“Just unload the handcart Zia, then we’ll go in for tea.” Mr Crickletam was stacking logs as he spoke to his son. It would soon be autumn and the wood was needed for the fires, for heat and cooking. Getting firewood was a very important task and took up a lot of their time.
“OK Dad.” Zia didn’t look up but continued to unload the logs from the wooden hand cart. He was ready for his tea, he thought of the warm kitchen and wondered what lovely smells of cooking would greet them as they went indoors. The kitchen was always cosy and warm. Home was the hollowed out stump and trunk of a huge chestnut tree that had come down in a storm many years ago. Mr.Crickletam had claimed it and turned it into a warm and very comfortable house using his skills as a woodsman and carpenter. The upright piece of the stump, where it had broken and the long piece of the trunk made up what was a very solid and safe home, with a stairway leading from one piece to the other. The long piece of trunk was resting on its huge branches and not flat on the ground so there were different levels to ‘Chestnut House’, as it was called.
Zia remembered, as a child, how hard a job this had been and how all the men in the Little Folk village had helped in the task. It had taken a very long time, at least half a year, just to hollow out the stump and to join the trunk part to it by means of a covered stairway. The hard work continued until, room by room, the house was complete. Little Folk always helped each other, it was in their nature, being small in stature didn’t stop them from thinking big. Mr.Crickletam stood about thirty centimetres tall. It made sense to work together. They looked after each other. The woods could be a dangerous place with so many wild creatures and so many dangers threatening their existence.
“That’s it Dad. We’ve done well today, don’t you think?” Throwing down the last branch from the cart, Zia felt quite pleased with himself.
“You’re right there Son, at this rate we will have to extend the log shed but I don’t mind that, can’t have too much firewood. Come on Zia lets go in, I’ll saw up the rest and stack it tomorrow.”
The delicious aroma of sausage, egg, wild mushroom and toast, greeted them as they entered the green door in the tree stump.
“Smells good, dear.” said Zia’s dad to his happy, smiling wife. She always seemed to be happy and could see the brighter side of things as long as her family were all safe and well.
The two younger members of the family, Zia’s five year old brother Ophie and his three year old sister, Fin, were already sitting at the table and Zia and his dad joined them. Watching his mum pour steaming blackberry tea into their mugs and listening to Ophie and Fin giggling over a private joke made Zia smile but he had been thinking.
He didn’t feel settled, he felt restless and a little frustrated knowing that soon he would leave school and be expected to work all day with his father. Then he wouldn’t have much time to do the things he wanted, things that would at least, be more exciting than chopping down trees. He wasn’t looking forward to spending several hours every day in the workshop, making things, sawing wood and chopping logs for the fires. Zia liked to help but he wanted adventure and excitement.
Mr.Crickletam enjoyed being a carpenter and he made really beautiful things but Zia couldn’t be sure that he wanted to do the same job. He had learned a fare bit about woodwork from watching and helping and he did enjoy seeing the things he had helped to make being used.
It felt good knowing that other Little Folk appreciated the effort that was put into the items they made or mended. The work gave them everything the family needed but it was still boring.
Zia’s father always worked hard and they had what seemed a very good life. Good but dull……..so very dull, or so it seemed to Zia. He never went anywhere different to meet new people or have real adventures and once he started work full time, he never would.
His parents didn’t seem to understand what he wanted or expected. They made him feel that because he wanted to do things that they had never done, he was being selfish and they just told him to settle down and think about the life he had, a much better life than there had been in the old days when they had to live deep in the cold, damp mines, relying on miners to help provide food. Oh boy!… that was such a drag. He knew that things had been hard in the days of the working mines but he couldn’t change that could he? He wasn’t to blame for what had gone on then…..he just wanted things to be different for him now. Was that such a bad thing?
Little Folk had been about in all mining areas for as long as there had been mine workings. Their history was linked to the earliest sites. Zia had been told legends and stories of how the secretive Little Folk were there to give warnings to the mine workers about cave-ins or floods, rock falls or foul air that could kill those working below ground or on the surface.
This was done by many coded signs and sounds that the miners understood and in return for the help from the Little Folk the miners would leave food for their unseen helpers. In Cornwall it was usually a piece of pasty. As times got harder for the miners and many were starving, the offerings of food left for them grew less and the Little Folk suffered along with the mine-working men, women and the many children that worked long hours in dreadful conditions for their meagre wages.
Zia knew these things, understood how Little Folk came to live around and in mines but that was history. There were no working mines in this part any more and very few any where else in Cornwall.
Ophie and Fin were still content to do what all the other Little Folk children did but he just had to get out and find something exciting and adventurous.
Tomorrow was Saturday, no school. He could go and see if there was anything or anybody new out there. Where ‘out there’ was he wasn’t sure but he made up his mind, right then, that he was going. If he got up really early, before anyone was awake, he could be gone and back before he was missed. He just had to find some excitement, and this was his chance to find the adventure he craved. Sitting in his room he thought of things he should take with him. He had to guess what he might need, as never having been on an adventure before there was no way of knowing.
He had been so bored lately that even when asleep his dreams were boring! Now he needed something different and new. Something to give him a story to tell at the gatherings held by the Little Folk every Wednesday and Saturday evening. Listening to all their tales, some that he had heard over and over again, made him determined to have an adventure. He never had anything exciting to tell, except maybe seeing a new butterfly.
Zia had heard stories about Dark Cave and some witches that lived there but that may not have been the truth as all Little Folk did tend to exaggerate in order to impress and anyway there was an unwritten law that nobody attempted to go anywhere near the cave. Nobody would tell him why but that was what he had been told ever since he could remember. The cave and anywhere over the other side of the lake was a big ‘no-go’ zone, out of bounds, strictly ‘no trespassing’, definitely ‘do not enter’. But WHY? Surely there couldn’t be any harm in just having a look, just a quick scout around to see for himself if there were any inhabitants in the Dark Cave. Finding nothing would be more exciting than finding a new butterfly!
That decided, Zia settled down in his bed, planning every move. His adventure was only a few hours away!! He tossed and turned, making sleep seem impossible. Now that he had made the decision to go exploring he was excited, too excited to rest. Never the less, drifting into sleep, [half way through packing his imaginary backpack], he slipped quickly into a dream that he could not understand or explain.
He woke easily at daybreak and was eager to make a start on what he was sure was to be one of the best days of his life and wouldn’t he have a story to tell at the gathering this evening. Smiling to himself as he dressed quickly and made his way to the kitchen as quietly as he could, he quickly packed himself some food and drink. Stopping for breakfast now was too risky, someone might hear him and come to see what was happening and that would spoil everything.
The wood was full of tracks and paths. He sort of had an idea where he was heading, although not having been allowed on the other side of the lake, which is where he intended going, he had no way of knowing for sure. If he had known, he wouldn’t be in the predicament he now found himself.
“OK, OK I can do this.” Zia said, not exactly talking to himself, more thinking out loud as he clung to a branch some six foot off the ground. How on earth had he let himself get into this fix? If it hadn’t been for that darn fox chasing him, there is no way he would ever have been able to get this high up a tree but that fox looked hungry and he hadn’t wanted to become its dinner. There were things to do and places he wanted to see before anything like that happened. Looking down from what was a not too welcome vantage point, Zia took a deep breath.
“Help! Help!”, he yelled at the top of his voice.
He didn’t think that he would be heard. He had wandered too far away from the area he was meant to be in and that was partly why he was in this mess. In his own part of the woods he knew every hidey-hole and would have wriggled into one of those rather than scramble up a tree but this was better than the alternative, he had convinced himself of that. Tree or fox’s dinner….NO CONTEST!! If he fell from this height he would break something, a leg or an arm, his back or neck. Not a very pleasant thought. So just how was he to get down from here?
“Need some help?” said a small voice.
“Yes please………..Who……..Where are you?” Zia could see no one.
“You shouldn’t be here, should you? You know its out off bounds to Little Folk. This side of the lake is off limits to you!”
The voice was almost laughing, which Zia found very irritating. There was movement in the ferns, almost like a breath of wind or .…….that fox……but fox’s don’t talk. What was going on? Zia felt very uneasy and when a small figure appeared he could hardly believe what he was seeing and his only sound was a gasp.
“You look pretty silly up there. Can’t you get down?” the small figure asked mockingly.
“Of course I can’t get down. Why would I be shouting for help if I wasn’t….stuck. I might look silly but you sound stupid. Who are you anyway? Ouch!!” Zia yelped, the branch creaked as he shifted his weight to get a better look at this irritating little .…..person.
“OK, so do you want me to help you get down or not? You’re very rude.
My name is Nip and this is not a place you should be, is it?”
“Of course its not a place I should be that’s why I want to get down. Are you going to help me or not? Not that you are big enough to do anything about helping me but maybe you could go and get my Dad. Will you do that….I’ll tell you where to find him, he’s….”
“Your in no position to ‘tell’ me anything and I could get you down .…IF I wanted to…..IF you weren’t so rude.” Nip looked up at Zia and .…laughed. “You don’t look too safe up there, perhaps we could continue this conversation once you are back on the ground…….safely.”
Zia watched without a word as Nip took a tiny bag from around his shoulder and produced a length of what looked like hair, from inside it. Then a length of tube, only a few inches long and then something too small for him to see, from where he was, suspended on the creaking branch.
Nip fiddled with the items for a moment then looked up at Zia and telling him to “Catch this.” He placed the tube to his mouth and blew. Out flew the long hair like length attached to a grain of wheat and it headed directly for Zia at lightning speed and hit him on his shoulder. Zia grabbed at it and nearly overbalanced but managed to hold on to the flimsy thread, He was shaking and clinging on to the branch for all he was worth, arms and legs wrapped around it. Feeling sick and breathless he held on tightly to both branch and thread.
“Right, OK, well done. Now we just have to lower you to the ground. Are you all right .…..You look a bit, Ummm…… shaky.”
“I feel very shaky and rather sick. I can’t see how I am going to get down…how this skinny bit of thread is going to help. Come on DO some thing before this branch snaps and I fall and hurt myself.
Please don’t just stand there grinning,” Zia cried. He was not at all happy. There was a twig digging in his chest and he had lost a shoe and grazed his knee and elbow when he scrambled up the tree, it was only now that he could feel the stinging soreness where his knuckles were bleeding. Feeling rather sorry for himself he couldn’t see anything for this grinning idiot below him to find funny.
“Wrap the thread around your body under your arms and make sure its tied tightly,” Nip instructed.
“I can’t move, I have to hold on or I’ll fall.” “What does he think I am?’’ thought Zia getting very cross.
“Push up with one hand first and try to get into a sitting position. Don’t let go with your legs though.’’ Nip continued to advise and encourage Zia until, at last, the thread was tied tightly around his chest.
“Now comes the tricky bit…..you have to hold onto the branch with your hands and swing your legs down but make sure the thread is coming down OVER the branch and not on the same side as your body or you will just fall to the ground when you let go. Very painful,” joked Nip as he walked around a stout tree twice with his end of the thread and then stood holding it tightly.
“He really was very annoying,’’ thought Zia. If only he were down on the ground right now he would tell this comedian just what he thought of him. He would like to thump him, once he was down!
“I can’t let go or I will be dangling in mid air, or falling to the ground. I feel sick” wailed Zia.
“Hold onto the thread and let go of the branch one hand at a time. The thread wont break I promise. Then I will lower you to the ground, you will just have to trust me on this.” Nip sounded confident.
“Do I have a choice?’’ thought Zia. “I have to get down and I would be in real trouble anyway if Dad had found me here. He’s told me so many times to stay on ‘our’ side of the lake, right now all I want is to get down from this tree before he misses me and comes looking.’’
“OK. I’m going to do it now…..are you ready?”
Gingerly he threw one leg over the branch, his arms still wrapped around it.
“NO, STOP……THE OTHER LEG;” screamed Nip. “I told you, you must have the thread on the other side of the branch to your body. Try again. Slowly. That’s right Good. Now the other leg. OK now slowly ease yourself off the branch. Take the thread in one hand….now the other. Great now….are you all right?” Zia nodded his head furiously. “Hold tight and I’ll let you down.”
Clinging on for dear life, with eyes closed and his hands holding as tight to the thread as he could, he was lowered slowly and safely to the ground where he sank in a heap of shaky arms and legs while his rescuer untied the knots that held him captive. He was safe. It felt good. Surprised, he realised that he didn’t want to thump his annoying rescuer any more!
“Well, well, you’re down, you’re safe and I think its time you went home and from now on stay where you are meant to be.” Nip was standing in front of Zia as he sat on the ground.
“Who do you think you are? Telling me what to do. You have no authority over me or where I go so mind your own business and I am going where I want and that is MY business. Thanks for your help but I am fine now and I am going on with my adventure….when I find my shoe that is.” Zia stood up and went looking for his lost footwear. “Got it, blast its got a broken lace. Could you lend me some of that hair stuff, its very strong, what is it made of?”
“Its made of cobweb and no you can’t have any….unless you promise to go home and away from here. You’re heading for trouble if you go on. More trouble than you may realise, take a tip from me and GO HOME!! Your on the track to the Dark Cave and that’s no place for you. I can’t stop you doing anything but I am a Mine Minder and its my job to ward off and report any strangers in the area.” Nip stepped back and was packing the rescue equipment into his bag.
“I’m still going. Thanks again and maybe I’ll see you some time.” Zia finished tying the knot in his shoe lace and stood up only to find that he had been talking to himself and that Nip was away down the track, heading for Dark Cave.
‘I know where he’s going, I only have to follow him’ thought Zia, quickly getting his things together. ‘I’ll show that bossy, interfering little ‘Cave Minder.’’
Picking up his torch and the compass that had fallen from his pockets as he scrambled up the tree, Zia was more determined than ever to find the Dark Cave….. and Nip was going to lead him straight there!
As he approached the gaping hole in the rock, he felt the cold, damp air that’s always in dark, deep places and he wished, as he took out his torch and turned it on, that it was brighter and could show him more clearly what was in the cave.
He edged very slowly forward and called out. “Hello is anyone there?Nip, are you in there?’’ There was no answer and he felt uneasy and a little unsure, but Nip should be there somewhere. His torch made creepy shadows on the walls and he could see that further on there were steps leading down to a door. The steps were quite steep and he had a job to climb down them but when he reached the door it had no handle and no bell to ring. He thumped as hard as he could on the door with his fist and waited. Nothing. He tried again, louder this time. “Nip, can I come in?’’ He shouted bravely.
The door started to swing open and Zia jumped backward, nearly bumping into the steps. He peeped in the opening and saw a long, long tunnel lit by candles in holders on the wall. He stepped inside and started along the tunnel only to hear the door close behind him. He was trying to be brave and stand tall, he turned off his torch and put it in his pocket.
Along the tunnel there were doors on either side. They were big and dark and each one had a small hole in it, two thirds of the way up. A peep hole perhaps? Were there eyes peering at him from the other side? The hairs stood up on the back of his neck at the very thought. At the end of the tunnel was a flight of steps going down to who knew where. He wanted someone to come and speak to him, preferably Nip. Thinking about it, he only wanted to see Nip right now!! He chose a door and tapped lightly at first and then louder when no one answered. He shouted again. No response at all. He tried all the doors and there was no reply at any of them so he made his way toward the flight of steps. There seemed to be a great number of them. Things were looking more and more scary. He couldn’t turn back because the door was now closed. He had to descend the steps and find whoever it was that lived here. Slowly he lowered himself down each hard, cold, steep, uninviting step.
Cautiously he proceeded, with his heart beating very fast and very loudly. He listened for any sound, watched for any movement. At the bottom of the flight of steps the tunnel turned to the right, still lit by wall candles but now there were no doors.
Ahead was a black curtain draped across the tunnel. There was a small box on the wall beside it. He would be able to get past the curtain, he could slip around the side. As he pulled at the side of the curtain, out jumped Nip with a loud shout and arms waving. Zia nearly fell to the floor but hung onto the curtain to support himself.
“Why did you do that? How did you get here? And where are we?’’ Zia said trying to collect his wits and appear as though this sort of thing happened to him everyday.
“You do ask a great many questions don’t you. Firstly, you were shouting for me earlier so I thought I would just shout back. Shouting is very rude you know! Secondly, I got here the same way you did but I came down the steps easily thanks to my friend Kre the spider. She was there to help me. She is very large and she made a web ladder for me to climb down. Thirdly, we are in the Dark Cave’’. Nip answered all the questions with a smile on his face and waited to see what reply there would be from Zia.
Thinking as fast as his muddled mind would allow Zia was conscious that all the while, above them things zoomed past, high in the tunnels. He couldn’t tell what they were but they were very fast and made only the slightest sound. There was also the occasional whoooosh as something larger went by, high up, too high to see what it was.
“I know we are in Dark Cave but WHERE in Dark Cave, I mean? I know I have come through the tunnels. Where is everybody that lives here? I’ve knocked on all the doors and now I am here and there is only you. Who is it that lives here that you report to when you see someone, if you see anyone, that is, that should not be where they think that someone should not be. Not that I agree that I should not be where I was just because whoever it is, says I am not allowed there, here, wherever I am and I don’t know where that is anyway!!’’
“Goodness gracious, do you always talk so much, a quarter of that would have been enough.’’ Said a rather shocked Nip “I have never heard so much rubbish all at once.’’
Zia smiled, “Really. Oh! that’s great. We have competitions at home to see who can talk the most rubbish or gibberish, its considered a great talent. My uncle is the best at gibberish…….’’
“OK, OK, that’s enough don’t start again.’’ Nip said shaking his head and holding up his hands in a desperate gesture. “I’m not used to so much chatter and I would advise you to only speak when you are spoken to while you’re here,’’ Nip continued.
“There is only you here and I can’t see that I have to talk to you any differently than I would my friends and family back home,’’ replied a rather indignant Zia.
“And what if you are not talking to your family or Nip? Would you be a little more polite and mannerly?’’ asked a voice that Zia did not recognise.
Nip turned and smiled at the the large and elderly Witch that stood holding onto a very tatty broom. Zia just stood and stared with his mouth open and his eyes looking in disbelief at what he was seeing.
“Well, can’t you talk? You have come here against the advice given you by Nip and now you are in my home and I am talking to you, so will you please answer.’’ The witch put her head on one side and said “I am waiting, BOY!’’
Zia snapped to attention and started to stutter, “Y Y Yeess Mmm Mam, I will talk just as soon as I can. I’ve had a bit of a shock’’
“SHOCK! shock, you say. Well you are a bit of a shock to me. I didn’t invite you but you are here anyway. So, what do you want?’’, trembled the witch shaking her broom.
“Yes, well, er, um, I only wanted to see if there really were witches in Dark Cave and to have an adventure, and there are and I have and not only that but there is Nip, I didn’t know about Cave Watchers either. I will have so much to tell at tonight’s gathering. Everyone will be SO impressed.’’ continued Zia.
“You, tell, WHAT? I don’t think you will be telling anything to anybody, even if you want to, because you are here, not there, do you hear me? Also Nip is a Mine Minder NOT a Cave Watcher,’’ screamed the witch, poking her chin out and bending down to look Zia right in the face.
“But why would you keep me here?’’ replied Zia, almost in tears, “I am not very well behaved and I, Umm, I eat a lot and Umm, I make lots of washing and mess,’’ said Zia franticly.
“Well now, let me think. Why would I keep you here? Maybe I am all those things as well and you could be the one to cook my food, do my washing, I could try all my new spells out on you and .…. you could clean my cave. How does that sound, Aye?’’
Zia looked from the witch across at Nip, who looked very amused and not at all worried.
“Nip, what can I do? I think I would like to go home now, please, if I may and if I don’t tell any body about Dark Cave. Please can I go now?’’
“You must ask Grace, she is the one who makes decisions around here.’’ replied Nip.
“Grace, who and where is Grace? I think I could talk to some one with a name like Grace. It is such a nice gentle, kind, sort of name.’’ commented Zia.
“You’re standing in front of her.’’ said Nip with a giggle.
“You mean…..her?’’ Quizzed Zia. Nip nodded.
“Oh! No!’’ wailed Zia.
Grace looked at them both and then beckoned them to follow her. She turned and walked to a very large chair beside a very large fireplace with a bright fire burning in the grate.
Grace arranged her skirts and sat down, placing her broom against the wall beside her
“Sit, sit down on the bench, I want to talk to you”’’ She indicated to a bench on the opposite side of the fire.
Zia looked side ways at Nip and could see that he was quite relaxed and unworried, which was more than could be said for the way he was feeling right now. Nip climbed up into the seat by using the carved woodwork as a step ladder. He did it with ease. Zia followed and sat with his head bowed and his hands clasped, wondering what was coming next.
Grace spoke, with a firm but not frightening voice, “Now young man, what is your name and where do you come from?’’ she leaned over and stirred the huge cauldron that hung over the fire on a chain, mumbling strange words into it as she did so.
Zia look at her and began. “I am Zia Crickletam and I come from the other side of the water, where I live with my mother, father, sister, brother and the rest of my family. There are lots of us but you wouldn’t know that because if you did you wouldn’t be asking me and I wouldn’t have to answer because ...’’
“Stop gibbering. My goodness, now I remember all of the Little Folk like to talk about nothing. I know this because I DO know your family and your father in particular’’.
Zia was staring again, at the witch, wondering how and why she knew his family. He gave a sickly grin and nodded but couldn’t think of anything to say.
She continued. “It doesn’t surprise me at all that you have the audacity to come to my home without an invitation and walk in without so much as a by-your-leave. Your father was just the same!!’’
“Oh!’’ was all Zia could say and he had to think about that! By now Nip was facing the wall and shaking. He didn’t say a word and Zia was not sure if he was shaking with fear or if something else was wrong with him. It didn’t dawn on Zia that he was shaking with laughter!!
“Nip, go and get Talik and tell him to come here at once with the ‘Item Book’ from twenty years ago.” ordered Grace. “I need to check on something’’
Nip climbed down at once, but this time he swung from a thread of cobweb that took him to the floor with ease.
“Shall I go with him?’’ asked Zia, who was feeling rather awkward and a little frightened at being on his own with the huge witch.
“Indeed NO, you will stay right where you are. I want no more wandering around from you my BOY, don’t know how fortunate you are, fortunate that it was me that found you,’’ she squawked.
Zia didn’t feel very fortunate at all but he just nodded his head in agreement as he didn’t want to do anything to upset the witch. If this was fortunate he didn’t want to risk being unfortunate!
The door opened and Nip walked in followed by a wizened old man, very tall, with deep wrinkles and shuffling feet. He was dressed in purple robes and a very odd pear shaped hat in black with an elaborate purple feather poking out of the top. He had no beard but very long grey side whiskers and hair sticking out from under his hat. He had yellow eyes which were the most frightening thing about him and he carried a large green book which he handed, without a word, to Grace.
She took it, nodded at Talik and said, “Bring up a chair, Talik, my friend, and sit beside me. We have something to find in this book that could determine the future of this boy.’’
She smiled a wide, toothless smile and received one in return from Talik. Nip had climbed back up beside Zia and had stopped shaking, instead he worked his way back on the bench and sat propped in the corner. He looked very small, which, indeed, he was.
Zia was now more concerned than ever. The book could determine his future, but how? He had a feeling he was about to find out. The witch and Talik sat together and poured over the book, mumbling and pointing at things on different pages. They didn’t seem to say much that could be understood by Zia but they were obviously communicating together in some way, about the contents of the book. Finally Grace looked up and pointed a long bony finger at Zia. He could hardly breathe. He felt very frightened.
“You are just like your father. Twenty years ago he was the one sitting where you are now. Didn’t he tell you never to come here?’’ questioned the witch.
When Zia found his voice he tried to answer. The words just came out squeaky and jumbled up.
“He, they, we. No, yes, I think, but I, I don’t, Oh dear!’’
Grace looked at him in astonishment and he heard Nip giggle. The witch shook her head and pointed again at Zia.
“One moment you can’t stop talking, the next you can’t say a sentence. The only thing for sure is that neither time did you make any sense at all. What is the matter with you? I don’t know what your made of.’’ remarked the old witch
‘Made of, thought Zia, made of, what does she mean ‘made of’, is she thinking of eating me? Is that a recipe book she has there for “Tasty ways to cook Little Folk’’?’
She continued, “Your father was just as nosey as you and thought he would come and visit, he was very lucky to get away with it as lightly as he did.’’
“What do you mean, ‘Lucky to get away with it’, away with what?’’ Zia had found his tongue but it felt very dry, he would like a drink. It was Talik that answered, and as he did so Zia pulled back, those yellow eyes seemed to burn right through him, he was terrified but the old wizard just said in a very smooth voice,
“We are not the only ones that live here. Not everyone who lives here is as nice and kind as we are. Why do you think you were told not to come here? Do you ever listen to what you are told?
You are not out of trouble yet, but we will do the best we can to save you.’’
Zia’s mind was racing. If they were nice and kind what were the others, whoever they were, that he had not met and that it was better if he did not, like? What was this trouble that he was in, that he knew nothing about because nobody had told him and that his future could depend on? Oh dear.
This was getting worse….. Zia took a deep breath, swallowed and started to speak,
“I do listen, its just that I wanted an adventure and because I had been told that I should not visit the Dark Cave I thought that would be a really good and exciting adventure and then I met Nip and he said he would not stop me from coming here. I just thought that what ever it was that was awful about this place could not be so bad if Nip lived here and he didn’t seem worried by whatever it was and….’’
“Yes, Yes, well don’t start talking gibberish again or we will be here all day and we have a lot to do if you are ever, and I do mean EVER, going to get out of here in one piece.’’
Grace spoke to Nip, “You didn’t tell him why and how you live here then?’’
Nip sat up and replied, “No, he wanted adventure and I did tell him not to come but why should I tell him my business? If I hadn’t seen him outside he would have come in anyway, I didn’t MAKE him come in. Anyway its been good fun - so far!!’’ Nip was grinning again.
Zia thought he sounded a bit mean.
“I will go and contact The Others and see if I can persuade them to let him go without paying for his intrusion but I don’t hold out too much hope. They let his father go and now Zia has broken the code again. The same family. It doesn’t look good. There will have to be a lot of negotiation and some sort of compensation will have to be paid,’’ the wizard said, turning and addressing Grace.
“Tell them I will join you all as soon as I can. I have to put the boy somewhere safe. They know he is here and they could come looking for him,’’ the witch instructed Talik.
Turning to Nip she said, “Go to the Lower Level and make sure that Calda is making things ready. I told him to expect a visitor.”
Once again Nip did as he was bid and once more Zia was alone with the witch. He felt like running but there was no where to go. He was well and truly at the mercy of Grace. She leaned forward in the huge chair and stared at him,
“What time did you leave home this morning? Are you hungry. Thirsty? WELL? Answer me boy.’’’’ I left very early, before anyone was up, before the birds were singing. I had some food with me but I left my things outside the cave, except for my torch. I’m very thirsty and I would like a drink,’’ Zia said politely.
“Very well I will make sure Nip gets you something but don’t expect much, we don’t like fancy food,’’ the witch said almost kindly.
Grace turned as she heard the door open and another figure entered. Zia was wishing that Nip would come back. He was feeling outnumbered.
“Ah! Calda. Good of you to come up. Don’t often see you at this level. How are things down below?’’
Calda looked a little younger than Talik but was dressed in a similar way. His hat was different. It was black, a triangular, tall creation, with a gold star on one side.
“Hello Grace.” he replied. “Everything is nice and dark and cold as usual down below. I wonder if you would be good enough to ask the candle makers to be sure and send black candles next time,
I don’t like the white ones they spoil my décor. Its bad enough having to have light at all but I understand that our ‘visitor’ will need to see where he is going. Is this the Little Folk boy?’’ Calda nodded toward Zia, and walked toward him.
Zia was frozen to the spot, the yellow eyes were just like Talik’s and made Zia feel just as uncomfortable.
“That’s him’’ she said, nodding, “Take him now and make sure you don’t let him out of your sight.
You know what could happen if you do.’’
Calda lent over the frightened Zia and smiled. He had teeth!!! Rather yellow, like his eyes, but it made him seem a little more friendly, and his voice was soft and silky smooth, like a…..worm!!
“I will carry you down. Its steep and slippery on the steps. Nip likes to slide down the hand rail but its taken him years to manage to do it without fear of falling to an even lower level and lower than my Lower Level is not where you would want to be, believe me!!”
He cackled in a most frightening way. Zia wasn’t at all sure he wanted to go with Calda but he really did not have any choice. Calda popped Zia into one of the huge pockets in his purple robe and with a quick goodbye to Grace he was away. It was a very strange way to travel as it did not seem as though Calda was walking, there were no foot steps and no bobbing up and down, as you would expect with normal walking. Once he had got himself the right way up, Zia reached up and caught hold of the edge of the pocket he was travelling in. Pulling it down as far as it would go and himself up as far as he could, on tip toes, he could just manage to see out. It was very dark with no lights at all, but he could tell that they were in a narrow tunnel by the fact that Calda’s robe was brushing against the sides. Then a door, which opened with aloud yyyeeeekkkkkk sound and closed with a thud. It must have been a very heavy door and one, Zia thought, he was unlikely to be able to open on his own. Did Nip manage, some how, to open it? Then there was a dim light which allowed him to see that they were going down stone steps, steep stone steps but again there was no sensation that Calda was walking down them, more…gliding!!
Zia could see the hand rail that Nip must slide down and the other side of the rail was just darkness, nothing at all that he could see. At the bottom of the steps Calda turned sharp left, leaving the blackness of the depths beyond the hand rail, behind on the right.
Along the tunnel, now quite well lit, were doors and alcoves but the doors were closed and the alcoves were dark and deep so he couldn’t see if there was anything in them. All the doors had the small holes in them and all the entrances had the little boxes on the walls beside them. By now Zia’s fingers were getting tired of holding down the pocket and his legs tired of standing on tip-toe. Then they were standing still and Calda opened a door and spoke in the same mumbling tongue that Talik had used to speak to Grace. It seemed he was talking to himself. Maybe it was a code to unlock the door. Through the doorway they went and Zia saw to his relief that Nip was there sitting cross legged on a rug. Then he was being lifted out of the pocket and placed beside Nip.
It was cold and felt damp but there on a tray was food that turned out to be nettle and dandelion soup, bread and blackberry jam, hot crab apple tea and elderberry jelly with cream. Zia was very hungry and the food smelled and looked very good. Nip was smiling, as usual, Nip always seemed to be smiling. He held out a thick fur jacket and long fur boots.
“You will need these down here. It’s very good of Calda to take you in like this but there is no way he would agree to any heating and it doesn’t get any warmer than this, which is cold, don’t you think? For Little Folk anyway,’’ Nip added.
It was only then that Zia realized that Nip was still in the same outfit of brown and green and the acorn covered hat that he had been in when Zia first saw him.
“Don’t you have to wear something to keep you warm? Surely you will freeze down here, my teeth are beginning to chatter already,’’ remarked Zia.
“No problem,’’ laughed Nip. “I don’t feel the cold. Remember, I’m a Mine Minder. I spend most of my time down in the mines and the temperature never varies much. It never freezes but it is never warm either. This is a mine. You came in through the Dark Cave but that is only one of the many entrances to this place and they are all banned to all but those that have lived here. You really did overstep the mark and are causing a great deal of trouble.’’
Zia, by this time had put on his new jacket and boots and was tucking into the food which Nip had indicated he should eat if he wished. It was very good and now that he was with Nip, warm and no longer hungry, Zia began to relax a little but still felt rather uneasy at having Calda watch him from the other side of the room. Looking around, Zia could see that if this was Calda’s home then it was indeed very ‘different’ and the way in which it was decorated was an indication of just how he felt about having to use white candles. This was after all, an old tin mine and the walls were solid stone with some dark browns and copper tints in them, along with shining, twinkling spar and quartz stone. There were, here and there, drapes in black and purple, but no windows, of course and some pictures of people dressed like Calda
“If Calda doesn’t normally have light down here why does he have pictures. He cant possibly see them?’’ whispered Zia to Nip, not wanting Calda to hear.
“Why do you judge others by yourself when you can see all the people here are quite different?
His yellow eyes give him perfect vision in any light or in pitch dark”.
Zia felt a little foolish and continued to gaze about him. There was shelving cut into the rock walls and on them were many lovely objects in different stone, carefully carved and placed to show them off at their best. On other shelves were huge leather bound books. Then on a table, were bowls and equipment that Zia had never seen the like of before but there were no chairs or anywhere to sit, except the floor, and no bed.
“Thank you for the meal, Sir,’’ Zia said addressing Calda. “It was very nice and I enjoyed it.’’ He paused, then added “It is kind of you to let me be in your home’’.
Zia purposely did not say ‘stay’ as he hoped he would soon be in his own home with his own family. He couldn’t think of the alternative. Surely he wouldn’t be made to stay here, would he? The man with the yellow eyes blinked, nodded and floated toward the book shelf without a word. He took down a large brown book and laid it on the table. He looked at the index page and opened it at the page he selected. He studied it, then closed the book and placed it back on the shelf. He called Nip to him and spoke in the mumbling tongue. After a short conversation Nip left the room and Zia pulled his jacket tightly around him. He was beginning to feel tired but not comfortable enough to fall asleep. He sat and stared at the floor and wished that Nip would come back very soon.
Calda spoke in the same smooth kind of voice that Talik had.
“I am not happy to have you here. I am a very private person but while you are in danger I will let you stay and hope that this is all sorted out very soon but I can see that it may take longer than we might have hoped. I have sent Nip to tell your father where you are and what has happened.
Your family will NOT be allowed to come and fetch you until and if it is agreed by ‘The Others’.
They will be the ones to decide what will be the outcome’’.
Zia looked at the wizard and thought he really was quite a nice, kind, honest person and for the first time since he had entered the Dark Cave he did not feel apprehensive.
“How long do you think Nip will be? I think I’ll feel better when he gets back. He might have a message for me from my family. I know they will be cross and worried but at least they will know I’m all right,’’ he quickly added, “For now anyway!’’
That didn’t make him feel confident but he didn’t want to sound as if he just assumed every thing was going to go smoothly, even though he hoped it would. He couldn’t see that what he had done had been so bad. He had only entered the Dark Cave and hadn’t meant any harm.
“You are looking tired. Why don’t you try and sleep for a while? There is nothing for you to do and it might help you feel better. When Nip gets back I will wake you. I have no need for a resting place so you will have to sleep where you are, on the rug,” Calda said, making no excuses for the lack of comfort.
“Thanks, and I am sorry for all the trouble I seem to have caused. I’m very tired so I’ll try and rest, if that’s all right,” Zia replied gratefully.
The sound of the door closing woke Zia and he was very pleased to see Nip standing there along with Calda. They were talking together. Zia sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He did feel better for the rest. Now he wanted to know what news Nip had brought back with him. He smiled at the two of them and waited for them to come over to him.
“Nip, thanks for going to see my family. Have you any news?” Zia asked expectantly.
Still smiling, Nip held out an envelope which Zia took eagerly.
“Oh, thanks, were they surprised to see you, what did they say?” Zia asked as he was opening the envelope.
“Read the note and then I will tell you all that happened,” Nip told him.
The note was short and said that his family was pleased he was safe but very disappointed that he disobeyed the order not to go near Dark Cave. It went on to say that they understood what the problem was and that they trusted Grace to do the best she could for Zia. No mention was made as to the fact that Zia’s father had been in a similar position when he was young. They all sent their love and said they were looking forward to seeing him soon. Zia thought carefully and then turned to Nip and asked the tiny Mine Minder in a rather disappointed voice,
“Have you other news for me? Good news maybe!!”
Calda came toward Zia. He was so tall that that Zia had to lean backwards to see him properly and standing in front of him the wizard spoke,
“You have a good family and we want to do all we can for them and you but as I said before… it all depends on ‘The Others’ and we wont know their decision for hours, could even be days. YThey are very thorough and will not make any quick decisions”. He said no more.
Nip sat down on the rug and Zia moved across and sat beside him.
“Tell me everything, please, right from the time you left here earlier until now,” pleaded Zia.
“Right, here goes. Its not very exciting but I will tell you everything.” Nip promised.
He then took a deep breath and with his hands clasped in his lap he began.
“Calda told me before I left that I must not speak to any of ‘The Others’ or tell them where I was going if they should stop me before I left Dark Cave. They know you are here of course but they don’t know anything about you and that is the way Grace wants it kept. She has a plan but I don’t know what it is, I just do as I am asked and keep out of trouble, as much as possible,’’ He grinned but continued quickly, “I didn’t see anyone on the way out but thought I was being followed so I took to the rabbit burrows. Underground can be much safer but its easy to take a wrong turning as rabbits are always digging new holes. Some of them don’t go anywhere, just dead ends but I didn’t do too badly and I was sure I wasn’t followed. I came out near the lake’’.
He shuffled around and made himself more comfortable. Zia was motionless just watching and waiting to hear all that had happened.
Nip went on, “I know where your family lives. I know where every one lives, that’s part of my job. There are mine workings everywhere and I bet the Little Folk don’t know all the tunnels and super hiding places but I do. Every inch must be monitored by Mine Minders.’’
Zia was about to ask Nip to stick to the facts of his journey but Nip continued, “Anyway, once I arrived at your family home I had to find your father, he was the one I was told to talk to but of course, he was out working in the woods, cutting wood or something so I just had to wait for him to finish. I walked to the place where he was working. I had to wait two hours, TWO HOURS,’’ He raised his eyebrows and made a tut-tut sound with his tongue. “I made him jump when I leapt out on the track in front of him. I haven’t met him before, personally, but he is known to us and I was given a picture likeness of him by one of the old Mine Minders who had cause to know your father in his younger days and I knew it was him even though he is much older now. You look just like him when he was your age. Positive identification. I’m a good detective. Don’t miss very much!!’’.
Zia thought Nip was being rather boastful. After all, if he had a picture it couldn’t have been that difficult to find Father, seeing that he knew where he lived as well. Zia just nodded and Nip went on with the story, feeling rather important.
“Your father and I walked to your home while I told him everything that had happened. He invited me in to meet your mother, brother and sister, and they all send their love. Your mother is very worried, your father is very annoyed and your brother and sister think you must be having a wonderful adventure and asked if they could come back with me to be with you but your parents soon put paid to any of those fancy ideas. Anyway that’s about it, apart from the note they sent which you have already.’’
Nip leaned on his elbow and looked at Zia but said nothing more.
“What do you think will happen now?” Zia said, looking at the floor. “I wish I could just go home. I haven’t done anything wrong’’.
“What! Not done anything wrong. You have done everything wrong. This is a secret place, you were told not to visit. There are rules for a reason and if The Others had found you before Grace, anything might have happened. For sure, nobody would have ever known what had happened to you. The Others don’t believe in leniency. You would most likely have been shut away on the Lowest Level and made to work hard all day, every day. I don’t think you know just how lucky you are but your father does!!!’’
“What’s on the Lowest Level?’’ he asked, fidgeting uncomfortably.
“Better if you don’t know and don’t ask questions. Its some thing very important and very secret.’’
Nip tapped the side of his nose in a gesture that meant ‘don’t be nosy, if you know what’s good for you’, at least that’s what Zia thought it must mean.
“The Others are very powerful,” Nip continued, “and know secret things that they have to guard with their lives. Anyone who gets in their way is in danger, if you get my meaning.’’
Zia would have loved to hear more about these strange people but thought it best to keep quiet for the time being. He wasn’t going to be told any thing else by Nip, he was sure of that. Nip was trusted by the wizards and Grace so he must be good at not disclosing their secrets. “Come to think of it,” thought Zia, “I don’t know anything about Nip. He talks but he never tells me anything.
That’s why he is trusted”.
There was a swiiiiish and Zia sat up as Calda glided to the door and opened it, to reveal Grace about to knock with the handle of her broom,
“Ah!! Thank you Calda,’’ she said as she entered the room and stood, broom in her right hand, and a knobbly old stick in her left, acting as a walking stick. “I’ve had a busy day with long talks and am feeling rather tired.’’
She stood, as there was no seat to sit on. She thought it would be very rude to magic a chair, so she leant against the table and put her broomstick against it and the old stick in front of her, as a support, held in her two thin hands.
“You did well today, Nip. You were right to think you were being followed when you left here. I have spoken at length to one of The Others and he was quite surprised at how well you managed to give their Follower the slip. Well done,’’ she said, praising Nip.
She then faced Zia and in a stern voice addressed him,
“You have caused a great deal of trouble, whether you meant to or not. I hope that you have learned a lesson and that from now on you keep well away from things and places that have nothing to do with you. There is still a great deal of negotiating to get through before we can be sure that you will be allowed home. The Others have placed guards at all the exits from the Dark Cave and the adjoining mine, which is the domain of The Others on the Lowest Level, and the wizards on the Lower Level, which is where we are now. It has been this way for hundreds of years and very few outsiders have dared to come within these walls. Your father was one and you have been another. Two in one family is very bad. The Others are suspicious that you have done this on orders from your father to pry into their secrets.’’ She wagged her bony index finger at Zia and added,
“Whether or not its true is of no consequence, it is a matter of principle, which is something you appear to be sadly lacking. You have a great deal to learn and it could be that The Others will take it upon themselves to educate you. If they decide that is the way it is to be there will be no arguing, believe me and you WILL learn.’’
Zia couldn’t speak, there was nothing he could say. He knew that it was out of his power. No argument, no pleading and no reasoning would get him out of this. His father would have tried if he thought he could make a difference but he had left Grace to be his champion and must have thought that she was his only hope. What had happened to his father when he had digressed in the same way? He had a feeling that he would find out quite soon!!
The witch turned to Talik and spoke in the Mumbling Tongue, pointing to her tattered broom and tenderly rubbing the shiny handle. Something about the item obviously had something to do with what was being said and Grace was quite clearly distressed. Without a glance or word to Zia she adjusted her wobbly hat, straightened her raggedy skirt, pulled her threadbare shawl tightly around her shoulders, gently gathered her broomstick into her hand and flounced shakily out of the room.
Cross? She was clearly very cross, and clearly very, very upset!!
Calda cleared his throat and went to the bookshelf and selected one volume. He opened it and held it in two hands, studying it as he glided up and down the room. His yellow eyes staring intently at the page he had opened.
Nobody spoke. It was very uncomfortable. Nip hummed a tune that Zia did not recognize but he wasn’t smiling, just humming and drawing with his fingers on the stone floor. By dipping his finger in the condensation running down the walls, he could make pictures that stayed for a while. They didn’t disappear very quickly as it was so cold and damp that nothing dried. Zia tried to make out what the pictures were but they didn’t mean anything to him, Nip saw him looking at them and smiled, that made Zia feel better. He felt that things were very bad if Nip couldn’t see anything to smile about. But maybe just maybe things were not as bad as they seemed.
“What are you drawing?” Zia asked.
“Just ‘things’. Doodling really. We could play a game if you like, naught’s and crosses, hangman,
‘I spy’, charades,’’ Nip suggested.
“Yes please. We could start with hangman. I like hangman and then ‘I spy’. That can be good fun.’’
That agreed, the two friends amused themselves for what seemed a very long time while Calda continued to study his book. Zia was very glad that Nip had given him the warm jacket and boots as it was very cold just sitting still and he couldn’t very well get up and run around.
There was no way of knowing what the time was as there were no windows, no clocks and Zia was beginning to think of food again and would have loved a hot cup of raspberry tea. He decided that he would ask, as politely as he could, if there was anything to eat and drink.
“Excuse me Calda, do you think it would be possible for me to have something to eat please?”
Nip interrupted, “Why didn’t you ask me? I’ll get you whatever you like, as long as we have it in the pantry,” he said laughing.
It was good to hear him laughing, it made Zia feel better.
“Is there anything hot? Some soup perhaps, or some stew? Some rice pudding and a hot drink?
Any chance?” Zia said enthusiastically.
“Right, I can’t promise but I will go and see what there is. You wait here. I won’t be long,” and he was gone, through the door that Calda held open for him.
How did Calda always seem to know when to open a door? There was more to him than Zia knew. He was a wizard, so there was no telling what magic he might be able to work. He seemed very nice, a little scary but kind enough and he didn’t sound or look like he imagined a wizard would. Not that he had ever met a wizard before he came here. There was just this picture in his mind. The witch Grace did look like he imagined a witch would look but she wasn’t frightening, just scary. Did that make sense? Well he knew what he meant. He felt safe and they were looking after him. They didn’t mean to harm him, and were trying to help him. Weren’t they?
Calda, once again, went to the door and opened it. Nip was out side and came panting in carrying a tray with a steaming bowl on it.
“First course!!’’ he announced happily placing the tray on the floor beside Zia, “Thick, hot, warming sun flower seed soup with extras,’’ he added,”
Zia took a deep breath and the smell of the soup was delicious.
“Mmmm, lovely, what are the extras? Is this wild garlic bread and mushroom butter?’’ he asked.
“Yep, but the extras are a secret. You can’t expect our wizard cook to tell you what he puts in his cauldron creations but whatever it is will be the very best and will do you good,’’ replied Nip. “Eat up and I will go and get the next course. I cant carry it all at once.’’ Nip explained.
He was gone again, Calda pushing the door shut behind him.
Zia wondered about the bit that said “Good for you’’hen. Whenever his mother said that it was usually something horrid that the doctor had given him when he was unwell but he was too hungry to worry about it. The soup tasted even better than it smelt and he ate everything with relish. He was very hungry. As he wiped the last piece of bread around the side of the bowl, a thing he would never have been allowed to do at home, Calda opened the door once again. In came Nip balancing another steaming bowl and a big mug on another tray.
“No rice pudding I’m afraid, but I think you will like this just as well’’. Again he put the tray in front of Zia, adding,.’’ Honey and hazelnut pudding with custard and I did manage to get the raspberry tea. Hope its OK.’’
“That looks wonderful. Thank you’’, beamed a very happy Zia. “I didn’t expect this but I will enjoy every mouthful’’. He filled the spoon and had soon devoured all the delicious pudding.
Sighing he took the cup of drink and wrapped his hands around the warm mug, sipping it gratefully.
“I do feel a lot better now, and warmer. Aren’t you going to have anything to eat, Nip? Calda?” he asked, feeling a little guilty that he hadn’t asked before about sharing his food.
“I am fine and wizards only have to eat twice a day, first thing in the morning and supper, but their wizard cook puts extra extras in all their meals, special extras, that they all need. Their diet is a little different to yours,’’ explained Nip.
“What time is it? I’m at a loss to know whether its day or night and having had that sleep earlier has completely confused me. I don’t know if I should be going to bed or getting up and was that dinner or breakfast I have just eaten? Mind you I can’t see that it will make any difference as I haven’t got any night clothes and can’t go to school, if its a school day that is’’, Zia was starting to panic.
“Stop.Stop. Don’t start talking rubbish again. You are here and that is all you need to know. We will take care of you as best we can and you will have work to do. Every one has to do some sort of work, that’s only fair. Try and rest again and in a few hours things will be decided and then plans can be made. Try to sleep, you will need to, the work will be hard,’’ Nip advised.
Zia found it hard to get to sleep but eventually he dozed off and had very odd dreams about things that seemed real but that he couldn’t understand. In his dream he was in a deep hole, very deep and there was a tunnel off to one side. He walked along the tunnel only to come to a large lake that prevented him from going any further. The lake was very dark and when he put his hand in it there was a moaning sound and the liquid was thick, not like water, more like….gravy!!! It didn’t smell like anything he had smelled before but slightly like rotting wood. He tossed and turned and it wasn’t until he was tapped on the shoulder by Nip that he realised he had been dreaming,
“Whooo!!’’ he exclaimed as he rubbed his eyes, hoping to make himself feel wide awake. He looked about him and could see Nip was now talking to Calda by the table. Calda was stirring some thing in a big bowl.
Zia yawned and said, “I have had the most peculiar dream. I expect I will forget it soon but it seemed very real at the time.’’
Nip and Calda looked at each other but said nothing. The look was not missed by Zia.
“What was that look for. Don’t you dream? Don’t you know what dreams are?” he questioned.
“Of course we know what dreams are. They are…Um… they are thoughts you have while you are sleeping, Right?’’ remarked Nip.
Calda interrupted here and with one hand stirring the, whatever it was, in the bowl and the other hand stroking what looked like a black, lumpy rock and with his back to both of them he said in his quiet silky voice,
“Sometimes dreams come true, sometimes dreams are not what they appear and sometimes they are warnings but all dreams, here in Dark Cave and this mine, will be remembered and each dream has a reason. Don’t ask questions about them and don’t look for an answer. If there is one you will find out sooner or later.’’ He said no more, but some how it sounded like a warning rather than a plain statement of fact.
Zia looked at Nip, who had moved to sit beside him on the rug.
“What does he mean by that?”, Zia asked Nip, in a whisper.
“Just what he said. Don’t ask questions, just do everything as though the dream was just an ordinary, every day thought that you had while…tying your shoes or brushing your teeth. There is nothing you can do about it anyway, so try to forget it’’, Nip replied. He looked at Zia in a way that he knew meant, ‘don’t say any more about it’.
After having a good meal and sleep Zia felt good, a little bored but he didn’t want to say anything as he seemed to say the wrong thing all the time so he asked Nip,
“Shall we play ‘I Spy’?’’
Nip stretched and leaned back against the wall,
“Not really worth starting anything now as we will be showing you around soon and then you will be going to the workshop, maybe, to learn how to .…Umm…do whatever Grace has in mind for you to do!’’. Nip faltered as he spoke knowing he mustn’t give anything away.
“That’s good I am getting a bit fed up with just sitting around and it will be warmer if I am doing some thing won’t it. Will you be coming to work with me? I would be happier if you were there. It will be quite scary on my own. I wont know any body’’, said Zia.
“I don’t know, if there’s a job for me to do elsewhere then I will have to go and do it but Grace may be in a good mood and let me stay with you today. Then I expect you will have to cope on your own but you’ll be fine, you won’t be left alone, ever. I would expect either Talik or Calda will be with you. They are both very powerful. You will be safe from ‘The Others’ if you are with them”.
Nip gave one of his biggest smiles and jumped up, he ran to Calda and asked,
“Are we ready to go yet, Calda, or have we to wait for the ‘All clear’ first?’’
“No, if Zia has had breakfast and a wash we can leave at once’’, he answered.
Nip looked a little foolish,
“You think of everything, Calda. I will make him a sandwich while he has a wash. It would be easier if he were like us. I ate hours ago and I washed not more than four weeks ago. Little Folk are hard work and I don’t know why they have to be different!’’ Nip joked.
Calda almost smiled, but not quite and he almost looked quite happy, quite but not completely.