A WEEK PASSED, and we seemed to have hit a dead end. Nobody else from Fred's gang vanished. Our clues seemed to be bringing us round and round in endless circles.

I wasn't the one talking to students, of course - hanging out with Fred's gang got me out of that - so I was getting everything secondhand. From what the others told me, there didn't seem to be concrete evidence of anything. Well, anything except the existence of a fygg - a girl had told Nick that she'd found a "big shiny fruit" which she had put on the grave of Sir Sternivus, the founder of Swinedimples. But apparently, when she'd gone back, it had disappeared.

There were several they'd talked to, though, who had mentioned a ghost. The way things had been going ever since Erik had shown up, I figured it wasn't a half-bad theory, but there weren't even enough clues about that to give us any sort of idea what was going on.

We were convinced, though, that something was going to happen to Fred or one of his lot sooner or later. And when it did, we'd be ready for it.

One afternoon, the gang and I had taken over the library while everyone else was in class. I was perched on one of the tables, wishing I had on slacks so that I could sit like I normally did instead of like a girl. Our conversation had turned to the same thing that had been on my mind: the disappearances of the gang members.

"There ain't no way they're just runnin' off," Fred insisted. "I've said it before an' I'll say it again: none o' those kids were cowards. None of 'em woulda run off for no reason. Nah, I reckon it's a teacher plot. Tryin' to scare us into behavin', they are. Well, it ain't gonna work!"

In addition to swordfighting, one of Fred's best skills was thinking up conspiracy theorys.

"I fink they're right about it bein' a ghost," Jacob said. "There was that one day when Lilly came runnin' into the school, screamin' that she seen a ghost - an' that same day was when Nate disappeared. Remember? After 'e'd been 'auled into Jones's office fer skippin' class? 'E left, said 'e was goin' fer a walk, an' it weren't five minutes before Lilly started screamin'."

I blinked. Nobody had told me that part of the story before.

Mikey rolled his eyes. "Ghosts ain't real, divvy."

"'E's right," Fred said. "No such fing as ghosts.

"I saw a ghost behind you when Cristine and I found you in our room," I told him.

A borrowed chill ran up my spine, and for a second I was sure Fred was scared, but then he laughed. "Pull the uvver one!" he told me, chortling loudly. "Only kids believe in ghosts. An' I ain't no kid, all right?"

"All right," I said, willing enough to make peace, but clearly my doubt was showing.

"What? You fink I"m scared or summink?" he asked, scowling so hard he looked like Jacob. "Well I ain't, an' I'll prove it. We'll see if there's such a fing as ghosts or not. They say if you touch that statue on the roof's fore'ead at midnight, a ghost appears. Be there tonight an' we'll see if it's true."

I grinned. A midnight outing? "Sounds like a plan."

Then the bell rang to announce the end of class, and we hopped up, ready for supper.

That evening, during homework hour, I met up with Nick, Cristine, and Erik in the library. "I found out something interesting today," I told them, and proceeded to tell them about the ghost's connection with Nate's disappearance.

"And probably Lilly's, too," I finished. "I mean, she was part of the gang and she'd seen Nate vanish - anything sensible, even a ghost, would cover its tracks. Cristine, you were reading up on Swinedimples ghosts - did you find anything?"

"Nothing concrete," she replied. "But between what you said and what that girl I talked to said about the fygg she'd left on Sir Sternivus's grave, I think we might have our culprit." She smiled.

Nick set his pen back into the ink jar. "The problem is figuring out what to do about it," he said, and pulled a book towards himself.

"We must catch the ghost, of course," Erik said.

Normally I'd have shot a smart-mouth response at him - thanks loads, Captain Obvious! - but then I thought of what the gang and I were going to do that evening at midnight. "He's right," I said, and smiled slowly. "And I think I know how..."

When the call came for lights-out, Cristine and I just pressed a rolled-up blanket to the crack between the door and the floor to make it look like we'd turned the light off. Then we paced the room, fully dressed, waiting for the time to pass. We were going to wait until ten to midnight before we headed out. I was going up to the roof alone. Cristine, Nick, and Erik would be waiting somewhere in the shadows where they could see the roof but they wouldn't be immediately obvious to Fred's gang - or anyone looking out a window.

I tried to read, but stopped when I realised that sitting - even in the hard-backed wooden chair that accompanied our desk - made my eyes drift shut. We started singing, but then someone hissed through the wall to shut it or else they'd call a teacher. Cristine practised for her dance class, and I helped, which was nice for a little while - but then we were done, and I was tired again. I practised some basic moves with my sword and discovered that our room was really too small to swing a weapon in.

So even though it was only two and a half hours' wait, it felt like a lot longer.

The bell tower chimed eleven forty-five. I strapped on my sword. Cristine tucked her fan into her belt.

We waited another five minutes - the slowest of the night - and finally left the room, extinguishing the lights behind us.

Nick and Erik were coming out of their room, too. We met up and headed down the stairs together.

The only sounds as we walked across campus were our footsteps crunching in the snow and our breathing. We paused in the shadow of the gazebo.

"Good luck, Tammy," Cristine said.

"Let's hope the ghost doesn't get me," I joked. "Oh, don't look so glum, Cristine - it was only a joke!"

I smiled and patted her shoulder. Then I headed into the school building.

It was creepy in there. There was no moon out and none of the torches or anything were lit, so it was almost completely dark. I put an arm out and traced my way along the wall to my left, and then I put it out in front of me so I'd know when I found the wall opposite. I was slow all the way up the stairs, and I nearly ran into the gears of the clock trying to find the door out to the roof.

None of the others were there when I reached it. It was light enough that I could make out the shapes of the buildings and paths against the snow, but not much else. Faintly, I could see the place where Nick, Cristine, and Erik had hid. I waved, knowing I probably wasn't actually looking at them, and then turned my attention to the statue.

I couldn't see it properly, of course, but it looked to me like a Guardian statue. It crossed my mind to wonder just where she was. Neither Erik nor I had seen any sign of her while we'd been here.

I reached out to brush the snow off her head. Just then, the clock behind me started chiming midnight, and I heard the door open.

"Oh, fought you'd try and get there before me did ya, Tammy?" Fred asked. "You knew I 'ad first dibs, you rotter! Seein' as I'm such a generous feller, I'll forgive ya this once. You'd better not try anyfink like this again, though, or else."

It was dark enough that I didn't need to hide my smile. I moved so that he could have access to the statue. He strode up to it and tapped it sharply on the forehead. "Anyway, leave the rest up to me. Watch this, you lot." Then he leaned over the railing. "OI, GHOST!" he yelled. "IF YOU'RE THERE, WHY DON'T YOU SHOW YER BIG, UGLY FACE! SHOW YERSELF AN' I'LL KNOCK YER BLOCK OFF WIV MY MEGATON PUNCH!"

I winced. Fred was just begging to disappear now.

"...WHAT'S WRONG?" he yelled when nothing happened. "SCARED, ARE YA?"

There was a long pause. I glanced down at where the others were hiding, but didn't see anything.

"That's weird," Fred said then, folding his arms. "No ghost."

"Of course there ain't no ghost, divvy," Mikey said. "It's just a story. Did you really fink it was gonna show up?"

Fred shook his head hastily, saying, "Yeah, see. It's just like I said. There's no such fing as ghosts. Eh...?"

And then a sudden chill swept over the already-cold roof. A ghost - the same one I had seen behind Fred on my first day at Swinedimples - had materialised behind him again, looking furious. "Ooo!" he hissed. I flinched back. "Yooou wicked, disobedient children. How dare yooou! Sneaking out of bed at night to run around causing mischief..."

The fury in his voice made me want to run and hide. I'd never felt a ghost with this much energy before - so much, apparently, that even the others could sense it!

"Aaaaaagh!" squealed Jacob. "What the 'eck was that? Wh-Wh-What was that voice?"

"What d'you fink it was, divvy? It was a bloomin' ghost, weren't it!" Mikey was just as panicked.

And so was Fred, though he hid his terror a bit better. "Keep yer 'air on, both of ya! Din't I just tell ya there's no such fing as ghosts!" But his voice was shaking.

The ghost glared at him. "Yooou no-good little monster!" he roared. "Yooou are a disgrace to Swinedimples! Ooo, I'll teach yooou a lesson or twooo! You're coming with me to detention. I'll teach yooou to behave if it's the last thing I dooo!"

Then he dematerialised directly into Fred. "Wh-What?" he yelped, and then started to jerk around, like he was fighting for control of his limbs. "Oi!" he snapped. "Leave me alone! Get out of me 'ead...!"

I jackknifed back, putting an arm out to get Mikey and Jacob back, too. I didn't know what the ghost was going to do with Fred, and I needed to keep everyone as safe as possible.

Fred spasmed for a moment longer, and then grew still. The horrified expression on his face froze, eyes glazing over.

"Fred?" I said quietly, my heart hammering a hundred kilometres an hour. "Fred, are you all right?" It was a stupid question. I knew he wasn't. But talking helped me distract myself from the mind-numbing horror pressing at the edges of my mind.

And then I made the mistake of reaching out to touch him.

As soon as my hand made contact, I froze. Terror flooded through me - instinctive, almost animal terror, because I couldn't move. Something was pressing down on Fred's mind so heavily that even I could feel it, now that I'd made contact. It was someone - someone angry, someone furious...someone maddened. The madness swirled in his mind, edged with an unnatural shine - something that should have been good, but wasn't. The fygg.

The rational part of my mind balked, screaming at the rest of me to realise that I wasn't the one frozen - it was Fred, and I could only feel it because I'd been stupid enough to touch him. But the terror was something that I couldn't shake. I wasn't really paralysed, but I might as well have been.

Finally, Fred moved mechanically, and my hand fell away from his shoulder. I gasped, collapsing into Mikey and Jacob, who shoved me off.

"...I AM A NO-GOOD LITTLE MONSTER..." Fred's voice was as mechanical as his motions. "...I AM A DISGRACE TO SWINEDIMPLES..."

He had moved forwards, and now, with a quick motion, he clambered onto the railing and then onto the statue's head.

"I MUST LEARN MY LESSON..."

"No!" I yelled, but I was too slow and the ghost controlling Fred wouldn't have listened to me anyway. Fred leapt off the statue's head and fell down into the courtyard.

Mikey, Jacob, and I raced for the railing, but Fred seemed unhurt. He ran off east, towards Sir Sternivus's grave.

After a half-second to pull myself together, I decided it was time to follow. I climbed over the railing and slid down the shingles, then lowered myself from the edge of the roof. I hit the ground with a grunt, but it wasn't really a long drop. I was fine.

Nick, Erik, and Cristine had abandoned the shadow of the gazebo. "Did you see that?" I asked, pointing up at the roof.

Erik nodded. "He ran to the grave," he said. "Hurry!"

We were rounding the main building when we saw Fred shove back Sir Sternivus's gravestone and walk down a set of stairs leading into the earth. My eyes went wide. "The Old School!" I exclaimed. "That's where they went?"

"What's the Old School?" Cristine asked.

I led the way towards the opening in the ground. "Several decades ago," I said, "there was a massive earthquake here. The school was completely buried. They dug a hole to rescue everyone, but excavating wasn't a possibility. So they just built the new one right on top." I pointed down. "This must have been where they dug. Sternivus was dead and buried long before the earthquake; they must have just moved the stone. Come on!" I said then, starting down the stairs. "Let's get after Fred!"

It was pitch-black in there until Nick stumbled over something he thought was a lantern. After fumbling with the tinderbox for a moment, we got it to light. It didn't make it much better, but we could at least see where we were going.

The Old School was creepy, though. The lantern only cast light about a metre and a half in any given direction, so monsters loomed up out of the darkness with enough suddenness to make me jump out of my skin. We had to clamber over and onto several bookcases to manoeuvre our way across the room. Walls were crumbled, stones were broken, and everything looked like it had been left to rot - even the books.

On the lower level, after stumbling through a pool of painful violet acid, I heard voices coming through a nearby wall. The door leading to it was boarded up (and sitting right in the middle of the acid, too), but there was another one right in front of us that I thought might lead us into the right room. I opened it gingerly, worried it would squeak, and then the four of us slipped inside.

This room was deserted, but the room next to it wasn't. Through the doorway, I could see torchlight.

We put out the lamp and peered into the room. Fred and two kids in Swinedimples uniforms - Nate and Lilly, I assumed - were sitting at desks facing the blackboard. And standing up in front of them was the ghost.

Cristine gasped quietly. "That's him!" she whispered. "Sir Sternivus! I've seen pictures in the library books."

I didn't even bother asking how she could see him. Whether it was the fygg or something else, Sir Sternivus seemed more powerful than any other ghost I'd encountered. I almost would have been more surprised if she hadn't been able to see him.

And that, of course, was when he saw us.

"Yooou, girl!" he cried, pointing a ruler at me. "You're late! Are Swinedimples students these days really such daydreaming dawdlers?"

"Stay there," I whispered to the others.

Sternivus glared at me. "Well? What are yooou waiting for? Don't just stand there with your mouth open! I'm talking to yooou, idiot girl! Now sit yourself down!"

Fred was still sitting exactly the same way as he had when we'd came in, but he clearly had realised what was going on. "Get out of 'ere, Tammy!" he yelped. "Peg it while you still can! The old loony's put some spell on us so we can't flippin' move! 'E'll get you an' all if you don't get out of 'ere!"

I decided I didn't really feel like pegging it, but there was no way I was sitting down. The spell might have been tied into the desks. So instead, I walked around the desks and up to the ghost.

"Did I not tell yooou to sit down?" he roared. "Don't give me that look, young lady! Or are yooou trying to get yourself in trouble?"

I grinned. "Well, of course," I said. "Be a shame if I couldn't flaunt my talents, wouldn't it?"

If Sternivus had still been alive, his face probably would be purple with rage. "Fooolish child!" he yelled. "Yooou dare to answer me back? Do you think yourself some kind of hero already? There is no place at Swinedimples for such extraordinary impudence! Idiot girl!"

I jumped back a couple paces as a dark cloud swirled into existence around him, hiding his figure. Footsteps behind me told me that Nick, Cristine, and Erik had abandoned their hiding place to come after me.

And then the darkness dissipated, revealling a hulking, ugly monster. I wrinkled my nose. Seriously, can't these fyggs at least make stuff look nice on the outside?

"I am Sir Sternivus Swinedimple, founder of this academy. Yooou will dooo as your superiors tell yooou! Yooou will not be educated until yooou can learn to behave."

"Then I hate to think how long it will be until she graduates," Erik muttered.

"Stuff it!"

"And punishment is the only way one so obstinately disobedient as yourself will ever learn! Now, girl, it is time to learn your lesson!" He roared, an earth-shaking, eardrum-damaging noise that probably woke the whole school.

He lunged at me, holding out his book like he was going to hit me with it, but Erik leapt around and sank his claws deep into the arm holding the book. Cristine cast Crackle. I ducked under another swing of the book and slashed at his midsection. Nick cast Buff on Cristine.

It was weird fighting, what with Fred sitting behind yelling sword-handling advice at my back. Eventually Erik snapped at him to either "close his uncouth, hooligan mouth" or to get up and help us. Fred drifted off into grumbles after that, but I was careful to watch my form.

We all took several heavy hits with the book and with some of the old headmaster's spells, but nothing too dangerous. Nick had to heal everyone several times. The tide of the battle, though, was something none of us could see yet.

At least, not until Sternivus rammed Erik with his book, sending him across the room. He landed with a grunt against the wall. I rushed over to him, but he held up a hand. "Let me do this," he growled.

Obligingly, I backed up a pace. There was a light in his eyes that hadn't been there before - something that told me that he was about to do something big.

Erik rose and threw a brick at Sternivus, making him turn. Then he let loose with a roaring, cascading tidal wave of sound, a terrifying tirade that sounded like a hundred years of anger suddenly, explosively let loose. The sound rose and fell through the room for at least a full ten seconds, making my hair stand on edge and me very, very glad that Erik was on our side. It set my blood racing through my veins as the sound made some deep, primeval part of me hungry for battle. Even once Erik stopped, the echoes of the scream rang around and around the room.

Then, over the sound of the echoes, he yelled, "Tammy! Now!"

Sternivus was frozen with terror, but I wasn't. I nodded sharply, extending my sword arm, and raced forwards. With a spinning leap, I sliced deep into Sternivus's flesh and landed a metre back, crouching, breathing hard. The echoes were fading away.

"Noooooo!" cried Sternivus, clutching at the wound, which was bleeding heavily. "Without me, my academy will be overrun with lazy, oafish, impudent boys and girls! Ooooooooo! My head! Oooooo!"

A bright light flashed around him. Then the fygg appeared, floating down. I caught it and handed it off to Erik.

The monster was gone, replaced by the transparent shape of Sir Sternivus Swinedimple. His presence was still strong, but I knew he wasn't any danger now. Not without the fygg.

He looked around, confused. "Hm!? Whatever is going on? This is my, ah...classroom, is it not?" When he spotted Fred, Lilly, and Nate at the desks, his face lit up. "And you children must be Swinedimples students! Marvellous, marvellous...but, oh, ah...whyever do you all look so glum?

"Are you bloomin' jokin'?" exploded Fred. "Because you dragged us down 'ere and locked us up, you 'orrible old ghost!"

"Ooo, I'm busting for other toilet!" Nate groaned. "I can't wait much longer! It's no use, I'm...gonna go! I'm gonna goo!"

Lilly moaned, and her stomach growled loudly. "I'm so hungry... I feel faint... Got to get out of here get something to eat..." Her stomach growled again.

Sternivus stared round at them. "I locked you all up?" he asked. "Are you sure? ...Ooh, ah...perhaps I did, yes... I, ah...seem to remember a little now..." His embarrassment was obvious. "You must forgive me, children. I, ah...really wasn't quite myself, you see." He took a step forward. "But even in my, ah...unfortunate state, I had your best intentions - by which I mean your, ah...rehabilitation - at heart. You're all brimming with, ah...untapped potential - rough diamonds, every one of you - but, ah...I'd have to give you an F for effort. So I asked the fruit for the power to, ah...persuade you all to, ah...apply yourselves a little more to your studies. But it seem my desire to, ah...reform you was a little fiery, and became - once the fruit took hold - positively, ah...monstrous... I can't tell you how sorry I am, children. I can see now how wrong I was."

He turned his attention to Nick, Erik, Cristine, and me. "But you, children, going to such lengths to, ah...aid your fellow scholars... Quite extraordinary! You are credits to Swinedimples. I can rest in peace knowing that my academy can turn out such fine, ah...specimens as yourselves."

Honestly, I thought as I shielded my eyes from the light of his passing-over, I can't help thinking that's kind of the stupidest reason ever to be at peace.

And apparently Fred felt the same way, because when the light faded away, he scowled. "Bah! Well 'e could 'ave figured that out without puttin' us froo all this rubbish, couldn't he? Stupid old ghost..."

"'Rough diamonds'?" Lilly wondered aloud. "I like that. D'you hear that? He said we were rough diamonds!"

Nate made a face like he was thinking, which kind of looked like hard work. "So if we went to lessons a little more often, we'd be smonth diamonds?" he asked slowly. "Hmm... Maybe I should start goin' a little more often..."

And then, they all apparently realised something. "Hey! I can move again!" Nate exclaimed. "Thank goodness for that! Now I can finally go to the loo!"

"Thanks!" Lilly said. "You saved our bacon!"

"Cheers, Tammy," Fred said. "I owe ya one."

The three of them got up and left. Fred swore loudly as he splashed through the acid.

Erik snorted. "Quite a pleasant character."

"Well, he is a gang leader," I said.

Stella popped out. "Well, it looks like Sir Sternivus's message got through to a couple of them, at least. I reckon that's this case all parcelled up." She looked at Erik, pleased. "And that's our seventh fygg too. That's loads! Let's make train tracks back to the Observatory and drop them all off. You remember how to get back, don't you?"

"Of course," Erik said shortly.

Cristine yawned widely.

"Bedtime," Nick announced. "We have the fygg; let's get some shut-eye before we try to do anything else."

"Sounds like a plan," I said.

So we headed up to sleep off our last few hours at school.

"Oh, wonderful!" exclaimed the headmaster. "Just, ah...wonderful! You brought the all back safe and sound. What an incredible, ah...relief. So the, ah...ghost of Sir Sternivus Swinedimple was behind it all?"

It was late the morning after we'd fought Sternivus. We'd decided to drop by the headmaster's office before we took off.

"It was all, ah...my fault really," the headmaster said sheepishly, turning away. "The drop in standards under my my headship caused him to quite literally, ah...turn in his grave. I suppose I was a little too, ah...soft. Well, I shall, ah...endanger the name of Swinedimples no longer. I must guide my pupils with a firmer hand from now on."

He turned back to us, straightening up. "And you, our, ah...distinguished detectives, as promised, you cracked the case before Swinedimples's reputation could be tarnished."

Nick coughed loudly, and I could practically feel him going red beside me. I couldn't help laughing.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I think Nick's gonna burst if we don't tell you... We're not really detectives, sir. We just happened to be at the right place at the right time."

The headmaster blinked. He worked his mouth around silently for a minute, and finally came out with, "Well, I hardly think that matters now that the affair is, ah...settled. Inspectors Erik, Nick, Cristine, Tammy...we are forever in your, ah...debt. Please accept the remainder of your, ah...remuneration."

He handed us another bag of coins, and smiled. "And, ah...I think you'll agree that I was not entirely mistaken. You truly are great detectives!"

"Thank you, sir," we all said. And then, smiling, we headed out of the office.

"What now?" I said then. "We've got all seven fyggs...I s'pose it's back to the Observatory, Erik?"

Erik nodded. "I intend simply to Zoom back to Alltrades Abbey so that Stella and I can board the Starflight."

"All right," Cristine said quietly.

Nick shrugged. "We can always use a chimera wing to get back here and retrieve the Pride."

Erik blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you certainly didn't think we'd let you leave without seeing you off, did you?" Nick asked, and laughed.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Besides, you know what I think?"

Erik rolled his eyes. "Does it matter? You will tell me anyway."

I stuck my tongue out at him. Then I said, "Well, we worked every bit as hard as you did gathering the fyggs. Nick and Cristine have never seen the Observatory - I think they deserve the chance to see the place they've been working for."

Erik raised his eyebrows. "You are prepared to ride the Starflight again - twice?"

"Well, no," I said, "but I'll deal with it."

"No screaming that we are about to die."

I grinned. "Only if Stella's driving doesn't make me feel like we're gonna die."

"You two are not encouraging!" Cristine said, laughing.

"No you're not!" agreed Stella, popping out, her arms folded crossly.

I laughed. "I have faith," I told them both. "We didn't die the first time, at least. So is that a yes?" I asked, turning to Erik.

He sighed. "I suppose."

"Yes!" I cheered.

"One might almost believe she is glad to be going with me," Erik muttered. "Very well...grasp hands. I shall cast the spell."

We whirled through the vortex of colour and sound I remembered from when we'd gone up to fight Garth Goyle the second time. When the world returned to normal, it was abrupt. I managed to stay on my feet, but just barely.

Erik's spell had brought us to the foot of the blue tree that Stella had crash-landed the Starflight in. And the golden train was sitting at the top, suspended in the branches.

"Come on," I said, following Erik up the tree. "The Starflight Express's up at the top. I know you can't see it, but..."

Nick and Cristine exchanged doubtful glances but followed willingly enough.

Stella fluttered up, slid the door open, and headed inside. Erik and I hauled ourselves over the edge and onto the floor, and then reached down to help Nick and Cristine inside.

"This is so weird," Cristine murmured, looking around. "There's light all round..." She blinked, and then her eyes went wide. "Oh! It is a train!"

"You can see it?" I asked.

Cristine nodded mutely.

Nick looked round, rubbed at his eyes, and looked round some more. "It's there," he said, "but...it's not... This is freakish."

I snickered. "Just wait til you start hearing Stella. You don't know the meaning of freakish until you've heard her talk."

The faerie scowled at me. "Watch it," she warned. "I'm the one driving this old rustbucket!"

Then she moved to the control panel, seeming much more sure of herself this time. I closed the door. We moved up towards the front of the Starflight.

This time, when we took off, it wasn't nearly as bad. For a while we soared upwards steadily while Stella poked and prodded at buttons. Nick and Cristine alternated between staring around the Starflight and out the windows. For Cristine, this was pretty much the strangest thing ever. For Nick...for Nick it was like doubts disappearing.

"I don't know how many fyggs there are altogether," Stella said after a while, "but I reckon we've hunted and gathered enough to do a delivery run." We'd all turned to look at her. Clearly, the Starflight was having an effect on Nick and Cristine's senses. "If we get what we've got back to the Observatory, that'll probably take a bit of weight off your Celestrian friends' minds. Not to mention making you look pretty good into the b - huh?"

She stopped dead, mouth half open, staring at something behind us. "Wh-What's that light?"

Nick, Erik, Cristine and I all turned. There was a soft blue glow behind us. As we watched, it resolved itself into the form of a tall, muscular man with a closely shaved head, dark brows, a halo, and a pair of wings folded to his back. He was kneeling, but he looked up, revealing piercing dark eyes, and rose.

"Well met, Erik," he said in a calm, deep voice. "It has been some time."

He approached. I looked over at Erik, whose violet eyes were wide with shock. "Master," he whispered.

I looked back at the Celestrian. "Aquila!" I breathed.

"Who the flap's this?" asked Stella. "He looks like another Celestrian. Is he a friend of yours, Erik?"

Erik gave her a flat look.

"He's Aquila," I whispered. "Erik's teacher."

"Get away!" she exclaimed. "You and your surprises, honestly!" I rolled my eyes as she said, "Hi! I"m Stella. I work here on the Starflight."

Aquila ignored her. "So it was you who travelled in search of the fyggs, Erik," he said. "I might have guessed..."

Something wasn't right here. There was a strange unease in my stomach, and I knew it wasn't coming from me.

Stella, who of course didn't sense anything, turned away peevishly. "Oh! Cold shoulder treatment, is it? Well toucans play at that game! And so can fae - so can I!"

We all did the smart thing, which was to pay no attention.

Aquila put a hand out towards Erik. "You must allow me to deliver the fyggs to the Observatory, Erik," he said. "Come now, heed your master. Will you permit me to take them?"

The unease was growing, gnawing at me - well, at Aquila. This wasn't right. "Erik," I hissed. "Don't give them to him."

Then I found out where Erik had learnt his chilly glare. Both he and his master fixed me with it.

"Tammy, I will thank you not to instruct me as to what to do," Erik said shortly. I blinked. He was acting like he had when we'd first met...

Which honestly was enough to flame up my old anger with him. "What's the matter with you?" I snapped. "Erik, seriously, something's wrong here." I glared over at Aquila. "I don't know why you want the fyggs, but you're sure as anything not gonna get them. You're plotting something!"

"Be silent, insolent girl," Aquila said coldly. "Cease this foolishness, Erik. Relinquish the fyggs. That is an order."

Erik slid the bag of fyggs off his shoulder and handed it to his master. Stella turned back to face the action.

"Excellent," Aquila said, examining the contents of the bag. "You have gathered all seven of the fyggs that fell to the realm beneath. ...But I would expect no less of you, my pupil. You are wise to entrust them to my care. Now I -"

A loud rushing noise drowned out anything else he may have said, and everything went dark. Cristine cried out, and I grabbed for her hand.

"Oh, frightfully well done, Aquila old boy," said a genteel voice. "Now, you'll be a good fellow and drop by the palace with them as promised, won't you?"

"Palace?" Nick asked.

Everything went light again, and I felt myself go bright red as I realised that the hand I'd grabbed was actually Erik's. We snatched our hands away and turned to look at Aquila, who was kneeling on the floor. "...Of course, Your Majesty," he said.

We all backed away several paces.

"What was that weird posh voice?" asked Stella, her voice rising rapidly. "What the flap's going on? And why did you give this weirdo the fyggs? We had to sweat blood, sweat, and tears to get those, you idiot!"

Erik said nothing. He stared at Aquila wordlessly, his expression perfectly neutral. But I could feel something rising up inside him. He clenched his fists, leaving his claws at the ready.

Slowly, Aquila rose. "...You intend to try and stop me," he said calmly.

Erik's expression didn't change, but he nodded slowly. Whatever had started rising up was spreading through him - and me, more faintly - making both of us itch to attack.

Aquila drew his sword and assumed a fighting stance. "This is no time for sentimentality," he said coldly. "If you stand in my way, I have no choice but to cut you down!"

"Get back!" yelled Erik.

I dove at Nick, Cristine, and Stella to get them out of the way. Aquila lunged at Erik, who didn't dodge quickly enough, and sliced deep into Erik's right arm. Erik cried out, and glared at Aquila.

But when he tried to attack, he stopped like someone was holding him back. He struggled viciously - I could tell that much just from the snarl on his face - but it was no good. He couldn't move.

"Your efforts are futile," Aquila said. "A Celestrian may not take arms against a superior."

Erik redoubled his efforts, but it did no good.

Aquila attacked again. This time, the blade ripped into his midsection. Erik's eyes went wide, and then he collapsed like he'd been knocked out cold.

"Erik!" I exclaimed, untangling myself from the others and rushing over to him. "You son of a - what did you do?" I snapped, glaring up at Aquila. "Why would you do this to him!?"

"Erik..." Aquila mumured.

Stella was flailing around, shrieking, but I ignored her.

"You bloody traitor!" I spat. "He trusted you!"

Aquila sheathed his sword wordlessly and blasted the door open. "Farewell," he said to us, and leapt out.

"Erik! He's making off with all the fyggs! Come on, snap yourself out of it! Open your eyes and shine! Otherwise I'll -" Stella's flailing had taken her over to the door, and suddenly she froze, staring out. "Wh-What the flippety-flap is that?"

I scrambled over to the door, and my eyes went wide. An enormous black dragon, twice as thick as I was tall and at least twice as long as the Starflight, was flying beside us. On its back was a freakish-looking bird-man.

"The operation was a hooge success, I trust, Aquila?" the bird-man asked.

Aquila flew up beside the bird-man, looking surprised. "Lieutenant Hootingham-Gore!" he exclaimed, and I went cold. I knew that name. "You were sent to watch over me, I take it."

"Hoo hoo hoo!" laughed Hootingham-Gore. "Not at all, my dear chap. I'm no sticky beak! I was just passing by, and hoo should I see but your fine self? But now that you mention it, we're still not sure if you are someone hoo can be trusted."

"You need not worry," Aquila said. "I have the fyggs."

My breath rushed out of me in a huff. If I was right - if I'd remembered the name properly - then I knew who Aquila was working for. But it was impossible. The Gittish Empire had been destroyed three hundred years ago!

Hootingham-Gore laughed again. "Splendid!" he cried. "Now, I have another little duty I'd like you to help out with. I'm heading for Upover. It's time that menace, to wit the Hero of the Heavens, was wiped out once and for all. Barbarus here, hoo is so kindly lending his services to the Gittish Empire, is all fired up about hoomiliating him! Why don't we have a little demonstration of just how fired up! Hoo hoo hoo hoooo!"

I was frozen, holding myself in the doorway. Barbarus. Hootingham-Gore. Upover. The Hero of the Heavens. No way. This was all too much, too fast. All these things were legends - the stories I'd grown up with, all my life. Old stories, ones that, even though I believed them, contained characters that were long dead. But they weren't. They were here, alive, right in front of me...

Aquila glided away. Barbarus dropped back. I stared after them, and then my eyes went wide as I realised what was going to happen. "Everybody away from the door!" I yelled, diving back myself. I'd have slammed the door shut, but Aquila had already blasted it away.

A deep rumbling started up from behind us.

"Who the flap was that!?" Stella spluttered. "And where's this Upover place? And who's the Hero of the Heavens?"

Then there was a huge blast, and the entire Starflight jolted. Erik was knocked from where Nick had laid him, trying to take care of his wounds. I lunged for him as the Starflight leaned to the right, but I missed.

"Uh-oh," Stella said. "That felt a little too much like a dragon attack to me..."

"Stella!" I yelled, grabbing for Erik again. I caught his wrists, but he was dangling out the doorway.

The faerie girl fluttered over to me. "Erik!" she yelled. "Come on...don't...let...go..."

I yanked hard, knowing it probably wasn't good for his wounds but not really caring. Between my strength and Stella's, we managed to get him back inside the train.

We got him back over to Nick and Cristine, safely away from the open door, and then I raced for the control panel.

"We need to set down somewhere!" Nick yelled. "I can only do so much up here. We need someplace where we can give him better care!"

I nodded grimly and stared out the window. The landmass we were approaching was very familiar. I could see the river, the mountains, the huge mountain in the distance...the wide canyon, the forest, the little village.

Of all the places we could have ended up, this was not the one I'd have chosen. But the Starflight's power was failing, and we were heading down fast. So I grabbed the control lever and started steering us towards the beach.

I couldn't pull us up, but yanking back on the lever at least slowed our descent enough that we didn't crash too hard when we reached the beach. We landed in the sand with a heavy thump, and I turned away from the control panel.

"Come on," I said. "We're not far." I hoisted Erik up, putting one of his arms over my shoulder so I could support him better. Why he was unconscious, I didn't know - he hadn't lost that much blood that fast. But he was unconscious either way, and so absolutely no help while I tried to haul his lanky frame across the beach and through the forest, towards the village.

"Tammy, where are we?" Cristine asked. Nick slipped over to Erik's other side and helped me support him.

I smiled grimly. "The place I'd least like to end up with an injured Celestrian," I said. "Wormwood Creek."

Clearly, our spectacular arrival had been noticed by the villagers. They were gathered at the path into the village - dozens of faces, all of which I'd hoped never, ever to see again.

And at the front of them all was my least favourite face of all. He was paunchy, balder than he'd been when I'd seen him last, but there was no mistaking him.

His eyes went wide when he took in my face. "You!" he cried.

"Me," I agreed grimly, stopping about two metres away from the crowd of villagers. I jerked my chin up so I could look him in the eye. "Hullo, Father."

And this is now, officially, a very long chapter. I'm really sorry, but I knew that I needed to get right here to end a chapter, and if I'd split it up I'd have had to wait a whole extra cycle of writing and editing to get here. But I had fun. That scene on board the Starflight is one that is just awesome to write, and I've been planning the Hullo, Father bit since the very beginning. I started my first bit of character planning for Tammy by scribbling "Tamela 'Tammy' Doffish" on top of the page, even before I'd started drawing her. So I've known - and maybe if my oh-so-subtle hints were as much hitting-you-over-the-head-with-a-hammer as I feel like they were, some of you knew too.

So what happened to make Tammy run away from Wormwood Creek and be so happy to hang out with foreigners? Well, I suppose we'll just have to wait and find out!

May all the bodies of the heavens watch over you!