THE TALENDE TREE

CHAPTER 10 - News from Hella

When Clover had told Debin and the other elves to meet them at Ljubljana in two weeks, she had been guilty, she realised now, of sycamore optimism. After ten days flying they had only reached Croatia. It had been a very beautiful and interesting journey, following the coastline of the Adriatic Sea, and Calla was a superb flyer and could keep going for hour after hour, but she was slow. Still, though her age may have slowed them down, her experience had given them the right choices about route and direction time and time again. Without her, it was possible it might have taken even longer. They didn't want Debin and the others to worry, so they had split up and sent Bella and Stella ahead to Ljubljana, to reassure them that the rest were on their way. After that, they had got into a pattern, the elves heading for mainline stations and the fairies meeting up with them. Week after week they moved north, and the days grew shorter and the weather grew colder, until they parted in Germany for the elves to go to Hamburg. Calla was most insistent that the fairies should fly.
“Follow the Rhine north, always north,” Calla had told them. “Then up to the coast and north through Denmark as far as we can go. Then we will see the coast of Norway across the Skaggerak.”
That had been a terrible journey through stormy weather. Clover put her foot down and insisted on Calla having a rest, and sent Bella and Stella ahead again to meet the elves at Otta.
“D'you think you can find Otta all right?” Clover had murmured to Bella.
“We'll just follow the railway lines,” Bella had whispered back.

And now, finally, they were following that same railway line themselves and Otta station was in sight. Clover spotted its yellow-painted walls in the distance and thought it was one of the best sights she had seen on the journey. She led them straight to the elf shelf above the door to the platforms and sure enough, the others were there, leaping up to welcome them. Debin actually hugged her, Olcha had a blanket ready for Calla to sit on and Stella and Bella were clapping and yelling, “You made it, you made it!”
“Don't we have to be quiet?” asked Clover, amazed.
“No, it's all right, Micael's on duty,” said Jakub. “He's an Ally! I never met an Ally before. He's wonderful, he's told us so much about trains.”
“He's missed seeing sprites so much since we had to evacuate Fjaerland,” said Stella.
“Goodness, I didn't know he was actually an Ally,” said Rose. “I wonder if he knows about David?”

That was a blissful evening for Clover. The heavy sense of responsibility had lifted a bit. She had the chance to rest and not think about anything in particular, just listen to everyone chatting while Calla slept soundly, even wearier than Clover was. Later, when it was quiet, she greeted Micael, but left it to Rose to tell him all about David's website. Clover listening to him explaining that Karl Hagen from Hella had told him this, but he'd never dared to try, not being very good at computers.
“Oh, please try!” said Rose. “You'd hear so much news!”
“All right, I will. I'll have a try,” said Micael. “For you, Rose.”
Clover grinned to herself as she fell asleep. Even for a fairy, Rose was very, very beautiful.

In the morning, it was too cold to hang around. It was still completely dark as they roused themselves. Micael had gone off duty so they left the shelf tidy and flitted and jumped from the station as carefully as possible. At first they stuck to the road, but after a few hours, when there was a little gloomy light at midday, they struck out across country and headed for the fjord. By the time they reached the shore, however, it was dark again.
“The elves used to keep a boat on this bank,” said Bella. “Hope it's still there. Where was it exactly, can anyone remember?”
“Between the alder roots,” said Stella. “You'll have to look carefully, it was very well hidden.”
They soon found the right alder, but no matter how carefully they looked, there was no sign of the boat.
“Perhaps it was taken during the battle,” said Clover. “Can we make another?”
“I don't think you need to, Clover,” said Tomasz. “Look, in parts, the water is frozen!”
“What! Yes... in parts! You can't cross on the ice, there isn't enough of it!”
But the elves were all laughing now, rubbing their hands in excitement.
“You forget, Clover, we are all Polish!” exclaimed Jakub. “Poland also has very cold winters. This is a game to us!”
“All we need are good pushing sticks,” said Olcha.
Calla herself expanded five twigs into strong and sturdy sticks.
“Thank you! Let us make a race of it!”
Clover watched as they readied themselves, jostling each other in their excitement. They leaped onto loose pieces of ice, got their balance and began to skim across the water, sometimes pushing themselves off against solid blocks, sometimes jumping from one piece to another, but always moving. Their eyes were always watching ahead so they knew what they were aiming for, and they were always calling out, encouraging each other, or, as it seemed to Clover, egging each other on to even greater heights of daftness.
“Elves!” she muttered. “I thought this lot were sensible! But they're just as crazy as the rest. Come on, fly behind them slowly in case anyone falls in.”
“We'll be ready,” said Rose. “This must be the Polish version of windsurfing.”

None of them did fall in, which was a great tribute to their eyesight as well as to their concentration, but they were all soaked to the knees when they landed on the beach. Laughing and exhilarated, they wrung the water out of their shoes and socks.
“You won, Sosna!” said Olcha. “Oh, that was great fun.”
“It was very impressive,” said Bella.
“Yes, it was,” said Clover, relenting. “Insane, but very impressive. Are you all right? Dry enough to move? Because we're here. As soon as you step off the beach, you will be on the mountain.”
“Oh, that looks a steep climb!” said Tomasz.
“Yes, it is,” said Rose. “But it's worth it. Come on!”

The fairies climbed too. It seemed like the right thing to do, somehow. It reminded them of the first time they had come to the mountain themselves. But as they reached the final steep curve, they had to fly. There was so much snow on the ground, and it was soft and wet, not crisp enough to land on. The elves had to wade through it and they were struggling. Clover's heart went out to them. They'd had a really hard day and this at the end of it was no joke. They were tired out now, you could tell, as well as soaked. The other fairies looked concerned about them too, but Calla seemed oblivious to any of it.
“This place is shaking with power!” she muttered. “And this Tree is supposed to be barely alive?”
“Calla, what language are you speaking?” said Clover quietly.
“Romanian,” said Calla, as though she had barely registered the question. “How can this be? Oh, I do not understand this, I do not understand this at all!”
“Romanian?” said Debin. “And I understood... Olcha? Tomasz? Jakub? Sosna? You also?”
He saw them nodding, amazed.
“So it is true.”
“Oh yes, it's true,” said Rose, giving him an arm to help him along. “You can now understand anyone who's ever set foot on the mountain. For ever.”
“Halt! Who goes there?” called a voice Clover knew.
It sounded astonished to hear them, as well it might.
“Major Inari!” called Clover. “Here are four army fairies, with six visitors who have come to see the Tree.”
“Oh!” said the major. He stood in the gateway, holding a lantern. “Yes, I know you. Clover, isn't it? Come in, come in, all of you. Dear me, you elves are soaked. Come in, out of the cold. Is that... it can't be? Calla Babele, is that really you?”
“It is I, myself, Pice Inari,” said Calla. “I need nothing. Please care for these hardy elves. I must go on, I must see this Tree. Nothing else matters.”
“We'll go with her, sir,” said Clover. “We remember the way.”
“All right, Clover,” said Major Inari, looking quite bewildered at all this. “When Calla is satisfied, come back to the old 1st Squadron building.”
He pointed, not far off, to a place where lights were shining through the windows.
“We are from the Wielkopolska Unit, sir,” said Debin. “But we mean you no harm.”
“That's all right,” said the major. “The war is over. And even if it wasn't, I wouldn't leave you outside on a night like this. Come with me.”

Clover watched them go, then hurried to catch up with Calla, who was walking ahead along the only cleared path, straight from the west gate to the east gate. Rose, Bella and Stella kept close to her.
“This is awful!” Bella nearly sobbed. “Look at the place! So dark and deserted, everything covered in snow.”
“And so much smaller,” said Stella. “But there are no burned buildings left. All around the centre, the snow is smooth and flat.”
“I expect Major Inari and his helpers cleared away all the burnt stuff,” said Rose.
Clover said nothing. She was getting light-headed with tiredness and could only think of memories of the awful battle, the noise and fear, the deaths and the desperation. They might have won in the end, but they had lost so much on the way.
Fjaerland could hardly have looked more different tonight. The new moon hadn't risen yet and it was completely dark. Only the lack of snow showed where the path was. And the silence was so complete it almost sang in your ears, it made you whisper. On their left, the Great Hall, and then Signals beside it, suddenly appeared, darker than the dark sky behind them. Still they walked on. They crossed the bridge over the frozen stream and beyond that, few buildings were left. The combat hall and the weapons shed had gone, many classrooms had gone too. Only the hospital remained to tell them that they were nearly at the eastern gate. The gate itself had gone, but you could still just make out where the path divided, one way turning south to the target range, the other north to the Tree. Here the snow lay much thicker where the trees started.
“We'll have to fly now,” said Clover. “We can't get through this.”
Calla looked at her. It was hard to tell in the dark and the cold, but she looked almost frightened.
“You go first,” said Calla.
Clover nodded and spread her wings, and stiffly at first, but then more fluidly, began to fly through the trees at what she hoped was a respectfully slow speed. It felt very different from walking here at full moon, with a band playing and hundreds of other sprites to keep you company. It felt more like that terrible night when she and Rose and General Herdalen had brought Ace and Will here to see if the Tree would heal them. Scared, overwhelmed by the immensity of it all and not at all sure what was going to happen... that was how it had felt and that was how it felt now.
Follow your instincts, Clover, she told herself. Sometimes that was all you could do.

There was no light. The wonderful light that used to fill the glade, that seemed to be coming from the Tree himself, wasn't there. Yet Clover knew they were nearly there. She could sense the power still, and beside that, she had noticed something. The other trees in the glade, they said, had made themselves match the Talende Tree by developing gashes themselves. Now that her eyes were becoming used to the darkness, she could see the gashes in trees all around her. Clover landed and heard the rustle of folding wings behind her as the others followed her example.
“We are here,” she said. “This is his glade. But the disguise still holds good. We can't tell by looking which is the right tree. What shall we do, do you think? What do your instincts tell you?”
“To close our eyes, then," said Rose. “Think about finding him, and then just walk.”
“All right,” said Clover. “That sounds good.”
Clover screwed her eyes shut, then let them relax. When you really wanted to concentrate, to focus your mind, it was difficult to do it. She found herself thinking at first of how cold she was, wondering how Debin was and worrying if Calla was all right. But then she suddenly remembered that sweet dawn when Ace and Will came running back, happy and whole again, and she latched onto that. It was swiftly followed by another memory. She supposed it was a memory, because what else could it be? But the strange thing was, she didn't actually remember it happening. But she felt herself clearly, just as if she was reliving it, at Wildside on a hot summer day, stroking a clover flower that was just as tall as she was and looking up at the horse chestnut because she thought she had heard a voice coming from its branches.
You've been there all my life! thought Clover in wonder.
Smiling, she opened her eyes and started walking with confidence and the other fairies around her were doing the same thing, Rose just ahead of her, Bella and Stella by her side and Calla just behind.
Once you got close, you could see that the fresh snow was lying on top of well-trodden snow. The Tree had not been neglected. Rose didn't look at anything but the gash in the Tree's side. She knelt in the snow and placed both her hands on the gash, pushing as if she could close it if she pushed hard enough. Her eyes were tight shut and her pretty face was contorted as if she was giving it everything she had. Then suddenly she stopped and looked up, as if amazed, her eyes now gazing up through the branches, her lips slightly parted in a smile. Then she nodded, got up quickly and moved aside, where she leaned against another tree and covered her face with her hands.
After a quick glance to check Rose was okay, Clover in her turn knelt beside the Tree and at once her own hands were touching the gash. It seemed as if they had moved of their own accord. She didn't push, but her thoughts were as fervent as pushes.
I love you, she thought. Oh, please get better, please get better!
As often happened when you were near the Tree, Clover lost all sense of time. How long she had knelt there she had no idea, but there came a point where she was conscious of a tingling in her fingers and she looked up and gasped to see the familiar golden green light above her and her whole body warmed by the Tree's spoken words. The words that were just for her, personal words of encouragement, she never told anyone, but kept them like a treasure, beloved and safe. But the words that were a message, she knew she needed to share, to discover the meaning.
The two halves match because they are not the same.
Clover was sure she had never heard those words before, yet she felt she ought to have done. They sounded almost like a quotation. But the mysterious words did not make her feel downcast. They exhilarated her, seeming to be a clue that could be solved. She wandered off, not going far, but not really knowing where she was going, either, until she came back to her senses and remembered that she ought to be looking after Calla. She turned back towards the others and smiled. Bella was on the ground, beaming with joy and with tears streaming down her face. Serious, sensible Stella was flying in and out of the trees like a baby fairy who's just learned to fly. And Rose had her arm round Calla's waist, respectfully but firmly guiding her forward.
“Don't worry about a thing,” Clover heard her murmur.
“I fear this Tree,” muttered Calla. “But I want to touch him more than anything in the world. Help me, Rose, to get down on my knees.”
Rose gave her an arm to steady herself then backed away, a good distance away, leaving Calla her privacy. Rose came to join Clover, and after a while Bella and Stella came over too. They were cold now and conscious of time passing, but they just waited quietly. The new moon rose and presently shone through the tree tops, then its cold, clear light seemed to reach down and touch the Tree, just at the same moment that Calla looked up. Calla was smiling and all of them knew what Calla was seeing, the Tree briefly pulsing with his own light.
He's happy, thought Clover. That's why he shines. He's so happy when someone comes to talk to him.
Calla rose to her feet as easily as a young fairy would, not at all like a fairy who had needed help to get down. She seemed particularly stunned and Clover wasn't sure what to do. Newcomers to the Tree usually had lots of help from wise people like Madge and Sergeant Olt, but the wisest person here by a long, long way was Calla herself.
We could do with Major Inari, she thought and no sooner had she thought it than the major himself actually arrived. He went straight to the Tree himself, knelt and touched him, then listened calmly. Quite quickly he got to his feet and went to Calla.
“Joy only keeps you warm for a while,” he said. “Let's get you inside. Clover, would you take my lantern and lead the way, while I give Calla a hand over the icy paths? Are you all good for walking back? Excellent, we elves like company.”
With warm and simple words he encouraged them all the way back.

Major Inari and his team from Finland 3 had made their base in the old 1st Squadron building because it was in a good strategic position. He led them into a large room on the ground floor where a fire was burning in the stove. Debin's team and Finland 3 were sitting comfortably together, all holding glasses of some clear liquid and laughing and joking together. Debin, courteous as ever, stood up when they entered and offered Calla his seat near the stove. She thanked him with a smile but she still hadn't spoken.
“Is she all right?” he murmured, as she simply sat down and stared at the fire, oblivious to them all.
“Meeting the Tree always stuns people a bit,” said Major Inari easily. “She'll be fine. Give her a glass of vodka to sip, someone. That'll warm her up.”
“Indeed, yes, this vodka is excellent!” exclaimed Jakub happily. “I feel warmed right through now. What do you make it from? Surely you don't have potatoes up here?”
“Yes, we do now,” laughed their lieutenant, Koivu. “Peelings are easy to get from human bins and they soon grow. It's been a bit of a hobby for us, when there hasn't been much else to do.”
“It's delicious,” said Clover politely. She would rather have had a cup of tea, but she didn't say so. “I don't think I'd better have too much of it, though. It tastes very strong. I might start singing.”
“Oh, that would be good!” said Olcha and filled Clover's glass before she could protest.
It was a long, happy evening. Calla didn't seem to hear a word they were saying. Sometimes her lips moved, and from time to time she did sip from her glass, but mostly she seemed to be in a trance.
She does look happy, thought Clover. No, more than happy... blissful. I would look like that if someone showed me a lovely soft bed and told me to lie down and have a sleep.

Clover felt slightly confused at this memory when she found herself in a bed she didn't remember getting into. True, it wasn't super comfortable – just army blankets on the floor – but she was lovely and warm and she didn't really want to wake up. She thought she might have a bit of a headache. When she did wake up properly, she seemed to remember singing Don't flap your wings when the rain falls down. And she was still wearing all her clothes.
“Oh, dear,” she muttered and crawled out from among the blankets.
Rose and Bella stirred too. Stella wasn't there, but they could see where she had been sleeping. Calla was fast asleep.
“I think she was awake most of the night,” said Rose. “I woke up and saw her looking out of the window.”
“It must be very late,” said Clover. “There's a bit of light coming through the gloom.”
“Half past ten!” said Rose. “Come on, my dears.”
“I don't think I feel very well,” groaned Bella.
But they all got up and made an effort. Clover woke the fire in the stove and they all found fresh clothes from their backpacks. Then Stella came in with two buckets of melting snow.
“The elves have all gone to see the Tree,” she said. “They left a note.”
It took a while to heat the water, but after a wash and a cup of tea they all felt much better.
“Let's get outside while there's a bit of light,” said Bella. “We can have a look round and maybe meet the elves coming back.”
“Leave a note for Calla, then,” said Clover. “You do that, will you, Rose, while I fill one of these buckets again.”
They left the bucket of snow next to the stove to melt, with the note beside it, and stepped outside.
“Oh, I've missed this!” said Bella. “That fresh, cold air that really wakes you up! There's nowhere like Fjaerland.”
“Oh, this is where we did the combat knockout,” said Stella. “And Clover didn't want to fight and just dropped Muscari in the snow!” They all laughed, though Clover felt a bit stunned to realise how long ago that felt. It might have been in another lifetime.
“Where is Muscari now, does anyone know?”
They all felt affection for the tiny fairy who had stayed with the army when all the rest of her friends had gone to Special Brigade.
“I think she might be in the Bohemian Forest now,” said Rose. “I'm sure she went out east with one of the teams that went out from Oslofjord.”
“One day, we'll meet old friends again,” said Clover. “Won't that be wonderful? But meanwhile, here come our newest friends, just crossing the bridge.”
Clover felt she hardly recognised Sosna. He was standing up straight and as he was so tall, the effect was impressive. He had lost his sheepish, apologetic look, he no longer looked like an elf who wasn't sure what he would do next but was sure it would be the wrong thing. He looked quietly confident and it suited him very well. Olcha had been moved to tears; his face was still wet, but he wasn't the least bit embarrassed by it. He gave the fairies a big, beaming smile and nodded as if to say, Oh yes, I do see what you mean!
Jakub just looked stunned. He might have things to say later but he wasn't ready yet. He went straight to Bella and she walked alongside him but she didn't speak or interrupt his thoughts. Tomasz looked happy and contented. He was strolling along with a bit of bounce in his step, talking quietly to some of Finland 3, who seemed to be answering his questions. Only Debin looked troubled. His face was set in a frown as if his thoughts were hurting him. Clover went to him and linked her arm through his.
“Come and talk,” she said.
Major Inari shot her an approving glance and carried on leading the others back to HQ. Clover led Debin across camp to the place where there was a view down to the fjord. The bit of wall was still there. Debin leaned his elbows on it and held his head in his hands. For quite a while he was silent. Then he took his hands away and spoke without turning his head.
“Everything we have been told about trees of power is wrong,” he said.
“Yes,” said Clover.
“The army is right. This is the Tree.”
“The army's not right about everything,” said Clover. “But about this, yes, it is. This is the Tree.”
“I was never so in awe of a tree,” said Debin. “Never so instantly full of love. Even my own tree... oh, I would do anything this Tree wanted me to.”
“In the army,” said Clover, “we swear an oath to serve him. We say that the army is his army, but I think we have started to think that because we are his, he is ours. Whatever we do, we must get more people to meet the Tree.”
“Yes,” said Debin. “Oh, yes. Sweet Clover, dear friend, I can hardly speak of his words of welcome. That he should think that of me... I do not deserve...”
“Yes, you do,” said Clover. “He knows. His appearance may be a bit diminished right now, but his love and perception aren't. You keep his words to treasure. Whatever they were, they were right and true.”
“I do believe you. But I can hardly take it all in.”
“One step at a time. It's the only way. It's hard to know what we are supposed to do next, but we'll find out, bit by bit.”
“I know one thing,” said Debin. “His final words. An instruction, though I do not know where to start. Find Karl, and bring him to see me. Who is Karl, do you know?”

By the end of the day, when everyone had recovered and started chatting again, Debin had learned all about Karl, the great Ally who lived in Hella. It puzzled everyone a little why the Tree had mentioned Karl to someone who didn't know him, but as Major Inari wisely said, just because you couldn't see the reason didn't mean there wasn't one. They agreed that in the morning Major Inari himself would take Debin and the whole team to Hella to meet Karl and give him the Tree's message.

“It's exciting,” said Rose as they scrambled down the mountainside. “I remember Sergeant Svir telling us that humans never come onto the mountain. Karl may be the first one ever.”
“I think it's lovely,” said Stella. “He'll be able to talk to every sprite in the realm.”
Clover smiled and nodded but she didn't say anything. It seemed to her that she was caught up in something that was too big for her, as if a much more important fairy ought to be doing all this, not her. But then she remembered that Calla was a very important fairy and that she, Clover, needed to look after her. She was surprised that Calla had wanted to come, but she had insisted. So Clover helped Calla cross the stony beach and climb into the boat that Major Inari led them to. Jakub and Bella rowed it and they set a slow but steady pace. The fishing boats had already passed by and the ferries hadn't started yet. The fjord was peaceful as they zigzagged between pieces of ice.
“Heave the boat ashore under this bush,” said Major Inari. “That's it. That way, it can't get stuck in the ice.”
Clover followed with interest as the major led them through Hella. She'd been in the town before, but never to Karl's house. It was lovely to be back in Norway, even if it was only for a short time. They approached from the quiet path behind the houses and stood in the frosty garden while Major Inari entered the kitchen through the elf flap. A very few moments later, the door was flung open hospitably wide and Clover saw that those sprites like Will, who'd told her just how tall Karl was hadn't been exaggerating. But once you'd registered his height you forgot about it, because the really special things about Karl were his kind eyes and his warm smile. He welcomed them all in and offered them seats by the stove, real sprite-sized seats.
“He is talking Norwegian! And I can understand!” whispered Debin to Clover.
“I know! Isn't it wonderful!” Clover whispered back.
Calla, however, did not sit down, but looked around with a puzzled expression.
“Is anything wrong, Calla?” asked Major Inari.
Calla looked fearlessly right up at Karl.
“Is there another elf here?” she asked.
“No, I don't think so,” said Karl.
“Oh!” said Major Inari.
“Oh!” said Karl. “Yes, I see what you mean. He is in the outhouse, to keep him safe from the cold. I will get him.”
When Karl returned to the kitchen he was carrying a rat, who seemed half asleep. He set the rat down on a rug and Calla went over to him at once.
“Oh, Vinco,” she said. “What did he do to you, that traitor?”
“Vinco?” exclaimed Jakub. “This is the Premier?”
“This rat was once Vinco Gennargentu, yes,” said Calla. “How long has he been like this?”
“He was entrusted to my care about five months ago,” said Karl. “At that time, he leaped about if a sprite came near, trying to speak. None could understand him, but both General Nella and General Dizzy said they thought he might be a transformed sprite. But lately he has turned listless.”
“Listless indeed,” said Calla. “But how long had he been a rat already? Since the evacuation of Wielkopolska? It seems likely. That is six months ago now. It may be too late.”
“What do you mean, Calla?” asked Debin. “Too late to transform him back? Has he turned completely into a rat?”
“In a way,” said Calla. Everyone, including Karl, was listening intently. “He was fully a rat from the start, physically. But he had his memories. He knew he was really an elf. Now rats are clever animals, they have good brains, but their brains are not designed to hold the complex memories of a sprite. If he has forgotten who he is, we may not be able to transform him back.”
“That's awful!” said Rose. “I don't care what he's done, no-one deserves that.”
“No. And the pity of it is, he has done no real wrong. He was guilty only of pride, that he was clever enough to outwit Lars Huskvarna. He was not, as you can see.”
“What will happen if you transform him back and he can't remember?” said Tomasz. “Will he lose his mind?”
“He already has,” said Major Inari. “He will not live long in this state.”
“No,” agreed Karl. “He grows weaker by the day.”
“I think it must be attempted,” said Calla. “And no-one has a greater chance of succeeding than I, for I have known him for over a hundred years and spent many of those years at his side. I can transform him back into himself, I think, but whether there will still be anything inside his head, I am not sure. You, Pice Inari, are the senior elf here, what is your opinion? Is it kinder, perhaps, to leave him as he is?”
“No,” said the major. He looked around at the other elves, who all shook their heads. “He is dying as a rat. If he has lost his mind, he won't last long as an elf, either. But let him at least become an elf again before he dies.”
“What do you need, Miss Calla?” asked Karl.
“Quietness and privacy. Light and water. No more. Return us to this outhouse of which you spoke and forget about us. It will take a day or two, I think. Turn your minds to the future and the message you came here to bring.”
“All right, Calla,” said Pice. “You know what you're doing.”
Karl picked up the rat and stroked him.
“Come along, little friend,” he said. “You and I have had a good summer together. But now it is time, one way or another, to move on.”
He left the room and Calla flew alongside him.
When he came back, Pice said “I had a pet lemming, once. I loved him very much, but in the end I had to let him go. Set him free. It is kind, but it is hard. I feel for you, Karl.”
“Thank you, Pice. Well, yes, it is hard, but he has his best chance with that wise fairy. She is rather daunting, isn't she?”
Everyone smiled a bit then, and relaxed. Karl gave them all drinks and then Debin, rather shyly, told him what the Tree had said to him.
“The Tree? Your Talende Tree? He wants me? To go on the mountain like a sprite, and meet your Tree?”
He spoke as if he could scarcely believe it.
When they had all reassured him that yes, the Tree wanted to meet him, and that yes, as far as they knew, he would be the first human to do that, he was finally convinced. Clover thought she'd never seen anyone look so excited.
“Shall we go now?”
“As soon as you like,” said Major Inari. “This is all very exciting. I feel as if things are beginning to happen at last!”
Karl knew where he could borrow a boat and they decided that all the elves would go with him, while the fairies would stay and look after Calla and the Premier.
“Make yourselves at home,” said Karl to the fairies. “Help yourselves to anything you need, charge your phones, use the computer... yes, you might want to let David know what's happened, the website's open on the screen.”

The fairies waved them off and then wandered around the suddenly-quiet house, looking at things. They found a socket at floor level with a home-made adaptor where a sprite-sized lead could be plugged in. Clover set her phone to charge, grateful to avoid the chore of having to make fresh batteries. They stopped to admire a shelf full of amazing creations that all seemed to be made from little coloured bricks, then went along a hallway with soft lighting into another room. This one had bookshelves lining the walls, and big squashy chairs and a very large television.
“No computer,” said Rose. “I expect that's in a special room, like David's.”
They tried the next room and there it was. Just like David, Karl had three screens on a desk, with a keyboard and a mouse that didn't even have wires coming out of them.
“Wow, that's clever,” said Bella. “However does that work, I wonder?”
Clover perched on the back of the big desk chair and looked at the terrifying set-up.
“The thing is, not to be daunted,” she said firmly. “Just because we don't know how they work doesn't mean we can't use them. It's just a bigger, more modern version of the computer Will made for camp at Fjaerland. You open things, you close things. There'll be one of those little arrows on the screen, for sure. Nudge the mouse, Bella, and see if we can spot it.”
When Bella nudged the mouse, a screen sprang into life. It was a Norwegian news site, which was interesting, but not what they wanted. It was Rose who thought of pushing the arrow to the edge and seeing if it jumped across. They cheered when it did, and they were soon looking at the familiar pages of David's website. They read the news reports avidly, finding out more details about the school and what was being done about it. They read David's own report of the visit he and Rowan had made to the school at Fayrfield Farm and they devoured every word of General Stalden's daily bulletins from the peace conference, especially the story about Wayne and Stan. Bella was whizzing round the room, screeching for joy. Then she landed on Karl's desk and hugged everyone.
“Oh, at last, at last! He was undercover, spying for General Herdalen. He was always undercover, all the time since Fjaerland. And I couldn't tell you! I had to promise. But the general said Ace couldn't keep it from Will, so Wayne could tell one person too, and he told me. But now it's all over and we can all be friends again.”
“That's wonderful!” said Stella. “I'm so glad for you. But Ace knew? How did he... oh! That fight they had! That was all pretend?”
“Every bit. Even Will didn't know then. They had to convince everyone that Wayne had changed sides for good.”
“They did a very good job,” said Rose. “I never guessed, did you, Clover?”
“Not at the time,” said Clover. “Not at all. But recently, I wondered, because of the way Madge spoke of him. As if he were still one of us. I think she guessed what was going on.”
“A lot of people will have heard how Betch and the others escaped from that prison,” said Stella. “They might have thought Wayne had had a second change of heart. But someone like Madge would start to see that there was more to it than that.”
“There's a lot of good news here, but I feel gladder about this than anything else,” said Clover. “Something I thought was broken isn't just mended, it was never broken in the first place.”
“And now it's time to add to all the news,” said Bella. “What shall we say?”
“We have to be brief,” said Clover, “so David can text it out to the people with phones. But we have to include all the details. Let's check Calla's okay and then get cracking.”

It took them a long time, as they considered what to include and what to leave out. In the end, they agreed that the best they could do was:

On 25th September, a team of four fairies led by Lieutenant Clover Moseley, en route to Rotehorninsel, abandoned that mission and joined forces with a team of five elves from the Wielkopolska Unit, led by Captain Debin Wilanów. They proceeded to Greece where they learned from Calla Babele the whereabouts of Vinco Gennargentu. They observed for themselves that the Enlightening Tree is dead. In company with Calla, they then travelled to Fjaerland and greeted Major Inari and also the Talende Tree. Among the Tree's messages was a request that Karl should come onto the mountain to meet the Tree. They travelled to Hella where Calla recognised the former Premier in the form of a rat which had, since the battle of Fjaerland, been in the care of Karl. Today, 22nd November, Calla is attempting to transform the rat, whose health is very fragile, back into himself. We other fairies are here in Hella using Karl's computer. The elves have escorted Karl to meet the Tree.

“That's good,” said Rose. “The people who really need to know will be able to read between the lines.”
“I hope Madge isn't angry,” said Clover. “And I hope she tells us what on earth to do next.”
“ 'Course she will,” said Bella. “Don't worry about it, Clover. All we can do now is wait.”

They would have been astonished if they could have seen how their news was received. They couldn't know that David nearly dropped his coffee on his keyboard in his haste to get this news out to the phones, or that General Herdalen, when he read it, jumped right into a snowdrift outside a Swedish railway station and emerged soaking wet, but with a smile on his face such as his team hadn't seen for weeks. They would have been even more amazed if they had seen General Stalden running into the hall and interrupting the peace conference to speak to the Commander, or the Commander reading out Clover's report word for word, and then, when the applause had died down, commenting that it just showed what could be achieved when people from each side had the sense to work together. But best of all, perhaps, would have been Madge thinking fondly of Wildside, wiping her eyes and whispering, “Oh, well done, Clover. Well done.”

After that, the fairies rested on the squashy chairs and looked at some of Karl's books. That was great fun, but in the end they decided they had better be brave and see if there were any responses to their news. There were dozens. It was very cheering to see they were being congratulated and that no-one had mentioned not going to Rotehorninsel. There were no fresh orders, though, other than requests for updates as soon as anything happened. It seemed as though the whole realm was holding its breath, waiting for news of the Premier.
Clover crept into Karl's outhouse. Calla didn't even notice. She was sitting by the rat, stroking his fur, her mind it seemed miles away, and maybe even decades away. Clover took Calla's water bottle and refilled it, then slipped away again.
It was fully dark again now and Karl wasn't back. Eventually they decided he must be spending the night on the mountain with the elves.
“They'll have to build a fire,” worried Stella. “He won't fit into any of the buildings.”
“They'll build a fire,” said Rose. “I hope he likes vodka.”
“I think he probably does,” smiled Clover. “Meanwhile, we have to spend the night in this cosy house. It's a hard life.”
Before she went to sleep, Clover looked in again on Calla, to find her and the rat fast asleep on the floor. Clover tucked a blanket under Calla's head and laid more blankets on top of them both.
“Wherever you are in your dreams, I hope you're together in some happy place.”

In the morning, Karl and the elves came back, looking very happy but also very tired. With quiet smiles they drank some coffee and went off to sleep, so Clover decided she'd better send an update, even if it was only to explain that there wasn't much news yet. So she simply typed that Calla and the rat appeared to be fine, but oblivious to anything but each other, and that Karl and the elves had returned, joyful but exhausted and were now sleeping. Then she turned to the other fairies. “This is going to be a long day,” she said.
They made it less boring by taking it in turns to go outside for fresh air and exercise, making the best of what daylight there was. Finally, just as the afternoon sun was beginning to set, Karl and the elves joined the fairies in the kitchen. Karl had barely begun to describe his experiences when there was a knock on the elf flap. Karl quickly opened the door and Calla walked in, supporting an elf who was walking alongside her. His hair was long and white, his arms and legs thin and weak, his skin wrinkled as if it was too big for the body inside it. His eyes, though, were bright and clear and he was looking around in wonder, like a baby just out of the chrysalis. Calla stopped and looked with love at her old friend.
“Vinco Salix viminalis Gennargentu, welcome back to the realm. Here are friends.”
“Friends,” said Vinco.
He tottered over to Karl and looked up with a smile. Karl knelt down and gently touched the withered hand with one finger.
“Karl,” said Vinco.
Then his eyes looked troubled and he tried to spin round.
“Lars, no... wasn't Klethra enough for you? Don't be crazy... oh, is Calla. Beautiful Calla, wild lily, clever, beautiful fairy.”
He seemed to lean or fall against Calla and she caught him and lowered him to the ground as his body sagged and his eyes fluttered closed.
“He is dead,” she said. “He walked on two feet as an elf again. But that is all. His mind had gone, there was nothing left.”
The elves gathered respectfully around the dead elf, but Rose went to put an arm round Calla.
“Not quite nothing,” she said. “He remembered Karl, the human who was kind to him. And he remembered his beautiful Calla. His mind wasn't empty when he died, it was full of love.”
“That is true,” sighed Calla. “You are wise, Rose.”
“We must lay him beneath a tree,” said Pice. “There are few willows up here, but I know where there is one, by the shore, a little way along the fjord.”
“I know the one you mean,” said Karl. “I will come myself, and carry him.”
“And we will come to sing,” said Clover.

So the elf from the lake in Sardinia, nearly as far south as you could go in the realm, who had risen by his own talents to the highest position, was lovingly laid to rest by those he would once have called enemies, by the shore of another lake in the frozen north.
“Tell them the news, Clover,“ said Karl when they returned to his house. “I know you will include every word that he spoke. And please tell them this, from me – that I have listened to the Tree and I know now what he wants the Allies to do. After I have made some arrangements, I will soon be leaving for Duisburg.”


In England, the great lakes were not half frozen like Fjaerland fjord and neither was there a heavy frost turning everything it touched to glittering, sparkling beauty. Instead, it was raining. It seemed as if it had been raining for days. Every time an elf landed from a long jump, he got even wetter. It was usually possible, sometimes with a last-second swerve, to avoid large puddles, but even so, each landing sent up enough spray to keep you soaked to the knees. What a foul country this was, thought Lars Huskvarna. Packed with humans from coast to coast, permanently damp and wet. He wouldn't admit it, even to himself, but the real reason he hated it was because of the trouble English sprites had given him over the last few years, thwarting his plans at every turn. He just knew, was utterly convinced in his mind that he and he alone knew how to save sprites from extinction. Anyone who got in his way was just evil, mindless and ignorant. What did a few deaths along the way matter? All that mattered was ultimate success. Unless your head was filled with sentimental drivel, like that imbecile Gran Herdalen's. Well, his was another death that was going to happen. It wouldn't be long now. Herdalen was waiting for him, and he knew where, and he hoped he was having a cold and miserable time while he waited. Then Herdalen would die and the army would lose its true leader.
Leaderless, it would take some silly action approved by fairies. And the realm, still reeling from the shock he was about to inflict upon it, would finally see sense. His troops would all be freed from the Hills – useful, yes – but most important of all, the whole realm would soon be speaking his name, as the only one who could lead them out of chaos. At last they would be prepared to trade freedom for safety and at last his real work could begin. The plan he had pretended to oppose, the plan he had drip-fed into the Premier's mind for years. The war against humans. Just one more job – distasteful, perhaps, but necessary – to set all this in motion. The next time he landed, he threw up a hand to draw his team to a halt.
“We're close now. Single file, absolute stealth, keep to the shadows. Once we're in, move fast. Pick your target and kill it, then get out fast. Head north without stopping to the rendezvous at Carlisle. Any questions?”
No-one spoke. Lars Huskvarna grunted a kind of approval. They weren't bad, this lot. Bit of a mixed bag, but it should be enough. This time, there could be guards. They'd certainly find the targets more alert. Twelve dead here would terrify the realm. It was well worth it. As they crossed the farm, he glanced back down the line. Étretat was here, and the Hakarp fairy, Blanche, and Klethra Diolkos of course, bringing up the rear. The rest were elves from the camp, that he'd picked up from around Passau. They'd done a good enough job at Amutria. No squealing, no sentiment. Just sharp, keen and professional. One by one they passed through the crack in the rock and into the wide open space hidden behind it. No-one was using the famous playground while it was raining; everyone was taking shelter indoors. Many of the buildings had light in the windows. Huskvarna was just indicating that they should spread out now, when a horrible noise sounded above them.
PARP! PARP! PARP!
What was it? He'd never heard such a noise, and he couldn't see where it was coming from at first. Then he spotted her... a very young fairy in a grey raincoat, well-camouflaged on a rock shelf. He leaped up after her. She squawked with terror then jumped aside and hit some kind of button on a plastic box. Damn her, she'd raised the alarm... fully-grown sprites, some of them armed, were pouring out of the buildings. He grabbed at the little fairy but she slipped aside and took flight.
“Hakarp!” he thundered. “Onto this one!”
“On it, sir,” said Lieutenant Hakarp.
The little fairy was flying fast, but she wouldn't be able to keep that up for long. He jumped down. None of his team had managed a clean kill. There were no little sprites around at all, just a lot of angry teachers. He drew his own knife to defend himself against an elf coming towards him. He disarmed his opponent easily and pushed him aside, making sure he banged his head against the rock. Someone else was making that stupid PARP noise now... all around him, fights were going on. But his team was winning. These weren't soldiers. Bit of army training long ago, most of them. They could still do this. They just had to defeat the grown sprites first and there couldn't be that many of them. But no, he was going to have to re-assess. A goblin was coming, young, fair-sized and armed with a quarter staff that was as long as he was tall and as thick as his arms. The goblin was in a cold fury and was cracking heads with clinical precision. His team members were dropping like skittles.
“Klethra! With me!” he yelled, and together they leaped out of the goblin's reach, onto a high piece of rock.
“He's laid out seven... eight... nine of us!” gasped Klethra. “We have to admit defeat, Lord Protector. Where's Blanche? Ah.”
Just in front of them, a tall, elderly fairy had hold of Blanche by the arms.
“You disgrace to the name of fairy!” shouted the older one.
She drew one hand back, and, still holding tight with the other, slapped Blanche across the face twice, once with her palm and once with the back of her hand. But that was the most the older fairy could do, and before anyone could fly up to help, Blanche wrenched herself free, took a look at the devastation below her and flew off north in a blur of white.
“I think we had better follow her example, Lars,” said Klethra. “This mission has failed.”
“Yes,” said Huskvarna. “I see that it has.”
Without another glance the two elves leaped from rock to rock and fled north also.


“I wish I could have seen it,” said David into his phone. “John was completely modest about the whole thing when he handed them over to me, but you could see how happy he was that it had all worked. Yes, will do. I'll be there in a couple of days. Thanks very much, General... er, how exactly do you pronounce your place name? Oh. Is it okay if I just call you General Dizzy? See you soon, then, bye!”
David switched his phone off and turned to Gary and Rowan who were standing near his car to see him off.
“John was amazing,” said Rowan, “ and so were you, fixing them up with the buzzer and the phone. And Hogweed... what a hero!”
“I honestly think he could have handled it without any help,” said David. “He was brilliant. But now we're all sorted. I take this lot” - he indicated a cat basket full of angry elves that was wedged into the passenger seat - “to Essen and General Dizzy will arrange an armed escort to take them for trial in Romania.”
“Excellent,” said Gary. “A fair trial and justice done, everyone will be glad about that. But then you're going to Duisburg to meet up with Karl and Hanna? Did Karl say what it was about?”
“He was a bit vague,” said David. “He said he was bringing Rose and Clover and the rest of that team with him from Norway. He said he had met the Tree and had a message for Hanna. I know what you're worried about, Gary. It might be that. They might be talking about a queen.”
“You have to tell them that it can't be Laura. It simply can't. She's too young. Too young to make such a choice, for a start. And far too young to just disappear. Maybe in the Middle Ages it would have been all right. People were considered grown-up much, much younger. But in the modern world, an eleven year old can't go away and live with the fairies. School would want to know where she was, and then Social Services would be knocking on the door, and then it would be the Police with search warrants. And the same applies to Marta. I'm sure it's just the same in Norway.”
“Leif did say he wouldn't stand in Marta's way if she still felt the same when she was eighteen,” said Rowan.
“True, he did,” said Gary. “But that's a good few years off yet.”
“I'll make sure they understand,” said David. “Right, I'd better be off.” He shook hands with Gary. “Er, haven't you got anything you need to do indoors, Gary?”
“Huh? Oh! Bye David, safe journey.”
Gary went inside, grinning to himself, and Rowan put her hands on David's shoulders.
“Take care,” she said. “I'll miss you.”
“I'll miss you, too. Have a great end of term and I'll be back before Christmas.”
He kissed her gently.
“Bye, Rowan.”
“Bye, David.”
Rowan stood watching till the white Porsche was out of sight.