by Elsa Bridger
A Plea for Help
Back upstairs the girls paused outside their bedroom with Sophie’s hand hovering over the door handle; she turned to Felicity and asked:
“Ready?”
“You bet!” Felicity answered. “Come on!”
They carefully opened the door a crack and peeped in. Only silence met their ears, not even the slightest noise that delicate fluttering wings might create. So they opened it a little wider and cautiously tip-toed in. The book was just where Sophie had left it, with the picture very much still a picture, and still on the page.
“Ohhh!” they cried in disappointment.
“Maybe it only works once,” Felicity wondered, half to Sophie, half to herself.
“What now?” asked Sophie.
“Just put the stupid book in your bag and we’ll give it back to Mrs Vincent tomorrow. I’m going to bed.” Felicity flounced back out of the room and headed to the bathroom to clean her teeth.
Their mother couldn’t believe it when she went up later to check on them and found them already in bed.
“Are you both feeling poorly?” she asked, concern in her voice. She felt their brows for any sign of a raised temperature.
“No, I think you were right, too much excitement and now we’re overtired.” Sophie yawned. “Can you read us our bedtime stories now please?”
“Of course I will,” their mother willingly agreed. Stories at this time of the day were a regular thing that all three looked forward to, helping them to unwind.
Once the stories were told, she then kissed them goodnight. “Love you girls,” she called softly as she slowly backed out of the doorway, blowing a last kiss to each of her daughters in turn as she went.
“Love you most,” chorused the girls, as they did every night, their voices heavy with sleep.
The girls were still quiet next morning. “I’m not sure you should go to school today,” worried their mother.
“We need to give the book back. We’ll be okay Mummy,” reassured Felicity.
“Well, neither of you seem to have a temperature. Make sure you tell someone if you feel worse though; the school will call me if you feel too poorly to stay. And look after each other.”
“We will,” answered Sophie, giving Felicity a comforting hug.
After register, Mrs Vincent held up the book that Sophie had slipped back onto her chair first thing. “Does this belong to anyone? Sophie and Felicity found it down the back of the drawers yesterday.”
Some children shook their heads “no” in response, but most were uninterested on seeing the old-fashioned looking thing.
“Well, I’ll put it safely in here for now.” Mrs Vincent got up and locked it in her resources cupboard, where it would be safe until the rightful owner claimed it. “We will be doing PE this morning, so if you could go and collect your kits from your pegs, please, and quietly make your way to the changing rooms.”
Sophie and Felicity slumped where they still sat. PE was their least favourite lesson - not a good way to start the day.
Halfway through PE Felicity had a fit of sneezing.
“Are you feeling poorly?” Mrs Vincent asked, remembering that Felicity had seemed unwell yesterday.
“Can I get a tissue please?” she answered.
“Of course. I have some by my chair in the classroom. Come straight back won’t you?”
“I will,” she said over her shoulder as she headed out of the hall.
Back in the classroom, Felicity found that the box of tissues was empty. Now urgently looking around the room for an alternative, it came to mind that she had a little packet of them in her book bag. As she pulled open her drawer, she gasped and recoiled, snatching her hands to her body. Lying there, rocking slightly - was the book! The very one she had seen Mrs Vincent lock away in Lost Property just that morning. What was it doing back in her drawer? Moving!
Completely spooked, she forgot all about the tissues, slammed the drawer shut again and ran back to the hall as fast as she could.
Rounding a corner far too quickly, she skidded to a halt just in time to narrowly miss a collision with Mr Peters, their Head Teacher.
“Wow! Slow down young lady. What’s the rush?” he asked good-humouredly.
Felicity thought for a split second about telling the truth as to why she was running, but it would sound like an absurd excuse so she just said, “Sorry Mr Peters, I went to get a tissue and was getting back to PE as soon as I could.” It was only then that she realised she was still in need of one as she dabbed at her nose with the back of her sleeve – her mother wouldn’t be happy!
“Well, I think Mrs Vincent would prefer it if you got back in one piece, so how about walking the rest of the way, eh?”
“Yes Mr Peters,” Felicity answered, looking down at her shoes shyly.
Back once again in the sports hall, it took all of her willpower not to blab her news to Sophie there and then, but she knew she’d get into trouble so she’d just have to wait. Finally she got her chance as they went back to the changing rooms.
“Sophie, you know when I went for a tissue?”
“Yes.”
“You’ll never guess! The book is back in my drawer. It was sort of wriggling, little tiny wriggles!” Felicity squeaked excitedly, adding, “It must be magic - how else could it have escaped a locked cupboard?”
Sophie’s face instantly lit up with excitement, “Do you think the fairies are trying to get out? What did you do? Did you see them? Where’s the book now?” she had so many questions her mind was spinning.
“No, well, it made me jump so much I just shut the drawer and ran,” confessed Felicity, feeling more than a bit silly now.
“Oh you wally!” Sophie teased. “Let’s get changed super quickly,” she continued, already squirming out of her PE kit. “We might just have time to sneak a look.” The girls had never changed so fast. In fact they beat everyone else!
“Well done girls,” congratulated Mrs Vincent. “You can each collect a merit card today.”
“Maybe it’s turning out to be a good day after all,” smiled Sophie happily.
With the PE kits put back on their hooks, they secreted themselves away in the classroom to check on the book. They only hoped Mrs Vincent wouldn’t see them with it, or she would think they had broken into her cupboard and stolen it. Then they really would have some serious explaining to do! For Felicity, a run in with Mr Peters was quite enough trouble for one day.
Their pulses raced with excitement as they retrieved the book from Felicity’s drawer.
“Quick, let the fairies out!” urged Sophie.
Leaning back slightly, as if expecting one to suddenly fly out, Felicity opened the book with quivering hands, only to find all the pages were blank except for the poems. “Oh no, the pictures have already gone, we’re too late,” Felicity whined.
Sophie started glancing hopefully about the room and even under the drawer unit, just in case they were hiding there.
“Oh, if only I hadn’t been such a cowardy custard and had opened the book instead of running away. Stupid…! Stupid….!” Felicity scolded herself.
“Wait a minute,” interrupted Sophie, who had been flicking back through the book, checking the rest of its pages, “there’s another poem.”
“This penned message will not last,
Read with care and read it fast!
Your fairy friends have fled in fear
And dare not wait to meet you here.
Today at one, they will wait for you,
Amongst the Great Oak’s boughs, hidden from view.
Come with haste but take great care,
Watch out for The Wicked One who may find you there.”
As she’d read it out, it was as if just the mere act of passing her eyes over the words was enough to melt them back into the very page upon which they had appeared, until it was left barren once more.
“What’s the time Sophie?”
“10.3
0, so at least we have a little while to think this through.”
“The ‘Wicked One’ mentioned in the poem - do you think it could be the same horrid fairy that cast the spell, trapping our first fairy in the book?” recollected Felicity.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Sophie agreed. “Our first fairy did say they were in trouble. Maybe the other two have gone to help her.”
“Who do you think wrote the note?” asked Felicity.
“Do you know, I think the book did. And if the book left a message,” Sophie’s big brown eyes grew even larger as an idea formed in her mind, “perhaps we can ask it a question!”
“What shall we ask?” queried Felicity.
“Erm, how about asking which oak tree, as there are a number of them around the school,” Sophie suggested.
Felicity nodded vigorously in agreement, her eyes glinting with excitement. “Book, could you tell us which oak tree please?” Nothing happened for a few long seconds. Then all of a sudden the pen shot out of its home in the spine of the book and stood on end, hovering just above the blank page.
“Wow! Look at that! It must want us to write something Sophie.” Felicity took the pen and wrote the question out on the page. As soon as she had written it the words disappeared, but others appeared in their place which read:
“Within the playground opposite the door
It has stood 300 years, but how many more?”
And then these words too, faded to nothing.
Sophie picked up the pen and scribbled another question. “Should we take anything with us?”
The answer came and went as before…
“Take me with you, but keep me close.
The Wicked One wants me the most!
My powers are for good – in the right hands
But he wishes to rule ALL the lands.”
“We will,” Sophie responded out loud, and with that she quickly but carefully stowed the book inside her blouse. “We’d better keep this with us all the time from now on. This ‘Wicked One’ sounds desperate to get it back, and that means he’ll be looking for us!” she added nervously.
Journey into Serenia
The girls were almost too excited and nervous to eat their lunch and kept glancing at the time. At last the clock read 12.55.
We’d better get there a bit early,” said Felicity, putting her lunch box away, back on the trolley.
As they stepped out of the door into the playground, there stood the oak tree before them. It seemed obvious to them now which one the book meant, as it was indeed ‘Great’ in stature, as it had described.
The sun, which had been bright all morning, was suddenly blocked out by dark clouds beginning to cover the whole sky, driven in on an increasingly brisk wind, whipping up dust and leaves and sending last autumn’s acorns scudding along the ground. With each step they took towards The Great Oak it grew darker, the wind stronger. All the children in the playground quickly ran for cover, expecting rain to follow imminently. The girls linked arms and leaned into the wind, willing themselves forward. It was blowing so hard now it was as if the wind itself was trying to stop them.
Now, almost there, they heard faint voices coming from up in the tree.
“Come girls, quickly – The Wicked One is close, run! Hold the tree,” the almost musical voice urged, distinctive over the hostile roar of the storm.
Encouraged, knowing that it must be the voice of the fairies, they pushed just that bit harder against the wind. As they reached the tree, the clouds burst and hail stones thudded through its branches, tearing its leaves and bouncing on impact with the ground, then melting on the still warm earth.
The girls reached out and hugged its rough trunk, bowing their heads from the hail stones. They began to feel strangely giddy and looked up to find that the tree was starting to spin, and them with it. As it sped ever faster, their grip began to loosen and they started to slip from its mighty girth.
“Just hold on!” came a small wispy voice above them again.
The tree gathered pace, turning impossibly fast, until everything was a blur and it was only with immense effort that the girls were able to stop their heads and bodies being pulled from the tree by the sheer force of it. Then there was a loud CRACK! At that very moment they finally lost their grip and were hurled to the ground.
Sophie and Felicity helped each other up. Both were shaking, scared and a little winded, but otherwise unharmed. As they took their first wary glances around them, they saw that everything had changed. The tree was still there, but they were somewhere else entirely. No school, no playground. Even the wind, hail and clouds had gone. It was in fact a very peaceful place on first impressions, but not quite Earth-like.
“Where are we?” breathed Felicity, slowly turning on the spot whilst absentmindedly dusting herself off.
“I’ll tell you later, but first we must find a safer place to talk.” To the girls’ surprise, the voices they’d heard belonged to the two fairies they had drawn at home.
Fluttering swiftly down from the tree, they took hold of one twin each. Felicity stifled a shriek as they were flown back up with them, nimbly dodging through the oak’s boughs.
As Felicity rose, she had a good view of this new land. The Great Oak they were ascending took pride of place in the centre of a beautiful lush green landscape. Red and yellow poppies bobbed their heads amongst meadow flowers and lush green grasses, as a warm skittish breeze played chase amongst them. The air was sweet with the soothing aroma of lavender. In the middle distance was a lake, the sun glistening off its surface, the sky reflecting back up from it like a mirror.
But right over near the horizon, in stark contrast, it was dark. Not as if night were descending, but ominously dark. The skies were so laden with rain that the clouds were blotting out the sun. As she watched, lightning lit the sky, tearing through them like a knife through black velvet and forking to the ground. It briefly lit up a castle that she hadn’t been able to pick out before - its tower seeming to be engulfed by the atmosphere itself. It was like watching a chilling, silent, black and white movie. She shivered involuntarily and felt in the pit of her stomach that it was a bad place. Sophie was looking that way too, horror etched on her pale face.
“Nearly there.” The voice of Felicity’s fairy cut through her thoughts.
A second later they were disappearing into a knot in the tree trunk. Then it dawned on them, they were the same size as the fairies!
Now walking, they continued further within the tree itself and presently came to a door. Felicity’s fairy stopped and knocked, then added,
“Your Majesty Queen Tara, it’s me, Bryony, with the girls.”
The door sprang open and they were hastily ushered into the large room in front of them. At the centre stood a long wooden table, surrounded by chairs occupied by other fairies, all of whom had turned to see the new arrivals. The anxiety on the children’s faces was obvious, so they all tried to smile to put the girls at ease.
“Thank goodness you came!” Sophie’s first doodle fairy gushed, rising from her chair, which would be better described as a throne, and strode purposefully round the table to meet them. “Our Kingdom is in grave danger and we need your help.”
“I’m terribly sorry, but there seems to be some misunderstanding. We don’t see how we could possibly be of any help to you,” Sophie declared apologetically, more than a little taken aback to see her doodle fairy must in fact be royalty!
“Your Majesty, let me explain,” Bryony cut in. “They still seem completely unaware of their importance to us. I feel spending a little precious time explaining is essential.”
“I don’t even know your names….” interjected Felicity shyly, feeling a little teary at the bizarreness of it all.
“Let’s start there then,” the fairy offered, her demeanour softening on seeing their distress. “My name is Queen Tara. Welcome to Serenia.” She then signalled to the fairies at the table to stan
d and introduce themselves; so one by one they said their names and sat back down again.
“Harebell,”
“Yarrow,”
“Heather,”
“Campion,” said a brave looking chap.
“Sorrel,” said another boy.
“Rose,”
“Poppy.”
“Girls, please be seated and I will explain,” said Queen Tara, indicating a couple of empty chairs at the table. “Many, many years ago, as far back as is known to us, we have had the honoured task of tending to all the flowers, trees and plants in both our lands. Your world is a mirror image of ours. Everything that happens here, affects your world. We are like nature’s control centre. This is why our plight when Nightshade stole The Book you now have, was so profound. We need it for Serenia’s very existence. If he is allowed to continue unchecked, he will ultimately devastate not just our world, but your world too.”
“What makes The Book so important?” probed Felicity.
“The Book itself pens a fairy to the exact needs of our lands, and then she or he shall have life. Each one of us is named after the plant we are destined to tend.
Only somehow, one seems to have turned out to have a bad heart; Nightshade. No-one knows why this was so, but almost as soon as he was raised from the page we could sense he had a restless soul. Never contented and always wanting more. One day he started using his magical abilities against us. He cast us out of our castle and is slowly poisoning all of Serenia. Once all is dead and gone he plans to rebuild it as he pleases, using The Book for black magic, to create his own Kingdom. He will then surely rule over us, and not kindly, of that I’m sure!”
“If that happens to Serenia, what will become of our world?” Felicity asked, afraid to find out the answer.
“We don’t know for sure, but it will be vastly different to the place you know as home.”
“How on earth can we stop him?” fretted Sophie.
“There are only a couple of weaknesses that all fairies have that can harm us - human non-belief and now the poisonous intent of The Deadly Nightshade fairy. We could have overpowered him with the help of The Book, but he realised this and enchanted our poor fairy Ragwort into stealing it. He must have then soon realised that it was practically useless to him until he was ruler of the lands. Only then would he have the right to use its magic. So he put it under a holding spell which included its safe-guarder – me.”