I realised I’d better try and rescue Suki before I thought of any other things to use the wand for. I hurried back to the clearing and wished as firmly as possible for a magic carpet.
I don’t know what I expected; an ornate handmade rug, perhaps. What actually arrived, floating a foot off the floor and weaving its way around the trees, was a long line of carpets tied together with ropes. First came the ornate rug I would have expected. Tied to the first carpet was a second similar one. Next came a much bigger one, that looked as though it had been cut off a roll of fitted carpet. Finally there were three doormats.
Sitting on the front was someone who looked like the driver. At first I thought he was a pixie, but he was taller and with two wings instead of four. I realised that he must be a fairy. The only other person sitting on the carpets was a leprechaun, sitting on the very last doormat. Trying to get over the shock, I rushed up to get on the first carpet. I thought I might need to talk to the driver, if the fairy was in fact in control of the carpets in some way.
I climbed onto the carpet and it sank down slightly, as it took my weight. Immediately, the leprechaun was at my side. ‘You’re getting on the wrong carpet,’ he said anxiously. ‘This carpet is going to the witch’s world.’
The fairy turned round. ‘That is true,’ he said gravely. ‘Over the past few months, all the magical creatures have left, most of them taken into exile by me, on this carpet. We had to tie all those extra carpets onto the back, or we could never have carried them all. Now there is no one left, apart from a few fairies who operate the carpets. Tomorrow we will make a last trip, to take them into exile also.’
‘My friend has been taken there by the witch,’ I said. ‘She is a pixie, called Suki.’
‘If you go there, I wish you luck,’ said the fairy. ‘However, you will be trapped if you remain there after tomorrow at noon.’
‘Will you not come back for me?’
‘It is not won’t,’ said the fairy sadly, ‘but can’t. That world is too badly damaged for us to reach it easily by carpet. If we delay, we risk being trapped there ourselves.’
I felt I was being stupid, but I said that my mind was made up. The fairy pointed straight ahead, and the line of carpets began to move again. We wove through the trees for a while, until I was in a part of the forest that I didn’t know. It got colder, and soon the trees were all pines. There was snow on the ground. Eventually we emerged from the forest, and I saw a totally unfamiliar landscape. There was snow as far as the eye could see, and in front of us there was a frozen river, with a frozen waterfall.
‘This is Ice Falls,’ said the fairy. The carpets came to a standstill, but no one got on. Presently we moved off again, just the fairy and I, gliding gently over the empty frozen landscape.
We moved into coniferous forest again. Gradually it got warmer, the snow disappeared, and we started seeing trees with deep purple leaves. These trees got larger as we went on, until we were gliding through a deep shade, far below the forest canopy. Eventually the carpets stopped. ‘This is Twilight Forest,’ said the fairy. Again, no one got on.
Now we were gliding through light, open woodland. I could have been in the woods near my home, but all too soon the carpets came to a stop again. I got off and stood up. Looking around, I saw that there were only a handful of trees surrounding the small clearing where the carpets had stopped. Whatever route the carpets had taken to reach this world, I could no longer see it.
There was a small group of fairies standing around the clearing, and I had to explain all over again why I was there. I promised to be back for noon the next day, and I stepped through the trees into the witch’s world—Suki’s home. I was horrified. Once I was away from the space looked after by the fairies, there was not a living thing to be seen. Someone had turned the whole world into a giant open cast mine. Earth moving machines gradually ploughed up more of the subsoil. I noticed also that the machines had no drivers. Someone had mixed machinery and magic.
Looking down at my feet, I realised that I was wrong about there being no living things. A single buttercup had managed to hang on. ‘Help!’ it said in a small voice, so I picked it up together with some soil and put it in my pocket. I could plant it when I got home. If I got home.