by M S C Barnes
was indicating and then huffed in annoyance when he saw Alice, seated inside the driver’s body, hands on the large steering wheel. His head stuck out from the driver’s shoulder and he winked at Seb then turned to face front, pretending to drive the coach with the driver but over-accentuating the steering, leaning dramatically from side to side and laughing with that rustling sound Seb had begun to hate.
Zach laughed. “Hey, Alice is driving!” He nudged Aiden who leant into the aisle to look, just as Alice leapt out of the driver’s space and somersaulted onto the rail beside the driver’s access door. Zach was still chuckling. “I like him, Seb.”
Seb frowned and sat back in his seat. “I don’t.” He jumped when a green blur reformed into Alice, perched like a cheeky child on Nat’s lap.
“Woah!” Zach was shocked. “You’re fast!”
Nat smiled.
“Nat, you need to talk to these boys. We are going to be in real trouble if they don’t start to take this seriously.” A leaf dropped from his head and fluttered down to land on Scarlet’s hand then dissolved in a shower of sparkles.
“What are you?” she said, in awe.
“He’s a Dryad.” Aiden and Zach whispered in unison.
“Scarlet,” Alice’s voice rippled. “I am what you would call a wood elf. That information will not help you, any of you, other than to make you realise that there is so much more to this world than what your naive minds see. You should already know; in histories past the Five already knew. I am not here to teach you the basics.” He zipped across to stand in the aisle. “You will have to learn as we go and all of you,” he turned angrily to Seb, “will have to learn to believe in more than you see.” He put his hands on his hips. Another leaf fell onto the wet floor and disappeared.
“You’re moulting,” Seb mumbled.
The Dryad recoiled as though he had been hit. Momentarily stunned he didn’t move and then shot upward in a blur to disappear through the coach roof.
“I think you upset him, Seb,” Aiden said as Mr Duir stepped into view between the seats and the coach came to a stop in the Waulud’s Bank car park.
“You five off first,” he ordered and led them off the coach, followed by Mr White. He marched them straight across the car park which glittered with residual water. The wind had all but ceased and if it had not been for the damp ground and the mud on his clothing, Seb would have doubted the storm had ever happened.
Seb didn’t dare speak as Mr Duir strode quickly, veering past the ugly tower blocks and then out onto the sodden ground to follow a muddy footpath. Ignoring a mottled stone, covered in lichen and nailed to the top of which was a green sign which read Source of River Lea, they eventually stopped in a rather uninspiring place, surrounded by short, wet grass and sparse woodland. Beside an ivy-choked gap in a hedge, four massive, irregular stones were strewn. One had a rivulet of descending furrows, like a miniature staircase, etched into its surface.
Seb waited, expecting a lecture on some crucial historical point of interest to do with these stones. The sun was warm and the damp earth smelt dank. A cloud of midges danced lazily around them as a crow cawed in the trees.
“You will need your staff, Zach,” Mr Duir spoke quietly to Zach.
“What?” Zach acted confused. Mr Duir waited. “Really, what? What are you talking about?”
Mr Duir remained silent. After a few seconds of awkwardness Zach shrugged, reached into his trousers to the side of his left leg, and pulled. The stick emerged and Zach smiled, embarrassed. “You mean this staff?”
Squelching footsteps approached and Miss West walked through the overgrown gap in the hedge. She leapt from where she stood to the top of the stone, somersaulting over Mr White – a jump of at least eight feet.
“Woah!” Zach shouted. “How’d you do that?”
Mr Duir turned to Seb. “Now, you need to apologise to Alice.”
Seb looked to the ground. I can’t think why. I don’t like him anyway.
“Seb,” The Head said and Seb looked up. “Autumn approaches.” Mr Duir looked steadily at him. “Alice is a Dryad, a wood elf; they mirror the seasons.”
“So his leaves are falling off because it’s autumn?” Scarlet asked.
Mr Duir gave a slight nod. “Dryads, like humans, have many different characters: some mild, some wild, some humourless and some playful. But the one trait they all share, whether for good or bad, is vanity. They take extreme pride in the attire of each season, relishing the beauty each one brings, however the transition from one to the other is an untidy and sensitive time for them. What you said to Alice was deeply insulting.”
“Like telling him his breath stinks.” Zach snorted a laugh. Miss West glared at him.
Seb felt himself blushing. “All I said was that he was— ”
“I know what you said; do not exacerbate the insult by repeating it.”
Seb looked down at his mud-covered shoes. “He’s not even here so I can’t apologise.” The fluttering to his right made his heart sink. “Oh, so you are here. Do you never leave us alone?”
Alice appeared, hovering above the ground in front of him. “Seb, I cannot leave you, I am your twin and …” he paused as a leaf dropped from his arm and floated to land on the mud at Seb’s feet. The Dryad followed it with his eyes and, seemingly mortified, hung his head.
Seeing the upset on his face Seb actually now felt sorry for him. “I am sorry,” he blurted and reached up to place a hand on Alice’s shoulder. He realised how silly the movement was, knowing his hand would pass through and then was shocked when it came to rest on the leafy shoulder. At Seb’s touch, Alice glanced at him and then smiled a broad smile. Seb smiled back, suddenly feeling less annoyance at this strange creature. The physical contact, the feel of the soft, silky leaves under his fingers and palm – it was as if a dark resentment had been lifted from his mind. He removed his hand and as he did a leaf stuck to his palm. The smile disappeared from Alice’s face but returned instantly when Seb, without a word, stuffed his hand in his trouser pocket, preventing any of the others from seeing that the leaf had come away.
“Well that was nice.” Zach twirled his stick. “All friends now?”
Miss West leant forward and grabbed the stick, mid-twirl. Without pause she slammed the end of the stick into the ground as if she was spearing a fish. It stuck at an angle in the soft earth, wobbling slightly to and fro, the end embedded just underneath the large staircase stone.
“Leverage, Zach,” she said, and waved towards the stick. “On you go.” Zach gawped. “On you go,” she repeated.
“Leverage!” Zach shrugged and took a run and jump. As he jumped he leant sideways and glided through the air to plant both feet along the shaft of the stick. His body weight pressed down on the stick and levered the heavy stone upward, flipping it over to land with a thud, revealing a hole below it.
There was a hissing sound, like taking the cap off a bottle of fizzy drink, and then a sigh accompanied by the sound of trickling water.
Mr White was already walking towards the hole and stepped into the dark opening.
The Five Springs
Miss West followed Mr White into the hole. Always up for excitement, Zach went after her, Aiden and the girls next.
A small creature swept from a nearby copse of trees and veered towards Seb’s head, stretching its claws out.
Alice’s voice rippled, “Down, Seb! In you go.”
Seb reacted slowly, getting a glimpse of tiny sharp talons as Mr Duir grabbed the creature and threw it into the woodland.
Ducking into the hole, Seb’s shoe slipped and he lost his balance. Before he could panic he felt a strong hand grab him under his arm and help him regain his footing.
“Thanks,” he said as Alice released his grip and smiled.
The last through the gap, Mr Duir followed Seb onto the tree root staircase and there was a thud as he closed the stone over the hole.
How did he do that? Seb wondered. And how are
we going to get back out?
He was surprised to be able to see clearly below the ground. A single beam of light shone through a small hole in the top of the roof of the vast domed cavern they were descending into. Below it a cloud of fireflies danced, collected the light and multiplied its strength.
“Wow!” Zach had reached the bottom with Aiden and the girls. Seb joined them on the dense covering of heather and moss which grew over the floor. The sound of trickling water became louder and, gazing across the floral carpet, he noticed five small pools, each about two feet in diameter, situated beneath the centre of the dome. The water in them rippled and reflected the sunlight from the fireflies, providing more illumination.
Mr Duir moved everyone forward to stand beside this little collection of bubbling pools and then Mr White spoke, “These are the Five Springs, the combined source of the River Lea.”
The pools formed an irregular circle. Each had a rivulet, about four inches wide, flowing in an arc from it to the next, making a ring of running water linking them all. On the far side a further straight rivulet sprouted from the ringed channel and the water spilled along it to disappear into a small tunnel in the wall.
Mr White pointed to the tunnel. “That leads to the platform on which you stood earlier, the overt point at which the source emerges and becomes the River Lea. But this is the true source, these five springs.”
Seb stood looking at the pleasing spectacle. He noticed a circular stone slab embedded amongst the heather within the
