The after-school bus drops me in the village square. Walking the steep hill home, I get my phone out. There are no messages from Mum or Lexie, but that single bar of reception makes me call them both because I’m dying to talk to someone from home. When neither of them answers my eyes fill up, although I’d probably cry if they’d answered too; it’s been that sort of day.
Reaching the woods, I walk slowly, kicking up leaves. The air smells muddy and damp. All I hear now is the wind in the treetops. It’s a whooshing, roaring sound like you get inside a seashell, even when you’re a million miles from the sea.
Everything is far away, that’s the problem. I’ve never gone this long without Mum or Theo. All day they’ve kept popping into my head. I’d be doing fractions or thinking Max had a nice smile or wondering why Ella was in a sulk, and then – ouch – I’d remember: I’m here – they’re there. Though it’s a different sort of hurt from when Dad left for Devon, because then he chose to go.
Out of the gloom, something red comes towards me. It’s Flo. I’m stupidly pleased.
‘You got here quick!’ I say, grinning. ‘D’you catch a different school bus or something?’
‘Stop!’ she cries. ‘Don’t come any closer!’
‘What?’
‘Stay where you are! Don’t move!’
Her hands are in the air, palms facing me. She looks panicked. I feel the grin freezing on my face.
‘Now,’ she says, taking a deep breath. ‘Very slowly take a step back.’
‘But …’
‘Just do it, Alice!’
‘All right! Keep your hair on!’
I do as I’m told.
‘Now take another step, and another, until you’re back by that tree.’ She points to an old twisted trunk. Once I’m stood by it, she comes over – not directly, but in a roundabout way like she’s avoiding a certain spot.
‘It’s a good job you didn’t step inside the ring!’ she says, pink-cheeked and flustered. ‘That almost went horribly wrong!’
I’ve not the foggiest what she’s on about.
‘The fairy ring,’ she says. ‘Didn’t you see it?’
She’s pointing to the place where, moments ago, I’d been about to step. All I see is dead leaves. Nothing odd in that. The entire floor of this wood is covered in the same carpet of reds and yellows and browns.
‘It’s late in the season, but you can see where mushrooms were,’ she says. ‘Look. Here. And here.’
She traces a circle shape with her finger. I don’t know about the fairy part but there’s certainly some stubby grey things poking up through the leaves.
‘Go on then, what would’ve happened if I’d stepped into the fairy ring?’ I ask.
I’m thinking thunder. Lightning. Or nothing at all. It’s very hard to keep a straight face, especially as Flo looks so serious.
‘You’d become invisible,’ she says. ‘Or the fairies would make you dance until you died.’
‘Right, of course.’ This is nuts. Then she points at my bobble hat, which I’m wearing pulled right down over my ears.
‘But if you’d worn your hat inside out, it would’ve protected you.’
She’s back on that again.
‘Wow. That’s … um … helpful to know, thanks,’ I say.
Irritably she stuffs her hands in her pockets. ‘I wish you’d believe me. This is terribly important, you know.’
‘Sorry.’
I don’t want to upset her. The thing is I’m glad Flo’s here. She’s, I don’t know, different. I wonder if she wears that red coat to school; it’d stand out a mile. But then if she’s a Traveller she might not go to school, and maybe that’s why I didn’t see her today.
‘Do you care for these woods?’ says Flo suddenly.
I’m caught off guard. Care? It’s an odd thing to ask.
‘They’re kind of beautiful, in an eerie way,’ I say. ‘But I get why Nell wants them cut down. The roots growing so close to the house means she’ll end up with subsidence …’
‘What?’
‘It’s something to do with the foundations of the house becoming unsafe …’
‘I know what it means,’ Flo snaps. ‘And it’s clear what your grandmother feels about Darkling Wood. But I asked what you think of it. Do you care?’
Do I? It’s not something I’ve really thought about.
Looking at the trees, they seem less spooky today. More mysterious. As I take a deep breath, I feel something, though I’m not sure what it is.
Flo speaks first. ‘Your grandmother plans to clear this wood, and in doing so will destroy the homes of the fairies that live here. It’s a terrible, pointless thing she wants to do.’
‘It’s not pointless to her,’ I say, feeling like I’m defending Nell. ‘Darkling Cottage is her home and she doesn’t want it falling down around her. It’s her home she’s worried about. And she wants to let more light in because the house is really dark inside. Honestly, we’ve always got the lights on.’
‘So you believe her?’
‘Why wouldn’t I?’
Flo’s mouth tightens. ‘I see. But you don’t believe me.’
She’s right, of course; I don’t believe her. But there’s a big difference between pretending there are fairies and wanting your house to be safe. Yet I don’t want her to hate me because of Nell. I had a taste of that from Ella at school today and it didn’t feel very nice.
‘Go on then, explain it to me,’ I say. ‘Why should I believe in fairies?’
Flo squares her shoulders.
‘The fairies are trying to save Darkling Wood because it’s their home. They’re using their magic to delay things, to cause upsets – mischief, if you like – so that your grandmother will get fed up and abandon her plans.’
It sounds like a story. Or a film. It certainly doesn’t sound real.
‘You want me to believe this?’
‘If you do, it’ll make their magic more powerful, more likely to succeed.’
‘I don’t see how.’
Flo pushes her hair off her face and fixes me with her very blue eyes.
‘Think of your home,’ she says. There’s a break in her voice now. It tugs at something in me. ‘Think of what it means to you.’
I don’t need to think.
I know.
My home is the ache in my chest, and though I’m trying hard not to let it, it’s eating away at me. It’s the thing that’s missing. It’s our house, Number 24 Eastbourne Terrace with blue and red glass in the front door so that when the sun shines through it, it makes coloured patches on the floor.
And I miss it I miss it I miss it.
Flo keeps talking. ‘This wood belongs to the fairies. It’s their home. We can’t just take things that don’t belong to us. I’ve learned that the hard way, believe me. So Alice, I’m asking you to open your mind, to believe that something magical does exist here in Darkling Wood. If you do, it’ll give the fairies strength to save the trees.’
‘Why me? Why does what I think matter?’
‘There are reasons,’ Flo says.
I frown. ‘Like what?’
‘I don’t know,’ she says. ‘But the fairies have picked you – that’s why they turned your hat inside out.’
I still don’t believe her. It’s all too bizarre. Too weird. And yet I’m aware of a stillness coming over me. I feel calm and peaceful. I haven’t felt like this in days.
Then, up ahead, I hear the gate click. People are coming; their voices get nearer. One of the speakers is Nell. My heart thumps. She’s not going to be thrilled to find me here with Flo, not after the white crosses got wiped off and I was meant to warn her about trespassing.
‘Get down!’ I hiss to Flo. ‘She mustn’t see you!’
We crouch behind a clump of bracken. Fingers crossed it’s enough to hide Flo’s coat. The speakers come into view now. Nell is with a man who’s wearing one of those fluorescent jackets, and as she points at the trees, he scribbles things down in a notebook. I hold my breath. They’re standing near to the fairy ring. Another step and they’ll be inside it, and for a split second I think about warning them, though of what, exactly?
I bite my lip. My heart keeps thudding, not from nerves now but something else.
I sense Flo watching me.
‘What?’ I mouth.
She gives me a tiny smile. ‘You feel it too, don’t you? You know there’s magic in these woods.’
I’m not sure what I’m feeling, but as I look at Nell and the man my fists seem to clench up tight.
‘I knew I could count on you, Alice,’ Flo whispers.
I don’t know what to think, but it seems we’re friends now, which is a start, at least.