DEEP WATERS

CHAPTER 6 - Harevollnipa

If it really was telepathy, they weren’t having much luck with it. Ace reckoned if one of you had to be on the mountain, it must be easier if you both were, and if anyone could get through to each other, surely twins could. So, both feeling extremely silly, they went to opposite ends of the camp, and Will tried to send a message, and Ace tried to listen. But nothing happened. Puzzled, but not discouraged, they tried at different times, and in different places. But after a couple of weeks, they were stumped, and cautiously hinted to Clover what they’d been doing, in case she was having better success and could give them a clue. But she was as foxed as they were.
“I’ve tried and tried to get through to you,” she sighed. “Nothing. I’ve tried morning, noon and night. I’ve tried thinking, I’ve tried speaking out loud, I’ve tried everything. I even asked Sergeant Svir if she could give me any hints.”
“And did she?” asked Will.
Clover looked up from the fabric she was sorting, all over the table in their team hut, and smiled at Will.
“Maybe it’ll make sense to you. She said, ‘What does a seed need to start growing? Think about that, that’ll give you a clue.’ “
“Did she, now,” said Will softly.

He picked up his bass and sat down with his back to the wall, playing rapid ripples of notes, his eyes far away. Ace and Clover watched him, then smiled at each other. He was miles away. He wouldn’t even hear them, now, unless they shouted.
“Where’s Rose?” said Ace.
“Gone swimming with Dan.”
“You’re joking!”
“No, really, we’ve got a swimming test soon. If you pass, you can do free-fall over the fjord.”
“Wow. That sounds good. And Dan’s helping Rose get up to scratch? Nice work. Have those two tried messaging, Clover?”
“Dan’s not said, but I don’t think so. And Rose…she’s not ready, Ace. You know that, if you think.”
“Oh…yes, I see. I’m sorry. Are you worried?”
“No. The Tree will know when she’s ready. But I hope it’s soon, then we can talk about it for hours, like you two can.”
“Er, sure, Clover,” said Ace, feeling a bit staggered. You didn’t talk about things like that, or not much, anyway.
“You mean you don’t? Well, what were you nattering about for so long last night, all quietly with your heads together?”
Help, thought Ace, she doesn’t miss a thing. “Not much,” he said airily. “Transforming plants, and how to wire a circuit so LEDs would flash, stuff like that.”

Anxious to change the subject, he started riffling through Clover’s scraps.
“You got any thin wool?” he asked.
“Sure, d’you want some? Here’s a bit.”
“Thanks. Right, watch this, I’m getting good at this. Hold the warp, expand the weft, grow, nice and smooth, make a seam, sleeves, hole for your head – how about that! That’s a vest, that is.”
“Beautiful,” said Clover. “It’s about time you two had something warm to wear. Here’s a bit more, you can make one for Will, too. But I wish I could watch you put them on.”
“Why?”
“ ’Cos it’d be very funny. It’s normal to put holes at the end of the sleeves, too, so you can get your hands out.”
“Rats,” said Ace. “Let’s have another go. And you can stop laughing, as well, if you’re back on this planet.”
“Huh?” said Will. “Was I laughing? Food, and water, and light.”
“Hmm,” said Ace. “That’s a big help, that is. I’m going to ask Sergeant Olt. He might have a hint that a normal person could understand.”


Sergeant Olt had been very pleased with Ace recently. He seemed to have calmed down and stopped fighting all the time, except for one setback when he’d gone for that pest from Holland, Beuk Otterlo. Sergeant Olt knew very well what that had been about. He’d banged their heads together and told them he wasn’t having politics on the training ground. But Ace Moseley had been working very hard, and it showed.
“Well done,” he said to Ace, as he cleared the mud pits perfectly. “All your practising is paying off, you see.”
“Thanks, Sergeant,” said Ace. Then he added, “Can I ask you something? One of our fairies asked Sergeant Svir if she’d got any hints for getting started on messaging. Have you got any hints for us?”
“You’re quick off the mark! Well, what does a fire need to burn? Fuel, oxygen and heat. Take one away, and you’ve got no fire.”
“So you need three things?”
“Tell you what, you and Will can go and visit the Signals Unit. Tell Major Inari I sent you. You might pick up something useful there.”


The Signals Unit was a huge building. As they nervously pushed the door, they noticed at once how quiet it was. It was the only place with a carpet on the floor, and there were fountains everywhere, and beautiful pictures on the walls. It was so tranquil they had to whisper. Major Inari wasn’t there, but Captain Dolfawr showed them round. He led them from the peaceful entrance hall down a corridor glowing softly with fairy lights.
“Come into the main transmission room,” he said. “You can follow a message through.”
The room was full of sprites, most of them very old, sitting quietly at tables. In the very centre was a tall pillar, made of crystal. Its shape was like a tree trunk, and little crackles of green, like fire, chased up and down inside it. Ace and Will stared at it in awe, then Captain Dolfawr beckoned them over to join an ancient fairy with a kind, lined face.

They watched as she sat in rapt concentration, and began to write on a pad in front of her. To General Saal, she wrote at the top, then the name of the officer sending the message, and the message beneath that. She tore off the page, but instead of placing it in the basket at her side, she smiled and handed it to Will.
“You can take it,” she said.
To Will’s relief, she didn’t mean take it straight to General Saal. Captain Dolfawr took them to another room, where there were trays with the names of all the senior officers, and Will laid the message in General Saal’s tray.
“But couldn’t he have contacted General Saal direct?” asked Ace.
“Only in an emergency. That’s the rule, or the senior officers would be overwhelmed with messages. This way, General Saal can read his message when he’s ready, and reply direct if he wants to, or write out a reply to be sent from here. Look, in these trays are the replies they want sending. Here’s one from General Herdalen. We’ll take it back with us.”

He gave it to Ace, and Ace read it as he walked along.
Use your brains for once, Viorne, it said, and show a bit of initiative. Of course you can’t swim the Seine, no-one’s expecting you to. Find a human bridge and cross underneath it, of course. Now get a move on, I need you in Lyons by the end of the month.
Ace grinned to himself, and handed it over. When the message had gone through, the fairy wrote ‘sent’ across it, and put it in a different basket for filing.
“Don’t you get tired?” Will asked her.
“Not any more,” she smiled. “Years of practice make it as easy as breathing. I’m too old to fly now, yet I can do this, which a younger sprite would find very difficult.”
“Do you stay here all the time?” said Ace. “I’ve never seen you about the place.”
“We’re not working all the time,” she told him. “We work in shifts, so there’s always someone on duty. But we don’t come out much in the winter. Too cold for old bodies. Our quarters are upstairs, and very nice they are, too.”
“That’s a lovely thing, that there’s a job for everyone in the army, no matter who you are or what you’re good at,” Ace said to Captain Dolfawr as he took them back down the corridor.
“Well done,” said the captain. “I don’t know if you’ve learned what you need about messaging, but you’ve learned something important, there. You’re the one who did that very loud singing, aren’t you? What’s your name?”
“Ace. Ace Moseley.”
“Ah,” said Captain Dolfawr. “So that’s you, is it?”


“That was very interesting,” said Ace, as they got outside. “But I don’t feel any closer to knowing how to do it myself, do you?”
“We have to work out what this third thing is,” said Will. “Two we know – one’s the Tree, one’s yourself, knowing you can do it, and wanting to. What had they got, in there, that we haven’t? I felt something - the feeling you get when you know you know something, but you can’t remember it, and the harder you think, the more it slips away.”
“Try and forget about it, then, and maybe it’ll come to you, suddenly. Think about something else.”
“Yeah. What we’ve got to think about now, is keeping out of trouble for the rest of the day. We’ve got no time to waste sweeping snow tonight.”
“Far too much to do,” Ace agreed.


What Ace and Will had in mind, what they’d been talking about and not wanted to tell Clover, was what they were going to do for Clover’s birthday. Sprite birthdays are nearly always in the spring or summer, and the birthday season had begun. There’d been a good few jokes and tricks already, but nothing really special. Ace and Will were determined that Clover’s birthday would not go unnoticed. They were out most of the night, but they were up early, too. They didn’t want to miss anything.


When Clover woke up and remembered it was her birthday, her heart sank. She sat up, very cautiously, in case anyone had rigged up a cold shower over her bed again. But no, safe so far. It looked very dark outside, but it must be time to get up. Rose was pottering about, and Dan was doing press-ups. Lys and Muscari were giggling, she noticed. Something was up. Everything seemed normal, though, and Clover was beginning to relax, until she opened the door.
“What!”
They were hemmed in. The door was blocked by a clover plant as thick as a tree. Clover dashed to a window and pulled the curtain back. It was the same at every window; huge trefoil leaves, thick nodding flowerheads, the whole hut was surrounded by clover.
“I don’t believe this! They’ve covered the whole hut! Everyone will have seen it!.”
Rose couldn’t stop laughing.
“Happy Birthday, Clover,” she said.
“I wish you’d all stop laughing and think how we’re going to get out. We can’t shrink a plant we can only see a few inches of.”
“We’ll have to wait for someone to let us out,” said Dan, “unless you fancy trying to make a machete.”
“Why? Is that something that’s good for murdering elves with?”


Sergeant Svir took pity on them, and shrunk the huge plant enough so they could get out.
“Come along, hurry up,” she said. “Happy Birthday, Clover. I must say, whoever did this has an interesting imagination.”
Or a warped mind, thought Clover, dying of embarrassment. Or two warped minds, more like.
You couldn’t even see the hut, it was so swamped with clover.
It does look rather nice, though, she thought, unwillingly.


Ace and Will could hardly move for laughing. They were hiding in the trees at the forest’s edge, and they hadn’t missed a thing.
“Oh, that was wonderful!” Ace choked. “She’ll be raging! Just wait till she sees the lights!”
“D’you think she’ll guess it was us?” grinned Will.
“Not a chance. Come on, we’d better get going.”
They slipped through the trees towards the training ground, and were waiting with the other elves, looking quiet and innocent, when Sergeant Olt arrived.
“Is it Clover’s birthday, by any chance?” said Wayne.
“I think it might be,” said Ace.
Sergeant Olt rubbed his hands.
“We’re going for a long run this morning,” he told them.
Everyone groaned.
“I know, you think it’s boring. Tough. You’ll be glad you did it in a couple of days. Watch the board. As soon as the weather’s right, we’re going off camp. Two-day expedition, mountain climbing, deep snow, ropes, rock-climbing, even skiing if you want to.”
“This will be exciting,” smiled Gran with satisfaction. “Is this the one where you race back?”
“It’s not a race,” said the sergeant. “Not officially, that is.”


The elves were muddy, sweaty and exhilarated when they piled into the canteen after their run. They all noticed the flashing lights on the roof, and most of them were very impressed. None of the fairies had arrived yet. They’d gone for a long-distance flight, preparing for their own expedition. The first thing they saw as they flew back down was a thing like a neon billboard on the canteen roof, flashing up, Clover Moseley – 27 today.
Clover nearly fell. She was so stunned she forgot to move her wings. Stella caught her hand to steady her.
“You’re not angry, are you?” she said. “I think it’s really nice. You wouldn’t catch any of my elves doing that for me. I bet they don’t even know when my birthday is.”
That made Clover a bit thoughtful, but she still marched up to them, her arms folded and a stern look on her face.
“Gosh, it’s Madge,” said Will.
Ace choked on his tea, he was shaking with laughter.
“How could you!” said Clover.
“Now, Clover, you’ve got no proof,” said Will. “You can’t accuse people without proof.”
“No proof! You expect me to believe that Rose climbed on a roof and did a spot of advanced electronics in the middle of the night, do you?”
“Oh, you know it was electronics? You’re getting good, Clover, I’m very impressed,” said Will.
“So am I, really,” said Clover. “It was very sweet of you. But just you wait till May!”
“Why? What happens in May? I can’t think of anything, can you, Will?”
“No, nothing comes to mind. Being so old must have turned her brain.”
“That must be it. Definitely.”


Early next week, General Cherapont decided the weather was right to send the first years on their expeditions. The fairies were concentrating on distance and navigation. They were going to fly north-east, by day and by night, in formation over uninhabited country, as far as Söverhö. Then they’d be expected to find their own way back. Clover was terrified, especially after she’d had a look at Will’s map. There were no roads to follow, only mile after mile of glaciers, fjords and mountains.
“Following the A1 to Newcastle was easy compared to this,” she moaned. “Sergeant Svir says, ‘Don’t worry, by the time you get there you’ll know how to do it.’ But I can never remember which star is which, and Rose can’t even get east and west the right way round unless she’s flying north.”
“At least you’ll be together,” said Dan. “We’ve got to stay in pairs, and who can I go with? Bella will want to go with Stella, the imps will pair up and I’ll end up with someone I hardly know!”
“That’s hard,” Clover agreed. “I suppose you’d rather be on your own, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes, I would. But I can see why they won’t let you. It’s pretty dangerous terrain out there.”
“I wonder if anyone’s ever not made it back?” said Rose.
“Oh, don’t,” groaned Clover. “I wish I was at home, curled up on Laura’s pillow. Just think how cold the air will be over a glacier.”


The fairies left first, while it was still dark. Sergeant Svir and her assistant, Corporal Viella, were checking their supplies as the first year fairies said goodbye to the elves who’d bothered to get up to see them off. Ace and Will had a kind word for everyone they knew, not just their own team, but Crocus, and Sizzle, and even Holzia and Detia. Well, they meant it kindly, Clover thought, though telling people that when they saw the sea it meant they’d gone too far west wasn’t really that encouraging. But she was so proud of them for being there – Fran wasn’t – that she didn’t say a thing.
“Take care, Rose,” said Ace, hugging her.
“Oh, Will, d’you think we’ll make it?” said Clover.
“Make it? Clover, the only question is, will you win? I’m expecting you and Rose to touch down first. I’ve got a bet on it.”
“Who with?”
“Gran. He reckons the Scandinavians will beat you all ’cos they’re on home territory. I told him no-one could beat you two.”
Clover looked astounded, but there was a new confidence in her eyes as Sergeant Svir gave the order to take off. The elves watched them go, then walked off towards the canteen. They’d be leaving themselves as soon as it was light.
“You really got a bet on?” asked Ace. “What for? A forfeit?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Ace whistled, impressed.
“Could be nasty.”
“It’ll be worth it, if it gives them a bit of confidence.”


The goblins left next. They were staying on the mountain, like the elves were, but taking a different route. Sergeant Camilo wanted them to learn the same techniques, but he also wanted to build up their self-reliance.
“Not elf reliance!” he joked, as he led them west through the forest. “That’s all very well in teams, but sometimes you may have to cope on your own. Yes, the path’s disappeared, hasn’t it? Buried under the snow. How can we keep going west? Well, the wind’s blowing from the north. How could that help?”
There was a lot of frowning. This was getting very tricky.
“If you faced the wind, you’d be going north…so if you keep it on your right-hand side, you’ll be going west…I think.”
“Well done, Hogweed!” said Sergeant Camilo.


The first year elves were waiting around the barracks. Sergeant Olt tutted with frustration when he saw them. Some were strolling around, yawning, or leaning against walls, with their eyes closed, and the ones that didn’t look half asleep were clowning around, jumping about and sliding down snowy roofs.
“Gather round, and be quick about it,” barked the sergeant. “And try to look a bit more like soldiers and a bit less like babies who’ve never seen snow before.”
Sergeant Olt knew exactly what he was doing. He knew an insult like that would put even the laziest on their mettle, and the first part of their journey was very hard.
“We are going to Harevollnipa, the very peak of the mountain,” he told them.
“What, up there!” said someone.
“No, that’s not the top. That peak’s only about halfway. You can’t even see the top yet.”
They’d all gone very quiet.
“Now a lot of you may never have had the chance before, to see how far you can go, and how fast, without stopping all the time to look out for humans. But humans don’t come onto this mountain. I want you up this slope at top speed, and that means jumping. You needn’t go in formation, but watch out for each other. I don’t want any crashes. Can you all see that Scots Pine at the top? Meet up there.”
Come on, Will, thought Ace. Admit you can’t see it.
But he wasn’t surprised when he didn’t.
“Lead off, Corporal. I’ll bring up the rear.”

Gran and Kiefer immediately started jumping in zigzags up the steep slope, along with a few others whose homes were in mountains. Everyone else tried to go straight up, but after half a mile or so they cottoned on. It wasn’t faster, you just got tired more quickly, and one by one they started using the ground more wisely. No-one crashed into anyone else, but someone managed to crash into a tree and give himself a nosebleed.
This is brilliant, thought Ace, as he and Will flashed through the trees, barely touching down before they were off again. This is how it’s meant to be.
When they got to the top, their knees were wobbling a bit from the effort, and they had to lean against a tree trunk while they got their breath back, but they were grinning.
“Enjoy that, did you?” smiled Corporal Lavall. “There’s nothing like it, is there?”
“Wonderful,” said Will. “Never done a distance like that, non-stop, before.”


They were on a ridge now, and feeling the full force of the wind. The snow was deeper, too, and Sergeant Olt had something else to show them.
“Good, now you’ve all seen how to tackle a steep slope. Any ideas about tackling this ridge? We’ve got to get up to those overhanging rocks. What will the problems be?”
“Not getting blown away,” shivered Alnus.
“Good. What else?”
“Slipping?”
“That’s right. Now there’s one simple solution to both those problems. Any ideas?”
“Spiked shoes,” said Kiefer.
“Exactly. Show the others what to do.”
Kiefer quickly made metal webs that slipped over his boots, spikes studding the parts that touched the ground.
“Clever,” said Ace. “Take them off again, so we can have a closer look.”
Kiefer passed them round, and everyone rooted for a bit of metal and copied the design. When they were ready, Sergeant Olt sent them off in pairs to cross the ridge.
“Land as lightly as you can,” he warned them. “Thick snow has a frozen crust that should take your weight easily, but if you land like a goblin you’ll go straight through, and we’ll have all the bother of fishing you out.”

He sent Gran and Kiefer first, to show the others how it should be done. Their long, low jumps didn’t disturb the snow at all, and their grips worked perfectly. The wind was really fierce. It was hard to stand still while you were waiting for your turn. Sergeant Olt noticed that Ace and Will had tied their hair back, quietly and without any fuss, when they needed to.
He sent the bigger elves across next, while the snow was still solid. Ace and Will were among the last to go, and they noticed it was getting a bit shaky in parts. Then they heard a yell behind them. Someone had gone through.
“Stay where you are!” shouted Sergeant Olt, reaching the spot with amazing speed, and pulling a rope from his backpack.
“Who’s gone through? Zoza? All right, keep still, lad, we’ll soon have you out. Fasten this end around your waist.”
He threw the other end further across the ridge.
“Someone take it to the big lads waiting by the rocks…you go, Will, you’re light on your feet.”
Will took hold of the rope and it unwound behind him as he cleared the distance, and threw the end up to Gran. Gran quickly belayed it round a rock, so they had something to pull against, and he and Fran, with Olm and Beuk, heaved on the rope. It dug deep into the snow, making a great gash, but it pulled Zoza out. Sergeant Olt helped him brush all the snow off, then called back.
“Corporal! Get the rest past this hole safely, then up to the plateau. Come on lad, I know you’re freezing, but we’ve got to get you up there, where we can light a fire. Someone get the rope…thanks, Ace. Follow us up to the plateau.”

The plateau was not as wide or as sheltered as the one where the camp was, but it felt good to be out of the biting wind.
“Now you’ve got to light a fire, and you’ve got no goblins here to help,” the corporal told them. “Into the trees with you, and everyone bring back a piece of dry wood.”
That was quickly done, and the corporal showed them how to arrange the wood to get a fire going quickly.
“Now, how are you going to light it?”
Ace had some matches, and so did a couple of other people. Beuk produced an old-fashioned tinderbox, and so did Droz.
“Sprites have used these for centuries,” sniffed Droz, looking disparagingly at the matches. “Some people have no respect for tradition.”
But Corporal Lavall was equally pleased with both.
“Doesn’t matter what you’ve got. The main thing is you’ve got it. Always carry the means to light a fire. If you were lost or injured, that’s how we’d find you. You’d light a fire, and the search party, flying above, would spot it and tell those on the ground where you were.”
They sat Zoza by the fire to thaw out. Sergeant Olt set a large pan of clean snow on the fire, and asked the elves if anyone had brought anything to make a drink. No-one had.
“I bet there’s not a single fairy who’s not got a teabag in her pocket,” smiled the corporal.
“Ah, but they won’t have any matches,” said someone, and everyone laughed.
“You can drink hot water, of course,” said the sergeant. “But what would be the best thing you could find up here, to brew?”
“Pine needles?” suggested someone.
“Tried that,” another elf replied. “It’s disgusting.”
“One of our fairies makes nice tea with blackberry leaves,” said Will. “Would that grow this high?”
“There might be a bit,” said the sergeant. “I was thinking of birch bark, but you can try blackberry leaves if you find any. Some of you have a look, and the rest make some cups, just from bark, nothing fancy.”

They got very wet scrambling through the undergrowth looking for blackberry leaves, but they all agreed it was worth it.
“Which of your fairies thought of this?” asked Betch. “It’s great!”
“Rose did,” said Ace proudly.
“Well, when I see her, I’ll give her a kiss.”
“You will not!” said Ace. “I’ll do it for you.”
That made everyone laugh, and Sergeant Olt was glad to see them all in high spirits.
“You can stay by the fire if you want,” he told them, “or you can have a go at skiing. Nice easy slope over there to learn on. D’you want to do a demo, Gran, of how to make them?”
Gran found a bit of ash, and showed them the length, and shape of curve they needed, and the sticks, and soon a couple of dozen elves were falling over and laughing on the slope. It seemed much too soon when the sergeant called them back.
“We want to reach the summit by dark,” he told them. “We’ll be spending the night in a cave. There’s miles to go yet, and it’s hard country.”

Corporal Lavall put the fire out, and the elves followed Sergeant Olt up the gruelling steep side of the mountain, past the tree line, and struggled up over the snowy rocks. He showed them how to use ice axes, and how to use ropes to get past overhanging rocks. The last mile was torture for all of them, they had no energy left to jump, they were soaked and cold, chilled to the bone. Some of them gave up, and had to be helped and coaxed by the sergeant to get them up to the cave. Some of them were past caring, and though they kept going, they staggered blindly into the cave, unaware of their surroundings. Only a few managed to get to the very summit, and stand gazing with awe at the world spread out beneath them, the great glacier in the distance, and the fjords just thin blue lines far below. Ace and Will smiled at each other, in weary triumph, but they were too tired to talk. They stumbled with the rest, back down to the cave.
Once they were all safe inside, Sergeant Olt brought in panfuls of snow, then lit a fire in the cave’s mouth, so the smoke blew away outside, but the cave rapidly grew warmer. He gave out small pieces of woollen cloth.
“Make a blanket, and wrap up in it. Hang up all your wet clothes, to dry in the warm air.”
Corporal Lavall brewed more leaves, and the fragrant smell filled the cave, reviving some of them. Not all; some were already asleep, too worn out to notice they were thirsty. Ace and Will were sitting up. Will was fixing his boots, which had split, and Ace was combing his hair, when the sergeant passed them cups of tea.
“Oh, thanks, Sergeant,” said Ace. “That looks good.”
“Mmm,” said Will. “Cracking day, Sergeant. Thanks for all the stuff you showed us, too.”
“I’ve been very impressed by you two today,” he smiled. “You’re not very big, but you’re very tough. And you were a lot of help, to me and to other people. Well done.”
He ruffled Ace’s hair, and messed it up again.
“You want long hair, that’s OK by me.”
He moved on, wanting to speak to others before they fell asleep.
“That’s nice,” said Ace. “You know what that means. We’ve earned his respect.”
“No more cracks about long-haired fairies, then? Good. About time. Lend me your comb, will you?”


Only seven of the elves were planning to ski all the way back. Some who’d tried it yesterday thought it was too difficult, and didn’t want to spoil their chances of winning the race back. But Ace and Will were sure they had no chance of winning, so they might as well enjoy skiing. Alnus felt the same, and so did Betch, and Ross. Gran and Kiefer were hoping to win by skiing.
“You remember what to do?” Gran asked them as they made their skis. “Slide the skis if you need to walk – bend your knees into turns – keep the skis parallel if you need to jump. I’m not waiting for you! I’ve got to beat this mad Austrian downhiller for the honour of Norway!”
“Dream on,” smiled Kiefer.
He was only half Gran’s size, but he looked equally relaxed and confident.
“You go for it, both of you,” said Ace. “Stand side by side and I’ll count you off…are you ready, set, go!”
Gran and Kiefer dug their sticks in and shot off down the steep slope.
“That’s very impressive,” said Alnus. “One of them will surely win.”
The others slid off slowly at first, getting excited as the slope itself gave them speed. Gran and Kiefer were out of sight, but that didn’t matter. They were enjoying themselves. They all tumbled a few times, but nothing serious. Will managed to snap his stick on one sharp curve, but that was easily mended.

Ace was getting very confident, and started going faster. He was ahead of the rest, when he jumped from a snow-covered ledge, then realised too late he should have been turning left. There was a nasty drop to the right as you landed. He turned in the air, and landed badly.
Wow, that’s dangerous, he thought. If I’d been going any faster, I could have shot right over.
Then, as he tried to untangle himself, he noticed something that made him feel sick. Only one set of ski tracks was ahead of him in the snow. He ripped his skis off and scrambled back up the overhanging ledge to warn Will and the others. They weren’t far behind him. When they saw him waving urgently at them, they slithered to a halt. Will could see at once that something was seriously wrong.
“What is it?”
“An awful drop. One of them’s gone over. Don’t know which one. We’ve got to try and find him.”

It was obvious, when they looked over, where he’d fallen. They could see how the snow was disturbed, down the steep side of the gully. And far below, Ace thought he could see a piece of broken ski.
“Anyone got a bit of rope?” he asked.
No-one had.
“Sergeant Olt has a rope,” said Alnus. “I’ll head back and find him. He’s walking down with the slowest.”
“Good for you,” said Ace. “We won’t be able to get him back up without a rope. We’ll do what we can while you’re gone.”
Ace stood looking carefully down the slope. There was nothing to land on.
“We’ve just got to get down there. He could be dying.”
Will was looking what everyone was wearing.
“You feel like sacrificing your jacket, Ross?” he asked. “That’s nylon, isn’t it? We could do something with that.”
“Of course,” said Ross, and took it off. “Nylon won’t snap, or stretch.”
They cut it up, and all worked as fast as they could, until they had a long coil of thin nylon strips. It didn’t look very strong.
“I’ll go down,” said Will. “I’m the lightest.”
“It’s got to be one of us two,” Ace agreed. “But if it’s Gran who’s fallen, you’ll never lift him.”
“I wouldn’t try,” said Will. “We can’t trust a casualty to a dodgy rope like this. We have to wait for the sergeant. But we could be talking serious injuries, Ace. I know you’re stronger, but, well, he could be bleeding to death.”
“Understood,” said Ace.
Will had more chance of being able to spot the worst injuries and do something about them, without losing his head if there was a lot of blood. He fastened the rope around his waist as the others turned it around a rock and held on tight. Then, leaning out with his feet against the steep side, he let himself down the slope.

Ace would rather have done the dangerous bit than watch Will have to do it, but he didn’t fuss for a moment. He knew it made sense. But he was very tense, watching the rope for any signs of weakness. It seemed never-ending, but then Will stopped, and stood on the snow.
There must be a bit of a ledge there, thought Ace, that you can’t see from here.
“Give me some slack!” yelled Will.
Cautiously, they loosened a few yards, and Will picked his way across to the right.
“He’s seen something,” Ace told the others. “Out of sight, now…hang on, he’s tugging on the rope. Let out more slack.”
“There’s not much more left, Ace,” Betch told him.
“Right – leave yourselves plenty to hold on to – I’ll warn him if he comes back over.”
Will was only out of sight for a couple of minutes. He clambered back to where he could see Ace.
“It’s Kiefer!” he shouted. “He’s alive, he’s badly injured. I’m taking the rope off. Start making a stretcher. I’m staying with him, now.”
“OK, Will,” Ace yelled back.
He scrambled back to the others near the rocks, and they left the rope safe and made a stretcher.
“Any sign of Alnus or the sergeant yet?” said Ross.
Betch climbed up to see.
“Yes! The sergeant’s coming. He’s on his own. Wow, see him jump! He’s fast, isn’t he?”
He stood up to wave, so the sergeant could see exactly where they were, and in a moment he was with them.
Ace didn’t waste a word.
“It’s Kiefer. We’ve found him, he’s badly injured. Will’s down there, doing first aid. We’ve got a stretcher ready, and another rope.”
“Good work,” said Sergeant Olt. “Let me feel that rope – yes, that’s fine. I’ll take the stretcher down myself, on the thicker rope.”

The young elves hung on as he swung himself easily over the edge, holding the rope in one hand and the stretcher in the other. He was much quicker than Will had been. When he got to the ledge, he slipped out straight away and disappeared. He could see where to go. There was Will, kneeling beside Kiefer, holding his hand and talking quietly to him.
The sergeant placed a huge hand encouragingly on Will’s shoulder, and looked down at Kiefer. His eyed were glazed, his hair was matted with blood, but Will had made him comfortable, stopping the bleeding and splinting his broken leg.
“Well done,” the sergeant said to Will. Then he spoke to Kiefer.
“You’re being very brave, lad, very brave indeed. But the next bit’s going to hurt, I’m afraid. But once it’s over, we’ll soon have you safe and warm in the hospital.”
He got his hands under Kiefer’s back.
“Get his feet, Will, and lift him slowly – that’s it.”
They got him onto the stretcher, and carried him carefully over the rough ground, and fastened both ropes to the stretcher. The sergeant shouted up to Ace.
“You watch, and the others pull! Keep it even.”

Ace understood, and lay flat, watching, and telling the others, “More your side, Betch,” and, “Not so fast, Ross,” as they pulled.
The sergeant was climbing up the rock face, beside the stretcher, keeping it from banging. As it reached the top, Ace helped him lift it over the edge.
Sergeant Olt paid Will the compliment of assuming he could climb up by himself, but he kept watching until he was safely up, too. He had a quick look round at the terrain, seeing how the accident had happened, then said,
“Well done, everyone. Let’s move. Betch, you and Ross take the stretcher first, please, and head back towards the main route down.”
“Where’s Alnus?” said Ace.
“Taking my place with the slowest,” Sergeant Olt told him. “He’s as reliable as you are, he’ll look after them. But even they will be well ahead of us by now. It’s hard on you, I know you’re all cold and thirsty, but we’ve got to press on.”

They took turns carrying the stretcher, but before they reached the camp, two elves from the hospital came out to meet them, and whisked Kiefer away. Alnus had told everyone what had happened, and when they got in, the rest of the elves gathered round, anxious to hear all about it.
“Into the canteen with you all,” said Sergeant Olt. “These lads need a drink. They can tell you all about it in there.”
He himself went to find Corporal Lavall.
“Who got back first?” he asked.
“Gran Starheim, on his skis.”
“Well, you can give him a few points for that,” said Sergeant Olt. “But he could have earned a lot more if he’d stopped to warn Kiefer about that drop instead of skiing past it. But give Ace and Will, and Alnus, Ross and Betch fifty each. Their behaviour today was outstanding.”


When the elves finally crawled out of bed next morning, a crowd of them went to the hospital to see how Kiefer was. They weren’t allowed in, but they heard he was well on the mend.
“I feel very sorry for him,” said Ross. “He’ll get no end of fuss when all his fairies get back.”
“He’ll cope,” laughed Ace. “Nothing keeps Kiefer down for long.”
“He’s lucky to be alive,” shuddered Wayne. “You won’t catch me trying skis. Much too flipping dangerous.”
“It was great, Wayne,” Will protested. “You’ve got to take chances if you want any fun.”
“No thanks. I’m just glad we’ve got a free day. I need to recover. What shall we do now? Something nice and peaceful.”
“Let’s go and watch the second years doing the assault course,” said Ace.
“Will you stop calling it that!” said Beuk. “Stupid human name. It’s just a training course, OK?”
Ace didn’t bother answering. He just made a snowball and got Beuk in the face. Beuk sent one back in return, of course, and Olm and Will joined in straight away. In a few moments the whole crowd of elves was drawn up for battle, dodging and throwing as fast as they could. There was no malice in it, even Beuk was laughing, but they’d all chosen sides. Ace was hopelessly outnumbered, but all the same, he thought, there’s a good few more now than that night in the mess. Alnus was with him now, and Ross. And Fran, and Peter. Will had noticed it too, of course.
Who’d have thought it? He’s changing people’s minds just by what he is.
It never occurred to him that he was making a difference too. Laughing, he took aim at a rather snooty French elf called Amande, who ducked just at the right moment. Will gulped as he saw whom his snowball had hit instead. It was General Cherapont.

“Ach!” spluttered the general. “Fine shot, fine shot. I wanted the leader of the team from France and Spain – it’s Alnus, isn’t it? Is he here?”
“Yes, here I am,” he said, getting up and shaking off some of the snow.
He walked off with the general, and the others wandered off towards the training ground. They were having a good time, criticising all the second years’ mistakes, when Alnus came back, looking very serious.
“We are one down,” he told the rest of his team. “Lilas has left us. The mountain was too much for him, it seems. This morning he went to General Cherapont and said goodbye.”
“I am not surprised,” said Noyer, who was Amande’s friend. “Last night, in his bunk, he was crying.” He shrugged his shoulders. “What can you do? Not all will make it.”
“I wish you had woken me,” said Alnus sadly. “We might have comforted him, given him fresh courage. And now it is too late.”
He walked off, with his head down.
Ace looked at Will.
“What d’you reckon?” he whispered, uneasily.
“Yeah, go for it,” said Will. “You’ll be able to cheer him up.”
Then he shouted, “Oh, skill!” as one of the second years managed to slide across the barrels. “Just look at that!”
Everyone’s attention was drawn back to the training ground, and Ace slipped away after Alnus.

Alnus smiled at him, but he didn’t say anything. They started walking along the edge of the forest.
“Don’t beat yourself up,” said Ace. “You can’t be everywhere.”
“No, but I should have seen sooner. That he was unhappy.”
“It might not have made any difference. But I know, it might. But you can’t butt in on people, either.”
“And now it’s too late.”
“He might try again. General Cherapont wasn’t blaming you, was he?”
“No. No, he just wanted to tell me what had happened, that’s all.”
“He’ll have seen it happen before, plenty of times.”
“I must try harder. All of us from Spain already knew each other, the French may be feeling left out. But Noyer and Amande are so lazy, and as for the fairies, I just don’t understand them. They are in a world of their own.”
“Oh, they’re the other twins, aren’t they?” said Ace. “Tell you what, Will and I could have a word with them. Drop a few hints about fitting in with other people.”
“That would be kind. Thank you, Ace. How are you getting on with your own team?”
“Oh, I’m not the leader of the English team.”
“What?”
“No, it’s true. Oh, I wanted to be, all right. But so did Fran.”
“Pah!” said Alnus. “If one of your team was unhappy, it would not be Fran that noticed.”
“Never mind,” sighed Ace. “What’s that thing Will’s always saying…everything happens for a reason.”


As dusk fell, all the elves helped Sergeant Olt set torches around the edges of the playing-field, to guide the fairies in to land. With a bet on the winner, everyone was anxious to see who was first, and ghoulishly interested to see what gruesome thing Gran or Will would have to do. Ace was really worried. He didn’t think Rose and Clover had much chance of winning. Will had only said that to encourage them. He was right. The first two were coming in now, and it wasn’t them. But it wasn’t the Scandinavians, either. Two lean, dark figures, black hair flowing behind them, touched down first, to loud cheers from the Italian elves. In a while, more appeared, racing madly to the finish. Ace strained his eyes to see if they were there. Yes, they were, but they were being outpaced. Clover was giving it all she’d got, Ace could see, but she hadn’t got much left to give. A Swiss pair landed second, then two more Italians, then in a final burst of speed, two Swedish fairies from Gran’s team just beat Rose and Clover.
The elves watched and cheered as all the fairies came in, and were ushered away for a drink. Then they started arguing.
“I win, I think,” smiled Gran.
“No, you don’t!” spluttered Peter. “You said your team would win, and they didn’t! So you lose.”
“Ah, but our team beat yours,” said one of the Danish elves. “So that means Gran wins.”
“That’s right,” said Gran. “The bet was, that Scandinavia would beat England. You agree, Will?”
“Oh, yes,” said Will. “You win. What’s it to be?”

Everyone went very quiet. They didn’t want Sergeant Olt to hear about it. Elves had died before this, betting on forfeits. Gran met Will’s eyes. They both looked calm, no-one could tell what either of them was thinking.
He knows exactly what he’s going to say, thought Will. Oh, get on with it, and stop tormenting me.
“This is your forfeit,” said Gran calmly. “I left my penknife in the cave at Harevollnipa. Go and get it for me.”
There was an instant outcry, everyone was telling him that was far too dangerous. Even the Danish elf who’d backed him up before was telling him to change it, even Olm and Beuk, who didn’t like Will, looked disgusted.
Ace was too shocked to speak. He’d have to do it – to refuse a forfeit was unthinkable, you’d be branded a coward forever – and he’d have to do it alone. Will was trying hard not to look daunted. All that way, all over again, and back again, too. He’d have to cross the perimeter, and that would mean a detention cell if he was caught. So he’d have to do it in one night, to stand any chance of getting away with it.
“I’d better get off then,” he said.
He and Ace walked off a bit, while everyone else carried on shouting at Gran.
“You crazy fool,” said Ace. “But if anyone can do it, you can.”
“I’m not very hopeful,” said Will. “Slip me the torch, will you, while they’re not looking.”
Ace put the torch in his hand, and gave his hand a tight squeeze.
“I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
“I’m sorry,” said Will. “This is going to be horrible for you, too. I should have thought of that, sooner.”
“Hey, don’t worry about things like that. Take it one section at a time, and you’ll make it. See you tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Ace. Yeah, dead right. See you tomorrow.”
Will slipped away into the shadows, into the forest, out of sight.


Ace turned fiercely to face the other elves.
“Don’t anyone dare to talk about this in front of the fairies,” he said. “It’s none of their business, and it’ll only cause trouble. And they’ll be wondering where we are. We’d better join them, and just try to act normal, OK?”
There was a murmur of agreement. Most of them thought he meant that a fairy might be so shocked she’d report them, but that wasn’t Ace’s main concern. He just didn’t want Clover to find out what Will was doing, or why. She’d probably never speak to either of them again. But they’d ask where Will was, and he couldn’t bear to lie to them. He’d have to think about that one.
In the end, it wasn’t too difficult. Clover asked, of course, but Ace just said, casually, that Will had to practise jumping in the dark. Clover assumed it was something Sergeant Olt had told him to do, and started asking how they’d got on on their expedition, and telling him what they’d been doing. She wanted to hear all about how they’d rescued Kiefer, and Ace was genuinely interested in hearing about the glacier, the great river of ice.
“We saw it from the top of the mountain,” said Ace. He’ll be up to the ridge, now. That’s the most dangerous part. “This country is so cold, it’s unbelievable.” He could freeze to death out there. Oh, this is awful.
“Sergeant Svir said that should help us – all of us. If we can do things here, we can do them anywhere.”
“That’s a good point. She talks a lot of sense. If only she wasn’t so scarey.”
“She’s not really, Ace,” Rose told him. “You should’ve seen how kind she was to people who’d really had enough, like little Muscari.”
Ace stayed with them all evening, until Bella fell asleep where she was and tumbled off her chair, and the fairies decided they’d better go to bed. Ace picked Bella up and carried her all the way to her hut. Wayne came too, and when the fairies had gone in, yawning, they walked across to their own hut.
“How far’s he got?” said Wayne.
“It’s hard to tell, exactly. About halfway, I think. He’s still moving, that’s the main thing.”
“That’s good. If he can just keep going, he should make it.”
He looked at Ace with great sympathy.
“If there’s anything I can do – anything – just say.”
“Thanks, Wayne.”


Ace didn’t bother getting undressed, just kicked his boots off and lay on his bunk, concentrating. Will was so far away now, he could only sense the right direction, but he knew that the more he concentrated, the clearer the picture would get.
If he stops for long, Ace thought, longer than, say, having a rest or thinking how to get round some obstacle, I’m going after him.
He didn’t sleep at all, but neither did Gran. Ace could hear him breathing in the dark, and it wasn’t the breathing of sleep. But whether he was worried, or whether he was gloating, Ace couldn’t tell.
It was about three o’clock in the morning when he realised, with a lurch of relief, that Will was coming back. He was going very slowly.
That’ll be that awful climb down from the cave, he thought. Oh, watch your feet, Will, don’t slip.
Then he stopped.
He’s too still! thought Ace wildly. Come on, move!
But he didn’t. Minute after minute crawled by, until Ace wasn’t sure if it had been five minutes or fifty.
This can’t be happening, he thought. I’ll have to go, I’ll have to.
But just as he was about to make a move, so did Will. He was going incredibly fast, Ace could sense him getting nearer very clearly.
Of course, he’s skiing! How could I be so stupid? That’s why he stopped – to make the skis!

It was all he could do to keep quiet. He felt like cheering. It wasn’t too bad after that. Ace was with him as he sped down the steep slopes, and crossed the ridge, slowly, cautiously, then obviously abandoned the skis to make his way down through the soft snow and thick trees above the camp. It was nearly morning. Ace went to wake Wayne.
“He’s nearly here,” he whispered. “Come out with me, in case he needs a diversion to get back into camp unseen.”
They slipped out quietly, their breath making clouds in front of their faces, looking around to see who was about. At first, they thought their luck was in, and the coast was clear. But then they caught sight of brown-and-black fur, pulling an elderly elf along on a lead. Major Inari and his pet lemming.
Ace leaned against a tree, as if he was resting after a run, but his hand flung up behind his shoulder was a clear ‘Stop’ sign to anyone coming up behind him. Will was very close now, he might even be able to see him if he turned, but he didn’t dare until Major Inari had gone. The friendly old elf had stopped to talk to Wayne, and looked as if he could stay for ages. Thinking fast, Ace looked at the lemming’s lead.
Bit worn, there, he thought, and imagined it getting worse and worse.
Suddenly the lead snapped, and the lemming streaked off into the distance, with Major Inari in hot pursuit.
Ace spun round and waved, Come on!

Will climbed the fence, and walked towards him. He was too far gone even to smile. Ace could see that only his own stubborn determination was keeping him on his feet. He was careful not to touch Will or help him in any way until he’d finished what he’d got to do, but he kept close by him. Will made it to the hut just as the other elves were leaving. With a final effort, he went up to Gran and handed him his penknife.
“There you go,” he said casually.
“Thanks, Will,” said Gran, and went out.
Then Will swayed, and Ace caught him before he fell over.
“Grab that jug off the washstand, Wayne, and go and nick some tea from the canteen. And have a look where Will and I are supposed to be, will you?”
Wayne dashed off, anxious to help, and Ace helped Will over to the stove, and sat him down. He pulled the ice off his hair, and eased his boots and gloves off, checking for frostbite, and rubbing the dead white skin until it came painfully alive again. Then Wayne came in and gave him a drink of hot tea, and in a little while his throat eased enough for him to talk.
“Thanks,” he croaked, then started coughing.
“Drink some more tea,” Ace urged him. “Where are we supposed to be, Wayne?”
“Advanced Science,” he told him. “I’m supposed to be at Maths.”
“Sergeant Olt takes your group himself, doesn’t he?” said Ace, alarmed. “Scoot, Wayne! We don’t want him asking any questions!”
“You’re right,” said Wayne, and rushed off.
“I’ve got to keep going,” said Will. “If we’re late, we’ll only get a punishment tonight, but if we keep going now, we’ll get a rest, later.”
“So long as you’re not hurt,” said Ace, helping him get his boots back on. “Have you thawed out?”
“Yeah, thanks to you and Wayne. Just worn out, that’s all.”
“Well, at least you’ve got a nice easy morning.”
He helped him out of the hut, and they went across to the classrooms as fast as they could.
“How bad was it?” asked Ace.
“Grim. Very grim. So cold, and so tired. And too much time to think. Thinking how stupid I’d been, laying a bet in the first place.”
“When did you and Gran do that?”
Will smiled, shamefaced.
“The day I got in a bad mood, because I fell in the mud and everyone laughed.”
“Clever. We’re going to have to watch him. He’s very sound about humans, Gran, but…”
“…he wants to win too much.”
“Exactly.”