The next day, the pixie cousins arrived at my house in a sombre mood. They had already found out, somehow, about Suki’s kidnapping. As usual when they were upset, they had hardly any inner glow, and their wings drooped about their feet.
Ithric seemed to have become the spokesman. ‘We are very grateful to you for trying to solve our problems, and for chasing after the wolf,’ he said. I could see his wings moving uncomfortably as he fidgeted, and I sensed something unwelcome was coming. ‘The thing is, humans aren’t supposed to get involved with magic. It is lucky for you that you didn’t catch up with the wolf.’
‘Humans have done magic before,’ said Lily dreamily.
‘No they haven’t,’ said Ithric. ‘Humans have used magic wands to do magic, but that’s different. Saying humans can do magic is like saying humans can fly, just because they build aeroplanes.’ He turned back to me. ‘What I’m trying to say is that we must leave you out of this. We would never forgive ourselves if you involved yourself in our struggle, and something happened to you.’
Ithric paused for a moment, then carried on. ‘We will stay away from you, so you don’t come to the witch’s attention. And don’t even think of messing around with magic wands. You can only take a magic wand from a tree with the permission of the woodland spirits, and they will want something in return. Usually they would ask to blend themselves with your soul. You would gain magical abilities, but stop being fully human.’
‘I won’t,’ I said. ‘It would be nice to be able to do magic, I suppose, but that price would be far too high.’
‘Humans love having power over other people,’ said Lily, still looking distracted and upset. ‘They go to the woodland spirits in the hope of getting that power, and they lose everything, even themselves.’
‘Is the witch human?’ I asked. I had always assumed she was, but now it didn’t seem to make sense.
‘That is a very curious thing,’ said Ithric. ‘Yes she is, and clearly she has magic. I don’t know if she has a magic wand, but she would not behave the way she does if she was blended with the woodland spirits. For one thing, she has ordered the destruction of trees, and the spirits would never do that.’
‘Yes,’ said Lily. ‘And yet, she is the sort of person who would go to the spirits, blinded by greed. The spirits would offer a bad deal, as they always do, and yet her greed would compel her to accept it.’
‘Perhaps she took the wand without the spirits’ permission,’ I suggested.
‘No, you don’t understand,’ said Ithric. ‘Any fool can break a branch off a tree, but they won’t be able to do magic with it. To do magic, you must take a branch from the tree with the tree’s permission. That is what a magic wand is: a branch given to you willingly by a tree.’
The pixies looked at each other uncomfortably. ‘Anyway, as I was saying,’ said Ithric. ‘We must leave you. We are very grateful for your help, and the best thing we can do for you in return is to keep you out of danger.’
Ithric held out his hand for me to shake. After thinking for a second, I held out a finger. He took it in both hands, and we shook. Lily suddenly flew to my shoulder and kissed me on the cheek.
A moment later, both pixies were gone, and mundane humanity descended on the house. There was no pixie laughter, just the sound of a derelict bus pulling away from a stop outside. There were no unexpected sparkles as the pixies flew, just the glare of the television.