The Faeries of Dulwich Woods

Chapter 18. If You're Young At Heart

The sun was low in the sky as Caradoc and Tegbir urged their grasshoppers across the lawn as fast as they could go. Puck's frenzied roars grew ever louder as he balanced precariously in the window, prepared to spring.

'Avery, what's happening? How did I get here and why is that hairy monster chasing us?' cried Mum clinging to her grasshopper's antennae for dear life.

'Mum, this is not the best time, I'll explain later! Don't worry, my friends here know what to do. It's going to be OK,' Avery yelled back, hoping to reassure her.

'Oh dear, with all this bobbing and weaving, I think I'm going to be ill!' Mum faltered, looking decidedly liverish.

'If the motion distresses you, may I suggest that you close those lovely eyes of yours. Do not afraid, good lady, I will not let you fall,' Tegbir assured her as they bounded along.

'Lord Caradoc! Return my bride! Your ceaseless campaign against me will NOT be endured for one minute longer!' the hobgoblin bellowed as he vaulted through the air. He hit the ground with a crash and lumbered after them, his knuckles dragging on the ground. Caradoc swiftly reached for his sword.

'En garde, my brother, this is about to get tricky,' he said with preternatural calm.

'I'm way ahead of you, brother,' replied Tegbir, holding his rapier at the ready as they dodged under the sweeping branches of the cedar. Puck snarled, screeched and slavered as he drew closer in massive leaps and bounds.

'Return my intended or I will crush you to a pulp! We are beyond the boundary of Effrayna and no insect, horse or bird will get you safely to the border before I catch you! Give up or face the consequences!' he bayed thunderously.

'He's going to catch us, isn't he, Caradoc? ~Poor Mum will be terrified out of her wits,' said Avery, holding on to her dog for dear life.

'He might do,' said Caradoc grimly, 'We may be forced to engage in some fisticuffs, but don't be afraid. We can match him.' Puck was very close behind them now, his long arms flailing as he tried to snatch the grasshoppers from the air.

'Halt!' he roared in a stentorian voice that shook the cedar tree from side to side, 'Bring Hettie back now and no one gets hurt!'. Certain that they were doomed, Avery hid her face in Tanguy's warm fur for comfort and waited with dread for the inevitable battle. She prayed that Caradoc and Tegbir wouldn't be hurt in the melee and tried to decide what she should do. I haven't got my sword, I'll be no use at all in a magical fight like this. And what about Mum? There's a slim chance that we could crawl away and hide while they keep Puck engaged, she thought, but it's so slim that it's practically invisible. Still, I have to try. Just as she had fixed on this forlorn plan, an enormous, resounding clang reverberated throughout the garden. It was oddly similar to the sound someone makes when they run full tilt into a sliding door, but it was much louder as if a giant had smacked straight into a house of glass. Caradoc wheeled the grasshopper around and brought it to a halt. Avery marshalled all her courage, peeked over Tanguy's fluffy head and felt a wave of astonishment and relief wash over her. Puck was bent double, holding his bristly snout with both paws and keening with pain –he had crashed at full speed into a vast pane of glimmering crystal that was floating just above the ground. Tegbir Gill drew up beside them and clapped Caradoc on the back.

'Well played, Caradoc! That was a stroke of genius; now let's away before he recovers.'

'Thank you, Mr Gill, it was clever wasn't it?' came a low, clear voice, and Lady Elouan stepped out from behind the scaly trunk of the cedar, followed closely by four, burly Soudard Gwer. Elouan clapped her hands, returning everyone (except Puck) to the way they were before; insects and people resumed their normal appearance and Mum was once again in her customary blouse and jeans. The grasshoppers, freed from their labour, scuttled away under the nearest lavender bush. Elouan approached the crystal wall and chanted an incantation in a whispery, sing-song voice. Still clutching at his nose, Puck looked around in consternation as the glassy wall folded itself into a large, transparent cube, enclosing him in a floating prison.