John Smith's

Visits to fairyland with the ‘Oonaghs’ and the ‘Tinkers.’

1.	Amelia Cathcart.
2.	The ‘Oonaghs’ and the ‘Tinkers’.
3.	An urgent request to the ‘Great King’.
4.	Fairyland.
5.	Rosie Braithwaite.
6.	The ’Boobachs’ and the ‘Bogeymen’.
7.	Back to front and upside down.
8.	A party! Not another party!
9.	Horace Pritchard.
10.	Back in Fairyland.
11.	The re-match.
12.	The re-match – second half.
13.	Finally.

Introduction:
	Adela Cathcart, Amelia’s great grandmother, often sat listening to fairy tales as a young woman, which helped sooth her mysterious illness. As she grew into old age, she similarly repeated these tales to Amelia, together sitting comfortably in front of a large log fire. It is therefore no surprise that Amelia developed, from a very young age, an acute awareness whenever fairies ventured close by. One such fairy in particular, who was charged with Amelia’s care, led to a strong friendship between them, along with some very interesting encounters.

1.
Amelia Cathcart.

“What on earth is the matter with you Amelia?” asked Rhapsody, one of the fairies. “I’ve never seen you looking so glum.”
“Cos it’s not my birthday!” replied Amelia, an only child who lived alone with her mother.
	“Your birthday was yesterday,” said Rhapsody.
	“Precisely, it’s not my birthday today.”
	“My dearest, you can’t have a birthday every day otherwise you wouldn’t realise when it was your actual birthday.”
	“So, I have to be sad for, I don’t know how many days, before I can have another party.” Amelia didn’t actually know the number of days in a year except that there were far more than she could count. Rhapsody didn’t think this was the time to tell her exactly how many days it was until her next birthday.
	“My friend Jasmin,” continued Amelia, “reckons it’s a hundred odd days until Christmas and my birthday is way past Christmas!”
	Rhapsody looked a little puzzled, “Why are the next hundred days odd?” she asked.
	“Because they’re not my birthday,” snapped Amelia.
	“You can be happy on odd days as well as even ones you know.”
	“How can I? Now I will have to wait a whole year before I get another party. It’s all well and good for you, you have had so many birthdays, I have only had nine!”
	Rhapsody, though a young fairy, was in fact ninety-nine years old, which in fairy years still classes you as a young fairy.
	“Can’t you magic away the next year? Then I will be ten. Then I can invite all my friends and have another party. It would be nice. Oh please, please, Rhapsody. I promise to behave for mother, only please let me be ten now.”
	“I can’t magic away time dear.”
	“Why not? You are always waving that stick thing of yours in the air to make things happen,” referring to Rhapsody’s wand. “Last week you helped tidy my whole room with me by magically waving my toys into the toybox. Then there was the time when you waved it in the air, filling our pantry up with food when my mother had no money. You even made the flowers in our garden bloom on mother’s day by waving that stick thing of yours. So why can’t you magic away the next year?”
	“In Yourland,” which is the name fairies gave to Earth, “I can manipulate objects, like the hands of a clock to show a different time than it actually is, but it doesn’t mean time has gone any faster or any slower.”
	“So, you can magic lots and lots of things, why not time?”
	“My dear Amelia, no-one can alter the tide of time, not even the Great King himself, bless his cotton socks.”

2.
The ‘Oonaghs’
& the ‘Tinkers’.

	‘Yourland’, as previously mentioned, is the name given by the fairies when referring to Earth, whilst their own land, if indeed you could call it a land, they called ‘Ourland’. Fairies would often visit ‘Yourland’ to carry out a particular task given to them by the ‘Great King’, often to teach a person one of those valuable lessons in life we so stubbornly refuse to learn by our own volition. Such tasks often gave rise to a fairy using their special powers. Powers perceived to be magical yet were mostly nothing more than a whole manner of trickery and tomfoolery. Fairies, by nature, are quite mischievous creatures, enthusiastically concocting shrewd schemes by which to fulfil their particular task. Although awarded a specific task by the ‘Great King’, it was for the individual fairy to devise ways by which to accomplish its fulfilment. Fairies cannot tell lies and are always kind, although it takes some people a fair time to realise a seemingly misfortunate outcome is for their betterment.
	Rhapsody was the youngest of five fairies born into the ancestral lineage of Queen Gloriana, one of the many fairy queens. Her sisters were Harmony, Destiny, Symphony, and Melody. In the region of fairyland where they lived, dwelt two main family lines; the ‘Oonaghs’ and the ‘Tinkers’. Rhapsody, along with her sisters, belonged to the ‘Oonaghs’. Both family lines had, in fact, descended from Queen Gloriana. The ‘Tinkers’ descended from Gloriana’s eldest daughter, Storm, whilst the ‘Oonaghs’ descended from Whirlwind, Gloriana’s youngest daughter. It would probably not surprise you to know both the ‘Oonaghs’ and the ‘Tinkers’ were locked in a ferocious contest. Each family trying to outdo the other by conjuring up more and more bizarre tricks to fulfil any given task awarded to them by the ‘Great King’.

	In fairyland life was a little back to front compared to life on earth. For instance, once a fairy queen came to the end of her reign it wasn’t her eldest offspring who assumed her place on the throne, but her youngest. 	
	‘The first shall be last, the last shall be first’ was one of the abiding principles fairies lived by. Consequently, Rhapsody, being the youngest of her siblings and of the royal lineage passed down to the ‘Oonaghs’ through ‘Whirlwind’ would one day become a fairy queen. On earth one could only imagine what enmity and jealousy this would cause to other siblings, especially the eldest. as each vied for power, setting whole families against each other, often leading to nothing less than war! This was never the case in fairyland. The more honour bestowed on you, the more you were expected to serve everyone else. Often the hardest tasks were given to you and coupled with greater responsibilities, would weigh heavily on your wings. Let’s face it, who would want all that extra responsibility when there was always another party to go to! Fortunately for Rhapsody her mother didn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.

3.
An urgent request
to the ‘Great King’.

	“I had best be getting back to ‘Ourland’” said Rhapsody to Amelia, “otherwise I will miss tomorrow mornings party.” 
	“Oh, that’s just fine! You go and enjoy yourself. Leave me here all sad and lonely,” replied Amelia folding her arms in a defiant posture, “It’s just not fair.”
	“What is not fair?”
	“In Fairyland you appear to have parties every day, sometimes you have as many as three, all in one day!”
	“Whenever someone in ‘Yourland’ has a birthday, we arrange to have a party in ‘Ourland’.”
	“But the person whose birthday it is, wouldn’t be there.”
	“That does not mean we can’t celebrate it.”
	“Sounds like an excuse to have a party if you ask me.”
	“Not an excuse, a reason.”
Rhapsody looked at Amelia sitting on the edge of her bed sulking. She waited a few moments until all her sulking was over.
	“Why are you still here?” asked Amelia, “go away and let me feel sorry for myself.”
	“I guess, as you like parties so much, I could take you with me.”
It took a brief moment for Amelia to realise the implication of what the fairy had just said.
	“What really? You can take me with you to fairyland?”
Rhapsody nodded in affirmation.
	“But I didn’t think you were allowed to take people to fairyland.”
	“Strictly speaking that is true, however, there is one exception to the rule.” She paused.
Amelia expected her to continue.
	“Well,” said Amelia a few moments later, “what is the exception?”
	“We have to get permission from the King of the Fairies. However we have to give a very good reason. The ‘Great King’ doesn’t make decisions lightly. If he suspects any wrong motive hidden behind the request, he will almost certainly deny it. Whatever he does though, he always does what is best for anyone making a request, even if that person doesn’t always recognise it to be so.””
	“Please would you ask him for me, please?” pleaded Amelia as she clasped hold of Rhapsody.
	“Oh my dear, it’s not quite as simple as you might think. Every day the ‘Great King’ gets an awful lot of requests to deal with. I sometimes wonder how he ever manages to answer them all.”
	“But he does answer them all, doesn’t he?”
	“Eventually, yes he does answer them all, yet he might decide to delay answering for some time.”
	“How much time?”
	“Oh who knows! It could be a day, a week, or even a year!”
	“A year! I simply can’t wait a whole year.”
	“The sooner we get your request to him then, the more likely he is to answer it quickly.”
	“Can you mark it urgent?”

4.
Fairyland.

	To Amelia’s delight her request to visit fairyland was answered swiftly, granting her wish. Rhapsody took hold of Amelia’s hands, asked her to close her eyes, then when she opened them again, she found herself in the strangest of places, Fairyland! Colours appeared swirling about her, mingling together forming different shades, many of which Amelia had never seen before. Butterfly-like creatures fluttered and flitted about her, then, to her amazement, a unicorn skipped past. Captivated Amelia stood drinking in the spectacle before her. High above, fluffy clouds billowed against an indigo sky, as birds, long forgotten down on Earth, swooped down circling Amelia as though they were welcoming her. Music filled the air, yet she couldn’t quite make out where it came from. It was as though the very place itself was an orchestra. Everywhere was light. She felt light. A surge of energy had coursed through her inner being which she had never experienced before. Her whole experience was beyond explanation, except she felt so alive, more alive than she had ever been. She couldn’t help but dance.
	“Hurry along,” said Rhapsody, “otherwise we shall miss the party.”
Rhapsody flew ahead as Amelia ran behind, her feet treading on something squidgy, which seemed to be moving along with her.
	“Come on Amelia, hurry along.”
	“It’s alright for you, you can fly,” yet no sooner had the words left her mouth, than she found herself flying through the air. Rhapsody had taken hold of her hand. Both were now flying along together.
	‘What an amazing experience’ thought Amelia as her hair swirled behind her like rolling waves, ‘I’m flying!’
	The party was already in full swing when they arrived. Rhapsody’s sisters excitedly flew over to greet them. 
	“These are my four sisters,” said Rhapsody as she introduced each by name. Many other fairies swooped over to join them, curious to see who Rhapsody’s visitor was. Amelia was introduced to aunts, uncles, and cousins, along with a host of others.
	“I’ll never remember everybody’s name.”
	“Don’t worry dear, you have only met the ‘Oonaghs’, you’ve still got to meet the ‘Tinkers’.
	“Who on earth are the ‘Tinkers? I mean; ‘who in fairyland’.”
	“They are our cousins, sort of. Distant cousins. When they arrive the real fun begins.”
	“I thought we were celebrating someone’s birthday.”
	“Oh but we are! You know a party wouldn’t be a party without a great many party games, would it?”
	Sure enough when the ‘Tinkers’ arrived, if you thought the party was rowdy before, it certainly was now! Having floated in playing an array of musical instruments, they were loud, very loud! The rhythmic beat of their Bodhrans was so rapid Amelia wondered how the pipe players managed to keep up. Fairies began shouting, cheering and hooting. Some took up a dance. Before long many fairies from both the ‘Oonaghs’ and the ‘Tinkers’ had joined in, in what appeared to be more like a competition rather than a dance. After several minutes a wide circle was formed, as the ‘Oonaghs’ brought out their instruments and began playing. Rhapsody, along with her family members, ran into the middle furiously dancing to the rhythm. The ‘Oonaghs’ cheered, whilst the ‘Tinkers’ began booing and jeering. Next the ‘Tinkers’ entered the circle and all was reversed. This carried on for some time until, from somewhere or other, a glistening star was thrown into the crowd. Chaos ensued, or what seemed like chaos to Amelia, as each family battled to keep hold of the star as it was batted it from one to another.
	‘How bizarre’ thought Amelia.
	“If you think this is bizarre wait until our final game today,” Rhapsody said knowing her thoughts, but before Amelia had a chance to ask, the game had begun.
	Destiny, Rhapsody’s sister, suddenly threw a sprinkling of fairy dust over a member of the ‘Tinker’ family. Amelia watched as the fairies clothes began to slowly change to resemble a cowboy’s outfit, much to the amusement of the ‘Oonaghs’. This resulted in one of the ‘Tinkers’ stepping forward and throwing her dust over Destiny. Her fairy outfit changed into old fashioned aristocratic garb. Now the ‘Tinkers’ were laughing. Melody threw her dust over a nearby ‘Tinker’ then watched her clothes becoming a dirty coalman’s garb, as well as her face becoming blackened. Now everyone began throwing fairy dust. Costumes became more and more outrageous. Finally, one of the ‘Tinkers’ threw her fairy dust over Amelia, changing her clothes to those of a fairy. Suddenly, as fast as it had previously become noisy, the whole place stood in silence staring at Amelia, afraid she might not be approving. Feeling a little uneasy by the silence and confronted with a sea of blank faces, Amelia didn’t know quite what to do. She glanced down at her new attire when, out from the shoulders of her new outfit, two fairy wings grew. Everyone gasped! Amelia began flapping her new wings rising a few feet off the ground which excited her so much she began laughing uncontrollably. A loud cheer went up as all the fairies began flitting about, flapping their wings in acknowledgement and relief that Amelia was happy with her new outfit.

5.
Rosie Braithwaite.

	Rosie Braithwaite, a cousin of Amelia Cathcart, was one of four girls. Her mother and father had emigrated to Australia shortly after their marriage, where their four daughters were all born. Rosie was the third daughter born to them and a similar age to Amelia. However, although third in terms of age, she was a definite fourth in the sisters hierarchy. Whilst her two older sisters poured adoration on their sweet youngest sister, Rosie, a girl of a quiet and gentle demeanour, became the butt of their teasing. She tried her hardest to avoid her older sisters, but in a household of six it was nigh on impossible. What the older girls perceived as just fun, Rosie took to heart, feeling hurt each and every time they teased her, or played some unsuspecting trick. Consequently Rosie retired into a world of fantasy reading fairy tale books.
	Finola, a fairy from the ‘Tinkers’ family line, was tasked with the role of comforting Rosie. Like her cousin Amelia, Rosie, by the time she was nine years old, had no problem recognising a fairy when one appeared. She was always glad each time Finola visited her, which was usually after she had received a bout of teasing.. One day, when her sisters had been particularly nasty to her, she lay on her bed, head buried into her pillow, crying her eyes out. When she finally had no tears left to weep, she lifted up her head, to find herself, not in her bedroom, but in fairyland!
	“I have bought you to fairyland to cheer you up,” said Finola.
Rosie glanced around captivated, just as Amelia had been when she first arrived, by all she could see, and hear, and smell.
	“What about my parents,” she asked, “they will be awfully worried, wondering where I am.”
	“Don’t you be worrying yourself about them, they are sound asleep. I will make sure you are back before they wake.” Rosie thought no more to question her.
	“I am taking you to a party,” said Finola.
	“Oh I do like a good party,” replied Rosie having already cheered up somewhat.
Of course it was the very same party her cousin Amelia was attending with Rhapsody, however the two cousins never bumped into each other until much later. Along with the ‘Tinkers’, Rosie joined in with the party games. Once they had all finished, the first teatime was finally announced. All shed their costumes, then began making their way to one of the fairy palaces where mealtimes were always held. Finola led Rosie into a long banqueting hall where two long tables straddled the length of the room. In fact they were so long Rosie couldn’t see the end of them and wondered, if in fact, there was an end to them. The table on the left side of the hall was for the ‘Oonaghs, the one on the right for the ‘Tinkers’ who had arrived first. Slowly they filled up their table for as far as the eye could see. Rosie was led over to a chair sitting alongside Finola and opposite her two sisters.
	“Pleased to meet you,” said one of the sisters. “I’m Saoirse, the eldest and assuredly the wisest in our family.”
	“I’m Niamh, the youngest and as you can clearly see, the prettiest.”
	“Pleased to meet you both,” replied Rosie offering her hand to each of them.
	“Take no notice of their claims,” said Finola, “it’s not a lot of good being the wisest if you stay in bed all day, and certainly of no use being the prettiest, if all you do is sit in front of the mirror admiring yourself. Now, my attribute of conjuring up the best practical jokes is by far the more useful.”
	“Take no notice of any of them my dear,” said an older fairy sitting just along from them. “I am their mother. Whatever attributes they claim to possess, they inherited them all from me!” Everyone close by laughed. 
	Just then, the ‘Oonaghs’ began arriving to loud jeers from the ‘Tinkers’ who began banging on the table with their metal mugs. Rosie was astounded to suddenly see her cousin Amelia walk in and called over to her.
	“Rosie,” replied Amelia, “what on earth are you doing here? or should I say, what in fairyland are you doing here?”
	“My fairy Finola bought me here to cheer me up after my two older sisters were being really horrible to me.”
	“Oh, those two sisters of yours. Someone ought to teach them a lesson.”
Finola looked puzzled. “A lesson! What kind of lesson? You mean like maths or science? How will that change their behaviour?”
	“No,” said Rosie, “she doesn’t mean that kind of a lesson. It’s an expression which means to teach someone to behave.”
	“Oh I see! I can arrange that.”
	“No, please don’t. It will only make matters worse.”
Just then, one of the “Oonaghs’ stood up and began banging the lid of a biscuit tin with a metal spoon. The room fell silent.
	“On behalf of our great family, the ‘Oonaghs’”
	“Get on with it,” shouted one of the ‘Tinkers’ as they all began jeering again.
	“On behalf of the ‘Oonaghs’ we would like to thank the ‘Tinkers’ for being such sporting losers today.”
	Roars of laughter from the ‘Oonaghs’ were all but drowned out by the jeers from the ‘Tinkers’. Finally the fairy was allowed to carry on with her announcement.
	“We are gathered here today to celebrate the birthday of Alfred the Great.” Everyone cheered. Once again the sound of metal mugs being banged on tables were heard.
	“Alfred the Great,” whispered Amelia to Rhapsody, “he’s been dead for years.”
	“I beg your pardon Amelia Cathcart. I was only with him just this last week. We visited Wantage, his birthplace together.”
	“But he lived over a thousand years ago.”
	“Which may be so in your time. In our time he’s still going about his business trying to unite the kingdoms of England.” Now it was Amelia’s turn to look puzzled.
	One of the families of ‘Oonaghs’ were next on the rota to serve at tables. They began carrying in platters of sandwiches, along with various savouries, followed by jellies, trifles, and, of course, so many different kinds of fairy cakes. For a while the loud jeering ceased as mouths were filled with food, when only the sound of knives, forks and spoons rattling against their plates was heard. Occasionally, a satisfying burp was heard which bought glares of disapproval, until the offender apologised. Eventually, a giant birthday cake was carried in decorated with King Alfred’s name.
	“Sound the fanfare,” a fairy shouted out.
Trumpets sounded, then all began to sing ‘happy birthday’ to King Alfred. Strangely, Amelia and Rosie found themselves joining in, happily singing ‘happy birthday’ to someone who had lived, in their minds, a very long time ago. 

6. 
The ‘Boobachs’
and the
‘Bogeymen’.

	No sooner had the celebrations for Alfred’s birthday drawn to a close, than another party was announced.
	“Whose birthday did she say we are to celebrate?” asked Amelia.
	“A young lady by the name of Penelope Witherington,” replied Rhapsody.
	“But I don’t know her.”
	“You didn’t know Alfred the Great but you celebrated his birthday.”
	“Of course I knew who Alfred the Great was,” replied an indignant Amelia.
	“Is, my dear, not was. Besides, just because you know something about someone, doesn’t necessarily mean you actually know them.”
	“I should very much like to meet Alfred the Great, to get to know him.”
	“Don’t be silly Amelia, that is impossible. He lives in a totally different time to you, yet, Penelope Witherington, you could have gotten to know her. She goes to the same school as you.”
	“Really, I don’t remember anyone called Penelope Witherington. I am sure anyone with a name like that I would definitely remember.”
	Rhapsody was just about to explain who Penelope is, when her sister Harmony, whisked her away as a new round of party games had begun. 	Amelia was now pitched against her cousin Rosie, yet all the games were conducted with such fun. Whilst bragging rights were always afforded to the winner, losers took their defeat humbly and in good humour. Another banquet followed, then in the evening the final party of the day was announced to celebrate the birthday of a boy named ‘Todd Hogan’.
	“Todd Hogan! Did they just say Todd Hogan?” said Amelia with a look of defiance. “If that is the same Todd Hogan who attends the same school as I do, I won’t be doing any celebrating. The only time I would ever celebrate him, is when he’s…” but she stopped short of saying anything further. Rhapsody gave Amelia a disapproving glance, “Why on earth not?” she asked.
	“He is so arrogant. He thinks because he is an American, he knows more than us. Swans around the place all superior, always criticising everything. One of my friends gave him one of her cheese and beetroot sandwiches from her packed lunch, only for him to take a bite, then throw it in the bin. He said it was horrible. He kept wanting to know why can’t we eat proper food like candies and pretzels, whatever they are. Well if he misses them so much, why doesn’t he clear off back to America?”
	“Oh dear Amelia, you really don’t like him do you?.”
	“No-one likes him. He’s always going on about how much bigger everything is in the U.S.A. I think the only thing that is bigger is his head.”
	“Whilst you have been on your school holidays, Todd has had a dramatic change in his life, helped along, of course, by a fairy, in fact my sister Harmony. He has become kind and considerate.”
	“I’ll not believe Todd Hogan could change his behaviour if he tried.”
	“You are right. That’s the key.”
	“What key?”
	“The key to unlocking a person’s heart.”
	“Sounds like a fairy riddle if you ask me.”
Just then, they heard a noisy commotion at the far end of the crowd where there was a lot of jostling taking place.
	“Oh no, the ‘Boobachs have arrived,” said Rhapsody with a concerned look on her face.
	“’Boobachs!’ Who are they?” enquired Amelia.
	“They are what you might call the baddies. Their sole purpose is to do whatever it takes to disrupt birthday parties.”
	“What! There are bad fairies? I thought fairyland was full of only good fairies.”
	“In one sense that is true. ‘Boobachs’ along with their cousins the ‘Bogeymen’ cannot be referred to as fairies as they once were, because fairies are good by nature and cannot lie.”
	“Who invited them to the party?”
	“No-one invited them. They simply gate-crash our parties. If they win the party games they have the right to disrupt someone’s birthday in ‘Yourland’”.
	“We better make sure they don’t win then,” said Amelia with a tone of authority, without realising she was about to participate on behalf of someone who she didn’t even like!

7.
Back to front
and
upside down.

	Amelia and Rosie, along with all the ‘Oonaghs’ and the ‘Tinkers’ greatly outnumbered the ‘Boobachs’ easily forging ahead in the evenings games. By the time the ‘Boggeymen’ arrived, any chance the ‘baddies’ had of winning was long gone. Unbeknown to Amelia, Todd Hogan’s birthday party began without any incident.
	“I think we should be getting home now,” said Amelia.
	“Yes, my mother will be wondering where on earth I am,” added Rosie.
	“Haha yes!” laughed Finola, “but you’re not on earth, you are in fairyland. Shall I let your family know where you are?”
	“No please don’t,” said Rosie with a concerned look. “If my older sisters think I have been to fairyland, they will conclude I have gone completely nuts, imagined things, then will tease me even more.”
Finola looked confused. “Nuts? Why would your sisters think you were a load of hazelnuts, or walnuts, or any other kind of nuts for that matter?”
	“No, silly. If someone thinks you are nuts, it means you have lost your marbles.”
	“Lost your marbles? I really don’t understand human beings at times.”
	“Never mind,” said Amelia, “What Rosie means is our parents don’t know we are here, they will be worried to death wondering where we have gone.”
	“Worried to death! I’m sure they won’t……”
	“Sorry, that’s another one of our expressions.”
	“Why aren’t human beings straight forward like fairies? Ah never mind!, Don’t you concern yourselves with such a matter as getting home to your parents. It is all in hand.”
	“What do you mean, it’s all in hand?”
	“You see time fairyland is different. You could be here for a thousand years then return precisely at the same time and exactly the same age as when you left. Mind you, equally, you could be here for only a day to find a thousand years had passed in ‘Yourland.”
	“That will not do at all,” said a concerned Amelia, “None of our families and friends would be alive.”
	“I think we had better get back to our land now,” said Rosie.
	“But you are already in ‘Ourland’,” replied Rhapsody.
	“No we are in your land; we want to go back to our land,” continued Amelia.
	“No, you are most definitely in ‘Ourland’ do you mean ‘Yourland’?”
	“Yes, we mean ‘Yourland’ but no, it is our land.”
	“I do believe the two of you are a little befuddled!”
	“We want to go home,” shouted Rosie and both fairies were quite taken back by Rosie’s sudden outburst.
	“Oh, but you have only just arrived today. All the fairies would so much like you both to stay. We have lots more parties tomorrow,” said Finola in anticipation.
	“Perhaps we could visit again soon,” suggested Amelia.
	“I would need to get permission. I can’t just keep bringing you here willy-nilly.”
	“Can’t you just nip over to the Kings house and ask him? My mother says its always best if you want something, to be direct. Ask what you want and don’t go beating about the….” but Amelia stopped herself, realising that was just another human saying. 
	“Your mother is very wise,” said Rhapsody.
	“Do you know my mother?” replied Amelia
	“Yes of course! She is always asking for my help.”
	“She is?”
	“Haven’t you ever heard her say ‘I wish it would stop raining’ when she was about to hang out a load of washing?”
	“I thought they were just a load of idle words.”
	“There is no such thing as idle words,” replied an indignant Rhapsody. “Besides, I can’t just nip over to the kings house. He doesn’t live in ‘Ourland’.”
	“You have a king but he doesn’t live in your land, I mean ‘Ourland?”
	“Why is that so strange? Your king lives in your country, yet rules over a lot of other countries where he doesn’t even own a house!”
	“Where does your king live then?” asked Rosie.
	“In the ‘Great Beyond’ of course.”
	“In the ‘Great Beyond’? Where is that?”
	“I don’t know. I’ve never been there.”
	“Then how do you ask the Great King for anything, if you’ve never been there?”
	“I just wish it.”
	“You just wish it, that’s all?”
	“When your mother wishes the rain would stop, I hear her, then stop the rain. Then she can hang out the washing so your school uniform can be dry for the next day. Mind you, you don’t always get the reply which you asked for, especially if you are wishing ill on someone. Then again, sometimes you do get the very thing you ask for, only for it to turn out different to how you imagined it would.”
	“It all sounds a bit back to front and upside down, if you ask me,” said Amelia.
	“Enough of the right way up, it’s bedtime. In the morning I’ll take you both back to ‘Yourland’.

8.
A Party!
Not another party!

	Amelia was sound asleep when, the following morning, her mother walked into her room carrying a tray laden with breakfast.
	“Amelia, wake up dear, I have some good news for you,” said her mother in an excited voice. Amelia opened her eyes but was barely awake when her mother excitingly continued.
	“Sit up dear, I’ve bought you a glass of milk along with some toast and marmalade.”
	“Where am I?” Amelia asked.
	“What on earth do you mean Amelia? You are right here all snuggled up in your cosy bed. Have you been to dreamland?”
	“Actually it is called ‘Ourland’” Amelia said to herself wondering if her trip to fairyland was just a dream.
	“So do you want to hear the good news?”
Amelia was lost in thought trying her hardest to bring to mind all the events that had seemingly took place during her trip to the fairies.
	“Aunt Meredith, along with your cousins, are over from Australia. Just arrived yesterday without so much as a word to let us know. Wanted it to be a surprise. Of course we are more than glad to see them. Staying over at your aunt Betties.”
	“What with horrible Horace?” Amelia didn’t like Horace. In fact not many people did.
	“Now, now, dear. I am sure your aunt Bettie has warned cousin Horace to be on his best behaviour.”
	“That will be a first. Is Rosie over with them?” asked Amelia.
	“Of course she is. Her mother would hardly leave the poor girl behind all on her own would she now?” 
	“No, I guess not.”  Amelia was deep in thought, ‘if my trip to fairyland was real, then Rosie would confirm it’.
	“Because you so love parties,” continued Amelia’s mother, “I have decided to organise a party this evening for all the family to celebrate their arrival.”
	“A party! No, not another party! I couldn’t possibly go to another party,” exclaimed Amelia to the utter surprise of her mother.
	“Yesterday you were sulking, moaning and complaining, about having to wait a whole year for another party.”
	“That was yesterday!”
	“I don’t know,” said her mother as she was walking out of Amelia’s bedroom anxious to make preparations for the party, “there is no satisfying that young girl.” 
	When Rosie arrived at Amelia’s later that day she gave no indication to Amelia they had been together in fairyland. Her actions seemed cold towards her leading Amelia again to wonder if it was all just a dream.
	“Hi Rosie,” said Amelia having bumped into Rosie in the kitchen a little later. “Have you been anywhere exciting lately?”
	“Not unless you call going to school, plus sitting through thoroughly pointless exams exciting,” and before Amelia could ask anything further, Rosie had returned to the garden where everyone had gathered.
	A game of rounders had been organised, each taking a turn to wield the bat. Rosie’s older sisters each took a turn, both managing to score a ‘rounder’. Hesitantly Rosie took up the bat, knowing full-well she wasn’t good at rounders. Despite her best effort the ball feebly left the bat, then she was caught out, to the amusement of her older sisters who began chiding her. Next it was Horace’s turn and one could tell by the look in his eye, he had bad intentions. Sure enough he deliberately aimed a ferocious shot in Rosie’s direction. The ball hit her square in the face, to the utter delight of her sisters, as Horace stood smirking. Humiliated, Rosie ran into the house sobbing, promptly locking herself in the downstairs cloakroom. Her mother rushed in after her, to see if she could console her, but Rosie just sat crying.
	“Rosie, you can’t stay in there all evening.”
	“Go away. Leave me alone.”
	“Rosie,” said her mother with a raised voice sounding as though she was about to get very angry, when Amelia walked in.
	“Can I help?”
	“Please do,” replied Rosie’s mother, who promptly returned to the garden.
	“Hi Rosie, it’s Amelia.”
	“I know who it is, I heard your voice. I might not be good at rounders but I am not stupid!”
	“Sorry, I just wanted to help.”
	“Try poisoning my sisters, that would help.”
	“Come on Rosie, you don’t mean that.”
	“Oh! I do.”
	“Can I come in?” asked Amelia.
	“Why?”
	“Just to be with you.”
	“What for?”
	“I like you.”
	“No you don’t. You just feel sorry for me.”
There was a moments silence.
	“Rosie, I think I might be going quite mad.”
	“Huh!” began Rosie. “If that lot out there are considered sane, then I would be glad to be totally stark raving bonkers.”
	“Rosie, I imagined, yet it felt so very real, much more real than real life, that I visited……..” Suddenly the door opened and Rosie pulled Amelia into the cloakroom with her.
	“Amelia don’t you dare mention our trip to fairyland to anyone, otherwise we will both become the brunt of everyone’s mocking, not just my sisters.”

9.
Horace Pritchard.

	Aunt Betty, Horace’s mother, was Amelia’s mother’s sister. Her husband, Derek, was a man of a smaller stature than Betty, thus she wielded over him a power, which he gladly submitted to, often without realising. Horace was their only child. Of course an only child is perfectly fine, unless you happen to have a spoilt, overindulged only child, and Horace was just that! Derek had become the bane of Horace’s school teachers lives, often complaining to the school governors about some far-flung tale, Horace had spun to his mother. He often complained of how nasty his teachers were towards him. In reality, they were simply a little firmer with him, than perhaps they were to his fellow pupils, as Horace was so cheeky and obstinate towards them. Not only was he nasty to his teachers though, he was also nasty to everyone else in his class. Consequently nobody liked him or would include him in their friendship circles. Horace thus retreated into a world of make believe.
	When Rosie’s two older sisters wandered over to congratulate Horace for hitting the ball into Rosie’s face, he pretended to be ‘Captain Black’, a fictitious character he had read about in a comic book. He commanded they salute him. When they flatly refused, he threatened to tie their pigtails one to the others, then banish them to the ’Tadpole’ galaxy where reptilian monsters feasted on little girls. However, the two sisters were not ones to be trifled with! At school even the boys were afraid of them. One punched Horace on the nose, whilst the other kicked one of his shins.
	“Stupid little twerp,” said one.
	“Bit of a space cadet if you ask me,” said the other, as they linked arms, then nonchalantly strolled over to a garden table where an array of sugary pastries had just been laid out.
	Horace, his nose bleeding, his shin bruised, promptly ran to his mother complaining how the two girls had illtreated him. Moments later, Horace’s father Derek, marched up to Meredith, the girl’s mother, with a pitiful looking Horace by his side hobbling along as though his leg was about to drop off.
	“Meredith,’ he began in a raised tone, “you need to take your two eldest daughters in hand. Look how they have treated poor Horace.”
Meredith glanced down at Horace’s sad face. She knew full well there was always two sides to any fall out, but nevertheless, hitting someone was not the way to solve any argument. She shouted over to the girls.
	“You two girls, here please!”
The girls knew from the look on their mother’s face and by the tone of her voice, they were in for it!
	“Well girls, what do you have to say for yourselves?” said Meredith pointing to Horace’s face.
	“He threatened us,” said one.
	“And he deliberately hit the rounders ball into poor Rosie’s face,” said the other.
	“Excuse me,” butted in Derek. “My Horace would never do such a thing. Rosie was merely standing in the same vicinity as he hit the ball, there was nothing deliberate about it. As for threatening you two, he would never threaten anyone, least of all young girls.”
Meredith insisted her two daughters apologise to Horace, yet, despite remonstrating, they reluctantly agreed each in turn saying sorry.
	“Now, I think it would be lovely if you two girls went inside and made a lovely pot of tea for everyone.”
	“But we’ve said sorry,” said the eldest.
	“Yeah, you can’t punish us, we’ve said sorry,” said the other.
	“Making tea for everyone is not a punishment, it’s an act of kindness. Now run along and do as I say.” Again linking arms they marched off into the house but not before noticing Horace grinning at them from ear to ear.
	“Somehow’” they concurred. “We have to get our own back on him.”

10.
Back in Fairyland.

	When Amelia and Rosie finally appeared from the downstairs cloakroom, it wasn’t, as they had expected, back into the house. Somehow, they had arrived back in Fairyland. 
	“Hello” said a familiar voice. It was Rhapsody. “I am so glad to see you both.”
	“Yes, me too,” said Finola who just happened to be close by. Soon a host of other fairies surrounded both the girls all eager to welcome Amelia and Rosie back.
	“You simply have to help us in our next battle against the ‘Boobachs’,” said Destiny.
	“After you left last time,” continued Harmony, “the ‘Bogeymen’ turned up and began throwing some sort of dark fairy dust around claiming that we cheated.”
	“Dark fairy dust! What is that?” asked Amelia.
Suddenly all the fairies, who had gathered around them, began speaking at the same time. Some said the dark dust involved revenge, others unkindness, a few shouted nastiness, whilst many hollowed out, spiteful. All in all, both Amelia and Rosie were given the distinct impression that dark fairy dust was not a very nice thing to be throwing around.
	“They insisted on having a re-match” said Destiny.
	“But Todd Hogan’s party went ahead without incident, how can they now ask for a re-match?” asked Rosie.
	“Ah yes! His party did go ahead without incident as you rightly say and all those invited did arrive. They even began playing a few party games. Then this boy from the neighbourhood turned up to the party uninvited, set the fire alarm off, then, whilst everyone ran outside believing there to be a fire, he made off with the birthday cake. Let’s face it, you can’t have a birthday party without a birthday cake!
	“That’s awful,” said Amelia.
	“Todd’s mother had no choice but to postpone the party until she had time to make another cake, then sent everyone home.”
	“What a horrible nasty boy. What did he do with the cake?” asked Rosie who was feeling quite hungry at the mention of cake.
	“The boy ran off and ate the lot!”
	“I reckon he must have had a right telling off once his parents found out.”
	“Yes, you would have thought that to be so, but the boy’s father said his son would never do such a thing, then insisted on seeing the evidence. However, as mentioned, there was none, as it had all been eaten. Of course, just because there is no apparent evidence doesn’t mean he didn’t do it. His father only wanted to see good in his son. This gave us no alternative than to agree to a re-match in the hope we can win again. Then finally Todd’s party can go ahead uninterrupted.”
	“Let’s do it,” said Amelia emphatically.
	“Hold on though,” said Rosie, “I don’t see how we cheated to warrant a re-match.”
	“The ‘Boobachs’ claimed that us having two girls made the sides uneven, concluding that the game wasn’t a fair contest, as they had none,” said Rhapsody. “Now they have enlisted two girls to their side. For the sake of good sportsmanship we agreed to a re-match.”
	“What!,” Amelia looked shocked. “They have recruited two girls from our land?”
	“No, two girls from ‘Yourland’.”
	“That’s what I mean.”
	“I can never understand why human beings don’t say what they mean,” said Finola. “They say one thing but mean it to say something completely the opposite. It’s a wonder any of them understand anything anyone is saying.”
	“The ‘Boobachs’ claimed that it was only fair so each side would be on equal terms. They have picked a particularly nasty game for the re-match as it is their prerogative to choose,” explained Rhapsody.
	“I can’t see how we can be of any use to you,” said Rosie who always tried to shy away from any form of confrontation.
	“But my dears, you are both central to the game. It’s the only way Todd Hogan will ever get to have a successful birthday party. We must win on his behalf,” said Symphony.
	“What can we do?” asked Rosie.
	“Never mind that for now, we all need to fly over to the munitions store to select our weapons.”
	“Munitions store?” said Amelia.
	“Weapons?” said Rosie.
	“Come along there’s no time to explain now, we need to hurry. If the ‘Boobachs’ turn up before we are tooled up, they will have an overwhelming advantage.”
	It is fair to say both Amelia and Rosie had been getting increasingly nervous. Firstly, that they were pivotal to winning the game. Then, the thought of being confronted by two other girls who are obviously nasty enough to be enrolled by the ‘Boobachs’. Finally, the mention of weapons compounded their dread. The concept of any form of fighting did not bode well with Rosie’s fragile nature and she began to feel fearful. As for Amelia, the prospect of ever losing would severely wound her pride. She galvanised herself ready for action, even if it was for Todd Hogan who she didn’t particularly like.

11.
The Re-match.

	No-one from either the ‘Oonaghs’ or the ‘Tinkers’ conveyed to Amelia or Rosie the nature of the battle, and it was to be a battle, not merely a fun party game. What they did tell them though, was they would need to have their wits about them. Amelia was holding on to Rhapsody flying along with the ‘Oonaghs’, whilst Rosie held on to Finola who flew at the head of the ‘Tinkers’. ‘What fun to be flying with fairies’ they both thought, swooping in and out of each other as they headed over to the munitions store.
	Presently, a large tree stood in front of them. Its trunk rose high up into the air. Glistening silver leaves hung from its branches, which seemingly sparkled more brightly as everyone approached them. Everyone descended, coming to rest at the foot of the great tree. Suddenly a wooden door mysteriously opened of its own accord, it blended in with the bark of the tree so well, you would not have noticed it was there. The munitions store was actually hollowed out from the middle of the tree trunk. Upon entering they saw a pair of older looking fairies peering over a countertop, giving everyone rather austere glances. Behind them hung a poster depicting a brown bear with one of it’s paws dipping into a honey jar. The caption underneath read; ‘Too much of a good thing can be bad for you!” Rosie glanced around noticing how large the room was. “There is no way this room fits inside a tree, it’s enormous” she whispered to Amelia, but her attention was drawn to two cupboard doors situated behind the older fairies. The sign on one door read; ‘A glass half full dust,’ whilst from the other door hung a sign which read, ‘A glass half empty dust’.
	“A quarter ounce of ‘half full’ for me,” asked Destiny.
	“And for me,” shouted Symphony.
	“I’ll have a quarter of ‘half empty’ butted in Finola, when, all of a sudden, pandemonium broke out as all the fairies began asking all at the same time. Quiet descended when the two older fairies, in perfect unison, banged their fists on to the countertop.
	“Please, let us have a little decorum here if you wouldn’t mind. We won’t be serving any of you until you form an orderly queue. Nor will you be getting anything unless to say ‘please’. Humans get priority over fairies.”
Amelia and Rosie were thrust up to the front of the queue neither knowing which dust to choose.
	“I’ll take the ‘half full’ dust please,” said Amelia.
	“I’ll go for the ‘half empty’” said Rosie as all the fairies queuing behind shouted ‘please’ before she could get the words out of her mouth. Then the two older fairies, again in unison, turned, one opened the ‘half full’ door, the other the ‘half empty’ door. Each fairy promptly giving Amelia and Rosie a small velvet pouch containing their allocation of fairy dust. Soon all were served, they bid a hearty farewell to the older fairies before taking back to the skies as they flew in search of the ‘Boobachs’.
	“These young fairies,” began one of the older fairies, “they allow their enthusiasm get in front of their manners.”
	“You can say that again,” remarked the other but the first fairy didn’t.
	“So are you going to explain what we do with all this dust?” asked Rosie.
	“Oh, yes of course,” began Finola, “The ‘glass half full’ when sprinkled over someone gives them positive thoughts. It puts them into a good and peaceful mood. Very good for disarming anyone with revenge on their mind. The ‘glass half empty’ dust does the opposite making people feel regretful and remorse.”
	“Oh dear! I have ‘half empty’ dust. Why would anyone want to make someone feel negative?” But there was no time for Finola to answer her as, seemingly out of nowhere, the ‘Boobachs’ were upon them. Dust began to fly everywhere. One of the ‘Oonaghs’ threw some ‘glass half full’ dust over one of the ‘Boobachs’, only for a fellow ‘Boobach’ to counter it by throwing some dark dust over her. As the battle ebbed and flowed, neither side was getting any advantage, it appeared the battle was going to take a fair amount of time. That was until the ‘Boobachs’ pushed their two girls to the forefront. Amelia and Rosie stood spellbound, shocked to see Rosie’s two older sisters on the side of the ‘Boobachs’.
	“Typical,” shouted Rosie. “I might have known you two nasty sisters of mine would show up.”
	“Be careful,” said Finola.
Suddenly the ‘Bogeymen’ joined the battle. One particularly gruesome looking ‘Bogeyman’ approached Rosie sprinkling some dark dust over her. Now all of her hurts from the past turned into revenge. Finola could see what was happening, throwing some fairy dust over her to counter the dark dust, but it was too late. The dark dust had seeped into Rosie working its evil magic on her. Her countenance totally changed. Revenge turned into rage. This was her opportunity to get her own back on her two sisters for the years of bullying they had dished out on her. Rosie abandoned all restraint, threw her fairy dust away, then rushed towards her sisters kicking and punching them. She fought with such ferocity her sisters didn’t know what to do, falling foul of her blows. The ‘Boobachs’ simply stood and watched on. Amelia wanted to rescue Rosie from her rage but Rhapsody restrained her.
	“It’s no good, she is lost.”
	The ‘Bogeymen’ grabbed hold of Rosie, claiming her as one of their own, then taking her into their ranks. Now was the time for the ‘Tinkers’ to call for ‘time out’, which according to fairy law, if either side loses one of their own, they could call for ‘time out’. A short period to reassess their strategy, possibly even surrendering the game altogether. Rosie, without so much as a glance back at Finola or Amelia, left with the ‘Bogeymen’. She had exacted her revenge. As for the two bruised, battered, and hurting older sisters, they were left abandoned by the ‘Boobachs’ without the slightest consideration for their welfare. The ‘Tinkers’ tried to comfort Finola who was distraught at having lost Rosie. 

12.
The Re-match – second half.

	Both the ‘Oonaghs’ and the ‘Tinkers’ gathered together to discuss their tactics for the remainder of the battle.
	“We have to try and figure out a strategy, not just to win the game in order for Todd Hogan’s birthday to go ahead, but to rescue Rosie from the clutches of the ‘bogeymen’,” said Amelia.
	“We will call for the ‘General Council’ to preside over the matter,” replied Destiny.
	“What on earth is the ‘General Council’?” asked Amelia.	
	“I don’t know what it is on Earth, but in Fairyland it’s when the heads of the various families meet to decide on an issue.”
	“No, no, no,” demanded Amelia voicing her frustration. “If it’s anything like the committee meetings we have down on Earth, they’ll spend hours giving conflicting opinions and decide nothing.”
	“Well, we are not down on Earth and we always make a firm decision on any matter, even if it does take a year or two. We are fairies!” replied an indignant Destiny.
	“A year or two! That is ridiculous! I’m going to sort this out myself.” 
	Amelia got up and began walking in the direction of the ‘Bogeymen’s’ camp.
	“Amelia,” shouted Rhapsody, “you are not going to achieve anything on your own,” but Amelia didn’t even acknowledge her and carried on disappearing into the distance. Rhapsody, along with her sisters, was just about to fly after her, when the unexpected happened. Rosie’s two older sisters, covered in bruises, approached. Finola, thinking they were about to be attacked by them, sprung to her feet ready to engage them.
	“Wait Finola,” said Harmony. “Don’t be hasty.”
	“We are so sorry,” began one of the sisters.
	“Yes, we are both so sorry,” said the other. “We have realised how badly we have mistreated our dear sister over the years. We deserved nothing less than the good hiding we received.”
	“We feel so ashamed of our actions towards her. She has become no different than us. Now we have lost her to those awful ‘Bogeymen’ and it’s all our fault.” Both of them began sobbing.
	Little did the two girls know that when the ‘Boobachs’ abandoned them, Melody sprinkled some ‘glass half empty’ dust over them which made the girls feel remorseful. Then Symphony sprinkled her ‘glass half full’ dust over them giving them the courage to own up to their past and make amends.
	“How can we help get our sister back?” they asked.
	“Join us in the fight to get her back,” said Finola. “But we need to get going swiftly as Amelia has gone and taken things into her own hands. I fear the ‘Bogeymen’ will soon have her in their ranks.”
	Meanwhile, the ‘Boobachs’, realising they had lost the two older sisters, decided Rosie was really their prize. “The ‘Bogeymen’ should not have taken her,” said one of them. Incensed, they flew over to their camp.
	“What do you ‘Boobachs’ want?” said one of the ‘Bogeymen’ in a rather belittling manner. 
	“We are here to claim our rightful prize. Rosie Braithwaite is ours.”
The ‘Bogeymen’ began laughing. “Oh no she isn’t.”
	“She was nasty to her sisters who were on our side. We claim her as ours.”
	A tall horrifying ‘Bogeyman’ stepped up to them. His eyes were flaming red, bright as a fire. He had large pointy ears and a long tail which whipped about him in threatening moves.
	“It was our dark dust which corrupted her. She is our prize.”
The ‘Boobachs’ were having none of it. They sprang at the ‘Bogeymen’ as they tried to wrestle Rosie from their grasp. A fierce fight broke out between the two groups. Dark dust was flying all over the place.
	Whilst this was taking place, as Amelia approached the two fighting groups, a young boy came out from amongst them, but it wasn’t until he got a lot closer that Amelia recognised him. It was horrible Horace! Her cousin.
	“Oh look if it isn’t Amelia Cathcart. I wonder what she wants?” he said mockingly.
	“I might have guessed you would turn up to align yourself with those nasty ‘Bogeymen’. Where is my cousin Rosie?” Amelia asked, yet all Horace did was laugh in her face.
	“Why are you fighting on behalf of Todd Hogan anyway? You don’t even like him.”
 	“Just because he is the most annoying boy at our school, apart from you that is, doesn’t mean I have to spoil his party.”
	Horace laughed again. “You don’t need to worry yourself about that. I already ruined it. I pinched his birthday cake, then ate the lot.”
	“If we win” began Amelia but Horace butted in. “You’re not going to win Amelia. Just face up to it, you are on the losing side.” Then he threw some dark dust over her.
	Up from the horde of ‘Bogeymen’ stepped Rosie. 
	“Amelia dearest,” she began. “You know how we have always been the closest of friends. We are of one heart and soul. Join us and let us together finally put an end to my two bullying sisters.” Amelia was weakening, feeling as though her energy was seeping out of her. She wasn’t thinking straight, the dark dust had clouded her mind. ‘Why should she care about Todd Hogan anyway?’ Amelia thought.  She was about to agree with Rosie, when Finola and Rhapsody showed up with Rosie’s two sisters. Shocked to see them both, Amelia and Rosie didn’t know what to say.
	“Rosie” began one of the sisters. “We are so sorry for the way we have treated you over the years.” Both the girls had tears streaming down their cheeks. “We deserved the punishment you metered out on us. We truly are sorry.” Without any hesitation Rosie leapt forward and threw her arms around her two sisters. Amelia’s mind, seeing the genuineness of their sorrow, became clear, then she turned back to face Horace. “No, I won’t be joining you Horace and if you had your wits about you, you wouldn’t go back to those nasty ‘Bogeymen’ either.” All this time, the ‘Boobachs’ and the ‘Bogeymen’ were so busy fighting each other; they hadn’t noticed any of it, not until Horace ran back to report the battle was lost.	

13.
Finally.

Guests began arriving at Todd Hogan’s house for his rescheduled party. His mother, who, as always, was immaculately dressed, welcomed each of his friends as they arrived, presenting them with a rather silly party hat to wear. 
	“Everyone into the garden for the first party game,” shouted Todd’s father once all those invited had finally arrived. Filing out through the patio doors they passed a table where a large birthday cake stood, decorated in icing, with Todd’s favourite comic character, ‘Captain Redemption’. It was early evening, the sun still high in the sky beaming down on the large freshly cut lawn which was surrounded by neatly groomed bushes. Laid out on a patio table was a number of brightly coloured water pistols, all loaded and ready for the first game to commence.  A bundle of those cheap plastic ‘one use’ raincoats, to keep everyone dry, lay beside them. Everyone was excited. On a warm summers evening who wouldn’t be excited to have a water pistol fight? A computer-generated sign gave instructions: ‘Put on a raincoat and select your weapon of choice. BUT DO NOT USE JUST YET! Wait for the signal!’
	Meanwhile, Horace, who had sneaked up into the garden, then, having hid himself in the bushes nearby, knew this was his opportunity. 
	‘Whilst they’re all out in the garden I’ll sneak around to the front door.” Clambering out from the undergrowth, he made his way around to the front garden, intent on gaining access into the house. However, when he approached the driveway, he was met by three girls who were standing in his way. It was Rosie and her two older sisters.
	“Stand aside,” he commanded expecting the girls to instantly obey. No one moved.
	“I said stand aside otherwise…..”
	“Otherwise what?” butted in Rosie, who stood defiantly with hands on hips. Horace tried to push through the line of girls but they had linked arms and were having none of it. Suddenly Amelia appeared behind them carrying a megaphone.
	“Now” she hollowed into it. Within seconds all the party guests ran out from the side of the house armed with their loaded water pistols. Rosie and her sisters stood aside whilst all the party guests began squirting Horace until he was thoroughly soaked. Amelia began laughing, as did everyone else, all except Horace that was. He stood, his clothes soaked through, with water dripping from his hair, feeling absolutely humiliated. He opened his mouth about to shout insults at everyone, when a girl squirted water into it. Everyone was roaring with laughter as Horace turned, running off down the street. The party guests fled to the back garden to reload before they participated in an ‘everyone for themselves’ water fight. 
	Of course it wasn’t long before Mr Pritchard, Horace’s father, was marching up to Todd’s house. The girls were still standing across the driveway just in case Horace thought to show up again once he had put on some dry clothes.
	“Can I help you?” came a voice from behind the girls. It was Todd’s father, Mr Hogan.
	“Look what these horrible girls have done to poor Horace,” replied Mr Pritchard as he thrust Horace in front of him who was still soaked through and looking a sorrowful sight. “These girls have all ganged up on him, when all he wanted to do was wish Todd a happy birthday.”
	“I don’t think so,” began Todd’s father. “I knew something like this might happen so I purposely asked everyone to go into the back garden, then watched everything unfold from one of the bedroom windows. Your son was hiding in the bushes waiting for his opportunity. Once everyone was outside his intention was to sneak into my house uninvited, then steal Todd’s birthday cake just as he did last time. If it wasn’t for these girls, courageously standing in his way, he may well have succeeded.”
	Mr Hogan, who had not long ago been discharged from the Royal Marines, was not a man to disagree with, or force an issue with.
	“Is this true?’ asked Horace’s father turning to his son, but gave him no time to answer. He took hold of one of Horace’s ears then frog-marched him back along the street.
	“I don’t think we will be troubled by him again,” said Mr Hogan to the girls as they all gave each other a ‘high five.’
	Just then a girl came out of the house walking over to where the girls were standing. 
	“Hello, my name is Penelope Witherington, it is my birthday as well as Todd’s. Our parents thought it would be wonderfully nice if we had a joint party. We all want to thank you so much for protecting us. Todd and I would be awfully honoured if you would all join us at the party.”
	“Of course we would, even though we have already celebrated your birthday once before,” said Amelia linking arms with her. Penelope looked slightly puzzled as the two of them walked into the house together. Rosie and her two sisters eagerly followed on behind. When the birthday cake was finally sliced up, Amelia, Rosie, and her two sisters, were the first to be served a slice each.
	“Shall we all sing happy birthday to Alfred the Great? It’s his birthday today,” said Amelia.

The end.