.  They were dressed in dark clothing and had much longer hair than any Fairies I had seen before. I guessed these were the famous Hedge Fairies. There was no time for me to leave, so I stood very still and hoped they would not see me behind the throne.

            “We have dreadful tidings, “said one. “The storm blew down the Wall and that brought the Yew tree down. Men have been there all day cutting up the tree trunk and taking it away. When they had gone we went to look, what is left of the Yew is covered in stone from the wall. Try as we might we cannot get to it. There is no Yew Fungus.”

            “No!” said King Adonis.

            “Yes!” replied the Hedge Fairy. “And we have very little Elf Gift left for ourselves. Your messenger said that all the new stuff had been destroyed.”

            “It has, “said King Adonis grimly. “We have none for ourselves, so none to give you either. Are there no other Yew trees around?”

            “None that we know of,” replied the Hedge Fairy. “You know what it means to have no Elf Gift?”

            “Only too well, “said King Adonis.

            The Hedge Fairy was about to say something else, but King Adonis cut him off. “Go down to the Store room and see Peablossom, she will give you anything you need. “

            The Hedge Fairies nodded and turned to leave.

            “Oh and please say nothing of this to anyone else, just yet.” King Adonis sounded very worried.

            As they left he slumped down on to the throne.  I came out from where I had been standing quietly.  I had never seen him look so down hearted.

            “There is something more to this Elf Gift than just a cure for all sorts of illnesses, isn’t there?” I asked.

            “It does get our clothes clean,” he replied in a feeble attempt to cheer things up.  He shook his head. “I have often thought that the Elf Gift was a practical joke that the Elves played on us. They were a strange folk who thought only of themselves and never did anything for anyone else. You can imagine my ancestors surprise when the Elves told us how to make the drink. Of course they were suspicious, but after talking about it for a long time and after every Fairy in the whole Nation had agreed, we started using it. And, it worked, it kept us healthy as they said it would.”

            “And got your clothes clean!” I added.

            He gave a sad sort of chuckle. “Yes, that too. But clean clothes come at a price. The Elf Gift is what has made us what we are.”

            “I am, sorry, I don’t follow. “I frowned.

            King Adonis went on. “Have you ever heard of stories told by humans, of the little people?”

            “Yes, “I said. “They were Fairy folk……………….Ah I see. You were the little people.”

            King Adonis nodded. “We were once much, much taller than we are now, say about half the size of a normal human.  Before humans came we lived happily along side the elves. They were people of the deep woods and we lived in the open glades. There was no conflict between us. Then your people came and began chopping down the trees.  Of course we tried to be friendly with them, but something went wrong. Stories began to appear that we stole human babies. That was something that no Fairy would ever do. “

            “I have heard that story myself,” I said.

            He ignored the interruption and went on. “Worse still was the idea that we had underground stores full of treasure.” He shook his head. “As if any self respecting Fairy would even think of going under the ground. And, gold is a human need, not a Fairy one.”

            He sighed, “So rather than wait to be killed we chose the Elf Gift and allowed it to work on us. Gradually we got smaller and smaller until we disappeared. Then there were no more little people, only tiny Fairies, too small for humans to take any notice of. The oddest thing about getting small like this was the appearance of wings. As little people we walked like men, now we fly.”

            I walked up and down the room in front of the throne. “So it is the Elf Gift which makes you small?”

            “And keeps us that way,” said King Adonis. “Without it we will begin to go back to our old size.”

            “How soon?”

            He shook his head. “No-one knows. We have never run out of the Yew Fungus before.”

            I carried on pacing up and down the throne room. “Does the fungus grow in all Yew Trees?”

            “I don’t know. Once upon a time there was a whole row of them alongside the Priory, but gradually they were taken down or died. I would have to ask the Hedge Fairies. But so what, the last Yew has gone.”  He sounded close to tears.

            “I know where there are more Yew trees, “I said.

            He sat up. “Where?”

            “There are three in the Church Yard. All big and old and looked after carefully since they are the oldest trees in the County. My people may have cut down a lot of trees, but Yew holds a special place in our hearts.”

            King Adonis leapt from the throne and raced out of the room, leaving me alone. He did not even stop when his crown fell off on the stairs. I went and picked it up. It was the first time I had been able to get a close look at it, as he always wore it. Unlike a human kings head gear it was not made of gold or silver. It had been carved from a gold coloured wood. It was a very simple design of Honeysuckle leaves and stems. The workmanship was superb. Once again I found myself wondering why I had never seen any of the Fairies carving wood like this.

            Before I could do more than hang the crown on the arm of the throne, King Adonis was back. “I do wish those Hedge Fairies would come and talk to you themselves. Silly stubborn old fashioned things.”

            “Well, what did they say?”

            He sighed, “They do not know either. They said that all the Yew trees by the Priory had it, but they have never seen any other Yews to be sure.  The only way to be sure is to go and look.”

            “Simple then, I said, “Ask them to go and look.”

            King Adonis shook his head. “They can’t. They say that no matter how hard they have tried, they cannot cross the road. And the Churchyard is on the other side of the road.”

            “Why can’t they cross the road? I know Fairies do not cross open spaces because of the danger of being out in the open, but the road between here and the Church is only a narrow lane.” I was puzzled.

            “They keep repeating ‘Go and try it for yourself.’ So tomorrow we will do just that.”

[Palustris]

Chapter 4

The Bridge

            I was awakened by Blackthorn at first light. “I have brought you some breakfast. King Adonis is in the Throne Room, he wants you to join him as soon as you are ready.”

            I scrambled into my clothes, crammed the piece of bread and honey into my mouth and ran to the throne room.  There was quite a crowd in there. I was about to enter when I noticed that the Elder of the Hedge Fairies was there too.

            “Come in Professor,” said Adonis. “The Hedge Fairies have decided that if we accept you as an honorary Fairy then they can too.”

            I bowed to Hedge Fairy Elder and he bowed back.

            “Good,” said Adonis. “Now everyone here knows that we have no Elf Gift and that the Yew tree has been destroyed so there is no more Yew Fungus to be had from there. The Professor here tells me that there are Yew Trees in the churchyard. However, the Hedge Fairies tell me that they cannot cross the road.  Has anyone here ever tried to cross it?”

            Everyone shook their heads.

            “Is there no way of getting to the Churchyard without crossing the road?” asked one of the Fairies.

            It was the Hedge Fairy who answered. “The garden is triangular in shape. Along the Eastern side is a very large wide road and coming from that and going past the house is a smaller one. The third side is the river. “

            “The lane crosses the river over an old bridge, “I said.  “You say you cannot cross over the road but could you go under it, along the river, then up the other side to the Churchyard?”

            The Hedge Fairy Elder looked thoughtful. “I don’t know. We have never needed to go onto the other side of the road. Everything we need we can get from the hedges on this side.”

            “Well, there is only one way to find out, someone will have to go and look," said King Adonis. "Professor would you,  Blackthorn, Dandelion and Agrimony go and look at the Bridge. I will go with the Hedge Folk and see what happens when a Fairy tries to cross the road."

            The three guards and I went outside.  Blackthorn and Agrimony took my arms and with Dandelion keeping a watch out for danger we flew off down to the Bridge. Fairies never fly more than a few feet from the ground because of the danger from birds, wasps and other insect eaters, but even from that height it was easy to see the damage that the Storm had done to the garden. There were broken branches and leaves all over the place.

            In some places our way was blocked by large branches meaning we had to fly through the between the twigs. I do not like being flown about at the best of times, but when your feet are only just missing jagged ends of broken twigs, it is even less pleasant. However, my two pilots were very careful and though I was brushed by a few leaves, I did not suffer any damage.

            Despite their small size, or perhaps because of it, it did not take long to reach the River bank.

            “We had better walk now,“ said Dandelion. “There are too many pests along here."
            My arms were glad of the rest and from the redness of their faces I think Agrimony and Blackthorn were glad to put me down.

            The River was almost to the top of the bank. A few more inches and it would have overflowed into the garden.  The water was no longer the clear liquid trickling past the places where I used to sit and watch trout swimming along.  Instead it was brown and full of bits of branches. All along the bank there were huge patches of dirty, off-white foam. I watched as a discarded crisp packet raced past us, faster than any Fairy could fly. We had to shout to make ourselves heard above the roar of the water.

            “I have never seen it like this before! “I shouted to Blackthorn. “I would not like to fall in there.”

            He shook his head. ”Dandelion is right we had better walk, the wind is blowing towards the water.”

            Progress was much slower on foot, trampling through long wet grass. Soon we were all soaked to the skin.

            “At least this wind had blown away the spiders,” shouted Dandelion. “So, we should be safe. Just keep your eyes open for Newts. There is nothing the small ones like better than Fairy.”

            We stopped for a rest in the shelter of a large stone. Blackthorn produced a flask and offered me a drink. I took a sip and nearly choked. It was both bitter and sweet at the same time and very strong. He laughed. “Good stuff that! Soon warm you up.!”

            He was right, I felt a nice warm sensation spreading out from my insides. “Never tasted that before,” I said.

            Black thorn looked a bit shamefaced. “Yes, well, Adonis does not approve of it, so we have to make it in secret. Don’t say anything, please.”  The other two drank from the flask and Blackthorn carefully put it back inside his jacket.

            Feeling a little warmer and a bit more cheerful we stepped back out into the wind and carried on.  There were no scares and soon we reached the Bridge.

            Before the storm the river had run gently over a Weir under the arch of the bridge.  The water normally touched both sides of the bridge, so there was no bank underneath. Now the water was roaring under the arch just a few feet from the road. The noise of the water was deafening. Worse still was the strength of the wind as it howled between the Bridge and the water. We found a place out of the wind behind a clump of grass.  Dandelion took out a length of Spider web rope from his back-pack. He tied it round his waist and gave the other end to Blackthorn and Agrimony.  He picked up a leaf, and stepped out into the wind and let go of the leaf. It disappeared in an instant under the Bridge. He almost followed it, as a sudden gust of wind caught hold of him. I grabbed the rope and it took all three of us to pull him back into the shelter of the grass.

            “I don’t think we are going to be able to get to the other side of the road that way,“he said, when ha had got his breath back. “We had better get back and report."

[Palustris]

Chapter 5

The Road.

            We got back to the Nest at the same time as the group which had gone to look at the road. From the expressions on their faces I guessed that their news was as bad as ours.. Nothing was said, however, as we climbed up to the Throne room.  While we were gone the room had been cleaned and tidied.  There was even a table set with food and drinks. No-one seemed to want anything to eat though.

            King Adonis sat on the throne. “Well, can we get under the Bridge to the other side of the road?”

            Dandelion spoke. “Sorry, Sire, but there is no way it can be done. “He described what we had seen.

            “What about the road?” I asked.

            King Adonis shook his head. “It is terrible. The Hedge fairies are right. We cannot cross the road. We could go right up to the edge with no difficulty, but not one of us could step on to the road surface itself.”

            He went on to tell how he had tied a rope round his waist and walked out on to the road. After only a few steps he had collapsed and had to be hauled back to the grass verge. The same thing had happened to one of the Willow Nest elders who tried. A hedge fairy managed to get a little further out, but he too had to be hauled back. Then they tried to fly over the road, but again, as soon as the fairy went over the road surface, he felt faint and had to land in a hurry. The effect was the same for a female fairy as well. They sent one of the strongest fliers to see if they could fly high enough to be safe, but even she could not escape the effect.

            He finished by saying that they had managed to fetch a small piece of the road back with them to see if there was anyone in any of the nests who was safe from it.

            I was a bit puzzled. “What is it like?”

            King Adonis took a deep breath. “It is hard to explain really. But you know that all Fairies can sense all other Fairies?

            I nodded.

            “Well, “he went on.” As soon as I got on to the road, I could no longer feel any of them. It was like having my brain torn out of my head. And the longer I stayed on the road the worse it got, until I fainted.”

            “May I see the piece of road?” I asked.

            Two hedge fairies brought over a wooden box. I noticed that they both had thick leather gloves on. They put the box down in front of me. I started to lift the lid.

            “Wait,” said the King. “Give us time to get as far away as we can. You don’t want a room full of unconscious people.”

            He and the elders moved to the other side of the room. I opened the box. Inside, wrapped in the foil from a discarded cigarette packet, was a small piece of tar. I picked it up and examined it. I turned towards the Elders. “It is just an ordinary bit of tar,” I was astonished to see them back away and go pale. Quickly I wrapped it up and put it back in the box. There was a collective sigh of relief when I closed the lid.

            “Well, “I said. “It looks very much as if the only one who can cross the road is me. And the sooner I start the sooner we will know of there are any Fungi in the Yew trees in the Church Yard.

            Once again I was flown by Blackthorn and Agrimony accompanied by some of the Elders and the Hedge Fairies. Soon we were all gathered at the edge of the road.  Only the Hedge Fairies looked at ease. “We have lived alongside the road all our lives,” one explained to me, “So the tarmac, as you call it, has less effect on us.”

            An Elder handed me a pair of stout leather gloves. “You must not touch the Fungus with your bare hands,” he warned. “It is very, very dangerous.” Another Fairy gave me a back pack and a thorn sword. “You never know, there are a lot of hungry birds about.”

            “Get down!” shouted another Hedge Fairy. “Car!”

            A second later a vehicle went rushing past, leaving a cloud of dust swirling in a powerful breeze. Those who had not grabbed hold of a grass stalk were swept off their feet. One elder was sucked on to the road where he collapsed.

`           No-one moved for a moment and I realised that the only one who could go to his rescue was me. I ran out on to the tarmac and grabbed the poor man under the arms and dragged him back on to the grass verge. A Hedge Fairy produced a precious flask of Elf Gift and gave the poor old man a small sip. He sat up and scuttled away from the road on his backside until he reached the safety of the garden hedge. If he had not looked so utterly terrified it would have been funny.

            Before anyone could move another vehicle went past and another cloud of dust spread across the verge. We all retreated to the safety of the garden hedge.

            “I don’t think I am going to get across the road safely. This is a busy time of the day.” I said to King Adonis. He agreed. “If one of those came along when you were in the middle, even if it did not hit you, you could be blown along and badly injured. But you are the only one who can cross the road. We have to find a way.”

            Suddenly a thought struck me. “What day is it?”

            “Saturday, of course. Why?” The King looked puzzled.

            “I don’t suppose you know what time it is.” I asked.

            He looked up at the Sun. “It is before midday. Why? Surely the day and time don’t matter?”

            “They do if I am to get over to the Church in safety. Mrs. Grimshaw, the Housekeeper goes to the Church to do the flowers for Sunday.  After lunch every Saturday she rides her ‘bike over the road. Then she goes to her Sister’s for afternoon tea, then she cycles home afterwards. The whole thing takes about two hours. So if I can get on to the flowers she will carry me safely across the road and with any luck I can come back with her.”

            “That certainly sounds a lot safer than trying to walk across the road, “agreed King Adonis.

            “She keeps her bicycle in a lean-to just by the back door of the house. Can you fly me there?”

            The Hedge Fairies were not happy going near to the House so they stayed behind to look after the Elder who was still very shaky.

            The bicycle was still in the shed when we arrived. We did not have long to wait before Mrs. Grimshaw came out of the house. She carried a huge bunch of flowers. She put the bunch down on the path while she wheeled her bicycle out of the lean-to. Quickly I crawled into it and hid myself among the leaves. Soon I felt myself being lifted and placed in the basket on the front of the handlebars. I crawled to the top of one of the flowers and watched as we made our way over the road to the Church. A small black beetle pushed me out of the way and settle down to munch on the yellow pollen in the centre of the flower.

            Very soon we arrived at the Church. Mrs. Grimshaw dismounted and pushed the bicycle along the path from the gate to the side door. We passed under the branches of the Yew trees I was going to explore. She leant her cycle up against the Church wall and picked up the bunch of flowers. I saw her face getting closer and closer to the flower in which I was hiding.

            “Ugh!” I heard her say and then the bunch of flowers was shaken hard. Both the pollen beetle and I fell. I remember thinking how useful wings would have been as I tumbled. The landing knocked all the breath out of me. As I lay on the path, the last thing I saw was a great big black shoe sole coming towards me.

 

[Palustris]

Chapter 6

A Surprise Rescuer.

            I woke to find myself lying on a quite comfortable bed. For a moment I thought that I was back in my room in Honeysuckle Nest. Then the pain reminded me. I felt very battered and bruised. I tried to sit up, but failed. I must have groaned.

            “Ah!” someone said. “Awake at last. “

            I tried to sit up again.

            “I think you had better stay lying down for a while longer. You have a lot of bruises, but there is nothing broken.”  The speaker stayed in the shadows so I could not see who it was.

            “Where am I? And what happened?” I asked.

            The speaker chuckled, “You look as if you have been trodden on.”

            I remembered. “Mrs. Grimshaw, she tried to kill the pollen beetle and I was in a flower with it. But where am I now?”

            “Before I answer any of your questions, I would like some answers from you,” went on the speaker. “What I would like to know is what a human has done to become as small as you. And, how come a human is wearing Fairy made clothes, carrying a Fairy back-pack which had in it a flask of Elf Gift.”

            I gasped. “The Elf Gift, is it all right?

            “Sorry," he replied sadly. ”When you were stood on, it was crushed and all the contents leaked out.”

            I groaned. “That was very, very precious. There is so little of it left. Please who are you?”

            “No answers yet. Stop me if I wrong. You are a Human, who lives with the Fairies in the Garden.  Fairy Law says that any human who sees a Fairy must be put to death. You are still alive so a Fairy must be in debt to you, which means that I cannot kill you.”

            “I saved King Adonis’ daughters when I was first reduced in size, so I was allowed to live. Now they think of me as a sort of wingless Fairy and I married Princess Larkspur, his eldest daughter. But, please I am wasting time. I have to find if there is any of the Yellow Fungus in the Churchyard Yews and get it back to the Garden. I am supposed to get back with Mrs. Grimshaw when she has finished the flowers.” I tried to get up, but I was too stiff.

            The speaker stepped into the light where I could see him and held me down, gently. “Sorry, but you have been unconscious for a long time. Today is Sunday, Mrs. Grimshaw went home yesterday afternoon, as usual. Now just lie still and let the Elf Gift heal you. As good as it is, it still takes time you know.”

            Now that he was stood in the light I could see his face. It was strangely familiar. Somehow I felt I had met this Fairy before. One thing he said struck me though. “You have Elf Gift? Then there are Fungus growing in the Yews?”

            “Yes and yes,” he said with a smile. “And I am afraid that it is time for you to have another drink of it.”

            He gently lifted my head and held a small cup to my lips. The liquid was incredibly bitter. “No, don’t spit it out, it really is Elf Gift, my version.”

            It obviously was as I began to feel better almost immediately.

            “Introductions I think,” he said. “My name is Bilberry and this is my home. My wife is out collecting a few herbs, but she will be back soon.”

            I felt much stronger and in less pain, after the Elf Gift, so I sat up. He handed me my clothes and I quickly dressed. “Professor Hewletts was my name, but most people just call me Prof now.” We shook hands.

            “Hewletts, mmm. That was the name of the family which owned the House and Garden across the road., said Bilberry.

            I nodded. “I did, I suppose I still do really, but I turned it into a sanctuary so the Fairies could not be disturbed.” I looked around the room. It was full of carved wooden objects. I looked closely at the wooden cup which he had given me to drink the bitter Elf Gift from. It was beautifully carved. I was sure I had seen carved things like this before. Then it struck me.  “Did you make this?” I asked.

            He nodded.

            “And all the others?” I waved a hand at the room.

            He nodded again.

            “And all the ones in the throne room and the King’s bedroom in Honeysuckle nest?”

            He looked surprised. “You mean that they kept them?”

            “King Adonis will not allow anyone else to touch them,” I said.

            “What about my Chess set, is that still there,” he wanted to know.

            “Yes, of course. Not that anyone plays Chess with it. You are the wood carver, aren’t you?”

            He sighed and nodded. Sadly he said, “I thought they would have thrown them all away when I left, all those years ago.”

            I looked at him again, “You know you really do remind me of King Adonis.”

            He shook his head and changed the subject. “Why do you need the fungus?”

            Quickly I told him of how the Storm had destroyed the Priory Yew trees and how the Elf Gift had been spilt.. “I suppose you know what happens when you Fairies stop drinking the stuff?”  I finished.

            He chuckled.” Oh yes. Within a week or so, your friends are going to start growing. Soon the humans will be complaining about the number of odd looking ladybirds in the garden. Then they will lose their wings and have to start walking. They will no longer be able to fit in the nests. Humans will begin to wonder about the number of odd crawling insects which have appeared. By the end of the month, they will have reached full height for a Fairy, about half the size of a normal Human and then they definitely will not be able to hide.”

            “You sound as if you speak for experience,” I said.

            “If you are feeling up to it, then we can talk as we go and collect the fungus. Your gloves and back-pack are here.” He handed them to me and picked up gloves and a pack of hid own. We walked out into the Churchyard. His home was inside the upright of the Church gate. The door was so carefully carved that once it was closed it was almost invisible. We did not have far to go to reach the Yews.

            As we walked, he carried on with his story. “This is very difficult for me, in a way. I have not spoken to anyone other than my wife for many, many years, but here goes.

[Palustris]

Chapter 7

Bilberry’s Story.

A Story within a story

 

                 Once upon a time a Fairy mother gave birth to twins. This was and still is, very unusual amongst Fairy kind. The two boys grew up and got their wings later than most Fairy boys. Fairies are not born with wings they arrive later. Girls get them around the age of five and boys a little later. Ones which get their wings very early are called Sprites and they often do not grow up. Indeed many do not survive as they have so little sense. The later boy fairies get their wings the steadier and cleverer they are.

            The twins may have been born together, but they were very different in character. One loved nothing better than to explore the Garden where they lived. He knew every inch of it and visited all the other Fairy Nests. He was very popular with all the adults and with his school friends. If you think this makes him sound like a goody-goody type, then you would be wrong. He was as fun loving and mischievous as any other Fairy child.

            The other twin preferred to spend his time collecting interesting shaped bits of wood from the garden. He made himself a set of tools and carved the wood into beautiful objects. He even made a crown for the King of  the Fairies, not from gold or silver, but from a piece of yellow wood that he found. When the King saw the crown he was delighted and asked the wood carving Fairy to make other things. So a  throne was soon produced and a magnificent Chess Set.

            As the twins grew up and became adults, one became a valued and trusted advisor to the Fairy King and Elders. The other became less and less interested in what was happening around him and retreated to his workshop. He did try to get other Fairies interested in wood carving, but none of them had his skill and he soon got fed up trying to teach them and chased every one away.

            You need to know that Fairies do not have Kings or Queens like Humans do. Their choice of ruler is simple. The oldest Fairy becomes King or Queen.  The other thing you need to know is that Fairies never die. They can be killed and indeed often are. They have many enemies from Humans, to birds, to insects and especially spiders.

            It was a spider which caught and ate Queen Pimpernel and half the elders who were with her on a tour of the Garden. The oldest Fairies left were the twins. The elder of the twins was now King.

            I think you ought by now to have worked out who the story is about.  The twins were Adonis and Bilberry.  The Council of Elders went to the elder of the two. He was in his workshop. Bilberry was born twenty minutes before Adonis.  Bilberry was told that he was now King. He asked for a few minutes to pack his things before he moved into the King’s rooms. The Elders left him to pack. When they returned, half an hour later, there was no sign of Bilberry. His clothes were gone as were his precious tools. There was a note on the workbench. It read. ‘I am not the right person to be King. I am sorry. Please do not search for me.’

            Of course they did, parities were sent out in all directions. However they stopped looking when Bilberry disappeared from their minds. All Fairies can feel the life force of all over Fairies and when something happens to one of them all the others can feel it.

            Adonis, as his twin felt it worse than anyone else. He was ill for weeks and only gradually got better. Since it was presumed that Bilberry had died, Adonis was made King and a very successful one he made too.

            Bilberry had not died. He flew with his bag of possessions and a small flask of Elf Gift as far away from the Garden as he could. At first he thought of joining the Hedge Fairies but realised that they would have no choice other than to make him king.  For a while he wandered up and down the Road. This was being changed from a dirt track to a proper surface with this new invention, tar macadam.

            Bilberry decided that he would fly as far away from the garden as possible in the hope that distance would reduce the strength of the bond between himself and his brother and the other fairies. He flew quickly across the dirt road and the further he went the less he could feel his kin. The feeling never really went though and he could still feel his brother as strongly as ever. Then suddenly, it went. There was nothing, try as he might he could no longer sense any of the Fairy folk. For days he lay curled up in the ventilation brick in the Church wall until hunger and thirst drove him out.

            He went back to the Road and found that the workmen had completed the laying of the tarmac, between him and the Garden was a wide expanse of black road surface. He tried to go back over it, but the smell of the tar drove him back. For the first time in his life he was truly alone.

            He then discovered the awful truth about the Elf Gift. The flask he had brought did not last long and he did not know how to make it. He knew what the ingredients were, but not how much of each. He began to grow and within a month he was full sized, for a Fairy. He could not hide from humans, but he could pass for a rather short one. Not knowing what else to do and needing somewhere to live, he moved into a shed behind the Church. Since his Fairy clothes no longer fitted he made himself a smock out of some old sacks. .The Vicar, a kindly man, gave him some old clothes and offered him a job as a grave-digger and general handyman looking after the Church grounds and the graveyard. Old Bill became a valuable and well known member of the village. When it was found that he could carve beautiful things from wood, he was employed to help replace the furniture in the Church. He even created the wonderful Pulpit which was the pride and joy of everyone in the Parish.

            All the while Old Bill collected the herbs and the yellow fungus from the Yew trees and tried to make his own Elf Gift. Not a moment too soon he managed. It was black and bitter unlike the true Elf Gift, but it worked. He splashed a little on a cut and it healed.

            Soon after Old Bill, was dismayed to overhear two old Villagers talking about him.

            “Never looks any older,” said one.

            “True,” replied the other. “He looks the same now as he did when I was a lad. We ought to ask him the secret.”   

            “Another thing, have you noticed he never crosses the road,” went on the first.. “I asked him about it once. He said that he had everything he needed on this side so he did not need to go over the road.”

            “Well, he will have to soon. I heard the Vicar saying that the Bishop wanted Old Bill to go over to the Cathedral and do some carving for them. That’s on t’other side of the road. He will have to cross it then,” finished the second man.

            Old Bill did not stop to hear any more. He had enough Elf Gift now and it was time to go back to being a Fairy once more.

            Carefully he made his plans. There was an old disused and well hidden Woodman’s hut in the Woods beyond the Church. He made himself a series of flasks, each one getting smaller and filled them with Elf Gift. Then he took enough food for a month and stored it in the hut. Finally, he tidied up his hut, put all his tools neatly on the workbench, locked the door and as mysteriously as he had appeared many years before Old Bill disappeared.

            A search was mounted when his disappearance was noticed, but no body was ever found. The legend of the wood carving gravedigger who appeared and disappeared took on a life of its own.

            Meanwhile Bilberry hid in the old hut and drank the bitter Elf Gift, a flask at a time. He carefully burned each flask as he emptied it. Soon he was smaller and then came the most wonderful of all days, his wings grew back. He made himself a covering from a piece of rag and flew back to the Church yard. His old clothes were still where he had left them. Fairy clothes are made to last as long as a Fairy lives, for ever. His tools were there, wrapped in a piece of oiled rag, ready to use.

            He set to and made himself a Nest in the post of the Church gate and settle down to a hopefully long and peaceful life. He did explore the surrounding countryside as far as he could, but other Fairies he never found.  After a while he did find that he missed the company he used to get from people who visited the Church and he began to go and join in with the Sunday Services.

            Then one day, as he walked along the side of the road, looking for pollen to store for the winter he saw a strange sight. Lying just on the edge of the road, unmoving was the unmistakable figure of a female fairy. Quickly Bilberry made a noose in the Spiders silk rope which he always carried. It took a few throws before he managed to get it tight round her. All the time he was terrified that a vehicle would come along and run over her.

            Even when she was no long on the road she did not wake up. So Bilberry carried her back to his Nest. There he laid her on his bed and poured a little Elf Gift into her mouth. That was when he discovered that the poor girl had hit the road so hard that a piece of the gravel had gone into her skin. Using one of his sharpest chisels he had managed to get it out, but her face was scarred and even worse, the tar had left the whole side of her face blackened.

            Eventually she had woken, but the accident and close contact with the road had taken away her memory of everything she knew of her life before. She could not remember where she came from. Bilberry was certain she was not from the Garden Fairies. He knew all the families from there and she did not look like any of them. Worse still, the tar had taken away her ability to sense other fairies. Even if he had known her tribe or been able to get her home, she would never have fitted back in. She could not even remember her given name so since she had golden yellow hair, they decided she would be called Primrose.

            That is about the end of Bilberry’s tale. He fell in love with Primrose and they married. Bilberry made them both rings from Rosewood.  Bilberry was happy at last.

 

[Palustris]

Chapter 8

Getting the Fungus home.

 
            I was utterly astounded. “You mean you are the famous ‘Old Bill’ from the legends?”

            He nodded.

            “But that was a long time ago. Yes, of course it was, I was forgetting how long you folks live. I ought to have recognised your carvings in the throne room I have spent many hours looking at the ones in the Church.”

            By now we had reached the Yew Tree. There was a huge split down one side of the trunk which allowed us to get inside easily. There was a large hollow space inside. Bilberry took out a Fairy light from his pack so we could see what we were doing. I have seen these lights often and one day I will find out how they work.

            The walls were covered in the yellow fungus. Forgetting the warnings I reached out to touch one. Bilberry grabbed my arm and shook his head. “Gloves!”

            I pulled on the leather gloves which I had been given so long ago by King Adonis and began filling my back pack. It did not take long to fill both our packs. Bilberry led me out into the fresh air.

            “We should not stay in there for too long, the air is full of the poison from those things. That is why there are no spiders or anything else living in there.” Bilberry produced a duster made from a Dandelion feather and very carefully brushed me and my back pack down. I did the same for him. “Funny how something as poisonous as that can be so useful.”

            “I hope there is enough for you and for the Garden Fairies,” I said.

            “Not to worry, there are 5 more Yews on the other side of the Churchyard and they all have this fungus growing inside them. I think that there were Fairies on this side of the road once upon a time and they planted the Fungus. It only grows inside the trees and I cannot see how it can get from one tree to another without help, “said Bilberry.

            I was pleased that we had got plenty of Fungus, but there was still a problem. “Now we have to find a way of getting this lot back to the Garden. I really do not fancy crossing the road at all. If you are right about how soon my friends will start growing I cannot wait for her to come back next Saturday. Even then it would be hard to find somewhere to hide so she does not see me.”

            “You need to get the Fungus there as soon as possible anyway. It goes off very quickly and they are going to need a couple of days to make the Elf Gift,” said Bilberry.

            “Have you none of your bitter stuff I can take?” I asked.

            He shook his head. “As well as being bitter, it does not keep. We have to make up a batch every few days, so we only do enough for the two of us and a bit spare for emergencies. Let’s go back to my nest and have something to eat and a think about it. Besides I would like you to meet Primrose.”

            We went back to the nest where I was introduced to Primrose. She kept her hair long and over the side of her face to hide the scar.  She certainly did not look like any of the Fairy families which I knew from the Garden tribe.  None of them had the blond hair that she had. As we ate the food she had prepared, we talked about how I could get the Fungus back over the road.

            Primrose had been hopping from one leg to another with a great big grin on her face. “I think I know a way over to the garden.  I found it the other day. I was watching some men digging up the road a few weeks ago.”

            That’s right,” interrupted Bilberry. “It was down by the Badgers Sett, so?”

            Primrose went on. “I heard them say that there had been too many accidents with badgers crossing the road from the Sett to the fields down to the river.”

            I nodded. “That has been a problem for many years. There are always bodies by the side of the road.”

            “Stop interrupting. Both of you,” Primrose snapped. “They said they were putting in a tunnel under the road in the hope that the badgers would use it and not cross over. They finished the work on Friday evening. Perhaps Prof can get back that way. Maybe even Fairies can go under it without the tar affecting them? You might be able to go home too, Bilberry.”

                        “I cannot ever go home,” said Bilberry. “If I go back over there, they will have to make me King. That is the Law and there is no way of getting round that. I am not even sure what will happen when you go back and tell them that I am alive over here.”

            “Difficult,” I said.

            “Primrose looked relieved. “I cannot go there either. Not looking like this and not being a true Fairy any more. They would laugh at me.”

            Bilberry put his arm round her. “I doubt they would, my people over there were always very kind.”

            “Well, whatever, “I said. “The sooner I try the sooner we can find out if the tunnel is any use”

            It was getting towards dusk now, so we had to be extra careful. Spiders like to hunt as the light is fading. It makes their webs harder to see.  However, with Bilberry’s expert guidance we soon reached the tunnel entrance. It was rather obvious that the Badgers had not yet discovered it or used it. The hole was covered by a massive web.

            I reached out to push it to one side, but Bilberry stopped me. “No, that will disturb her. Look for a place where the web does not reach the sides of the tunnel.”

            Sure enough there was a place in the middle where the web was attached to a piece of gravel which must have moved after the spider attached the web. There was just enough space for us to crawl through. It was dark inside so Bilberry lit one of the Fairy lights. The tunnel stretched out before us with just a tiny pin prick of light at the other end. There were dusty webs hanging down as far as I could see.

            “That’s good,” said Bilberry. “Dust on webs usually means that there is no spider. The dust stops the glue on the silk from catching anything. There might be other things in here and you can still get wrapped up in the filthy things though, so you do need to be careful.”

            We took out the long thorns which Fairies us as swords and walked on down the tunnel.  At least I walked; they flew, just above the bottom of the pipe. I cannot say that I blamed them; the pipe was full of dried mud and bits of twig and worms. I kept a close eye on Bilberry to see if the tarmac a few feet above his head was affecting him.

            “This is not too bad, he said, his voice echoing slightly down the pipe. “I can feel the tarmac up there, but it is bearable.”

            Primrose said sadly. “I cannot feel anything. The road has no effect on me any more.”

             We reached half way without incident, but a few wing beats beyond that Bilberry stopped. “I can go no further, “he announced. “I can just begin to feel the Fairies on the other side. I do not want them to begin to feel me.”

            Primrose shook her head. “I cannot feel them.”

            “Well that’s it then. I will have to go on by myself, “I said. “I can see the end of the pipe so I should be able to get through safely.”

            Primrose gave me a hug and said “Please be careful.” She took a small flask and hung it round my neck. “That is all the Elf Gift we have to spare. Please be careful with it.”

            Bilberry shook my hand and handed over another Fairy light. “Be safe. It has been a pleasure to meet you.”

            “Oh, if this works I think we may well be meeting again. And one more thing, I forgot to tell you that you are a great-uncle. Your niece, Princess Holly, gave birth to twin boys during the Great Storm last night.”

            Bilberry was speechless and I left him standing in the middle of the pipe as I went on my way. I would love to say that I fought off spiders and duelled with centipedes in that pipe, but the truth is that nothing happened.  There was another web at the end of the pipe and I could see the spider sat high up waiting for something to fly into the sticky strands. The web did not fill the whole space and it was easy to slip past without disturbing her.

            I turned off the Fairy light and put it in my pocket. Once my eyes had got used to the brighter light outside the pipe I looked around to see where I had emerged. The sun was beginning to go down now. I knew I had to hurry, the fields and the garden were far more dangerous after dark.

            The pipe had brought me out in the field below the garden. It belonged to the House. My old House and had once been used for my pony. He had long gone and the field had been left and never made into part of the garden. Fortunately the grass had been cut recently, otherwise I would have had to make my way through tall meadow grasses. Even so walking back between the stalks was hard work. I certainly wished I had wings.

            By the time I reached the bottom of the Honeysuckle I have to confess I was beginning to feel the bruises from Mrs’ Grimshaw’s trampling.

            “Shovelock Ellis Hewletts!” The only person who ever used my full name like that was, Larkspur, my wife. She only used my full name like that when she was either very angry or very happy.

            I managed a “Hello!” before I was held in a close embrace.

            “We were so worried about you. Where have you been and what……”

            I put a finger on her lips. “I will tell you everything later my love, but I think these are more important at present.”

            I handed her the back-pack.

       She took it and peeped inside. “You found some! Oh that is good news indeed.  If you don’t mind I will take them down to the Still room so we can get making the Elf Gift straight away. You had better get up to the Throne Room. All the Elders are in there trying to decide what to do.” With that she pushed me up the stairs and ran off in the other direction.

            Wearily I climbed up to the Throne Room. Dandelion was on guard outside. His eyes opened wide and he smiled so broadly I thought his face would split in two. He opened the door to the Throne room. I put my finger to my lips to stop him announcing me. I walked in and stood by the door. The Elders were so busy talking all at the same time that no-one noticed me.

            I coughed.  No-one noticed. I coughed again, louder. Still no-one took any notice.  I clapped my hands.  That got their attention. They stopped talking and turned to look at me. There was a moment’s silence, and then they all began to talk at once.  The elder of Willow Nest rushed across and flung her arms around me.

            “We thought you were dead! Oh, it is so good to see you!” Then she stepped back. “Did you find any Fungus?”

            Everyone stopped talking again. “

            “Yes, I did and if you go down to the Still Room you will find that it is already being used.”

            They cheered. Most of them immediately left the room to go and look. Willow Elder, Toadflax, stayed where she was. That was when I noticed that King Adonis was not to be seen.

             “Where’s the King?” I demanded.

            She took a deep breath. “When Mrs. Grimshaw came back and you were not with her, Adonis tried to cross the road to find you. We managed to drag him back, but he was unconscious. We put him to bed and he has stayed that way ever since, except for a few seconds a while ago when he suddenly sat up and said ‘No, he’s dead!’ Then he fell back.”

            “Have you given him any Elf Gift?” I asked

            She shook her head. “We have none left. We used all that we had on the injured from the Great Storm.”

            I took the small flask that Primrose had hung round my neck. “Not much in here, but hopefully enough.”

            We went into the bedroom.  King Adonis looked dreadful. We propped him up with pillows. I poured some Elf gift into one of the wooden cups which I now knew had been made by Bilberry.  I managed to get the king to swallow some. I handed the cup to Toadflax, spilling a little on her hand as she took it. She licked the precious liquid and pulled a face.

            “That is disgusting”” she said. “Where did you get that from?” Then she frowned. “It is Elf Gift isn’t it?”

            “Oh, yes, it really is Elf Gift, it just tastes rather unpleasant.” I said.

            There was a cough from the bed. We turned to look and King Adonis slowly opened his eyes. He licked his lips and pulled a face.

            “Sorry, sire but as bad as it tastes, you had better have some more. “I poured some into his cup and held it to his lips. He drank.

            “That is foul, he spluttered.

            “I know, “I grinned.

            Already he was beginning to look a lot better.

            “I will go and see how the proper tasting stuff is coming on” said Toadflax, “You can tell us all what happened over the road later.” She left the room.

            “You found some?” asked King Adonis.

            “Yes, “I replied. “And as much as we can possibly need. But that is not all I found. I am not sure how to tell you.”

            The King interrupted. “You found Bilberry, my brother didn’t you?”

            I nodded.

            “I knew it! For a second I felt him again, after all these years. But why is he not with you?” he asked.

            “He would not come. He was worried that he would be forced to be King.” I said.

            King Adonis shook his head. “You know if he had spent as much time studying Fairy Law as he did wood carving, he would know he cannot be king.” He laughed. “”He is much too young.”

            I was puzzled.

            King Adonis “Before I could become King. Bilberry had to be declared dead. When no-one could feel him any more, the Elders met and agreed that he was no longer living. So I became king. Now, as you know, no-one can come back from the dead, so Bilberry will be reckoned to have been born when all the Fairies can feel him, like any other baby. That means if he appears in the Garden he will be a new born baby and definitely too young to be king. The oldest toddler ever”

            We both laughed.

            There is little else to tell really, the Nests were rebuilt, the Hedge Fairies used the Badger Tunnel to go for Fungus in the Church Yard Yews. Bilberry still would not come over to the Garden because of Primrose’s face, but King Adonis did go and meet his brother, much to their great joy and everything in the Garden settled back to normal life.

 

Copied from a manuscript found under a microscope slide in the Garden House. There were also instructions that the Badger tunnel under the Main road was to be kept in good order.