Fred scouted further along the corridor. He relaxed, nothing. Looking back over his shoulder he saw Jane peeking around the corner. He motioned for her to follow. She hesitated before rushing to his side.
"Okay, from now on we'll stay together. Alright?" Fred waited for a response. Jane squeezed her hands between her legs.
"I'm really cold." Jane shuddered as a cold breeze raced down the corridor. Fred tried to smile, but he too was exhausted. They had spent the night trying to find their way out of the fairy labyrinth, with no luck. The only sleep they had had was a couple of hours and it had been too stressful to replenish them.
"Yeah, well we need to keep going. Once we get out here then we can find Amelia and Ollie." Fred pulled Jane's arm and they set off. They had been running in silence for only a short time when they heard voices ahead of them. Fred tensed and pushed Jane against the wall. Motioning to her to keep quiet, he crept ahead. Peeking around the corner he saw two fairies, conversing in low tones. Creeping closer still he only stopped when he could hear what they were saying. Holding his breath, he lay on his stomach and listened.
"It's all going to come together tonight. I've heard that the naiads are going to ambush the oreads at their head camp." The taller fairy nodded his head wisely and leant forward on his sword.
"And you know the funny bit? The dryads are going to ambush the naiads at the same time." The shorter fairy shook his head.
"Ah, but have you thought of the nereids? They are the naiad's allies. These water-faring creatures seem to have a real loyalty thing going on." The taller fairy shifted position. Fred could see his face clearly now. The fairy had a squashed look to his face. His nose was the dead centre of his face, with his eyes squinting from underneath several rolls of fat. At the moment his mouth was twisted into a sort of grim smile.
"Yes, I know. And do you know what it's all about?" The tall fairy leant closer into the short fairy. He looked around before he continued in a whisper.
"Eight children wandered into the woods, yesterday I think it was. Now that oread, Manawydan, he caught all of them before anymore else knew they were about. But you know that crazy naiad Teyrnon? His crew is getting old now. He needed to recruit some new crewmembers. So what does he think to himself? He would trick old Manawydan out of his catch and then use them to man his ship." At this the short fairy looked unbelieving. "No, that can't be. I know that captain is off his nut, but using human children?" The fairy chuckled to himself as his companion tried to correct him.
"Yes! You know what kind of competition is between those two. But you know what happened? Some of the children are missing. Disappeared into the woods. Teyrnon only got three of the eight." The short fairy appeared grave at this part of the story. The tall fairy nodded superiorly.
"I know. We have two of the children," he stuck out his chest, "and there's rumours that the dryads have the other three." The short fairy went to say something when suddenly another fairy came hurtling down the corridor.
"Quickly! Quickly come this way! Intruders have entered the labyrinth near the south entrance!" The two fairies swore and ran after the messenger fairy. Fred crept quietly back to Jane. He slumped down next to her.
"What? What is it? What were they saying?" Jane looked searchingly at Fred. He just shook his head.
"No need to worry, they were just gossips. But we need to hurry, something has invaded this fairy place." Fred became silent. Jane sat impatiently next to him.
"So are we going to get going or what?" Jane waved her hands in front of Fred's face. Fred sighed and stood up. His legs trembled underneath him and his arms shook as he heaved himself up off the wall. He looked down the corridor one last time before taking Jane's hand and running deeper into the fairy realm.
They were woken before dawn. A young naiad stamped in and announced himself as Judd before starting to holler obscenities and curses at the children till they stood up. Muttering under his breath as they shuffled up the stairway to the deck, he led them to their first chore.
"Now," he yelled before them, "First you have to mop the decks. Before you mop the decks though, you have to scrub the muck off and then shovel the muck down into the chute over there." The children peered over in the direction he had pointed at, but couldn't see anything. Judd cut off their view.
"All the buckets and mops are in the closet over in the room on the west side of the deck." Again, Judd motioned in an extreme generalised direction. He stared at the children as they gave him blank looks.
"Well get to work you lot!" Judd scowled at them until Elizabeth grabbed the others and pulled them over to the area where the chute should be. Glancing back over her shoulder at Judd who was watching them, she started to whisper.
"We wont have much time together, alone, if this is anything like what it's going to be. So we need to start thinking of a plan to get out of here." Elizabeth glanced back at Judd who had started to advance over to the children.
"Quickly, move to the closet." The children scuttled over to the west side of the deck and looked for the room. Agnes soon found it and the children piled into the cupboard with Judd's eyes still upon them. Shutting the door behind them Elizabeth made them all sit down in the cramped space.
"We have to have a signal which we'll use when one of us has a chance to escape." Elizabeth squinted in the darkness. She could see Agnes' white face and Ollie's bottom lip sticking out. She smiled wanly.
"What should the signal be?" She started to make as much noise as possible, pretending to find a mop. Agnes' face lit up. "Why don't we whistle, like when we call Frankie?" Ollie snorted.
"That's way too obvious. Are there any dogs on this boat?"
Agnes stuck out her tongue and the two children started bickering. Elizabeth put up her hands.
"Guys! Guys! That's not helping at all. We can keep that in mind Agnes because it is a good idea. Do you have any ideas Oliver?" Elizabeth pulled out a scrubbing brush and listened at the door for any movement outside. She frowned; all she could hear was the waves on the side of the boat.
"Hey, do you guys hear –" Suddenly the door opened and there was Judd's leering face.
"Found anything useful in here? Good. Hurry up, you have to clean the deck before the rest of the crew is up." Grabbing Agnes and Ollie by the scruff of the neck he led them out to the centre of the deck with Elizabeth scurrying behind. He watched in amusement as the three of them tried vainly to remove the age-old muck left on the deck floor. When he was sure they were immersed in the work he walked down the stairs to the guardroom. There was nowhere for them to run and only a matter of time if they tried to hide. Elizabeth waited till he had disappeared down into the ship till she turned to the others.
"Okay this is the signal. If you know a way to escape, or can escape with the other two, or just yourself, start singing that French song we learnt last Christmas." Two blank faces met this news. Elizabeth glanced at the trapdoor. "C'mon you know it! Remember, Uncle Michael taught us!" Elizabeth became frantic as she heard footsteps on the stairs. "Remember! John made farting noises in the harmony part." Smiles spread across the two faces. Elizabeth grabbed her scrubbing brush and knelt back down, whispering,
"Remember? That's the signal!" Judd only came up the stairs enough to see the new recruits. He smiled, they were working as hard as possible he had scared them so much. Pleased with himself, he wandered back down to breakfast.
John felt the sun start to burn his skin. He opened his eyes to see a small hole in the roof allowing the sun to come down onto his face. It started to blind him and he rolled over. He groaned as he felt his ribs crack. Sitting up he yelped as he saw where he was. He rubbed his head as he realised that he was encased in a cage made of trees. Wobbling as he stood up, he reached for the bars for support. Through the thickness in his head he thought he heard someone call his name. Blearily looking around he fell back as he saw Amelia jumping around and yelling his name. He fell back further as he realised that James was also in a cage like his, but on the other side of the cavern he now found himself in. Shaking his head and standing up more confidently he started to yell back.
"Have we been here long?" He saw James shrug and look to Amelia.
"You've been here longer than I have." She yelled back. John massaged his head. It was then they heard the marching. It shook the ground and made John fall over again. All three cousins turned when they heard the two enormous doors at the end of the cavern open and in marched a small army of creatures, not unlike the one Amelia had met. As they watched open-mouthed, a small group followed, carrying a slender figure on a seat, adorned with wood flowers and berry fruits. The figure wore a crown of branches and was wearing a war like costume. She stared at the children and defiantly they stared back. James narrowed his eyes; obviously this was the person who had had them put here. She waved to her guards. Two of them went to James' cage and two more went to Amelia's cage. Roughly they undid the tree boughs making up the cages and seized the children within. The guards carried them over to John's cage and shoved them all in together. The children stood shoulder to shoulder as the queen was lowered slowly to the ground. Amelia grabbed James and John's hands as the queen glided over to them. The boys squared their shoulders as the war queen stood before them. She played with the bars imprisoning them as they watched her. Finally, she spoke. "How are you? I've been watching you and you seem to be fine." She looked up at the three children, so confident in each other's company. She smiled at how tight they held each other's hand and how the two boys hemmed in the girl. Her smile drooped. They were expecting animosity from her and her guards. Amelia saw her smile and shuddered. She was already planning how to get rid of them.
"Well, you know, as fine as you can be after being imprisoned and separated from your siblings." Amelia stared coldly at her captor. The queen wanted to shrink away but held her head higher. Amelia gripped her cousins' hands tighter. The queen seemed to be getting ready to do her will.
"I am sorry you feel this way. But I have not come to give you the privilege of my presence for any arbitrary reason. I have come to tell you some inspiring news, that you have been enlisted into the magnificent army of the dryads." The children jumped when suddenly the entire guard body stood up straighter and beat their hand to their heart, reciting, "Long live the army of the queen." Queen Branwen nodded appreciatively and turned back to the boys. They had looks of horror on their faces. "Are you for real?" The smaller boy had a smirk on his face. The queen became unsure but one look at Pryderi quelled any uncertainties. She nodded and walked back to her guards. Yells of indignation followed her.
"Get the boys ready for battle, please." She started to walk away but the guard called her back.
"What about the girl, My Majesty?" Queen Branwen looked back at the girl who was now trying to stop a guard taking one of the boys. The queen furrowed her brow; while both the boys were blonde the girl was dark. She shook her head and gave her attention back to the waiting guard.
"Keep her here." The young queen walked back to her seat. As she was hoisted up onto the shoulders of her men, she tried to ignore the desperate cries and confused yelling coming from the cage. It was for the best, she kept telling herself, her army needed as many as they could get. She couldn't forget the girl's look of disbelief and disgust at her gall of trying to be friendly after imprisoning them in that horrible room. She closed her eyes and waited to be taken back to the meeting room to ready her beautiful army for battle.
Elizabeth wiped her brow as the midday sun beat down. She looked despairingly across the deck. The captain had taken Agnes into his room and she still hadn't emerged. Ollie was over on the other side, listlessly scrubbing a stain on the deck floor. Elizabeth knelt back on her heels. The crew were still underneath, it was weird, wasn't the crew meant to be up already and sailing the ship or something. Elizabeth knocked on the wooden planks underneath her and hoped it would stay that way. She half hunched over when she saw Nisien and Judd walk across the deck to the captain's quarters. When she saw the door close she ran over to Ollie. He looked up surprised when she grabbed his arm.
"C'mon, we're going to listen to what they're talking about." The two children ran over to the window. Sitting underneath the sill, they listened hard to the voices drifting out from inside. The first voice they recognised was Captain Teyrnon's. Their eyes widened as they heard all.
"Are they camped near the north shore?" Captain Teyrnon's voice seemed low and urgent.
"Yes, only a few hundred metres from the edge. We can get our troops, plus the nereids troops into the camp relatively easily." Nisien voice drifted out of the window.
"Why is it only 'relatively' easy? I don't understand why this cannot go through without a problem." Silence greeted this. Ollie got up onto his knees and peeked into the window. He saw the three naiads crowded around a desk covered in papers. He sighed, relieved, their backs were to the window. Agnes was standing against the wall. Her eyes widened when she saw Ollie's head pop up at the window, but she forced herself to look at the ground and not give anything away. Nisien saw her and looked back at window but by that time Ollie and Elizabeth were back in their positions on the deck. Judd stalked out for a minute, watching them and their progress before returning to the captain's quarters. Elizabeth focused on the imperfection in the polish as she thought furiously. They knew where Agnes was, and everyone knew the signal. Elizabeth's scrubbing became rhythmic and her focus was centred on the stain. Ollie was the first to notice the dryads climbing aboard. He was daydreaming and staring at the other end of the deck. He saw figures slide over the side and disappear behind the tomato crates. He blinked, had something come on board? He didn't change his stance at all and watched in horror as more and more appeared. Ollie thought about what Elizabeth had said about escaping. He slowly stood up and walked to the stairway. Walking slowly down the stairs, he tried to ignore Elizabeth's shout of confusion and the surprised looks the naiads gave him. Stopping at the bottom stair he placed a finger on his lips as the naiads rushed towards him.
"Shh! No! Stop! The enemy is above us!" Ollie waited a second for his words to sink in. Elizabeth appeared at the steps and came rushing down.
"Please don't hurt him! He's only little!" Elizabeth grabbed Ollie and held him as the naiads stared on. Ollie shook her off and put his finger to his lips. Ignoring Elizabeth's bewilderment he continued.
"They are sneaking on at the south end." The naiads were still suspicious and were silent still.
"How do we know if you are not lying?" A naiad stepped forward and crossed his arms. The naiads started to agree loudly.
"Shh! Shut up! You'll let them know where you are!" Oliver sounded so desperate the naiads stopped.
"Send a scout and they'll tell you!" The naiads started to argue about who should scout when suddenly there was a whoosh! of air and the naiad who had spoken stared down at his chest. His eyes started to glaze over as he gripped the arrow in his chest. As if in slow motion, he fell backwards and lay still on the ground. Everyone jumped back in horror. A feathered arrow, the dryad trademark, was sticking out of his chest. Chaos followed. Elizabeth grabbed Oliver and ran underneath the stairs. They watched in dismay as the unprepared naiads tried to fight back as volley after volley of arrows came down below deck. As the dryads advanced down the flight of stairs the naiads increasingly became more panicked and desperate. Elizabeth and Ollie hid their faces as they saw naiad after naiad fall under the dryads' arrows. The two children pushed themselves up against the wall as a small regiment of dryads entered the plain room. The dryads spread out and methodically killed any surviving naiads. One long glance around the room and they left. As soon as Elizabeth could no longer hear their footsteps on the wooden planks she and Ollie ran up and across the deck. Elizabeth slowed down when she saw the captain's door lying on the deck. Papers were flying around in the wind and books were strewn across the deck. The cousins crept up slowly, hardly daring to breathe. As they came closer they could see the furniture upturned, their stuffing flowing out of gaping, jagged holes. Elizabeth tried to ignore the hot sensation behind her eyes. Looking in through the window no one seemed to be around. Ollie waited, watching for any sign of movement. Finally, she couldn't keep back. Ollie watched as Elizabeth crept into the captain's room. He took one last look around and followed. They stood in the middle of the room and gazed at the devastation surrounding them. Elizabeth sat down on the ripped carpet and started to cry. Ollie sat down next to her and patted her knee. He tried to come to grips with what would have happened in here. He shook his head.
"It's not fair." Elizabeth whispered. Ollie nodded and hung his head. Slowly he brought his head back up and his hoarse voice started to sing. Elizabeth listened for a moment before joining in. The two sat in the ransacked room and sang their French song. They finished the chorus when Elizabeth suddenly sat rigid. Ollie immediately tensed and listened as well. From under a pile of couches and bookcases came the small voice of Agnes. Elizabeth screamed and ran over. Ollie started to pull at the couches and soon enough Agnes stood before them. All they had time for was a hug.
"I'm so glad you're okay!" Elizabeth squeezed Agnes.
"Girls, the way is clear. We have to go now!" Ollie waved the two girls over and ran to the edge of the ship. They moored right in the centre of the river. They gulped at the speeding rapids, but the distance was nothing. Elizabeth looked down at the two small children beside her. She only hesitated a second before nodding and the three of them dived in.