Meanwhile, back at the cottage
The storm had struck very quickly all of a sudden and was pounding the ground with rain. A bolt of lightning lit up the land for a split second and a rumble of thunder followed, rolling over the fields and meadows. Most animals and people were fleeing inside to escape from the rain. Most of the fairies had done so as well as they could not work in the rain so they would have to wait until the storm passed, but by the looks of it, that would not be for a while.
In the cottage kitchen, Lizzy and her fairy friends were mostly gathered around the table. Mr Twitches was curled up by the fire with Rosetta, Fawn and Cheese sitting against him. Bobble, Clank, Iridessa and Silvermist were working with Lizzy on how to build small individual baths like the one Lizzy had in her doll house and Tinkerbell and Terence, who had returned a few minutes ago from delivering pixie dust to another fairy camp, were sitting on the end of the table, gazing at the lit fireplace. It was not cold. It was actually to dry off Vidia, who was sitting by the fire with a tiny blanket from Lizzy's doll house, staring at it and having her back to the others. She had been caught out in the storm and had been brought in by the others. She had barely spoken to anyone, especially to Tinkerbell, when she had come here. Mrs Perkins was busy doing the washing up.
"Is she alright?" Terence asked Tinkerbell.
"Yeah, she's still angry about the argument we had last night," Tinkerbell replied.
"You two had an argument?"
Tinkerbell nodded. "Yeah, I said to her she was too accusative and unreasonable because she still doesn't trust Lizzy and Martin as much,"
"Oh," Terence looked over at Vidia. "Do you think she'll get over it?"
"Probably not, but she has more chance of doing so than she did before,"
"No, no, Clanky, don't attach it there," Bobble's voice said. "You've got to attach it there,"
"No, the leaf definitely goes onto the stick, Bobble" Clank replied.
"Now c'mon, you two, no need to argue," Iridessa told them.
Tinkerbell and Terence smirked upon hearing this and continued to gaze at the fire, listening to the pitter patter of the rain as it hit the windows outside. Another rumble of thunder echoed outside. It was a very peaceful and beautiful moment. Tinkerbell sighed and rested her head on Terence's shoulder and he smiled.
"Comfy?" he asked.
She nodded. "Very," she replied.
"Are you all of okay back there?" Mrs Perkins asked.
"We're fine thank you, Mrs Perkins," Lizzy replied.
"Oh good,"
Mrs Perkins was a plump middle aged woman in her fifties with grey hair that was tied back in a bun. She was wearing a grey top with a dark cream dress and brown slip on shoes.
A backfiring sound echoed from outside. Upon hearing this, everyone turned towards the door.
"You father's home," Mrs Perkins said.
Vidia, who had looked over towards the door as well, gulped a little and a worried look came onto her face. Tinkerbell looked at her and saw the look on her face. Vidia noticed Tinkerbell looking at her and quickly turned her head back to gaze at the fire. Tinkerbell sighed quietly.
She's never gonna get over it she mentally said to herself.
A few moments later, the door opened and everyone turned to look at the door and their faces went from smiles and happiness to confusion and a bit of worry.
Martin, who had his coat on, stepped into the kitchen and closed the door behind him. He was a right mess. His top was torn, his tie was ripped, his hair was messy, his eyes were wide as if in shock and he was covered in dust. Without saying a word to anyone he walked over to the sink, Mrs Perkins stepping aside and gazing at him with wide eyes, took a cup she had just dried and filled it with cold water from the tap and drank the glass.
"M-M-Martin? Are you okay?" Mrs Perkins asked.
He did not answer and walked over to the table and took a seat and sat down, staring ahead as if in a trance.
"Father, what's wrong?" Lizzy asked, but, again, he did not answer.
All of the fairies stared at him, some confused, others worried.
"What's wrong with him?" Silvermist asked.
Iridessa, Bobble and Clank shrugged. Tinkerbell flew up to him and halted in front of his eyes and waved. He looked at her but said nothing, which worried Tinkerbell and she moved away a little bit.
Lizzy was also confused. What was wrong with her father? Why was he not telling them what was wrong, as something obviously was? Was he sick? Or had something happened?
It was then Lizzy noticed something.
"Father?" she asked. "Why do you have dust on you?" she asked.
He turned to look at her. "W-what dust?" he asked.
Tinkerbell hovered back over to him and blew off a bit of the dust from his cheek. He gasped a little in surprise and she held up a piece of the dust to him. The other fairies, Vidia included but she kept a distance from Martin, came over to look as well, as did Mrs Perkins and Lizzy.
Martin got up from his chair and over to the corridor and walked across to the bathroom. He looked in the mirror placed on the wall above the sink and saw that his face was ghostly white-like colour. It looked like flour had been thrown into his face. He brushed a bit of the dust off his face and looked down at it. His eyes went wide and he looked back into the mirror when he realised what it was.
This dust … It-it … it was … the remains of … those people who were vaporized in front of him!
He began to brush the dust off him frantically and ran the tap, splashing water onto his face to get it off. He brushed a bit of the dust on his shoulders and what was left from his hair, which was partly soaked from the rain.
The others listened to him brushing off the dust from the kitchen.
"Wonder what's going on," Tinkerbell said to Terence.
"Beats me," he replied.
"I hope he's okay," Fawn said.
"D'you think it could be with when he left earlier on?" Rosetta asked. "D'you think something happened that put him in this state of shock?"
"Maybe, but what could happen that put him like that?" Bobble asked.
Before anyone could reply, Martin stepped back into the kitchen. For a moment, he looked at the others. Then he cleared his throat.
"Okay, um…Lizzy, can you please go up to your room and pack your things," he said.
"Why father?" Lizzy asked, concerned.
"Lizzy, please!" her father replied in a bit of a desperate voice. "Please, can you just do it?! And can all you fairies go up to her room with her? Mrs Perkins can you go to my study please?"
Nobody protested or argued. Lizzy walked into the corridor and up the stairs to her room, the fairies following close behind. Mrs Perkins walked down the corridor to Martin's study he followed her, closing the door behind him.
As Lizzy entered her room, she looked questionably at the others.
"What was that all about?" she asked.
Her fairy friends shrugged.
"I've never seen him like that before," Lizzy said.
"Yeah, I wonder what's wrong with him," Tinkerbell said.
"He was scared of something, but maybe something happened whilst he was out," Silvermist suggested.
"Like what?" Vidia asked her.
"Uh …" Silvermist quickly trailed off. Vidia did have a point. What could have scared him like that? "I don't know,"
Lizzy walked over to her bed and pulled her empty suitcase out from underneath it and opened it. As she walked over to her drawers and began emptying them of her clothes, she sighed.
"I didn't think I would be leaving this early," she said. From downstairs, she heard Martin and Mrs Perkins talking from her father's study. "I wonder what they're saying," Lizzy said as she began to fold her clothes up and put them in her suitcase.
"Yeah, what are they saying?" Fawn asked as she looked toward the door.
"I'll go and find out," Tinkerbell said, and she flew out of the room Lizzy was too busy getting her clothes out of her wardrobe to notice, and down the stairs to the door that was Martin's study.
When she reached it, she put her ear against the door. She could hear them talking a bit more clearly, but still not well enough. She moved down to the keyhole and placed her ear next to it. Now she could hear them more clearly.
"Hold on a moment, Martin, did you say that you and Roberts saw a meteorite in the field?" Mrs Perkins asked.
"It wasn't a meteorite, Mrs Perkins," Martin replied. "It was … something else. It was a kind of … transport,"
Tinkerbell went a little wide-eyed when she heard this. A meteorite had crashed into the field and Martin said it was a kind of transport. That was very strange, but if it was a kind of transport as Martin had said, who, or what, was controlling it? Tinkerbell pressed her ear against the keyhole, determined to gather what else might be said.
In the study, Martin paced up and down behind his desk, his hand placed in front of his mouth. Mrs Perkins was standing near the door with her back to it.
"A transport?" she repeated and Martin nodded. "What do you mean by transport, Martin?"
"I mean, something was travelling inside it," he told her. "When we were looking at it, the side of it suddenly collapsed and this…this…creature came out! It was nothing like I had ever seen before! It was a dragon and it had silver skin and was walking on its arms and legs and was growling and hissing up at us. Then when it retreated back into the meteorite, Roberts, the priest from the village near the crash site and another man went down into the pit and this…kind of…ray came out and fired on them and incinerated them completely and then turned its attention on the crowd and began vaporizing everyone it saw,"
Mrs Perkins gasped, clasping a hand over her mouth. Tinkerbell gasped as well and went wide-eyed at what she had just heard. Something Martin had never seen before had come out of this meteorite and then fired on the crowd that had gathered around it? This had to be bad. Tinkerbell did not know anyone or anything that could do anything like that. There was no way anything from Neverland would try and hurt Humans. This creature, or most likely creatures … they were something else.
"When it began firing on the crowd, I started to run," Martin continued "And I only just got away and drove full speed back here. That dust Lizzy and Tinkerbell said I had on me was actually from a group of people that were vaporized in front of me!" he gasped a little as he looked at his hand and then ahead of him. "It…it was horrible!"
"Oh my goodness!" Mrs Perkins said. "So what are you going to do, Martin?" she asked him.
He thought for a moment when she had asked him that. What was he to do? It was obvious they could not stay here, but where were they to go and how were they to get there?
After a few moments, Martin turned to face Mrs Perkins. "I want you to take Lizzy with you and your husband and take her to St Angel village," he said to her. "I'm going to phone my wife and let her know what's going on. Then I'll join you all in St Angel,"
"Won't you be able to come with us now, Martin?" Mrs Perkins asked.
"I don't know, but I don't want to take the risk," he replied. "I just want my daughter away from here. I have a feeling those things in the pit will come out and begin to spread out,"
Mrs Perkins nodded. "I'll call my husband and tell him to come here," she said.
"Use the phone in here," Martin said, taking out a phone from one of the drawers on his desk and handing it to Mrs Perkins, who placed it on the table and began to dial the number.
As she did this, Martin walked over to the window and looked outside. Disbelief was filling him like water filling a tank. He could not believe this was happening. He and his daughter were going to have to leave, and he could only imagine what was taking place at the villages near the crash site of the meteorite. If those things had left, then there was probably panic taking place in the villages. Hopefully, word of what was going on had spread to other villages and towns of what was going on.
Outside the door, Tinkerbell hovered a few inches away from the wooden door, disbelief and shock filling her as well. Never before had this happened. She had never thought that this summer, Lizzy and Martin would have to leave their cottage and go somewhere where they would be safe. It was hard to think about, let alone believe it was really happening.
But what about them? What if these things Martin had said had come out of this meteorite were attacking other fairy camps? Would they leave as well and end up having to go somewhere else on the Mainland to be safe, or would everyone be called back to Neverland? But if that happened, what would happen to everything they had worked for? More importantly, what about the Humans?
Tinkerbell flew back up the stairs to Lizzy's room. As she entered, Lizzy zipped up her suitcase, which was full of her clothes, a few books and a coat. She walked over to her shelf and picked up her fairy house.
"I'm not sure whether to take this or not," she said. "I don't want to throw it away,"
Whilst she was deciding, the other fairies flew over to Tinkerbell.
"So what did you hear them say, Tink?" Fawn asked.
"I…I," she began. "I heard … Lizzy's dad say that … some meteorite had hit the field and then…something came out, he described it as being like a dragon, and it…it came out and then went back into the meteorite…then, he said this kind of ray came out of the meteorite and started firing at everyone in this crowd that had gathered around it and…and..." she began to breathe deeply and struggled to hold back her tears. "And … killed … loads of them,"
The others gasped and looked at each other with wide eyes. They could not believe what their friend was telling them. Something that had fired on the crowd that had gathered around this crashed meteorite and killed many people…it was horrible!
"Did he say what he was going to do?" Iridessa asked her.
"Yeah, um…he said he wants Mrs Perkins and her husband to take Lizzy to some village and he'll meet them there," she answered.
"What about us?" Vidia asked, in a bit of an annoyed voice.
"I don't know what we're supposed to do, Vidia," Tinkerbell replied.
"Typical," she huffed. "I expected that of him,"
Tinkerbell's eyes narrowed but before as she moved towards Vidia and went to say something, Terence grabbed her arm and shook his head, telling her to stop and not try and start an argument.
"We'll have to try and leave ourselves," he said, letting go of Tinkerbell's arm. "We'll just have to try and go through the rain and warn the camp of what's goi-"
Then, footsteps on wood filled the room and Lizzy and the fairies looked towards the door to see Martin step into the doorway.
"Hello, Lizzy," he said. "A-are you packed?" he asked.
"Yes, father," Lizzy replied.
"Good, um, could you come with me for a second?"
"Um…okay, father,"
Lizzy grabbed her suitcase off her bed and followed her father out of the room and he took her to the bottom of the stairs. The fairies flew over to the door and poked their heads out into the corridor and looked down the stairs to see Martin kneeling down on one knee and with one hand on his daughter's shoulder.
"Now, Lizzy, this is going to be hard for both you and me," he was saying. "Mrs Perkins and her husband are taking you to St Angel village. But…But I…I can't come with you at the moment,"
Lizzy's eyes went wide with shock. "What! Why, father?" she exclaimed.
"I have to phone your mother and let her know of what is happening?"
"What exactly is happening, father?"
"Let's just say…there's um…an emergency going on nearby and we may have to leave,"
"Oh," Lizzy went quiet and looked down at the floor and sniffed. Martin sighed sadly and lifted her head up gently with his hand.
"Don't worry, Lizzy," he said softly to her. "You'll be alright,"
"It's not me, father, it's you," she cried, hugging him tightly. The fairies looked at each other sadly. "I don't want you to get hurt!"
"I won't, Lizzy, don't worry," he said to her, gently rubbing her back. "I promise you, I'll be okay,"
Lizzy sniffed and wiped away a tear from her eye and sniffed again. "When will be with us again, father?" she asked.
"I'll join you and Mrs Perkins and her husband in the village tonight," he told her. "Afterwards, we'll go to London and meet up with your mother,"
Lizzy nodded. "Be safe, won't you," she said.
Martin nodded. "I'll be alright, Lizzy," he replied.
They hugged each other for a moment longer before Lizzy withdrew from her father. As she did, she looked up the stairs and saw the fairies hovering outside the door.
"What about them, father?" she asked.
Martin looked up the stairs at the fairies. Yes, what about them? Where were they to go? Lizzy had told him that they could not fly in the rain and the storm was likely to last much of the day and night before it passed over and even if they were to go back over there, the other fairies would still have to wait until the storm was over and by that time, what was going on at the pit could have come down here by then. What were they to do?
Finally, Martin stood up. "Take them with you, Lizzy," he said. "Take them with you to the village,"
"Okay," she replied. "What about the other fairies?" she asked.
"When I've phoned your mother, I'll go over and tell them to leave and I'll let them know that Tinkerbell and the others are with you and safe," he told her.
She nodded. At that moment, Mrs Perkins called from the kitchen.
"Martin, my husband's here," she said.
"Okay," he called back. "You best be off, Lizzy," he said to his daughter.
She nodded and he picked up her suitcase and carried it into the kitchen. Tinkerbell and her friends followed them. When they entered the kitchen, they saw Mrs Perkins standing by the door with a large umbrella open. In her hand was a small basket with a few paper bags. She had made some sandwiches and taken some fruit and biscuits for food. Lizzy was putting on her grey coat and hat.
"Okay, that's everything," she said and walked over with her father to the door.
"Are you ready?" Mrs Perkins asked her.
"Almost," Lizzy replied and she looked over at her fairy friends, who flew over to her and she took off her hat and they hopped inside. "Okay, let's go," she said to Mrs Perkins and they, along with Martin who was running alongside, ran to a waiting car on the dirt road outside the front garden gate.
Sitting in the car was an elderly man in his sixties with a small grey beard, short grey hair and was wearing a large black coat with black trousers, a grey suit top and black shoes. He was Mr Perkins, Mrs Perkins' wife. The seats of the car were covered by a tarpaulin that was pulled up from the back of the car. Mrs Perkins climbed in and took Lizzy's case and out it in the back of the car behind them, where Mr Twitches and Cheese were sitting, and Lizzy climbed into the car, resting her hat on her lap.
"Right, well, goodbye and stay safe," Martin said to them. "And thank you two for doing this," he added.
"You too, Martin," Mr Perkins replied. "We'll meet ya later on in St Angel,"
He nodded. "Yes, I'll see you soon,"
Mr Perkins went to start the car and Martin walked back towards the house when Lizzy suddenly piped up.
"Wait!" she said and she quickly climbed out of the car, putting her hat on her seat as she got out of the car, and ran up to her father. He knelt down and she hugged him tightly and he hugged her back. Tinkerbell and her friends watched them and she wiped away a tear from her eye. Iridessa did the same and Bobble lifted up his goggles and wiped away a tear from his eye. It was a loving moment, but it was very sad as well. With what was going on, there was a feeling, and, even though they did not like the thought, a chance that they might not see each other again. Tinkerbell had this feeling the most as she did believe that, like Martin, these dragons were unlikely going to spare anyone alone they might come across.
Lizzy sniffed, a few tears running down her face. "I love you, father," she said.
Martin nodded lightly, struggling to hold back a flow of tears as well. "I love you too, Lizzy," he said to her softly. "You be good, won't you,"
"I won't be able to get up to mischief whilst I'm away," she joked lightly, and he gave a little laugh.
He gave her one last hug and a kiss on the forehead before he withdrew from her. "You better go, Lizzy," he said.
She nodded and ran back to the car and climbed in, placing the hat on her lap and looked over at her father, who was walking back towards the cottage. Next to her, Mr Perkins started the car. The engine spluttered loudly and backfired a few times. Martin stopped at the doorway and turned to look back at the car.
"Goodbye, father!" Lizzy called, waving to him as the car began to move forward.
He waved back. "Goodbye, Lizzy," he replied and watched as the car rose up over the hill and then drove down the other side and disappeared. "Take care of yourself, darling," he muttered hopefully and sadly.
Lizzy sat back in her seat and sighed sadly, wiping a tear away from her eye with her hand. Tinkerbell patted her hand and Lizzy smiled down at them.
"I'm glad you're all here," she said.
Tinkerbell hovered up to Lizzy and gave her a small hug against her cheek and Lizzy placed her hand against her back to hug her back. The others, apart from Vidia, who was too busy watching the passing landscape, came up and hugged her as well.
"Thank you all," she said.
Behind them at the cottage, Martin sighed as the headlights of the car disappeared from sight and sighed. He was hoping that she and her fairy friends would be okay and he hoped to meet them again, but he had to finish off a few things here first. He would be overjoyed when he met them later on tonight in St Angel.
Heaving another sigh, Martin waked back into the cottage and shut the door behind him.