Read Online In Darkling Wood by Emma Carroll - Free Book Online Page B

be me,’ I say.
    Flo shrugs. She doesn’t seem to know either. ‘You need to believe in fairies, Alice. If you do then their magic is more likely to succeed. If you don’t, then … well, I don’t know what we’ll do.’
    Flo sees how confused I am. Getting to her feet, she points to a place about six feet up the tree.
    ‘That is a fairy door.’
    Now I laugh. Just once. Then cough to cover it up when I see Flo looking cross.
    ‘Sorry,’ I say. ‘Honestly, how do you know all this stuff?’
    ‘A fairy expert once told me.’
    ‘A fairy expert ?’
    Flo frowns at me. ‘Will you please listen?’
    ‘Sorry,’ I say again.
    She takes a deep breath. ‘Look at where the trunk splits in two. It forms a gap, a space. See it?’
    I nod.
    ‘Good. Now, do you see how, just a few feet higher up, the trunk comes back together again?’
    ‘Yes.’ Where the trunk splits it forms an oblonghole in the tree. It’s possible to see right through to the other side.
    ‘That space is a fairy door,’ says Flo.
    ‘A fairy door ?’
    She gives me a pained look. ‘Oh, do stop repeating everything I say.’
    ‘Sorry,’ I say, yet again. It’s probably easier just to play along. ‘So, how does it work?’
    ‘A fairy door is a very magical place. It’s a boundary between our world and theirs.’ She beckons me over. ‘Come and have a look.’
    The bottom of the fairy door is above the top of my head. I have to stand on my highest tiptoes and pull myself up with my hands to look through it.
    ‘What do you see?’ Flo asks.
    ‘Um … trees … dead leaves … the woods. Why, what am I looking for?’
    ‘Fairies, obviously.’ She’s getting grumpy again. ‘Think of it as a window rather than a door. Look through it, concentrate a little and you might see fairies.’
    ‘ I am looking, but I can’t see anything.’
    Flo sighs. ‘All right. You can stop now. It’s probably too soon.’
    I’m about to ask what she means when my left hand, still gripping the branch, finds a dip in the wood.Something’s stuffed inside it. As I touch it, it crackles. What I take out is a piece of paper.
    ‘Is it yours?’ I ask, turning to Flo.
    She shakes her head.
    The paper is folded over. It’s thick. Good quality. As I open it, I see five words. The letters are black. Capitals. Written so big they fill the page.
    ‘PLEASE KEEP MY BROTHER SAFE.’
    I fold it back up again so I don’t have to look at it.
    ‘Did you write this?’ I ask. ‘How do you even know about Theo?’
    ‘But I didn’t write it, I promise,’ says Flo. ‘Perhaps it was the fairies. Their magic is especially strong in this tree – it’s a beech tree, you see, and beeches have special properties.’
    ‘How’s that got anything to do with my brother?’ I say. My voice shakes with anger.
    Flo tries to take my hand, but I snatch it away. I don’t want any of this to be about Theo. I don’t even want to talk about him right now. It scares me. I screw up the piece of paper and stuff it back in the tree.
    ‘I’m sorry Flo, but this is stupid. I don’t believe any of this. I … just … can’t.’
    Flo nods. Takes a step away from me. She’s crying now, which makes me feel bad.
    ‘I’m sorry too,’ she says. ‘I don’t think you quite realise how awful this could become. If your grandmother cuts down this wood then the fairies will …’
    ‘I can’t listen to this, Flo,’ I say, shaking my head. ‘My brother is being cared for by doctors in a top London hospital. Fairies have got nothing to do with it.’
    ‘Not yet,’ she says.
    I stare at her. I can’t think how to reply.
    ‘Goodbye, Flo,’ I say.
    I’ve had enough.
    *
    Nell’s waiting for me in the kitchen.
    ‘Well?’ she says.
    ‘Well what?’
    ‘Don’t take that tone with me,’ she says.
    I wonder if she’s about to slap me. She doesn’t; she locks the back door and puts the key in her pyjama pocket.
    ‘Let’s start again, shall we?’ she says.
    I fold my