by Lari Don
“Bye, darling,” her Dad replied, without looking up.
“Bye bye, Hen.” Nicola waved her sticky pink teddy.
It was a clear, cold day. There were no clouds in the pale blue sky and Helen’s breath glittered in the air as she strode down the lane. Silver frost glistened on the fence posts and bare bushes, and her feet crunched on shallow icy puddles.
She could see no other living things, but she felt them all around her. Shiftings in hedges and trees. Passing whiffs of singed hair, damp fur and sudden stinks like the zoo on a hot day. And once a tiny squeak, cut off as soon as it started.
Kirsty was waiting for Helen at the end of her lane.
“How are you today?” she said cheerfully, trotting beside her on the grass verge.
“Walk in the middle of the lane,” instructed Helen.
“What?”
“Just walk down the centre, not too near the hedges.”
“Why?”
“Och, you know, there are some really jaggy bushes round here, and you don’t want to rip your jacket. Cold today, isn’t it?”
Kirsty joined Helen in the centre of the path and looked oddly at her.
“Do you really want to talk about the weather?”
“No.”
They walked in silence towards the school. When they arrived at the playground, the children who came by bus from the furthest farms were there already, their voices sounding very small under the huge bright winter sky.
Helen put her school bag and fiddle case right in the middle of the playground.
“Do me a favour, Kirsty. Stay here with these for a minute.”
“Why, do you have the crown jewels in there?”
“Please. I’ll just be a minute.”
She looked around but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. No horns, no flicking whipping tails, no sharp teeth, no fairy wings or dragon scales. But she felt a lot of eyes on her.
She walked to the school door, pushed it open and went in, striding down the modern corridors to the door of the old building. It was heavy and stiff, but she shoved it open with her shoulder. There were no lights on. This bit of the school wasn’t cleaned as often as the classrooms, and no one had been in here yet. She flicked on all the light switches, not caring about global warming today, walked towards the library, and taking a deep breath, pushed open the door.
She had dreaded seeing chaos and destruction, but the room was as dusty and musty and haphazardly untidy as it always was. Perhaps no one had been here since she had read the story of Tam Linn yesterday lunchtime.
She glanced round the top shelves. There was the bust Lavender had described; a smiling man with a long beard that had never been in fashion, a cloak with stars on it and a tiny figure on his shoulder.
Helen cleared her throat and spoke to the shelves, turning round slowly to address each wall of the library in turn.
“Book. Book of questions and answers. I am here on behalf of the young fabled beasts who took you from your place of safety. They are sorry they disturbed you, and apologize for putting you in danger. They have solved all your riddles and passed most of the tests you set them. They ask now that they might have the honour of returning you to your home, and paying you the respect you deserve tonight at the Winter Solstice celebration. Please.”
She paused and looked round the shelves. Nothing happened, not a puff of dust or a shifting page.
“Oh, come on! They’ve tried really hard!”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a slight movement and she whirled round. Everything was still, but under the bust of the wizard, one book was out of alignment, poking just over the edge of the shelf.
Helen moved the unwieldy wooden ladder on wheels and climbed up.
“Thank you,” she said and reached out for the Book.
Its silver cover was warm to the touch and she held it gently as she climbed down. She stood at the bottom of the ladder and thought of the answers in the Book. Perhaps in there she could find out why Yann hated humans so much. Perhaps the Book would tell her why she could never do anything that pleased her Mum. Perhaps the end of the piece of music was there, or even exam answers for next term.
She looked at the pearly clasp holding the Book closed, but she didn’t touch it. She would find out all these things in good time. Turning her back on the shelves, she faced the door and tightened her grip on the Book. “Here we go. I hope this works.”
Helen marched out of the library, along the corridor and into the new school, past Mr Crombie and Mrs Murray, who were chatting outside the staffroom.
“Morning,” she said and kept going.
She pushed out of the school door and into the playground. The sky was no longer blue. The air was no longer crisp. A mist had fallen over the village, clinging to everything, subduing the children playing outside. Helen could see only three steps ahead of her.
She walked straight to the hedge between the school grounds and the new village hall. As she reached it, Rona stepped out from between the bushes and held out her hands. Helen put the Book in them, then Rona disappeared.
Almost instantly there were fast hoof-beats in the fog, and a streak of purple and blue in the air. The Book was going home, as fast as Yann’s legs could carry it, protected by Sapphire’s fire and Lavender’s wand.
Helen heard a scurrying and a chattering, a hissing and a growling. Then a disappointed silence. And slowly the mist began to lift.
Kirsty came up, dragging all the bags.
“Who was that? Did I see you with a girl?”
“Yes. But I don’t think I’ll be seeing her again.”
Helen sat down suddenly on the tarmac and hunted in her pockets for a packet of hankies.
Chapter 21
After a long, dull day at school, Helen arrived home bedraggled and sleepy. She had hoped for a sign from the fabled beasts that the Book was safe, but they’d made no plans for a signal nor arrangements to meet, so she was slowly accepting that she may never know what happened next.
She trudged into the kitchen and slung her bags under a chair. On the table was a roll of cream paper, tied by a gold ribbon, with her name in curly letters on the outside. Helen sat down and looked at the parchment warily. Surely it wasn’t another riddle? She picked it up, slid the ribbon off the end of the tube, unrolled it and began to read.
She jumped up when her Mum strode through the back door, slamming it behind her, and flinging the torn, dirty and burnt first aid kit onto the table.
“I found this in the garage. Did you steal it? There are syringes and scalpels missing! What on earth have you been doing with syringes and scalpels?”
Helen didn’t try to answer, she just handed her Mum the roll of parchment. Her Mum read out loud:
Her Mum looked up.
“Is this your explanation for the stolen equipment and the late night walks? These friends — Yann, Rona, Lavender and Sapphire — needed your help with some injured animals?”
“Yes. That’s about right.”
“How did the animals get injured?”
“It was mostly a mad bull.”
“That can be nasty. But why did they need you to fix their animals? Why didn’t they phone a real vet?”
“They couldn’t. Their parents don’t approve or something. But I used all the right equipment and copied techniques from your books. And so far everything has healed fine.”
“Even the splinted wing? That’s hard to do.”
“Well, it’s a bit difficult to tell with the splinted wing right now, but he did seem to be flying fine last night.”
“Well, I think you were very irresponsible to take this on yourself, but I can’t really criticize, as I spent half my childhood fixing rabbits and owls and weasels.”
Helen shivered at recent memories, as her Mum grinned at old ones.
Her Mum sat down and thought for a moment.
“Oh, alright. I will let you go to this party, but you must promise that if anyone else asks you to provid
e first aid for an animal, you will consult me as soon as possible.”
“As soon as possible, Mum, absolutely. Thanks so much.” Her Mum pulled the exotic animals textbook out of the rucksack and flicked through the crumpled pages. “We could look through this together sometime if you want,” she said hopefully.
“Yes,” smiled Helen. “That might be useful. But …”
“But not right now. Go and get ready for your party!”
And Helen went upstairs for a long hot bath, and to get needles and thread from her sewing box, rather than her Mum’s surgery.
At five to nine, Helen was ready. She had her own blue rucksack packed with no veterinary equipment whatsoever, and was wearing clean jeans and warm socks.
The doorbell rang at nine o’clock and both her parents went to answer it.
Helen peered round them. Rona was standing on the doorstep, wearing a sleeveless blue dress that shimmered in the light from the hall.
“I’m Rona,” she said politely to the Strangs. “I’ve come to take Helen to our Gathering.”
“Of course,” said Helen’s Mum. “But aren’t you freezing in that dress?”
Rona looked at her arms and smiled. “It’s fine, I have a layer of fat that keeps me really warm.”
Helen tried not to giggle, then she hugged her Mum and Dad. “I’ll be back after midnight. Is that okay?”
“So long as someone brings you home.”
“We’ll get her home, don’t worry,” said Rona. “We always have.”
With the adults watching, Helen and Rona left by the gate, rather than leaping over the fence.
“Thanks for the invitation,” Helen said as they walked down the path.
“Oh, we were always going to invite you. We just never got time to do it properly before.”
“But thanks especially for the PS. It turns out that Mum will forgive me anything if she thinks I’ve been helping poor dumb animals. It got me out of a lot of trouble.”
Sapphire was waiting in the lane and the girls climbed on. They flew for only quarter of an hour, before landing on the edge of a flat grassy space bordered by a small woodland, a curve of river leading to the sea and a stony beach. The sea and the river were calm on this dry windless night.
Helen looked towards the centre of the clearing. It was filled with moving lights and shadows. There were figures milling around on varying numbers of legs: some walking, some flying, some huge, some so small she could hardly make them out.
“Where are we?” asked Helen.
“A place where all the fabled beasts, from land and sea, from river and tree, can feel at home. We gather here every Solstice, Winter and Summer.”
They jumped off Sapphire and were met by Yann and Lavender.
Lavender was wearing a very frilly purple dress and carrying a large wand, bound with ribbons. Yann had several narrow plaits in his hair and had groomed his coat and polished his hooves.
“Tell me about the Book,” asked Helen. “Did you get it home safely?”
“Yes, we did,” whispered Yann, “but no one else knows, so don’t shout about it. Our parents will be bringing out the Book soon, and unless the Book decides to tell of its adventure, we may have escaped punishment.”
“Hardly,” said Helen. “Every single one of you will have a scar of some kind. Is Catesby still an egg?”
Yann patted the embroidered pouch on his hip gloomily. “Yes.”
“So what happens at your Solstice Gathering?”
Rona answered, “First we consult the Book, then some families and tribes dance or sing, or create beauty in other ways. Then we all eat and drink far too much and go to bed very late!”
Helen took off her rucksack. “Well, in my family, we give gifts at this time of year, so I brought you each something.”
She pulled four packages from her rucksack.
First she handed Sapphire a hard round package. “So you can see how you look with your necklaces and bracelets on.” Sapphire ripped the paper to find a mirror with gemstones round the frame. The dragon held it in her silver claws and admired herself, rumbling a note of deep pleasure.
Then Helen handed Rona a square package. “For singing on rocks.” Rona found a book of sea shanties and ballads, and started humming them immediately.
Helen gave Yann another flat package but said nothing as he opened it. He found a hardcover book too, but with blank pages. “Now you can write your own answers,” said Helen quietly.
Last, she gave Lavender a tiny soft package and an envelope. Lavender opened the package and out fell a little white dress with pink and blue ribbons. “Oh Helen, it’s lovely … but I can only wear purple.” Lavender sounded on the edge of tears.
“Open the envelope.”
Out of the envelope fluttered pictures from a gardening catalogue; varieties of lavender with white, pink and blue flowers.
“You can wear lots of colours, and not lose your Lavender luck.”
Lavender squealed, and created a small cylinder of black round herself while she changed quickly into her new dress.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she shouted and kissed Helen on the nose.
The others thanked her too, in quieter voices. “We don’t have gifts for you,” apologized Rona.
“I can watch your celebration and that will be your gift.”
They turned towards the centre of the field, nearer the lights and the shifting figures.
But Helen’s way was suddenly blocked by a huge white beast.
Its head towered over her, and its powerful legs and hooves forced her backwards.
“Who has brought a human to our secret gathering?”
“I have,” said Yann, trotting to Helen’s side.
The beast shifted back slightly and Helen saw that this was another centaur. A pure white horse, joined to a man’s pale torso and blond head. But he was a chest and head taller than Yann.
“Why is she here?” he demanded, his voice deeper and richer than Yann’s. “These creatures have poisoned our land, cut down our woods and built on every inch of good galloping ground. They use our cousins the horses as slaves. Humans are more our enemies than any practitioners of dark magic. Get her away from here, son.”
Helen felt all her friends move closer to her.
“Humans are not our enemies, Father. And dark magic is not to be talked of lightly.”
Yann spoke in his usual arrogant voice, but Helen heard a quiver that was not normally there. She wasn’t sure if she should speak up, try to defend Yann. Then she remembered Yann listening awkwardly to her and her Mum arguing and decided that a human girl getting between him and his father wouldn’t help Yann at all.
His father spoke high above them all. “You know little of the world, colt. You do not know how even the most silver-tongued human can betray you.”
“I judge this human girl not by what she says but by what she does. And she has never betrayed us. So she will stay with us tonight.”
Yann’s father took a sudden pace towards him. But Yann stood firm. The huge stallion wound one of Yann’s plaits round his fingers and pulled his head up.
“Do you defy me? You will not mix with this kind. You will not risk our people being betrayed and discovered. If you will not remove her, then I will do it myself, with my hooves and my hands.”
Sapphire growled gently behind Helen.
The white centaur glanced over. “I am not afraid of dragons, lizard child. I have beaten your father in a fair fight before now and would make easy work of you.”
Concerned that this was becoming more than a family disagreement, Helen said softly, “I don’t want to cause trouble, Yann. I’ll just go home if I’m not wanted.”
Yann jerked his head back out of his father’s grip. “No, healer’s child. I invited you here, and you are my guest. Please stay. Most other fabled beasts will treat you with courtesy.”
He raised his voice to the skies. “Father, she is a healer, a musician and a solver of riddles. This
gathering has welcomed bards and adventurers from the human race for millennia. More than that, she is my friend. If I have to, I will fight for her right to be here.”
Yann stood as tall as he could, chin up, and looked straight at his father.
The white centaur reared once, his hooves a hair’s breadth from his son’s face. Yann didn’t move.
His father laughed as his hooves touched the ground. “You are growing up, boy. Don’t let her run off with any of our treasures.”
He turned and walked away, flicking his silvery white tail, and lifting his massive hooves delicately over the long dark grass.
Yann watched him go, his face pale and his chest heaving. When his father was out of sight in the crowd of beasts, he turned to the others and muttered, “Come on, let’s go and watch the Book reading.”
He started to move away, but Helen touched his arm and he stopped.
She waited until the others were out of earshot.
“Thank you, Yann.”
Yann was silent for a few moments. Then he said quietly, “My father is not always right.” He grinned at Helen. “Neither am I, but don’t tell anyone!”
The two of them followed the others to a small rise in the grass, behind the mass of fur, feathers and scales gathered around a central space. They could see over the fabled beasts’ heads to a white stone in the middle of the crowd.
Yann looked around. “If the Book wants to accuse us of rule breaking, then we might be able to make an escape from here.”
Helen asked, “You would run away?”
He sighed. “No. We brought the Book back, and no one died. If the Book tells, we will be in a great deal of trouble, but we would see it through. Wouldn’t we?”
Lavender looked a bit weepy, but Rona and Sapphire nodded. Then they waited for the Book.
Chapter 22
As Helen watched, a procession emerged from the forest. Leading it was Yann’s father, followed by a red dragon, a tall willowy woman with stiff arms, a tiny flickering blue fairy and a short plump woman in shimmering green who looked like Rona.