The Faeries of Dulwich Woods

Chapter 8 - The Flight of The Bumblebee

'Welcome back Avery, come and sit by me,' Lady Elouan called from beneath the ash tree, 'Lord Caradoc, I trust all is well with Dylan now that the Luck of Hughes has been returned?'

'Yes, my Lady, and she will perform at the Midsummer festival to play for the Nine Protectors, as tradition dictates.'

'Wonderful. And since this little matter has been resolved so neatly, let us see if there's a solution to the large one that remains,' said Lady Elouan as a somewhat light-headed Avery wobbled over and dropped onto a comfortable cushion. 'Avery,' Elouan looked at her with some concern, 'Are you all right? You look a bit pale.'

'I'll be fine in a minute, my Lady. It's nothing – the sparkly travel makes my head spin a bit, that's all.'

'Oh dear; I'm so sorry. Would you like to lie down for a minute?' Elouan asked her.

'Honestly, I'm good, I feel better already. You were saying? Something about a problem.'

'That's right, and I want to commend your initiative. It is strange; you're only a young mortal, but you already possess more common sense than many of our Kindred. Which is why I'm going to ask for another, bigger favour, my little Elf-Counsellor. You look doubtful; you must be wondering what this is all about.'

'Yes, I am, my Lady. How can an ordinary kid like me help faerie folk like you? I haven't got magic powers, I'm always picked last for netball and I'm not even the smartest in my class,' Avery replied uncertainly. Elouan laughed and the moonstones woven throughout her dark hair glinted and shone in the dappled light. Then, in an instant, her mood changed; with unnerving speed, she grabbed Avery by the chin and scrutinised her with a fixed, unsmiling stare. Avery chafed under the intensity of Lady Elouan's uncanny, silver eyes but she was determined not to look away. After what seemed like an eternity, the Lady released Avery from her grasp.

'Would you like to know what my magic power is?' Lady Elouan asked her. Avery nodded, feeling a bit rattled and momentarily lost for words.

'I have the power to see the true character concealed in every person's heart, a useful gift indeed,' Elouan said quietly, 'And you are wrong Avery, you do have a certain magic of your own, it's just that you don't consider it so. You have bravery, intuition and the most important of all, the ability to love; qualities that some Kindred lack completely. Avery, Lord Riwal and I are trying to solve a tricky problem; I hope that you can to use your powers to help us.'

'Tell me what it is and I'll do my very best to help,' Avery promised her. Elouan sighed.

'The problem is this; after Goody Turaysh fled from Effrayna, Riwal and I found someone to take charge of her children until she could be located. Alas, no one has found her yet, although it's rumoured that she may be in Malaysia with her best friend, Najma the Djiniri. The father of the two youngest is also absent; in fact, he's on the run. He is due before the Cedar Court for numerous misdemeanours. His name is Puck – he's quite famous, your people have many legends about him.' Avery nodded.

'Yes! He's in a Shakespeare play that we performed at school! I played the part of Peaseblossom but I wanted to be Titania,' she said wistfully, 'Peaseblossom had hardly any lines and Titania had loads.'

'Indeed he is, the very same,' said Lady Elouan with amusement, 'But unlike the cute, helpful Puck of the play, the real Puck is not to be trifled with. He is highly intelligent and extremely skilled in enchantment. Unfortunately, he uses those skills for his amusement, causing endless mayhem whenever he gets bored and he gets bored a lot. Plus he is utterly selfish. In any event, he's in hiding; no one has clapped eyes on him since his last misdeed a year ago. It was highly embarrassing for us; Puck entered the mortal realm, kidnapped the Bishop of Bath and Wells and locked the poor man in a chest in his own sacristy. Then he stole the Bishop's robes and conducted a fancy society wedding entirely in theatre slang. It caused an uproar in the mortal press and on all the social media. Puck is not a stable or consistent father by any stretch of the imagination.' Elouan smoothed the folds of her gown as she paced up and down distractedly. 'This is why Bihan Ruz is so attached to you. He feels abandoned (quite rightly) and you have shown him great kindness. He knows that you are fond of him and he is very fond of you in return. Which is why we think that you can find him for us.'