DEEP WATERS

CHAPTER 8 - The Race around the Mountain

By the end of April, the ground was dry and the air was getting warmer. The days grew longer and longer, and the larches and the birches put out fresh leaves. All the elves got very edgy, missing their own trees, but Sergeant Olt was ready for it, firing them up with exciting stories about the traditional Race Around the Mountain, and training them so hard it took the fidgets out of them.

The sight of so much green grass instead of snow had given Hogweed an idea. He’d plucked up courage to ask permission to make some goal posts on the playing field, and Sergeant Camilo had said he thought it was a good idea. Now all the goblins were going out together every morning, to train and play on the football pitch.

The real shock was that Rose had started going to the gym. She’d tried and tried to persuade Clover to go too, but when she wouldn’t, Rose had calmly gone off by herself. She loved throwing, and she was a good shot. She wanted to be able to throw further, and if working out would help, that’s what she would do. Bella and Stella were very impressed, and decided they’d join in. Ace and Will thought it was great, though that didn’t stop them turning the whole gym rose-pink in honour of Rose’s birthday. But nothing flustered Clover. Every morning, she waved them all off cheerfully, and rolled over for another blissful hour in bed.

During the cold weather, no-one had been really sorry when they had to go into a warm classroom or workshop, but now, they moaned. Indoors, when the sun was shining!
“Especially for Textiles,” groaned Will, one morning.
“Hang on,” said Ace. “Look at that! My name’s down for Advanced! I must be getting good.”
“Give over, it’ll be a mistake.”
“Yeah, I know it will, really. Be good fun to turn up for it, though, and act dead innocent.”
“You wouldn’t dare! Corporal Viella takes that, she makes Sergeant Svir look like a softy!”
“She won’t be able to say a thing! It’s there on the list.”
“You’ll be back in five minutes! See you!”


But Ace didn’t come back. Will was very puzzled, and as soon as the classes were over, he joined him, and demanded,
“What happened?”
“I’m cured,” Ace groaned. “If I ever look in a mirror again, if I ever even talk about being good-looking, you can push me off a cliff. That was the most horrible, most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to me. Come on, let’s go and find that stream in the forest. I’m not going to the canteen. I don’t want to see a fairy for at least a hundred years.”
Will was dying with curiosity, but he could see that Ace really was upset, so he waited till he’d had a drink and calmed down a bit, before he said,
“Well, what happened then? Spit it out.”
“It was awful, Will. It wasn’t a mistake. I swanned in, grinning, expecting to get chucked out, and Corporal Viella just said, ‘Oh yes, you’re the model for the knight, aren’t you? Sit there and keep still, so Rose can get the colours right for our tapestry.’ And that’s what I had to do! Sit there feeling a complete idiot for over an hour, with all these fairies watching and giggling, while they did all this clever stuff with wool and silk and colours! And Rose! Staring at me, then concentrating away, then staring again! Good grief, the shame of it! If this gets out, I’m done for. I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Will tried really, really hard to look sympathetic. He bit his lip, and sucked the inside of his cheeks, his hands were clenched with the effort. But it was no use. He burst out laughing, and couldn’t stop. He was shaking with laughter, choking for breath, his eyes were streaming.
“It’s not funny!” said Ace indignantly. “Shut up laughing!”
“I’m sorry,” Will gasped. “I know it’s not, really, but it is a bit, Ace. Perhaps you’ll believe me now, scruffy is much, much safer.”
“Well, I don’t mind you laughing - so long as you stop, now! - but I’m not being laughed at by anybody else.”
“You’re right. Come on, we’ve got to find Clover. Get her to nobble the whole class before any of them tell their elves.”
But Clover had already thought of that.
“I could see you weren’t happy,” she said. “But I didn’t know why. Then I thought you might be worried that you’d get teased, so I went round telling everyone it was top secret, that they mustn’t mention it.”
“Thank you, Clover,” said Ace fervently. “Thank you so much.”
That was the thing about Clover, Ace thought. She drove you mad, and then she came out with something like that, so thoughtful, you had to forgive her.

“Does he know it’s going to get hung in the Great Hall?” asked Rose uneasily, as they followed the elves to Classroom Four.
“Don’t think so,” said Clover. “I didn’t like to mention that bit.”


The Basic History class, which had been just the six Moseleys, and no-one else, had all been promoted to History Class Three. They were feeling very nervous. Basic History had been nice, a kind old fairy from Signals telling them all the famous stories that most sprites heard before they were in their teens. But Class Three was taken by Sergeant Grybow, training sergeant with the current second years. They’d heard enough about her to make all the fairies extremely grateful they hadn’t come to Fjaerland a year earlier.
The Moseleys walked in together, smiling at people they knew, but no-one smiled back. They all looked terrified. Rose and Clover went to sit with Lilje and Revebjelle, two Swedish fairies they’d got to know on their expedition, and Ace and Will went to sit with Zoza.
“Is it that bad?” Ace asked, with concern, when he saw Zoza’s clenched fists.
“No. It’s worse.”

Everyone stood up smartly as Sergeant Grybow marched in.
“So. Today this class, idiotic though it is, is joined by six sprites who are even more stupid. Almost impossible to believe. What sort of place you come from, I shudder to think. Remain standing. The rest of the class, sit down.”
There was a scraping of chairs around them, and they were alone on their feet. The sergeant demanded to know their names and ages, then grilled them with questions about what they’d learned so far.
“Hogweed, what was the name of the first queen?”
“Well now, er, Enid. Enid of Norway.”
“Answer more quickly. Clover, what was the origin of the Queen’s Guard?”
“The Queen’s Guard were the elves that accompanied the queen on her journeys, to protect her and her fairies.”
“That’s right. Dan, why did the queen travel?”
“So all her sprites could see her, to pass the news between scattered colonies, and to uphold the law.”
“Correct. In what year was the army founded, Rose?
“999,” whispered Rose.
“Don’t mumble. In response to what, Ace?”
“A population explosion, wasn’t it? Too many sprites for the queen to keep her eye on, so she needed a bit of help. But why didn’t the...
“...that will do! I asked for an answer, not a conversation. Will, what great thing happened after the death of Queen Sylvia?”
“I suppose you mean the foundation of Parliament,” said Will. “Whether that was a great thing, though, is a matter of opinion.”

There was the sound of drawn breath all around him, as Sergeant Grybow stared at him, unable to believe her ears. Then she let fly.
“How dare you! You scruffy, ignorant elf, in your stupid human clothes, you presume to question the excellence of Parliament?”
“Well, who said we had to have a Parliament? Did the Tree say so? Did he say we were to stop having a queen?”
“Be quiet! Sit down, all of you! Fortunately, you join us as we begin to study the Parliamentary Era, so you can learn better sense.”
“Just a minute,” said Ace. “You mean you’ve whizzed through hundreds and hundreds of years in three months, and we have to spend the rest of the time learning about Parliament?”
“Don’t interrupt! But yes, the history of the last hundred years is far more interesting than what went before. I shall commence with a broad overview, before going into detail. Class, come to attention! That means sit up straight, Clover, not lolling about all over the place.”
Clover sat up straight, trying very hard not to look scared. She felt scared, but she wasn’t going to show it. Not when Ace and Will were being so brave. She had a nasty feeling they were going to end up in trouble.

“In 1899,” said Sergeant Grybow firmly, “when Queen Sylvia died, the Founders travelled all over Europe, by train, summoning the senior sprites together in every region, and asking them to send envoys to represent them in the new Parliament. Why should we be ruled any longer by a human girl? In future, we would rule ourselves. The envoys gathered at Wielkopolska in Poland, chosen as being the very centre of the realm.”
“Were they democratically elected, these envoys?” asked Ace.
“The envoys were, and are, volunteers,” the sergeant frowned.
“Thought so,” said Ace. “Self-appointed busybodies, probably. Oh, this explains a lot.”
“Will you be quiet! No more interruptions. Now, the first good thing Parliament did was to establish the network of administrative centres all over Europe. For the first time, it was possible to know exactly how many of us there were, and where we all lived. Records could be kept, more detailed laws drafted. Young sprites at the time were delighted to be chosen to work in this exciting new venture.”
“So who was actually governing the realm, while all this perishing office work was going on?” said Ace. “I bet the army had its work cut out, trying to keep the lid on things.”
“I told you not to interrupt! But it’s true there was a certain amount of disorder to start with. It culminated in a disgraceful episode which occured at a place called Cottingley, in England. Some sprites allowed themselves to be photographed, and the pictures were published. The realm was in the gravest danger. Total contact - that all humans should know we exist, that it should be a proveable thing - has always been strictly forbidden. By the Tree,” she added pointedly. “Parliament acted with great speed. New laws were passed, strictly controlling contact. The Register of Trustworthy Humans was set up, and the concept of Allies formalised and rigorously enforced. The army was instructed to set up a new unit, to be called the Military Police, whose sole job would be to enforce the law, and punish criminals. Prisons were built, and those foolish sprites from Yorkshire were their first clients.”
“That’s sick,” said Will. “If Parliament had just travelled round, like the queens had done, it might not have been so bad. How d’you expect sprites to be good if they know there’s no chance of anyone popping in to see whether they are or not?”
“I’ve just about had enough of you two. Outside! You can stand under the clock until this class is over.”
“We’re going,” said Ace. “But we do know some history, you know. Human history. And I know what you call it when you get a biased, twisted version of history - propaganda, that’s what.”
Sergeant Grybow stared at him coldly, but Ace met her stare unflinching.
“I said, outside. Take two hours hard labour for insubordination. Both of you. On different nights.”


The story of the elves who’d dared to argue with Sergeant Grybow even spread around the second years. Ace and Will had noticed that the second year elves, in particular, had been taking a lot more interest in the first years recently, so when one of them stopped to chat, they asked him about it.
“Betting, that’s what it’s about,” he told them. “People are sussing you all out before the Race, to see who to put their bets on. Most of the bets go on goblins, of course, but they’ll have been looking at you two when they heard what you did. Courage counts, as much as strength or speed. It’s a killer, that race.”
“So who are you betting on?” grinned Ace.
“Well, it’ll have to be one of your team,” he answered. “Got to show a bit of solidarity. I’m the leader of the second year British team, did you know?”
“No...it’s a British team, is it, in your year? You got people from Wales?”
“No, Scotland. They’re really tough. So who d’you reckon I should go for?”
“Hogweed would be a safe bet,” said Will. “He’s big, and strong. Or Fran Knightwood - he’s got a lot of pace. But are you doing a proper book, with odds, and everything? You are? Well, if you want a canny bet, go for us. You’d probably get 100 - 1.”
“I think I will,” he smiled. “Good luck, anyway. We’ll all be cheering you on.”
“Thanks,” said Ace. “What’s your name?”
“Cat - Taxus baccata. From Edwinstowe.”
“What!” said Ace. “Wow, that’s Sherwood Forest, isn’t it?”
“Oh, I’m nothing special. Don’t run away with that idea. But yeah, it is a pretty cool place.”


The day chosen for the Race Around the Mountain was 14th May, which made Ace and Will very happy. That would be a good day not to be stuck indoors. It was a special occasion, one of the highlights of the year, and everyone was getting excited. Last year’s winner, a black-haired goblin from Greece, was going about wearing his blue ribbon on his coat. All the first years were expected to take part, and there were rumours that there were huge amounts of points to be won. It was partly to celebrate spring, and partly to see how much they’d learned so far. Everyone had to dress the same, for once, in shorts, t-shirts and trainers; no pockets were allowed, you couldn’t take anything with you.
The entire camp came out to see them off. Even some of the older sprites from the Signals Unit had ventured out into the sunshine, as the first years gathered, feeling a bit self-conscious. Flags were fluttering in a gentle breeze, as Commander Biagioni herself came to start them off.
“Remember, no flying, and no jumping. Follow the flags. You may not hinder anyone else, but apart from that, use your wits! Marshals will be watching from the air. If you’re injured, just wave. Are you ready? Then - off!”

At first the path led through the trees of the northern forest, and the first years ran happily along in the dappled shade, still bunched together in a pack, laughing and joking. As the way grew steeper, one by one they stopped talking and saved their breath. Then, as the path came out from under the trees, the pack strung out. A lot of the elves raced off, with the goblins not far behind them, not built for speed, but their long legs easily outpacing the smaller sprites. Ace and Will were keeping a steady speed. They were in the middle of a crowd of fairies, but they didn’t worry about that. They’d thought this out, and they had a race plan. There was a long way to go, and they thought that going off too fast at the start was probably a bad move. For one thing, you’d get tired too quickly, and for another, you’d be the first to hit the snags and obstacles.
They ran across open moorland, with lemmings streaking away from them through the grass, then started to climb, as the flags led them up a steep shoulder of the mountain. Lots of the fairies slowed down. Ace and Will dug a little deeper, and kept going at the same steady pace. Ace glanced across at Will, and grinned.
“Hurting yet?”
“Not yet,” Will grinned back. “So far, so good.”

Dan watched them pull away, and smiled to herself. She didn’t try to keep up, even though she could have done, at least for a while. She had a race plan of her own. She was determined to be the first fairy home, and it wasn’t going to be easy. There was plenty of good competition - those lithe, long-legged Italians...and the Alpine team fairies weren’t bad, either, and they were used to mountains. It was them she had to beat, and she wouldn’t do that if she wasted her strength keeping up with elves.

Rose and Clover were a long way back, with Wayne, and Zoza, and plenty of others. They were puffing and panting, and they hadn’t even got to the steep bit yet.
“This isn’t fair!” panted Clover. “All that talk about going off slowly, and everyone’s raced off! And we’re at the back, and I’m already going as fast as I can!”
“I don’t think any of us are going to win, that’s for sure,” said Wayne. “But for us, finishing will be an achievement.”
“Finishing?” puffed Zoza. “Just surviving will do me.”

Clover struggled up the steep slope, her legs were killing her, she was sure her lungs were going to burst. When she got to the top, she had to stop and bend over, while she got her breath back. Then she looked up, and her heart sank. The flags were curving eastwards round the mountain, but the way dipped down and then rose again, steeper and higher than before. In despair, she closed her eyes for a moment as she started off again, and stumbled on a loose stone. She fell awkwardly, and hobbled to her feet.
“Ow!” she said. “I think I’ve broken my ankle!”
“Oh, let me see,” said Rose. “I’ll fix it for you.”
“Don’t you dare,” said Clover. “I’m injured, they’ll give me permission to drop out.”
“You don’t want to be the first to drop out, do you, Clover?” said Wayne.
“Someone’s got to be first,” said Clover happily. “Off you go!”
She waved them off, and sat down by a flag to look out for a marshal.

The second steep rise was followed by a third, but Ace and Will kept going steadily, though they were aching a bit, now. They hadn’t overtaken any goblins, but they’d overtaken a few of the elves who’d rushed off. One of them was Betch. He’d had to stop for a rest, but he waved at them cheerfully as they went past, and they waved back.
They ran through another belt of trees, then out onto bare rock, with a lot of loose stones. Here they found a goblin and two elves who’d fallen and hurt themselves. They stopped to check they were all right, then followed the flags to a narrow ledge in a steep cliff. The drop to their left was dizzying, and there were a few people milling around, trying to pluck up courage to go across. Ace had a look at it.
“It’s all right for the fairies,” he said. “If they fall, they can fly back up. They’ll be disqualified, but at least they won’t be killed.”
“Use your wits, they said,” Will muttered. “It can’t be as dangerous as it looks, they don’t want to kill us all. I bet you there’s a marshal hovering down there to catch anyone who falls...yes, there she is. In the top of that big birch.”
“That surgeon did a good job on your eyes,” smiled Ace. “Let’s go.”

They edged across, trying not to look down, concentrating on making their tired legs tread carefully, then clambered up onto a wide, rocky place, where they caught the sound of running water. There were a few people around the stream, some sprawled out, exhausted, others with their heads down, gulping water.
“Hi, Ace,” panted Ross. “Hi, Will.”
They joined him, scooping water up in their hands to drink.
“Who’s ahead?” asked Ace.
“About a dozen goblins, and everyone else with long legs - Fran and Peter, Gran, Olm and Beuk. And Kiefer.”
“Kiefer!”
“I know. I don’t know how he does it. He’s so tiny, he just seems to float along.”

Ace and Will got up to go, and the others who’d been resting joined them. But this time they didn’t race off. They couldn’t, they’d done too much already. Ace and Will stuck to their own pace, and very soon they were slightly ahead. They were running a little downhill now, towards a vatn, an icy mountain lake, green and still in its hollow. There was a flag on its shore, and another on the far side. After that, you had to cross a rocky slope, then scale a rockface. Ace could see a couple of goblins on the slope, looking uncomfortable.
“Whoa,” he said. “This wants thinking about.”
There was a marshal hovering here, watching out for anyone who tried to cheat.
“We can’t jump across,” said Ace. “That’s against the rules. Too far, anyway. We can’t go round it, that’s not where the flags are. We’ve got to swim!”
“And then run in wet shoes?” said Will. “That’s why they’re struggling, those goblins. Their shoes are soaking!”
“Come on then, get creative! How can we swim across without getting our shoes wet?”
“Chuck them across? Too far. I can’t do that distance, can you?”
“No,” said Ace thoughtfully. “But I could do that island.”
“Brilliant,” said Will. “Of course.”
They kicked their shoes off.
“It’s going to be so cold,” said Will. “Here goes!”

He plunged into the water, and raced off towards the island, and as soon as he heaved himself out, Ace threw him their shoes, and dived in to swim straight across the vatn. When he climbed out on the other shore, Will threw the shoes to him, then swam the rest of the way himself.
Their clothes were soaking, of course, but that didn’t matter nearly so much. With dry feet, they set off across the rocky slope, and overtook Olm and Beuk, who were squelching along miserably.
“Ach, it’s not enough just being big and strong,” said Will, when they’d passed them. “You’ve got to use your wits!”
“Hard on those two, then. They haven’t got any. D’you think we stand a chance now, Will?”
“What, against goblins? And Gran? We’ll never beat Gran.”
“I’d really like to, though,” said Ace, remembering what Gran had put Will through. “Wouldn’t you?”
“You’re right, I would. How fast d’you think we can get up this rockface?”

The leaders were all past the vatn. The elves just behind Ace and Will had followed their example, working in pairs, and they had dry feet, too. Behind them, nearly twenty had dropped out, through injury or exhaustion, and were heading back to camp. The fastest fairies were approaching the vatn now. Dan wasn’t in the lead, she was being outpaced, but as she saw her main rival dive into the water, her spirits rose.
You’re fit, and you’re fast, she thought. But how brave are you? Can you run with blisters?

At the top of the rockface, the flags led east, over endless rocks and boulders that were torture on tired, aching legs. But Ace and Will shouted encouragement at each other as they struggled on, and passed people who were limping now, as their wet shoes gave them blisters. One of them was Hogweed. His feet were killing him, he said, but he wasn’t giving up. But there was no point rushing. Agava was in the lead, and no-one was going to catch him, even Gran.
Ace and Will didn’t see it like that. It was Gran they wanted to catch. They didn’t mind Agava, but it would be great if they could be the first elves back. The thought spurred them on, until they came to a steep drop, and found they’d caught up with Fran and Peter. The way down was along a slope of scree, yards and yards of loose stone, and Fran and Peter were standing there, wondering how to tackle it. When they saw Ace and Will, they made their move, and plunged downwards. At first they coped well with the moving stones, but they were soon being pulled along faster than they could move. They lost their balance, and fell, sliding the rest of the way on their backs, with stones falling on them from above.
“Ouch,” said Ace. “That looked painful. Very gently, I think, don’t you?”
“As gently as you tread when you’re nicking milk from a house that’s got a cat.”
Moving sideways with infinite care, they edged down the scree, and went to see if Fran and Peter were all right.
“Never mind us!” said Fran. “We’ll be OK when we’ve fixed a few cuts. Go on - you’re our team’s best chance of winning, now.”
“If you’re sure you’re OK,” said Ace, and they ran off.

They followed the flags back into trees again, and ran on and on, parched with thirst again now, as the path curved around the mountain, and the Eastern Forest merged into the Southern Forest. It was stiflingly hot under the trees. No-one else was in sight, the only sounds were their own feet and their own laboured breath.
High above them, through the trees, they could see the rope-bridge over the chasm. But the flags didn’t lead them up that way. They led down, into the chasm itself.
“Hang on a minute,” said Will. “I don’t get this. The flags are going in two directions. One lot going deeper, and another lot going...good grief.”
“Alternative routes,” said Ace. “You can go down the chasm, and up again. Or, if you dare, you’re allowed to climb into that tree, and along a branch, until it tips you over the drop onto the other side.”
“No-one else has tried it, have they?” said Will. “Who’s down there? Gran?”
“Yes, he’s at the bottom, so’s Kiefer. Two going down, and two coming up. One’s Agava, one’s Cowberry. If we tackle this short-cut, we’re in the lead. D’you dare?”
“I dare if you dare.”
“Come on,” said Ace. “What are we waiting for?”

They didn’t stop to think, in case they lost their nerve. With great yells they scrambled down into the tree, then out along the branch until it bent, and tipped them dizzyingly across the huge drop, and onto the rock again.
“Oh, wow!” shouted Ace. “We’re in the lead! Come on!”
Their excitement kept them going for a while, but it was getting harder and harder. The flags were heading downhill now, back towards the camp, but the path was very long. There was still so far to go, and they knew, from glancing behind, that those who’d been behind them in the chasm were gaining on them.
“We’ve got to find more speed!” said Will. “It’s there, somewhere. Come on, Ace, you can do it! Dig really deep - think of all the people who’ll be so proud of you if you win!”
Ace nodded grimly and fought for more speed. They pelted down the path, their muscles screaming and their hair sticking to their faces, until they came to the wooden fence that marked the perimeter of the camp. They climbed it, painfully, clumsily, and leaned on it for a moment, looking back.
“They’re slowing,” said Ace. “They’re slowing, too. Come on, we can do it!”
But the break in the rhythm had finished Will.
“I can’t,” he said. “I’m done. You go, you can do it.”
“Not without you, I can’t. I’d fall to pieces in a few yards.”
A smile crept onto his tired face.
“We’re going to win, and we’re going to win together. Are you ready? Move!”
With a final effort, they dug in again, and headed down the path, with the footsteps behind them getting louder and louder.

Back on camp, the crowds who’d seen them off had gathered again to watch the finish, along with all the people who’d had to drop out. Clover was watching excitedly near the finish, a line of sand on the ground. The leaders were coming, and she thought she knew who they were.
“Oh, this is wonderful!” she yelled, hopping about on her good foot. “Come on, come on, you can do it!”

Commander Biagioni was watching with General Herdalen.
“That’s those two you were telling me about, in the lead, isn’t it?” said the Commander. “Why aren’t they racing for the line?”
“They’ll tackle anything you throw at them, those two,” smiled the general. “Except one thing. They won’t compete against each other. Not when anyone’s watching, anyway. It wouldn’t even cross their minds.”
“For goodness’ sake! I’m going to need another ribbon.”

Five yards from the line, they knew they’d done it. They slowed down a little, and put their arms across each other’s shoulders, to be sure they crossed the line together. They hardly heard the cheers that went up, as they collapsed, chests heaving. They only had one thing on their minds - water.
But they got that, soon enough. Sergeant Olt, beaming with pride, made them sit down and rub themselves dry with a towel, and gave them water, telling them to sip it slowly and not to gulp, or they’d be sick. They heard another cheer go up, and lifted their heads. It was Kiefer, and they cheered, too. Gran was next, then Cowberry, then Agava. Then there was a wait, before the next gaggle arrived. Clover wriggled through the crowd, and hugged Ace and Will, and told them they were amazing.
“Sorry you had to drop out, Clover,” said Will. “That was hard luck.”
“That was brilliant luck! I was first, too - first to drop out!”
“What’re you like?” laughed Ace. “Clover, have you got a comb?”
“Not on me, I haven’t. But I’ll go and get you one. You must look good when you go up to get your prizes!”
She flew off, and Ace looked at Will.
“She’s forgotten, hasn’t she?”
“Looks like it,” Will grinned.
“Better and better.”
They jumped onto the grassy roof of Classroom One, and lay there contentedly in the sun, watching all the others coming home, and cheering them all on.
“Oh, this is nice,” sighed Ace. “This is very, very nice.”
“D’you know what, Ace? You’re right. Not bad for a couple of weeds from a rough place.”


When everyone was home, and the last great cheer had gone up in appreciation of Wayne’s dogged courage, everyone moved into the Great Hall, and Commander Biagioni took her place on the platform.
“Spring is really here now!” she said. “You’ve circled the mountain, and shown us all that this year’s intake is as strong and courageous as any we’ve seen. Twenty-five had to drop out, which means over three-quarters of you finished. I was particularly impressed by those of you who finished despite not being gifted with strength or speed. Your determination does you great credit. Well done. And well done, also, to those who slowed themselves down to check on or help the injured, especially Stella Knightwood, who deliberately disqualified herself by flying to the aid of an elf who’d fallen in the chasm.”
Ace and Will hadn’t heard about that, and they clapped her long and hard.
“And now, the winners. First goblin home, Cowberry Snogeholmssjön.”
Cowberry climbed up onto the platform, to roars of approval from all the goblins, and all the Scandinavian team.
“First fairy home, Dan Moseley.”
Dan was beaming with joy as she went up to receive her ribbon. The Commander pinned it on her t-shirt and whispered,
“Well done, Dan. I’m very proud of you.”
Dan turned to stand by Cowberry, and tears pricked her eyes as she saw everyone clapping and cheering her.
“First elves home, and overall winners, Ace and Will Moseley.”

The cheer seemed to shake the hall, and set the banners waving. Squirming with embarrassment, Ace and Will went up and shook hands with the Commander, and she spoke to them and gave them their ribbons. But Ace caught something out of the corner of his eye. What was Clover doing? She’d got up and whispered to Sergeant Olt, and Sergeant Olt was coming up onto the platform, and whispering to the Commander.
“She wouldn’t, would she?” whispered Ace.
“Oh, no,” said Will.
“A moment,” said the Commander. “I’ve just heard, as well, that it’s their birthday. Another round of applause, I think. Happy birthday, both of you!”
They got down as fast as they decently could.
“I’m sorry, Will,” said Ace. “I know you like her, but I’m going to kill her.”
“You’re not,” said Will. “I am.”

“Before we go,” said the Commander, “I will unroll the new tapestry. The Advanced Textiles class have given us a beautiful work of art, a worthy addition to this fine hall.”
She flew gracefully across to the wall where the tapestry was hanging, rolled up. She pulled a cord, and there was another burst of clapping, for the skill of the fairies who’d made such a beautiful thing.
Ace had gone absolutely rigid with shock, he didn’t dare move, he could hardly breathe. Will looked round, cautiously, and couldn’t stop himself gasping. It was a fantastic piece of work, and to think that Rose and Clover had done so much of it...
“How bad is it?” Ace asked, between clenched teeth.
“Well, no-one’s looking this way. It does look like you, Ace, no denying it. But no-one’s going to dare wind you up tonight. Come on, get up and look confident, it’ll be all right.”
Ace took a deep breath, and turned round.
“Hmm.”
“Go on,” grinned Will. “Say it. You know you want to.”
“Well, yeah. It does look pretty good, doesn’t it?”