12

That night I go to bed early but it’s impossible to sleep. Theo, the woods, Ella’s posters, all go round and round my head, and I can’t make it stop.

On the floor below, the toilet flushes then a door clicks shut. I listen as Nell settles down for the night. Soon enough, the house falls quiet but I’m more wide awake than ever, so I get up and go to the window.

That’s when I see Flo. She’s in the garden, directly below my window, staring up. I feel a shiver of excitement. By the time I reach the garden she’s vanished, but I’ve an idea where I’ll find her.

Sure enough, Flo’s at the same spot where we last met. She’s sat cross-legged, her back against the tree trunk. I crouch down beside her. The ground’s too wet for sitting, but she doesn’t seem to have noticed.

‘You couldn’t sleep either?’ I ask.

‘No,’ she says. ‘And I won’t until the fairies are safe again and Darkling Wood has been saved.’

This feels like a dig at me for not taking her seriously.

‘I’m sorry I don’t believe in your fairy stuff,’ I say.

One look at her face and it’s clear she’s not about to let me off the hook.

‘Then you’ll have to keep trying,’ says Flo. ‘Because bad things will happen if your grandmother destroys this wood.’

‘What bad things?’

She sighs. ‘I’ve explained this already, Alice. The fairies will take revenge. Weren’t you listening?’

‘I was, but … seriously?’ I say. ‘Nell’s set on cutting down the trees. I don’t think she’ll change her mind if I tell her there are fairies in the wood.’

‘She doesn’t have to. You’re the one the fairies have chosen. They want you to believe in them. I mean it, Alice, if you don’t then their magic might not be strong enough to save the wood.’

It sounds nuts. But for some reason I feel a twinge in my stomach. I get to my feet.

‘You can’t just make someone believe in something that doesn’t exist,’ I say. ‘It’s ridiculous!’

‘Fairies do exist, that’s my point,’ says Flo. ‘They aren’t just tiny creatures from storybooks. They make trouble for people who interfere in their world.’

‘How do you know?’ I ask.

Flo hesitates. ‘Once, a long time ago, I did something that angered the fairies.’

I look at her.

‘Like what?’

‘Never mind that now,’ she says, fiddling with her coat cuffs because she can’t meet my eye. ‘But I know how awful their revenge can be.’

Sat there under the tree she looks so pale, so lost, I almost believe her. But I still can’t make sense of what she’s saying.

‘So let me get this straight,’ I say. ‘The fairies are already working against my grandmother.’

‘Yes. They rubbed the crosses off the trees, and they’re the reason no tree surgeon is willing to do the job.’

‘But a man came yesterday. You saw him.’

Flo sighs impatiently. ‘Yes, and there will be more delays, more mischief, just you wait and see. The fairies will use all the magic they can to try to change Nell’s mind. But it might not be enough. If it isn’t and the trees come down, then they’ll be out for revenge.’

I think of Theo. My stomach twinges, harder this time. Flo sees she’s got my full attention now.

‘The fairies should be able to stop your grandmother before it’s too late. But that’ll depend on you, Alice.’

I wish she’d stop saying that.

‘I just don’t see why it has to be me,’ I say.

Flo shrugs. She doesn’t seem to know either. ‘You need to believe in fairies, Alice. If you do then their magic is more likely to succeed. If you don’t, then … well, I don’t know what we’ll do.’

Flo sees how confused I am. Getting to her feet, she points to a place about six feet up the tree.

‘That is a fairy door.’

Now I laugh. Just once. Then cough to cover it up when I see Flo looking cross.

‘Sorry,’ I say. ‘Honestly, how do you know all this stuff?’

‘A fairy expert once told me.’

‘A fairy expert?’

Flo frowns at me. ‘Will you please listen?’

‘Sorry,’ I say again.

She takes a deep breath. ‘Look at where the trunk splits in two. It forms a gap, a space. See it?’

I nod.

‘Good. Now, do you see how, just a few feet higher up, the trunk comes back together again?’

‘Yes.’ Where the trunk splits it forms an oblong hole in the tree. It’s possible to see right through to the other side.

‘That space is a fairy door,’ says Flo.

‘A fairy door?’

She gives me a pained look. ‘Oh, do stop repeating everything I say.’

‘Sorry,’ I say, yet again. It’s probably easier just to play along. ‘So, how does it work?’

‘A fairy door is a very magical place. It’s a boundary between our world and theirs.’ She beckons me over. ‘Come and have a look.’

The bottom of the fairy door is above the top of my head. I have to stand on my highest tiptoes and pull myself up with my hands to look through it.

‘What do you see?’ Flo asks.

‘Um … trees … dead leaves … the woods. Why, what am I looking for?’

‘Fairies, obviously.’ She’s getting grumpy again. ‘Think of it as a window rather than a door. Look through it, concentrate a little and you might see fairies.’

‘I am looking, but I can’t see anything.’

Flo sighs. ‘All right. You can stop now. It’s probably too soon.’

I’m about to ask what she means when my left hand, still gripping the branch, finds a dip in the wood. Something’s stuffed inside it. As I touch it, it crackles. What I take out is a piece of paper.

‘Is it yours?’ I ask, turning to Flo.

She shakes her head.

The paper is folded over. It’s thick. Good quality. As I open it, I see five words. The letters are black. Capitals. Written so big they fill the page.

‘PLEASE KEEP MY BROTHER SAFE.’

I fold it back up again so I don’t have to look at it.

‘Did you write this?’ I ask. ‘How do you even know about Theo?’

‘But I didn’t write it, I promise,’ says Flo. ‘Perhaps it was the fairies. Their magic is especially strong in this tree – it’s a beech tree, you see, and beeches have special properties.’

‘How’s that got anything to do with my brother?’ I say. My voice shakes with anger.

Flo tries to take my hand, but I snatch it away. I don’t want any of this to be about Theo. I don’t even want to talk about him right now. It scares me. I screw up the piece of paper and stuff it back in the tree.

‘I’m sorry Flo, but this is stupid. I don’t believe any of this. I … just … can’t.’

Flo nods. Takes a step away from me. She’s crying now, which makes me feel bad.

‘I’m sorry too,’ she says. ‘I don’t think you quite realise how awful this could become. If your grandmother cuts down this wood then the fairies will …’

‘I can’t listen to this, Flo,’ I say, shaking my head. ‘My brother is being cared for by doctors in a top London hospital. Fairies have got nothing to do with it.’

‘Not yet,’ she says.

I stare at her. I can’t think how to reply.

‘Goodbye, Flo,’ I say.

I’ve had enough.

*

Nell’s waiting for me in the kitchen.

‘Well?’ she says.

‘Well what?’

‘Don’t take that tone with me,’ she says.

I wonder if she’s about to slap me. She doesn’t; she locks the back door and puts the key in her pyjama pocket.

‘Let’s start again, shall we?’ she says.

I fold my arms.

‘Borage woke me,’ she says. ‘He was whining at my bedroom door because someone had been downstairs and let him out of the kitchen.’

‘Oh.’ I feel my face go red. ‘I didn’t mean to.’

‘Your shoes were gone too,’ she says. ‘And your coat. Where have you been, Alice?’

‘Why?’

‘I won’t have this!’ she says.

‘Won’t have what?’ I know I’m being lippy but I’m angry too.

‘This wandering about like you own the place. First I catch you poking about upstairs, now you’re going off in the middle of the night. It’s got to stop!’

‘I was only in the woods.’

‘Doing what exactly?’

I look at my feet. ‘Nothing.’

‘Nothing?’

‘All right, I couldn’t sleep so I went and had a look at that tree.’

‘Which tree?’

‘The one …’ I hesitate because this is going to sound nuts, ‘… with the fairy door …’

Nell leans on the table like she’s dizzy. ‘Who told you about that tree?’

I don’t answer.

But I’ve landed myself in it now because Flo’s not allowed in the wood and it was my job to tell her. Nell doesn’t wait for me to speak. She starts shouting inches from my face.

‘Did you climb it?’

‘Of course not! Why would I?’

‘Because if I think for one second you’ve been climbing trees, you’ll stay in your room for the next MONTH, do you hear me?’

‘I won’t be here that long,’ I mutter.

She’s breathing fast. She won’t look at me.

‘Bed!’ she says, pointing to the door. ‘And that’s an order.’

*

Up in my room, I try to phone Mum. If by some miracle I get a signal, I’ll beg her to take me home. But my phone’s completely dead and when I search my stuff, I realise I’ve not packed the charger. I climb into bed and cry myself empty. No one here can make it better – not Flo, not Nell, not the trees. The people I love most are two hours away by car, but it might as well be another country. Stuck here I can’t do anything except wait. And hope. Though it seems I’m not much good at either.