THE LIGHT IN THE NORTH

CHAPTER 13 - Unison

Ace pointed out the grassy bank that was the meeting place, and after a quick look round, the elves jumped across to see Lauro’s party staring at them with admiration.
“In the engine?” said Lauro. “Skill. You always do things in style, Ace!”
“Not that much style,” said Betch, grinning. “He hasn’t seen how dirty his face is.”
“Ach, no,” said Ace. “That is the drawback.” He found a bit of cloth and soaked it from his water bottle, and wiped his face clean. “Is that better? And as for style, well, it wasn’t me who figured out how it could be done. Takes Will for that.”
“Will’s a genius,” Betch agreed solemnly, and Will knew then that Betch was going to get him too. Betch took the cloth off Ace.
“This is a face cloth, Will,” he said. “You wash your face with it – like this – a new idea to you, I know.”

Will was shaking with laughter. It felt so good to be out here, just having fun and messing about. There’d been a time when life had always been like this. He wouldn’t have wanted to go back to that now, but it was good to get it back now and then. He played along, pretending to be baffled by the cloth, until Zoza laughed so much he rolled off the bank. They heaved him back up, and settled back comfortably in the sunshine.
“You got here quickly,” Ace said to Lauro. “No problems, then?”
“No, it was great,” said Lauro. “Lovely ride in the back of a pick-up truck. Kiefer’s a natural, you’d think he’d been doing it all his life. Zoza’s got the hang of it nicely too, and Betch managed to land on his feet this time.”
“Only because the driver practically stopped on the bend, to let that other car overtake him,” said Kiefer.
“True, that did help,” said Betch. “What can I say? I can’t be best at everything.”
“You’re not best at anything!” spluttered Fran. “Except winding people up.”
“He’s very funny,” said Zoza. “He cheers people up.”
“Thank you, Zoza,” said Betch. “See, Fran?”
“You didn’t used to be so funny at home,” said Peter. “You must have improved since you came here.”
“To be honest, Pete, I was very unhappy when I came here,” said Betch. “Things were so bad, you had to laugh or you’d cry… and laughing’s better, isn’t it?”
“So you found a skill you didn’t really know you had,” said Kiefer. “Cheering people up is very important.”
“You do a lot of that yourself,” grinned Betch. “Unintentionally…”
Kiefer threw grass at him, so Betch flattened Kiefer, which wasn’t difficult as Kiefer only came up to his waist.
“Hey, don’t get too wild,” said Lauro sensibly. “We’re not that well-hidden here. Are things better now that Dale’s here too, Betch? Or does it make it worse, that you can’t work together?”
“Oh no, it’s much better,” said Betch. “Just having him around, you know? It’s fine working with lots of different people, you learn a lot. I tell you what, though – I don’t think he’d mind me saying – the sergeant promised me that when we do transforming each other, Dale can come and work with the second years. Sergeant Kopec agreed it would be best for both of us that way.”
“That’s great, Betch,” said Will. “Did he say when we’re doing it?”
“Soon after we get back, I think.”
“Oh, scary!” said Kiefer. “I’m not looking forward to that.”
Alnus arrived then, and Zoza jumped up to hug Dub and Lupa, and Ross was dripping blood from grazed knuckles, but with a smile of satisfaction on his face. Amidst all the noise and confusion, only Will noticed that Ace had gone a bit quiet.


They heard that things had gone well for Alnus’ party until right near the end.
“It was all my fault,” said Alnus. “We were standing on the edge – it was quite a big lorry – when it stopped at a traffic light. When it moved off, I lost my balance, and fell. But Ross was brilliant, he jumped behind me, scooped me up, and jumped back onto the lorry, practically in one movement! You saved my life. If I’d rolled, I’d have been under a car in seconds.”
“Try not to think about it,” said Ross kindly. “You’ll give yourself nightmares. It could have happened to anyone.”
“The balancing’s the worst bit,” said Will. “Definitely.”
“You see?” said Ross. “Anyway, seeing us both off, Dub and Lupa had jumped too, and by the time Alnus and I could jump down again, we’d lost sight of them.”
“We didn’t realise Alnus had fallen, and were very puzzled when you jumped back on!” said Dub. “We weren’t sure what to do, so we took cover.”
“We thought you’d probably come to find us, so we stayed where we were. If you hadn’t come,” said Lupa, “we were going to find the station and ask Ace or someone what to do.”
“Both of those were good thoughts,” said Alnus. “You did very well, and I should think Zoza is very proud of your common sense, you’re a credit to your team.”
Zoza did indeed look pleased and proud. While Dub and Lupa were telling him about their journey, Alnus insisted on fixing Ross’s hand, even though Ross protested it was nothing, and would soon heal by itself. When he’d finished, he looked even more white and shaken than before, but nobody quite liked to tell him he ought to rest, so Will went over to him.
“D’you want me to go and find you something decent to drink, Alnus?” he said. “To be honest, you look like you need it, and there’s often good stuff left lying around on stations.”
“I’d be glad of something hot,” Alnus admitted. “Thanks, Will, it’s very kind of you.”

The look Ace shot him made Will certain he’d said the right thing. He took an empty bottle and came back with it full of hot tea, and with the news that a train was about to arrive. Alnus accepted the tea gratefully, and shared it with Ross. Gran’s party arrived then, but Gran didn’t have much to say. He seemed rather put out at finding he’d arrived last, and just said shortly that the van they’d been on had taken a side turn, so they’d had to jump off and wait for another ride to catch, and that had delayed them. Droz, Kes and Vin looked as if they’d enjoyed themselves and would have said more about it, but at that moment, the train arrived, and the elves all turned to watch it. With no fuss, and very little noise, it slid impressively into the small station, effortlessly dwarfing everything around it.
“Wow,” said Dub faintly. “Oh, wow. Aren’t they big!”
“That is just unbelievable,” agreed Lupa solemnly.
Will realised then that they’d never seen a train so close up before, and it made him sad. It shouldn’t be like this.
“It’ll wait here for twelve minutes,” he said. “Want a closer look? Can we, Alnus?”
“Sure, Will, you know what you’re doing,” said Alnus.


Will took Dub and Lupa down the quietest end of the platform, where they could look at the massive wheels, then showed them how to jump onto the roof, and where to cling on if they ever had to travel that way.
“If there’s a window open, you can even get inside,” he told them. “Like this…lean down, check for humans… if it’s safe, swing yourself inside…that’s it, well done! This is a carriage, and you can see all the seats for humans. And this is the luggage rack, and a very good place for sprites to hide. If you can get in here, you’ll have a great journey. Much more comfortable than the roof.”
He showed them where the doors were, and how to make them open, then they jumped off again, before anyone started to worry that they were going to be carried off towards Trondheim. When they got back to the hiding place, Dub and Lupa were almost speechless with amazement, and couldn’t take their eyes off the train. When it pulled out again on its journey north, they sighed.

“You’ll see plenty more while we’re here,” said Ross sympathetically. “We could have a long wait. Didn’t you say they were leaving from Germany today, Alnus?”
“That’s what the sergeant told me. He said it was a long journey, and anything could happen, so be prepared to wait… and that they would wait for us, if they happened to arrive first.”
“It took me three days, when I came to join the army,” said Ross. “Where exactly are they coming from? Will, do you know?”
“They’re coming from Essen,” said Will. “That’s where the Technical Section HQ is. They’ll catch a train to Hamburg, for sure, and then another north through Denmark, all the way to Copenhagen. Then they’ll cross into Sweden, probably to Gothenburg, and from Gothenburg they can catch a train to Oslo. From Oslo, they’ll go on the same line you went on, Ace, only in the opposite direction, and that will bring them here to Otta.”
“Crumbs,” said Ace. “That’s quite a journey. How long’s that going to take?”
“Even with good connections, I can’t see how you could do it in under twenty-four hours,” said Will. “Two or three days would be more likely. Which way did you come, Ross?”
“I’m from Berlin, so I caught the ferry from Rostock,” said Ross. “But after Copenhagen, my journey was the same. If they’re coming from Essen, Will’s right, that’s the way they’ll come.”
“That doesn’t mean it will take as long as you think,” said Gran. “These elves who make deliveries, they’re only Third Regiment, but they do this all the time. They will know how to read timetables and make connections better than you do, they probably know every line in Europe.”
Will felt rather put-out by that, and he could tell Ross did too, but a sneering tone was something he was used to from Gran Starheim, so he didn’t say anything.
“Thanks, all of you,” said Alnus peaceably. “That’s very valuable. We’ll make camp, then, in a quieter spot than this, and send people to meet every train until our contacts arrive. Wait for me here... I’m going to find us a good place, and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”


While he was gone, some of the younger ones started discussing whether it was better riding on trains or cars. Will and Ace, who’d been arguing that point practically all of their lives, kept quiet and listened fondly. It made Will feel old. Alnus came back very quickly, with a smile on his face.
“Perfect spot,” he said. “There’s a spare piece of track down there, very disused, with a lot of overgrown bushes behind it. And behind the bushes there’s a fence, so it couldn’t be safer.”
One by one, the elves moved carefully across to the campsite Alnus had chosen. There, they left their backpacks and some of them went off again as Alnus directed, to forage for supplies. He sent Will into the station, to read the timetable and make a list of the times that trains would arrive. Kiefer came with him, to learn how to do it, and he was a big help, being very light on his feet and fast, because it wasn’t easy dodging the human passengers. By the time Will had the list safely in his pocket, it was late in the afternoon, and the sky had clouded over. It looked as if it was going to rain.


When they got back to the others, they found a very nice camp had been set up. It wasn’t cold enough to need a tent, but they weren’t the only ones who’d seen it was going to rain. Betch had made a wonderful shelter. He’d found a broken umbrella and repaired it, and once it was wedged among the branches of the bushes, it was like a sturdy roof over their campsite. A little fire was going, and there were spare cups and sleeping bags for the elves coming from Germany, in case they should need a rest when they arrived.
“This is cosy,” said Will, admiring the roof. “Here’s the list, Alnus. There are six a day, and the next one’s quite soon, 17.44.”
“Oh, can we go, Alnus, please?” said Dub. “We’ll be really careful.”
“OK, if you like. Keep watch from the ledge that Ross told us about, and remember that you probably won’t see them jump off, these are real experts. Once the train and all the people have gone, that’s when you’ll see them, so don’t leave too soon.”
“OK,” said Dub cheerfully. “Come on, Lupa!”


No-one arrived, but Dub and Lupa came back bubbling with excitement all the same, and telling anyone who would listen about everything they’d seen, and all the noises the train had made. By then, everyone was back, and it was raining hard, so they brewed some tea and settled down to play games like Ibble Dibble and Fizz Buzz. It was great fun to be as silly as they liked, without fairies rolling their eyes and sighing, and everyone was laughing, even Gran. They only just remembered about the 19.32, but just in time, Fran and Peter went to meet it.
Still nothing, so they quietened down after that, to let the people who’d be meeting the later trains get a bit of rest first. Ace and Will were taking the 22.32, so they lay back on their sleeping bags and dozed until it was time to go. Ace pulled his hat on and they stepped outside, enjoying the fresh air on their faces. The rain had stopped, but the sky was still cloudy and there was less light than usual. They knew they were almost invisible as they cleared the tracks at top speed and soared up to the ledge.
“Very nice timing,” said Ace. “It’s still quiet. Ross was right about this ledge.”
“It’s so perfect, it’s spooky,” said Will. “There were elves here – and Allies, too – long before we were born.”

The station began to give signs of the imminent arrival of a train. A man with a flag in his hand came out, glancing at the clock, and a woman pushing a trolley full of mail bags walked along the platform. There didn’t seem to be many passengers waiting. Just a man with a briefcase who was talking on a mobile phone, and a young man with a backpack who had his arms wrapped around his girlfriend. Down the track, a signal moved, and soon after that, lights appeared in the distance. Will felt the familiar thrill of seeing a train approaching, and part of him was just yearning to be jumping on it, to ride and ride to the end of the line.
The sound of the train filled the night, and then the red and silver carriages came slowly to a halt.
“Not an EMU this time, then,” said Will. “Just a locomotive hauling it.”
“Yeah, I thought it looked a bit different to the one this afternoon,” grinned Ace.
They watched carefully now, as doors opened. Lights and shadows moved so fast as people came and went. So easy, as they knew, to slip between, but there didn’t seem to be anything, at least not on this side of the train.
Doors closed with a row of thuds, and the train pulled out. The railway workers went inside, and the platform was left deserted.
“Well, it’s still too soon to expect anything,” said Ace. “Let’s go back, now.”
He stood up, but Will had just spotted something, and pulled him back down.
“Where?” said Ace.
Will pointed. “Behind the pillar, on the opposite platform.”
He could have sworn he’d seen… yes, there they were, they’d moved now, into their line of sight.
“Interesting,” breathed Ace. “Do they look like they’re carrying parcels, to you?”
“Nope,” said Will.
“And do they look like they’re wearing black and green?”
“Yep. Look, they’ve got a map… checking a compass bearing… deciding which way to go…”
“Come on! What are we waiting for, let’s follow them.”
“OK,” said Will, “but Alnus won’t like it.”
“Maybe not,” grinned Ace. “But Gran will.”


Tracking other elves, who are moving just as fast and invisibly as you are, is never easy. With a quarry dressed in dark clothes, on a very gloomy evening, it was going to be difficult, but Sergeant Olt had trained them hard at this. Many an afternoon, in all weathers, he’d had the elves following each other through forest and over moorland, and Ace and Will knew what to do. You had to work in pairs, one watching carefully while the other jumped, then changing over, and it helped if you didn’t have to spare a glance to know where your partner was.
They let the targets move first, knowing they’d have to leave the station cautiously. Ace and Will jumped down from the ledge together, then immediately moved apart. Ace waited while the other elves chose their direction, and as soon as they moved, he did too. Will kept his eyes fixed on where they landed, then he jumped, knowing that as soon as he did, Ace would stop moving and watch. In this way, they crossed the car park and went out onto the road, where street lights had come on. In some ways, that made it harder, as they all flickered in and out of pools of light and shadow, but it did help you to catch a glimpse if you’d nearly lost them.
They were going quite slowly through the town. All their attention seemed to be focused on avoiding being seen by humans in passing cars. They didn’t look behind them, but even so, Ace and Will tried not to get too close. They juddered to a halt together behind a lamp post when they realised the other two had stopped.
“Discussing the route,” Ace breathed almost silently.
“Yeah,” Will whispered back.

He could see them clearly, now. One, thick-set and slightly lumbering… a pine of some kind, and the other lighter on his feet and younger, with streaks on his face a bit like Gran’s, so maybe a spruce… they were well-dressed and smart, and their green jackets bore identical badges. Feeling that might be important, Will strained his eyes to focus on the design.
Then they moved, and in the same instant, Ace did too, and Will had to widen his field of vision and watch their line. They’d lengthened their jumps, they knew where they were going now, and it wasn’t to the main road that followed the railway line, but the one that led back towards Lom.
They were out of the town now, and they started going faster. Will could hardly breathe for concentrating on watching and on jumping fast and silently. There was so much to think about. This was the point where, if you lost it, you might never pick up the trail again. His path zigzagged across Ace’s as they tried to keep up, his eyes were staring so hard into the growing darkness that sometimes he thought he was feeling more than seeing. And at the same time, he was beginning to worry. He could hear Gran in the back of his mind, saying You could have stopped him, you’re the only one who could, and he hoped that this wasn’t one of the times he should have stopped him. As well as that, he was trying not to wonder what they’d do if their targets were heading to a rendezvous, and he and Ace suddenly found themselves surrounded by Special Brigade.

Round a bend now, and the road was climbing. Jumping at this speed was getting tiring in itself. Over and over again, their lines crossed, over and over again, they jumped, fixed their eyes, then jumped again. Trees, rocks, looming mountains flickered by, the hard road rolled away beneath their feet. They’d come a long distance now. All the houses, even isolated ones, were behind them, and there were no lights any more to help them.
Suddenly, their targets stopped, and Ace and Will threw themselves into deep shadow at the side of the road. The other two were catching their breath, and laughing about something, and Will heard the murmur of a few words, without catching what was said. Then they changed direction and left the road, heading off west across country.
Ace and Will moved again, followed them off the road and across boulder-strewn moorland, but it was getting harder. There was barely any light, and there were just too many rocks in the way. Will jumped in what he thought was the right direction, but when he landed, Ace didn’t move, just stood there, irresolute, looking round in desperation.
“Try this way!” he whispered, and took a leap in what he must have felt was a likely direction. Will followed him, and looked around until his eyes were nearly watering, but it was no use.
“We’ve lost them,” he said sadly.
“Yeah,” said Ace. “No chance in this light, on terrain like this. We did well to get this far, really. But never mind… this might just be a short cut. If we head for where the road curves back on itself, we might pick up the trail again.”

He was panting hard, and they had no water with them. Will looked ahead into the smothering darkness of the foothills of great mountains, and thought about who those elves might have been going to meet, and thought about Alnus and the others.
“No, Ace,” he said.
Ace stared at him, looking bewildered.
“What d’you mean? Come on, we can do it, we have to try!”
“No,” said Will. “We’ve gone far enough. To go further, when we don’t know anything about what’s going on, would be foolhardy. ‘Proceed with caution’, Gran said. This is where caution has to kick in.”
“But we could be so close! We might find out how many there are of them, and what they’re doing. Gran would want to know that, you know he would.”
“We’ve already got quite a bit of information. We go any further, and we could blunder into guards, or anything. Gran wouldn’t want us to risk being captured. We have to get back now, before the others get so worried that they start messaging back to base saying we’re missing.”
Ace looked devastated.
“I can’t believe you’re saying this!” he hissed angrily. “What’s Gran going to say when he knows we were so close, and gave up?”
“Ace Moseley, when has anyone ever said to you, ‘Why didn’t you do the bold and rash thing?’ And how many times have people said to you,‘Why didn’t you stop and think?’” demanded Will.
“I have thought!” Ace almost shouted. “This is what we have to do.”
“No, it isn’t. Come on, Ace, we’re going back.”


Feeling a bit shaky inside – what on earth was he going to do if Ace didn’t come? – Will turned and started jumping slowly back towards the road. His heart banged with relief when he sensed that Ace was following him. Will waited at the edge of the road.
“It’s an awful long way back,” he said, “and we’re both tired and thirsty. Can you pool, or are you too mad at me?”
Ace just shrugged, and Will could see that he wasn’t sulking. He looked really distressed, and Will recognised that intensity of feeling. He wasn’t feeling it right now, but he had, sometimes.
“I do understand,” he said gently. “That feeling that you’ve just got to solve it. But this time, just trust me.”
It wasn’t long since Ace had asked for a lot of trust himself, and Will had faith that he would remember that. Finally, Ace let out a big, shuddering sigh, and nodded.
“OK, Will. Come here, then.”
They put their hands on each other’s shoulders, and touched their foreheads together, feeling the level of pooling they needed for the job at hand, not too little, and not too much. Ace managed a bit of a smile after that. Then, side by side, they started on the long journey back to Otta.


To say that Alnus wouldn’t like it was an understatement, thought Will. He was furious, more angry than anyone had ever seen him. Dimly, deep inside, Will knew that it was the kind of anger that comes from relief, because you care so much and have been so worried, but it was hard to think of that when you were being shouted at. Alnus was Spanish, and though they could still understand every word he was saying, he did seem to talk faster when he was angry. Words were pouring out of him at a rate Will wouldn’t have believed a sprite tongue could achieve.
“We’re sorry,” said Will, as soon as he could. “Truly, Alnus. You’ve been worried, and I don’t blame you, I’d have been worried if anyone else had done that. But if we’d come back to ask, we couldn’t have done it. We’d never have picked up the trail, you know that.”
“We had to decide so fast, what to do,” said Ace. “What would you have done?”
“I? You ask what I would have done? You think I would have been so silly, so utterly crazy, as to go off in the middle of the night, in pursuit of enemies, without a word? To do something so dangerous, when someone else was responsible for you? You, Ace, you think you are always the leader, and you can do whatever you want, that is the truth of it, isn’t it?”
“That’s enough!” shouted Will, and shocked Alnus into silence. “Ace has followed your lead without question this whole expedition, and don’t you dare suggest he was thinking like that. We all knew Special Brigade were around. We all knew the officers were keen to get more information. We had no specific orders from you about what we were to do, if we saw them when we were on our own. We had to make a fast decision, and we used our own judgement. That’s all there is to it. We’re sorry you were worried, and as a matter of fact, that’s one of the reasons we turned back when we did, but you’ve no other cause for complaint.”

Alnus was breathing heavily, but he didn’t say anything, and Ross, who’d been at his side, patted him on the shoulder.
“All right,” said Alnus. “All right. That was too much, and I’m sorry.”
“Fair enough,” said Ace.
He sat down on his sleeping bag and rubbed his eyes, and Will thought he was probably just too tired to argue any more.
“Kiefer,” said Alnus, “would you please step outside and do that pheasant signal of yours, to bring back those who are out searching?”
“OK,” said Kiefer cheerfully, and soon a hideous screech made them all put their hands over their ears. Soon afterwards, Fran and Peter, Droz and Betch came rushing back, delighted to see Ace and Will safe and sound, and demanding to hear all about it. Meanwhile, Kes and Vin had been making tea, and handed the cups round.
Ace explained what they’d seen and done, and there was plenty of excited speculation about what it all meant. Alnus was quiet, but he said a few things, and Ace answered them, both of them a bit formal, but edging back towards normality. They’d be all right in the morning, Will thought. Everyone was just so tired. He glanced at his watch, and when he saw it was nearly 3am, something stirred in his memory.
“Who’s going to meet the sleeper at 03.18?” he asked Alnus. He decided to risk teasing him, to see if things were back to normal yet. “D’you want me and Ace to go?”
“Ah, no thanks,” smiled Alnus. He seemed grateful for the chance to make things better. “I think we’ve had enough excitement for one night. Kes and Vin, would you go this time? And if you see Special Brigade, just count them, and let them go on their way.”


By morning, it was hot and sunny again, and Alnus decided there was no need to keep everyone cooped up at the station all day.
“We’ll go down to the river, find a quiet spot where we can swim and play,” he said. “Four will come back to meet each train. Then, if they arrive, two can look after them while the other two come to get the rest of us.”
So that was what they’d done, and Will had to agree it was a good idea. The river at Otta was stunningly beautiful, and had everything elves wanted for a day’s holiday. There were long, quiet reaches where it looked as if humans never came, long grass on the banks, and little sandy beaches. The water was flowing too fast for fish or water birds to be a nuisance, and it poured beautifully over rocks that were smooth and perfect for sliding over.
“I bet this is just as good as that river with gold in it,” crowed Kiefer. “And we don’t have to do any work, either!”
In the afternoon, Will and Ace got dressed again and went with Gran and Droz to meet the 14.25, but they were soon back, having seen no-one of interest, friends or enemies. After that, they didn’t swim again, but lay on the sand, dozing in the sunshine. Ace was a bit quiet, and when they were on their own, Will asked him if he was still worrying about last night.
“No,” said Ace. “It was right to go, and it was right to come back when you said. I was just thinking about Blanche, that’s all. I think she tried to message me just now, but she couldn’t get through.”
“That’s possible,” said Will. “We’re quite a distance away for a beginner.”
“I hope she’s all right,” Ace fretted. “Just hope she’s not done anything rash. It’s so frustrating, not knowing what’s going on. Special Brigade, what are they doing here? There was something she said… but no, it can’t be that. I’m not that important. And Blanche… how could they know? It’s not possible.”
“Well, if it’s not possible, whatever it is, then stop worrying about it, if you can,” said Will. “Just because there are two confusing things going on doesn’t mean they’re connected.”
“True,” said Ace. “You talk a lot of sense, you do. Thanks, Will.”
He tried his best to cheer up after that, but Will could see he was distracted. He was puzzled about something, maybe more than one thing, and couldn’t talk about them because of having to keep confidences. He seemed genuinely unsure about something, and that made Will feel very protective. He was about the only person in the world who knew that Ace wasn’t nearly as confident as he always seemed. If Ace was in turmoil inside, then Will’s job, he felt, was to provide a solid wave of reassurance.


The elves had got into an easy routine now of meeting the trains. Ross and Alnus went with Fran and Peter to meet the 17.44, but they soon came back, too. When the next four went, to meet the early evening train at 19.32, the others said they might as well come back to the station for the night. So they all met up at the camp under the bushes again, and tonight they entertained each other with stories of things they’d done when they were young. This was quite an eye-opener to Will, because it showed that young elves could be brought up in well-organised colonies and still manage to find ways of being extremely silly. Still laughing, Dub and Lupa went off to meet the 22.32. This was the one Ace and Will had met the night before, and Alnus warned them to come straight back, no matter what they saw.
When they did come back, there was great pride in their voices, and they were not alone.
“Alnus,” said Dub politely. “Our visitors from Germany have arrived.”


Everyone exclaimed with excitement and got to his feet, making the visitors look rather surprised. There were two of them, as Will had surmised, and they were both young. One looked so much like Peter that they knew he was an oak, and the other had streaks of lime-green that were so bright, they could guess his tree, too. He was the one who spoke first.
“Wow, this is good! We don’t usually get a welcome like this. Usually it’s just thanks for the parcels, and goodbye, and that’s it. So you’re second years, are you, on an expedition?”
“That’s right,” said Alnus. “It’s great to see you. Please, sit down, you must be tired. Make yourselves at home.”
They wasted no time in doing just that, and were soon sipping big cups of hot tea. They introduced themselves; the oak was called Quickly and the lime was called Lin.
“We’re from the same place, near Magdeburg,” said Lin, in answer to a question from Ross, who could hear that they were both German. “Joined the army together, worked our way through together. We weren’t too brilliant, so we weren’t surprised to get Third Regiment, but we were really pleased to get sent to the Technical Section.”
“It’s great fun doing deliveries,” said Quickly. “We’ve had some real adventures. And one day, we might get promoted to the workshops, and that’ll be fun, too.”
Dub and Lupa looked particularly enthralled, and Will thought he detected that this all appealed to them very much.
“How was your journey this time?” asked Dub. “Was it good?”
“Oh, it was great, thanks. We’ve done this run a few times, as you can imagine, so it’s easy to pick the best trains. Not our fastest – we had a bit of a hold-up in Gothenburg, thanks to a human who wouldn’t get out of the way – but the rides were good.”
“The parcels weren’t heavy this time,” said Lin. “That helps a lot. Here they are.”
They opened their backpacks and got out four rectangular packages, neatly done up in brown paper and string.
“Which one’s Will Moseley?” asked Lin, searching more deeply inside his back pack.
“Oh, that’s me,” said Will.
“Got a letter for you, from Colonel Dünnwald,” said Lin. “Here you are, sir.”
“What!” laughed Will. “You don’t have to call me sir, you’re senior to all of us!”
“Listen, anyone the colonel talks about with that much respect is senior to me,” said Lin cheerfully.
“Crumbs,” said Will. “Well, thank you for the letter.”
He read it quickly, nodding to himself. The colonel was just explaining exactly what materials they’d used in the components, in case any of them were wrong. If any of this equipment didn’t work, it would be up to Will to fix it.
“Aren’t you going to open the parcels?” said Quickly.
“I’d love to,” said Will, “but no. Right now, I’m just one of a team that’s been sent to collect these things. All we have to do is deliver them to Sergeant Olt. It’s true that Sergeant Olt will pass them on to Major Teplou, and Major Teplou will pass them on to me, but that’s the way it has to be. There’s a right way to do these things. All the same,” he added, “I’ll set Hogweed on anyone who drops one of them.”
Kiefer, who had been feeling one of the parcels as if it was a present, put it down very, very carefully, and everyone laughed.
“Got another letter,” said Lin. “One of our team brought it in last week, it’s just a letter from home for some of the first years. You’ll take it for them, won’t you?”
“Of course,” said Alnus. “Let me take it. Everyone loves news from home.”
When he’d stowed it away, Alnus showed the visitors the extra sleeping bags, and asked if they’d like to rest now.
“Oh, this is luxury, this is!” said Quickly. “A proper night’s sleep, what a treat. Thanks very much. I’d love another cup of tea first, though.”
So everyone had another cup of tea, while sharing stories of Sergeant Olt and the other long-serving officers. Lin and Quickly were enjoying lots of reminiscences, and laughing cheerfully over things they’d done, but eventually, everyone fell asleep.


That night, no-one met the 03.18. The four elves dressed in green and black who jumped secretly off it were not followed, but they took the same route as their comrades had the night before. The middle part of their journey was difficult, as they stumbled across the rocky moorland, but dawn came very early in Norway, and they had plenty of light to help them. Near the village of Darthus they crossed a silent road, then a vatn came in sight, and they knew they were nearly at their destination. Well-hidden among rushes by the shore was a collection of newly-built huts, and there a solitary guard greeted them sleepily.
“Welcome to the end of the world,” he said. “Dump your gear. I’ll tell the boss you’re here. I think you’re the last.”
He knocked respectfully on the door of one of the huts, then called out his message.
“Major Diolkos? The lads from Russia have arrived.”


At Otta railway station, fourteen elves were on the ledge above the doors, waving off their new friends as they caught the 05.45 back to Oslo. Dub and Lupa had begged to be allowed to jump on the train too, and just travel a short distance, to see what it was like, and the visitors had cheerfully agreed to show them how to do it.
“They were great, weren’t they?” said Betch. “What a pair of characters.”
“Very pleasant,” said Gran. “What a tedious job they do, though. That’s Third Regiment for you. It’s where they put people who are not really much use.”
“They do a really useful job!” protested Kiefer. “And you can see they enjoy it. They don’t seem to find it tedious, at all!”
“That is not surprising,” said Gran, “seeing that they were probably the Dub and Lupa of their year… the worst people in the worst team.”
“Now just a minute!” said Zoza. “You can’t go talking about people in my team like that!”
“But why not?” said Gran, in his calm and annoying voice. “What have I said that is untrue?”
Zoza couldn’t think of an answer to that, but Will could.
“Well, for one thing, it’s unkind,” he said. “And for another, it depends what you mean by worst. There are a lot of things more important than scoring points.”
Gran shook his head in scornful pity.
“If that is the best they can aim for, I am sorry for them,” he said. “That’s all.”
“Well, imagine you had a really lowly opinion of yourself,” said Will. “Difficult for you, I know, but just try – and then you met someone you could identify with, who showed you just what you could achieve, wouldn’t you be happy and excited? I think it’s wonderful that we’re all helping each other without even realising it, and that no matter who you are, there’s a job that’s just right for you.”
“That’s truer than you know, Will,” said Betch. “I think we’ve all got our heroes, whether we realise it or not. People we’d like to match, one day. I know Dale has.”
“So who is your hero, Betch Knightwood?” said Gran.
“Sergeant Grybow,” said Betch promptly. “She’s so funny, it’s not real.”
Everyone laughed, even Gran, and no-one believed him, though with Betch, you never quite knew.
“Well, you can all aim low if you want to,” said Gran, “but I think there is nothing wrong with aiming high. Even as high as General Herdalen. Don’t you think so, Ace?”
Quite what Gran’s game was there, Will wasn’t sure, but he didn’t like the mocking tone, and he hoped Ace would find a good answer to him. And he did, though it startled Will very much.
“Aiming high is great, Gran,” he said. “But it’s character that matters, not rank. I’m with Dale on this one. Matching Will would do me.”


When Dub and Lupa came back, the elves went back to their camp and packed up for the journey home. It was still very early, and it happened to be a Sunday, so they weren’t expecting any problems getting out of the town.
“The only problem is going to be finding any vehicles at all, to catch a ride on,” said Ross. “What have you planned, Alnus, for the journey home?”
“Just the same again, in reverse,” said Alnus, “unless anyone has any better ideas?”
“Well,” said Ace, “I’m not trying to interfere, and this is just a suggestion, but can I just show you something on the map?”
Alnus knew very well, Will thought, that he’d been quite rude to Ace the other night, and was keen to make amends. You could see it in the way he listened very courteously.
“It’s this road back to Lom,” said Ace, pointing. Everyone gathered round to see what he meant. “Will and I followed those two from Special Brigade to this point here, just before the village of Lalm. Now you see how the road curves out here, skirting the mountains. At first, I thought they were taking a short cut. But it’d be no faster, really, especially in poor light, to leave the road and cut across country… unless it was the way to your destination. But we could use it as a short cut, because we’re travelling in good light and there might not be so many vehicles today. We could join the road again here at Handen, and save miles. And, we can keep our eyes open for Special Brigade, because I’m convinced they’re in this area.”

Once he’d explained what he meant, Ace kept quiet, letting Alnus think. Alnus thought hard, for quite a while.
“What does everyone else think?” he asked.
“Sounds like a good plan to me,” said Kiefer. “If we’re going to have to jump, what’s the point staying on the road? Especially if we might see something interesting.”
“That’s the trouble, it might be too interesting,” said Zoza. “I think it’s too risky. We don’t know how many there are of them, but we know there are only sixteen of us.”
“I think I agree with that,” said Fran. “I’m sorry, Ace, but you know they want you and Will, and you’re just too recognisable. Keeping you two out of their clutches has to be our first priority.”
“I’ll wear my hat,” offered Ace hopefully, but it didn’t seem to change Fran’s mind.
“Well, I think it’s worth trying,” said Will, “and that’s not just because it’s Ace’s suggestion. This is our territory, and Special Brigade know it. They must be aware that they could encounter army sprites, and if this is secret, you can be pretty sure they’ll have been told to keep well out of sight.”
“Right!” said Droz. “So if we see them, all we have to do is pretend we haven’t seen them, and they’ll be patting themselves on the back, thinking they’ve got away with it?”
“I think so, yes,” said Will.
Alnus asked for a vote on it then, but opinion was evenly divided. Ace and Will, Droz, Kes and Vin, Kiefer, Lauro, and, surprisingly, Gran, were in favour of trying it. All the rest, for one reason or another, thought it was too risky.
“You’re going to have to make the decision,” said Ace lightly, looking Alnus right in the eyes.
There was a bit of challenge in that, and Alnus responded to it. He didn’t give his reasons, but spoke crisply and firmly.
“There may not be many vehicles, but there will be some,” he said. “We’ll stick to the road. All the way back to Sognfjord.”


Two days later, and one day before they were due back on camp, the elves started to arrive at the meeting place they’d chosen, on the south shore of the fjord. Alnus had told everyone to travel in pairs this time, to give the beginners confidence about catching rides on their own. Will had wondered if Ace would suggest they took the cross country route anyway. They could have done; they were capable of jumping onto cars doing 100 kilometres an hour, from a standing start, so they could easily have caught up. But Ace hadn’t suggested it. He was abiding by Alnus’ decision, and Will was impressed.
So they were the first to arrive at the meeting place, a pine grove near a rocky beach. They were carrying one of the packages each, so they set their bags down gently, then jumped up onto a rock to rest, and just sat there, looking at the fjord. From this level, it looked such a pale blue, so vast and still.
“So peaceful here,” said Ace.
He spoke so wistfully, it made Will’s heart ache.
“Mmm,” he said.
Ace tossed a stone into the water, and watched the rippling circles get bigger and bigger, then fade away.
“When we get back,” he said, “try not to worry. I mean, you focus on what you’ve got to do, which is get the Internet working. That’s really important, so we can get news in from the Allies. It’s vital. Promise me, Will, that you won’t let yourself get distracted by… by anything else that’s going on.”
Hearing Ace say that made Will feel even more worried than he already was, but he didn’t say so.
“You’ve got a lot on your mind,” said Will. “If me promising that is going to give you some peace of mind, then yes, I promise. But you promise me something too, OK? Promise me that you’ll remember, that there’s nothing you can’t ask me to do. Nothing.”
“OK,” Ace smiled. “I’ll remember, I promise. Thanks, Will.” Then he sighed. “I wish the others would hurry up.”
“You want to get back, don’t you? Haven’t you enjoyed it?”
“Oh, yes,” said Ace. “Lots of it – most of it – has been great fun. And it’s been really good seeing some of the younger ones getting into their stride. It’s just that when something bad’s coming, I don’t like waiting for it.”
“Ah,” said Will. “I understand. You want to get it over and done with. Well, I can’t see us leaving before morning. But by this time tomorrow, we should be home. So, just in case this is the last time we’re on our own for a while…good luck, Ace.”


Two by two, the other elves arrived, some of them very tired. The lack of suitable vehicles had meant that some of them had had to do part of their journeys the old-fashioned way, on foot. As the last day’s journey would be across country, they didn’t waste time talking or playing that evening, but slept early and were ready to start again by 4 am, as soon as it was full light. Two hours of solid work brought them round the fjord and back to the road, a few miles south of where they’d joined it heading out. Here, they stopped to drink some water, and Alnus messaged Sergeant Olt to say they’d be back by about 4 pm.
It was the longest journey most of them had ever done in a day, and every one of them learned a lot. The longer they pooled their strength, they found, the more they felt as one, so that petty squabbles and misunderstandings were so diluted that they disappeared as if they had never been. The unison was like a warmth inside you, that quenched the pain of aching muscles and helped weary minds to focus and concentrate even more.

So, mile after mile, in some ways it grew easier instead of harder, though the sheer intensity of it was a little hard to bear when you weren’t used to it. When they finally came to a halt on the shore of Fjaerland Fjord, and saw the sergeant and the corporal waiting for them, Will was astonished to find himself feeling quite emotional. Ace was pale, Gran was quiet and thoughtful, and Kiefer looked as if he was fighting back a tear or two.
Dub and Lupa just hugged each other, and all of them stayed close together, feeling somehow unwilling to break the link.
“Ah,” said the sergeant quietly. “Very good, lads, very good indeed. Easy does it now… take your time.”
He spoke quietly to Corporal Lavall, and both of them were looking impressed. Gradually, the elves began to feel more like normal, and began to smile about what they’d achieved.
“Congratulations,” said the sergeant. “I don’t know what else you’ve been up to, but you’ve certainly mastered unison work. That was as good as I have ever seen, anywhere, and there’s nothing more you need to learn about that.”
“Great timing, too,” said the corporal. “We’ve just finished ferrying the others across, so you’ve saved us from having to come twice down the mountain, and no-one even had to wait.”


It seemed very quiet on camp, and after a few minutes, they worked out why.
“Where are the first years?” asked Betch.
“In the Southern Forest,” grinned Corporal Lavall. “Doing the paintballing.”
That made them laugh, remembering what fun it had been.
“We did it in June,” said Ace. “And the second years had been on their team expeditions, not orders.”
“Oh, we mix things up a bit, each year,” said Sergeant Olt. “It depends what else is going on.”
“Yes, you get people getting lost inside mountains and catching pneumonia,” said the corporal. “Really messes the timing up, that does.”
“Right,” laughed Ace. “So will we still be doing team expeditions, or won’t there be time now?”
“Oh yes, I think we can fit that in,” said the sergeant. “September, probably. But for tonight, you’ll have the place to yourselves, and that’s no bad thing. Catch up with your friends, talk things over in peace… it all helps.”
Better still, thought Will, was that Blanche would be in the Southern Forest, presumably trying to help the Swedish team win. Whatever that pestilential frost fairy was trying to do to Ace, she wouldn’t be doing it tonight.
Alnus’ team handed over the parcels, and looked with genuine admiration at the impressive sack of gold the other team had found. This, they knew, would be sent to Sweden for the use of the Supplies Section. Wayne’s team had done very well. Wayne still wasn’t speaking to Ace, of course, but Will and Betch went to talk to him for a while, hearing how they’d got on.
Ace waited for them, leaning against the stage, and Will thought he looked as if he was messaging someone.
“Was that Blanche?” he asked quietly as the elves went into the mess.
“No, Rose,” said Ace. “I was just asking her where they were, but they’ve only just crossed the border, they’ll be hours yet.”
The imps and the armed fairies were back though, and greeted the elves with riotous cheers.
“Hi, Dan!” said Will. He flopped down on a sofa and stretched out his tired legs. “Bella… Sizzle… everyone, good to see you. Did you have a good time? What did you do?”
“It was terrific,” said Sizzle. “We thought we’d just be seeing how the air base worked, but it ended up being much more fun than that.”
“We,” said Dan impressively, “have been to Scotland.”
“Huh? How come?” asked Ace. He handed Will a drink and sat down. “You’ve flown the North Sea?”
“Yes,” said Bella, with quiet pride. “It was a search and rescue job. They said they had no-one else to send, but maybe they were just giving us a treat.”
“It was a couple of daft elves from a colony near Huntly. They’d gone to a big get-together for Midsummer and got lost coming back,” said Dan. “I can’t say I blame them, it’s not easy country. But they had the sense to signal when they saw the search party, so they got home safely, and we had a successful operation.”
“Fantastic,” said Will. “Well done.”
“You’ve flown a long way,” said Ace with respect. “I imagine it’s a bit scary crossing the sea, isn’t it?”
“It shouldn’t be, but it is,” said Bella. “I mean, all of us can do a hundred miles non-stop now, but it’s weird how much difference it makes when you can’t stop.”
“It’s all in your mind,” said Dan. “I tell myself how daft it is, but it makes no difference.”

The elves shared their own news, which started everyone discussing what Special Brigade could be doing in Norway, and not long after that, the goblins came in.
Will was relieved to see Hogweed look so completely happy and satisfied, because he’d been leading. It looked as if things had gone well for him. The goblins had been all the way to Balestrand by themselves, by marching and by boat. There, they’d visited an Ally, an old lady called Ingrid, who did the sprites’ shopping for them.
“We gave her the money and the shopping list,” said Hogweed. “She bought lamp oil and stamps and paper and ink and matches. She got them from the village stores. While she was out, we climbed up on her roof and fixed her tiles. She was a lovely lady. In the afternoon, we all worked in the garden together, and in the evening, she had a party for us!”
“It was wonderful,” said Cowberry. “We had cider to drink, and the music was so good. Was it metal, Hogweed? It sounded like it to me.”
“Yes, I think so,” said Hogweed. “They were old tunes, played metal, like we did at Midsummer.”
“Really?” said Ace. “What was the band called?”
“I knew you’d ask that!” said Hogweed. “I asked her to write it down for me. Here it is.” He pulled a bit of paper out of his pocket and passed it to Ace.
“Glittertind,” said Ace. “Right, once we’ve got the Internet, we’ll have a listen to that. Any band you like is fine by me.”
“That’s the name of the mountain we passed!” said Will. “They must be from round here.”
Ace was pleased. “All the more reason to get to know them, then,” he said. “There’s something about this place that’s special.”