THE LIGHT IN THE NORTH

CHAPTER 7 - Healing

A party of four fairies flew into camp just as the light was fading. It had taken most of the day for them to fly from the air base at Stavang. They landed lightly on the Concourse, and were very surprised when they got their feet wet. But then they took in the number of sprites pushing water with brooms, and the notice on the stage saying ‘No music tonight due to the flood’.
“Oh, dear,” said Gia Biagioni, “I’d better find out what’s happened.”
She smiled at the two visitors, and spoke to General Stalden.
“Get these two settled into the best accommodation available, will you, then join me in the Conference Room.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The Commander saw them heading for First Squadron barracks as she sent out a rapid volley of messages. In a very short time, she was warming her hands at the stove in the Conference Room, waiting for the people she’d summoned to arrive. General Vandenesse came in first, and immediately started talking about the events of the day. Gia listened with growing concern as she picked out the important things from his rambling account.
“Thank you,” she said abruptly, as the second year sergeants came in, followed by Nella Stalden and Inula Saal. “Please be seated, we’ll get started. General Herdalen is still at the hospital, but he’ll be joining us shortly. Viorne, what is the extent of the damage?”

She listened carefully while he explained just which buildings had water damage, and what he’d done about it. She nodded in approval when he praised the hard work the recruits had put in to sweep water out, place sandbags, and move furniture.
“The only thing that’s really ruined is the carpet in Signals,” he said. “Major Inari asked that removing it be done tonight, when Signals traffic is lighter. Other than that, the main damage is off camp. The perimeter fence needs repair, and so, of course, do the floodgates and sluice gate.”
Gia shuddered.
“I don’t want any of the recruits on that job,” she said. “Inula, could you get a team together from your police guards to tackle it?”
“Certainly, ma’am. It’ll make a change for them. Don’t want any of the youngsters doing it, it would give them nightmares. It was a big shock for all of them, you could see.”
“I’m sure. Get them to fit some kind of grid over the cavern mouth, please, to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again. Now, what I want to know is how it happened at all.”

Before anyone could answer, General Herdalen came in, and quietly sat down, burying his face in his hands and rubbing his eyes.
“How are they, Gran?” asked Gia, and everyone listened intently.
“The pneumonia is the worst,” he said bleakly. “They should survive – with the care they’ll get here, they should survive – but you never know with pneumonia. They’re not out of danger yet.”
Everyone looked sober. Sprites fear pneumonia more than anything. A serious illness for humans, it is even more serious for sprites, whose lungs are much larger in proportion to the rest of them.
“As well as that, they’ve all lost blood, more cuts and bruises than you could count. Wayne has a ruptured spleen, Will’s got broken ribs – and you can imagine how much that hurts, on top of pneumonia. Fran and Betch have no skin left on their palms at all. All of them have torn their feet to shreds. Ace was walking on a broken ankle the whole time, and Peter has severe concussion. They can’t possibly stand the strain of being healed until the pneumonia’s over.”
He slammed his palms flat down on the table in frustration.
“How did this happen?” he growled.
“That’s what I want to know,” said Gia.

Sergeant Svir, who’d had the whole story from Dan, explained clearly what the England team had done when they realised there was a blockage.
“But it must have been building up for hours!” exclaimed Gia. “Which team were on duty before them?”
She looked at General Vandenesse, but it was Sergeant Olt who could answer.
“Italy,” he said. “I spoke to Lauro this afternoon, when he woke up. He was horrified, and very ready to blame himself. But he said that when the water flow slowed down, he thought it was just because it had stopped raining.”
“I see. Italy – then England. Neither team with much experience of severe winters. Did you explain what to look out for to the whole teams, Viorne, or only to the team leaders?”
“Explain? Ah, I explained – yes, to the team leaders – how the gates worked, but…”
His voice faltered as Gran shoved his chair back and advanced upon him menacingly.
“You didn’t tell them a thing, did you, you incompetent apology for an elf!”
His hand closed around Viorne’s neck and he dragged him out of his chair and banged him against the wall.
“Gran,” said Gia. He didn’t even hear her.
“Six elves are lying this close – this close – to death, because you didn’t stop to think – if you even knew – that they’re from big cities and lowland forest, and never saw snowmelt in their lives!”
Gia nodded at Inula Saal, who moved rapidly to help.
“Come on, Gran, this isn’t helping,” he said, but Gran wouldn’t leave go, he was glaring into Viorne’s eyes.
But Sergeant Svir managed where General Saal couldn’t. She was one of only six sprites in the world who knew that the general’s twin had died of pneumonia, and understood just why he was quite so upset.
She reached up – it was quite a stretch for her – and tapped him on the shoulder, and Gran stepped back, cast a last look of withering contempt on General Vandenesse, and turned back to the table.
The Commander frowned at him.
“General Herdalen, I expect my generals to exercise self-control.”
“I beg your pardon, Commander” said Gran, “but…”
“Never mind,” she interrupted. “You’ve had a trying day. Oh, do sit down, Viorne, you’re not injured, so don’t make a fuss. I would like to emphasise to everyone that we are all responsible for the safety of the recruits, and great care must be given to thinking through all possible dangers whenever they are given orders. I’m not saying that they should be sheltered, merely that they should always be given the knowledge and skills to cope with any danger they may encounter. Do I make myself clear? General Vandenesse?”
“Yes, ma’am,” said the general sulkily, massaging his throat.

“Good. Now, the news from the meeting at the air base is what we expected. Search and Rescue have used up all the clues we’ve been able to give them. They don’t think they’re going to be able to find any more of the missing sprites."
“How many are still missing?” asked General Saal.
“Only sixteen – but that’s still sixteen too many. It’s tragic. But it’s hopeless, and Search and Rescue are needed elsewhere. After the recent defeat in England, we don’t want elderly fairies going on stakeout without back-up. But I can’t spare Fighter Squadron, and I don’t want elves suffering the kind of injuries England 1 sustained on that occasion.”
“So you’re putting Search and Rescue onto the stakeouts?” said Gran. “It’s a good idea. Very mobile, young, fit and fast.”
“Exactly. But we’re not abandoning the lost sprites altogether. If any new clues come in, they’ll be handled by Third Regiment. I’ll get onto Bjørk about it in the morning.”
Gran nodded, understanding. Downgraded. It was all they could do, with so many demands on the better units.
“Have any of the other stakeouts produced the same reaction as at Preston?” he asked.
“No – but there are three where the same sort of suspicious things have begun to happen. Nella, let Gran have the locations, will you? And Gran, you make sure your nearest First Regiment teams are aware of what’s going on, in case they’re needed.”
“Will do. What about Preston? We admit defeat?”
“For the moment, yes. Major Rhaeadr and Major Arley presented the meeting with a plan, but it was not accepted. It would have involved actually helping the humans, which was a step too far for most people. We are hampered by the fact that most of us don’t want to see more building any more than Special Brigade do!”
Gran smiled, but then a thought struck him.
“Madge is at Stavang?” he asked nervously.
“No, she’s here,” smiled Gia. “She and Heather flew back with Nella and me.”
“Ah,” said Gran.


When the meeting was over, Gran wondered whether to confront the danger head-on. It was tempting to slink away to his house, but he decided to be brave, so he headed for First Squadron barracks, and asked for Major Arley. The young second year on guest duty – it was Jenny Gutsch – told him that the two visiting majors had only stopped to change their clothes, and had then gone straight to Signals.
“Thanks, Jenny,” said Gran. Well, that was that. He was in big trouble now. Straight round to have a good gossip with Poppy, and what that one didn’t know wasn’t worth knowing. Neatly jumping past an assortment of junior officers who were removing the sodden carpet, he went up to Poppy’s room and put his head round the door. Poppy and Heather were deep in conversation, but they looked up and smiled.
“She’s at the hospital,” said Heather, and Gran nodded forlornly and left.

He walked into a gently-lit hospital room, and placed a hand on Madge’s shoulder. She didn’t look round, just placed her own hand on top of his, her head tipped to one side, and her eyes focused on two white beds, and their occupants.
Ace and Will weren’t asleep, but they weren’t conscious. The only sound in the room was their tortured breathing. As they watched, Will became more and more distressed. He was moving his hands around as if he was trying to swim, or trying to find someone. The movement only caused him pain, and little sobbing catches broke from his throat.
Major Gourdon, going tirelessly from one patient to another, was at his side in an instant, trying to soothe him.
“They must keep still,” he told the visitors. “Every movement is a strain they don’t need. But Will’s having nightmares, I think, and somehow it disturbs Ace, too.”
Will was getting more agitated, his mind trapped in a torment between waking and sleeping, and making his body give itself even more pain. Then Ace stirred too, trying to lift his bandaged arms.
“Ace, it’s all right, try to keep still,” pleaded Major Gourdon. “All is well, your team is safe, all is well.”
It was as if Ace hadn’t even heard him. He tried to sit up, but failed, and an expression of agony flickered across his face.
“I don’t want to drug them,” worried the major. “They’re too weak to take it, right now.”
“Push the beds together,” said Gran, moving to help. “Right up next to each other.”
“What good will that do?”
“Watch.”
Gran pushed Ace’s bed, and Major Gourdon pushed Will’s. And as soon as their restless hands touched each other’s arms, they both instantly quieted, and their hands, still touching, became still, their heads sank down into their pillows, and their breathing, though still rattling, grew slower. Major Gourdon bent his head over them.
“They’re asleep!” he whispered. “Real sleep, what a blessing!”
He came over to Gran and shook his hand.
“Thank you very much, sir!”
“No problem. I have some… some understanding of twins. If they do anything odd – if anything worries you, call me. At any hour of the day or night.”
“Indeed I will,” said the major. “Let’s leave them to their sleep.”


Gran and Madge walked across camp. The damp ground sucked at their feet, but most of the surface water had drained away now. Madge was very quiet, and after a while, Gran risked a word or two.
“I think they’ll be all right,” he said.
Madge stopped abruptly, and her hands went to her hips.
“No thanks to you!” she shouted, her worry bursting out the way the stream had done, too big to be trammelled any longer. “I trusted you! I told you to look after them! Is this what you call looking after them? Well, is it?”
“Now, Madge…”
“Don’t you ‘now Madge’ me. What kind of a general do you call yourself, if you can’t keep two harmless, innocent little elves out of trouble?”
“Harmless? Innocent? Those two? A whole regiment of generals couldn’t keep them out of trouble! Not a week goes by when they’re not in trouble or in danger! I’ve got them through it before, and I will this time, too!”
For a moment, they glared at each other, then Madge’s face softened.
“Ah, Gran,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right,” said Gran. “So am I. But, well, I love them too, you know.”
Madge squeezed his arm, and they walked on together towards Gran’s house. He led the way in, and put a match to the lamp. The light flickered and grew, and Gran sighed as he saw the heap of messages he’d abandoned that morning when the flood water hit.
“Good job it didn’t swamp your floor,” Madge remarked, bullying the fire in the stove into life with a poker. “You settle down and catch up with your work, while I make you a drink.”
Gran sank into a chair, and did just that. By the time Madge had finished, he’d scanned every message, snagged a Signals pad from the table and started scrawling out replies to some.
“Thanks,” he said, as Madge passed him a mug. “Take a look at this.”
Madge sat down opposite him and looked at the message he handed her. It was from Bjørk Kinnekulle.
“Interesting,” said Madge. “A copy of the entry in the register of births. So she really is who she says she is, this frost fairy?”
“Yes, the name’s right. It doesn’t make sense. It’s not devious enough. Why is she using her real name?”
“Hmm. Maybe taunting us? They know we can’t get rid of her.”
“True. That’s not the Tree’s way. It could be – but I can’t help feeling there’s more to it than that, somehow.”
“But you feel sure she’s here to get at Ace?”
“Yes. Yes, I do, and Will felt the same, as soon as he saw her. I wish he’d told me straight away of his suspicions.”
“Why didn’t he?”
“Because they were only feelings,” grinned the general. “No evidence.”
Madge humphed very loudly at that, and shook her head.
“And did she get at him? Was he the leak, do you think?”
“It’s possible, Madge. I don’t want to believe it, but I can’t deny it’s possible. He had it bad.”
“But how did they know how to get to him like that?”
“That doesn’t puzzle me. They only had to contact that captain of theirs in prison – Jasan Something – he impersonated Ace for weeks. Probably knows him better than anyone except Will.”
He shook his head ruefully.
“You see what I mean about them never being out of trouble. D’you think I ought to go back to the hospital?”
“They’ll call if they need you,” said Madge.
Right at that moment there was a knock on the door, and Gran opened it hurriedly, but it was only Heather.
“Time you were in bed,” she said to Madge.
“Fuss, fuss, fuss,” said Madge. “Sit down a minute and wrap your brains round this one. This fairy that Special Brigade have planted is using her real name. So they must have known that we’d spot she was from Hakarp and get suspicious. Why would they do that?”
Heather didn’t sit down, she pulled Madge up, and answered as she did so.
“To distract you from the thing they really don’t want you to notice,” she suggested, and smiled to see Gran’s stunned and thoughtful expression.
“That’s why they call us ‘Intelligence’,” she added, as she bundled Madge out of the door.


The young elves in hospital were on everyone’s minds as the pneumonia fought to claim them. When the crisis came, two nights later, Major Gourdon sent for Gran. He couldn’t leave Wayne for long, yet the things that Ace and Will were muttering sounded to him very disturbing. Gran wasn’t nearly as perturbed. Delirium was to be expected, and the eerie way they seemed to echo each other’s thoughts didn’t trouble him in the least. What did worry him was the surgeon’s threat that, if their temperature went up by one more degree, he was going to cut their hair to cool them down. Fearing more for Major Gourdon’s long-term survival, Gran kept bathing Ace and Will with cool damp cloths.
After an hour, the fever reached its peak, and at any moment, each breath could have been their last. That part was awful to watch, and the only comfort for Gran was his certainty that if one died, the other would too; at least they'd be together. But for each of them, within the same minute, the fever broke, and they drenched the beds with sweat. Gran called for some help, and soon they were re-dressed in fresh pyjamas and slid back into clean sheets, where they promptly fell sound asleep, breathing easily again at last.

Grinning broadly, Gran went to check on the others, and found that all of them had survived the night, and were now expected to live. Bella was fast asleep at the foot of Wayne’s bed, and Major Gourdon had fallen asleep in a chair. He left Bella where she was, because she looked comfortable, but he woke Major Gourdon and escorted him to his own quarters, and made sure he went to bed.
Dale was sitting by Betch’s bed, and Gran suggested it might be a good time for him to get some sleep himself, but Dale didn’t want to.
“It’s just so good to hear him breathe!” he whispered. “Can I stay a bit longer?”
Gran smiled, and said he could.


When Will opened his eyes, he knew straight away that something was different. It was so quiet; the roaring in his head had gone away. He struggled to sit up, then saw Ace, sitting up cross-legged on a bed that had been pushed up next to his own. He looked terrible, with cuts and bruises all over his skin, and purple shadows under his eyes, but he was smiling.
“You’re awake! That’s good. How are you feeling?”
Will thought about that, and tried out his voice, to see if it would still work. It felt like a long time since he’d said anything.
“Weak,” he said. “Hurt all over. But much, much better. How about you?”
“Pretty much the same,” said Ace. “We’ve had pneumonia, haven’t we?”
“Yes. We were all coming down with it long before we got out of the cavern. It must have been days ago… vague memories… thought I saw Madge, but I can’t have done.”
“She was supposed to be coming here,” said Ace slowly, trying to remember. “You might have done. I don’t remember a thing until about an hour ago. I saw you were sleeping, and got out of bed to try and find the others, but I just fell over. Lieutenant Polesie came in and read me the riot act, but she told me everyone was OK. Not good, but alive, and out of danger.”
“We all survived,” said Will in wonder.

A shadow flickered across Ace’s face. It was gone in an instant, but Will didn’t miss it. Before he could speak, Major Gourdon came in, just awake himself, and beaming at the sight of them sitting up.
“Oh, this is excellent!” he exclaimed. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you looking so alert. Yes, yes, I know you feel as if your legs are made of water, but that will pass.”
“Good to see you too, sir,” said Will. “I can guess what you’ve been doing for us all, and, well, thank you.”
Ace nodded his agreement, and added hopefully, “When can we get up, sir?”
“In slow stages. Don’t rush it, Ace, you’ve been very ill, and there’s still a lot of damage to mend.”
“Can we see the others?” asked Will.
“Tomorrow you can,” promised the major. “I’ll move you all into a nicer room, where you can be together. Then you can talk over it all. After an ordeal like you’ve been through, you have to let your mind heal as well as your body.”
Will cast a sharp glance at Ace, but Ace wasn’t looking. Major Gourdon was watching them both carefully, but he made no comment. He just said,
“Now that the worst is over, let’s have a look at your broken ribs, Will.”
Will hadn’t even realised yet that his chest was heavily bandaged, and when the surgeon took the bandages off, he was nearly crawling up the wall with the pain. Major Gourdon explained to Ace where the breaks were, and what they were going to do, but Ace wasn’t able to concentrate very well. It didn’t matter. The major knew Will pretty well by now, and Ace was far more help to him by holding Will and keeping him still.
By the time they’d finished, Will was pale and sweating again.
“Thanks,” he gasped, when they let him sit up. “Yeah, that feels great. I hope I didn’t swear too much.”
“I’ve heard worse, from you,” grinned Ace, and the major smiled too.
“One of the perks of my job,” he said. “I can swear in twenty-seven different languages. Right, I’m going to get you some milk.”
He returned quickly, with a secret smile on his face, and handed them each a glassful. Ace tasted it, and a rapturous smile spread across his face.
“Goat’s milk!” he said dreamily. “Where did you get that?”
“General Herdalen got it, from an Ally of his in Hella. He said you liked it. Not everyone does, but if you can take it, there’s nothing better for healing. How do you like it, Will?”
Will was sipping his a good deal more cautiously.
“It’ll take a bit of getting used to,” he said. “But if it’s going to help me get fit quicker, I can handle it.”
“That’s the spirit,” said the major. “I must go now and take some to the others. Once you’ve rested, Will, you can mend Ace’s ankle, it’s a clean break, you should have no problems.”
“I’ve got a broken ankle?” said Ace. “No wonder I fell over.”
“You’ve been out of bed!” exclaimed the major.
“Barely,” said Ace. “Hardly at all. Lieutenant Polesie chased me back.”
Major Gourdon closed his eyes. As he left the room, he was shaking his head, but Ace couldn’t see that he was smiling.


When he’d finished his milk, Will dozed off again, and when he woke, half an hour later, Ace was leaning against his pillow with his hands behind his head, and a faraway expression on his face.
“What’re you thinking about?” said Will, and Ace turned his head, smiling, and came back to Fjaerland.
“I was thinking about Marta,” said Ace. “The goat’s milk reminded me of her.”
“And broken bones, too,” said Will.
“Yeah – brukket bein,” laughed Ace. “I’d love to see her again. D’you think she still remembers me? Wish I could message her.”
“Let’s try,” said Will. “We might not be able to message, but she might know we’re thinking about her. Phil did once, remember?”
“That’s true,” said Ace. “You feeling OK now?”
“Yeah, go for it,” said Will.


Far away, in a little red farmhouse near Dovrefjell, a girl with long fair plaits dropped her pen on her homework book, jumped up, and ran to the window, but there was no-one there. Slowly, she sat down again, wondering what had brought Ace so strongly to her mind. She knew she would see him again one day. He had promised. But it was hard to wait. She wanted so much to thank him, for things had gone well for her family since Ace had stayed there, and she just knew, deep in her heart, that it was his doing.
Her father’s animals had grown strong, and sold well. He had been able to give work to a young man from the village, and now the farm was doing even better. Marta’s parents were very pleased with her, because she had gone from not liking school very much, and longing to be at home with the animals, to being the hardest-working pupil in the class. Her teacher had told her parents that he’d never seen anyone make such rapid progress with English.

Deeply impressed, her father had decided that his clever daughter must have every help with her studies, and with deep gratitude that he could now easily afford it, he had bought her a computer for her birthday. It stood on her desk now, importantly, daunting her a little. But she knew that with the Internet, you could find out almost anything in the world. If anything could tell her how to get in touch with an elf, this could.
She tried alv, then elf, but there were millions of hits, and she knew that wasn’t what she wanted.
They keep themselves secret, she thought to herself. It can’t be something obvious.
She stared down in thought, and as she looked at her hand on the mouse, the answer came to her. The picture etched on her ring, the ring Ace had given her, the picture of a star in a tree. There was something special about that, maybe something that only elves – and their friends – would know.

Feeling more excited, she typed in ‘star in a tree’, and clicked on the first link. Her heart began pounding as the very same picture appeared on the screen. Below the picture were the words, ‘Know and be Known’. What did that mean? And below that was a box, it looked as if you had to type in a password. She tried elf, and friend, and Ace, but none of them worked. She bit her lip in frustration. She was so close! What could it be?
She thought hard, trying to remember everything Ace had told her. What was it he had called his friends, back home in England? Excitedly, she typed in ‘ally’ and the tree disappeared. In its place came a screen framed with leaves, with some text in the centre.
“Welcome,” it said. “This is the official European website for sprite allies. If you know what this means, and would like the passwords to get further into the site, email me at this address and say whose ally you are.”
Underneath, was a name Marta remembered well. Ace had often mentioned it. She clicked on the address, and a message box appeared. Marta started to type.
“Hello David,” she put. “My name is Marta, and I live in Norway….”


“D’you think she felt it?”
“You never know. It felt strong.”
“It did. Thanks, Will.”
“No problem. Let’s have a look at your ankle… oh, good grief.”
“Fine surgeon you are. You don’t hear Major Gourdon depressing his patients by telling them how bad they look, do you?”
“Shut up… how’d it get this bad? It may be a clean break, but it’s so swollen… oh, Ace, you were walking on this the whole time, weren’t you?”
“I… yeah, I might have been… ooh, that’s better, what did you do?”
“Reduced the swelling. Little bit at a time, and we’ll get there. You’re brave, you are.”
Ace closed his eyes for a moment, and went quiet. Calmly, Will carried on, resting when he needed to, until the swelling was gone and he was able to mend the bone. The effort of that exhausted him, and he was blinking a bit by the time he’d finished. Ace just hugged him.
“Thanks, Will,” he whispered. “Try to sleep now.”
There wasn’t anything else Will could do right then, but as he lay down, he began to worry. Something wasn’t quite right with Ace, and he wasn’t at all sure what it was.


It wasn’t obvious. Most of the time he was as cheerful as usual, especially when they were re-united with the others the next day. After inspecting each other’s remaining injuries with gruesome curiosity, they spent the rest of the morning settling into their new room. It was bright and pleasant, painted yellow, with a picture of a forest canopy on the ceiling. There was a big window, set open just a little, with a fresh white curtain gently moving in the breeze. The beds were proper army bunks, to help them feel they were getting better, but loaded with much nicer bedding than they usually had. There was a large table, and lots of comfortable chairs, and best of all, a cupboard full of things to play with. These they left alone for now, though; Major Gourdon had promised them that they could have visitors today, and they wanted to look their best.
“Help me, Will,” pleaded Betch quietly, and showed him his hands.
“Ah,” said Will. “Dale did this?”
“Yesterday. I can tell you, because I know you won’t laugh at him, but it doesn’t feel right at all.”
“I bet it doesn’t. The skin’s way too tight. But the colour – he’s done a lovely job on the colour, Betch. I don’t think I could match that. There’s such a luminous glow – more light than tone – it’s a birch thing, obviously, and he’s got that right by instinct.”
“I see what you mean – he did well, there. But I can’t move my fingers properly, Will. I’d rather you gave me skin that fits.”
“It doesn’t have to be like that. We could get this right together, Dale and I – or would he be offended?”
“Not by you. He thinks the world of you, thinks you’re the kindest, cleverest elf he ever met.”
“Crumbs,” said Will. “Well, I think a lot of your Dale. I reckon he’ll end up surprising everybody.”


While they’d been talking, Ace had been chatting to Wayne. He was looking very serious. Far too serious.
“I’m worried about Ace,” Will said quietly to Betch. “He’s not bouncing back like he ought to be.”
“He’s very quiet – for him,” Betch agreed. “But Wayne does still look bad. I heard they nearly lost him – internal bleeding, and only our giddy Bella to help the surgeon – and they had to give him laudanum when he was still far too ill for it, really. He’ll take a while to get over this.”
That was true, Will thought. Wayne looked older, even, and he was by far the oldest to start with.
“Hey, Ace!” called Betch, and as Ace turned towards him with a smile, Betch started teasing.
“Look at your face! It’s still all scratched. I’m surprised at you. Thought you’d get the important things fixed first!”
“Ach, they’re only scratches,” said Ace. “Probably go by themselves. Doesn’t really matter.”
At that, the whole room went silent, but Ace didn’t seem to notice.
“Will,” Betch whispered, “there’s something wrong there.”
Will just rolled his eyes.


At midday, Lieutenant Polesie brought them some more goat’s milk, and stood over them while they drank it. Betch pinched his nose before he’d put the glass anywhere near his face, and stared in disbelief at Ace polishing his off with evident enjoyment.
“It’s gorgeous,” Ace told him. “I s’pose you thought only cows gave milk?” He shook his head witheringly. “The things some people don’t know – shut up laughing, Will – it’s pitiful.”
Fran and Peter took Betch’s side then, and demanded to know if Ace even knew how to milk. When he insisted he did, they demanded an demonstration, and when he accompanied that with a running commentary in Norwegian because he didn’t know the English words, everyone was shaking with laughter. Betch was feeling happy because he thought he’d cheered Ace up, but Will could see it was only on the surface.
He felt even more sure when Gran and Madge came to visit them. They didn’t say much, just encouraged them all to talk, but Ace hardly said a word. The others had plenty to say, though, and Gran got to hear for the first time just what had happened to them all down that cavern. The more he heard, the more his mouth fell open in amazement that any of them had survived.
“Such courage. Such teamwork, and such leadership,” he said. “I’m immensely proud of you all.”
“We’d never have done it without Ace,” said Fran seriously. “He didn’t just think what to do. He made us believe we could do it.”
“Don’t, please,” Ace begged. “It was all of us. Nothing I did would have made any difference if you and Betch hadn’t got up that shaft, or if Will hadn’t found that chain and got matches to light and healed Peter enough so he could move, or if Peter and Wayne hadn’t had the guts to keep going even when they were so badly hurt.”
“Well, then it was truly excellent teamwork,” said Madge, watching Ace carefully.

Then she changed the subject, and chatted over some of her own news, until she and Gran took their leave, promising to pop in and see them every day. Dale came in next, when the first years got off at four o’clock, and he listened wide-eyed to everything Will said. Together, they made the skin on Betch’s hands both fit and glow with the proper birch sheen. Will was very impressed by Dale’s concentration.
“You’re like a magnet, you are,” he told him. “You stick to the job like a magnet to a steel can.”
“That’s nicer than what Sergeant Grybow called me,” said Dale cheerfully. “What’s an ignoramus, Betch?”
“I wouldn’t worry about that, Dale. Sergeant Grybow’s terrible for swearing, worse than Will.”
“I’ve never heard Will swear!”
“And that’s pretty strange, really,” teased Fran, limping over to join them. “You make everybody else that knows you come out with the strongest language they know. Even Stella. Stella!”
“Ah, that’s because really, really clever people are patient with really, really stupid people,” said Dale. “It’s the ones in between who get annoyed.”
Fran couldn’t think of an answer to that. Betch was in hysterics.


When six o’clock came, and the second years got off, almost everyone wanted to go and visit, but they knew they wouldn’t all be allowed in. Between themselves, they agreed it was only fair to let the rest of Ace’s team go first, and Clover and the others made sure they took Phil with them. Lieutenant Polesie was impressed by such common sense, and let them in, though she stayed in the corridor outside the room with some work, just keeping an ear on things.
To the invalids, it began to feel like a party when their visitors swarmed in. They were swamped with hugs, and everyone was talking at once. By some unspoken consent, they kept off the topics of floods, caverns and pneumonia, and instead filled them in on all the things they’d missed while they’d been in hospital. It was just what they needed, and in between each story, the noise and laughter grew louder.


Lieutenant Polesie wondered if she ought to go in and tell them to calm down a bit, but Major Gourdon reassured her when he walked past.
“It will happen soon, all by itself,” he said. “It’s a natural pattern. Listen, and you’ll see.”


“What happened about the music, Phil?” Will asked.
“We were going to cancel,” said Phil. “We weren’t in the mood, as you can imagine. But Captain Dolfawr persuaded us not to. ‘Play it for your friends’ he said,” Phil told them, in a very good Welsh accent. “ ‘Like as not they’ll hear it, and it will make them feel better’.”
“Pretty good,” said Will. “No remarks about how awful it is? P’raps he’s getting to like it.”
“Don’t think so,” grinned Dan. “He had his hands over his ears at one point. But it wasn’t easy. Hogweed was still in hospital too, then, so we had to put Phil back on drums.”
“So just you and Rob on guitar?” said Ace. “Who did the singing, then? Or did you just play instrumentals?”
“Oh, no,” smiled Phil. “We had a singer.”
“Who? Was it you?”
“No, not me,” said Phil.
Ace wondered why everyone was laughing.
“Go on! You’re killing me here! Who was it?”
“Clover,” said Phil.
Ace stared at Phil, then looked at Clover, then back at Phil, expecting a wind-up.
“No, it’s true,” Phil told him. “She was great. She was the only other person who knew the words of all the songs. Rose turned her hair blonde, and I made her some clothes just like yours.”
“Half the people thought it really was you,” Dale chipped in.
“Oh, terrific,” said Ace faintly.
“That’s only half of it,” said Dan. “Rose did the lights.”

Ace and Will looked at each other, and saw the same expression on each other’s faces. They didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. To think that Rose and Clover had done that… to think that they had been able to do that.
They turned to Rose and Clover, hardly knowing what to say, and saw the same wobbly smiles on their faces too.
“Yes,” said Clover, smiling through tears, “it started as a joke. Everyone was laughing about it. The rehearsal was a riot. When I started screeching and wailing, Phil just put his head down on the drum kit and had hysterics. But somehow, once I got up on that stage… “ - Clover’s voice cracked a little, but she carried on - “… I was doing it for you. For all of you. As if, the more I tried to be you, the more I could keep you alive. I never took anything so seriously in my life.”
“At the end,” said Stella quietly, “Bella and I went round and gave everyone a candle. And we lit them, and thought of you all during the last song.”
“Phoenix Rising,” said Phil. “Everyone joined in.”
That was too much for Ace. He had to go and look out of the window.


Out in the corridor, they listened to the silence.
“What did I tell you?” smiled Major Gourdon. “Observe the natural patterns, Lieutenant. Very important things for a surgeon to know.”
“Yes, sir,” said Lieutenant Polesie thoughtfully.


The natural patterns grew noisier again soon, when Dale found a shuttlecock in the cupboard and started batting it around the room. They all joined in, and even Wayne was relishing the chance to stretch his legs. None of them realised it, but everything in that cupboard had been chosen to help minds and muscles regain their skills. It was when Will dived low to catch a tricky pass from Fran that he found a Signals form on the floor.
He read it, frowning a little, then made sense of it and realised that Gran must have dropped it. He messaged him to tell him where his message about reinforcements for Scotland was, and thought no more about it. He was astonished when Gran came back almost right away, and Madge with him.
Everyone went quiet when they came in, for they looked extremely stern. Gran went straight up to Will.
“All right,” said Gran. “What’s going on? Who told you the code?”
Will hadn’t mentioned what he’d done, so no-one else knew at all what was happening, but Ace moved immediately to Will’s side.
“No-one’s told me anything,” said Will, bewildered. “I only read it so I could tell you which message you’d lost.”
“Read it! That message was in code!”
“Well, yes, a sort of code,” said Will, “but… wait a minute... are you saying that’s the code? The real code?”
“Yes,” said Gran grimly. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“I don’t believe this,” said Will. “It’s so easy I didn’t even have to use a pencil.” Then he got angry. “Are you telling me that this – this! – is this famous code that no-one knows but the generals and the staff in the field? The one that’s so safe! That Ace is under a cloud of suspicion for supposedly passing on secret information, when your so-called code is so bloody easy a baby could solve it!”
He and Gran stared each other down, neither of them quite able to take in the enormity of it.
“Well, OK,” said Gran, shaken. “But not everyone’s as clever as you, Will.”
“Maybe not,” said Will, without false modesty. “But I’m not that unusual. D’you seriously think that Special Brigade haven’t got anyone who could have cracked it? I’ve heard a lot of bad things about them, but I never heard that they were stupid.”
“You mean it, don’t you,” said Gran. “This could explain everything.”

The rest of them were listening intently by now, but Gran didn’t worry about that. On the contrary, he filled them in.
“We know there are people in Signals who sympathise with parliament,” he said. “Older sprites who remember the Foundation, and still think it was a good idea. There’s no harm in any of them. But that was why we started using a code when things started getting serious – so none of them could unintentionally cause harm by gossiping to their friends in parliament.”
“So we need a new code – and fast,” said Madge.
“That’s easy,” Dale piped up. “Have a competition. If anyone can come up with one that Will can’t crack, then you’ll know you’ve got a good one.”
“That’s not a bad idea, Dale,” said Gran. “We needn’t say what we want it for.”
He turned back to Ace and Will.
“I’m sorry I was sharp with you, Will,” he said. “Do you want to try Dale’s idea?”
“Sure,” said Will. “Glad to help.”
Ace kicked him.
“Oh. Sorry I swore at you, sir.”
“That’s OK,” smiled Gran. “And Ace – I want you to keep away from Blanche Hakarp until I say otherwise. I’d like your word.”
Will could almost feel Ace’s light going dimmer at the thought that he wasn’t trusted. But all Ace said was,
“I promise.”


Outside, Madge turned to Gran.
“Well!” she said. “I never even knew you could crack a code. You learn something new every day.”
“Neither did I,” Gran admitted. “It must be something humans do. What a help they are, these youngsters, with their knowledge of human ways. We’ll soon get to the bottom of this now. Clear Ace’s name, find out what’s been going on.”
“And turn it to our advantage?”
“You know me too well,” smiled Gran.


Gran’s first act was to go to Signals. All the older sprites were off duty now, and sharing a drink together in their sitting-room. Gran asked very politely if he might have a word with them all.
He was very careful not to sound accusing. If anyone here was deliberately betraying the army, they weren’t going to say so. But if someone had been taken in by some plausible story, he was far more likely to get at the truth if he made it sound like it was no big deal.
Sure enough, no sooner had he mentioned that Special Brigade might have cracked the code, than Pančić Drina got to his feet.
“This is most alarming, sir,” he said. “Why, only a couple of months ago, young Envoy Yantra asked me for the text of a message. I passed it on to him, as the main thing he wanted was the names of the sprites concerned, so he could contact them. But if Special Brigade can understand code, it begins to look worrying.”
Gran tried very hard not to look like a cat that’s spotted a mouse.
“It does, rather,” he said mildly. “Which message was it, can you remember?”
Gran held his breath, as the ancient elf screwed up his face in thought.
“I can’t remember much,” he said. “Just that Major Arley and Major Rhaeadr were the sprites the Envoy wished to contact. I’m sorry, sir. My memory’s not what it was.”
Mystery solved, thought Gran. Yes!
Assuming a sober expression, he thanked Pančić, then added,
“I’m not asking any of you to change your politics. But I am asking you, all of you, to be aware that not everyone in parliament has its best interests at heart. Remember, it does attract people whose only care is the success of their own ambitions, and that’s as bad for parliament as it is for us.”
He left it there for now. Things needed tightening up in Signals, but that wasn’t his job. Dizzy Széchenyi would do it much more fiercely than he could. He called in to see Gia, then went for a walk.
Gran could call on the help of hundreds of sprites who were committed to the cause. If he needed a logical mind, he could have consulted Gia, or Will. If he wanted wise advice, Madge, or Pice Inari could have helped him. But when he wanted something really, really devious, there was only one choice, his old friend Bjørk Kinnekulle. He jumped up into his favourite tree, and got through to Sweden.