DEEP WATERS

CHAPTER 5 - Stranger in a Strange Land

Ace and Will needed courage, that evening, as they faced the thought of four hours’ graft in those temperatures.
“Hello, Ace,” said Lieutenant Smerek. “Hello, Will. Hang on while I write your names down. What is it this time?”
“Fighting. Four hours,” said Ace, resignedly. “Haven’t you got anything you want doing indoors?”
“Dream on. It’s snowing! The paths come first.”

They struggled bravely against the freezing wind, too tired and too cold to talk. Will was getting worried about Ace, he was going slower and slower, and he was swaying a bit. But they kept at it, as well as they could, and they’d done over an hour before they met General Herdalen. He stopped to speak to them as usual, and a teasing remark died on his lips as he saw their pinched, tired faces, Ace’s still bruised. They hadn’t had time to stop for Will to fix it.
“What is all this fighting?” he asked quietly. “Are you getting bullied?”
“No, it’s not that,” said Ace. “It’s just this hulking great ash who thinks I don’t know my place. But I do know my place. In the lead. I’m not giving in.”
He swayed again, and leaned on his broom as if it was the only thing stopping him from falling over.
“We got four hours tonight, at least I did, and Will won’t leave me, which is beautiful and the only nice thing that’s happened all day, and we’ll probably die, and you tell them, sir, at our funeral, that we didn’t give in…”
“He’s delerious!” said General Herdalen. “Get his other arm, Will, before he collapses. That’s it. Bring him into my house.”
“Blood,” said Ace. “There’s blood everywhere. That’ll be Dan. What am I going to do about Dan, Will? Maybe you should have transformed her into an elf. But then she’d be lonely. Like Gran. Don’t want to do that to her. But she’s not an imp, she…”
“Ace, shut up!” said Will, terrified what he’d say next. “Look, you’re going indoors. Out of the cold. That’s nice, isn’t it?”
“Can’t go in. Not finished yet.”
“Oh, yes you have,” said General Herdalen. “The punishment is cancelled.”

Will helped him through the door, into a warm, lamp-lit room, panelled with wood. On a shelf above the stove was a photograph of two Norwegian children in national costume, and in a corner was a battered old acoustic guitar.
“Lay him down on the rug,” said the general, putting a kettle on the stove. “Why does he think I’m lonely?”
“He didn’t mean you,” Will explained. “He wouldn’t have the cheek to call you Gran, even in private. He meant another first year, Gran Starheim. Lonely because his only friends were twins.”
“Oh, I see,” said the general. “Look, we’ve got to find out what’s wrong. Tell me exactly what’s been happening, without worrying about getting yourselves or anyone else into trouble.”

Will was too worried to care who got in trouble. He told the general all about it.
“So he’s been getting beaten up nearly every day? And then working half the night? And then getting up at dawn to practise?”
“That’s it,” said Will. “But today was the worst. I couldn’t see what was happening, I had my face pushed into a wall, but it sounded bad.”
“I’m all right,” said Ace. “I can handle it. I just don’t like blood.”
“Stop worrying about blood! There isn’t any blood.”
“There is, so. I can taste it.”
“What!” said the general, and in a second he had his knife in his hand.
Ace shuddered.
“Not knives,” he whispered. “Not Dan.”
The general eased Ace’s gloves and jacket off and slit his t-shirt. His whole chest was bruised dark green, and the bones didn't look right at all.
“Broken ribs, and a pierced lung,” said the general grimly. “Excuse me a moment, Will.”
He sat absolutely still, with his eyes closed, and a few moments later Lieutenant Smerek knocked on the door.
“Yes sir?” he said.
“To the hospital, Lieutenant, please, at top speed. Escort Major Gourdon here immediately, and don’t let him slip or fall.”
“Sir!” said the lieutenant, and jumped off.

Will’s mind was in turmoil. Fran must have jumped on him – with both feet, probably – he couldn’t believe anyone could be that vicious, he couldn’t believe Ace had managed to get up and carry on as if nothing much had happened.
“You even tried to sing,” he said, shaking his head. “What are you like?”
He caught hold of Ace’s hand and rubbed it, trying to warm it.
“Try and keep him conscious,” murmured the general. “But don’t do anything else till the surgeon gets here.”
Will nodded, and Ace tried to smile.
“Like singing,” he said.
“You just like the sound of your own voice, that’s what,” said Will. “Just think how good it’s going to sound ringing out all over that Concourse next week.”
“D’you think they’ll like it?” Ace whispered.
“You bet they will. We’ll blow them away. I’m going to see if I can make the amps bigger. We don’t have to worry, here, about how much noise we’re making. We can have as much volume as the battery can handle.”
Footsteps sounded outside, and the general opened the door. The lieutenant stood quietly, awaiting further orders, while Major Gourdon, a thin, ancient elf, shrugged off his fur coat, nodded at General Herdalen, and knelt down beside Will. His eyes narrowed as he considered the damage, then he smiled at Ace.
“We’ll soon have you fixed up,” he said cheerfully. “But you’ll have to spend the night in the hospital. Rustle up a couple of goblins to carry a stretcher, please, Lieutenant.”
“Yes sir,” said the lieutenant, and was about to go when Will spoke.
“Excuse me,” he said, “but could Hogweed be one? He’d want to do that for Ace.”
“What hut’s he in?”
“Fifteen,” said Will.
Lieutenant Smerek nodded, and went out.
Will watched the surgeon’s hands feeling which bones were broken.
“Here, this sharp end, draw it away from the lung and rejoin it here,” he said quietly, and Will took a deep breath and saw right into the bones, pulling them together.
Ace coughed a bit, and there was blood on his lips. Will wiped it away, and winked at him, encouragingly.
“And here,” said the surgeon. “This one’s broken just here.”

Following his guidance, Will repaired all the broken bones, and the puncture in the lung. The blood vessels took longer. There was so much damage, and every drop of blood had to be imagined back into its proper place. But Major Gourdon was very skilful and experienced. He used Will as a human surgeon uses a scalpel, relentlessly guiding him into every damaged vein. Suddenly, Ace moaned softly and relaxed.
“Good, he’s fallen asleep. That means it’s stopped hurting.”
He carried on and on, until the green shadows had gone from Ace’s skin. Then he sat back.
“Well done,” he said to Will. “You’ve got very good concentration.”
“Thank you,” said Will. “Is that it? Is he all right now?”
“He should be fine, but I want to watch him. Watch his breathing, watch there’s no further bleeding. If all’s well, he can get up tomorrow.”
“Can I come?”
“No, you need to sleep,” he said kindly. “But you can come and see him as soon as you wake up. Bring the stretcher here, please,” he called over his shoulder, and Will realised Hogweed was there, with another first year goblin.

“Who’s done this to him, Will? That Fran? D’you want me to mangle him?”
“Yes, I want you to,” said Will. “But I don’t think Ace does. He wanted to beat him himself, you see.”
They lifted Ace onto the stretcher, and covered him warmly.
“Just a minute,” said Will, and he touched the bruise on Ace’s cheek and looked at it until it disappeared.
“That’d bother him more than a little thing like not being able to breathe.”
“Carry him very carefully,” said the surgeon.
The lieutenant led the way, with a lantern so they wouldn’t stumble. General Herdalen spoke to Hogweed as he lifted his end of the stretcher.
“One good punch wouldn’t do any harm,” he whispered, and Hogweed chuckled.

As he watched them taking Ace away, Will felt tears pricking his eyes.
Oh, no, he thought. Get a grip.
“You’re worn out,” said the general, “and no wonder. Sit down and drink this.”
Will sank into a big black armchair, and wrapped his hands round a scalding mug of coffee. Even the smell was reviving.
“You’ve been so kind, sir,” he said gratefully.
“That’s OK. That’s what I’m here for – I’m responsible for every elf and goblin in the army. A good officer looks after his team. Like Ace does. He’s very worried about Dan, isn’t he? What’s she been up to? Fighting with knives?”
“How did you know?”
“It wasn’t hard to guess, from his ramblings. Imps will do it, every year. Sergeant Svir will sit on them, when she’s ready. But your Dan’s not an imp, is she?”
“That’s the real trouble,” said Will. “She’s not sure what she is. She spent twenty years being told she was rubbish, before they kicked her out for being a weed. She came to Wildside pretending to be an elf, and she got away with it, too. Then she came here, and realised she looked like an imp. It’s no wonder she’s confused.”
“Poor little soul,” said the general. “And only your team knew how she was suffering. And of course you were the only ones who couldn’t help her, because you don’t know much about other sprites yet, do you?”
“You mean there’s an answer? There’s a way you can tell? What is it?”
“It’s very simple,” smiled the general. “Some fairies do look like imps, especially if their flowers are small, brightly-coloured, and, well, robust, shall we say? But there’s one huge difference. Imps don’t have music. Brilliant dancers, yes, but music, no. Never. So – can Dan play an instrument?”
Will laughed out loud.
“Can Dan play an instrument? Oh sir, wait till you hear her! She’s our lead guitarist!”
“And you’re playing soon? I’ll make a point of being there. It won’t solve all her problems, but it’ll settle who she is, once and for all, in front of everyone.”
“I see what you mean. It’s not suddenly going to stop her liking knives. But it should help. I just want to show her that we’re her friends, no matter what.”
“That’ll help even more. I’d try and keep Ace off this one, Will, and handle it yourself. He’s got a bit of a hang-up about knives, hasn’t he? Tell him you’ve got it in hand, and just to worry about this Fran.”

“It’s so unfair,” said Will. “Ace is better than him in every way, except sheer brute force. And because he can't beat Fran in a fight, he's going to have to let him be leader."
“I’ve got an idea about that. I’ll come and see him in the morning. But is it just rivalry, Will? Has he ever said anything that made you think someone was putting him up to it? Someone who had it in for Ace?”
Will thought about that carefully.
“No,” he said. “Nothing. And I don’t think it’s even rivalry. He’d happily follow Ace if he came from a forest, or even if he was some so-called better sort of tree.”
“Oh, you think it’s just snobbery? Where’s he from?”
“The New Forest.”
“Ah, that makes sense. Yes, that rings true. So long as no-one’s after you already. If any harm comes to you two, I’m dead.”
“What d’you mean?”
“You know any human mothers, Will?”
Will smiled, remembering Sally.
“Sure do.”
“Well, you know how they care about their children. But that’s nothing compared to a middle-aged fairy who’s taken a youngster or two under her wings.”
“You don’t mean Madge! She was always telling us off!”
“I do mean Madge. So have pity on me, and take care. That reminds me – what have you done with the phone?”
“Hidden it,” grinned Will.
“Good work. You can sleep here, Will. No need to go to your barracks on your own. Here’s a blanket, curl up in front of the stove.”
“Wonderful,” said Will. “Thank you so much. Ace thinks he’s a cracking leader, and so he is, but even he will have a job matching you, sir.”
The general was very touched.
“Thank you, Will,” he said. “Goodnight.”


Will could hear Ace arguing with someone before he even got in the room. He smiled to himself and opened the door.
“ ’Cos it’s not cool,” Ace was explaining patiently. “OK, so my lungs are in a delicate condition and if I get cold I could get pneumonia, I’m still not wearing that.”
Major Gourdon was trying to persuade Ace to put on a bright yellow woollen pullover.
“Would these do instead?” said Will, tossing Ace his jacket and a clean t-shirt.
“Wonderful timing,” said Ace.
“Not so fast,” said the surgeon. “This is a military hospital. You’re still under orders. And my orders are you’ve got to keep warm. Let me see those clothes.”
He picked them up, considering.
“All right – so long as you keep this jacket fastened up. You promise that, or you stay in bed for another twenty-four hours.”
“OK, I promise,” said Ace. “Can I get up now?”
“When you’ve had some milk. Just sit still, will you?”
When he’d gone out, Ace said,
“Oh, Will, come here,” and hugged him. “He told me what you did. Thank you’s not enough, but thank you anyway.”
“Pipe down, you nutter. Are you really OK now?”
“Yeah, I feel great. How are you? D’you get any sleep?”
“Yes – on the general’s rug! He told me loads of interesting stuff – I’ll tell you later,” he said, as Major Gourdon came back in with a big jug.
“Here you are,” he said.
“Can’t Will have some?” said Ace. “He’s been having a hard time too.”
“Yes, you do look a bit peaky,” agreed the surgeon, and poured some out for Will, too.

“How do they get milk up here?” said Ace, amazed. “There’s no shops or houses for miles.”
“Probably straight from the cow,” said Will.
“From a cow? You think I’m going to fall for a wind-up like that?”
Will stared at him.
“It’s not a wind-up. I mean, they probably just milk a cow. Is that what you do, sir?” he asked the surgeon.
“Oh yes,” choked the surgeon. “Very popular job among the second years. Good excuse for a couple of days running wild off camp.”
Ace looked stunned.
“You mean it comes out of a cow? I’m drinking something that came out of an animal’s body?”
“I’m glad Betch didn’t hear you say that. You sound like an ignorant townie. Yes, milk comes out of cows’ bodies. Where did you think it came from, you halfwit?”
“Yeuch!” said Ace. “That’s gross. Don’t the cows mind?”
“They don’t seem to,” said Will seriously. “Are you all right, sir?” he asked the surgeon, who was making strange noises.
Major Gourdon mouthed something feebly, and wiped his eyes, as General Herdalen walked in.
“Good morning, sir,” he got out. “Your young elf is much better,” and hurried out of the door.

“That’s more like it,” said the general. “It’s good to see you smiling again. I can’t stay long - Colonel Huelgoat from France 2 is here, and I need to talk to him. But I’ve got a suggestion for you. You can’t beat Fran. And you can’t go on like this, getting beaten up. Tell him he’s won. Tell him he’s the leader. And do what he says, cheerfully, not helping him out, but not undermining him either. And you’ll see your team start to lose. And it will get very hard to do - for you too, Will. But keep going. Don’t give in. And he will come to the point where he hasn’t got any more to give. And then, Ace, then he will turn to you and ask you to take over. And then, you will have won. D’you understand?”
Ace shut his eyes.
“That’s hard,” he said. “That’s very hard. I don’t want to. But this is a cleverer way. If I’ve got you, and Clover, both telling me the same thing, I’d be stupid not to listen.”
He screwed his face up, and his hands were clenched.
“What do you think, Will? Can I do it?”
“I don’t know,” said Will, slowly. “But I can. You going to let me beat you?”
General Herdalen smiled to himself as he saw the glint in Ace’s eyes. Of course Ace couldn’t ignore a challenge like that. As Will knew perfectly well.
“It should keep you out of trouble for a bit, too,” said the general. “Which wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
“I’ll miss chatting to you every night,” said Ace.
“Nothing to stop you going for a walk,” laughed the general. “You don’t have to be in trouble to go out at night, Ace, it’s not compulsory.”


“Where are you going, Hogweed? Can we come too?” shouted the other goblins.
“Yes, why not?” said Hogweed, as he pulled on his enormous boots. “That’ll really frighten him.”
All eight goblins from Hut fifteen marched across the snowy ground to Hut twenty-four. Hogweed took a deep breath and pushed the door open. All the goblins followed him inside.
“Hi, Hogweed,” said Wayne. “If you’re looking for Ace and Will, I don’t know where they are. They never came back last night.”
“That’s because Ace is in the hospital,” said Hogweed. “He’s been badly injured. Some great bully jumped on his chest with both feet.”
The elves winced, and the room went very quiet.
“Is he all right?” said Betch.
“He is now, thanks to Will, as you’d expect. But what beats me is how anyone could do that to Ace, who’s the best elf in the whole world. He always fights fair. And I should know, he fought me often enough in the old days when we were on different sides.”
Hogweed was moving slowly closer and closer to Fran, the other goblins looming behind him.
“If he knocked someone down,” he said, effortlessly punching Fran to the ground with one blow, “he wouldn’t jump on them.”
He held his foot menacingly over Fran’s body.
“You’re lucky I follow his example and not yours,” said Hogweed bluntly, then turned on his heel and marched out.


Ace and Will didn’t hear about that until the elves came out of Botany at noon, for a drink.
“But how did Hogweed know?” said Ace, wriggling past some second years, and trying not to spill his tea.
“He carried you on a stretcher,” Will told him. “Him and that friend of his with the purple nose, what’s his name?”
“Cowberry? I’ll go and thank them,” said Ace.
Everyone came to ask him how he was, and stayed to chat. Rose and Clover even kissed him, and told him he was so brave he was silly. Betch made a point of speaking to him, and so did Stella, which pleased Ace very much. So he was feeling pretty happy, with Will at his side and surrounded by friends, when Fran and Peter came over. Everyone went quiet, and Ace stood up.
“I’ve come to apologise,” said Fran. “I went too far. I didn’t mean to land you in hospital. I’m sorry.”
“That’s OK,” said Ace. “By the way, you win. You’re the leader. No problem.”
He smiled at Fran, then sat down again and carried on explaining to Stella just what amplifiers were for. Fran and Peter stood there, looking a bit silly, then walked away.

Fran was puzzled. He’d won, but it didn’t feel like it. Ace wasn’t demoralised, or finished, yet he’d given in anyway. Fran couldn’t understand it. And he was beginning to feel a sneaking regard for Ace, since this morning. It was because of what Hogweed had said. All the times the elves had talked about fighting goblins, a lot of it obviously swank. And now Hogweed had said Ace had fought him loads of times, yet Ace had never mentioned it. That was the sort of behaviour Fran had been brought up to respect, and in spite of himself, he was impressed. Now that he’d won, now that Ace had acknowledged him in front of the whole team, for the first time he began to wonder how on earth he was going to cope.

For Ace, the day just carried on getting better and better. Sergeant Olt got the unit from England 1 to stop loafing around and come and help him with the first years, and Ace got to spend a couple of hours with the other Ace, learning to tackle the mud pits. He learned that the trick was to stare at the next landing, but to let your eyes flicker over to the one after. He was really getting the hang of it by the time they finished, and then there was time to have a band practice.
Rose and Clover arrived with Dan, all shivering because they’d been flying so high. They sat by the stove to have a warm, while they listened.
“It sounds wonderful,” said Clover. “Just as good as at home. Which day are you playing on?”
“Monday!” Dan told her. “Only three more days. We must keep practising every spare minute.”
Good, thought Clover. That’ll keep you away from those crazy imps for a bit.
“You won’t get much time tomorrow,” said Rose. “It’s full moon.”
“So?” said Ace. “Hey, d’you mean…you mean we can go and see the Tree again?”
“Yes, of course we can,” said Clover. “Didn’t you know?”
“We can go every full moon?” said Will. “I didn’t realise. That’s fantastic.”


It was even better than last time. Now they knew a bit more what to expect, they enjoyed it even more, and heard more too. They were so happy it didn’t even bother them next morning, when they had an exercise to do in their teams. They had to devise a way to get an injured sprite across a gully, and Fran made a complete mess of it. Sergeant Olt told them their casualty was dead, and Ace, who could have thought of twenty better ways to do it, didn’t bat an eyelid. Half his mind was still in the forest.
They were supposed to have Advanced Science next, but it was cancelled. It was taught by Major Teplou from the Technical Section. He was based at HQ, and he had a flap on. Queries were coming in from all over Europe about what was legal now and what wasn’t, and he didn’t have time to stop to do lessons.

Ace and Will headed straight for the swimming pool. Jumping up to the narrow diving boards was just as good fun as diving off them. They didn’t have to bother with the ladders. When they were tired of that, they swam around for a bit, then Will said,
“I wish we could play ducking, like everyone else does.”
“Doesn’t work, does it, when you know exactly where the other one is all the time. D’you want a race?”
“Yeah, OK. Three lengths? I want to practise turning.”
They shot through the water, intensely competitive when no-one else was watching. Will won, just, and he was swanking happily as they heaved themselves out of the pool and wandered back to get changed.
“Your arms are getting stronger. You’ll be beating me at arm-wrestling next.”
“I don’t think so, somehow,” smiled Will, poking the fire in the changing-room’s stove and throwing another log on.
They lay down on the nearest benches, getting warm and dry, and nearly dozing off. Then suddenly, Will said,
“You know what puzzles me?”
“No, what? But if it puzzles you, I won’t know the answer.”
“Well, why aren’t we learning this message stuff? Madge said you started learning it straight away.”

Ace sat up, looking very thoughtful.
“Yes, she did, didn’t she? No-one’s even mentioned it. That’s very strange.”
“General Herdalen mentioned it. He said, ‘Learn it as fast as you can’.”
“So he did. Learn it…that’s it! You don’t get taught it, you have to learn it yourself!”
“Hey, I think you’re on to something there. Listen to what you don’t hear...”
“Like the Tree - no-one said much…”
“Exactly. We’re ready to go, on this. What do we know already?”
“We know what Madge said – it’s an army thing. And that’s because of the Tree, surely. He’s the reason the camp is here, he’s the reason everyone can understand each other.”
“That’s communication, too,” said Will. “Language is no barrier, here…maybe distance isn’t, either. Wait a minute…did you see what the general did the other night, Ace, or were you too out of it?”
“No, I didn’t notice anything. What was it?”
“As soon as he realised how badly injured you were, he sat quietly, with his eyes closed, and a minute later Lieutenant Smerek was at the door, asking what he wanted.”

Deep in thought, they started to get dressed.
“A while ago, he said he needed to talk to Madge,” said Ace. “And they must have had quite a chat, to have been talking about us, and all that stuff about Phil.”
“This doesn’t add up,” said Will. “Madge couldn’t chat to Heather, yet Heather’s her best friend. She had to send a message, and wait for a reply.”
“Because Heather wasn’t here! The general is, so they could talk direct. But when she wanted to speak to Heather, she had to send a message here – they passed it on to Heather – Heather replied, to here – and Madge got the answer, from here! That’s why the Signals Unit’s so big, Will – they’re the nerve centre of the whole army, passing messages between sprites all over Europe.”
“That’s too far-fetched!” said Will. “It’d never work! There’d be a constant flow of radio waves or something flooding out from this mountain – and it would have been going on for centuries! Humans would have picked up the signals!”
“It might not be anything like that. It might be, well, telepathy.”
Will looked exasperated.
“That’s not scientific. It can’t be that! I can see there’s something, Ace, but it’s got to be rational, it’s got to be!”
Ace watched him pacing about, frowning and looking worried. He could see why it seemed such a problem to Will, but he was convinced he was on the right track. Suddenly he had an idea.
“Will you tell me what Madge said to you?”
“Why d’you ask?”
“Because whatever it was, this is what it was for! She knew I’d have trouble because I show off too much. She knew Clover would have trouble with stone-age elves who think fairies are servants. She knew Dan would have trouble when she met imps. And she knew you’d have trouble with this.”

Will sank down on the bench again, and gripped his head in his hands.
“She said, ’Remember, a scientific reality doesn’t have to be a physical reality.’ “
“Oh,” said Ace.
“Good grief, you’re right. Not physical, yet real. Good grief, it’s quantum physics. Invisible power. Ace, you’re wonderful. Did I ever tell you how wonderful you are? What would I do without you?”
“Yeah, I know I’m wonderful,” said Ace. “But what did I do?”
“Come on,” grinned Will. “Dan and Hogweed will be out of class by now, time we were moving. You’re right, it is a sort of telepathy. The power comes from the Tree himself – in you, if you like – and you can send thoughts, Ace, invisible thought waves, like sound waves.”
“We’ve just got to have a go at that,” said Ace, as they started running and jumping to the team hut. “First thing in the morning?”
“Dead right,” said Will.


When they rushed in, only Hogweed was there. His face brightened when he saw them.
“You’re not in trouble, then. I was afraid you might be.”
“No, why should we be? Have we missed something?”
“They did a hut inspection this afternoon, while we were all in class. Looking for illegal stuff. Thought they might have found your phone.”
“Ha!” laughed Will. “Hid it just in time!”
“Where’s Dan, though?” said Ace, his eyes dancing.
But she came in then, looking very fed up.
“What did you get?” he asked her, trying to look sympathetic.
“Two hours hard labour. And they confiscated the knives.”
“Hard luck,” said Will. “You’ll be sweeping snow again. Great fun.”
“Well, someone’s got to do it,” grinned Ace. “And for once, it won’t be us.”


On Monday afternoon, there was a meeting of the Army Council.
“The Intelligence Squadron have had a real breakthrough,” General Stalden told the others. “We have eye-witness proof now that sprites are being transformed against their will. The victim is taken, blind-folded, miles from home, and transformed into a human. The idea seems to be, that if they like humans that much, they can be one. It’s incredibly cruel. They’re abandoned in a place where they don’t know anyone, sprite or human. Even if they find out where they are, they have no way to travel, except walking. They can’t travel as a human with no money. Just because they’ve spoken to a human doesn’t mean they know how to survive as one. They need food, and they can’t get it. Their imaginations work differently. Even if they get home, any sprite they got near would hide. Yet without finding a friend, they’re stuck as they are, forever.”

“It’s horrible,” shuddered the Commander. “Fiendishly clever. And to transform sprites they hardly know…well, it’s clear they’re tapping into an illegal power source. How many confirmed disappearances are there now, Nella?”
“Sixty-two, over the whole of Europe,” said General Stalden grimly. “And some of them could easily be in a different country to the one they come from, which only adds to their difficulties.”
“Inula, have any of your units succeeded in bribing information out of the gangs who are doing this?”
“Not yet, Commander,” said General Saal. “Though it’s not for want of trying. There are gangs in every country. It’s been very cleverly organised, to spread fear and panic far and wide.”
“I wonder who by,” murmured General Herdalen, drily.
“I asked for this meeting,” said General Stalden, “because we must make a decision. We have enough proof to prosecute the gang from Delamere in England. Do we bring the law down on them, and hope for heavy sentences that will act as a deterrent? Or do we leave our young agent with his cover unblown, in the hope of finding out more information?”
“More information would be very useful,” mused General Cherapont. “On the other hand, delay in prosecution will mean even more sprites disappearing.”
“This young lad who’s undercover,” said General Herdalen, “didn’t do it to get the gang. He’s trying to find his best friend, who’s disappeared. If you blow his cover now, he loses any chance of that. And he’s not in the army – not yet. He was going to come this year, with the big team from England – the Moseleys – but he went to do this instead.”
“Then we owe him a great deal of gratitude,” said the Commander. “Tell Major Rhaeadr, please, Nella, that he’s got another month to find out where they abandoned his friend. But after that, the gang gets arrested. It’s our only hope of stopping this epidemic.”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Then that’s all for now.”

“The Moseleys,” said General Cherapont as they all got up, “they’ve certainly made an impression since they arrived. I don’t know when I’ve seen such talent combined with such dreadful behaviour since, well, since…”
“…since me?” smiled General Herdalen.
“Well, yes. Aren’t they doing the music tonight?”
“They are indeed. You coming to listen?”
“Oh, yes. Must encourage the first years. What do they play?”
“Well, you remember the music I used to play?” said General Herdalen, as they walked along together.
“That caterwauling din?”
“Theirs is a bit like that. Only not so soft and gentle.”


The stage was in darkness. They’d taken down its usual lighting, and rigged up banks of spotlights on poles, that would come on and off, and change colour, on a timer. The lights, the amps and the guitars were all wired up and ready to go. The stage had no wings, the band were behind it, on the ground.
“It’s time,” said Ace. “There might not be many people here yet, but don’t let it bother you. Just enjoy yourselves, and give it all you’ve got.”
“OK, Hogweed, you climb up and get settled,” said Will, slipping his guitar strap over his head. “Do a drum roll, then I’ll hit the power.”
Tense and excited, they waited, and heard the audience gasp as the drums sounded in the dark. Then Will hit the switch, light flooded the stage, and Ace and Will leaped to the front, with Dan zooming between them. The second their feet landed they launched into Aces High, grinning with joy at each other as they heard how loud it sounded, and how good.

Rose and Clover were right at the front, screaming with excitement and waving to them. There was quite a good crowd already, Will thought. Word had gone round the first years that this was going to be a bit different. Ace attacked the words, and the audience fell silent. A lot of them were just standing there with their mouths open.
Help, the chorus, thought Will, and jumped over to join Ace at the microphone. I must concentrate!
It wasn’t easy, there was so much to think about. To relax, and let the music flow, and at the same time to think what you were playing, to be in the right place at the right time, to keep steady with the drums, to watch you didn’t trip over the leads.

When the final chord died away, there was a stunned silence. Ace and Will grinned at each other – they’d been expecting that. Then Rose and Clover started to clap and cheer, and so did all the goblins. They’d turned out in force to hear Hogweed. Ace and Will had no idea what prestige it gave Hogweed among the goblins, that he was in a band with elves. Nobody else’s elves bothered with them much, and the way Ace and Will treated Hogweed was the envy of them all. But now they’d heard the music for themselves, they were very impressed. It was the loudest, most exciting music they’d ever heard.
The next song started quietly. This was Will’s choice; he wanted to show people that heavy metal wasn’t just about noise. It was another old favourite of theirs, Still Life. Ace, Will and Dan stood quietly side by side, letting the intricate guitar work float out, before Ace started softly singing the mysterious words.

That one got a smattering of applause. More and more people were arriving.
You must be able to hear this all over the camp, thought Will.
The next song was a real drum showcase. The guitars turned towards Hogweed, as he beat out the exciting rhythms at the start of Where eagles dare, only turning to face the audience as the words began. The goblins were ecstatic, going crazy, heads banging to the beat. Not everyone was looking so happy. There were a few with their fingers in their ears, and a lot more looking bewildered and confused.
Never mind, thought Will. There’s no way they’ll all like it. But love it or loathe it, you can’t ignore it. We’re not going to be drowned out by nattering, like that poor little Bosnian harpist.

Dan’s choice they’d saved for last. This had a bass lead, so Ace and Dan pulled back, as Will and Hogweed played the deep, thudding intro, then they strutted forward as the other guitars joined in, chugging out the strong beat. Then Ace started singing, quietly at first, a haunting story about a journey into the unknown, one verse, two verses, then Hogweed slammed out a dramatic, tension-building hammer on the bass drum. Will was exactly with him as they pulled it back, just a little, before the chorus.
Ace came in at ear-cracking volume, pouring everything into it, heart and soul.
Stranger in a strange land, land of ice and snow,
Trapped inside this prison, lost and far from home.

And something happened. As Ace thought of all he’d left behind, David, Aesculus, all the familiar places and people, his own homesickness got into the hearts of everyone listening, and made them think of home, too. Yes, they were where they wanted to be, but all the same…for most of them, this was a strange, cold place and home seemed very far away. The moment passed, but it had made a difference. Even the people who couldn’t honestly say they liked it had to admit it was real music. It had spoken to their hearts and minds.
They were into the solo, the first part slow and poignant. Dan took her time, climbing higher and higher up the frets until the beautiful piercing notes split the night and hung there in the frosty air. Will was with her, fitting the deep notes in between, a perfect contrast. Then the tempo lifted again, Ace came in, and the guitars rang out together, boldly, confidently. Will jumped across to join Ace. They smiled at each other, and went into a glorious head-banging ending, their hair tossing around as they gave it everything.
They held their guitars high, and waved to acknowledge the applause. It wasn’t bad, it wasn’t bad at all. Everyone was clapping, possibly with relief that they’d stopped, and their friends were going wild. Rose and Clover were doing ear-splitting whistles, and the goblins’ deep voices were cheering loudly. They left their instruments on the stage, and jumped down, to be engulfed by hugs and pats on the back.
“Oh, I wish David could have heard you!” said Clover. “He’d have been so proud of you.”
“Did it sound all right then?” said Ace.
“Oh, it was wonderful!” said Rose. “The lights, and the way you started in the dark, and jumped on the stage, you made it all so exciting!”
Will turned to Dan, smiling.
“D’you know what?” he said casually. “You’ve just proved to the whole camp that you’re a fairy.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, yes. Didn’t you know? Imps can’t do music. Not at all. Not ever. But you,” he grinned, putting an arm round her, “are the best musician in the whole place. So just you listen to me, Dan Moseley, you’re a fairy, OK? And we like you that way.”
Dan burst into tears, but she was smiling.
“I don’t know, Dan,” said Clover wickedly. “Crying like that, maybe you are an elf.”
“Clover!” said Will.

Hogweed was getting mobbed by the other goblins, all wanting to know how he could make so many drum noises at once. Wayne was looking very thoughtful.
“I’ve heard something like that before,” he told Bella. “Years ago, when you were just a little shrimp. I don’t know why, but it took me back home to the East End, that did.”

“When were electric guitars invented?” Sergeant Olt asked General Cherapont, hopefully.
“More than fifty years ago,” sighed the general. “Unfortunately.”

Even Fran came over to congratulate them. He didn’t say he’d liked it, but he said he could see how good they were at what they did.
He’s honest, thought Will. I’ll give him that. He found something good to say, without lying or pretending.

Then Captain Dolfawr came over to speak to them. He was in charge of the music. Ace and Will swallowed hard. This was the moment when they could get banned from ever playing again.
“Well, that was different,” he said. “Take a bit of getting used to, that will. But well done, well done. What are you going to do with your equipment? There’s a storeroom under the stage, you know, where the orchestras keep their music stands. You can put your lights in there, if you want.”
“Thank you sir,” said Ace. “That’d be really helpful.”
The captain left them to it, and Ace shouted across the crowd.
“Oi! Hogweed! Escape your fans, will you, and give us a hand shifting everything.”

Hogweed came at once, but so did all the other goblins, anxious to help. Hogweed’s Swedish friend, Cowberry, had been very pleased and astonished when Ace had sought him out to thank him personally for carrying him on a stretcher. He was keen to help elves who were as polite as that, especially when they could play such wonderful music. Ace and Will were amazed. They’d thought they’d be all evening carrying things back to their hut, but with so much help, it was only one trip. They and Dan only had to carry their guitars. The goblins brought the battery, the leads, the amps, the drums.
“Thank you so much, everybody,” said Ace, as they finished.
“You’re welcome, sir,” said Cowberry.
“Hey,” said Ace. “Knock it off. I’m just a first year, like you.”
“It won’t be long before you’re an officer,” said Cowberry.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind being an officer,” said Ace, as they started walking to the mess. “But I’m not one yet. My name’s Ace, OK? So tell me about Sweden. It’s got a lot of lakes, has it?”