side door, rather than the door leading into the old lodge.
First she wrote on the clipboard: Out for a walk , in big dark letters, then in pale small handwriting under it: Early night again . With any luck by the time the teachers checked at bedtime, they would assume she had come back in and gone to bed.
Walking through the bright evening to the dark forest, Helen’s shoulders relaxed. She knew who she was with the fabled beasts. None of them needed to prove themselves with a solo; they all played completely different parts.
She strode along the path, whistling the last movement of Professor Greenhill’s composition.
As she concentrated on the tempo, and on mixing other people’s parts with her own, she didn’t see the lean bodies creeping along besideher just inside the forest edge, flashes of ash, steel and black fur showing through gaps in the trees.
She stepped into the clearing, whistling the last few bars. As she pulled the music up through its crescendo, she saw Lee staring at her, his eyes blazing , his right arm wrapped round the broad trunk of the beech tree as if he was trying to stop himself leaping off a cliff. His cloak was fluorescent and his boots were twitching on the ground.
Helen stopped whistling abruptly.
Lavender swooped down to her. “Don’t whistle that. Not here.”
“Why not?”
“You don’t want to draw the faeries’ attention with that music. Not any music.”
Helen looked around. Lee was now leaning calmly against the tree. Sylvie was lying, paws loose, on the ground. Lavender was bobbing in the air in front of her. “Where’s Sapphire?”
“A few minutes west of here,” the fairy said. “She can’t take off from the edge of the forest before darkness falls; it’s too close to your lodge. We’ll walk to her.”
Sylvie leapt enthusiastically to her paws, with no sign of a limp, though the bandage was still secure on her front leg. She smiled toothily at Helen.
Helen wanted to smile back, to build a stronger friendship with the wolf, but she couldn’t forget the eyes she’d seen last night.
“Sylvie, after I bandaged your leg, did you follow me home?”
Sylvie shook her pale grey head.
“Then why did I see wolf’s eyes behind me?”
Sylvie didn’t answer.
“Who was following me, Sylvie?”
Sylvie still didn’t answer; now she wasn’t meeting Helen’s eyes.
Lavender said sternly, “Sylvie, are your brothers stalking Helen?”
Sylvie snarled.
Lavender pointed her wand at the wolf’s snout. “You fools! That’s the fastest way to force a human into the arms of the faeries! With a wolf pack behind and a faery mound ahead, what do you think a human child will choose?
“Call your brothers off, Sylvie, or you’ll get no more help from me or Helen.”
Sylvie growled at her.
Lavender raised her tiny voice. “Of course we’re helping! And you can’t do this yourself! One pack of wolves, against all the faeries at the King’s command? You know you would lose. But Helen has a skill the faeries value; she has a power over them that none of us have. Work with her and you might just win.”
Sylvie barked and grunted, then stalked off to the edge of the clearing and started scratching her sides dismissively.
Lavender turned to Helen. “Sylvie is worried that we’re trying to save the child and the musicians , but not her forest. That we’ll fetch the faeries’ treasure for them, but not drive them away. She won’t call her brothers off, but she will keep them at a distance for as long as she thinks we have a chance of defeating the Queen.”
Helen shivered at the thought of walking throughthe forest with a pack of wolves watching her. “Do her brothers listen to her? Will they keep their distance if she tells them to?”
Lavender laughed. “Yes, they listen to Sylvie, if they don’t want chewed ears and bitten muzzles! The alpha wolf in a pack is not always the biggest male. It can be the cleverest, fastest female.” She spoke as loudly as
First she wrote on the clipboard: Out for a walk , in big dark letters, then in pale small handwriting under it: Early night again . With any luck by the time the teachers checked at bedtime, they would assume she had come back in and gone to bed.
Walking through the bright evening to the dark forest, Helen’s shoulders relaxed. She knew who she was with the fabled beasts. None of them needed to prove themselves with a solo; they all played completely different parts.
She strode along the path, whistling the last movement of Professor Greenhill’s composition.
As she concentrated on the tempo, and on mixing other people’s parts with her own, she didn’t see the lean bodies creeping along besideher just inside the forest edge, flashes of ash, steel and black fur showing through gaps in the trees.
She stepped into the clearing, whistling the last few bars. As she pulled the music up through its crescendo, she saw Lee staring at her, his eyes blazing , his right arm wrapped round the broad trunk of the beech tree as if he was trying to stop himself leaping off a cliff. His cloak was fluorescent and his boots were twitching on the ground.
Helen stopped whistling abruptly.
Lavender swooped down to her. “Don’t whistle that. Not here.”
“Why not?”
“You don’t want to draw the faeries’ attention with that music. Not any music.”
Helen looked around. Lee was now leaning calmly against the tree. Sylvie was lying, paws loose, on the ground. Lavender was bobbing in the air in front of her. “Where’s Sapphire?”
“A few minutes west of here,” the fairy said. “She can’t take off from the edge of the forest before darkness falls; it’s too close to your lodge. We’ll walk to her.”
Sylvie leapt enthusiastically to her paws, with no sign of a limp, though the bandage was still secure on her front leg. She smiled toothily at Helen.
Helen wanted to smile back, to build a stronger friendship with the wolf, but she couldn’t forget the eyes she’d seen last night.
“Sylvie, after I bandaged your leg, did you follow me home?”
Sylvie shook her pale grey head.
“Then why did I see wolf’s eyes behind me?”
Sylvie didn’t answer.
“Who was following me, Sylvie?”
Sylvie still didn’t answer; now she wasn’t meeting Helen’s eyes.
Lavender said sternly, “Sylvie, are your brothers stalking Helen?”
Sylvie snarled.
Lavender pointed her wand at the wolf’s snout. “You fools! That’s the fastest way to force a human into the arms of the faeries! With a wolf pack behind and a faery mound ahead, what do you think a human child will choose?
“Call your brothers off, Sylvie, or you’ll get no more help from me or Helen.”
Sylvie growled at her.
Lavender raised her tiny voice. “Of course we’re helping! And you can’t do this yourself! One pack of wolves, against all the faeries at the King’s command? You know you would lose. But Helen has a skill the faeries value; she has a power over them that none of us have. Work with her and you might just win.”
Sylvie barked and grunted, then stalked off to the edge of the clearing and started scratching her sides dismissively.
Lavender turned to Helen. “Sylvie is worried that we’re trying to save the child and the musicians , but not her forest. That we’ll fetch the faeries’ treasure for them, but not drive them away. She won’t call her brothers off, but she will keep them at a distance for as long as she thinks we have a chance of defeating the Queen.”
Helen shivered at the thought of walking throughthe forest with a pack of wolves watching her. “Do her brothers listen to her? Will they keep their distance if she tells them to?”
Lavender laughed. “Yes, they listen to Sylvie, if they don’t want chewed ears and bitten muzzles! The alpha wolf in a pack is not always the biggest male. It can be the cleverest, fastest female.” She spoke as loudly as
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