‘I’ve known Siôn ever since he was two inches tall,’ said Ithric. ‘I remember the day he first walked, and the day he first flew. I’m sure he’d never sell us to the witch on purpose. Someone must have put a spell on him.’
As the pixie family had watched my video, they had been baffled to see Siôn talking to the sunflower. Why he would give away his own family was beyond any of them.
‘He’ll have to be watched,’ said Lily quietly. ‘We don’t know why he’s doing this, so we’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t do too much harm.’
‘We should ask the rabbits to keep an eye on him,’ said Ithric. ‘They won’t mind, and they’re everywhere, so he won’t have much chance to do something without being seen.’
‘What about the night of full moon,’ I asked Suki. ‘Apparently they are going to try and kidnap you. What do you think they will try to do?’
Suki shuddered. ‘Probably a few ghouls or spectres will be sent. The witch could send other things too, but I don’t think she will. She won’t see any need, not for one pixie who she expects to take by surprise.’
‘So can you throw sunlight at them again?’
‘It won’t work if they’re serious about taking me. They would have to back off if I threw a cup of sunlight, but then it would be dark again, and they could come back and try again.’
I suddenly understood the horror of Suki’s last experience at the hands of the ghouls and spectres. It was one thing to throw the sunlight and see them scatter, but then she had been left alone in the dark, not knowing whether they would come back.
‘What if there was a light that would last until morning, if necessary?’ I asked. I explained that I had a miniature torch, and the light was generated by something called a battery, which wouldn’t run down until the next day.
Suki found that she could lift the torch and press the button that turned it on, with a bit of a struggle.