Jhuidah – the Faerie guardian of Mystery Island sensibly also known as the Island Faerie – was currently engaged in a long and meaningful discussion. Well, not long, really. But meaningful, certainly. And important. Very important.

She was kneeling before a smallish sort of fire, rocking backwards and forwards feverishly, chanting a strange sort of – well, islandy – song that had no ending. As Island Faerie, Jhuidah had to take on all traditions – or, at least, most of them – of the Cocos, Mystery Island's native coconut people. This involved casting spells and putting herself in trances.

From Jhuidah's point of view, of course, she was chatting – or rather, being chatted to – quite nicely enough by the great god of Mystery Island himself, Pango Pango...

"Jhuidah," the unseen voice bellowed.

"Pango," Jhuidah whispered. "You have called to me. Speak."

"I sense evil," Pango boomed, "scheming on our small island."

"Evil?" Jhuidah asked fearfully.

"Yes," Pango answered. "Evil."

Unperturbed by the fact that this conversation was getting nowhere, Jhuidah asked another question. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Yes."

"What? Tell me, please... what?"

"You will find the bringer of the evil in the form of two persons – one is human."

"And the other? What is the other?"

"My senses do not say." Pango paused before continuing. "You must hand the two culprits over to Coco natives. They will know what to do."

Had Jhuidah been in the mood to be impertinent to a god, she would have mentioned that she followed the same traditions and religious activities as the mute, though telepathic, and seemingly entirely male Cocos – however, Jhuidah was not quite that daring. Scolding a god for his decisions was like telling Fyora she had a bad hair day. It was not done, and if it was, you usually suffered incredible punishments – like being banished from Faerie City.

"You are not thinking pure thoughts," the Coco god scolded her thoughts – as he too was telepathic. "I do not believe you would be capable of my task. That is why I ask you to give them to the Cocos."

"Capable?" Jhuidah asked. "I am capable of anything those Cocos are! I swear it, Pango!"

"Very well," Pango said gravely. "You are to capture them both and restrain them. Then you are to take them to the Temple of Pango."

"What there?" Jhuidah pressed. "I can do it, Pango, I can... I will! I promise!"

"Very well. You are to first summon the twelve Coco High Priests, and then bind the human to the sacrificial stone. All twelve must then telepathically chant the Song of Death and once they are done, a dagger must be driven through their heart. While they are conscious."

Feminism had no place in primitive societies that still practised sacrifice, Jhuidah decided.

"You gave me your word, Jhuidah. Twice."

Jhuidah smiled weakly. "I did, didn't I." She bit her lip, took a deep breath and asked, "what of the other? What must happen then?"

"The human's body is to be carried on a bamboo plank by six Coco Lower Priests to the volcano. They must be precisely north of the place. As for the other evil-doer, they must be bound as well to the stone and killed in exactly the same way. They shall be placed next to the human, the two bamboo planks touching. The other is to be on the human's right."

Jhuidah nodded miserably. "How will I know if they're the right one?"

"Precisely fifteen minutes after the other is killed – if both are killed according to my instructions – the volcano will erupt. Both will be trapped under molten lava, and all trace of their existence will be gone."

"With all due respect, Pango, how can I tell if they're the right evil-doers before killing them?" Jhuidah enquired. "Needless death is a sin."

"They will be examining your Cooking Pot between the third and fourth hours of the morning," Pango intoned.

"But Pango, what if more than one pair inspect the Cooking Pot? What do I do then?"

"There will be only one pair," Pango told the Faerie in an unrelenting grave tone. "Now be gone, foreign one. Carry out your task."

Feeling considerably sick in the stomach now, Jhuidah concentrated her mind on returning to reality, upon which she broke off the chant and stood up. Examining the position of the moon in the sky, Jhuidah realised it must be three – or later! She had better hurry.

"Look!" Jess exclaimed excitedly. "It's the Cooking Pot!" She ran up to the large green pot, certainly large enough to accommodate her – and with a human skull lying ominously beside it.

Blanche stared at the overexcited Jess. "Mum," she said warningly, "you forgot about Jhuidah."

Jess, remembering the pretty Island Faerie, hit her own head. "Of course!" she exclaimed, no less overexcited. "Maybe she can remove my bracelet!"

Blanche rolled her eyes. "Mum, she isn't here."

"She should be here," Jess argued.

"Yeah, well, she isn't."

Casting a glance out across the area, Jess had to concede that Blanche was right. "Maybe I can melt my bracelet in the..." She paused for thought. "No, maybe not. I'll burn my hand."

Jhuidah, hidden completely in the dark trees, was absolutely horrified. A girl! If it had been a man, perhaps, or a male teenager, that could have been vaguely manageable. But a girl! Short, and barely teenage if she was, indeed, that old – what had Pango been thinking?

Jhuidah turned to look at the drugged darts she held in her left hand. Not poisoned – that would make the murder useless – drugged with a weak sleeping mixture, one which would knock the girl out for about half an hour. The Faerie Uni that accompanied the girl – a Faerie! - would be out for much less due to the amazing Faerie adaptability, and Jhuidah'd be lucky if she were asleep for ten minutes.

In future, the Island Faerie decided she would stop being so defensive and stop promising things so quickly. But it was a bit late now.

She carefully transferred one of the darts to her right hand, aiming it carefully at the Faerie Uni. She got a colossal amount of willpower together to stop her arm trembling, and then let loose.

"Ow!" Blanche yelled, whipping her head around to stare at her shoulder. "Someone fired an arrow at me!"

"I'll get it out!" Jess chirped in an inappropriately cheerful voice. Before her arm ever made it to Blanche's shoulder, her right arm was pierced by a similar dart. "OW!" She began to hop from one foot to another in anger, before tripping over her own leg and tumbling to the ground. "I'm... tired..." On that note, her head fell to the ground and hit a particularly large rock on the way.

Blanche stared at her owner in confusion before being on the receiving end of a similar wave of tiredness. She, too, collapsed to the ground.

Jhuidah took a deep breath. Well, they fitted Pango's description. It was three-fifteen.