DEEP WATERS

CHAPTER 4 - Fran

Over the next few weeks the first years began to feel more at home. They knew their way around the vast camp now, and had got used to its routines and its familiar sights. Empty barracks would fill overnight as a unit came back to base, and for a few days the camp would be thronging with new faces, and bubbling with the latest news, before they disappeared as suddenly as they’d arrived. There were plenty of permanent residents, too; sturdy teams from the Goblin Regiment running storerooms, and reliable elves from the 3rd Regiment (Pioneers) compiling reports and doing the filing. Then there was Lieutenant Smerek, who was practically nocturnal. Ace and Will got to know him quite well, because one of his jobs was giving the night-time work to recruits who were in trouble. If you were often about in the early morning, too, as Ace and Will also were, Major Inari of the Signals Unit was always to be seen, taking his pet lemming for a walk.

The first years soon realised that their own programme depended heavily on the weather, and also who was on camp. A few days of heavy snow and high winds saw them confined to classrooms and workshops, having lessons, or practising transforming in every kind of material. When the bright skies returned, the sergeants organised a mock battle with snowballs, so the imps and fairies had to dive-bomb the elves and goblins, while being fired on from the ground. That was great fun, and Ace was crowing for days because he’d got Clover smack in the face. It made them all think, as well, what it would be like to be in a real battle, and wonder when they’d be learning to fight in earnest.

That wouldn’t be until they could move in unison. The fairies were getting the hang of it faster than the elves were. Although they had three dimensions to think about, at least they could see each other all the time. It was hard to keep your line straight behind someone when you were both at the point of moving so fast you were practically invisible. Sergeant Olt had to get them to slow down, which disgusted them. Like any young elves, they thought only of the speed and distance they could do, accuracy hadn’t interested them at all.
They had unofficial competitions among themselves, of course, when the sergeant wasn’t looking. Will was the long-jump specialist; he was nothing special for height, but no-one could beat him across the ground.

For the first week, dozens of first years had got up early and gone out to practise while it was still dark, but that burst of enthusiasm had rapidly died away. All the same, some of the fairies went to the gym every day, while Dan and the imps preferred tearing about outside. Ace and Will went out every morning, and so did Gran, and Alnus, and a German horse chestnut called Ross, and an irrepressible little Austrian elf called Kiefer, who was the only elf on the Alpine team, and constantly trying to escape being mothered by eight older fairies. These were all very friendly, and always worked together. There were three others who trained hard, Droz and his two friends Kes and Vin, but they kept themselves to themselves. They all wore very strange clothes, old-fashioned tunics and boots. Ace thought they were weird, and hadn’t always troubled to hide it.


One morning in early March, Ace and Will saw Dan, out for a run, as they headed for the training ground. It wasn’t quite so dark this morning; slowly, the days were getting a little longer. She waved happily as she ran past, easily keeping pace with her companions.
“She’s with the imps again,” said Ace uneasily.
“You can see why they appeal to her,” said Will. “They’re good fun. But it’s a worry. Some of the fairies seem to hate imps. She’s going to get picked on if she’s not careful.”
Then they saw something that drove Dan out of their minds. There was already a crowd of elves on the training ground. They’d heard a unit of the 1st Regiment were on camp, but they hadn’t seen them. But this had to be them; it couldn’t be anyone else. Ace and Will slowed down to watch. They were awesome. Every one of them was super-fit, with impressive muscles and lightning speed. They were running across the swinging logs as if they were strolling across the grass.
“Oh, it’s good to be back,” said one of them. “Haven’t done this for ages!”
“Let’s do the whole course,” called someone else. “You always used to win, Ace – see if you still can!”
Ace gasped as he saw who they were talking to. For all the sprites here, he’d never seen another sycamore. Now he had, and this one was called Ace, too. It made him feel very strange, but he couldn’t take his eyes off his namesake. Will smiled, watching him. He was used to this, he’d seen plenty of willows - Corporal Lavall was one – but he could imagine how Ace was feeling. It wasn’t like looking in a mirror; this one was a bit craggy-looking, not beautiful -Thank goodness, thought Will. It’d really do his head in if he was better-looking - but there was certainly something familiar in his laughing eyes and easy grace.
“Like any of you lot could even beat a goblin, never mind me,” he said. “Come on, start at the greasy log.”
“Modest, isn’t he?” grinned Will, but Ace only kicked him half-heartedly. He was too mesmerised. Look at them go! he thought. They make it look easy!
From the greased log they jumped towards the trees, up and across the ropes, down and out onto the field again, up onto the overhead bars, and across the swinging logs.
“They’re doing everything!” said Ace.
“One thing after another. This must be what you’re supposed to do!”
“Beautiful. Oh, look at them go! Will we ever be that good?”
“Hard to imagine, isn’t it?”
Gran and the others were here now, and they came to watch, too. The race was far down the field, jumping between the mud pits, then round through the hoops, up and over the net, and across the water. Ace was in the lead, but the others weren’t far behind him.
Oh, come on! You’ve got to win!

They were pelting down towards the last obstacle, the rolling barrels. He was still in the lead, just. He put on a terrific burst of speed and took the barrels in the fastest, most dangerous gamble, a slide on one foot. If it went wrong, you were flat on your face. But if you pulled it off, there was no faster way across. He was standing at the end, grinning, before the others were halfway over.
“Take your time,” he panted, and they all flopped down, chests heaving, to get their breath back, flicking bits of snow at him to stop him swanking too much.
Ace walked over to him, and smiled.
“Hello,” he said.
The other Ace did a double-take, and smiled back.
“Hello! You a first year? Good. Time there was another sycamore around the place. How’re you doing?”
“I thought I was doing OK till I saw that,” said Ace. “That was fantastic. How d’you get that good?”
“Well, believe it or not, it’s nothing but what Sergeant Olt keeps banging on about – he is still here, isn’t he? – practice. Keep at it, you’ll get there.”
“Yeah, he’s still here. He’s always losing his rag with us, but he’s dead kind really, isn’t he?”
“That’s him. So where are you from? What’s your place-name?”
“Moseley. I’m from England.”
“So are we! 1st Regiment, English Division. England 1 for short, that is. Best in the whole army.”
“Have you just come from England? What’ve you been doing?”
“Knocking some sense into a gang of goblins in Somerset. They were spooking humans, and getting too obvious about it. Then they beat up the police when they called, so we got sent in. Nice little job, but it’s over now. We’ve got a month’s leave, so we thought we’d head back here to see the Tree, then wander down to the Swedish lakes and chill out on a boat.”
“Wonderful,” said Ace. “What’s your place-name?”
“Foxfield. It’s in Staffordshire.”
“I’ll remember. I’ve never seen another sycamore before. I’m really glad to meet you.”
“Me too – there’s not many of us. Keep the flag flying!”
They were getting up to go, and Ace went back to Will and the others, his eyes shining.
“You’re brave, talking to them,” said Ross.
“They were like us once,” said Ace. “And one day, we’ll be like them. And now we know what you’re supposed to do on this stuff! Who wants to try it – the whole lot!”
They were all dying to have a go, and streamed off to the start together.

“Come on, Ace! What’re you waiting for? Don’t you want a drink?”
“Yeah, I’m gasping, but I just want to watch this. I’ll catch you up.”
He stood watching for a while as the first years tackled the assault course.
He’s a bit slow yet, but it’s all there. Strong arms. Good on the ropes. Nice lad, he thought, as he followed on behind his team. Not heard the last of him.


None of them managed to finish. Will couldn’t do the overhead bars, not straight after the ropes, and Ace gave up at the mud pits. He could feel he wasn’t concentrating well enough, so he stopped before he fell in. There wasn’t time to go swimming as well, if he got caked in mud, and he didn’t dare be late today. General Széchenyi was back on camp, which meant they were due for their first Advanced Maths class. They grabbed a drink then headed for Classroom One, Ace and Will, Gran, and one of the imps, Sizzle, who was the leader of the Alpine team. The rest of the class, who hadn’t been out practising, were already in their places. They made it just in time, and everyone stood up respectfully when General Széchenyi walked in.
“Good morning!” she shouted breezily. “No time to waste. I want total concentration. I’m not always here, so we must make good use of the time. Now, vectors. Very useful in the field. If you can calculate vectors you can move units around efficiently, and make good use of terrain.”
She drew rapidly on a board with chalk, explaining how to express travelling from one spot to another when you weren’t going in a straight line, and how to calculate the distances.
“For non-parallel vectors,” she continued, “the co-efficients will be equal on both sides of the equation.”
Just run that by me again, thought Ace desperately. What on earth is she on about?
Oh, for goodness’ sake, thought Will. I thought this was going to be interesting.
“Try these examples,” she said, giving out some sheets. “And don’t anyone dare to say he hasn’t got a pen, or I’ll slice his ears off.”
Good grief, thought Ace. What’s she like? And what’s she going to do if anyone can’t do it?
He didn’t dare look at Will in case they started laughing. He found a pen, swallowed with relief, and stared with horror at the first question. It looked like the alphabet had exploded.

Will quietly wrote down the answers, and sat gazing out of the window. General Széchenyi looked up from helping someone, and barked at Will,
“What are you wasting time for?”
Ace looked up, surprised, then realised what it was. Will looked terrified, but he answered calmly.
“Well, I’ve finished, ma’am,” he said.
“Let me see.”
Will handed his paper over, and she glanced down it rapidly.
“You know this already? I see. Try this one, then.”
She handed Will a different sheet, and this time she was watching him carefully. She saw disappointment cloud his eyes, as he quickly polished off one headed, Trigonometric Ratios. She sat down beside him at an empty desk.
“Permutations and Combinations?”
Will nodded, sadly.
“Differentiation? Integration? Exponential functions?”
“Yes, ma’am. I can do all those.”
“Are you Will Moseley?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I thought you might be. I’d like to talk to you. Have you got any free time today?”
“Er, yes, about 1600 hours.”
“Come to my office then, if you don’t mind,” she asked him. “But for now…have you heard of binomial theorem?”
“No,” said Will, cheering up.
Thank goodness for that, thought the general. "Read this, and see if you can work it out."


Ace was speechless when they got out. When he did manage to find his voice, he said,
“I hope she gets called back to Transylvania, or wherever it is she keeps buzzing off to. For a very long time. Two years, preferably.”
“She’s not that bad,” laughed Will.
“It’s all right for you. You haven’t seen the manic look in her eyes when you do something wrong. Good grief, I can’t do this stuff, it’s much too hard for me.”
“Rubbish. She went a bit fast, that’s all. I’ll explain it again, a bit slower.”
“Thanks, Will. I hoped you’d say that. At least we’re outdoors this afternoon, I’ve had enough of sitting still. Hi, Hogweed! What’ve you been doing?”
“Reading and writing. It’s hard going, all this classroom stuff, in’t it?”
“It sure is,” groaned Ace. “You seen Dan lately?”
“Clover was asking me that. Saw her yesterday, but that were only to wave to.”
“Who was she with?” asked Will.
“Them little imps.”


They squirmed through the crowd in the canteen until they found Rose and Clover. They were worried about Dan too.
“The trouble is, we’ve been in the classrooms so much this week,” frowned Rose. “And Dan isn’t with us for anything.”
“And when we’re not in class, she’s off running or doing unspeakable things on logs and ropes,” added Clover. “Like we weren’t already worked to death.”
“Has she had a row with anyone?” asked Ace.
“Not yet,” said Clover. “But it won’t be long. There’s this fairy from Germany called Holzia. She’s made a few remarks about weeds already, and Dan ignored her really well, but now she’s started making remarks about imps – you know, how rough they are, how scruffy, how wild.”
“Oh heck,” said Ace. “And Dan likes them, of course. I like Sizzle, myself. Wild, yes, but she’s clever.”
“Look out, she’s coming,” said Rose.
Dan shoved her way through to join them, brimming with excitement.
“Have you seen the board!” she yelled. “My name’s down to do the music next week!”
“What!” Ace shouted. “Oh, fantastic! Rock on, Wildside! Come on, let’s go and have a practice!”
“Calm down!” said Clover. “You can’t go now, we’re on the field in ten minutes.”
“Rats,” said Ace. “Have to be later, then. Never mind. What shall we play? You choose, Dan. You’re the one whose name was pulled out.”
“Oh, wow,” said Dan. “There’s so many good ones. We’d need about four, I think, to fill the time. We’ll choose one each. But I’m going for Stranger in a Strange Land.”
“Land of ice and snow,” said Will. “Perfect.”


It was just as well the elves were doing ropework. If it had been anything requiring concentration, they’d have been straight in the mud, even Will. As soon as Sergeant Olt dismissed them, they tore off to the team hut. Dan and Hogweed were already there, and Dan had wired the guitars up.
“Great!” said Ace, “It’s only four o’clock, we can get a couple of hours in now…”
“Four o’clock!” yelled Will. “I’m supposed to be in the general’s office! She’ll eat me alive!”
“Oh, no! Move!”
Will didn’t need telling. He’d gone.

Ace, Dan and Hogweed worked on what they could without Will. It was good to be playing again, and singing. Ace couldn’t believe how he’d lasted so long without it, but then, there’d been so much going on. He watched Dan going stratospheric on her solo, and as she threw her guitar around, her sleeves rode up and Ace caught sight of a bandage on her arm.
Weird, he thought. Why didn’t she ask one of us to fix it?
When they’d finished, he asked casually,
“What’ve you done to your arm, Dan?”
“What! Oh, nothing. Just a scratch.”
“You put a bandage on a scratch? You never do that.”
“Oh, it was, just to keep it clean.”
She’s lying to me, thought Ace. But why?
He put his guitar down, went over and caught hold of her arm.
“Let me see,” he said, and she tightened up and tried to pull her arm away.
But Ace didn’t let go. He pushed her sleeve up, and took the bandage off. It was a horrible cut, deep and gaping.
“That’s a knife cut! Dan…how? What on earth have you been doing?” he said, dreading the answer.
Dan shrugged her shoulders.
“Just practising,” she said.
“Practising! We’re not even allowed to have knives yet, never mind use them!”
“Like you’re so keen on keeping rules! You and Will are in trouble nearly every day!”
Hogweed came to see.
“Oh Dan,” he said, “why didn’t you tell me? I’d have fixed it for you.”
“She doesn’t want you to,” said Ace bleakly. “You ever seen General Széchenyi’s arms, Hogweed? Covered in scars. It’s an imp-thing. They’re proud of them.”

He looked at Dan, trying to understand.
“What are you trying to prove, Dan? You don’t have to do this. You’re not an imp.”
Dan’s face was hard and set.
“How do I know what I am? Maybe I am an imp. Everyone else seems to think so.”
“You’re not! I don’t believe it. If you were an imp, Madge would have told you! Dan…what did Madge say to you, before we left?”
“Shut up, Ace, you bully! You’ve got no right to ask that!”
Ace turned away, struggling hard not to lose his temper.
“OK,” he said. “I’m asking you, as a friend, if you’ll tell me what she said. That’s all. Because I think it might help. I think you’re a fairy – the toughest fairy in the army. I thought you could handle being different, that you’d just be yourself, and work your guts out to get in the Fighter Squadron. They don’t have imps in that, do they? I didn’t know why, but I think I’m beginning to understand.”
“I’m sorry,” said Dan. “You mean well, but believe me, what she said is no help. She just said, ‘Be yourself’. And how can I, when I don’t know who I am?”
There was a long silence, then Ace said,
“Where is it?”
Dan knew what he meant.
“In the imps’ hut. With theirs.”
“Get rid of it, Dan. Please.”
“I can’t,” she whispered. “It’s beautiful.”
Ace didn’t answer, but he felt very cold.
“I don’t think there’s much point practising any more, without Will,” he said. “Let’s leave it.”

Dan slipped away, and Hogweed followed her. Ace sat on the doorstep, with his head in his hands, waiting for Will to come back. He wasn’t long. Ace knew he was coming, before he could see him in the dark. He looked up, trying to smile.
“Even you,” he said, “can’t have built a computer already.”
“No, that’s off,” said Will. “What’s up? Has something gone wrong?”
“Not half. Try this – Dan’s got a cut on her arm you could put a finger in, and a crazy weapon-freak glint in her eyes when she’s talking about her knife.”
“What! Oh, what a mess. Have you had a row?”
“Not quite. I felt like telling her straight, you sound as stupid as elves that go on about knives because they think it makes them look hard. But I managed not to.”
“Well done. It’s the imps, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. She’s worried, Will. She thinks she might be one.”
“That’s the trouble, really. What if she is?”
“How d’you tell? I haven’t got a clue. But we’ve got to find out, and without getting her into trouble. If it gets out that they’ve been fighting with knives, she won’t be sweeping snow, she’ll be in detention.”
“I wonder if General Széchenyi could help her? When she’s calmed down a bit, that is. I’ll ask her.”
“You’d dare do that? But why does she need to calm down? Have you been driving her crazy going on about integrated circuits?”

“No, it was awful, Ace. She was ranting and raving, forgot I was there half the time. There’ll be no computer. There’s been a new law passed, the news only came today. Human technology’s illegal now unless it’s fifty years old. If you’ve got any, you’ve got to destroy it.”
“What! That’s disgusting! Everything we have was invented by humans. Why pick on new stuff?”
“They think humans are different nowadays. Inventing bad things. We’re not to be allowed to touch anything new, until time has proved it’s safe. Parliament must be swarming with anti-humans.”
Ace clutched his arm.
“Will! Not the guitars!”
“No, they’re all right. 1930s, that’s seventy years. But not the mobile phone.”
“You feel like destroying David’s present?”
“No chance. I’d rather go to prison.”
“Same here. Oh, let’s go and get a drink. My head’s spinning. D’you know what, I would really, really like some beer.”


They couldn’t believe their eyes when they walked into the mess and saw that there was beer to drink that night.
“I must be dreaming,” said Ace. “This is fantastic.”
“Yes, come and fill your mug,” shouted Beuk, who’d had a few already, by the look of him.
Ace was just about to take a sip when Beuk started shouting to some fresh arrivals,
“Come on, come and celebrate!”
“Just a minute,” said Will. “What are we celebrating?”
“The new anti-technology law, of course,” burbled Beuk happily. “No more human rubbish!”
“Without humans you couldn’t even make a bucket,” said Will. “Assuming you actually can, of course.”
“I’m not celebrating that,” said Ace, and turned his mug over so all the beer spilled on the floor. The room went quiet, and Ace jumped onto a table.

“What are you doing?” he shouted. “Celebrating a stupid law? You’re young! Don’t you want new things? Or d’you want to live in the past? Well, I’m not celebrating. This law’s an insult to humans. I’m going now, and I think everyone else who thinks the same ought to go, too.”
“Shut up, Moseley, you’re mad,” shouted someone, but Ace didn’t reply. He just jumped down, and he and Will walked out. After a moment, Wayne followed them, along with Bella and the rest of the Moseleys, and Gran, and Betch. Betch didn’t have a clue what it was all about – he’d hardly ever seen humans, let alone spoken to them – but he trusted Ace. Droz and his friends came out, too. Droz looked at them, and he wasn’t smiling.
“If you think insulting humans is the worst thing Parliament does, you’ve got a lot to learn,” he said. “But walking out is a good idea.”
“I know something of how you have suffered, in the east,” said Gran sympathetically.
“Many people know this, but few care. All you care about is your modern technology. But at least you care about that. It’s better than caring for nothing,” he said contemptuously, and stalked off.
Wayne was looking very serious.
“Well done,” he said to Ace, shaking his hand. “We were all thinking that, but only you had the guts to say it.”
“Guts, huh?” said Ace. “That was the easy bit. The hard part was pouring that drink away. I really wanted that beer.”


Ace was still smouldering next morning, and when Fran pompously told him off for making an exhibition of himself, Ace thumped him. Fran thumped him back, but it was Ace who got in trouble, for starting it.


“What is it this time?” said General Herdalen. “Fighting again?”
“Only me,” said Ace. “Will’s in trouble for losing his temper with Sergeant Svir when she didn’t like his blanket.”
“It was my sixteenth attempt,” said Will. “I just lost it.”
“Appalling behaviour,” said the general, as if he’d never done anything of the kind. “I heard about what you did last night. Well done.”
“Thank you,” shivered Ace. “Oh, when does it stop snowing in this country?”
“April, if you’re lucky,” laughed General Herdalen. “Why? You’re not cold, are you?”
“No,” said Will. “Cold isn’t strong enough. We’re walking icicles. How come you never look cold, sir?”
“You want to know why I never look cold? You don’t think it’s just because I’m Norwegian?”
“No,” said Ace. “Go on, sir. Tell us.”
The general smiled, and pulled back the neck of his t-shirt, so they could see that underneath it was a thin layer of wool.
“Thermal underwear,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “Wonderful stuff. Keep warm, and still look cool. Have to work hard at Textiles though, and not lose your rag with the sergeant…”
They were both grinning with delight.
“Point taken,” said Will.


By morning, the wind was howling down from the north, and blowing snowflakes in a whirling blizzard around the whole mountain. Clover shuddered when she woke, to hear how fiercely the wind was battering the walls of their hut. What on earth was it like out there?
Someone knew this bad weather was coming, she thought. That’s why we’re all indoors today. No-one could fly in this.
When they got outside, they realised that even walking was going to be difficult. Clover and Dan had to hang on tight to the two tiny Serbians, Lys and Muscari, to stop them being blown away, and even Rose and Bella were clinging to each other for a bit of support. They tumbled thankfully into the canteen, and when they’d had their breakfasts, battled their way across to the Great Hall.

Clover was panting for breath as she led them in. The Hall was full of chairs today, that meant they were having a lecture. Anything was better than being out in that wind, but she felt worn out already. It would be nice to doze off, but the elves had already got all the back seats. Typical. They’d have to sit at the front, and stay awake.
General Cherapont walked onto the platform, smiling, and wished them all good morning.
“As the weather is so bad today, I’m going to give you a talk on the structure and organisation of the army,” he told them. “Settle down now, settle down. Kiefer Schwarzee, get down off the window ledge. Ace Moseley, turn your chair the right way round and sit properly.”
Clover sighed, and looked at Rose. Rose just shook her head.
“The army has grown over the centuries,” began the general, “from its earliest days, when there was just one regiment, the Queen’s Guard, and one squadron, the Queen’s Messengers. Today, there are four regiments, and ten squadrons, and seven specialised units. Sergeant Olt will draw diagrams on the board, to make it clearer. I will take the specialised units first. Now, of them, one is so large it has its own general, and its own separate organisation – the Military Police. That’s because it has so much work to do; law enforcement is a big job. Who hissed, then? Droz Zlatni, I’m watching you. Any trouble and you can go and stand under the clock. Now, then. The rest of the specialised units come under the command of the general in charge of logistics. Each is headed by a Colonel. They are Signals, Supplies, Surgeons, Technical, Transport, and Training. Any questions so far?”

“What does the Supplies unit supply?” asked someone. “Don’t people just make what they need themselves?”
“Everyday things, certainly,” said the general. “But they see to it that other units receive any unusual materials they require, or anything that needs to be bought from human sources. Some of them are highly talented fairies, who make beautiful things that can be sold. Humans like their work so much, they pay for it with something called money, which can be used to buy the things we need.”
Hey, thought Clover, that sounds OK! Sitting around making beautiful things – nice job!
“Now, the squadrons,” the general continued. “They are under the overall command of the head of Air Forces, and again each squadron is led by a Colonel. They are Messengers, Intelligence, Guidance, Environmental Protection, Search and Rescue, Fighter, plus four general squadrons which can be paired with the four regiments to provide air support when necessary. All clear so far? Good. Now, when it comes to the regiments, things get a little more complicated.”
Typical, thought Clover. Trust elves to confuse things.
“The Land Forces need to be well spread out,” the general explained, “not being able to fly. Each regiment has a division in each country, headed by a Colonel. So, for example, Germany 1 means the division of the 1st Regiment that is based in Germany. If the head of Land Forces needed the whole regiment together, he would summon them from all over Europe. That doesn’t happen very often. It’s more usual to pull together the four divisions in any one country. But in either case, they would follow the orders of the most senior colonel, by length of service. Any questions?”

Questions? thought Clover. You’d have to understand it to ask questions.
But someone had a question. Clover sighed. She knew that voice well enough.
“Why don’t you just have one regiment for each country, then?” asked Ace.
“That’s been tried. It didn’t work. When they had to come together, there was too much national rivalry. This way, your first loyalty is to your regiment, which spans every nation. But when you’re pulled together, it doesn’t cause a problem, because it’s with people from the same country.”

The general started telling them about the work that some of the units were doing at the moment, and Clover felt her eyelids drooping. It was nice and warm in here, and the general’s voice was very soothing. The next thing she knew, her name was being shouted, and Rose was elbowing her in the ribs.
“Clover Moseley! Am I boring you?” the general demanded.
Feeling that the truth wouldn’t go down too well, Clover shook her head rapidly.
Oh, embarrassing, she thought. And the elves will be laughing their heads off.
She tried to concentrate on what he was saying about the Fighter Squadron’s latest exploits. It all sounded very dangerous and uncomfortable, but she wasn’t surprised when Dan started talking about it as soon as the general had finished.

“I would like to join that so much,” said Dan fervently. “I do hope I make it.”
“You?” said Holzia, her eyes wide. “That’s a bit ambitious, isn’t it?”
“Why?” said Dan. “I can fight. I’ll do it, you’ll see.”
“They’re an elite squadron,” said Holzia, in a slow, patient voice, as if she was trying to get through to someone stupid. “You’re a weed. Doesn’t quite fit, does it?”
“If the Fighter Squadron’s all I think it is,” said Dan firmly, “they won’t care what flower you are so long as you can fight, and all the rest of it.”
“And what makes you think you can fight?” said Holzia.
“Goodness, Holzia, don’t be daft,” interrupted Clover, before Dan really lost her temper. “Dan’s fought goblins, even, of course she can fight.”
“And you think that makes you tough, do you?” Holzia said to Dan. “I’ve seen you crying, when your elves got in trouble again. You’re not as tough as you think you are.”
Oh, not here, Dan! thought Clover. Not in front of everybody!
But it was no use. Dan bared her teeth and punched Holzia in the face. Not too hard, but Holzia went down, with a scream of pain. Everyone turned to look, Detia was screeching at Dan, and the German elves, led by Ross, jumped over, and Ross hit Dan. Ace and Will weren’t standing for that. They liked Ross a lot, but they weren’t going to stand around and let him hit any of their team.

There were a lot of people out working that night.
“What happened?” asked the general.
“Well, it wasn’t really our fault this time,” said Ace. “This German fairy told Dan she wasn’t as tough as she thought she was, so Dan decked her, and her elves decked Dan, and…”
“…and you thought you’d join in.”
“Pretty well half the first year joined in by the end,” grinned Will. “The sergeant went ballistic.”
“Who is Dan, anyway?”
“She’s a fairy who thinks like an elf, and looks like an imp, whose best friend is a goblin.”
“And she’s one of the ones who signed those forms?”
“Yep.”
“When I see Madge, I’m going to strangle her.”


Ace and Will were on a little-used path tonight. With so much labour available, Lieutenant Smerek had decided to get all the paths cleared, after the storm. He’d given the easy stuff to the novices, but Ace and Will were old hands at this now, and they were down between the second years’ huts and the barracks of the 2nd Regiment (Foresters), with shovels. Ace was watching General Herdalen out of the corner of his eye. He noticed how there suddenly seemed to be guards about, looking alert, when the general was around.
It’s the police who keep the guard, thought Ace. But he doesn’t trust them. He keeps his own watch, and keeps them on their toes. What a leader.


Fran thought he was winning. Ace couldn’t go on for ever getting hit and getting into trouble. Any day now, his spirit would weaken and he’d realise he just wasn’t big enough to beat Fran. Then he’d have to do as he was told.
“Give me a signal, Peter, when the sergeant’s looking,” Fran told him. “We have to make it look like Ace is starting the fight. Always getting the blame will demoralise him.”
“You need to finish him off quickly,” said Peter. “He’s getting far too uppity. Beating him up on the training ground’s OK, because he gets the blame for starting it. But the sergeant always puts a stop to it. You want to sort him once and for all, when no-one’s looking.”
“You’re right,” said Fran. “It’s time to put a stop to his cheek, for good.”


Rose and Clover wanted to see an end to all this fighting, too, and decided it was about time they said something. They got up very early, hoping to catch Ace before he started training. But he and Will were nowhere to be seen.
“That’s strange,” said Rose. “I thought they came out practising every morning?”
“Practising, of course! That’s where they are. In the hut.”
As they got closer, they could hear the guitars.
“Sounds good,” said Rose, as they went in.
“Crumbs, what’s the time? Are we that late?” said Will.
“Very funny,” said Clover. “We got up early, if you must know. We wanted to talk to you.”
“What about? Dan?”
“No, Dan’s all right,” said Clover. “She’s been as happy as a cloud since Ross punched her in the face.”
“Come again?” said Will.
“Dan thought that was wonderful, that he didn’t go easy on her because she’s a fairy. He fought her like an equal. She says it’s the greatest compliment she’s ever had in her life.”
“Yes, that makes sense,” said Ace slowly. “From Dan’s point of view. Though I couldn’t have worked that one out for myself. What’s up then, if it’s not Dan?”
“You,” said Rose. “Always getting in trouble for fighting! Why do you let Fran wind you up?”
Ace shut his eyes and sighed.
“Come and sit down,” he said.

He and Will took their guitars off and joined them at the table.
“I’m sorry if you’re worried,” said Ace. “I know I shouldn’t lose my temper with him, but getting in trouble doesn’t really matter. What matters is standing up to him. I have to fight him, Rose. It doesn’t make much difference where, or when.”
“Why do you have to fight him? Just tell him you don’t want to!”
“He wants to be acknowledged as leader. And he thinks he’ll get that if he beats me up often enough. I have to hang on until he sees it isn’t going to work, and gives up.”
“He’s not doing this for himself, Rose,” said Will. “He’s doing it for the team. We need him organising things. Fran’s not in Ace’s league. He’s not even in my league.”
“Exactly,” said Clover. “You’re cleverer than he is! So think of a cleverer way to beat him!”
They were looking thoughtful, Clover could see. She decided they’d made their point. Tactfully, she said,
“We’ve interrupted your practice. Come on, Rose, let’s go and get a brew.”
Ace and Will watched them go, but they didn’t go back to their guitars.
“But I don’t want a cleverer way. I want to beat him, Will, properly, in a fight. I just feel I’m almost there – as if a bit more training, and I might just pull it off.”
“I know,” said Will. “Believe me, I understand, but…”
“…too optimistic?”
“Well, yes. No amount of training’s going to give you the reach he’s got.”

Ace smiled ruefully.
“It was easy to feel big on Wildside, wasn’t it? Just us, and a shrimp like Phil. How he’s going to manage, I don’t know. He’s as tiny as Kiefer!”
“Phil would go straight for the cleverer way,” said Will. “Admit it, Ace, you just like fighting. You’re as bad as Dan, really.”
“Shut up,” laughed Ace. “You know me too well. I tell you what, though, today I won’t let him make me lose my temper. I’ll keep really cool. Then, if he wants to fight, he’ll have to start it.”
“That’s good. If you don’t fight on the training ground, he’ll have to do it somewhere else. You’re faster and fitter than he is. Without the sergeant butting in, maybe you could keep it going long enough to tire him out.”
“Brilliant,” said Ace. “That’s the sort of cleverer I like.”


“Form a square,” said Sergeant Olt. “Follow the head of your line, a split second later each person, and keep your lines straight! Don’t watch the line in front, watch the way you’re going. Move on my signal, fifty yards, angle thirty degrees. Go!”
Ace followed Gran, concentrating hard, holding the line, then he felt a foot in his back. He was jerked forward and crashed into the line in front, and two dozen elves were thrown into a tangled heap.
“Get up, Moseley, you idiot!” barked the sergeant. “You’re always causing trouble! Get back to the start, everyone, and form the square again.”
Ace was getting dirty looks from everyone who’d fallen, except Will, of course.
“He kicked me out of line!” Ace fumed.
“I know! But keep cool!”
“Keep cool. Right. Don’t lose your temper.”
“Swap places,” said Will.
He thought that might put Ace out of Fran’s reach, but Fran didn’t care. This time he kicked Will, and the result was just the same.
“What on earth d’you think you’re playing at?” stormed the sergeant. “You should be able to do this by now! Would you rather go flying with the other fairies, is that it?”
Then Ace saw, to his horror, that the unit from the 1st Regiment was watching them. And Fran sniggered, behind his back. Ace spun round and punched Fran full in the face. Sergeant Olt had had enough. He gave Ace four hours, and Fran, well-pleased, left it there for now.

He hadn’t finished yet, though. After they were dismissed, and Ace and Will were gloomily making their way towards Classroom Five, he confronted them on the narrow path between the high wall of the Great Hall, and the main Signals Room. As he stepped out in front of them, Peter came up behind. Their hearts sank. In a narrow space like this, they didn’t stand a chance. Peter went straight for Will, and got him in an arm-lock. He pushed his face into the wall, and held him there. He couldn’t see, he could hardly breathe, but he could hear what Fran was doing to Ace. He struggled with every ounce of his strength, but he couldn’t break Peter’s lock. Then Peter pushed him to the ground, and he and Fran stalked off.
“Help me up,” said Ace. “We’ve got to move. If we’re late for Sergeant Svir, we’ll only get in more trouble.”
Will watched him, uneasily. He didn’t look too bad, but that must have hurt. And they didn’t have time to stop.

Sergeant Svir kept them long after the others had gone, telling them their efforts would be a disgrace to a two-year-old fairy. They were too worn out to argue. When she’d finished shouting at them, they only had time for a quick drink before they had to go to History.
Even after that, though, they had to hurry. They were meeting Dan and Hogweed for a practice.

“We can’t not go,” Will worried, “or Dan will think we’re not friends with her, and that would only make things worse.”
The practice didn’t go well. Dan had a fresh bandage on her other arm, and she was very quiet, not playing with her usual fire. Ace wasn’t singing well, either. He kept running out of breath.
“This is dreadful,” he said. “We’re going to sound as bad as the Moldovan bagpipes if we’re not careful.”
“We’re having a bad day, that’s all,” said Will. “It’ll pull together, don’t worry. And don’t you worry either, Dan – about anything. We’re all in this together, and we’ll make it together. Can you give me more volume on the bass drum for the lead in to the chorus, Hogweed?”
“Sure, Will. You want to try it again?”
“Yeah. Leave the vocals, Ace, and let’s just lay the guitars down right. Don’t push yourself, we’ve got a hard night ahead.”
“You don’t have to come!” said Ace. “You’re not in trouble.”

Will just looked at him, and Ace had to smile. He should have saved his breath. There was no way Will would leave him to suffer four hours on his own, any more than he would have done if it had been the other way round.

Dan watched and listened, realising that they’d got problems of their own. They were struggling too, yet they were here. It meant a lot to them. She meant a lot to them. Grateful, she pushed her own worries to the back of her mind, and let the music flow. It helped all of them. It was like drinking courage.