DEEP WATERS

CHAPTER 1 - North Across the Sea

Ace was halfway up the side of the giant tyre when it began to move. With a stifled curse he jumped down to the ground and out from beneath the huge lorry, clearing the wheels with only seconds to spare. He shoved his hands in his pockets, and edged back to the tangle of bushes in the corner of the dockside car park where the sprites had pitched camp. He was pinched with cold, his eyes were red-rimmed with exhaustion, and his bright hair was dimmed, filmed with dust and grime.
Will and Clover looked up as he ducked beneath a branch.
“Not a chance,” he told them. “There’s good things to cling to beneath a lorry, it’s true, but he’d have to climb a wheel to reach them. And you can’t do it in the time. They don’t stop for long enough.”
“Couldn’t he climb on somewhere else?” suggested Clover. “Where they park for longer?”
“That’s the only place where there’s enough cover, to get on at ground level without being seen.”
Ace sighed with frustration, trying not to think that without Hogweed, they’d be in Norway by now.
“Where is he, anyway?”
“Gone with Dan, to try to find some milk for Rose,” Clover told him.
Ace walked over to where Rose was sleeping.
“If we just got a bit of sunlight, I’d carry her out into it. But there’s nothing but cloud today.”

It was the end of January, and the sprites were still in England. The elves had got to Newcastle easily enough, but the fairies hadn’t arrived. Days had passed, and the elves had been frantic with worry, until finally, Dan had arrived alone, dropping out of the sky like a shot bird. She’d come on ahead to warn the others what had happened. Everything had been going well, they hadn’t got lost at all, when Rose had had a wing slashed by a cat’s claws. Clover had healed the damage, but the wing still wouldn’t work properly. Rose was flying at half speed and tiring quickly. When she and Clover had finally arrived, it was plain to everyone that Rose was very ill.

The trouble was, no-one knew what was wrong. Will knew loads of anatomy, from reading all Mrs. Connolly’s old nursing textbooks, but they hadn’t been too strong on fairies’ wings. All the same, it had been Will who’d cracked it. He noticed that the injured wing wasn’t shimmering, and asked Clover why she always spread her wings out when she was sunbathing.
“It just feels good, I suppose,” said Clover. “Soaking up the sunshine.”
“Photogenic cells,” said Will. “The light’s drained out. All she needs is sunshine.”
After that, they’d made sure Rose got every bit of sunshine she could, though there wasn’t too much of that in January. Rest, and milk, had helped too, and after a while she’d been well enough to try to get on board the ship. But then the problems with Hogweed had started.
The whole harbour was so well-lit, the elves had realised that the only way they were going to get on board without being seen was to ride on a vehicle onto the cardeck. There was a great place to get on, a low roof only six feet higher than the tops of the lorries that drove past it. But Hogweed couldn’t do it. Six feet might be nothing to elves, but if you couldn’t jump, it was a drop of seven times your own height. He was terrified. They’d missed three sailings now, trying to get him to pluck up courage to jump. It wasn’t even a jump, really, the elves thought, disgustedly. Only a drop. The last time, they’d tried to lift him between them, and all jump together, but it hadn’t worked. They hadn’t been able to move him an inch.


Ace pulled a blanket more snugly over Rose, and went and sat down by Will, who was looking at the map, and some print-outs of timetables from the Internet. He was frowning.
“How’re we doing?” said Ace, uneasily.
“Today’s Tuesday,” said Will. “There’s another sailing tonight. If we don’t catch it, we can’t do it in time. Even that will be pushing it, but we could still do it if nothing else goes wrong. But if we miss this one, that’s it. We can’t do it. It’s physically impossible.”
Ace rubbed his eyes. “I’m out of ideas, Will,” he sighed. “And whatever we come up with this time has got to be the right answer.”
“Don’t lose heart,” said Will, quietly. “Someone’s trying to stop us getting there, that’s for sure. But someone wants us to go. You’ll get the answer today. Just listen out for it.”
That didn’t make much sense to Ace, but he found it oddly comforting, and when Dan and Hogweed arrived with a bottle of milk, everyone cheered up. Clover woke Rose and sat close beside her, encouraging her to drink as much as she could, and the others shared what was left. Then Dan, who’d been very quiet, squared her shoulders and asked Ace to come for a walk. Puzzled, Ace agreed, and they strolled off down a quiet alley between a building and a fence.

“What’s up, Dan? Did you want to talk to me? Spit it out, whatever it is.”
“It’s so hard to say,” Dan groaned. “I just don’t want you to think I’m criticising, or interfering, that’s all. But I’ve spent a lot of time with Hogweed, especially when he was still with Ragwort and Nightshade, I mean, Mal…”
“What’re you saying? Look, if it’s something about goblins that’s going to help us get him on that ship, then just you come out with it.”
“Well, OK, I don’t think you’re handling him right. You’re treating him as if he were an elf. And he isn’t. You’re saying, right, here’s the plan, let’s do this, and expecting him to find the courage to do it in himself, like Will would.”
Dan paused, afraid she was going too far, but Ace was looking thoughtful and interested.
“Go on!” he said. “And stop worrying that you’re insulting me. You’re not.”
“Well, you’ve got to be harsher with him. Shout at him. He can’t make himself do things he doesn’t want to do, like you can. You have to make him. That’s why you’re his leader.”
“But I’ve tried that! Last time, I said to him, ‘Hogweed, jump! Just do it!’ but he still couldn’t.”
“Yes, but that was still just an order. He’d obey any order of yours if he could, but if he can’t, just telling him isn’t enough. You’ve got to frighten him, threaten him.”
“Frighten him! Look at the size of him! How can I possibly frighten him?”
“Mal frightened him easily enough. Why d’you think he always carried a knife?”
Ace stared at her as it sunk in.
“I can’t do that! Dan, I’ve never pulled a knife on anyone in my whole life! That’s awful.”
“I know, but he’s so unhappy that he’s letting you down. He’ll thank you for it.”
Ace leaned his head against the wall, and stared at the sky for a moment, breathing hard. Then he smiled down at Dan.
“OK. If that’s what it’s going to take. Look, do me a favour, will you? Keep him out of the way this afternoon.”
“Understood,” said Dan.


As soon as it was dark, the sprites packed their bags and left their camp. Cautiously, they made their way to the low roof near the embarkation lane. There, in the dock, lay the massive bulk of MV Jupiter, waiting to sail across the North Sea, her car deck empty and brightly-lit. Ace spoke quietly to the fairies.
“This is our last chance,” he told them. “If we don’t make it, go without us. Clover knows where to go from Bergen.”
“What will you do, Ace, if you don’t get on?” asked Rose sadly.
“Take the great dollop home, and go to Delamere to help Phil, and come next year with his team,” said Ace grimly. “But it won’t come to that.”
“Goodbye,” said Clover. “See you in a few minutes, or next year.”
“See you, Clover,” Ace smiled.
The elves blinked as the fairies flew off into the ship. Rose still wasn’t up to speed, they could see, but she was getting there. The lorries were coming, their headlights waving in the darkness as they cornered the approach road.
“The third one,” said Will. “Look how tall it is. Nice easy jump.”
Ace stared coldly at Hogweed.
“You heard Will,” he said. “The third lorry. As soon as it’s close enough, jump down onto its roof. That’s an order.”
Hogweed trembled, the fear of the jump was still holding him back. But he didn’t like the look in Ace’s eyes. It reminded him of Nightshade. The first lorry rumbled past, and the second.
“Get ready!” said Ace fiercely.
Hogweed took a cautious step nearer the edge, and froze. Breathing hard, Ace pulled a knife from his belt and held the point under Hogweed’s throat.
“Do it,” he snarled, and jumped behind him, the knife now jabbing into Hogweed’s back. Hogweed jumped, and landed safely on the lorry’s top. Ace threw down the knife in disgust, and he and Will leaped, side by side. All three lay flat as the lorry drove on. The fairies, high above, saw them and cheered.
All the sprites waited patiently until the deck was loaded, and the drivers had climbed the stairs. The huge doors closed, and the crew left too, leaving just a few small lights on. The ship’s engines throbbed into life, and the great ship started to sail down the Tyne.

Hogweed stumbled over to the elves. Ace was hiding his face, and Will had his arm round Ace’s shoulders.
“Thank you,” said Hogweed. “I couldn’t have done it without that.”
Ace wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
“No problem,” he said.
Will just looked at Hogweed coldly.
“Ace may forgive you for putting him through that, you great coward. But I never will.”
Hogweed didn’t understand why Will was angry, so he didn’t let it bother him. He knew it was no good worrying about things you didn’t understand. The fairies came whirling down to join them, flying wild in their excitement that they were on their way at last. Ace made a big effort to calm down and smile.
“How’re you feeling, Rose?” he said.
“Wonderful! Can we go and see the sea?”
“You bet we can,” said Will. “We’ve got loads of time. The ship doesn’t arrive in Bergen until tomorrow evening.”
There was no way the sprites could open the heavy steel doors, but they found a way through, up into the ship, by squirming through gaps, and along pipes, until they came out from behind a piece of loose panelling onto a carpeted corridor. There were doors stretching away in both directions, and from behind them, the sound of human voices. There was no cover at all. If just one of those doors opened, they’d be caught.
“They’re cabins,” said Will. “Let’s try and find an empty one.”
Most of the empty cabins were locked, however, and Ace was wondering where they could go, when Dan noticed a door that wasn’t properly closed.
“Over here!” she hissed, and the others rushed towards her. “The lock’s bust! No-one’s using this one.”
“Great,” said Ace. “Get inside, quick, and I’ll fix the lock behind us.”

They were safe. They shrugged off their backpacks and headed straight for the window, and saw the lights of Newcastle in the distance as the ship swung out to sea.
“Wow,” breathed Clover. “That’s England, over there. And we’re not on it any more. We’re on the sea.”
“What I don’t understand,” said Rose, “is how anything this big can float.”
Ace groaned.
“The overall density’s less than the density of the water,” said Will.
“Shut up, Will,” said Clover. “There’s a pillow over there and it’s calling to me.”
Will sat down with Rose and began to explain it properly, starting with upthrust.
“If you put anything in water, it starts to sink. But the water pushes back…”
They were interrupted by a yell of joy from Ace, who was exploring the tiny bathroom.
“Look at this! Real shampoo! Hey, Dan, do me a favour, will you? Fly up and turn the shower on.”

Ace luxuriated in the bubbles and hot water. This was fantastic. It had been worth all the hassle, just for this. It was wonderful to feel clean again. When he came out, half an hour later, he told the others how great it was, and said they all ought to get clean while they had a chance. The fairies didn’t need much persuading when they saw how his hair was shining. They weren’t going to be outdone by an elf. Hogweed didn’t care whether he was clean or not, but he took his turn cheerfully enough when Ace told him to. But Will was tired, and didn’t want to bother.
“Go on,” said Ace. “It’s wonderful.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“No way are you letting this team down by looking like that when you arrive.”
“I’m comfortable,” complained Will. “Leave me alone.”
Ace pushed him off the bed and in a second they were wrestling. Will was awake now and enjoying the fight as much as Ace was, but Ace was really on a high, and managed to pick Will up. He carried him towards the shower and was about to throw him in with all his clothes on.
“Don’t be stupid!” yelled Will. “The map, you idiot!”
“Whoops,” said Ace, and put him down. Will pulled the sheaf of papers out of his pocket, the map of Norway, and the ferry timetables.
“Sorry. Should have thought of that.”
“Never mind. Do I really look a mess?”
“Well, yeah. We all did.”
“OK. Fair enough.”
Leaving his jacket and its precious contents with Ace, Will stepped gingerly into the shower.


Hours later, when the ship had fallen silent and all the humans were asleep, the sprites decided it would be safe to go out and have a bit of an explore. Excited, they left the cabin, wedging the door so they could get back in, and moved through the ship, up the wide stairways that led from deck to deck. They played in the children’s ball pool, and stared at the flashing slot machines. Even Will couldn’t work out what they were. They had a race on the trolleys in the restaurant, and sat on squashy chairs beside great windows. Out to sea, they saw an amazing sight. A tower was rising from the water, shining in the dark like a castle of light.
“What is it?” said Rose. “It’s beautiful!”
“I think it must be an oil rig,” said Will. “It’s awesome, isn’t it? When you think how long it takes humans to make things – to achieve something like that, it’s incredible.”
When the oil rig was gone, left behind them in the night, the sprites moved even higher up until they came to a huge room with doors that led out on deck. These were locked, however, and disappointed, they turned away, only to stop in their tracks in astonishment as an elf came hurrying across the room towards them. He was short and sturdy, dressed in faded blue denims, and his face was frowning with worry.

“You haven’t seen a fairy, have you?” he asked.
“No,” said Ace. “Why, have you lost one?”
“Lost herself, more like, the little perisher. Don’t know why I brought her. ‘Oh, Wayne,’ she says, ‘the lights are going away, I must find another window’, and off she flits, and now, can I find her? She could be anywhere by now.”
“Don’t worry,” said Ace, trying not to laugh. “We’ll help you. Where were you when you last saw her?”
“Over there, just looking out of the window.”
“And that was when you were looking at the oil rig?” said Will.
“So she wanted to keep looking,” said Clover. “She’ll have gone this way. Come on!”
She, Rose and Dan flew off at top speed. Wayne watched them go with concern.
“Now they’ll all get lost!”
“No, they won’t,” said Ace. “Clover’s not daft, she’ll bring them all back here.”
“You trust your fairies on their own?”
“ ’Course we do! They flew all the way to Newcastle on their own, they’re brilliant.”
Wayne looked dumbstruck.
“I never met a clever fairy before. All the way to Newcastle? Where from?”
“Stockport,” said Ace. “It’s near Manchester.”
“Northerners, hey?” said Wayne. “We’re from London. East End.”
“Never mind,” said Will. “We won’t hold it against you.”
There was a clinking sound behind them, and Hogweed appeared on the top of a wooden counter, with a bottle in each hand.
“Hey, where d’you get that? Beer! Nice one, Hogweed.”
“There’s millions of bottles here. Reckon they could spare a couple.”
“Shrink a few glasses,” said Ace, grinning. “Come on, Wayne. D’you like beer?”
“Lead me to it,” said Wayne, rubbing his hands.
Hogweed and the elves were soon sitting happily on the back of a chair, looking out to sea, each with a glass in his hand.
“So, you’re off to join the army too, are you?” said Ace.
“That was the idea. Never make it now, of course. Left it too late.”
“Stick with us and you’ll make it.”
“You’re a sycamore, aren’t you? Thought so. Perishing optimists.”
Will laughed. “Well, what are you? Something similar, surely.”
“Not that similar,” sniffed Wayne. “Platanus hispanica.”
Ace and Will stared at him, opened their mouths, looked at each other, and shook their heads.
“OK, I give in,” said Ace. “How on earth d’you get Wayne out of Platanus hispanica?”
Wayne looked at them as if they were stupid.
“London Plane, Wayne. Rhymes, don’t it? Obvious.”
“Yeah, right, Wayne. Really obvious.”


Clover, Rose and Dan followed the windows round to the stern of the ship, and soon spotted a tiny figure perched on a window ledge, her hands pressed against the glass.
“Oh, beautiful, beautiful,” she was whispering softly.
“Hello,” said Clover.
The fairy turned round. She was very young, they noticed, much younger than Wayne, who’d looked a good few years older than they were. She was as tiny as Rose, and even slighter, with a wistful white face, thin pink streaks and short, spiky yellow hair.
“If you’re lost, we can take you back to Wayne, “ said Rose.
“Well, I wasn’t. Dozy old codger’s always thinking I’m lost when I’m not.”
“What’s your name?” said Dan.
“Bella. Bellis perennis Langdon. I’m a daisy. Are you a buttercup?”
“No, a dandelion,” laughed Dan. “This is Clover, and this is Rose.”
“Hello,” said Bella. “When did you see Wayne?”
“A few minutes ago,” smiled Clover. “He was getting worried about you.”
“I’d better get back to him. Is he still in the bar?”
“In the what?” said Clover. “Oh, no. MOVE!”


Will caught Clover’s arm and pulled her aside before she could say anything. Under cover of a riot of cheerful introductions, he spoke fast and low.
“Clover, it’s OK, leave him. Let him get drunk, it’ll do him good. He’s been as tense as a wire for weeks, if he doesn’t relax, he’ll snap.”
“And what if anything goes wrong?”
“Trust me, it won’t. I know exactly what we’ve got to do tomorrow, and I’ve hardly had a drop. He really needs this. He was worried sick about you all when you didn’t arrive, then worried about Rose, and you wouldn’t believe what he had to go through to get Hogweed on board tonight.”
Clover’s face softened.
“Dan was hinting it would be awful. OK, I understand.”
“You’re a star. Come and meet Wayne, you’ll like him. Nearly as pessimistic as you.”


The sprites stayed there for hours, talking and watching the sea grow lighter as it drew towards morning. Then they heard voices, as a couple of the crew walked past on deck, and they realised it was time to take cover.
“Come with us,” Rose urged Bella, warmly. “We’ve got a lovely place to hide, where we can sleep all day if we want to.”
“That sounds good,” said Wayne, yawning. “I feel like I haven’t slept for weeks.”
Ace wasn’t very drunk; he’d tried to be sensible, he knew they weren’t there yet. He got a long way without needing any help, but as soon as they reached the corridor leading to the cabin, he suddenly fell over, fast asleep, with a happy smile on his face. Will tried to pick him up, but to his great annoyance, he couldn’t do it. Hogweed carried Ace into the cabin, and laid him on the pillow.
“Cheer up,” Dan said to Will. “He’s heavier than you are.”
“Not that much. How come he picked me up, and I can’t pick him up?”
“Well, he gets more exercise,” said Dan. “When you’re inside houses, reading, he’s belting about the trees. I’ve seen him lift his own weight with one hand.”
“I’m going to have to do something about that,” said Will thoughtfully.
“Me too,” said Dan. “I wish I’d started sooner. Maybe I’ll never be as strong as an elf, but there’s no way I’m going to let any other fairy beat me.”
“Right!” said Will. “Every chance we get – exercise. Come and have a go at arm wrestling.”
“Oh, you’ll beat me easily,” moaned Dan.
“Never mind. Good for your muscles. And it’ll cheer me up. I never win.”


All day long the sprites slept, but as it drew towards evening, one by one they awoke and gathered by the window, watching enthralled as they sailed along the coast of Norway, the countless islands dark shadows in the shimmering water. As the ship turned in towards Bergen, they all made their way back down to the car deck.
“Right near to where we stop is an old hall with a green roof,” Will told the others. “I saw it on a picture. Meet up there. There’s no hurry, we can’t catch the next ferry until tomorrow.”
Bella went with the other fairies, ready to zoom out the moment the door was opened. Wayne went with Hogweed and the elves on the top of the lorry. They had no trouble getting off, the lorry stopped for ages next to a building, and moments later the sprites were all together on the roof of King Haakon’s hall.
“We made it!” shrieked Rose, hugging Ace. “We’re in Norway!”
“Look over there,” said Will. “On the opposite side of the harbour, that should be where we catch the next ferry.”
“Yes, I see it,” said Ace. “There’s a sign saying, ‘Sogn’.”
“Is there?” said Will. “Yes, well, if we get split up, that’s the place. Four-thirty tomorrow, ferry to Sogn, get off at Balestrand.”
“So what shall we do now?” said Dan.
“What d’you fancy? We could explore the town, or go to the beach, or head up the mountain.”
“Let’s go up the mountain,” said Clover. “It looks quiet up there, we could light a fire, it’s freezing. And there’ll be a fantastic view.”
“That suit you, Wayne?” said Ace. “What had you planned to do when you got to Bergen?”
“Never really expected to get this far,” said Wayne, “so I hadn’t thought. And I certainly never expected to meet people who actually knew where they were going!”
That caused a lot of laughter, and gave Ace a chance to speak quietly to Clover.
“Could you see that sign all right?” he asked.
Clover met his eyes.
“Easily,” she said.
“Thought so,” said Ace, frowning.


At the foot of the mountain, Dan had an idea.
“I’ll go up with the elves, Clover,” she called. “I want the exercise.”
“OK, Dan! See you at the top.”
They were standing at the bottom of a railway track, where little trains climbed to the summit during the daytime. Alongside the track ran a thin cable, carrying the phone line.
“Great exercise,” said Dan. “Hand over hand up the wire – when you’re too tired, drop off and just climb up the track.”
“Are you sure she’s a fairy?” whispered Wayne, and couldn’t understand why everyone burst out laughing.
“Tell you later, it’s a good story,” said Ace, jumping up and catching the wire, swinging his weight easily from one hand to the other.
Will and Dan watched carefully how he tackled it, and tried it themselves, followed hesitantly by Wayne, who was wondering if everyone in the army was going to be as insane as this. Hogweed, who was already stronger than all of them put together, strolled effortlessly up the track beneath them.
Wayne did a couple of yards, and gave up. Shame to leave the goblin on his own, he thought. Someone ought to keep him company. He dropped down to join him. Will was in agony. The muscles in his arms were burning like fire, he didn’t think he could keep it up much longer, but he couldn’t bear the shame of dropping down before Dan did. Ace was still going strong, though more slowly than he had at first. But then Dan lost the rhythm, and couldn’t reach any higher. She dropped down, panting for breath, but pleased when she saw how far she’d come. Will made the mistake of looking down, and that finished him, too. Ace did a few more yards, then he dropped down as well.
“Very impressive,” grinned Will. “You don’t even look tired. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do, I can see.”
“You fly off if you want, Dan, don’t wait for us,” said Ace.
“If I can!” groaned Dan, but she managed it.
“That was a killer!” said Will. “I thought she’d never give up!”
Ace laughed. “She’ll beat any other fairy, easily. But we might have stiffer competition. Are you rested? Come on, back up there!”
“You’re joking, aren’t you?”
But he wasn’t.


The sprites gazed down from the summit, at Bergen spread out below them, all its lights reflected in water.
“Isn’t it tiny?” said Clover. “I thought Bergen would be a big city.”
“I think it is a big city for Norway,” said Ace. “But it’s not as big as Manchester. That’s huge. And I’ve heard that London’s a fair size, too.”
“Just so’s you’d notice,” said Wayne.
“It’s not as beautiful as this, though,” said Bella. “I can’t wait to see it in the daylight.”
It was bitterly cold, and the sprites were glad of the warmth of a fire as they sat talking and sipping hot tea. Ace told the Langdons about Dan, how she’d lived as an elf for so long, and Wayne and Bella spoke about their home in Tower Hamlets, where there were no proper colonies, just sprites living where they could in ones and twos, but coming together every Saturday night to dance in Chrisp Street fountain. Whenever they fell quiet they looked at the stars. None of them had ever seen stars so clearly before, they were fascinated. Will lay on his back, trying to ignore the aching in his arms and shoulders. One great star seemed to be shining straight at him through a tree’s bare branches.
Star in a tree, he thought. David’s sign. Hope he’s OK with Aesculus. Wonder how Phil’s getting on? They’ll be wondering if we’ve got here. Must let them know…

Ace had thought of that, too. In the morning, he tried to get a signal on the mobile phone, and was delighted when it worked. He sent David a text message.
“We R in Nrwy at last. Rse injrd in cat attack in Harrog8, but OK now. Taking ferry inland this pm.”
David replied straight away.
“U’ll make it. Don’t worry if U go out of range. Love 2 Rse. Is Ascls allowed 2 jump off the roof?”
Ace laughed, and keyed in his reply.
“Not till he can jump on 2 it! Cheers. Ace.”

Will showed everyone the map, and made sure they all knew where to go after Balestrand.
“We get in there at eight-fifteen tonight,” he said. “And tomorrow’s 2nd February. For the last twenty miles we need to make our own boat, but we’ve got all night to do the journey.”
“You got everything you need, Will?” asked Ace.
“We just need a drop of petrol. We can get that here.”
“That’s good. Save time, later. What’s the time now? Twelve? OK, let’s have a brew, then pack up and head down into the city.”


Finding a petrol station took quite a while, and then it took a lot of patience before Dan and Bella could get to a pump unseen, and shake a couple of drops of two-star into a bottle.
“Good job it’s dark!” laughed Bella. “We only just got out of sight before that car drove in!”
“Yeah, I didn’t think it’d get so dark, so early,” said Will. “It’s only three o’clock.”
Ace felt a shiver of worry. What if…surely he’d remembered that…but he hadn’t mentioned it.
I’ll have to ask, he thought. I can’t chance it.
“Come here a minute, Will,” he hissed.
“What’s up?”
“Look, thump me if you want to, but, the time difference…you did put the watch on an hour, didn’t you?”
Will clenched his hands in agony.
“No, you thump me,” he said. “No, I didn’t. Good grief, how could I be so stupid!”
“Don’t lose it,” said Ace. “Please don’t lose it. We’ve got half an hour, right, to get back to the harbour and get on that ferry?”
Will nodded, miserably.
“Clover!” called Ace. “No time to explain – fly down to the harbour, all of you, and get on the ferry, it’ll be leaving in twenty-eight minutes. We’ll get there, but if we’re late, try and stall it, OK? Hogweed, Wayne, come on, we’ve got to move! Will, take the lead, you won’t get lost, come on, let’s go!”
“What was all that about?” gasped Dan.
“I’m not sure,” said Clover, “but by the look on Will’s face, I’d say he’s messed up, somehow. Come on, let’s get going. How on earth d’you stall a boat?”


Thinking fast, Will led them down the quietest streets, so they could get a good speed up, but even here they often had to dive in doorways as humans went past, or hit the ground to get out of a headlight’s beam.
“Hogweed, keep running!” said Ace. “In the gutter if you have to, but keep moving! Come on, Wayne, you can do it!”
“Stick with you and you’ll make it, you said!” panted Wayne.
“You will!” gasped Ace. “No-one said it would be easy!”
Will hardly dared to look at the watch. They crossed a junction with agonising slowness.
If only we could jump! thought Will. But it’s no use leaving Hogweed behind. Oh, good grief, five minutes.
He led them down Klostergate and swung north. The rigging of an old ship moored by the Bryggen came into view.
“Almost there!” he called behind him. “Come on, we can do it!”
Wayne fell to his knees.
“I can’t!” he wheezed. “I’m done!”
Hogweed picked him up and slung him over his shoulder, then carried on running, just as fast as before. Ace could hardly see where he was going, his hair was sticking to the sweat on his face. They turned the last corner, and slowed down. The ferry was still there – and it was in total darkness.
They’ve hit the power, thought Ace. Brilliant.
In deep shadow, he pulled a rope from his backpack, and jumped onto the ferry. He fastened the rope to a rail, and threw the end to Will. Will fastened it to a ring in the harbour wall, and explained to Hogweed what to do. When Hogweed had crossed safely, hand over hand, Will unfastened the rope and he and Wayne jumped on board. Clover and Dan joined them.
“Oh, well done!” said Clover. “Dan, give us two minutes to get everyone under cover, then mend the electricity and join us in the hiding place.”
“OK, Clover,” whispered Dan.
“Come on,” said Clover warmly. “Up this stair, then climb up the side of the little lifeboat, and in under its cover.”
“Great hiding place,” panted Ace. “Well done, yourselves.”

Rose passed him a bottle of water, and he took a sip and passed it on to Wayne. Their chests were still heaving with the effort they’d made. Dan came in, slithering down the side of the lifeboat.
“They fixed it themselves!” she said. “I must have done something too easy.”
“We’re off!” said Rose.

Will just sat with his knees drawn up in front of him, and his head on his arms. They’d made it, but no thanks to him. He was cold with shame, he’d nearly blown the whole thing. He felt Ace sitting down beside him, but he didn’t look up.
“Come on,” said Ace quietly. “Don’t beat yourself up. We made it, didn’t we? That’s all that matters.”
“Not quite,” said Will. “If you hadn’t had the sense to ask…if Hogweed hadn’t picked Wayne up…if Dan hadn’t thought how to get us an extra five minutes…”
“That’s the way it works,” said Ace. “We’re a team. Someone goes wrong, we fix it. It’s not a problem.”
Will smiled at him, and went to apologise to Hogweed.
Thought he’d get it, said Ace to himself. Good thing, too. Can’t have the rhythm section not talking to each other.
Out loud, he said,
“Get some rest now, it’s going to be a hard night. Wayne,” he yawned, “what d’you play?”
“Saxophone. D’you like jazz?”
“Nope,” said Ace. “We like heavy metal.”
“What’s that?”
“Music,” said Ace, dreamily. “Like an earthquake, like a thunderstorm, like every loud thing there is, rolled into one. Just music…”


The little harbour at Balestrand was full of shadows; the sprites got ashore easily, and quickly headed out of the town and down to the beach. As their eyes became accustomed to the dark, they fell silent, gazing at the moonlit fjord and the great mountains beyond.
“Oh, it’s beautiful beyond belief,” said Clover. “But it’s so cold! We’ll freeze to death out on the water!”
“No way,” said Ace. “We need wood, now, for a fire, and for the boat. Someone make hot drinks for everyone, and all put warm clothes on. How are you feeling, Rose?”
“Just cold, that’s all,” she replied cheerfully, though she was feeling very drained.
“Stay by the fire, Rose,” said Clover. “You can do the drinks.”
“How about you, Bella?” said Ace. “You tired?”
“Mmm, yes. But I don’t mind.”
“OK, can you help look for wood?”
“You got the torch, Ace?” called Will.
“Sure, hang on…yeah, the batteries are still going, good.”
Ace held the torch so Will could see what he was doing. Wayne handed Hogweed a bundle of wood, and came to look, open-mouthed.
“However did you make that?” he almost whispered.
“What, the torch? Torches are easy, I’ll show you when we’ve got time. Just watch this!”

Wayne watched in total confusion as Will pulled out chunks of various metals from his backpack. He was muttering to himself as he worked.
“Solid steel for the piston…there! And the wheel…and around them, the crankcase – look at this, Ace, bit of titanium, lovely, isn’t it? – and above them, the combustion chamber, no, that’s too small, a bit bigger, yes. Exhaust outlet, anything’ll do for that, what’ve we got?”
“What is it?” said Wayne.
“Two-stroke engine,” said Ace. “For the boat. You didn’t think we were planning to row twenty miles in a night, did you?”
“I don’t know what I thought,” said Wayne, “but it wasn’t this. You’re building an engine! Just like that!”
“Yeah, and I don’t know why I’m doing all the work,” said Will. “Ace is perfectly capable of making an engine. Give Wayne the torch and make a spark plug, will you?”
Ace grinned, handed Wayne the torch and put his finger to his lips. He pulled a spark plug out of his pocket and passed it to Will.
“That was fast! Hang on – you had that in your pocket, didn’t you?”
“Might have done.”
“Is it any good? It’s not an old one you’ve just picked up, is it?”
“No, I made it. Few nights ago, when I couldn’t sleep.”
“Great. Shove it in, I want to find a spanner.”
“The tea’s ready,” called Rose. “Come and drink it while it’s hot.”
The sprites gathered round the fire, and drank their tea, and warmed their cold hands. Clover had made a jacket for Bella, like the other fairies had, thickly quilted and trimmed with fur. Hogweed had pulled out a warm woollen hat and gloves, and Wayne rummaged in his own bag for a thick pullover. Clover looked at Ace and Will in exasperation.
“Will, have a bit of sense!” she said. “You can’t spend a night on open water in these temperatures wearing just leathers and a t-shirt!”
“Leathers are warm!” said Will. “We’re OK.”
“You’re not fooling anyone. This is just about arriving looking good, isn’t it?”
“Well, of course it is,” said Ace. “Got to look cool.”
“Cool is right,” muttered Clover. “Cool to the point of frostbite.”


As Ace and Will finished the engine, the others made the wooden boat, with benches to sit on and a rudder to steer it. They made a petrol tank, and dripped their petrol into it, then expanded it to fill the tank. Hogweed carried the engine down to the boat in the shallow water, and Will bolted it in place.
“Brilliant,” said Ace. “What’s the time, Will?”
“Nearly eleven.”
“Perfect timing. We should be there by dawn. Put the fire out, and get your bags. We’re off.”


It was a long, cold night, but nobody minded. They were all quiet, thinking over their long journeys, and wondering what lay ahead. As they swung north-east into Fjaerland Fjord, they started to hug the coastline. Ace was in the prow looking out for the beach; Will was in the stern, listening carefully to the engine and hoping the petrol was going to last out. He knew it wasn’t a good idea to expand petrol inside a hot engine. He’d tried that once before, back on Wildside, and it had taken them ages to put the fire out.
The beach was in sight. It was crowded with sprites, all staring at them and their boat. Feeling very self-conscious, they jumped into the shallow water and ran the boat aground. Ace and Will quickly dismantled it, leaving the driftwood on the beach and shoving the metals back in their bags. They followed their team across the rocky beach.
“How are you feeling?” whispered Ace.
“Terrified. How about you?”
“Oh, fine.”
Will just looked at him.
“OK, OK, maybe a bit nervous.”
“Keep your head down.”
“It’s funny you should say that. Madge told me that, too.”
“Did she? That’s strange. I know she told Clover something, and…”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing, my foot,” said Ace. “Come on, out with it. What did she tell you?”
“You don’t want much, do you? I’m not saying.”
“Why not?”
“To be perfectly honest,” said Will, “I didn’t understand it. When I do, I’ll tell you.”
“Fair enough,” said Ace.
He wanted to know more about this, but now probably wasn’t the time. The sun had cleared the mountain, and the light of dawn flooded down Fjaerland Fjord. The sprites on the beach looked up, expectantly. Some officers were coming down the mountain to meet them.