The Princess and the Peach

Abigail was a little girl who always thought that she was a princess. Her mother always treated her like a princess. Her father mostly treated her as a princess but sometimes he annoyed her by telling her that she wasn’t. She acted like a princess and had all that she wanted and that was good enough for her.

She wore beautiful dresses which her mother sewed for her, sometimes staying up late at night to finish one off. She had a pretty sparkly tiara that she insisted on wearing every day. When she played in the garden she wore them. When she walked down the street she wore them. Those around her would know she was a princess, or so she thought and believed. The story starts at Christmas and like every other year of her life Abigail’s Grandmother was coming to stay.

Her Granny was an old lady as Grannies often are. Abigail thought that she must be at least a hundred and as she was her Granny she had to be the oldest one alive. She had told her friends at school about her Grandmother and how she was the oldest person alive. She had got very cross that her teacher had dared to say that her Grandmother could not be that old. Abigail knew better and her teacher, as always when she disagreed with her was wrong.

The day of her Grandmother’s arrival, Christmas Day, had come. The long wait was over. The house was cleaned. She liked that as her mother would clean in front of her. She could then step downstairs step by step as her mother swept the stair in front of her for her. She would walk slowly down the hallway as it as cleaned in front of her and then she would point to any dust that she saw and say. “You have failed me, you must try harder.”

Her mother would then smile and remove the offending dust or dirt.

That had gone on for over a week and now the house was spick and span. The lights were clean, the skirting boards were clean and the carpet would be threadbare if they were cleaned any more.

Now tthey were all waiting for her in their best clothes. The table was laid for tea. The best china was set out and the cruet set had been polished. Salt was in the salt pot. Pepper was in the pepper pot and sauces had been decanted into pretty glass pots on the table.

The tablecloth was washed, ironed and checked for any marks. It was as perfect as it could be. The cutlery had been washed and polished and laid out just so. One set for each course plus one for the bread.

Abigail had watched in wonder as he mother had folded the napkins into little flowers and tucked each one into a wine glass. One glass for red wine, one for water. It was all laid out beautifully.

Abigail had helped with the cooking too. She had cleaned out the mixing bowl. She loved to run her fingers over the inside of the bowl and then lick the mixture off of her fingers one by one. It tasted good. Sweet and sticky. It was her treat for helping. Today she had a double treat as there were scones to bake and a big cake. Not the Christmas cake and pudding. Those had been made ages ago. These were tomorrow cakes that would be eaten for tea.

The morning had been magnificent. She had sat next to the Christmas Tree and watched the television while her mother cleaned the room. Everywhere was decorated with sparkling tinsel and the tree had a beautiful fairy on the top of it.

Abigail was a little cross though. As Granny was visiting she had to wait to open the presents that Santa had left for her. This wasn’t altogether fair and she knew it. She had been loud enough about it and as soon as her mother went out of the room she walked to the door and closed it. Then she went back to the pile of presents and picked out the first one with her name on it. She ripped the paper off of it and inside she found a cardboard box. The picture on the box showed a plastic horse for her doll. It was a brown one with a brown mane and tail. It had a matching nosebag, saddle and bridle and a broom. She just knew that her doll would enjoy cleaning the stable with that. Her dad had made her a wonderful stable and the horse she had already was tucked up warm in there.

Just at that moment her mother came back in. “Abigail, now what did I say?”

Abigail looked down at the horse. “I’m sorry mummy, I couldn’t wait. Santa brought them last night. It is hard to wait until laster. It is Christmas Morning after all.” She did feel a little guilty. It was a horrible cold feeling that she had done something wrong. It was her present though and it was unfair that she was made to wait when she could have opened her presents with her parents. She thought being nasty about the present just to make it her mother’s fault and so that her naughtiness would be forgotten but just then Granny arrived.

She put the horse down and her mother quickly pulled out another piece of paper from the cupboard and wrapped it up again so that nobody would know. She wrapped it in the same as the other packages, put the tag back on it and put it back under the tree. “There, now nobody will know but don’t you ever do that again.”

Her mummy smiled at her and Abigail smiled back. She had got away with it but then again, it was Christmas.

She went to the door with her mother and there was Granny on the doorstep, wrapped in her big thick black coat with a fur collar. Her little pill box hat sat precisely on her neat black curls and her face was powdered with neatly applied lipstick finishing off her ensemble. There was no sign of any mascara or other make up. There might have been a little blusher or was that rouge? She couldn’t be sure and she didn’t want to look too closely. Granny’s big black handbag was hanging over her arm and in her other hand she had a carrier bag full of wrapped presents.

Granny smiled, her eyes sparkling. “It is good to see you all. I have missed you.”

Abigail’s mother put her arms around her mother. “I’m sorry mum, it has just been so long.”

Abigail laughed at her mother and gave her granny a hug. “I miss you too.”

Granny smiled. “Well it seems that Santa has dropped some presents off at my house for you too. Would you like me to put them under the tree with your others?”

Abigail scowled as she knew once those presents were under the tree they would go off, have tea, she would settle in, they would chat and it would be hours before she could get to her presents. “No, I would like to open them and see what is inside.”

Granny laughed. “Well in one of them you may find the gift of patience. It is up to your mother little one when we open our presents. Santa has brought me some as well and I’ like to open mine too but not quite yet. What shall we do Janet? Shall we open them?”

Janet, Abigail’s mother laughed and when Abigail wasn’t looking she winked at her mother. “I’d love to open the presents but Jack ought to be here too. Shall I see if I can find him?

Granny smiled. “I think you had better. We wouldn’t want him to miss out. Could you ask Jack to fetch my suitcase from the car first please? I didn’t bring too much but I know he will say that I have. Where is he?”

Janet looked behind her as if she was going to see him miraculously appear. “You know I haven’t seen him for an hour or so. I would imagine he is in his shed tinkering with his latest invention. I told him to keep the place tidy and not to touch anything so he ran away earlier. I think he thought that was the only way he’d keep the place tidy.”

Granny laughed. “He is probably right, he is rather good at making a mess.”

At that moment there was a loud “bang” from outside and as they ran into the garden they could see smoke coming out of the shed. It billowed up into the frosty air and out in a cloud from the front of the shed.

Janet screamed and ran for the shed, fearful for her husband. Granny tried to catch her but she was too quick. She ran across the snowy garden and got to the shed door as Jack staggered out. His hair was standing on end and he was covered in something that looked like soot. He was smiling which made his teeth really stand out starkly against the black of his face.

In his hand he grasped a large peach. It was mostly black from the soot on his hands but it was very clearly a peach and Janet could not remember buying any. He held it up and smiled. “I’ve done it. I’ve made a peach.”

Granny glared at the be-sooted man in dismay. “My goodness, what on earth have you done?”

Jack smiled and waved the peach. “What I have done, what I have done is make a peach. Not grow a peach, I have made a peach.”

Granny looked disappointed. “My dear, I hate to pour water on your celebrations but we have had peaches for years. I don’t think that making a peach is anything new.”

Janet turned to her mother. “Mother dear, Jack means that he made that peach. He manufactured it.”

Granny’s mouth slammed shut with a slightly audible clack from her false teeth. “Oh, I see what you mean now. Now that is very smart and something very special. I am sure that it will be able to feed lots of starving people.”

Jack grinned from ear to ear. “Yes, now you know why it is so important. Of course there will have to be tests and I don’t actually know if the peach is stable yet.”

Abigail had been looking at the peach. “Can I have the peach?”

Jack smiled. “I am sorry dear. You cannot have this peach. I will buy you a peach when the shops are open again.”

Abigail stamped her feet. She was already angry that she hadn’t been allowed to open her presents and she was beginning to feel that she wasn’t getting her own way at all. Her stamping didn’t make any noise on the carpet and that annoyed her even more. “I want that peach. It is Christmas daddy, how can you say no!”

Jack smiled then tried to swallow the smile as he knew his daughter was totally serious but she did look very silly. “No my dear, I can say no very easily. You cannot have this peach. It is a special peach and it may harm you. Haven’t I told you before that my experiments can be dangerous.”

Abigail ran off to her room, tears falling from her eyes as she was angry that she had been denied the peach. She wanted that peach and her daddy was being very selfish.

Jack went back to his shed as he knew in his sooty state he would not be welcome in the house. He put the peach down on the table and dusted himself off. Janet went back into the house and thought about chasing Abigail upstairs but she had done that far too often. She knew it would only mean an hour or so of standing outside Abigail’s room trying to get her out and giving Abigail an audience wasn’t always the best solution to the problem. She had long learnt that leaving Abigail to come out on her own was far quicker as boredom was a more powerful weapon than anything she could say.

Granny went and sat in the living room in her usual chair near the Christmas Tree. She knew which chair was Jack’s and she was certain to avoid that. She knew that Janet wouldn’t mind her sitting on her chair as she would move to the sofa with Abigail for their Christmas viewing of the television. The television was on so she resigned herself to watching whatever was on as she didn’t feel it was right to alter the channel. She wanted to talk to her family anyway. She looked the tree over and it met with her approval. She somehow loved to see some of the old decorations she remembered from years past. There was something reassuring about them. She looked around the room and then sat back hopeful of a sherry though not willing to ask for one.

Janet came in almost on cue with her sherry on a little tray. She had one for herself as well and sat down with her mother as she knew that everything was prepared and she had some time on her hands.

Granny smiled. “So you aren’t upstairs trying to talk our little princess down?”

Janet shook her head. “No, it is Christmas. She will be down soon enough as we have the presents.”

Granny gave her a knowing look. “You are a good girl, you’ve learnt. I remember when you used to pander to that child’s every whim. It will make her a better person.”

They didn’t hear their little princess as she stepped oh so quietly down the stairs. She moved step by step as she knew where every squeaky board was and she knew how to avoid them. She didn’t want to be discovered as she had something on her mind. She had often crept downstairs when everyone was asleep. This was mostly because she didn’t like being told when to go to bed so she would creep downstairs. Then she would get scared sitting downstairs on her own and she would creep quickly back. Sometimes she would creep half way down the stairs when her parents were watching television, sit on the stairs and watch the television through the crack in the door. Then she saw a film which scared her so she didn’t do that for a very long time.

Now she put her knowledge to good use as she came down step by step. She could see her mother and Granny in the living room. She could see her father in the dining room trying to get the fire lit in the grate. She could see her chance and she went for it.

She got to the bottom of the stairs and tip toed down the corridor. She crossed the kitchen, carefully stepping on the mat. She knew if she did that it would muffle the sound of her steps. She put her hand on the back door latch and carefully lifted it. She opened it and went out into the snow covered garden.

She shivered as the cold air hit her and she wished she had thought about putting on a coat. She couldn’t go back now so she would have to make do with being cold and trying not to think about it.

Step by step she made her way across the garden. She kept her steps in the same steps that her mother had made so that it was not obvious that she had gone that way.

The door of the shed was mostly off of its hinges and her father had propped it up with a piece of wood to stop it from swinging open. It was easy to move the piece of wood and as she did the door opened invitingly.

Inside the shed was full of very expensive looking equipment. She looked around in amazement as she had never been allowed inside. She didn’t know what any of the equipment did but she knew it had probably been shiny before the explosion. There were a lot of buttons, they were all black now and she just knew that her father would tell her not to press them.

On the table was her prize, the peach. She didn’t want to touch anything else, just that. She really wanted that peach.

She reached out her hand and picked it up. The soot from it came off on her hand. It felt a little tingly which was odd. She ignored it. She wanted it so she took it but that wasn’t enough. She took a bite.

The peach was soft and juicy. The juice ran down her chin and she wiped it away with her sleeve, licking her lips with her tongue. She had never tasted anything quite like it. It was soft and sweet, perfectly ripe and delicious. So she took another bite, and another and another until only the stone remained. It was just a peach, well that was what she told herself as she was beginning to have some doubts and the certainly knew she would be in trouble. It didn’t seem such a good idea anymore.

She smiled and put the stone back on the table. She was beginning to have doubts but she took a deep breath and convinced herself that she was right. “Well that will teach them.”

She was just leaving the shed when she heard something which made her jump. She could hear scuttling, something was behind her. She turned around but she couldn’t see anything. The room seemed still and empty. The stone was on the table and everything was as it had been.

Then with a crack the stone cracked. A green shoot grew from it and immediately she thought of Jack and the Beanstalk and wondered if it was going to start growing upwards.

She shut her eyes and opened them again. It was still growing and it was growing faster now. The little shoot now had leaves. Then she noticed that the scuttling sound had come from the other side of the stone. A root had already started growing. Both carried on growing and had begun to fill the shed. Abigail backed away and ran out into the garden.

She ran to the house and through the kitchen door, slamming it shut behind her. As she was just about to walk away and pretend it wasn’t her, her father came out of the dining room. “Abigail, whatever is the matter?”

Abigail’s mouth slammed shut as she realized what she had done and what she had caused. More importantly than that she would have to explain to her father why she had eaten his peach. At that point she decided that perhaps eating it wasn’t the best thing to do and certainly not a good idea.

She didn’t have to though as his questions were answered by a green tendril which poked through the keyhole.

Abigail ran to her father and took his hand. “I have been a very naughty girl and I am very sorry.”

The tendril grew and grew into the room and Jack grabbed her to pull her away from an exploratory tendril which had branched off and was reaching for her. “Go away!” He shouted as he snatched his daughter away just in time.

The door flew from its hinges, smashed by the weight of the plant behind it. The foliage then tumbled into the room and writhed on the floor. It squirmed about and the table stand which displayed an antique jug that Janet loved so much tumbled to the floor. The jug was launched off of it and smashed on the floor. Water spilled onto the floor and the bouquet of flowers that Jack had bought for Janet were strewn across the carpet.

There wasn’t time to be upset about it as the tendril was unstobbable. It grabbed Abigail firmly around her waist and lifted her up out of her father’s reach. It then retreated at full speed, carrying her through the door, across the lawn with her father in hot pursuit before she flew backwards through the door of the shed. She couldn’t scream as she was too frightened. She reached her arms out trying to grab her father’s arms but the plant was too quick.

She didn’t see what was in the shed but her father did. The peach stone was on the table but it had grown too and the crack in it was large enough for the plant and Abigail to disappear into it and the crack shut with a loud snap. The stone then shrunk to normal size and regrew its peach around itself.

It was dark, Abigail was alone and there was no vine around her. She had felt it let her go. She was standing in the darkness and had no idea where she was. The air smelt cold. The floor was covered with a carpet. She didn’t smell as though she was outside. She felt around herself in the darkness, holding her arms out with her hands open. She felt in front, at the back and to the sides. She then felt down in front of her and her fingers touched something solid. It was flat on top and she followed the edge and realised that it was square and had four legs, it was a table. She then felt on top of it, hoping to find a torch. The first thing she came across was a small box, then what felt like a candle and a candlestick. The box was a box of matches, she had seen one of them before. She carefully slid the box drawer open and felt inside and felt the little pieces of wood. Her hands were shaking and it wasn’t easy. She carefully lifted one out. She had not been allowed to play with matches but she had seen her father light the candles on her birthday cake so she knew what he had done. She tipped the box to strike the match and all the matches fell out. She gasped in horror as she realised that had probably just lost her the chance of a second chance if the first match didn’t light. She had no option, she took the match and dragged it swiftly along the striking strip. Nothing happened. She then felt the match, turned it around and tried again. The match crackled and she was rewarded with a golden light which illuminated a globe around itself. She put the candle in the stick and lit it. She then picked up all the matches that were on the table and put them carefully back in the box.

She could now see the table. It was bright green and its paint was oily and thick. One the table as well as the candlestick there were other things she had missed in the darkness.

There was a necklace which was old. Not antique and valuable old, just worn out old. It had a leather chord which had obviously been well worn. The pendant was a metal disc with a spiral on it. The spiral was distinct though worn. From outer to inner or inner to outer, she didn’t know which and something in her child like mind she hoped that if she traced it she would be magically taken home. She tried but nothing happened. She didn’t know if it was real brass or bronze but as it appeared useless she slipped it over her neck and looked at the other things. There was a crystal point like she had seen in a shop her mother had taken her to once. Her mother had said it was for those people who tell fortunes or do spiritual things. She wasn’t altogether sure what that meant but they had been a pretty collection in the box on the table. The was a metal ring which she slipped on her finger and a tiny metal bottle. She almost missed the acorn with a crystal stuck into it which had a loop to make it a necklace, if it had a chain. She looked at each of them and rolled them between her fingers while thinking. There was also a small leather drawstring bag. They didn’t seem to be laid out in any order and she had no idea what they did if indeed they did anything They were just placed on the table.

She picked up the candle and walked to her right and then to her left.

Whatever direction she went here was still darkness and the room seemed to go on forever. She then went back to the table. “Oh dear” She said to herself. “What shall I do?”

She picked up the other things and put them in the little bag and put it in her pocket. “Well if they are here they must be here for a reason. I’ve seen the films and I’ve read the books. Each one will have a purpose and all I have to do is work out what and I can go home.”

“Of course they are.” The voice came from her right and out of the candle’s glow. “They are here for the purpose of being where their owner put them.”

She visibly jumped and turned to her right so that the candle light extended in that direction. She moved the candle as she didn’t see anyone there. Then she thought perhaps she didn’t actually want to see what was there.

What she saw standing there was a small black goat with white spots and tiny horns. He looked at her with his big brown slit eyes and tilted his head to the side slightly to get a better view of her.

She was fascinated but afraid as well. “You can’t talk, you are a goat.” She stated indignantly and glared at him.

The goat stamped his foot but took a step back out of reach of the little girl as he was suddenly scared of her. “You can’t tell me if I can talk or not. I speak, that is that. Now say sorry for being so rude or I will tell my father and he will butt you so hard you will learn to fly. I’ve never met a talking doll before either. So we are both experiencing something new. If indeed where you come from goats do not talk.”

Abigail looked stunned. “I am sorry, where I come from goats do not talk. They bleat and are kept in farms. I have had a bad day and I am very scared so I hope that you won’t bring your father to butt me. I think that might hurt.”

The goat licked his leg, straightening a bit of fur. “Well where I come from, here, they do and as you are now where I come from that is that and

that is all you need to know.”

Abigail smiled at the little goat. “Are you here to help me?”

The little goat snorted. “I am here and curious because you are here. Why should I be here for you? You are a selfish, rude and dishonest little girl who is a thief and a liar.”

Abigail’s mouth snapped shut. “Nobody speaks to me like that. I am not.”

The goat made a noise somewhat like a raspberry. “You are. You are totally rude and totally nasty. You think that everyone is here for your amusement and you have no thought for others. Why should I help someone like you? Why do you assume that I am here to help you?”

Abigail looked stunned. “You can’t speak to me like that. You are very rude and I am a princess.”

The goat looked at her sideways. He saw the princess’ fine dress. He saw the princess’ tiara. “Well you are not a princess of here and I feel sorry for any subjects who might have you as a Queen one day.”

Abigail stamped her foot. “I am a princess wherever I happen to be. I demand that you take me home!”

The goat turned away from her. “You aren’t coming to my home, you are nasty.”

Abigail frowned. “I didn’t say I wanted to go to your home. I want to go to my home. I want you to take me.”

The goat stood silently for a little while. “I cannot do that and I have a lot to do today.”

Abigail began to cry. The tears fell down her face and dripped onto her dress. The satin was easily marked by the tears and at any other time she would have been very, very upset. Today she didn’t notice. Her hands were over her face and she was crying and crying.”

The goat just watched her. “You can cry all you like. I am a goat. I was a goat and I will always be a goat. So I can’t help you. Don’t be stupid, I don’t even have hands. I have goat things to do. You have been amusing but you are getting boring now.”

Abigail looked at the goat in horror. “Then why are you here?”

The goat looked bemused. “I’m here because I live here. I walk this way often and I look at the things on the table and wonder what they are for. Now you have taken them. I don’t know if you should or if you did it because you could. That could be bad or good for you. For me it doesn’t matter, I

just live here but they are things seen by many people so that they are gone, that is not good for me. Don’t go and explode because of it. I would feel guilty then for not stopping you. The Witch may well come and turn you into something for taking them if she likes them too.”

Abigail looked horrified. “I’m a child, you can’t talk to me like that. I have been grabbed by a plant, dragged to a strange land and now I need to find my way home. Dinner will be served soon and I don’t want to miss it. In all of the stories the heroine comes to a strange land. What she finds she needs. She then saves the world as a byproduct of getting home.” She took a breath.

The goat looked at her in earnest. “You said you were a princess. Princesses have responsibilities as they have to grow up to be Queens or are married off to help someone else rule. They don’t have time for fun and they certainly do not lie and steal. You are nothing but a common thief and a beggar or you should be. You can put fine clothes on but you are still a nasty girl. You have come to where I live and taken things that do not belong to you.”

Abigail’s eyes got wider and wider. “How dare you talk to me like that!”

The goat shook his head. “I can talk to you any way I choose and there isn’t anything you can do about it.” Abigail stamped her foot again.

The goat seemed to grin. “You would make a good goat. Perhaps the Witch will turn you into one. You would learn manners if you had to wait for hay.”

Abigail got even more angry. “Why would I want to be a goat?”

The goat wagged its tail. “You had better stop there. You have already proven yourself to be rude. Don’t add insulting me to that. Just because I can’t take you home doesn’t mean that I’m a bad goat. You have turned up here, stolen, insulted a local and you now expect me to do something I cannot do just because you want me to? Grow up child. Or at least be a child. Children are supposed to be good at this sort of thing. You are just nasty about it and I wouldn’t be if I were you. You are trapped somewhere far from your home with nowhere to go and no idea about how to get home. To find out how to get home, if there is a way, you are going to have to ask and investigate. Or is there no way home? I’m a goat, I can’t tell you, before you ask or are rude to me again.”

Abigail looked at the empty table. “Do you think I should put them back? I’ve read stories where someone finds things that they need and they are magical.”

The goat bowed its head. “Do you think they are magical? Why do you think they are there?”

Abigail actually scratched her head. It fascinated her as she hadn’t done anything like this before. She had seen people on films do it though, or thought she should have. Then she hadn’t been trapped somewhere that she couldn’t get home from without her parents either. Not that she had been trapped anywhere with her parents either. “Well I think they must be or they wouldn’t be there. I think they were there so that I can find my way home. That is what happens isn’t it? If you need something it will be there for you.”

The little goat itched its back lag with its teeth. “You are assuming a lot.

Firstly that you are important enough for anyone to leave anything for you. Secondly that it isn’t just things that were important to and individual that someone left to be spiritual and then forgot about so didn’t come back.”

Abigail suddenly felt very small and very alone. “In the stories I have read when someone goes to a place like this in the way I came here they find things that will get them home. They have a short, frightening but not actually dangerous adventure and then it is all over and they go home.”

The goat was listening with interest. “Why do you say that it will be like that? Life is interesting. It is like looking for a blade of grass in a field that is tasty. There are many experiences you must experience to be who you are and to enjoy the good ones. Most importantly it teaches you to be you.

I might help you. I might not. If I don’t help you then you’ll work it out somehow or you’ll have to learn to live here. If you are nasty then nobody is going to take you in so you will starve and freeze in the winter. It is nearly winter here so if I were you I’d be nice to people.”

Abigail stood in silence and looked at the little goat. She put her hand in the pocket and felt the little bag of things she had taken. Her hand then involuntarily moved to the necklace she had taken. “I didn’t think, I just picked them up as I thought they were relevant. What should I do with them?”

The small goat looked around. “Well they aren’t yours but they have been there a very long time. Perhaps they were put there for you. There is no way of knowing. You found them but they weren’t lost. That is the difference between finding something and stealing something. I suppose. Stealing is bad and someone will be very unhappy that the stolen item is gone. I like many other people look at those things quite often. We will miss them so although they do not belong to us they are in a way ours. There is no reason why those things will help you to get home. I am sure if you are prepared to put them back when you have finished then my friends and I wouldn’t mind you borrowing them.”

Abigail thought for a while. “Well, if your friends came along and helped me to get home they will make sure that I put the things back. Can I meet your friends?”

The small goat thought about it. “Yes, I will ask them. Come with me.

You don’t seem to have anything else to do at the moment.”

Abigail smiled and wiped her tears. “Thank you.”

The little goat wagged its tail. “That’s better.”

They set off and the carpet seemed to go on forever. Step after step they walked and all the time Abigail was trying to think of what to do.

The small goat skipped along. Sometimes jumping sideways, sometimes skipping around and coming back to stand beside her.

He looked up at her, his dark eyes bright. “The first friend we are going to see is the grey bear. He may or may not help you.”

The carpet had become green and less flat. There were mounds in the carpet and on one of these mounds a stick poked through the pile. As they walked further more sticks pushed up through the carpet and these sticks became trees as they grew. The carpet became grass. Abigail wasn’t totally sure when the carpet had become grass but it had.

The small goat stopped. It then bleated very loudly. The goat waited and then there was a growl in the distance.

A small grey bear walked slowly into the clearing where they were standing. He stood up on his back legs and then sat down and looked at them. “Well, is this lunch?”

The small goat made a sniffing noise. “No, this is a person who is stuck here. She just appeared. She is irritating and I’d rather she didn’t stay in our world or there will be trouble. Can you help me to get rid of her?”

Abigail glared at the goat who looked up at her. She saw him wink and then she understood so she stood very still and waited.

The grey bear wiggled his nose and sniffed the air. “I don’t seem to have much else to do at the moment.”

The goat wagged his tail. “She has taken the things from the table. Before you get cross, like I did, listen. She thinks that she needs them to get her home. So I’m going along with her to make sure that she doesn’t steal our things and only uses them if she has to. Do you want to come along too?”

The bear growled. “You took the things? That was nasty of you. But, if you are prepared to only borrow them then that is a little more fair. I would go with you but I have to finish a job first. If you help me, I will help you.”

Abigail was about to speak but the goat stamped on her foot. She looked down and was too busy rubbing her foot to answer.

The goat tilted his head. “So, what is this job you would like help with?”

The bear smiled. “My shelter is leaking and I keep getting wet. I would like to fix it before I go anywhere.”

The goat looked at Abigail. “Would you help?”

Abigail stopped hopping and being dramatic and glared at the goat before she thought about it and nodded.”

The shelter was between three trees. It was a ramshackle mix of bits of wood balanced together and most of it had fallen down. Abigail looked at it.

“You need string to fix this. Do you have string?”

The bear looked down at the ground. “I don’t have that sort of thing. I am a bear.”

Abigail stuck her lip out. “You have built a house so you are not the average bear.”

The bear laughed. “Well that I am.”

Abigail smiled. “I forget that I am not home. Where I live bears do not speak and goats do not speak either. I can help you to make your house stand up.”

She took the necklace from around her neck. It was on a leather thong and as she untied it she realized she had quite a long piece of thong. She took it to the wood and then carefully took the planks and sticks down and found some that were the same length. They were the longest ones. She piled half of them up like a teepee and then tied them firmly at the top with the thong so that they made a firm structure. She left a long piece hanging. It seemed that the thong was somehow longer than it had been around her neck. She then took the boards and put them around the poles. She then picked up the other half of the long poles and dug them into the ground the pulled their tops up to where the other sticks were tied and tied the lot together. There was just enough thong. The result was a stronger structure big enough for the bear to go inside. It was just like the tent she and her friend Jenny had made with Jenny’s brother in their garden. That had been a good day until she had fallen out with Jenny. Thinking about it, perhaps she had been a little silly and it had been nearly three years since she had spoken to her. Perhaps if she got back she would see if Jenny still wanted to be her friend.

The bear went straight in and sat down. He looked around and pushed the walls carefully with his paws before giving it a harder shove. The walls held firm, the wind kept out and the bear smiled. This will give me a lovely place to spend my winter sleep. Thank you. I will now help you.” The little grey bear fell in with them and they walked on.

Abigail looked around. The trees wore their autumn colours, golds and browns. She hadn’t noticed that happening but it had. The leaves crunched under her feet and the air smelt chilled and damp. The rich smell of the loam filled her nose and as the wind blew she wished she had a coat. The littlegoat was right, she was going to have a cold winter if she couldn’t get home.

She reached into the bag and took out the things. The bear and goat looked over her arm to see what was in there. “An interesting collection and I’ve absolutely no idea what to do with them.”

The little goat looked up at her. “Well like with the string, you never know what anything is useful for. Or they may not be useful at all. They may just be the reason why we are coming with you. For now let us just enjoy the journey.”

The woodland was a glorious array of oranges, browns and burnt ochre. It stretched as far as they could see but they couldn’t see too far because of the bushes which held onto their fading leaves as well. Their glorious last blast of colour was their farewell to the year. The cleansing fire before skeletal barrenness of winter and the bursting buds of spring.

Abigail hadn’t thought about it before. She had never noticed the trees changing colour or the way the wind moved them. She hadn’t noticed the crunch as her feet stepped on the piles of drying leaves. She liked the sound.

The sounds and scents of the forest filled her senses. It confused her and excited her at the same time. She was miles from home but she didn’t feel afraid.

The little goat trotted along beside her. The grey bear on her other side. They wandered through the woodland not really knowing where they were going but hoping that it was the right direction.

The woodland opened into a rolling pasture which led down to a bubbling and swirling river. The water danced and bounced over rocks in its way. It was wide, about ten feet at its narrowest. The river wasn’t deep and it was clear as crystal. The current wasn’t too strong so they were able to step into it.

The water felt sharply cold around their ankles. It soaked their legs but it was a pleasant feeling, not a frightening one. They had to be careful as the rocks were very slippery. They had to hold onto each other and Abigail laughed as she nearly lost her footing. It wouldn’t be deadly to fall but it would certainly be wet and she did not want to be wet for the rest of the day.

They stepped up onto the bank for a while and just watched the stream, sitting together enjoying a moment. Abigail could have told them she wanted to go on but actually she didn’t want to. She was very happy where she was. Finally she stood up. “Well I suppose we ought to head off.”

The other two got up and they headed off along a track which had seen plenty of feet, hooves and paws over the years. It was dug down about a foot and the rolling countryside swooped away from it in all directions.

They walked on and on and the autumnal sun warmed them as they walked. The sun was behind them and their shadows were getting longer. They walked on and as they walked they saw a wooden cottage in the distance. They got closer and saw it had a sign outside. It was a little hotel for travelers called “The Traveller’s Rest”.

Abigail looked at the building nervously. “What do we do? We can’t stay out all night. We’ll have to get a room won’t we?”

She went in first, the other two following closely behind. The door was old and slightly dusty. When she knocked there was a slight cloud of dust which floated into the air and hung there momentarily like a collection of magically infinitely small fairies. Then the door opened and Abigail stepped backwards.

There was a man at the door, a very big and very hairy man. He was a good six foot six and his head touched the door lintel. He had a huge bushy beard and huge bushy hair. His coat was a startling bright green and his boots a very bright orange. He smiled a huge beaming smile and opened the door further. “Good evening, do you want a room?”

Abigail was lost for words. She smiled and nodded.

The man looked down at her. “Well we are twenty Ildas a night. That would have to be in advance.”

Abigail looked down at her wrist and pulled off her bracelet. She had been given it by her mother and father and she really liked it. They couldn’t sleep outside all night so she had to do something. She held it out to the man in the doorway. “Would this be enough of a payment?”

The man looked at the bracelet and took it off of her. “Yes, that will be fine. I’ll show you all to your rooms.”

Once they were sitting in Abigail’s room after being shown to their own and then coming back to see her there was an uneasy silence. It was broken by the small goat. “Why did you give him your bracelet? You could have given him one of the things from the table.”

Abigail rubbed her now empty wrist. “I gave him the bracelet because the things on the table are not mine to give. The bracelet is. It was a gift but I’d rather see them again than have the bracelet.”

The little goat thought for a moment. “You have changed. That is good.”

Abigail put her head on her pillow after her friends had gone to bed. The pillow was soft and plumped up. The mattress was equally soft and there was a huge feather quilt she could pull up over herself. It was very heavy and it took her a while to get used to it.

She lay in the coolness of the sheets and looked around the room. It was plain and there was a lot of wooden decoration in the room. The walls were paneled wood, the floor just boards. There was a single wardrobe which somehow seemed very intimidating and a perfect place to keep a monster. There was a table with a wooden bowl on it and a chair. Other than that there were no other furnishings.

The goat had been shown to a stall downstairs and the bear had been shown to a room which was plain with only a bed in it. This was truly an interesting world Abigail thought.

As she drifted off to sleep she wondered if the act of sleeping might take her home and if this was only a dream.

When she woke up in the morning, still on the bed, still in the room she knew that it wouldn’t be as easy as that.

She got up and there was an enormous breakfast waiting for her on the table in the dining room. The large man stood next to it and brought her a pot of tea. He brought her toast and when she had finished he cleared it all away. His voice seemed deeper than the night before. “Would you like something else?”

Abigail smiled. “No thank you, I really enjoyed that and I can’t eat another thing. Where are my friends?”

Was it her imagination or did the man look a little nervous when she asked the question. She was immediately suspicious. “They left in the night. They told me to tell you that they were going to continue on the journey and you can catch them up.”

Abigail was really nervous now. She didn’t need to think about it. She knew that there was no way that they would have been able to go on without her to continue the journey. She was the journey. She bit her tongue to calm her nerves. “Do you serve lunch?”

The man smiled. “Yes, today we do. We will have a roast dinner today.

With all the trimmings.” He smiled.

Abigail tried really hard not to react and her head raced with horrible thoughts. She knew she wouldn’t normally ask what type of meat so if she asked it would be obvious that she was suspicious. She was worried that if she did ask then he would say goat meat.

She got up and thanked the man and when she went outside she could see the footprints where they had arrived but there were no footprints of the goat and bear leaving.

She went back to her room and listened very carefully. She couldn’t hear anything so she started opening doors. She went to their rooms, they weren’t there. She opened door after door and the place seemed impossibly big inside. Then she opened one that made her stop in her tracks. The room was full of cages and the cages were full of animals. Two of the animals she recognised as her friends. They were in big cages with big padlocks.

She looked around the room and there were only cages and animals. In the corner there was a huge axe and she really didn’t like the look of that. On a hook there was a set of keys and she was definitely glad to see them. She looked at the floorboards, they were old and they would creak. So she walked very carefully, using all her skill. She stepped inside and went to the keys and carefully unlocked the padlocks asking everyone to wait. She let everyone out and when she gave the signal they all leapt from their cages. There were tigers, lions, kangaroos and all manner of animals who rushed out of the door and down the stairs.

There was a howl from the man downstairs but the animals didn’t stop. They weren’t afraid of him now. There were too many of them and they knocked him over and as he ran past the wolf ripped his throat out.

Abigail and her friends ran as well. Down the stairs, through the front door and out onto the grass outside. They didn’t stop, they kept going until the building was a long way behind them.

When they were far enough away that they felt safe they sat down to rest. The little goat folded his legs under his body and put his head on Abigail’s lap. The grey bear sat down beside her and they sat together for a while until the goat spoke. His voice was shaky. “I never want another night like that. I didn’t sleep a wink in that cage. Thank you for saving us. It was very brave of you.”

The bear looked at her. “Well I didn’t sleep either. It was horrible.” Abigail looked down at the grass which was surprisingly not just grass. There were little flowers and little ferns amongst the grass blades. She ran her fingers through it. It was soft and springy. “I don’t know what we should do next. There are no clues here. Nothing makes sense.”

The little goat looked up. “Well what do you want to do?”

Abigail looked around at the countryside. “I don’t know really. I was in a great hurry to get home but now I’m not so sure.”

The little goat shook his head. “You have to find your way home. You have parents who will be worried about you.”

Abigail frowned. “I have absolutely no idea how to get home.”

The little goat thought for a while. “Well we will have to go and have some sort of adventure no doubt. I am sure we can find a way to get you home. There must be someone who knows a way.”

Abigail looked at him. “Well I had thought to start with that whatever happened my just reverse itself or that my daddy would sort it out and I’d be whisked back there. That hasn’t happened yet so I think you could be right.

Do you know of anyone?”

Just as she said that there was a dark shadow which swept across the landscape. It turned day to night as it filled the sky. They all looked up in horror and above them was a huge dragon. It blocked out the sun and its huge wings spread out as it flapped them slowly and soared through the air.

The companions dived for cover as best they could. They used what they had available and with a flap of its wings the dragon was gone. It wasn’t interested in them at all.

It took a while for them to stop shaking. Abigail looked at her two companions. “That sort of exciting I can live without.”

The little goat was still trembling as he thought about it again. “Exciting is not a word I would use. Do you still like it here?”

Abigail looked down at her shoes. “There are bad things in my world too. Horrible things. People are doing horrible things to each other. I don’t like my world, it isn’t a good world to grow up in. People don’t play fair and there is war and murder and crime.” She sat down with a bump. The little goat laid down beside her and put his soft furry head on her lap. She stroked it and he seemed as though he’d gone off to sleep. The bear came back to sit beside her as well.

He spoke in a soft growly voice. “If I was lost I would go and see someone who deals in magic. They might have a spell to find your way.”

Abigail looked at him in surprise. “I hadn’t really thought about that. Then I don’t really know your world so I wouldn’t know about things like that. Do you know where to go?”

The bear thought for a moment. “We could go and see the Witch. She might be able to help.”

Abigail looked terrified. “What you mean actually go and see a witch? A hat wearing, long nosed, broomstick riding witch?”

The bear looked confused. “You have never met a witch have you? They may be different here but she is a beautiful woman who is kind to everyone and looks after nature. She also does spells and has a good business going doing people’s housework for them. Of course she is also mad as a mad thing and batty as a batty thing. The other witches have nothing to do with her as she has a habit of turning anyone who annoys her into a toad. So there could be some perils on our adventure.”

Abigail laughed. “I should say! I don’t want to be turned into a toad.”

The bear sighed. “Well the way to avoid that is simple. Don’t annoy her.” Abigail smiled. Perhaps I should leave the talking to you?”

The bear shook his head. “I don’t much fancy being turned into a toad either. When Prancing Hooves there wakes up we could head that way and go and see if she can help.”

Abigail looked down at the little goat. “Prancing Hooves, is that his name?”

The bear laughed. “No, but I don’t know his name so it seemed something to say.”

Abigail looked at the bear quizzically. “Well I don’t know your name either. What is your name?”

The bear smiled. “Some call me Archie. I like Archie so you can call me that too if you like.”

Abigail smiled. “Pleased to meet you Archie.”

Just then the goat woke up. “They call me Lemmie if you want to know my name. But Goat does just as well. Have you thought of something?”

Abigail smiled again. She was doing a lot of that. That was something she hadn’t genuinely done often in her own world. “Well although I really like this place I must go home I suppose. So Archie here has come up with the idea of going to see the Witch. What do you think?”

Lemmie looked up at her. His dark eyes a little sad. “I’d try not to think too hard about that one. She is a mad old bat who would probably turn me into a toad without even waiting for me to be annoying. Or dinner. I don’t want to be dinner.”

The bear laughed. “You don’t know anything about her do you?”

Lemmie bleated. “I don’t have to. Witch says it all for me.”

Abigail’s feet were hurting. They had walked for miles through rolling countryside and tangled woodland. Sticks were tangled in her hair and her face was muddy. Her beautiful dress was torn and her tiara was missing. She had lost it long ago but she didn’t bother to go back to look for it. She had just kept walking. She didn’t really want to be a princess anymore anyway. Her friends kept walking too but each step took them closer and closer to the Witch.

It was nearly night when they came to a small cottage in a clearing in the forest. It was much like the other forests they had passed through and the cottage looked like any other cottage. It was small and neatly kept. The paintwork was immaculate. The satin green shutters were neatly clipped back. The windows were polished and plants grew immaculately in baskets.

There was a small fence around the immaculately tended garden. The gate was green, like the shutters and the gravel path was sparkly white.

She walked up to the door and stood in front of it. Images of wizened old ladies with hooked noses and warts ran through her mind. Of course along with the imagery of pointed hats and broomsticks. She had to smile as she looked around the door and saw a broomstick there. It was one of those classic besom types. That above all things made her feel nervous but she knew she had to knock on the door so she took a deep breath and tapped on the door very quietly in as polite a manner as she could manage.

Lemmie laughed. “You’ll have to knock a little louder than that.” She didn’t need to as the door opened. At first a crack and then wider.

Silently it swung back to reveal a neat hallway. The floorboards were polished and the half moon table had a vase of daffodils on it.

The witch towered over her. She was tall, blonde and dressed in a pretty lacy dress with a neat apron which was tied around her neck and around her slim waist. The dress was white, the apron blue. It had pockets in the front but these were flat and neatly pressed.

The witch smiled. Her immaculate lipstick was lustrous red. As she looked down at them and blonde curls bounced around her face. “Hello guests, what brings you to my door today?”

Abigail couldn’t help it but smile back but her smile soon fell from her face as the most hideous creature stepped from a room off of the hallway. He was part beast and part man. His face was covered by a thick bushy beard which partly concealed his heavy brow and large protruding nose. He was very tall, much taller than the witch. His hunched back pushed his face forwards and his long gangly arms were clutching a frying pan.

The witch turned towards him. “We have guests. Please will you put the kettle on.”

The beast grunted. “Very well, I will.” He shuffled off.

The witch turned back to her guests. “Now, please come in and follow me. I baked a cake today so you have chosen the right day.”

Abigail tried to smile but the image of the beast seemed to leer over any welcome that the witch was offering. She turned to Lemmie and realised that the bear had disappeared.

Lemmie tilted his head. “He has just gone off for a while. He is scared of the Witch and that beast. Don’t worry, he won’t be far away.” Lemmie cast a glance at the Witch who was watching intently.

Abigail stepped into the hallway. The house was warm and smelled of roses as she followed the Witch into what looked like a living room.

There was a small sofa and a winged back flowery chair. A dark wood coffee table had a single leather bound book on it. The curtains were chintz. The carpet was flowered. The place was immaculately clean and the fire was laid for lighting later. There was a mantelpiece above the fire and a line of white and blue ornaments looking down at her. They were smooth effigies of people doing tasks. Ther was a fisherman with a fish. A woman matched him with a basket of fish. An angel with a bowl in front of her and a boy with a goat.

The Witch indicated the sofa and Abigail sat down as politely as she knew how. Lemmie laid down on the floor beside her as the Witch left the room with a cheery “Ill go and fetch the tea for you.”

In the kitchen the Witch walked through the door just as the beast was reaching for the dainty cups and saucers where were set neatly on a shelf on the dresser. She coughed and he stepped away. His chunky hands a fraction of a distance from the delicate china. “Now you know you aren’t very good with the china.”

The beast looked sad and looked down at his big hairy feet. “I try to help.

I break too much. I’m sorry.”

The Witch smiled. “You don’t have to be sorry. One day we’ll break the curse and you’ll be back to your old self. It would be interesting to meet your old self. But I love this self so don’t worry about it. I read the cards this morning and I think that little girl in there might be able to help us. You’d like that wouldn’t you?”

The beast grunted. “I don’t like how I am but I do like my life here with you. Are you sure we need to break the curse? Shouldn’t we be content to be how we are?”

The Witch smiled kindly. “The neighbours look down on you and your old friends don’t visit. Your father and mother don’t want to know you and people keep on turning up to kill you as they must slay the beast. Surely it is not a good way to live and it would make for a more peaceful life if you weren’t the beast.”

The beast looked down at himself. “And you don’t like the way I look?” The Witch smiled. “I love you for who you are.”

The beast smiled. “Good, well if this little girl can help then that will be the way things should be.”

The Witch took down the cups and set them out on a flowery tray. The crockery was white with red flowers on it. She took the teapot and poured in some water, swished it around and tipped it into the sink. She then took the oriental tea caddy, took the top off, took an ornate silver spoon and measured out the tea leaves into the pot. “One for you, one for me, one for each of them and one for the pot. There you go.” She poured in the water and put a floral tea cozy over the pot.

She went to the cupboard and pulled out a large chocolate cake and set it onto a plate. She then took a cake knife from the drawer and cut generous slices for everyone. “Now are you coming in to sit with us?”

The beast shook his head. “No, I will scare your guests and they won’t be able to think clearly. I had better stay here. Can I have some cake? I love your cake and I love you.”

The Witch smiled and passed a large piece of cake to him and put it on a slightly chipped plate. She then took a battered much from the draining board by the sink and put some milk into it. She then poured him a mug of tea and left him to enjoy his tea and cake.

He took the mug and plate and went to sit on his chair by the window in the kitchen. He could see the pretty bluebirds and butterflies of different colours flittering around in the garden.

The Witch carried the tray into the room and set it down on the coffee table. She put milk into cups for Abigail and herself and poured the tea. “Do you take sugar?”

Abigail nodded. “Yes please, I would like one spoonful please.”

The Witch put a spoonful of sugar into the cup and put the spoon into the saucer and passed it to Abigail. She then passed a slice of cake to Abigail and set one on the side of the table for Lemmie. She poured tea into a bowl she had brought with her and set that beside the cake for him. She then sat on the sofa beside Abigail. “It is lovely to meet you.”

Abigail finished her mouthful. She was very conscious of her manners and tried to remember all the things that she knew were right. She sat neatly. She picked up the spoon and stirred her tea and took a mouthful. It washed down the cake and gave her time to think about what she was going to say.

“It is lovely to meet you too. I hope that you do not mind us visiting.”

The Witch smiled. “It is always a pleasure to receive guests. We get so few these days.” She looked sad but cast a sideways glance momentarily to make sure that Abigail had seen this sadness. “Since my husband was cursed he has had a few problems with his friends and family visiting.”

Abigail tried to put on her most sympathetic look. “That is awful. What happened? If you don’t mind me asking.”

The Witch crossed her delicate legs, her pretty white buckled shoes catching the sunlight. “It was a few years ago now. Marikus, who you now see as the beast is the son of King Lars. He was a dashing and brash youth then. He was so handsome that women would queue up in the hope that he would notice them. He was of marriageable age you see and every girl dreamt of becoming a princess by marrying him. He of course was used to this and it was more of an inconvenience than a benefit as he could never do the things he wanted to do without a crowd gathering. He liked fishing you see.

That and jousting.

He was fishing one day and he caught a big fish. He flipped it out onto the bank and the fish spoke to him. It asked to be set free as it didn’t want to die. It was screaming as it had his hook in its mouth.

Marikus was proud of his catch. It was indeed a big fish. So he didn’t want to let it go. He took his club and was about to kill the fish when there was a flash of light and the fish became a water nymph.

The water nymph was very angry. Quite understandably so. She then cursed Marikus and he became the beast that you see now. She then leapt back into the river.

The beast tried to catch her and he has been trying every since.” Abigail looked at the beautiful woman. “So how come you married him? Was it because even though he was the beast you see he was a wonderful person underneath?”

The Witch shook her head. “He is not a wonderful person. He is vicious, angry, proud and selfish. I was promised to him when my father and his father signed a peace treaty. My father was unaware of the curse but he was bound by his promise.

I came to live here as the King would not tolerate his son in the palace.

He didn’t want to see what he had become and when he lost his temper the strength of the beast is ore than the doors in the palace could contain.

So he built this house and we moved here. Now he spends his days looking out of the window or sitting by the stream trying to catch the nymph.”

Abigail looked down into her cup. “So you are married to a man you do not love. That is sad. I don’t think I could do that.”

The Witch smiled kindly. “I hope that you never have to be in that position. I was a princess, that is what princesses do, they do their duty.”

Abigail looked down at her shoes. They were no longer the pretty clean shoes she loved. They were battered and dirty from walking. Her white socks were mud stained and her dress was in tatters. She was about to speak up and say that she was a princess too but she decided not to. “Can we help?”

The Witch looked at the ornaments on the mantelpiece for something to look at. “I don’t know. It was a water nymph’s curse and I don’t know how to break it.”

Abigail looked at the pretty princess witch and tried not to look sad. “Well in stories the curses seem to be broken by a kiss or falling love with the beast.”

The witch looked sad. “I have kissed him and I do love him, despite his grumpy ways. You get used to it after a while if you don’t expect him to be nice.”

Abigail looked around the room. “I don’t know how you can break the curse as you must love him to put up with him.”

The witch looked serious. “I have a feeling you are here as you think I can help you. So, in return perhaps you can help me. Would you go to the river and see if you can lure the river nymph out? Do you have something that she may be interested in?”

Abigail pulled out the bag and set the items out on the table. “I have these. Do you think that anything here would be of interest to her?”

The Witch picked up the small metal ornate bell. The sound it made was an ethereal tinkle and as she held it delicately between her fingers and looked at it she smiled. “This may just be the thing to get her to leave the water and step back onto land. Come with me, shall we go and find out?”

They left the room and walked down to the small stream which ran behind the house. There was a humped back bridge over it. One of those rough stone ones which always looks ancient.

The Witch went to the part of the river where there was a copse of trees. She looked around nervously and whispered. “Now if we hide in here quietly and if I can lure her out we can then leap out and catch her.”

The Witch waited until they were all well hidden and the animals and birds had settled down. Gradually the normal sounds of nature returned and everything was still. Fluffy white clouds drifted aimlessly across the blue sky. The sun shone down. Butterflies fluttered. Birds flittered about looking for a meal. The plants grew unseen and the warmth of the sun on their face made Abigail almost forget what she was hiding in the trees for. Actually she didn’t really know what they were going to do other than to catch the nymph.

The Witch rang the bell. It was a small sound but on a still day it was easy to hear it. The tinny, silvery sound was out of place and as she rang it again there was silence. Then she stopped ringing it and the silence was almost deafening.

They waited and waited. She rang it again as they intently watched the water. As they watched the water a fish’s fin broke the surface. The fish was swimming around a small pool in the rocks, a deeper part of the river. Around and around it swam. Its fin broke the surface then its nose and then its mouth.

The Witch rang the bell again as the fish seemed to be losing interest and almost swam away. It then swam back and was back in the pool. Its fin broke the surface, its nose broke the surface and then the witch moved like lightning. Abigail didn’t see her move but the next thing she saw was the Witch flipping the fish out of the water.

The fish landed on the bank and flapped furiously but the Witch had her foot on its large tail. It flapped and flapped and gasped for water. Its mouth was open wide and its eyes looked about in fear.

Abigail noticed that there was a large fish hook stuck in its mouth. Perhaps if we take the hook out of the fish it will forgive him and break the curse?

The Witch smiled. “You could be right.” She reached down and held the fish with one hand and then pulled the hook from the fish’s mouth.

The fish still flapped but not so furiously. It was exhausted and suffering from being out of the water.

The Witch looked down at the fish. “If you break the curse you put on my husband I will free you.”

The fish opened and shut its mouth.

At that moment the beast came running from the house. As he ran he changed. The beast disappeared and a handsome man appeared. He was tall and thin and dashing. His black hair was long and his nails unkempt but he was still handsome. He was the Prince again.

He ran over to where they were and looked down at the fish. He then pulled his knife and cut the fish’s head off with one stroke. “We will dine well tonight.”

The Witch glared at him in horror. “But she broke the curse.”

The ex beast shrugged. “So what, she is a fish. We will now eat the fish.” He took the fish from the shocked wife and carried it to the house.

The Witch looked at Abigail in horror. “I didn’t think he would do that.”

She then followed him back to the house and Abigail and Lemmie followed as well.

They stood outside and they could hear the sound of raised voices inside. The Witch was shouting very loudly and then there was a loud explosion, a puff of green smoke and the Witch was heard laughing, or more likely cackling.

Abigail stood on tip toes and looked in through the window. The green smoke cleared and the Witch was standing in the middle of the kitchen and was just bending down to pick up a large toad which sat on the wooden floor looking stunned.

The Witch looked up and saw Abigail. “Come in, I won’t hurt you.”

Abigail and Lemmie walked in through the kitchen door. The room was still neat and tidy once the green smoke had cleared. All manner of copper pans hung from an airer over the range stove and the big wooden country kitchen table was clean and tidy.

The Witch sat down at the table and put the toad on a towel. “Sit down, don’t worry, he won’t hurt you either. He won’t hurt anyone anymore. You are right, it is hard to live with someone like that. He was better as the beast as that kept him away from people and I could look after him here. He was a nasty and vain manipulative creature before he became the beast. As a toad he will be unable to harm anybody. No doubt plenty of women will hear the story and go around kissing toads looking for him and hoping to be made into Princesses but don’t worry, nobody will find him.”

Abigail hadn’t realised that she was staring at the toad. “But you turned him into a toad.”

The Witch smiled. “He always a toad, a mean and nasty toad. My magic is white magic, I cannot harm someone who is kind and good and my magic only does what it is necessary to do.

As a handsome man he would be able to return to his father. His father is a good and kind king. The son is a cruel and vicious spoilt brat who would in time grow to envy his father’s position and wish to have his power. He wouldn’t be able to wait for it as he has no patience or any love for his father. He has the ability to kill and his father would be in danger. Instead of a kind king and the benevolent rule of his younger son after his days are over we would have this creature on the throne. No, that cannot happen. So I turned him into a toad. Which is the last curse of the river nymph.”

Abigail looked at the toad in horror. “But he is trapped in a toad’s body now. Isn’t that cruel?”

The Witch shook her head. “I am a white witch. He is not trapped in a toad’s body, that would be cruel. He is a toad. As far as he knows he has always been a toad and he always will be a toad. There is nothing of the man in him left. I will now return him to the river bank and he will live his years out there.”

Abigail looked at the slightly bedraggled witch. Her face was smutted by the green smoke which made her look like she had a green face. Her apron was patched with green. Her white dress was stained and she looked very tired and haggard. “Well what will happen to you?”

The Witch smiled. “Nothing will happen to me. I will go on living here. Now I must help you as you loaned me your bell.” She gave Abigail her bell back and she put it back in the pouch. “You want to go home. To do that you will have to cross the dimensions and take yourself back to the time just before you eat the peach. Yes I know about the peach. You have to stop yourself doing it and then you will never have been here. But as time is not a straight line, all that you do here will remain done. So don’t think that you can do what you like here.”

Abigail looked puzzled. “So how do I cross the dimensions? Can you use your magic?”

The Witch shook her head. “No, that takes having a time machine. You will have to go and see the great wizard. He has machines like that. You have something in your favour though. That crystal in your bag is one of the crystals which powers his machine. I can draw you a map of how to get to him but you will have to pass through dangerous places to get there. But I think you have probably already guessed that.”

Abigail nodded and looked down at Lemmie. “Yes, I had thought that it wouldn’t be easy.”

The Witch smiled. “Well you have one crystal but you will need others. You will have to go and see the woman who lives in the mountain with her small friends. They mine crystals like that which are used for power. If you can get some of their crystals then you will be able to use them to bargain with the wizard. But, they guard their crystals well and they do not trade with anyone.

The woman is very angry and spiteful as her family abandoned her to die. They tried to murder her. She doesn’t trust royalty so I cannot come with you.

She is cursed that one day a Prince will come and she will be taken from her happy life and will have to go and take up the duties of being a Princess. So whatever you do make sure you do not mention that you are a Princess.

She loves sewing and makes all the clothes for her seven little friends. You have a thimble there, you may be able to trade that for what you want.

She lives just north of the wizened wood. Of course getting through the wood won’t be easy as it is full of wood nymphs. But you have something in your bag they will like, you have that other crystal in a pod. You may be able to trade that for safe passage. Or they may kill you.

Would you like more tea.”

Abigail was stunned. “Yes please.”

The Wood was dark and spooky. The undergrowth was thick, forcing them to zig zag to find their way through and the tree canopy blocked out most of the sunlight.

The undergrowth was like nothing Abigail had seen before. The bushes were strange black fungus like growths and the damp loam smelt of almonds.

This became sickening after a while as it was all she could smell.

The tree trunks were black and seemed to be coated with an oily substance and the boles in the trees were obviously occupied. Things moved in the periphery of her vision and things slithered out of her way in the distance. Black slug like creatures hung on the bushes, munching on the fibrous tendrils which made up the bushes.

The bear was back with them and the three of them walked closely together, looking from left to right, in front and behind.

In one of the tree trunk holes Abigail saw a tiny hand and big black eyes momentarily before they disappeared back inside.

Abigail was terrified and this wasn’t helped as a black smoke swirled around her feet and then became solid in front of her. The smoke became a person. He person was dressed in a black cloak. All that could be seen was a pair of glowing red eyes.

She didn’t know what to do then she remembered what the Witch had said. Her mind was racing as this couldn’t be the wood nymph. She had imagined pretty wooden glades, rabbits skipping about and a unicorn or two. This dark and awful place could not be where a wood nymph lived. However she reached into the bag and took out the acorn like necklace and held it out to the creature.

The creature laughed and reached for it. Dark, oily, sinuous fingers reached for the trinket. Long clawed nails barely touched the necklace when there was a flurry of movement and a very loud. “Whoo hoo.”

The black creature was knocked sideways by a large white horse which seemed to come from nowhere. The horse was ridden by what Abigail had always thought an elf would look like. Se was tall and thin. Her ears were archetype in that they were pointed. Her gown was suitably diaphanous and her horse suitably noble, white with flowing feathered feet. As it landed with a snort, having knocked the black creature to the ground it pawed the ground with its hooves.

The elf reached down from the heady heights of the huge horse and snatched the trinket from the stunned Abigail’s hand. “thank you, I think I’ll take that. You want passage through the woodland, very well, go on and get on with it. Nothing will touch you, you have my word.”

She then rode off, purposefully knocking the black creature over again as she went.

The dark creature got to his feet, dusted himself down and swore in a language that Abigail did not understand but she understood the tone. He then turned and faced her. “Oh well, it was pretty, thank you for the thought.

I wanted that but she always gets all the presents. Go on then, you are free to travel through the wood. Toll paid.” He turned as if to go.

Abigail was stunned but she pulled herself around enough to be able to speak. “Who are you?”

The creature stopped and turned. “Well, you want to speak to me. That is amazing in itself. I am the spirit of the wood. This is the Heart of the Dark Wood from which all the greenery comes. Walk on a bit, you will come to the pretty green bit which I am sure you are here to see.”

Abigail looked at the man, as the man was what he was. Like the elf, pointed ears, black robes which were now dirty. “You live here?”

The man smiled. “Don’t be so derogatory of my home. Yes, I live here.

We live here. Me and my friends and family.”

Abigail tried to hide her obvious surprise. “Forests are different where I come from.”

The man laughed heartily. “There are forests and there are forests. This is a fungal forest which lives on the damp which is around here. To us it is beautiful. Like at those structures.”

Abigail looked up with different eyes. She looked into the darkness and saw how the light cascaded through the sinuous canopy. This was truly magnificent. Like a huge stained glass window of intricate design. She looked at the bushes and instead of seeing something black and slimy she saw impossibly thin filaments which wove and twisted to make intricate natural designs like spun sugar.

Wherever she looked she saw an amazing world of black and white. White marble rocks poked from the black loam. The light sparkled on the white quartz in a myriad of specs of colour.

The man smiled. “Now you are seeing it how someone who is unafraid sees it. That is the same as with many things. You see them as being ugly because you are afraid of them. If you look at the beauty of the night you will never be afraid of it.”

Abigail looked down at her shoes again. “I was very afraid of the night and the garden at night.”

The man smiled kindly. She could see his face now. It was a beautiful face, the face of an elf. “You fear then garden at night because it looks different What is there to be afraid of? That you would fall? That there would be wicked creatures there?

In a world like you come from. Yes I know your world. I don’t like it but I know of it. What you fear is what might be lurking in the dark. Those are the things that man puts in the dark to scare himself. Nature didn’t put them there. Nature is straightforward and you have killed off things that would naturally kill you in the dark. No more wolves hunt in packs. No more bears hunt for food. You live in a world where the greatest fear is man.

That is the best reason to fear the night or day. Our kind should have been terrified of you years ago, particularly those in your world. They have been driven to the fringes and almost destroyed.”

Abigail shrugged. “I suppose so. I don’t like the dark as I can’t see what is hiding there.”

The man smiled. “Why should there be anything hiding there? Does your fear put something there?”

Abigail smiled. “I suppose you are right. I fear the house at night too. It is noisy. Creatures crawl about. I can hear the floorboards moving.”

The man looked down on her kindly. “When a tree is living it grows and it is silent. When she dies and is cut up to make a house she has a voice. A plank will make a noise if you step on it. It gets warm, its gets cold, it will make the same noise. Old houses settle at night. They creak and pipes make noises. You are making so much noise in the day that you don’t notice them. At night when there are no noises you notice everything more. It is the same with the woodland.

The spirits of the woodland and houses have their own time. You are supposed to be in bed. As long as you stay where you should be then

everyone will be happy.”

Abigail smiled. “You sound like my father.”

The man laughed. “Well I’m someone’s father. Not your father but a father to my children. You are trying to get home. How did you get here?”

Abigail’s smile fell from her face. “I was a very naughty girl. My father had invented a machine which created a peach. I wanted the peach. So I sneaked into his laboratory and I eat the peach. Then tendrils came out of the peach stone and dragged me into the peach and here I am. So now I want to go home.”

The man raised an eyebrow. “So you eat the proof that your father had succeeded in is experiment and before he could run tests on that peach to see if it was safe to eat. You are indeed a very naughty girl.”

Abigail bit her lip. “I know and I am sorry. I just want to go home.”

The man looked down at her. “I am sure that your father wants you home too. He will forgive you if you are sorry. If the machine made one peach it can make another. He only has one of you. He could make another but it wouldn’t be you. So you must find your way home.”

Abigail looked into her bag. There wasn’t much left as she knew she had to keep the crystal and the thimble. “Does she always take the things you are given?”

The man smiled. “She is a Light Elf. They are used to gifts and expect everything to be theirs.”

Abigail tipped the contents of the pouch into her hand and put them into her pocket. She then offered the man the bag. “Here, you should have something. Would you like the bag?”

The man took the bag. “Thank you, you are kind. Now you should go on your way. I hope you have learnt not to steal from your father and to listen to your parents.”

Abigail and her friends walked on through the dark wood. It was far less frightening now and they passed the time spotting creatures which leapt, slithered and flittered away from them.

The path wound around trees and they had to jump three small streams. The black trees gradually became more green until they were walking in an idyllic sylvan woodland. The dark and slithery creatures became less. They were replaced by white rabbits, pretty birds and they caught sight of a pair of unicorns in the distance before they galloped off.

The squelchy loam of the dark wood became the firm lawn path of the light wood. The blackened bushes became the green fronds of ferns and the echoing silence transformed into the cacophony of twittering and animal sounds of the light wood.

The sun beamed down like little spotlights through the leafy tree cover. Insects filled the air. What looked like bees and butterflies flittered about their business, visiting the multicoloured flowers which lay like a carpet either side of the path.

The air smelt of the heady aroma of their scent. Floral with a hint of musk. The loam of the soil beneath adding its distinct damp aroma.

The path became longer grass and as they walked along Abigail ran her hands through it. Her fingertips ran over the blades as they pushed their way through.

Lemmie was trotting just behind her, bouncing over the taller grass and taking the odd bite as he went along. The bear as always walked slowly and silently behind them. He didn’t say much, he just plodded on.

Small fair creatures were watching them. They could see them sitting on branches and in holes in the bowls of trees. They flew from branch to branch. Their gossamer wings carrying them effortlessly through the warm air.

It was noticeably warmer, noticeably brighter and noticeably prettier. The woodland looked manicured and planned, it didn’t really look right to Abigail.

They walked on with caution. Abigail remembered an argument her parents had once had about whether fairies were good or evil, wicked or kind. Her mother had firmly put the argument that White Ladies, Knockers and Red Caps and other such creatures were not the benevolent creatures of fairy stories.

Each of those creatures could carry a poisoned needle or a magic spell. Any of them could dart in and kill them. So she sped up her step and the others fell in with her. She didn’t want to talk about it but thoughts ran through her head. All the stories she had read in her mother’s book came into her head. This was not a book for children as such, it was a guide to the fairy folk. As far as she had read, before she had put it back as she was too afraid, she had understood that they were wicked and there were very few, if any, who showed the benevolent ideas that she had read in fairy stories.

She focused on Tinkerbell. That good fairy. She focused on the Fairy Godmother and tried to put the other thoughts out of her mind. Her feet moved faster and they hurried their way through the woodland.

To their left there was a loud growl. The shadows moved and she saw what was making them move. A large brown bear stood up on its back legs and growled again.

As one Lemmie and Abigail leapt behind the very big grey bear. He wasn’t so small anymore. The grey bear stepped forwards and growled as well.

“Leave my friends alone!”

The bear dropped down onto four paws and sniffed the air. “You are in my territory.”

Archie thought for a moment. “We are travelling through this woodland and following the path. We are not on your land, we are on the path or am I wrong?”

The bear shook himself. “You are not wrong. You are on a path. The path goes through my territory. I could still eat you. There are no rules about that sort of thing.”

Archie shook his head, his fur flapping audibly against his body. “No, you cannot eat us. I will fight you if you try. You may win but you will be injured, that is certain. Injuries get infected so you may well die anyway. So I suggest that you let us pass.”

The bear lifted a paw. “I am not hungry so you may go. Leave my land quickly before I change my mind.”

They did, they almost ran for the next half of an hour until they hoped that they were out of the bear’s territory.

The trees were still thick and a canopy of lush green. They walked on and on. Over hills, down gullies and then the trees and undergrowth started to thin out and they stepped out onto the foothills of a mountain range.

There was a single path which went up into the mountain. It was strewn with pebbles and rocks and looked as though it had been manmade as the rest of the terrain around it was covered in a thick carpet of grass.

They walked and walked, ascending as the path climbed higher and higher. The grass became noticeably thinner and rougher. The bushes thinned out until there were only small tufty bushes left that clung to the rough terrain. It became windier as well and noticeably colder. Abigail pulled her clothes around herself and plodded on.

She knew they were being watched. She could feel it and she saw the top of a red cap which was sticking up from behind a rock. “Hello, we are not here to harm you. We are travelers who want to carry on through the mountains.”

They didn’t move quickly but before Abigail and her friends could react they were surrounded by seven small men, each armed with picks. “You are our prisoners and we are going to take you to the boss. Walk in line and follow the first of us.”

Abigail went first, she followed the first man and the others followed on behind. In her mind’s eye she could see the picks, sharp and businesslike in the men’s hands and she remembered the Witch’s warning.

She kept quiet and they just walked in silence until they came to a cottage which was nestled in a flat part of the rock. Like the Witch’s Cottage it was immaculate and pretty. The stonework was carved into intricate patterns and the windows were hung with neat curtains inside. Instead of the flowers there were mosses and rough grasses which had been arranged to grow like any ordinary beautiful garden. Interspersed amongst them there were stone statues of what Abigail would have called Garden Gnomes.

The boundary of the garden was set by a low white wall. The gate had two garden gnomes on guard. They were just like the one that her father had given to her mother. They were brightly coloured and their beards and hair were depicted as neatly cut and they were all the same size and shape. Each of them wore a hat which was identical all but for its colour. Each of them was depicted as wearing a jacket, waistcoat and a pair of trousers tucked into their black boots.

Abigail was led to the door by her guard. She approached the door and it opened. A middle aged woman stepped outside. She had long black hair which was smoothly brushed and kept in place with a red ribbon tied in a bow which she wore like a hairband. Her dress was a strong colour blue and yellow, the most noticeable feature being her puffed sleeves which were dual coloured in the same colours. She was beautiful but she looked angry. “Who are you and why are you on the mountain?”

Abigail remembered what the Witch had said. “We are travelers and I am looking for my way home. We mean you no harm.”

The woman nodded. “Where is your home?”

Abigail was now a little lost for words. “My home is far from here, in another dimension. I need to find the wizard to be able to use his machine to go home. So I need some crystals from this mountain. I do not want to steal them, I would like to buy some if I can’t find any.”

The woman looked serious. “Oh you do, do you? Well they do not come cheap. If you have a sob story then you are probably looking for a good deal on what you are hoping to buy. Remember, we don’t have to sell you anything. What do you have that we could possibly want?”

Abigail thought for a moment. “I have a magic thimble that will help you while you sew.”

The woman looked at Abigail and laughed. “No you don’t. You have an ordinary thimble and you want to pretend that it is magic to get a better deal.

Now, that is not the way to behave. I would be happy to have an ordinary thimble. I need one, that is enough. You don’t need to pretend or make a story up. I know that you are a child and to you saying that something is magic is not as important as it really is. You are telling an untruth aren’t you? You are telling me a lie. That is not acceptable in any creature, not least a child. Don’t think that it is. If you are going to grow into a good adult you will have to learn to always tell the truth and to feel bad about even thinking about telling a lie.

I could punish you by telling you to go away and that you are a nasty little liar. I won’t on this occasion if you promise never to lie again. Do you promise that?”

Abigail looked down at her dirty shoes and felt very, very small. “I promise.”

The woman smiled. “Your word is your bond. If you break that promise then I will send a crow in your sleep to peck your eyes out. Is that a good incentive?”

The short men were all laughing heartily with their hands over their mouths.

Abigail was shocked. She had not expected that. “You can’t say that!

You really can’t say that. That is horrible! Do you mean it?”

The woman smiled wickedly. “Try it and find out. Now, show me the thimble. If I like it I will let you have a crystal.”

Abigail put her hand into her pocket and took out the medieval style thimble. It was like a modern one but there was no top on it. It was more like a band or a ring. She put it in the woman’s outstretched hand.

The woman laughed. “It is a very unusual thimble. I would like it so I will give you a crystal. Just so that you will appreciate the importance of what I am offering you I am going to send you to get it with my friends here. You are going to go down the mine and help them to bring back your crystal.

What do you think of that?”

Abigail looked surprised. “I don’t know. I’ve never been into a mine. Is it dangerous?”

The woman laughed. “Of course it is. You could die going to get that crystal. But, my friends take that risk all the time. Why should they have to risk their life so you can swap a crystal for a thimble? You will go and get your own crystal.”

The little goat bleated. “Do I have to go too?”

The woman smiled kindly at the little goat. “No, you are too small and your hooves wouldn’t be very secure down the mine. You would have to climb ladders and you cannot do that. You can stay here with me and eat grass and plants around my house if you like.”

The little goat looked worried. “I don’t know. When I’m away from my friend would you do something horrible to me?”

The woman laughed. “Why are you worried about something like that.

With your friend the bear there, not a chance.”

Abigail looked and felt nervous as she walked cautiously down the rubble strewn tunnel which sloped sharply down into the blackness of the earth.

It wasn’t completely dark. With just a flick of light the world came to life. Tiny creatures and plants took that light and began to glow. All around her the world was a wondrous mix of colours glowing and moving around. Some moved slowly, for example the snail like creatures. Some moved remarkably fast, they were like butterflies. They landed on the mosses and ferns which grew in the dark.

Abigail was mystified by their ability to live without light. Then she thought it through. She was in a different world and things here were different. Why would she assume they would be the same as in her world? They must be living on something but whatever it was it was definitely not sunshine. She had not seen the sun now for over half an hour.

The ground was slightly damp, a rivulet of water ran down the middle of the tunnel floor. It had cut a “v” shaped groove into the rock and wove its way around the fixed lumps which protruded from the ground.

Abigail was in the middle of the group of men. In front of her was a particularly grumpy one who kept moaning that she was walking too close to him. Behind her the nearest short man kept sneezing. At first it made her jump but then she got used to it.

The short man who was leading the group began singing and seemed to love every step of the journey.

They strode on, their tiny lanterns lit the way. She then noticed that each lantern had a glowing worm in it which glowed brightly enough to light their way. They didn’t need much light as what little light they brought with them seemed to set off a cascade of light which rolled off into the distance to light their way. She was stunned at first but she soon got used to it. It was beautiful, like a wave of colour that faded into the darkness in front of her, making it less threatening.

Multicoloured fibrous fronds hung down from the ceiling. They wafted as the air moved, caused by their movement along the tunnel. Hair like moss hung down, making the ceiling look like fur. It waved and undulated as she passed along under it. The fronds seemed so delicate that any kind of movement in the air moved them.

One of the subterranean butterfly creatures landed on the end of one of the hair like fronds. She jumped as a spike shot from the depths, impaling the butterfly before pulling it into the soft bed of fronds. In the middle of such beauty such sudden death shocked her.

The short man in front of her had turned at that point and saw her watching the plant hunting. “Don’t reach up by the way, those things will kill you. They have the deadliest poison known to dwarf.”

Abigail put her hands in her pockets. “Don’t worry, I do not intend to.

They look so beautiful though.”

The Dwarf grunted and carried on down the tunnel which went on and on. It was descending, down and down. Then it ended in a sheer drop. The others stopped before the drop so she didn’t need to worry other than looking down made her feel dizzy.

One by one they climbed onto the ladder which was tied to the wall and began climbing down. This was something she definitely did not want to do. She could see it was a long way down, or rather she couldn’t. The ladder descended into the darkness. Illuminating fronds lit up as they descended and as she passed them and the air became still again their light went out above. She could see that the hole was about fifty feet in diameter.

Nervously she counted the steps, using the numbers to focus her thoughts. She passed five hundred and began to panic.

The fronds and other plants had been cut back away from the ladder to keep their poisonous spines away from those who climbed cautiously down. The cut back area was a distinct dark spine descending into the darkness.

Abigail passed a ledge which had a pile of stones on it. She passed another and another. She had to ask. “What are these piles of stones for?”

The dwarf who was above her sneezed and answered when he had recovered his composure. “Each of us has their own ledge. We keep stones on there that we have found and liked. Don’t touch them please.” He then sneezed again and carried on climbing down.

Abigail smiled. She liked that idea.

Then they came to the bottom of the ladder. The tube opened up into a small cavern which was also illuminated by fronds but also by lanterns. These came to light as the dwarves tapped them and woke up the worms that lived in them. One by one the grumpy one went to the pole and put some food in it from a pouch he carried on his belt. As he fed them they glowed brighter.

There were five tunnels heading away from the cavern and each was illuminated into the distance. They all looked the same.

One of the dwarves set off down one of them. Abigail followed in silence.

She had questions but she didn’t want to ask at the moment.

Everything echoed oddly and her feet made splashing noises in the pools of liquid on the floor which made the rock look slippery. She then realised that the pools were oil, not water. Rainbow colours swirled around the surface and clung to her shoes.

On and on they went along the tunnel. They traveled for a while before it opened out into a huge cavern.

As the stepped into the cavern sparkles of light filled her field of vision. As she stepped into the darkened cavern the pinpoints of light looked like a night sky. As they stepped in and aggravated the fronds they illuminated and she could see the cavern better.

Huge bunches of crystals clustered together around the ceiling, walls and floor. One tiny point reflected and bounced between the crystals, magnified and the cavern was then lit.

One of the dwarves walked over to Abigail. “Well Abigail, here you are. You will need four of these crystals to power the device for the mage. We trade with him often so we know what is needed. You have already traded for one. He will trade for two and you will need to use two. You must promise never to tell anyone what you have seen. Our lady will bind you to that promise. By the way, don’t think that she won’t.”

Abigail’s mouth was open. She closed it. “I promise. I won’t tell anyone but this is beautiful. Why is she so threatening? She doesn’t seem nice at all.”

The dwarf smiled. “She hasn’t had a good life. Her mother died and her father remarried. Her stepmother is a beautiful woman and was jealous of our lady. She tried to murder her but she escaped into the woods. We found her when she was lost and alone and we decided to keep her. She is useful after all. She has lived with us for many years.

She is very friendly with the Witch who lives in the valley and the Witch can tell fortunes. Her fortune is to marry a Prince so eventually she would become a Queen. That is a heavy burden for her to carry. One day she will have to leave us behind and go to live in an elaborate palace where she will have to mind her manners, always dress perfectly and be responsible for all manner of difficult situations. She would be watched, whatever she does and she will have to do official visits rather than what she wants to do. She will have to make huge decisions that will effect people’s lives and have to be responsible when things go wrong.

We arte also at war with the neighouring country of Llarrkkenvolm. If she is Queen she will have to make decisions which will send many of our people to die for their country.

She wants to stay here. She wants to enjoy her life and her sewing. But she knows one day she will have to leave. So that is hanging over her every day and that doesn’t make her happy.

Also, she knows that her father doesn’t know how wicked his new wife is. She has redesigned the castle and thrown out everything that was her mother’s. She sometimes hears about what is going on and although her father is happy, his new wife is domineering and he has very little to say.

It is because of her that the country is at war. Our lady firmly believes that.

Our lady has learnt magic from the Witch and she has learnt lots of other things for when she does have to go back. One day her prince will come. I think she part dreads it, part looks forward to it. For now, she is as happy here as she can be with that hanging over her.”

Abigail looked puzzled. “Why wouldn’t she want to live in a palace, be pampered and wear beautiful things?”

The dwarf shook his head. “You didn’t listen to a word I said did you? Being a princess is more than wearing pretty clothes and having people do things for you. They do things for you so that you can have time to do all those jobs that nobody in their right mind would want to do. Would you like to be responsible for everyone in this country? Would you like to make decisions that could send them to their death?”

Abigail frowned. “Well no, actually I wouldn’t. I never thought of it that way.”

The dwarf smiled. “Don’t worry, not many people do. Well we’d better get you your crystals and you can be on your way.” He saw Abigail’s sad look. “What is the matter? You’ll be home sooner than you think.”

Abigail looked down at the floor. “I like it here in this world, it is magical and amazing.”

The dwarf shook his head. “You are here in the summer, you would not like it when the veil of white comes down over the world.”

Abigail smiled. “I bet it looks amazing.”

The dwarf sighed. “The optimism of youth. Come on then, we will get your crystals.”

Abigail was thoughtful as she climbed back up the ladder. Her arms ached, her legs ached and she was tired.

Back at the Cottage the little goat was playing with the woman. As soon as Abigail had left the woman had relaxed and found him carrots. The bear was laid out on a rock sunning himself. They ran around and around. First the goat was chasing, then the woman. Then they collapsed in the sun, looking out over the amazing view they could see from their elevated position in the mountains. The woman absentmindedly stroked the goat who was laid out enjoying the sun.

As they saw Abigail making her way down the mountain on the narrow goat track towards them they got up. The woman dusted herself off and the waited for the group of Abigail and the dwarves to arrive.

Abigail was quiet when she got back to the Cottage. She smiled at the woman. “It is beautiful down there. Where was the danger?”

The woman smiled. “There is danger in all things. If you are careful the danger doesn’t matter. Danger is only important if it is relevant to you. Well you had better go now before it gets dark. It is difficult in these mountains in the dark.”

Abigail and her friends made their way along the mountain path that the woman had suggested. They were very careful and watched their feet every step of the way. When they wanted to look at the scenery they stopped in a good place and just looked.

A few miles saw them out of the mountains and into a small wood where they decided to stay the night. It was warm so there was no need for blankets or a house. The sky was slightly overcast with cloud so it did not get colder as the sun went down.

They slept and were not woken. Even when the denizens of the woodland came to look. They didn’t bother them. Their long arms were kept in their pockets. Their hoods were kept up over their pointed heads and pointed ears. They didn’t steal and they didn’t murder. They had no reason to. They saw the travelers and they were not hungry and neither did they need anything that the travelers looked like they had. So they had a look, had a sniff and went away.

Abigail and her friends woke up in the morning refreshed.

They got up and started walking again, following the directions that the woman had given them. They knew what to expect so when they came to a tower they were not surprised. It rose up from the plain. It looked huge and imposing, even from the distance when they first saw it and it was a long way away then.

It got bigger as they got closer and as they did they felt smaller. They knew the could be seen. There was nowhere to hide. The plain was just grass, no bushes, no trees. They walked through a sea of green.

Nearer and nearer they came and as they came to the big wooden door at its base it swung open. This made Abigail jump as she had just been reaching for the door knocker. A voice boomed out. “Enter travelers.” They did.

The room beyond was created from glowing white marble which had a silver thread running through it. It had no safety rail and looked slippery. They had no choice, they had to step inside and as they did the door slammed shut behind them. The voice boomed out again. “Sorry, slipped. Come up the stairs.”

They then saw the stairs. They were against the far wall. As they climbed the staircase went up to higher levels but someone was in the room waiting for them so they stepped off onto the floor of the circular room above.

There was nothing in the room other than a sofa and two chairs, a fire which was suspended in the air with no fireplace or flue, a coffee table and on it a pot of tea and cups set out neatly on a tray.

Sitting in one of the armchairs they could see a thin man. He was unremarkable in all ways. His hair was short but not too short. His nose was slightly pointed, but not too pointed. His round glasses were poised on the end of his nose and as he saw them he pushed them back into place. He didn’t look much like a wizard in Abigail’s opinion. There were no robes and no pointed hat. He looked like the boy down the road who she had known for years and he too would have worn a hand knitted jumper and chino trousers.

He looked up. “Hello Abigail. So you want to go home?”

Abigail was stunned. “Well, yes. I have crystals, two for you, two to work your device.”

The man shrugged. “Very good, put them down on the table. Would you like a cup of tea? Forgive me but I don’t get many visitors. I have got sugar and milk, do you like those?”

The mage made them a cup of tea and Abigail sat on the sofa. The little goat sat down beside her on the floor and the bear crouched down and sat beside the goat.

The man looked uncomfortable. “I am not used to this sort of a situation. I expect you are not used to it either. You want to go home. I got a message from my friend the Witch so I know this. You have the payment. So I can send you home now. We will finish our tea and I will arrange it.” He seemed distracted. He was hardly looking at them and seemed to be bored by the situation.

Abigail drank her tea slowly. Her head was full of thoughts and she was glad of the silence. The man drank his tea too and seemed to be looking at the book that was open on the arm of his chair.

Abigail recognised the book. It was a school science book she had seen her neighbour with. It seemed odd to her but she didn’t want to ask.

She looked at the little goat at her side. She looked at the big bear who sat looking around the room and she thought. I don’t see them again! If I go home I will never see them again. Her hand reached out and she stroked the little goat who looked up at her with his big brown eyes. “I don’t know if I want to go home. I like it here.”

The mage looked up. “Of course you want to go home . It is why you took your journey and you do not belong here.”

Abigail looked sad. “Can I visit?”

The wizard laughed. “Of course you cannot visit. You don’t belong here. So I’m going to send you home. You have drunk the tea. You will now go to sleep here and wake up back at home. Say goodbye to your friends.”

Abigail looked horrified. She grabbed little goat up onto her lap and cuddled him. He licked her face and nuzzled her neck. She hugged bear but as she was hugging him she felt her arms go through him. He was no longer there.

She was laying in her own bed in her own room. She could see the wallpaper she knew so well. She could see the animals and trees. She could see her toys. There was her little brown fluffy goat in its basket. There was her grey bear on its shelf with its green material bottle of champagne. Her picture of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was on the wall over her shelf.

She was home.

Her mother and father were sitting beside her. As her eyes opened they had looked at each other in relief then smiled at her.

“Welcome back little one. We were very worried about you.”

Abigail cried. She cried more than she had ever cried in her life. She didn’t want to be home, however much she loved her parents. She wanted to be in the world of magic where everything was different. She didn’t want to go to school after the Christmas Holiday. She didn’t want to sit at dinner and enjoy that wonderful meal. She didn’t want her presents. She just wanted to go back to a world where everything was magical.

But she was home.

THE END