Mharigolden & Peeps

Mhari looked out of the window and gave a big sigh. The rain was still raining and water was streaming down the glass. She could only just see the quiet street at the end of the short front garden. It had been raining for ever.

 

It had already been a very long day and it was only 11 o’clock in the morning. She had woken up at her usual time and gone through to wake her Mummy and Daddy up. She had brushed her teeth and combed her hair and had put on her clothes including her favourite top with the llama on it. 

 

After breakfast, she had played in the tent in her bedroom, bringing cushions from the sofa to sit on for her and for her friends, Betty doll and Bernard the bear. They had enjoyed that but now she wanted to have an adventure but she couldn’t because it was raining.

 

She sighed again. ‘Perhaps it’s not raining so hard in the back garden’, she thought and jumped down from the chair before running out of the sitting room, past the front door and through to the kitchen. Mummy said hello as she passed - she was sitting at the dining room table working while Daddy was doing something in the kitchen. Mhari ran past both of them and pressed her nose against the glass of the back door. 

 

No - it seemed to be raining just as hard in the back garden. She sighed for the third time. Just as she was about to leave the window, she heard a faint sound and turned back. It sounded like a hissing sound so she peered carefully through the rain to see what it was. There - towards the end of the garden there was a cat. That was strange - cats hate the rain, she thought. The cat’s back was arched and it was hissing loudly and pawing at something that was up against the fence. Whatever was there, it was moving. It almost looked as if it was trying to get away. 

 

Mhari wondered what could be so small. If it was a mouse, it was a really big mouse. If it was a rabbit, it was a really small rabbit. She wanted to know.

 

She jumped up to get her coat off the hook to the right of the back door and put it on quickly. It was her favourite waterproof - bright yellow with a big hood and a sort of cape over the shoulders. It was brilliant. She pulled her wellies out from under the bench and popped them on her feet. With a sweep, she pulled her hood up over her head, opened the back door, and started out into the rain.

 

As she got close, Mhari saw a tiny figure bouncing left and right as the cat pawed at it - jerking away from the cat’s claws. It seemed to be a boy - but a tiny boy. No more than 10 or 15 centimetres high. He was dressed in brown trousers and a top that was pulled in at his waist with a belt. On his feet were black boots. Everything was very muddy and wet and his blond hair was plastered against his head by the rain.

 

“Shoo”, shouted Mhari as she ran towards the cat. It turned its head to her and hissed a sound hiss. That wasn’t going to scare Mhari, though. Not a stupid old cat!

 

“Go away cat!”, she shouted, “Go right away. Right now!”, and she waved her hands at the animal. The cat hissed one last time and sprang away - up and over the fence and gone.

 

Mhari crouched down to see the boy - or whatever he was. “Are you ok?”, she asked.

 

“Oh thank you!”. He had a small voice - but quite clear and strong even over the noise of the rain. “You saved me - saved me from the savage beast!”

 

“That was just a silly old cat”, said Mhari.

 

“An enormous silly old cat!”

 

Mhari realised that, if you were only 15cm tall, the cat would look huge - and probably very scary indeed. She looked concerned as she asked, “Did the nasty cat hurt you?”

 

“No - well the cat didn’t hurt me. But I did hurt myself just before. That’s why I couldn’t get away. Look - I think I sprained one of my wings when I hit the fence”. The boy turned and Mhari could see two silver, delicate, wings on his back!

 

He looked up at her over his shoulder. “Is there anywhere we can go to shelter from the rain, do you think? I need to try to dry my wings to see if they are broken.”

 

Mhari felt rather silly that she hadn’t thought of that. There she was with her waterproof coat protecting her from the rain while the poor little boy - or whatever he was - got wetter and wetter. 

 

“Quick. Come into my house - it’s lovely and warm and Mummy will help you and…”

 

“No!”

 

Mhari stopped talking - he had sounded really scared. 

 

“I can’t go into a human house - it would be… really bad”. He couldn’t quite remember why not, but he did remember his father saying to him over and over that he should never go into a human house.

 

“How about the shed”, said Mhari, and she pointed further down the garden at the wooden shed. She loved the shed - it was really exciting to play in there. “Come on”.

 

The boy nodded once and followed her to the shed, limping slightly as he walked. Once in the shed, Mhari helped him up onto an upturned pail, while she sat on another. 

 

“I’m Mhari”, she said.

 

“You’re a warrior, I think!”

 

“No, silly. My name is Mhari”

 

“Oh”, he said. “Hello. My name’s Peeps”

 

Mhari thought that was a rather funny name, but remembered - just in time - that he Mummy had said it was a bit rude to say so. Instead she smiled and said “Hello Peeps”.

 

“Hello Mhari. But you must be a warrior, I think. You scared away the savage beast - and you have a golden cape. Only warriors have a golden cape”.

 

“How come you have wings?”, Mhari asked. She’d been dying to ask that for ages - since she’d first seen them and couldn’t wait any longer.

 

Peeps looked a little puzzled - as if it was a silly question. “We all have wings”

 

“Who do?”

 

“The Folk. We all have wings”.

 

“The Folk? What are The Folk?”

 

Peeps thought carefully about what he had learnt about humans. Oh yes. “I think you call us fairies”

 

“You’re a fairy!”. Mhari was really excited. A real fairly! Now she had even more questions. 

 

“How can you… No. What do you… No. How do you…”

 

Peeps laughed really hard as Mhari struggled to find what question she wanted to ask. She stopped and took a deep breath, just like her Granny said to do. She stopped talking and thought really hard and carefully about what she wanted to know first.

 

“What happened to your wings?”

 

“Ah”. Peeps blushed - which was really noticeable since he had quite pale skin. “Well… Well I was sort of playing in the rain and sort of didn’t quite see the fence. It just jumped out at me and I hit it ever so hard. It was really sore”. He shrugged his shoulders which made his wings move up and down. “I’ve probably bruised them again”.

 

“You poor…fairy. Do you need some medicine. Mummy has medicine that she gives me if I’m sore?”

 

“My mummy has medicine too - and she says it’s totally different to the human medicine. So I’d better go home.”

 

Mhari looked out of the window of the shed. The rain was stopping and the sun was just starting to peek out of the corner of the sky.

 

“Can you fly..?”

 

“Well usually, yes, of course I can. But my left wing’s still a bit sore, so I think I’ll just walk home”. He pointed past the end of Mhari’s garden towards the field and the wood. “It’s not that far”.

 

“Oh” said Mhari. She was a bit sad. She’d only just met Peeps and he was a fairy! So that was an adventure - and now it was stopping really quickly. Before she’d really had a change to do anything.

 

“Will you come back when you’re feeling better?” she asked Peeps. She crossed her fingers behind her back. 

 

“Yes! That would be great”

 

Five minutes later Peeps had gone. They’d said goodbye at the shed door before Peeps had turned right towards the field, while Mhari turned left to go back to the house. She turned once to wave but he had already disappeared. What a pity, she thought.

 

* * *

 

The next day had much better weather. The sun was shining a bit and it was dry - so she was outside playing with her watering cans and her slide. 

 

“Psssst”

 

She looked up - under a big rhubarb leave was Peeps smiling and waving! She dropped her can and ran over to see him.

 

“Hello Peeps! Are you all better?”

 

“Yes thank you. Can we talk in the shed for a moment”

 

They walked round the corner and into the shed. Like before, they sat on pails.

 

“I spoke with my mum”, Peeps started to say. “I told her about the cat and about how you had scared it away. She said that you’d been really brave. I told her about the golden cape and she agreed with me that you were probably a warrior. Mostly though she told me that I needed to do something. There are rules, she said. You save one of the Folk - and that means that you’re special”. He put his head to one side as he remembered everything that his mother had told him. “That means that you are a…a Friend of the The Folk!” Mhari could hear the capital letters - she knew that it was important.

 

“Wow!”

 

“You need to have a proper name. You can’t have a human name - even if it is quite a nice one”. Mhari felt bad suddenly - she remembered thinking that Peeps’ name was a bit silly.

 

“My mum spoke to the Elders and they gave me this”. He reached into a pocked and brought out a small golden ring. “Give me your hand”, he said. Mhari reached out. Peeps’ fingers were quite warm when he held her hand. He slid the ring onto the first finger on her right hand. Suddenly it started to glow and she felt a funny buzzing on her finger. The next thing - the ring had disappeared!

 

“Where’s it gone”, she cried.

 

“It’s inside you! It’s a magic ring for Friends of the Folk. Any member of The Folk can see your ring, even though other humans can’t. It’s how we know you’re  a Friend”.

 

“Wow”, Mhari said again.

 

“And your name is…”

 

“But I’ve got a name. My name is Mhari…”

 

“And your Folk name is - Marigolden!”

 

“Wow” that was the third time. She didn’t  know what to say, which wasn’t like her at all. She looked across at Peeps. “What does that mean?”

 

“Oh”. He blushed again. “I didn’t ask that bit. Or maybe I did - but I don’t remember. Sorry.” They were both silent for a moment. “But look! My wings are all better! Isn’t that great!”. Mhari laughed at how happy Peeps looked. “I bet you fly really well…”

 

They chatted for ages and then Peeps suddenly remembered he was supposed to be home soon so he stood up and go ready to leave. 

 

“Bye Peeps. My Mummy will be really excited that I’ve got a new friend. Oh!” she suddenly had a worrying thought. “Is it ok if I tell Mummy about meeting you? Is it a secret?” She didn’t like the idea of trying to keep  a secret from her Mum and Dad.

 

“Tell them! It’s ok - apparently big humans never believe stories about The Folk, so say anything you like!”

 

Mhari laughed. “Bye Peeps. Will I see you tomorrow?”

 

“Bye Marigolden! See you tomorrow - here in the shed?”

 

“Yes!”

 

* * *

 

“That’s lovely, Mhari. A fairy. Lovely. Now - in the bath with you, please”

 

Mhari’s mother seemed very calm about her meeting a real fairy but it was only as she played in the bath that she realised that Peeps had been right. Mummy thought it was a story that she has made up! 

 

As she lay in her warm bed later, she thought about Peeps and all the adventures that they might have together. She went to sleep that evening with a big smile on her face.