Cutting Keys: Book Six 3ct72

BOOK SIX IN THE LEAF’S KEY SERIES

CUTTING KEYS

BY HEIDI LOUISE WILLIAMS

Gem-in Eye Publishing

All rights reserved: No part of this publication may be

transmitted or reproduced by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise without prior permission of the publisher. First published 2021

Gem-in-Eye Publishing

Cutting Keys

Book Six of THE LEAF’S KEY SERIES

Text copyright © 2021 Heidi Louise Williams

Cover illustrations copyright © Heidi Louise Williams.

Leaf’s Key names, characters, and related indicia of Quikid World or

Leaf’s Key or Whiteash Key merchandise are copyright of Heidi Louise Williams.

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

A CIP catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 9781999378318

www.leafskey.com

All Characters and events in this book, other than those clearly in the public domain,

are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, being alive or dead is purely coincidental.

Any opinions expressed are from researched materials or for dramatic license,

and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author.

Dedicated to my readers with love

Acknowledgments: Rab Craw for his brilliance, and thanks to my lovely daughter.

Titles in THE LEAF’S KEY SERIES:

The Whiteash Key

Guardians of the Keys

Key the World

Closing doors

Knowledge is the Key

Cutting Keys

Unlocked

The Key to the future

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 - IN BETWEEN CHAPTER 2 - THE SEVENTH SUMMER

CHAPTER 3 - NEW CUBS CHAPTER 4 - A FRIEND’S DEMISE

CHAPTER 5 - GUILTY GREEN CHAPTER 6 - NIGHT IN THE DESERT CHAPTER 7 - SNAKE BITES CHAPTER 8 - LEMON AND SALT CHAPTER 9 - NEVER AGAIN CHAPTER 10 - GNOMES IN PERU CHAPTER 11 - CRAWLERS CHAPTER 12 - OUTBACK CHAPTER 13 - SURVIVAL WEEKEND

CHAPTER 14 - THE LAST WEEK CHAPTER 15 - THE VERY LAST DAY

Chapter One

IN BETWEEN

The year of 2020 ed quickly despite the pandemic. There had been more lockdowns in November for the Covid crisis, but the people had been allowed out to spend their last pennies on Christmas gifts. People still had to wear masks, even at home with the family but few people did. The numbers of fatalities rose but no one Leaf actually knew had caught it, until George tested positive when he had an invasive probe up his nose which cause bleeding for three days. He was fine when Leaf went round to visit him two weeks of quarantine later, and he swore it had been just a touch of flu. Leaf was glad to see he was okay, she had been very worried. The schools were open but pubs, restaurants, parks, and places where people congregated were all closing. At school they had to wear masks and sit one metre apart. Even the teacher had to wear a mask which made it hard to understand what she said. There was a feeling of who cares in the classroom. Kids were calling themselves generation Z, meaning they were the last generation. Many children no longer believed in the future of the planet let alone their futures. Lots of teenagers no longer dreamed of getting married and having children, most of them when asked said they weren’t having any. Leaf tried to stay positive but things were getting her down. She was arguing with her mum all the time about cleaning up after herself and needing to be more responsible. Leaf kept forgetting or couldn’t be bothered and Mum was starting to do her head in. Mum seemed more stressed than usual lately, and the only way Leaf could cope was to ignore her. Mum took it personally and was sinking into an angry slump. She missed her delightful, attentive, caring little girl and started to resent this new moody teenager. She tried to remain calm and civil but Leaf’s attitude had changed into one of not giving a damn which Mum found infuriating. Leaf missed the mum that made her laugh all the time and did not expect her to do chores. Leaf didn’t want to grow up. Her childhood had been a happy one safe under Mum’s wing. The world of adults seemed so depressing to

Leaf. She studied as much as she could but she felt distracted, suffered with insomnia and lacked energy, and before she knew it the dreaded final school exams were upon her. Life felt consumed with arguing with Mum, being distracted by friends and their boy problems. She had no energy to study but was finding it hard to sleep. One of her friends would keep her company on video chat as she stayed awake half the night. It was a stressful time in her life, and she lost a lot of sleep.

On the good side of life, Duncan continued to tend to the garden and stay over for dinner. Leaf enjoyed his company, and Sarah seemed to be popping over more often than usual and would purposely get herself invited to dinner on those nights too. On those evenings, the house was filled with laughter and young spirits again, and lots of flirting between Sarah and Duncan. It wasn’t long before Duncan plucked up the courage to ask Sarah to go out with him. She said yes, and Leaf caught them kissing in the garden with Skip going loopy around their feet wanting someone to rub his nose.

One afternoon after school, Mum called Leaf into Grammy’s old office. It was a small room to the right of the hallway filled mostly with Leaf’s Grandfather’s mahogany desk and several wide cases of books. Mum had been looking at something on the computer. “I owe you an apology and a hug,” Mum told her. “Oh yeah? What were you wrong about this time?” Leaf asked, grinning. “I was wrong to not believe you when you said that Grammy’s ghost threw a pillow at you and that she moved the dining chair,” Mum itted. Leaf was surprised. “What makes you believe me now?” “I know she is here now. I’ve seen her. I have proof,” Mum declared. “You’ve seen her? You have proof?”

“I caught her ghost on the camera in the hallway. Look, I’ll show you.” Mum turned the computer monitor around. Leaf could see the black and white footage of their hallway. Then Grammy walked into frame. She adjusted the artificial sunflowers in the crystal vase on the central mahogany table, and then looked up the stairwell towards the bedrooms. A moment later she walked out of frame towards the living room. On the footage she had been as solid and real looking as any living person but the date in the corner of the screen stated that it was yesterday, Wednesday the sixteenth of May 2021 at six in the morning. Leaf wondered if it was really Grammy’s ghost or Grammy Jumping with the Key from the past when she was still the Key Guardian. Maybe that was the same thing. Leaf wondered if some ghosts are just people from a different timeframe or a glitch that connects two parallel universes. That would mean she was a ghost at times too. Leaf replayed the video three more times. It was good to see Grammy. She missed her so much it ached. “I’m sorry I doubted you,” said Mum. “That’s okay, just don’t do it again,” Leaf replied. Mum kissed the top of Leaf’s head, and then went to the kitchen to put the kettle on. She needed a stiff cup of tea. Mum never did get rid of the windows in the conservatory. Instead she had extra strong glass and frames with security locks fitted, so she could still see down the grass to the willow tree. It had taken a few months but Mum and Leaf were now settled in Grammy’s old house and felt it was home. Leaf met up with Sam a couple of times during the year, once in Mexico in 1959. A man blew an ambient tune out of a trumpet in a plaza in Mexico City as Leaf walked towards her friend. Sam, wearing his big sombrero, picked her up and swung her around. They chatted as they ambled along colourful streets of the gargantuan city, and bought chunks of watermelon from a local street vendor. Aloe Vera grew out of the tidy beds along the pathways. Lots of the commercial buildings looked closed and the shutters were covered with artistic graffiti. Two big red buses

went past followed by a green and white bus and a white taxi. A lot of the cars were old American models. Sam took photos of Leaf accosting statues and dancing around fountains. They heard music coming from a building that looked like it could be a hall or a club. Sam opened the black door and the music burst out. He grabbed Leaf’s arm and pulled her into a large room. There was a Mexican band playing salsa swing and lots of Mexican pensioners dancing in couples. Sam grabbed Leaf’s hands and danced her across the floor into the centre of the dancers. The Mexican’s gave them welcoming smiles. Leaf and Sam had so much fun, and laughed a lot trying to keep up with the old people.

Back on the street, Sam led them to a taco stand, where he ordered and paid with some pesos he had from his last visit. While they stood eating, Sam told Leaf between bites what he was doing with his life since he left school. “I’m in the top five of my culinary class. Yesterday, I made a delicious Paté with rosemary, served with homemade olive oil bread. Then baked salmon in a sweet orange glaze toped with sliced almonds served with salt crusted tiny potatoes, and for dessert I rustled up a flaky pastry oozing with hot melted chocolate and mascarpone. I’m thinking of opening my own restaurant one day.” He took another enthusiastic bite, chewed fast and swallowed. “I’m also really enjoying my photography course at night. A friend of my Mum’s owns a small art gallery and when I showed her my portfolio she suggested that I have an exhibition there. I could probably get you an art exhibition there too, if you wanted to do it?” Sam told her. “I’ll come to your exhibition if you tell me when it will be. I am not focusing on my art for now. I have too much going on with my final exams at school. All I ever do these days is study. I can’t wait ‘til it is all over and I can relax at camp,” Leaf replied. “You won’t get to relax much being a Seventh Year but you get a couple more breaks than in Sixth Year.” “I will get back to you in a year or so about an exhibition, when I’ve had time to paint.”

“She is one of my mum’s closest friends so the will still be there.” “So anyway, that is excellent that you are going to have an exhibition. What are you going to do for it?” Leaf said encouragingly. “I have an idea of beauty in broken things and ugly places. Like a flower growing in a pile of rubbish or a beautiful woman naked in a ruined house. Actually I know the perfect ruin but I just need the beautiful woman. Will you do it?” Sam asked. Leaf almost choked on her taco. “I’m not getting naked in a dirty old ruin for you to take photos!” Leaf protested with her mouth half full. “Neither me nor anyone else would see anything, just your back. You would be loosely holding a white sheet draped around you with your back to the camera and the only your back would be naked, your bottom will be covered. Please do it! It will be artistic and beautiful. I really need the shot for the collection. Please?” “Let’s do it now then, before I change my mind,” Leaf said. She had shaved her legs that morning so why the hell not; being in Mexico made her feel bold. She took her last bite, and they ran off to find a door. Sam bought a cheap white sheet from a second hand shop, and they used his Key in the lock of a shack at the back of the shops. He jumped them to an abandoned ruin of a small farmhouse about a mile from where Sam lived in Sussex, England. The ruin had three walls broken by intruding ivy, and only a partial beamed ceiling. There were three small derelict rooms but Sam wanted to use the fireplace in the photo. There was a discarded carved wood and wicker chair. Sam asked Leaf to turn the chair facing the camera but to sit on it the wrong way round facing the fire, wearing the sheet but allowing it to drape so that only her back and legs were exposed. Sam closed his eyes as Leaf got changed into the sheet and positioned herself so that the shot would be beautifully artistic but expose nothing except her two long legs, slender back and neck. The sun pouring in through a broken ivy covered window. “Sit up straight, think elegant…perfect. That’s it hold it there.”

Sam took about ten shots of more or less the same image. He asked Leaf to slightly move the angle of her head, back, arm or leg. Leaf missed the feeling of her long hair. She knew it would have looked good tussled in the photos. Sam said the shorter hair showed off her lines and worked better for the look he was going for. After twenty similar poses, he said was done. He turned away so Leaf could get dressed again. “Thanks so much, Leaf. It is going to be an amazing photo in the collection. It is going to be hard to choose which one to use as they all look amazing! I’ll send them to you.” “You’re welcome. I might get you to pose for my art one day, nude holding a pineapple,” she teased. “Anytime! I’ll wear nothing but my sombreo! Olé!” “I’d better be getting home, Sam. It’s getting late. Mum will miss me soon.” “I’ll walk you to the nearest house with a front door so you can Jump,” he offered. “Thanks. Let’s get a move on then. I can’t be late.” They walked across the fields and through part of a wood up to a road which eventually led to houses. “I have to walk home from here. I used my Key three times already. It’s not far to my house, twenty minutes tops,” Sam said. He gave her a bear hug. “It has been really great hanging out with you. I’ve missed you heaps, and I will really miss you at camp,” Leaf sulked. “I’ll come down on Visitor’s Day. I’m not sure which one yet. Maybe both, we’ll see.” “I hope you can do both. Anyway, I’ve got to go.” She gave Sam another hug. “Bye Piglet.”

“Bye Pooh.”

Leaf went to visit Lilly in California and they spent an afternoon a beach that Lilly liked on Catalina Island. It was a small rocky island off the coast of California, thirty five miles across the Pacific Ocean from Los Angeles. Most people reached the island by private boat but Lilly Jumped them there, straight to the bicycle shop where they hired two bikes and went on a ride around the horseshoe shaped port surrounded by mountains. They parked the bikes under a palm tree and spread their towels out on the sandy beach. “How are you getting on with your mum these days?” Leaf asked Lilly. “Alright I suppose. She did not speak to me for two weeks after I got home from camp but she eventually came around. I’m moving out as soon as I turn eighteen, in exactly one year and two months and twenty-one days, not that I’m counting. I am going to rent an apartment in New York, and you will have to come and stay with me, lots!” They sunbathed with their masks on, chatted for an hour, removed their masks to eat ice-creams, and cycled away from a group of rude boys that started pestering them. They gave the bikes back to the shop, and sat on a park bench under a palm tree watching the people drive past in their golf carts. After a lovely afternoon with her friend, Leaf returned to Hampstead at noon that Saturday. She was so tired from the Jump and the sun, she had to go for a lie down. Mum was worried that she was coming down with something because she had only got up an hour before. Mum made her homemade chicken soup, and a special broth of fresh rosemary boiled in water with honey that was great for sore throats and colds. On Leaf’s bedside table, Mum placed a glass of water and a headache tablet if needed, and half an onion to draw any sickness out of the room. Leaf screamed she didn’t want that stinky onion in her room. Mum said it would draw out sickness. “I DON’T WANT IT NEAR ME!” Leaf screamed, and threw the half an onion in Mum’s direction. Mum bit her bottom lip, sighed heavily, picked up the smashed onion and went downstairs. Leaf felt a little bit bad but she was also angry.

Leaf woke up two hours later when Mum woke her for food. She spent the rest of the day in bed studying, until that evening when Mum nagged her get out of her pyjamas and walk Wilbur.

After months of stress, the exams were finally over. Leaf and Kyra ran joyfully from the building on the very last day of school. Free at last! However, they were both slightly nervous about stepping into the unknown. There was an egg and flour fight on the bus home between the graduated students. Leaf turned up at home completely white and sticky. Mum laughed when she saw her and sent her to have a shower.

Leaf still walked Wilbur on alternative Saturday’s and Sunday’s, collecting the neighbour’s bags of scraps and stopping for Wilbur’s bowl of milk outside the gate of the man whose name she had forgotten but was too embarrassed to ask. She thought it might be Toby but maybe she was wrong and it was Tony. She just said Hi. Toby replied, “Hiya Leaf,” from behind his mask. Leaf had come out of her shell a lot since she became a Key Guardian. She had made more than enough friends. She sometimes even spoke to people she did not know; but Leaf was still Leaf, she still had her shy side and never really liked putting herself in the spotlight, unless she was singing. She didn’t like to be caught doing anything she considered embarrassing. Anyway, it seemed that they did not need names. The man would see Leaf and the enormous pink pig that proudly went by the name of Wilbur Wiggins, coming down the street and he would arrive at his gate with the bowl of milk just in time. Wilbur would grunt his appreciation and slurp away, meanwhile the man would go in for his scraps. When he returned the milk was gone and Wilbur was ready to be on his way. They would take the bag of scraps, say thank you and goodbye and go on to visit George or Honey. That evening she was off to see Honey.

Honey put the tea and biscuits on the table and sat down as Ginger, the

fourth cat she had adopted, jumped onto her lap. “Did you know they put fluoride in our water?” Leaf asked her elderly friend who usually had a lot to say about these types of things. “Yes I know. I only drink bottled water and I check the ingredients carefully. Fluoride may be the government’s way of culling overpopulation. There are now eight billion people on the planet. We are trying to produce more food than ever before. They may have no choice but to spread fatal diseases. Every hundred years there has been a war or a pandemic. Either instigated by our own governments or rather the bankers, or sometimes caused naturally but usually due to with something connected with our governments, like making abortion rights illegal. Did I tell you that I marched topless through Hyde Park with two hundred other women in a demonstration for abortion rights in the sixties. Now our time of culling has come. If there are too many people there are not enough resources and eventually everyone will starve. If there are too many people, governments lose control of the masses. Before, they could control the masses with Religion and fear of damnation. Then they controlled the people through wars and media propaganda. Now we are quietly manipulated, forced to riot which leads to looting, and the people become more and more afraid and eventually ask for the governments to control the streets with military police and curfews and lockdowns. Spread a virus and people no longer want to touch money, so the world governments can swoop in to save the day and change everything into digital money which they can they take control of at any time for any reason,” Honey told her, and paused for a sip of her tea. “Mad as it sounds, but in this world of controlled online communication, the governments are pushing us towards less real social which will result in a loss of strength in numbers to demonstrate and stand up against the change that is coming in the next ten years, Leaf. There is a big agenda being play out that has been planned for many years. We can’t fight them, Leaf, keep your head down, stay under the radar but we must be knowledgeable and vigilant in all things. And also do our best with what we can even if it is a losing battle. Take me for example, I am avid recycler even though I know for a fact that the world governments tested nuclear bombs underwater, on land, underground, and in space, every nine days for fifty years. But if I can save just one sea turtle from getting a Q-tip stuck up his nose, then horray for me! Now either our planet is indestructible no matter what we do to disrespect it, it will outlive humans, or after what our leaders have done which is so terrifying and so messed up we are doomed and I know my recycling is not going to save us. But we each have to do our little bit no matter

what others do, and don’t believe what they tell you, Leaf. Always question and research everything thoroughly.” Leaf always left Honey’s house with a head full of questions and heavy thoughts which were sometimes forgotten soon after, chased away by George’s record collection of the world greatest singers and musicians, and a slice of chocolate cake. Wilbur was a fan and occasionally grunted along, almost in tune, when Leaf was singing and George was playing his saxophone.

Leaf would only walk Wilbur Wiggins on the weekends, weekdays Mum would walk him around the block. Every evening, Leaf would walk Bubba to the heath, and most evenings Sarah would come too with her French bulldog, Harvey. Then the summer holidays started, and during July Sarah only called once to go for a dog walk. She seemed to be only French bulldog and Iguana walking that summer. Leaf felt a bit left out that two of her best friends were spending so much time together without her. Duncan and Sarah seemed to be getting on really well and they were both bubbly and happy. When she did get to spend time with Sarah all Sarah wanted to talk about was how wonderful Duncan was. When she got time with Duncan to practise Kung Fu, he kept stopping to ask her questions about Sarah. It was quite annoying.

Kyra, Wilson, Charlie, and Max came over at least twice a month, and Leaf had twice a month sleepovers at their house. She and Kyra would stay up late discussing their plans for the future. Kyra wanted to be a lawyer and Leaf wanted to get a band together. Mum wasn’t keen on her just being a musician and said she need something practical studied in college, as well as being an artist to keep her covered during hard times. Leaf wasn’t failing school but she wasn’t ing with flying colours either. She was doing better than she used to because of her camp education but she didn’t like school as much as camp, she found it boring and hard to follow. Mum believed she could do better. Dad and Dana didn’t seem to really care much. They had their hands full with work and the two little ones.

Mum spent three weeks in July busy painting a commissioned poster for a

carnival and did not have much free time to spend with Leaf at the beginning of the holidays, plus Leaf was always storming off into her room if she was at home, because she didn’t want to clean out skips cage or help Mum hang the washing. Mum put every penny she earned into the household and Leaf’s slight chocolate and orange juice addiction, but Mum never had any money after paying for the bills and food and essentials, to have days out with Leaf. So Leaf spent more and more time with her friends. Mum still did not have a boyfriend and neither did Leaf. Mum insisted she was happier that way. She went to dinner with a pilot a few times but said it was nothing serious, just a friend Mum had met on a dating site who was good to have dinner with when he flew into town. She came home late on those nights and Leaf never got to meet him.

Harriet came for coffee several times with Mum and she brought her overly chatty daughter Scarlet. Scarlet on the outside had change considerably. She no longer wore brace and she had cut off her two red plaits after the first time she saw Leaf soon after the fire in the tent at camp had burnt off Leaf’s hair, which was weird. On the inside Scarlet was just the same, an overly chatty nosey busybody and a snitch. On that occasion, Leaf did not know Harriet and Scarlet were in the house. Leaf had just got back from a Key Jump to a sweet shop and she was just putting her Key away when Scarlet barged into her bedroom without knocking. Scarlett had seen Leaf turning the wall back into place. “What’s that?” Scarlet asked, nosily. Leaf jumped in fright and bashed her head on the inside of the cupboard. “Never you mind!” Leaf told her, rubbing her pounding scalp. “I’ll just ask your mum then,” Scarlet stated, and stormed out of the room. Leaf had to act fast. She pushed the wall open grabbed the box with the Key. Discarding the box, she quickly jammed the Key into her en-suite bathroom door. “My house, five minutes ago on the landing outside my bedroom.” Leaf found

herself coming out of the attic door. She could see Scarlet at the bottom of the stairwell and she raced down to meet her before Scarlet could enter her bedroom. “Hi Scarlet, how nice to see you. Shall we go out to the garden?” She took Scarlet’s arm and guided her away from her bedroom. Leaf took her to the weeping willow but once inside Leaf claimed she needed to pee and told Scarlet to wait for her there. Leaf ran back in the house, put her Key in the door of the downstairs toilet and returned to five minutes after the time she had left. Leaf knew she was wrong to change the past but it was an emergency to protect the Key. She just prayed that there would be no consequences. “You took ages,” Charlotte fumed when she returned to the willow. “Yeah, sorry. It was one of those long pees that never seem to stop,” Leaf lied. Leaf was then forced to hang out with Charlotte for the next two hours and share her sweets, while their mothers chatted over tea and biscuits in the conservatory. Scarlet proceeded to bore Leaf with one of her non-stop monolog conversations. It was a long and boring afternoon. Leaf felt bad for breaking the rules and taking such risk but if she deserved to be punished then an afternoon with Scarlet was punishment enough.

Chapter Two

SEVENTH SUMMER

By the middle of July, Leaf was really bored and could not wait for camp to start. Everyone still wore masks and sanitized their hands to enter shops and wore disposable gloves to go around the supermarket. Leaf thought it bizarre how only a year ago there had been a war on plastic bags and now we were filling up bins full of these one use gloves. Did people not comprehend that plastic bags were wonderful things that could be reused over and over, and were designed to protect the environment as a multiuse fold up easy to carry bag, and when wrapped around a tree branch on a sunny day would create drinking water, but these billions of one-use plastic gloves were a crime against the environment. Leaf could not understand why the gloves were needed when there was hand sanitizer. Probably the gloves were cheaper as the price of sanitizer, even for supermarkets, had rocketed sky high. On the news, numbers of fatalities were starting to go down as people around the world queued up to be vaccinated and given a vaccine card that entitled them to work and travel. Some people were staying under the radar, not wanting to be vaccinated for as long as possible so that they could wait to see if there were side effects but that could mean waiting for the next generation to be born to be sure. Most people waited for the vaccine in blind faith, the world was in financial crisis and they could see no other hope. The governments were trying to do the best they could to quickly get people back to work but economies were collapsing. Donald trump was no longer the most powerful man in the world and most people sighed with relief, ignorant of one puppet just being replaced by another. According to Honey, it was the big bankers that were in control of the whole world and everything in it. Briton was suffering terribly after Brexit. Everyone just seemed glum, like they were just hanging on.

Leaf went on Key Jumps as a distraction but really she just wanted to hang out with her friends in the park or at camp. At one point she was tempted to Jump herself two weeks into the future to get to the first day of camp faster but that would just ruin it. Impatiently she waited, and packed and unpacked and packed again.

Finally the day arrived. On Sunday the 25th of July, she dragged her suitcase down to Mum’s car. Sally, Grammy’s old car, was covered and sat unused and aging under the lamppost. In less than two years Leaf would have her licence and Mum had said that if Sally could still her M.O.T. then Leaf could drive her. Leaf went back into the house to say goodbye to the animals. Skip jumped over her feet. She scooped him up in a snuggle, and carried him out to the hutch in the back garden. Wilbur Wiggins following her closely back to the front door. He grunted a sad goodbye at seeing her cases. Leaf gave him a kiss. Bubba was going nuts, jumping about so excited, pushing into Leaf to make her hurry up. “Come on then, Bubba. Let’s go.” Leaf had debated whether to take Bubba or not considering all the extra responsibility she would have as a Seventh Year but it was also the last year Bubba would get to go and she really loved being in the Dog Den. Leaf looked forward to walks through the Rainbow Forest, and she was going to get Apple to take her and Bubba to explore the Rainforest. Leaf knew that if there were days when she was really busy with prefect duties, Susie Muffler would be happy to take care of Bubba and walk her. Bubba jumped into the back of the car beside the suitcase, really excited. Mum told her to settle down and strapped her in. It was a long drive. Mum and Leaf played eye spy, like when Leaf was small. It made Leaf feel nostalgic. After ten minutes that got boring so they listened to Mum’s Tina Turner CD . Leaf slept for a while but woke up ten minutes before they reach Stonehenge. Mum slowed the car and they looked upon the great stones in awe. The sun was setting in an array of pinks and shades of exotic blues. Mum drove on as Leaf had an inspired idea for the end of camp party.

They arrived at the camp at six. Mum stopped outside the gate. Leaf gave her a kiss and grabbed her suitcase, sleeping bag, doggie bag of food, and Bubba off the back seat. Mum tooted and waved goodbye as Old Ben opened the gate. “Welcome back, Miss, Leaf! Big changes this year! Ye being a Seventh year ‘n’all,” Ben greeted her wearing his sock mask. “I can’t believe it is my last summer. I’m so sad about it,” Leaf told him. “At least this year ye only have to wear the masks for five days, and have your temperatures checked with Nurse Norma’s gun once a day. Aye, and if ye don’t drop dead in the first five days then you can run mask free!” “That’s good. I want to enjoy my last year mask free. I can’t believe it is my last year, Ben. I’m looking forward to coming back to teach.” “Aye, whenever ye’s ready.” “I’m thinking of coming back in a few years to teach Art, Spanish, and German.” “That sounds like a good plan. Before then you will always be welcome at the cottage on Visitor’s Day, or anytime out of season. If you give us a ring I can meet you at the gate,” he suggested. “Hop along now and get settled in. I see ye bought your dog again. Hello, Bubba.” Ben gave Bubba a scratch behind her ear. Bubba shook her head, and bored she started pulling Leaf up the path towards the line of trees. “I’ll see you later, Ben,” she called back to him. “Aye.” He raised his hand in a farewell. Bubba sniffed out the door and tried to pull Leaf through the branches. “WAIT, BUBBA!” She tried to lift the branches, control Bubba and bring her stuff through all at the same time. Bubba pulled and she went flying into the Tree Garden. Bubba stopped to sniff the big black boots by the door. “Hello you,” said the security guard tipping his hat at Leaf.

“Hello to you too.” Leaf replied as she flew past him down the stretch of lawn on the end of the lead. Bubba was so excited to be back at camp and she wasn’t waiting around another second for Leaf to have anymore conversations. She calmed down once they were at the stile but she didn’t help Leaf in her palaver of getting herself and everything else over. Bubba jumped the stile. Leaf and the suitcase followed in a sudden massive yank. Slightly muddy, they move on across the Activities Field. Guardians waved to her as she ed across the bridge. She left her suitcase at the beginning of the path and she followed Bubba up to the Dog Den. Laurence and David rode past on their bikes and waved. Bubba was overjoyed to see Susie Muffler, and Squash the cat. A big white dopey Labrador also came bounding over to meet them. “Oh isn’t he lovely! Whose dog is he?” Leaf asked. “He’s Christian Devoir’s. His name is Montague. I think he is one of the nicest dogs I have ever met,” Susie told her. Leaf loved the dog already and gave it a hug. Montague licked her face. Bubba got jealous and tried to push her way in between them. Leaf gave Bubba’s doggy bag, her signed contract, and Bubba’s documentation to Susie, and then left to go and retrieve her suitcase. The Wolf Den was so quiet. Leaf was one of the first of the Seventh Year Wolves to arrive. The fairy lights had not been put up yet, and all the tents in the den were covered in blue tarpaulin. It was strange seeing the camp one week before it was ready for the Guardians to arrive. Leaf pulled the blue cover off her tent and went inside. The fridge, carpets and most of Lilly’s décor was still there. Leaf threw her sleeping bag on her bed and went outside to see who she could find. Alba and Megan were moving back into their tent and Leaf stopped by to say hello. They both greeted her with a kiss on each cheek with their masks on. Megan complimented Leaf on. Hassan arrived and said he had seen Luke and Lilly on the way. “Do you know what we are supposed to do tonight?” Leaf asked Hassan.

“The kitchen isn’t up and running yet so we have to light the fire in the Blue Meadow and cook dinner there. I saw Zach bringing in potatoes and burgers. I think we just get to chill out tonight and start work in the morning,” he replied, always ready with an answer. “Hi Lilly!” Leaf yelled, and the two girls ran to hug each other. “Look at you, you look fab! Still rocking Maddonna’s ‘Puppa Don’t Preach’ look” Lilly exclaimed. Leaf’s hand unconsciously touched her short hair. She was used to it now and liked it. She had had it cut again in the same style since Grayson had transformed her after the fire, but she had decided to start growing it out. “Hi Leaf,” said Luke and disappeared inside his tent with Hassan. Patrick and Fabrizio arrived next. Patrick hugged Leaf and Lilly. Fabrizio told them that they were both even more “Bella” than last summer. Patrick pulled the cover off their tent while Fabrizio was trying to convince Leaf to go out with him. Patrick went inside and started to unpack by the last of the light. He hoped they would turn the power on that night. Zachary Potter stopped by to instruct them which saved Fabrizio from Leaf’s curt refusal. “Welcome back Wolves. Now ye’re all promoted to Prefects, here are your green T-shirts. Ye’s can collect three clean ones from the Laundry Hut each week, but please try to keep them stain free. Ye’s don’t have to wear them until camp starts but then ye’s have to wear them all the time. Tonight, ye’re going to have to rough it a bit because there is still no electricity in the dens. I am sure ye all have good torches by now and that is what ye’s will have to use to get around tonight. The water and power is on in the shower and toilet blocks already.” “Tonight, supper will be beans, jacket potatoes and burgers, veggie-burgers for the vegetarians. Ye Seventh Years will have to cook it on the fire in the Blue Meadow. The Bears are already there. I have left ye firewood, tin foil, plates, cutlery, and food in the boxes in the Blue Meadow. So ye need to go get the fire lit. Don’t stay up too late! There is lots of work to be done tomorrow! I will put out milk and cereal in the Picnic Area at nine in the morning. Ye’re all expected in the Blue Meadow at ten o’clock sharp tomorrow morning, no excuses. It is good to see ye all and I look forward to catching up tomorrow. Tonight ye’re responsible for yourselves, so behave. Don’t forget to make sure the fire is out before ye go to bed. Have a good night and I will see ye’s all in the morning.”

Zachary left, and the Wolves made their way down to the Blue Meadow by the fading light, each carrying a torch and any munchies they had bought to camp. Leaf hugged Valerie when she saw her and said a quick hello to everyone else. Lilly hugged Valerie, and Tammy. “Right then, let’s get dinner on,” said Susan who bumped elbows with everyone in greeting. Everyone else removed their masks. Susan kept her mask on, and ed round a bottle of hand sanitizer. Laurence went in search of tinder for the fire, and David stacked sticks in the most flammable form in the fire pit. Tammy and Alba scrubbed the potatoes in a bucket with bottled water and stabbed them with their pocket knives. All Seventh Years had been instructed to bring pocket knives, powerful torches, and fire-making equipment of their choice. Leaf helped to wrap the potatoes in tin foil and she opened the cans of beans, pouring them into a large saucepan. There were two small cool boxes containing the different burgers but they would leave those until later. Laurence used his steel and flint to cast sparks into the tinder he had collected. He blew gently until it caught light. Then he added it to the small twigs and dried grasses David had put at the bottom of the correctly mounted wood surrounded by large blackened rocks from years of Whiteash Camp fires in the Blue Meadow. Every experience of that last year was making Leaf sad with the thought that she would never experience this in this way ever again. Then she reminded herself to enjoy living in the moment. She was happy to be back. She laughed with her friends. Within minutes the fire was raging, and they waited for it to settle down before adding larger logs to cook over. They threw the wrapped potatoes into the fire and mounted the two grills that Zachary had left for them. After the grills had been sterilized by the flames, they laid out the burgers and put the saucepan on to heat up the beans. Hassan took over, flipping the burgers. They sat around the fire, ing packets of crisps and sipping on tepid fizzy drinks. There was lots of chatter and catching up. Lilly snuggled into Luke. Leaf thought they looked such a handsome couple in the firelight. Christian was sitting next to Tammy Gordon. It was obvious they were now a couple. Tammy was holding his arm as if afraid he might escape. Christian and Leaf had not even said hello to each other. Christian was

making a point of not looking at her. She could feel he felt uncomfortable and was trying to pretend that Leaf wasn’t there. Leaf tried not to look but every so often she could not help herself. At one point she caught Christian’s eye and for a very long second their eyes were locked. Neither of them smiled, neither of them said hello. Then Christian turned away, back to Tammy. For the first time ever, Leaf was sad to be at camp and she just wanted to go to bed. At eleven, the Prefects started heading back to their dens, leaving Susan and David to extinguish the fire.

It was a warm night and Leaf collapsed on top of her sleeping bag and fell asleep before Lilly had even returned from saying goodnight to Luke. Leaf had forgotten to wait to say goodnight to Lilly and goodnight Moon as was their tradition, and so Lilly went to sleep feeling sad too.

The next morning they awoke at eight. It was a new day and the birds were singing. Leaf smiled and Lilly knew it was going to be a good day. Lilly pulled out a large collection of brand new designer mouth masks and told Leaf to help herself. Leaf, delighted chose two. They went for showers and shaves, got dressed, and made it to the Picnic Area by nine to find bowls, milk, and cereals. It was a long breakfast, catching up with friends. At five to ten they went to the Blue Meadow. Zachary had already cleared away the boxes from last night but the meadow was filled with more boxes and large plastic containers. “Good morning, Prefects. We have a lot to do today. Firstly I need five volunteers to get the kitchen tent set up.” Leaf, Lilly, Luke, Hassan, David, and Susan raised their hands. Zach took the first five. “It will take at least four of ye to carefully pull the blue cover off the kitchen tent. The fridge, ovens and cookers are inside the tent but I need to ye take these keys and get the boxes marked KITCHEN out of the Storm Huts.” He threw the keys at Luke who caught them.

“I need four more people. Susan, Patrick, Fabrizio, and Valerie, all the benches and tables for the Picnic Area are stacked up in the dining tent. There are also the leaf shaped tables that need to be move to behind the classrooms in Learning Land. So ye four move all the tables and benches out to where they should go. Again, before ye’s start, four people need to carefully remove the blue cover on the tent and to leave two long tables and the four longest benches in the dining tent.” “Laurence, ye can set up the toilet tents. Here ye go, these two tent bags and these two buckets. Put one on the Activities Field, the other in the Climbing Field.” He gave Laurence the things and a hammer for knocking the pegs into the ground. “Okay, Alba, Megan, Tammy, and Christian, ye’re in charge of sweeping the leaves out of the dens and Learning Land. I have opened the classrooms but they all need to be cleaned, and the desks and chairs set up properly. So ye lot can do that. Here are three rakes, two big brushes, some cloths and polish. Okay everyone get on with the tasks you have been set. When ye’re finished come back here to be told what to do next.”

Leaf and her group headed up Learning Land towards the Storm Huts on the edge of the East Forest. Leaf thought about the cosy night they had all spent in the huts during the storm. She thought about the day Forest had been born in the Storm Hut. Every inch of the camp had its own special memories. Leaf grasped the memories fondly but each one was now tinged with premature nostalgia because Leaf was conscious every minute that this was her last year. Every minute that slipped past was a minute closer to her leaving, a minute she would never have again. Every minute was a last. They retrieved all the boxes and carried them to the kitchen tent like a line of scout ants carrying their findings back to the nest. They organised the kitchen tent, putting cutlery and cutting knives in the drawer, pots, pans and cooking equipment away in the cupboards. Leaf arranged all the herbs and spices. They stocked the canned and dried food supplies in a cupboard and plugged in the clean but empty fridge. Leaf kept thinking about going to find Sam but would then have to remind herself that he wasn’t there. Each time it felt like a blow to her stomach.

When they had finished they went back to the Blue Meadow and waited for Zachary and the others to return. Luke and Christian entered the meadow on their new hover boards. Leaf was having a go on Luke’s when Zachary returned. “Can I have everyone’s attention? I am going to give each of ye your main jobs during this summer. Ye will also all be expected to pitch in wherever ye see it is needed. Pick up rubbish when ye see it, clean the bathrooms if they need it, help with organising events and other things. Ye will all be given main duties to be responsible for. Every summer the Director chooses one of the Prefects to be his personal assistant. This summer that person is Leaf Golden.” Leaf was surprised. “Edward Steinberg, the new Director, will arrive two days before camp starts and then ye, Leaf, will be busy helping him with whatever he needs doing.” Leaf felt quite honoured and looked forward to Edward’s arrival. “Lilly, ye will be in charge of the horses and everything they need. Mandy will only be coming at the weekends from now on as she is working elsewhere during the week. Ye know all about horses so there is no need for me to explain to ye all that entails. Ye will need to be at the stables to help with riders and horses on weekends and Visitor’s Day. I don’t want the little kids on Visitor’s Day riding Flash Gordon anymore. He is now retired and on his last legs.” Lilly was pleased about the job but both Leaf and Lilly were distressed to hear Flash was not well. “Susan, Valerie, and David ye’re in charge of the laundry. A delivery of new sheets, towels, and kimonos will be bought in the day before camp starts. Ye will need to put sheets and towels in every tent, including the Teacher’s Camp. This month, ye’s will be responsible for stripping all beds once a week and washing all sheets and towels and returning them to the tents. Ye’s will be given tokens to distribute to the students on the first night of camp. Anything to do with the camp that needs washing and does not belong to a Guardian, ye’re responsible for washing and drying it. Ye’s will also be responsible for ordering washing powder, new sheets, more towels should they be needed, and maintaining the machines.” Valerie, David, and Susan nodded. “Luke and Christian, ye will be responsible for the Climbing Field and the Go-Kart Track. Ye’s must check the skating ramps, make sure everyone wears

helmets. Check the abseiling equipment is safe and again provide helmets and pads. Ye’s will be expected to be vigilant at these sites during weekends, Visitor’s Days, and to help Tom during Abseiling classes. Ye’s must check the Go-Karts, keep them clean, and again provide helmets and be vigilant on the days I just mentioned. Ye’re also need to pick up any rubbish in these areas.” Christian and Luke gave each other a high five, super happy that they got to hang out at the skating park and Go-Kart track. “Tammy and Hassan ye’s will be helping the Sixth Years prepare supper, ye’s will also help Aunty Clara prepare breakfast and lunch and clean up after each meal. Ye’s will be responsible for the kitchen tent, dining tent and the Picnic Area. The Gnomes and anyone on detention will help ye out with the rubbish collecting and washing up. So ye want to hope there’s some naughty Guardians this summer,” Zachary half joked. “It is a shame Ernie and Dylan are not still here and then we would have hardly any work to do,” replied Hassan. Everyone laughed. Tammy smiled, sweetly. She was so sweet she made Leaf feel sick. “Megan, Alba, and Fabrizio, ye’re responsible for cleaning the shower blocks and the toilet blocks.” “NO WAY!” shouted Meagn, “That’s not fair!” “I’m afraid that is the luck of the draw but the Gnomes will help ye. And ye’s have to help the Gnomes by doing the morning water changes in all the tents. Patrick ye’re to empty the buckets in the toilet tents once a day.” Patrick said something in Irish under his breath. “Susan, ye will be in charge of the weekly menus, maps, and timetables. Ye will need to find out what will be on the menus from Aunty Clara and then print them up, make photocopies and hand them out after assembly’s on Monday. The first menu needs to be ready on the first night, along with all the other paper work so ye have a week to get that all organised.” Patrick, ye and Laurence are going to help me with deliveries and odd jobs around the camp.” They both nodded that they were happy with that. “Ye’s all know that as Prefects you are obligated to stay for two days after camp finishes on the 29th, to help close the camp down and on those two days

your main jobs will still apply along with anything else ye’s might be asked to do. Susan, ye will be allocated other jobs. The last two days will be crazy busy for all of ye’s, but it keeps your mind off leaving and ye get to have your own last night party at the end of it,” Zachary told them. “Ye need to start working out what ye’re going to do for the first night party and the end of camp dance. Ye’s will have to work as a team and among ye’s decide who will be responsible for ordering costumes, food, props, music and anything else that fits into your plan. Ye’s will be given a budget of three hundred and fifty pounds for both nights, it might sound a lot but it is not. We rent the costumes from a Key Carer company at discounted rates but ye will see that the money quickly gets eaten up, so ye must plan carefully.” “I have an idea for the end of camp dance,” Leaf spoke up bravely. “What about a druid party at Stonehenge? I could sing suitable songs like “I put a spell on you” and we could all wear dark hooded cloaks.” Everyone seemed to think it was a great idea. “How vill ve get everyone zere?” David asked, defiantly. “All the Seventh Years can Jump a small group each and the Director could use his Master Key,” Leaf told him. Everyone nodded, and it was agreed that Leaf would ask the Director for permission. “Does anyone have any ideas for the first night?” No one did, so they would all have to think hard about it and come up with a plan soon. “Okay, I will give ye’s each another job and then we can break for a long lunch and ye’s can go swimming or riding or whatever ye want to do. I will put bread, fillings, fruit, drinks and crisps on the table in the dining tent. When ye have finished your jobs ye’s can come down and get yourselves some lunch. Then we will meet back here at four to get back to work. Okay, Leaf and Lilly, ye’s can go muck out the horses and give them a rub down and some exercise for Storm and Peartree, and stick Flash in the paddock. Megan and Alba, I need ye’s to check the Storm Huts have all the supplies they need. Patrick and Laurence, ye’s need to go to the main gate to wait for a delivery of bicycles and skateboards and helmets that are being delivered. Skateboards go in the new shed in the Climbing Field, and the bikes go in the Bike Shed. My father is down in the Rose Garden waiting to open the gate for ye,” Zachary told them.

Patrick and Laurence went off to receive the delivery. Leaf and Lilly headed off to the stables and Zachary continued designating the things that needed to be done. It was good to see Flash Gordon, Leaf had missed the old Shetland pony, but he seemed slower and older than before. He recognised Leaf, nestled against her and sniffed her pockets for apples. After mucking out two of the stalls and giving Flash a brush down, Leaf left Lilly to finish up and took Flash for a walk to the orchard. Flash loved this treat and as they walked side by side under the trees, Leaf would stop to pull apples off the branches to feed her friend. She could tell that, although slow, Flash was thoroughly enjoying this walk. Leaf saw Trilby the thrush poking about the cottage garden as she walked past with Flash on the way down to the paddock. Old Elizabeth waved from the cottage doorway. Leaf waved back. “Good to see you, Leaf,” called a maskless Elizabeth, “Pop in for tea when you get time, and you’re not accompanied by a horse.” “Will do. Good to see you too, Elizabeth,” Leaf yelled back to her and waved goodbye. Lilly had Peartree and Storm saddled and ready when Leaf returned from leaving Flash in the paddock. They took a glorious ride through the Rainbow Forest and into the North Forest. They went as close as they could get to the Gnome Village with the horses. While Leaf waited with the horses, Lilly ran to the village to let Apple know that she was back and they could start work on the newspaper. Lilly returned ten minutes later and they rode back to the stables. On the ride Lilly told Leaf about what she had seen in the village. “The little ones were having a Line-Dancing lesson in the new town hall and guess who was giving the lesson,” Lilly said. “Mr. Mildew,” replied Leaf, facetiously. “Close! It was Apple!” Leaf and Lilly laughed at the thought but were actually pleased that Apple really seemed to be getting her life together.

“And guess who was playing the piano for the little one’s dancing lesson.” “Elton John,” Leaf said sarcastically, having no idea. “Jackdaw!” “Aaaawww, that’s so sweet!”

The day was hot. The two girls decided to go and swim in the river. It seemed all the other Prefects had the same idea, and the next hour was spent frolicking with friends in the cool waters. Just before the end of lunch, Leaf went to visit Bubba. Susie told her that while the other Guardians were not at camp, Leaf could take Bubba with her if she was able to do her jobs with Bubba being around. If she was well-behaved she could run free and without the muzzle. Both Leaf and Bubba were delighted, and they left the Dog Den together untethered. Bubba was manically wagging her tail.

In the afternoon they were sent around the camp grounds in pairs, raking leaves, pulling weeds, airing out the equipment in the sheds on the Activities Field, and putting the fairy lights up in all the hedges, trees, along pathways and through the dens. Leaf and Lilly were putting up the lights. Bubba rolled on the grass below their ladders. “Don’t you knock me off my ladder, Bubba,” Leaf said in stern tone. Bubba stopped rolling and obediently lay still, waiting patiently for them to come down and move their ladders to the next trees. On seeing Bubba running loose, Christian had gone to get his dog, Montague. The two dogs were already friends from the Dog Den. They ran and play fought all over Learning Land, having a wild time. Christian looked at Leaf and smiled. Leaf looked away. She was not the type to get involved in a love triangle.

They were not allowed to dirty the kitchen tent before Aunty Clara arrived at camp, so the Seventh Years continued to make food over the fire in the Blue Meadow each night. Zachary would bring some extra food prepared by Charlotte in the cottage kitchen. Each day was filled with jobs but they also had lots of free time to take walks and swim. Over supper, sitting unmasked in the Blue Meadow, they would brainstorm ideas for the first night party. By Thursday they had made a decision, and got to work making it happen. They were given a list by Zachary stating all the student’s sizes and personal colours but they were not obligated to use the colours in their costumes.

On Thursday, with the help of a Key Carer named Mike who was a builder, the Seventh Years laid fast-drying concrete paths through Learning Land to all the classrooms, the tuck shop, and to the door of Lilly’s office. On the last two days before camp started they had a lot more to do. They had to prepare all the tents, classrooms and grounds.

Aunty Clara and the new Director, Edward Steinberg, arrived on the Saturday. After they had both had a cup of tea in the Teacher’s Hut, they set about their business. Leaf received the message from Zachary that the Director needed her to come to the Teacher’s Hut. “Hello, Leaf,” said the Director as she entered. “Take a seat.” He finished up some paperwork, and then turned his attention back to Leaf who was waiting patiently on the sofa. “The Director has a lot of things to take care of, and every year the Director chooses a trusted student to help him. On the recommendation of my grandfather I have chosen you, Leaf,” he told her. “As my personal assistant, I will need you to report to me every morning after assembly and I will tell you what I need you to do that day. As my assistant, you will also be responsible for all the Keys, and you will get to know a few secrets about this camp that most other Guardian’s and even some teachers do not know. I need your word that you will not tell anyone else what is not their business,” Edward told her.

“You have my word.” “Good. I am going to lock the door now but you have my word that you are perfectly safe,” he told her and locked the door. Leaf did not feel scared. She could tell by his body language that he meant her no harm and she trusted him. “Now Leaf, help me move my desk, would you.” They took a side each. The Director told her to move the desk towards the sofa. After a few feet he said stop. He rolled up the thinning rug that had been underneath the desk and there in the floor was a trapdoor. Edward took a torch from his desk and opened the hatch. “Follow me, be careful of the steps. Go slow.” He went through the floor and down a flight of wooden stairs. Leaf followed trying to place her feet in the beam of the torch so as not to miss a step in the darkness. Edward waited at the bottom, shining the light for Leaf to descend. They were in a tunnel, a system of wide concrete pipes buried underground. Leaf followed Edward in a straight line for thirty meters before the tunnel split into three separate directions. “Do you know where we are Leaf?” “Are we under the West Forest?” Leaf guessed. “Yes, we are. This tunnel on the left goes to the room where we keep things we reuse for classes. The tunnel in the middle leads to the room in which we keep all the Whiteash files, photographs and things we want to keep but would identify the camp if found. The tunnel on the right leads to a room big enough to squeeze about thirty five people into. It is a place to hide if the Lockers attack or for whatever reason. It is the safe room. It has a few basic supplies, like an underground storm hut. It is only to be used in an absolute emergency, until then no one must know about the location of these chambers.” Leaf nodded that she understood. Edward shone the torch to the entrance of the tunnel on the right and there, hanging on a nail, was a battery powered lantern. He got it down, switched it on and gave it to Leaf. He swung the torch to the tunnel on the left. “I need you to go down there to the room at the end and bring out the boxes marked Social Studies, Languages, Geography, Ryu, and Symbology. Bring the five boxes to here and I will help you get them back to the Teacher’s Hut. I need

to go down here to get some paperwork and the box for the Initiation Ceremony,” he told her, pointing with his torch to the middle tunnel. I will see you back here in five minutes.” He went off down the middle tunnel. Leaf raised her lantern and with trepidation she made her way down the concrete pipe on the left. It ran for about twelve meters before it opened up to a small room stacked with clearly marked boxes. She found all five boxes and stacked them in a pile. Then taking the top box she carried it back to the place where the three tunnels met. She left the box there and then went back for the others. She was returning with the fifth box and could see Edward waiting with the small wooden chest that contained everything that was used in the Initiation Ceremonies, including the quartz crystal skull. “We’ll take these up and then come back for the rest,” he instructed. After pushing their loads through the hatch into the Teachers Hut, they again descended and went back to collect more of the boxes. After they returned from the third trip with the last two boxes, they climbed out of the hole, closed the trapdoor, covered it with the rug and replaced the desk back on top. “Okay, you can unlock the door now. I need you to take the boxes to the appropriate huts and here, take this tape and these scissors for putting up posters and things you know decorate the appropriate classroom. The rest of the stuff just leave in the boxes in the classrooms. The Ryu box you can take down to the equipment shed on the Activities Field. Now, do you think you can handle all that?” “Sure! No problem!” As she was a Virgo, Leaf actually loved organising and decorating so it was a job she was happy to do. She also felt proud with her new status as P.A to the Director on the recommendation of Professor Peter Steinberg and she was having fun so far. She wished she could tell Lilly that she finally knew the location of the entrance to the Director’s secret chambers under the West Forest. She laughed when she thought about how well hidden the entrance was. No one would think to look outside the West Forest, especially not under the Director’s desk.

It took Leaf all afternoon to put up all the things in each classroom. That night, Aunty Clara made them a delicious spaghetti Bolognese. They went to bed

early, knowing that the next day would be a long one.

Chapter Three

NEW CUBS

The next morning after breakfast, they raised the nets over Learning Land, the dens, and the Hidden Garden. The nets were covered with dried leaves and from the air it was now impossible to see into those areas. At five-thirty the first of the Guardians started to arrive. Leaf went down to the Tree Garden to wait for the new cubs. She felt it was her duty as a prefect to greet and welcome them, make them feel safe and to show them where to go. She had been told she was looking for two girls named Eden Welsh and Jade Gardener. At six o’clock Eden arrived looking frightened and confused. She huddled by the wall and waited. Leaf walked over wearing her green T-shirt and a friendly smile. “Hello, are you Eden or Jade?” “I am Eden Welsh,” she replied timidly. She was about four and a half foot tall with short, curly red hair and pale blue eyes. “Hi, I’m Leaf. We’ll just wait a few more minutes for Jade and then I will show you where to go. Don’t look so scared. Camp is great and you will love it here.” At that moment another little girl came through the doorway with a frightened look and Leaf knew it must be Jade. She was taller than Eden and had long brown hair, she also had blue eyes. “Hello, I’m Leaf and this is your classmate Eden Welsh.” The two girls looked shyly at each other and said hello. “Okay, grab your bags and follow me,” Leaf instructed. “You just came from the Rose Garden. This is the Tree Garden, and over that stile we have the

Activities Field.” They clambered over the stile and Leaf pointed out the Equipment Sheds, the band’s Practise Hut, the Laundry and the Activities Classroom. “Behind those hedges we have the Hidden Garden and down there is the toilet tent, used only for number ones. Number twos you have to do in the toilet block.” Eden and Jade looked at each other and giggled. They continued over the bridge. It was almost dark and the fairy lights had been turned on. “Oh, it is so pretty,” Jade stated in awe. Eden nodded, wide-eyed in agreement. Leaf took them to the Picnic Area. “This is the kitchen tent, and that is the dining tent. You can leave your bags in there and put on the white robes over your clothes. I will wait for you here,” Leaf assured them. While she waited, she helped Susan and Megan set up the table and chairs by the notice board. The two new cubs returned wearing their robes and seemed to have become friends in the short time. “This is called the Picnic Area. Now I will take you to the Blue Meadow where we have assembly.” “Why is it called the Blue Meadow? Is it Blue?” Jade asked. “You will find out in the morning,” Leaf replied. Tammy stood outside the Blue Meadow handing out papers with the Initiation Chant and the Camp Motto on it. She gave the new cubs an extra piece of paper with the words for their ceremony printed on it. By now the meadow had turned black with shadow. She guided them to tree stump stools in the inner circle. Laurence and Christian carried in the table for the Director and Hassan placed the initiation chest on it. Leaf told the cubs what to expect and told them not to be nervous. She showed them to tree stump stools in the inner circle, and then left them to

help Lilly settle all the Guardians into their seats, leaving four gaps through the inner and outer circles as exits. David had lit the fire and he stoked it with a stick. The Guardians were all now chatting as everyone waited for the Director and whatever teachers were already on site. The two new cubs no longer seemed afraid but looked excited and happy now that they had bonded and were no longer facing this night alone. At seven, the Director and his entourage arrived and entered the circle, all the Guardians fell silent. “Good evening everyone and welcome to the Whiteash Summer Camp 2021. This is my first summer as the new Director and I hope everything will go well. I attended this camp when I was a boy. The wonderful memories I made here will stay with me forever. The Whiteash Camp offers Guardians a first rate education and the reasoning behind this is that knowledge is the key to survival. We hope that you will learn all you need here to become wise, moralistic and careful Guardians. However, it is not all work and no play, and tonight we are having a party in the Tree Garden at eight o’clock. Try not to stay up too late because tomorrow the work begins. You will be expected every morning for assembly at eight thirty, but firstly let me introduce some of your teachers. Pascal Roman teaches Symbology.” Pascal stepped forward in a green shirt and brown flares and took a bow. “This year we have a new Martial Arts teacher from Brail, Paulo Santos who teaches Capoeira and he will also be teaching Portuguese.” A muscular, half cast man with dreadlock hair stepped forward. The students welcomed him with a round of applause. He smiled and did a back-flip. The students cheered. “Jody Stoats has returned to teach Miscellany.” She came forward and waved. The children clapped enthusiastically as she was ed as a likable teacher. “Thomas Wright teaches Survival Skills, Archery, Abseiling and a few other subjects.” The crowd cheered for Tom. “Yair teaches Social Studies and Religion.” Leaf cheered as he had always been her favourite teacher.

“Teaching Martial Arts, we also have Kyle Watson, Susan Tracker, and Chen Yin.” All three stepped forward and the children clapped. “Penelope Tankton is the camp councillor and you can go to her for advice or with any problems you might have. She also runs Key Talk every evening.” Penelope waved and the children clapped hard. “The rest of your teachers you will meet tomorrow. When assembly is finished everyone must collect their camp paperwork from the table by the notice board in the Picnic Area. Look after this paperwork, keep it safe, and it must be burnt on the fire at the end of camp.” “This year we have two new cubs. Eden Welsh and Jade Gardener, would you please stand.” The two cubs stood up and Edward Steinberg put on his red robe. He placed a large golden plate with a 3cm rim into in a larger glass basin containing half an inch of salted water ed on a metal stand. The Director inserted his Master Key and opened the box on the table behind him. He retrieved the life-sized skull made of pure quartz crystal. He held it in both hands above his head. “Anunnaki Skull of supreme knowledge, bestow upon us thy wisdom,” cried the Director, like his grandfather had done for many years before. Placing the skull back onto the golden plate, he turned back to the box and took out a black velvet string tied pouch which contained twenty silver cards and he assembled them around the skull.

“Eden Welsh, please come here and pick a card and read out what house you are in.” Eden went up and chose a card.

“It says Wolf on it,” Eden told them. The Wolves howled and clapped.

“Stay where you are,” the Director told her, and then he called Jade Gardener up. Jade picked a card with her eyes closed, praying it would be Wolves so that she could stay with Eden. She opened her eyes and opened the card holding her

breath.

“Wolves!” she exclaimed, delighted. The two new cubs jumped up and down in joy and hugged each other.

The Director removed the skull and the golden plate from the glass bowl on the black tripod. He handed the skull to Christian and the plate to Laurence while he lifted the glass bowl and poured the water on the ground in a circle around the tripod, and then replaced the glass bowl back on top of it. Christian returned the skull to the bowl.

“Eden, place your Key in the bowl with the Anunnaki Skull,” the Director instructed. The skull glowed yellow.

“Yellow is the colour of learning and intellect,” he told her. He raised his arms up to the night sky and began to chant.

“Goddess of full rivers, the black crow where rivers divide, help us to face this initiation. Who comes forth today?” he looked at Eden. She followed her queue.

“I, Eden Welsh, holder and Guardian of a Whiteash Key.” Eden read her part from the paper in her hand.

“Do you, Eden Welsh, hereby swear to keep the Key and the Whiteash Camp a secret? And to protect and defend the Whiteash Key and your fellow

Guardians?”

“I do. With my blood I swear it!” Eden replied. The Director handed her the thick silver needle from a bowl of salt water on the table. Eden pricked her finger and let three drops of blood fall onto her Key in the bowl as was instructed on the piece of paper. Edward poured neat alcohol over the needle and replaced it in the heavily salted water. Jade looked horrified.

“Elias Whiteash, behold your daughter, Eden Welsh, a true Guardian and defender of the Key.”

Reading from their papers or from memory, the children began to chant:

“Praise be to the Ogdoads from the ocean of Nun who gave us life.

Praise be to the Anunnaki who gave us knowledge.

Praise be to the square throne of Amoun, our door between the physical and the spiritual.

Praise be to Hathor who gave us magic and miracles.

Praise be to Osiris and Isis who protect us under the constellations of Orion and Sirius.

In the lines of Saint Michael and Mother Mary who shelter us.

In the eye of the father Elias Whiteash and those who guide us

in wisdom. Bestow upon us fullness in our need. Grant us thy sight.”

The Director repeated the ceremony with Jade Gardener whose colour was green, the colour of growth, new ideas and healing.

“JADE GARDENER, FIRST YEAR WOLF CUB!” the Director Professor Steinberg announced. Everyone clapped.

When Jade’s ceremony was over, the two girls hurried back to their seats and the assembly finished with the camp moto:

“WATCH WHAT YOU DO!

WATCH WHAT YOU SAY!

DON'T TAKES THINGS PERSONALLY!

DO YOUR BEST EVERY DAY!

DON'T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS!

KNOW ALL YOU SEE!

TRY TO DO GOOD, AND ALWAYS PROTECT THE KEY!”

“ everyone that KNOWLEDGE IS THE KEY!” exclaimed Edward Steinberg. Everyone shouted back, “KNOWLEDGE WILL SET YOU FREE!”

They all heard the approaching chopper blades on the wind. The Director quickly doused the fire with a bucket of sand that was always kept within reach of the camp fire. They were instantly doused into darkness. Silhouetted trees branches loomed above their heads, only a circle of star studded sky open to the outside world above. The sound of the helicopter got closer. They all hid in the tree line of the East Forest, holding their breath until it had flown over. They waited. It circled nearby, shining beams of light down over the camp, and it then flew off into the distance. Relieved, they all moved in the darkness across the Blue Meadow.

Leaf collected Jade and Eden who were shaken by everyone’s reaction to a helicopter, not knowing what was going on or what they were hiding from. Leaf explained that it might have been the Lockers but probably wasn’t. She took them to stand in the line in front of the information table next to the notice board in the Picnic Area.

Leaf did not put up her laminated painting of the camp grounds on the notice board this year as it reminded her of the Locker’s invasion of the camp which was her fault because she had photocopied the map and taken it home, allowing the Lockers to work out the location of the camp. If it had not been for the wizards popping to their rescue, the camp could have been completely destroyed and some of the Guardians might have been killed. Leaf tried to push the memory out of her mind as she waited in line with the cubs.

Susan gave the cubs their timetables and locations of the classes with the teacher’s names, camp rules, the next week’s menu and map A. She gave Leaf her own personal timetable and a list of the Seventh Year’s rules. Leaf took the cubs to the Wolf Den and showed them to Joyce and Mary’s old tent. Eden and Jade were overjoyed at all the space. It was actually one of the biggest tents in the Wolf Den, meant for three people but it had only two beds in there. Leaf told them that if lots of new Wolf Cubs came the next two years that they might have to share the tent with another girl, but said she doubted it because at the end of that summer fourteen students would be leaving so there would be lots of free tents. Leaf felt a lump rise in her throat when she said that.

“The party starts at eight in the Tree Garden. I’ll bring your costumes in about twenty minutes. We are having a buffet tonight at the party. You need to hand in your Keys to the Teacher’s Hut tomorrow. Just inside the door on the right you will see a box with the Key Book next to it. You must sign the book with your name and Key number and then you post your Key through the slot in the box. I’ll leave you to unpack,” Leaf told them. She left to go get the costumes which she had ordered yesterday and were now hanging on a rail in the Teacher’s Hut.

She had not mentioned the Fake Keys to the first years as Leaf was now responsible for the Keys and she did not want to be a bad influence on the new Cubs. Being the Director’s assistant and the carer of the Keys meant that she was also forced by tradition to be the Fake Key Dealer on the sly, and Leaf

dreaded that part. She hated breaking the Director’s trust but the students were relying on her too. She had posted her own Key in the box this year.

“COSTUMES FOR TONIGHT! COSTUMES FOR TONIGHT!” Leaf yelled around the Wolf Den to give the Wolves warning that she was coming into their tents. “What do you have planned for us tonight?” asked Lucy. “We are having a Professionals Cocktail Party and Buffet,” Leaf told them. Daisy unzipped her suit bag to discover that she was a Chef. She had a big white hat, oven gloves and an apron. Attached to her apron was a card that said her name was Chef Mozzarella and she owned three Italian restaurants in New York. Daisy tried out her Italian American accent. “I hava gota so mucha pasta I don’t know what to doa, dude,” Daisy. Leaf and Lucy burst out laughing, her impersonation sucked. Lucy unzipped hers. Her card said her name was Ida Udderpuller and she was a dairy farmer in Cornwall but her costume was for a milk maid. After a few giggles Leaf left them to continue her deliveries. Most of the Seventh Years were out and about doing prefect duties so she just laid the costumes on their beds. “Here you go, Ladies,” Leaf said, giving suit bags to Eden and Jade. “Will you come to get us to go down to the party?” Jade asked, hopeful. “I will be busy getting things ready but you can walk down with Daisy and Lucy. I will tell them to come and get you.” The girls nodded. Eden opened her costume and laughed. She was an eighties yuppie called Mya Stocks. She had a yellow skirt-suit with big shoulder pads, a brick of a mobile phone and a heavy briefcase. “We are inviting some little people to the party who live on the camp grounds. Try not to scream when you see them,” Leaf warned them. “Little people? Why would we scream?” Jade asked. “Because they are living Gnomes,” Leaf explained.

“Yeah, right,” Eden replied in disbelief. Jade’s costume was for an interior designer called Dee Splatter. Her costume was paint covered dungarees, brushes and a roller. Leaf left them to get changed. She went to her own tent to get dressed up in her rock-star outfit. Lilly was there adding her wig to her lawyer’s gown. Her name that night was Myta Judge. Leaf’s name was Turner Down and she wore her hair backcombed and sprayed orange, chains hanging from the pockets of her black jeans, Alice Cooper on her T-shirt, and loads of fake earring glued onto her ears. After Leaf had drawn a black star over her right eye with Lilly’s eyeliner, they rushed down to the front gate to help bring in the delivery of tall cocktail tables they had rented. In the Tree Garden Patrick and Fabrizio were arranging the tables they had bought in. There were tubes of blue light running down each side of the lawn and up in the trees. “There are two more tables waiting inside the gate,” Patrick yelled to the girls. Leaf and Lilly went in to get them. Old Ben had already locked the gate and returned to the cottage. They each lifted a tall table and carried it to the tree line, then struggled through the branches covering the doorway. Once through, they bolted the small door in the ivy covered wall. There were ten tall tables with small round surfaces, widely spaced along the grass in two rows. At the end near the stile was a disc jockey booth. Laurence had been an avid DJ for the last two years and tonight he was going to show off his skills with an old school House Music Party. Against the ivy covered wall, a stylish black bar had been made by Lloyd and the Prefects. It had mirrors with shelves lit up in blue neon to illuminate all the bottles of colourful non- alcoholic drinks with cocktail names printed on the labels. Apple had print out all the labels in the office. Patrick and Fabrizio were the working barmen that night and they had five bottles of vodka hidden under the bar for the Seventh Years only. Hassan and Luke brought in benches to place along the edges under the trees for the wall flowers who did not want to dance. The four boys had a quick swig

of vodka. They called Leaf and Lilly over and offered them a shot. Leaf had never had alcohol before and decided to give it a try. Fabrizio lined six shot glasses up on the bar and poured the transparent vodka into the glasses. “You have to knock it back in one,” he instructed the girls. They all said cheers and downed their small drinks. Leaf swallowed as fast as she could. It was vile and burnt her throat. She coughed and sputtered and Lilly slapped her on the back. It wasn’t the greatest of experiences but for about a minute afterwards she felt warm and relaxed. Next to the bar was an empty table and some of the Seventh Years went to the kitchen tent to get the food to fill it. Megan, Alba, Susan, Valerie, and Aunty Clara had made all the food: a buffet of salads, stuffed eggs, and canapés. Laurence started up the House Music in his booth. Leaf began to dance, really enjoying the music, and thinking that her mum would have loved this party as Mum by her own used to be a raver at the best House Parties in the nineties. The Guardians started to drift into the garden. Tammy arrived with Christian. Leaf went up to the bar and asked Fabrizio for another stiff drink. She knocked it back. She felt warm and slightly fuzzy. Leaf and Lilly danced between the tables and they both had two more shots. The Gnomes arrived all in their little outfits of doctors, lawyers, firemen, policemen, and lots of other professions. Eden and Jade both screamed. “They are alive,” Eden screamed. The Gnomes chuckled and went to get food. “I tried to tell you,” Leaf said to Eden and Jade. Fabrizio called Leaf back to the bar and asked her if she wanted to do a shot with him. She swore this would be her last one. Fabrizio filled the two shot glasses with the odourless liquid. “To the most beautiful girl at camp,” Fabrizio said, flirting as always. “Yes, here’s to Grayson Ford,” Leaf joked, and swigged back her drink. Fabrizio was a bit dumbfounded and was late in getting his down.

“I’va had too many,” Fabrizio itted, “Oggi mi sento fuori di testa!” “Si, oggi mi sento fuori di testa!” Leaf declared that she was also off her head and she staggered a little as she went to find Lilly in the blur. Jimmy Leggit and Valerie Taylor had a large group of Guardians in hysterics over their comical banter. “I always think the police are after me when I hear someone yell my name. JIMMY LEG IT!” Leaf heard Jimmy say and everyone roared with laughter. “So in panic I run, don’t get far, and face down on the floor it dawns on me they were just calling my name. I blame my parents! Sick humoured people, probably changed their surname by deed poll just to be cruel!” Like mine, Leaf thought as she wobbled past. The group blurred in the blue light. She did not know where she was going but her feet were on a mission. Christian was dressed as a doctor. Leaf’s feet stopped in front of him when she saw that he finally had a second away from Tammy who was dressed as a nurse. “Doctor, I was wondering if you had a cure because my heart really hurts. Last time I saw you, you gave me a hard to swallow pill and I think I’m having a bad reaction,” Leaf told him, looking straight at him with sad and angry eyes. She felt no shame because at that moment she was quite drunk. “Leaf, I’m so sorry. I like you. I really do, but you always seemed to avoid me, and Tammy, well, she kissed me and now I’m sort of in a relationship with her. I don’t want to hurt her, Leaf. Tammy is sort of fragile.” “She is a big girl! She is just super shy, that’s all. But yes, no, I don’t want to hurt her either.” Leaf stormed away frustrated. She ordered another shot, felt sick and started to sway. Embarrassed for anyone to see her in that state, she slipped away into the night. Staggering across the Activities Field and almost falling off the bridge, she stumbled her way to her tent. Feeling a bit woozy, she climbed into bed and fell asleep slurring, “Gudnightmoooon.”

Chapter Four

A FRIEND’S DEMISE

Apple woke Leaf and Lilly on Monday morning by climbing up and jumping on Leaf’s bed. “WAKE UP!” yelled Apple in her loudest voice. “I have your supply of fake keys and you need to get up and hide them before you get caught.” “Oh my god, my head,” Leaf said in a raspy whisper, holding her painful scalp. She manoeuvred herself out of bed trying not to move anything above the neck. Lilly stretched and yawned and watched Leaf hide the sack of fake keys in her rain boots in their cupboard. “The Prefects are all mad at you ‘cause you were supposed to help clean up the Tree Garden after the party,” Lilly told her when Apple had left. “I told them you felt sick. What time did you go to bed?” “There was thirteen of them to clean up! I’m sure it didn’t take long. I felt sick! I had to go to bed before I threw up. I had too many shots. I think I had about five, maybe six. My head is killing me now.” “Drink loads of water. Come on, get dressed or we will be late for breakfast,” Lilly told her. While Leaf ate her chocolate squares, she looked over her timetable: LEAF GOLDEN. WOLF PREFECT. 07:30 WAKE UP 08:30 ASSEMBLY 09:00 MEET WITH DIRECTOR

10:00 GARDENING 11:00 DRIVING LESSON 11:30 SIT IN ON CLASS OF YOUR CHOICE 11:45 SURVIVAL SKILLS 13:00 LUNCH 14:00 SIT IN ON CLASS OF YOUR CHOICE 14: 45 KUNG FU 15:45 JAPANESE 16:00 GERMAN 16:30 BREAK 16:45 NATURAL MEDICINES 17:15 END OF CAMP DANCE PREPERATION 18:00 KEY TALK 18:30 DUTIES (ANYWHERE HELP IS NEEDED) 19:30 HELP CLEAN UP DINING TENT AFTER SUPPER 20:00 LIGHT FIRE IN BLUE MEADOW. BE VIGILANT OF FIRE AND EXTINGUISH IT BEFORE 11:30. WEEKENDS: SATURDAY 11:00 HELP DIRECTOR. After assembly, Leaf went to the Teachers Hut to see if the Director needed her to do anything. “Ah Leaf! Good morning. Take a seat. Would you like a cup of tea?” asked the Director.

“Yes, please,” Leaf said, having turned over a new leaf, she was now following how her friend Sarah said thank you and accepted what she wanted when offered, politely, and without feeling embarrassed. It was a special honour being offered a cup of tea in the Teachers Hut and Leaf did not want to miss out on the privilege. “Sugar?” “Three please.” “Three! You’ll have no teeth by the time you reach my age.” He made her tea and placed it on the table in front of her. He sat behind his desk with his own cup and looked through his paperwork. “I need you to take these two letters to the Gnomes whose names are on the envelopes. I also need you to go to the Symbology classroom and tell Mr. Roman that I will meet with him at twelve. Then pop over to the cottage and tell Ben to go down and open the gate for the vet who is arriving at twelve thirty.” “Vet?” Leaf asked and sipped her sweet tea. “Flash Gordon is not well. Poor old thing, he’s twenty-nine which is very old in horse years.” Leaf was upset to hear that and her eyes welled with tears. She sniffed, gulped down her tea, took the letters and left. When she got to the Gnome Village she asked a Gnome in blue who was hanging out her washing if she could remind Leaf which houses Nobby Funckle and Smiggles Salmon lived in. She pointed out the houses and Leaf knocked on their doors. Mrs. Smiggles answered the door and thanked Leaf for the letter. Nobby Funckle opened the door in blue pyjamas wiping his big bulbous nose with a hankie. Leaf cautiously stepped backwards. “Thank you,” he said and sneezed. “I’ve got a cold, so if you’ll excuse me I’m going back to bed.” He closed the door as Leaf was saying, “I hope you feel better.” She hoped he didn’t have Covid-19. Probably just a cold like he said. She scolded herself for her paranoia. Coming out of the North Forest, she turned left and walked along the path headed east. She went ed the track that led through to end of the North Forest where there were wide double gates in a meshed metal fence. This back

gate was used by Key Carer workmen to get in and out with disturbing the students by walking through the camp. Sometimes it was used by Seventh Years to sneak out and go across the fields to the nearest pub. The gate was always locked, only Old Ben had a key to let workmen in but naughty Seventh Years climbed the fence at night and threw themselves over which wasn’t such a easy task coming back from the pub. Leaf walked on past the Go-Kart Track and down to the cottage. Old Ben answered the door and smiled to see Leaf. Through her mask she relayed his message about the vet coming at twelve thirty. He thanked her and asked if she had time for quick tea and fresh cones. She said sadly she did not because she had to go the Symbology classroom and then get to the allotments in less than ten minutes. She said goodbye and ran down past the Football Field, along the path between the Dog Den and the Poppy Field. She went through the East Forest, ing the Storm Huts, out into the open next to the Bike Shed, and across the path into Learning Land. Symbology was now taught inside the woven hut down by Lilly’s office. There was only a tall gap for a door and Leaf poked her head inside. The first, second and third years were sitting on cushions on the floor facing a projector screen showing the swastika which Pascal was explaining used to be a symbol of peace. Jimmy sat in his chair. “Excuse me Mr. Roman, the Director said he would meet you at twelve,” Leaf told him. All the students stared at her. Mr. Roman thanked her. Leaf ran back through the East Forest up to the allotments. “Hi Leaf, here take this bucket and go pick some peas and tomatoes. And these two buckets are for any fruit ye find in the orchard. There are a lot of apples, cherries and figs. There are blackcurrants on the bushes, use the smaller bucket for those. When your buckets are full take them down to Aunty Clara and then come back and collect a bucket of vegetables to take down to her. Take her some celery, about five cucumbers, ten aubergines, some broad beans, a couple of cauliflowers and two cabbages,” Zachary told her, “Here is her list.”

After Gardening, Leaf did not have far to go for her driving lesson. The students got to drive Tom around the Go-Kart Track in a Fiat 500. Leaf loved the car and decided when she was rich it was the car she would buy. Leaf was nervous driving at first but Tom told her to relax and take it slow, to ease her foot on the gas and to break more gently. By the end of the first lesson Leaf was cruising down the track, turning at bends and able to stop the car smoothly. She skipped to her next lesson buzzing with excitement that she had not stalled the car even once.

All day long, students were coming up to Leaf with cash for fake keys. She wrote their names and Key numbers down in her pocketbook and quickly put the money into her rucksack. She rummaged in the pocket of her bag for the fake keys with the right numbers and subtly handed it to them, and told them to post it in the box in the Teacher’s Hut and sign their names and numbers. She was always paranoid that a teacher would catch her and she really hated doing these dealings but at least she was getting the fake keys out of her possession.

At twelve thirty she slipped out of Survival Skills and went up to the stables to see what the vet was saying about Flash Gordon. She saw Flash lying on the floor of his stall with Zachary and the vet bent over him. Zachary got up when he saw Leaf there. He held her back and told her in a hushed voice that they were going to put Flash Gordon to sleep. “No! You can’t!” Leaf cried, wriggling to get free from Zach who had predicted her reaction. He held her tighter. “We have to Leaf. Flash is in a lot of pain. He has heart problems and severe arthritis in all his legs. He is going to die soon anyway, Leaf. It is kinder to just put him to sleep gently, rather than make him suffer in extreme pain for the next few months. Leaf turned and sobbed against Zach’s chest. He hugged her. The vet loaded his needle and injected it into Flash. Leaf broke away from Zach and lay down next to Flash, stroking his nose and looking into his beautiful brown eyes under long white lashes. He stared back at her. He knew it was the end and he was happy to have Leaf there. Leaf stroked him and talked to him until he slipped away. His eyes closed

and he was gone. Then she sobbed, violently. Leaf kissed his nose and said goodbye. She ran crying back to her tent. Zachary and the vet struggled with the wrapped up pony along the path through the North Forest to the back gate and into the back of the vet’s large van, parked in a small gravel car park where Zachary kept his open back truck and the teachers parked their cars. Lilly had seen Leaf running towards the tent, crying, and she chased after her. Leaf told her what had happened and they both broke down in tears.

Fifteen minutes later, they went to lunch feeling utterly miserable. They got their sandwiches, crisps, fruit, and drinks. Leaf went to Band Practise and Lilly went to write the headlines for the Camp Gazette: Flash Gordon’s Demise . She promised to be down to band practise in ten minutes. The band practised “I Put a Spell on You” by Nina Simone and Eartha Kitt’s “I Want to be Evil.” Leaf had a lot of fun with this song and Christian was having fun on the piano. Chemistry fizzled between them and they ended up singing it together and laughing as Leaf crept around the piano, her hands curled into claws, and trying to put an evil look on her face. When they stopped laughing, there was an awkward silence, and they moved away from each other as everyone was staring. Lilly came in to re the band playing electric guitar. The band gave her the cords to the last two songs and they jammed the tunes for a few minutes so Lilly could make sure she could play them. Then they moved onto practising “I’d Rather go blind” by Etta James. Leaf could not look at Christian while singing this song and she felt her eyes welling up. Christian looked down at the piano when he heard the emotion in Leaf’s voice. The words were very significant to their situation. Leaf sang the song so well that everyone was speechless with emotion and they all left the Practice Hut in silence and headed to the Hidden Garden for the Fully-Fledged Ceremony.

“Today we congratulate two students on becoming Fully Fledged Key Guardians. I must say that these two Guardians have shown great courage in the face of adversity. Kwasi came to this country not speaking hardly a word of English, and now he is not only almost fluent, he is also doing very well in Chinese, so I’ve been told. And Jimmy, despite a debilitating disease manages to always have a sense of humour and brings joy to those around him. So I am proud to present the Keys to Kwasi Levi. Bear, Key number 104 and Jimmy Leggit, Bear, Key number 72.” The Director came down the four steps of the stage because of Jimmy’s wheelchair. He presented them with their Keys and shook their hands and told them that he was very proud of them. Everyone stood up and cheered for them. When the clapping died down and everyone left the Hidden Garden, Leaf started to feel sad that she had just witnessed her last Fully-Fledged Ceremony and would not be there the next summer to see John, Grayson, Eden and Jade become fully fledged third years.

For the next half an hour Leaf could choose what class she wanted to sit in on. Out of curiosity she stayed on the Activities Field to watch the Capoeira. Christian stayed too but they sat apart and did not look at each other. Paulo Santos tumbled across the field in several continuous back-flips, and then handed out percussion instruments. He taught the students to play a basic beat on the drums and tambourines while he continued to jump, flip, kick, spin and tumble to the beat.

In the need to talk about the exciting things they had just seen, Christian and Leaf walked together towards the bridge, chatting with ease and trying out moves. On the other side Tammy was walking past with Valerie. Christian started acting nervous and walked off with them without saying goodbye to Leaf. Leaf trekked alone up Learning Land for Japanese with Chen Yin, outside the Language Hut. Tammy was sitting on the beech leaf table next to Valerie. They did not welcome her. Leaf sat at the other table. After the class Leaf stayed at the same sycamore leaf table for her German

lesson with Mr. Johannson, followed by a fifteen minute break. She hung out with Lilly in the office listening to Billy Eilish while Lilly worked. After ten minutes, Lilly saved her document and they went to Natural Medicines. All the Prefects met outside the cottage for this class but Charlotte often took them off sight, strolling across the fields or along the country roads looking for herbs and medicinal flowers. That day she took them to the Gnome’s Rainforest and showed them where to find water and what was edible in a tropical climate. “Bamboo often contains trapped water, shake it and you should hear the water sloshing inside it. Cut the top off the section with the water in it and assess if it looks drinkable. If it is dark then it will need to be purified. You can also use bamboo to collect water and for cooking in. Coconuts have a milky liquid you can drink. Green, unripe coconuts are the best but too much can cause diarrhoea. The tropics have citrus fruits with leathery shiny evergreen leaves and small flowers that range from white to purple. Tropical fruits include ion fruit, guava and rambutan. Here you can also find a variety of yams and papaya.” She walked them out of the West and North Forests to the Bear’s toilet block, told them all to douse themselves in the mosquito spray that she pulled out of her bag, and Jumped the whole group of Seventh Years using the Director’s Master Key.

They came out of a hut on the outskirts of the Amazon Rainforest. On the river bank, there was an old leathery-skinned man renting two-man canoes. Charlotte paid for eight which was all of his boats and he was delighted. He took his money and went to relax and smoke his pipe under a tree, pondering where the strange group of young white people had come from and where could they possibly be going. Charlotte instructed them to push the boats out into the water and get in them quickly. “Try not to stay in the river long enough for the piranhas, crocodiles, and anacondas to get you,” Charlotte warned. The girls screamed and leapt into the

boats. They rowed along the murky river, sweating in the humid hundred degree heat, the imive green jungle going ed on either side. Yellow spotted turtles swam beside the boats. Further down river, grey porpoise jumped out of the water in unison. Where the channels lead off into swamps they spotted floats of crocodiles. Charlotte pointed out the jambu trees that were laden with red apple-type fruit. A toucan called to them from the high branches of a twisted tree. After a couple of hours they followed Charlotte to a beach of white sand and pulled their boats onto the shore. “There are nine countries that share the Amazon. We have come to this part of the rainforest to show you a village of Pirahã Indians I know. We are in Nadeira in Brazil. The tribe live close by, and this is also a good area to show you poisonous plants.” Leaf saw a scorpion going across the hot sand and hid behind Lilly who pointed out a giant spider web hanging in the trees. “I would not like to see who lives there. I’m glad he has gone out,” said Leaf. They trekked up the beach and into the rainforest. “Nettle trees are found throughout the tropics and resemble ordinary nettles but the seeds are extremely poisonous. Those large ivy-like leaves with the little greenish yellow flowers and yellow fruits are physic nuts and they will kill you if you eat them. They grow in tropical wooded terrain. This is a species of strychnine. Usually strychnine has oval leaves that grow in opposite pairs and bear yellowish red or white berries that are fatal if you consume them,” Charlotte told them. They could smell drifting smoke and knew that they were nearing the village. In a clearing, there were ten thatched roofs ed on poles that served as their huts. The naked grubby- faced children stared. Babies crawled in the dirt or were attached to a breast of their nursing mothers. The women wore simple sleeveless dresses stained with dirt and ash from the cook fires. The women smiled when they saw Charlotte. No one from the village wore

masks. The men wore loincloths and carried bows and arrows, apart from the man who stirred porridge of fish and manioc over the fire in a hollowed out gourd, his face streaked with ash. Charlotte waved and they recognised her. Only one of them spoke Portuguese, he acted as a translator and could talk with Charlotte who knew the basics. A man came up and hugged her and asked for cigarettes, using his fingers to demonstrate smoking. Charlotte had come prepared and produced a carton of two hundred cigarettes. The men all looked delighted and all came up to hug her and get their favourite poison. The villagers, all understanding that they were under no threat, resumed what they had been doing before the white people arrived. Even the village children seemed to have brown leathery skin. The men were strong and lean. They were an affectionate tribe, hugging, touching and laughing with each other. The women talked loudly. One woman brought the Guardians to the fire and offered them a pancake made of grubs. They each broke off a small piece and tried it not knowing what they were eating and faked faces of satisfaction. Charlotte spoke with the Portuguese speaking Pirahã whose name was Xahóápati and told him that she had bought medicine for his father’s arthritis and said that his father must take the tables three times a day. Xahóápati thanked and hugged her. Charlotte told the Guardians that it was time to leave and everyone hugged them goodbye. They went back to the boats and pushed themselves out. They rowed back the way they had come, and returned the canoes to the old man who tied them to a tree by the water’s edge. The Guardians climbed up the steep bank and followed Charlotte to the door of the hut. “Now we are going to a part of the Amazon in Peru to meet some Shaman healers,” Charlotte told them and then gave the instructions to the Key in the lock.

On the other side of the door the heat was just as severe but not quite as

humid. The sky was a blanket of grey. Behind them they saw a small wooden outhouse. The forest felt less oppressive, more like dense woodland, yet remained tropical, vibrant and green. They walked through the trees on forged paths. At the top of a steep embankment they found several huts with mosquito nets for walls. “Hello?” Charlotte called out. An Indian with long hair, dressed in jeans, a Pink Floyd T-shirt, and no mask, came out of a communal kitchen and welcomed them, shaking Charlotte’s hand. “Guardians, this is Charlie. He is a Shaman healer and this is his medical centre. People come from all over the world to spend three or four weeks here to be cured by Charlie. “Hello everyone! Yes, I have a team of Shaman doctors working with me here. In the mornings we go out to collect food for special diets and herbs and plants for natural remedies,” Charlie told them. “Come to the kitchen and I will show you.” They followed him to a clean makeshift kitchen, On a long wooden surface was covered in a buffet of bowls of prepare exotic fruits and unusual vegetables. He explained what each vegetable was and what is was good for. They were allowed to try the wonderful looking fruits. They followed him into the forest. Armies of large ants marched up and down trees. A monkey swung between the branches. Charlie walked them along the loud rapid river, ing a rock pool where the clear water looked inviting. They walked on further into the hot jungle. Leaf pointed out a sloth hugging a tree and the Guardians all stopped to stare at the cute creature. It looked back at them with its big eyes. After another hundred metres, they came across a three men and a teenage boy in jeans and T-shirts who were cutting medicinal plants and leaves with machetes. Charlie showed them the different plants and told them what they were used for. “We also use hallucinogenic plants too. Ayahuasca is a brew that for five thousand years the Shamans have use for healing and going into alternate states of consciousness to see visions of the future. It cleans the blood. We also use Floripondia, Chiri-Sanango, Black Tobacco and Acacia. Shamans drink the juice of tobacco leaves to have visions. It is called mapacho. We use it a lot to

heal and it is considered a medicine,” Charlie told them. “We are still trying to recover from the 2019 fires. We lost so many natural medicines and there is so much damage to this area but I won’t show you that because it is so depressing.” He took them back to the mosquito net huts. In the centre was a larger communal hut and he told them to go in. They lifted the net and quietly gathered at the far end trying not to disturb the occupants. An old man sat on the floor. He wore no shirt but crossed over his chest he wore a decorative band of small shells and coloured woven wool. Upon his head he wore a multicoloured hat in the shape of those worn by bishops. He held in each hand an instrument made from fat bamboo with Morris dancer’s bells on each end. He shook the sticks and sang like a Native American Indian. A white woman lay on the floor looking serene and peaceful as Charlie walked around beating a rhythm on a tambourine. Another older man, who wore a white cloak rimmed with colour and a colourful cap with beads hanging from it, told the woman to sit up. He inhaled a long drag of smoke from a self-made cigarette, black tobacco wrapped in a leaf. The man put his lips to the woman’s forehead and exhaled the smoke. Leaf was thinking that the woman’s hair was going to stink. Charlie told them in a hushed voice that the woman had been diagnosed by American doctors as having multiple sclerosis and that the Shaman were trying to rid her of the negative spirits. Charlotte indicated to Charlie and the Guardians that it was time to leave, and they all slipped quietly out of the hut. Charlie shook all their hands. They thanked him for the experience. Charlotte led them back to the door of the small outhouse. Holding hands, they all returned to the Whiteash Camp in time for party prep time, but there was nothing to organise at that moment so they all went to hang out in the Rainbow Forest for forty-five minutes. Leaf picked Bubba up from the Dog Den on the way and Christian brought Montague. The two dogs had a great time running through the forest chasing each other and the Prefects had fun watching them. Bubba was going mental,

dodging the trees as a break-neck speed and doing sudden u-turns. Montague plodded behind thinking it was all good fun but he didn’t have half of Bubba’s manic energy. Leaf and Christian shared a smile.

Chapter Five

GUILTY GREEN

At five fifteen, Leaf went to a meeting for the end of camp party preparations in the Hidden Garden. The Prefects lounged on the stage and decided what they needed and who was going to make each thing happen. It was decided that Leaf would order the robes. They would eat in the dining tent before they left, and Luke would order the cans of fizzy drinks for the party. He was running the Tuck Shop this year so he would just put in an order for extra drinks. Patrick and Fabrizio would organise a team for cleaning up, making sure they left the site spotless. Christian and David would organise CD’s of atmospheric dark classical music from their parent’s collections and Laurence would the rest. Leaf would clear it with the Director and bring all the Keys. Christian would play the part of Elias Whiteash on the night. Susan and David, Megan and Alba and Tammy, would take shifts keeping lookout down by the road for the police or cars. “We can only spend a maximum of twenty minutes at Stonehenge before a car is bound to come along or someone might call the police, for sure. T’is better to do it as late as possible, so at the very end of the party,” Patrick said. They all agreed. So then they would need a before party. Lilly suggested a party in the Rainbow Forest with battery powered lanterns. They all thought that was a great idea and told Leaf to clear it with the Director. “Let’s not take any food or drink to Stonehenge. We’ll have supper in the dining tent, and then let’s just have a pre-party in the Rainbow Forest with drinks and crisps. We could take all the tree stump stools from the Blue Meadow as seats and tables for the Rainbow forest. We can have any kind of music in the Forest so let’s have a happy rave of Laurence on the decks, and then the band can play a short, spooky set before we go to Stonehenge,” Leaf suggested.

“Okay cancel the moody classical music then,” Lilly said to Christian and David. “Vhat door will vil ve use?” asked David. “The cottage is the closest door to the Rainbow Forest.” Susan said. “They will probably complain about the noise.” “We won’t make it too loud and it is only for one night. We will warn them and tell them it is only until eleven forty-five. Then we can move to Stonehenge.” Megan suggested. “Whose Key’s will we use? There are about twenty-four Guardians and whatever teachers want to come. Let’s say five teachers. That’s about thirty people,” Alba added. “The Director will want come to make sure we behave around the stones. He will Jump twenty people with the Master Key and we can get three prefects to Jump three smaller groups,” said Leaf. “Who wants to lead the groups then?” Susan asked, putting her own hand up. Susan, Leaf, and Fabrizio were chosen by the group because they were the only ones with their hands up. Before Leaf went to light the fire in the Blue Meadow, she sat on her bed and counted the money. There were twenty-five students at camp and most of them had bought fake keys and she had a grand total of £600. Leaf was shocked and did not know what she was supposed to do with the money. She stuffed it in her pillow case, and then went to the office to find Apple before she went back to the Gnome Village for the night. She caught her just in time, Apple was locking the door with the spare key Lilly had honoured her with. The key was almost as big as the size of Apple’s little palm and she had to use two hands to turn it and stand on a rock to reach the lock. “Apple,” Leaf whispered. “Apple, what am I supposed to do with all the cash from the fake keys?” “Keep it, it is yours. Start a good honest life with it,” she suggested. “ to give me back the fake keys at the end of camp. I’ll hide them until next year and then give the bag to the next dealer and for that service you

have to pay me only £20. That’s how it works. My grandfather used run this racket before me. In fact it was one of my ancestors who actually made the fake keys, about seventy years ago.” Apple told her. “I’ll pay you tomorrow. Okay?” Leaf said. “Sure, no problem! I will be in the office all day,” Apple replied. Leaf went back to her tent and pulled all the money out of her pillowcase. She put £20 in her pocket to pay Apple. The rest she put in a plastic bag. Borrowing Lilly’s Key from where she kept it hidden in the base of the lava lamp, she ran back down to the locked office door. She jumped into her bedroom at home with the bag of money and hid it behind the wall in her closet. Then she Jumped back to the office and went to light the fire in the Blue Meadow. She asked Aunty Clara in the kitchen tent for some twisted kitchen roll dipped in sunflower oil. Aunty Clara told her to help herself as her hands were covered in flour as she was preparing the dough for the next day’s bread. Leaf ripped off sheets of kitchen paper, twisted them, and over the large metal sink she soaked them in sunflower oil and placed them into a plastic bag. She asked Aunty Clara for a box of matches. “You’re not supposed to use matches,” Aunty Clara scolded. “Please Aunty, it has been a really long day. I promise I will create fire by hand tomorrow.” “Fine! They are on top of the microwave,” she told her and Leaf swiped the matches. Zachary had stacked up firewood but she was expected to find her own tinder. She didn’t need it with the oil trick Leaf had learnt from watching her father barbecue in the back garden. Leaf struck a match and held the flame to the corner of the oily paper. It caught light and she put it under the sticks and threw on the other twisted oily fire starters. Within thirty seconds the fire was raging, and she sat back to wait for the Sixth and Seventh Years.

On Tuesday morning, Leaf walked Bubba back to her doggy day-care, and after breakfast Leaf went to meet up with the Director. She asked his permission for two locations to host the end of camp party, the Rainbow Forest and Stonehenge. He had reservations about Stonehenge but when Leaf explained

their plans and that they would only be there twenty minutes, he agreed. The Director had some work for her to do on the computer, writing up an approved list of what teachers were taking their class on an excursion on what date. The Director left her to it, telling her to make herself a cup of tea, and he went off about some other business. Leaf switched the kettle on and the typed out the list:

SUBJECT – TEACHER – YEAR OF STUDENTS – DESTINATION – DATE AND TIME

French - Mr. Johannson - First Years - Eiffel Tower, Paris. Monday 2nd August 09:00

Symbology - Mr. Roman - Third Years - Pyramids, Giza Egypt. Monday 2nd August 10:00.

NaturalMedicines-Charlotte Winters -SeventhYears - Amazon Rainforest, Brazil and Peru August 2nd 16:45

Religion - Yair Muhammad - First and second Years - Tibet Tuesday 3rd August 15:30

Russian - Sven Michael - Fourth Years - Moscow, Russia Tuesday 3rd August 16:30

Capoeira - Paulo Santos - Second and Fifth Years - Rio, Brazil Wednesday 4th August 11:30

Survival Skills - Thomas Wright - Seventh Years - Sahara Desert Thursday 5th August 11:45

Japanese - Chen Yin - Seventh Years Japan. Tuesday August 10th 14:45

Symbology - Pascal Roman - Fifth Years - Mayan temples, Guatemala. Thursday 12th August 09:00

Natural Medicines - Charlotte Winters - Seventh Years - Australian Outback. Wednesday 18th August 16:45

Italian - Edward Steinberg - Third Years - Rome, Italy.

Thursday 26th August 10:30

She finished in time to walk up to the allotments and not arrive late. Zachary set her to work weeding. “Be sure to take out the whole root. If you leave any it will grow again. Loosen the soil around the roots with the hand fork. Try to lift it out in one piece without breaking the roots. Shake off any loose soil. Put the weeds in a pile, and then when you have finished, throw them on the compost heap at the back of the orchard,” Zachary instructed. Leaf nodded and spent the next half an hour pulling up buttercups, dandelions, nettles, speedwell, chickweed and bindweed.

Her driving lesson went well and Tom said she was really getting the hang of it. Tom reminded her to use her mirrors and taught her how to reverse. At eleven-thirty, she went to help out in the Cubs’ and Third Year’s Survival Skills lesson. Leaf’s team, consisting of Jade and Eden, made a Tree-Well Shelter in soft ground under Leaf’s instruction. Jimmy and Kwasi made a LeanTo Shelter with David. Grayson and John made a Dome shelter with Susan but it collapsed. Leaf’s team won because it was the hardest shelter to make as it involved digging. Tree-Well Shelters were easier to make in snow.

Jimmy was able to easily get around most places at camp as the Whiteash Board of Directors had bought him a four by four wheelchair for rough ground the week before he started camp two years ago. Due to his health having improved from the bee stings he was receiving weekly from Zachary, he was able to follow the same full timetable as the other students. Leaf, Susan and David stayed with Tom when the Cubs left as it was time for the Seventh Year’s Survival Skills lesson on the sea, fishing, survival, pollution and rip tides. “Plastic bags take 10-12 years to decompose in the sea, cardboard takes 2 months. Drink cans take 200 years, and fishing hooks 600 years. Cigarettes 10

years, plastic cutlery will take between 100-1000 years to decompose in the sea, glass will take 4000 years and baby’s nappies take about 450 years to decompose in the sea.” He told them all to sit on the bank of the river. A dragon fly caught Leaf’s attention and then she turned back into what Tom was saying. “In cold water you risk dying of hyperthermia if you are not fully immersed. If there is something in the water you can use as a raft then get out of the water and insulate your body, especially between you and the cold raft. If there is nothing to climb on and you have a life jacket to you then assume the HELP position and keep still. HELP stands for Heat Escape Lessening Position. In an upright seated position with your knees raised and your feet hooked one over the other, your arms tucked in and your hands raised to your chest, head out of the water to preserve heat. This position will increase your survival time. If there are several people in the water, huddle together for warmth. Do not eat fish that are brightly coloured or covered in bristles or spines or if they puff up. Also don’t eat fish that have parrot-like mouths or humanoid teeth. Do not eat fish eggs that you find in clusters as they will be poisonous. If you are in a boat or on a raft, a net under the raft as fish and turtles will swim beneath attracted to the shade. Never tie the fishing wire around your hand or touch it when reeling it in. If you have gloves wear them when handling the fish. Use a torch at night to attract the fish. Use offal from fish as bait. Write down this list of Poisonous Fish: Surgeonfish is black, blue, and yellow with a small mouth. It has venomous spines on tail and sides. It is found in all tropical waters. Rabbitfish is bright yellow with tiny blue spots, about 25-30 centimetres in length with venomous spines along its fins. Stonefish is drab and lumpy looking and 40 centimetres long. Scorpionfish has a painful sting. They can be up to 50 centimetres, red, striped and has long wavy spines, found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Toadfish are dull green with a large mouth. They hide in the sand and have venomous spines on their backs. They can be found of the coasts of central and South America.” All the students finished writing the list, and then turned their attention back to Tom. “Seaweed is a rich source of minerals but can act as a laxative and you should only eat small amounts. In the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans you can find laver. It has a satiny sheen in purplish red. In the Atlantic and Mediterranean, usually attached to rocks or rougher seaweed, is a seaweed called Dulse. It has a short stem fanning out in dark red with several round-tipped lobes. Rockweed is coarse and dark green with air bubbles. You can’t eat Rockweed but in it is usually a supply of snails, fish and tiny crabs. Before eating Kelp or Irish moss you must boil them. Kelp is found in the Atlantic and Pacific on rocky bottoms and submerged ledges. It has a short stem with olive green or brown fronds. Irish Moss is leathery but it becomes crisp when dried after boiling.” They all wrote notes in their exercise books as Tom spoke. “Rip currents are extremely dangerous when you are swimming and you must learn how to identify them. Look for where it is darker than the rest of the water. Look for seaweed and foam moving towards the shore. Where there is a break in the waves there could be a rip tide and in areas of choppy water. If you get caught in a rip current you must stay calm, conserve energy and do not swim against the current. Stay afloat, and if close to shore raise a hand for the lifeguard. Wait for the current to bring you back or deliver you to where there are no more rips, or swim parallel to the shoreline until you reach a point with no rips.”

Over lunch, Eden and Jade were talking excitedly to Lucy and Daisy about their trip to the Eiffel Tower. Leaf did not tell anyone about the other trips teachers had planned as she did not want to spoil the surprise but she was looking forward to the Seventh Year’s trips. After lunch Leaf could sit in on a class of her choice and she went to Religion to help Yair Jump Eden, Jade, John and Grayson to Tibet to watch the monks move the big boulders with sound vibrations. In Kung Fu she had to perform her Katas for the class. Next she had

conversational Japanese and she was getting quite good at speaking the language. She took lots of notes in her German class because she planned to return to camp in ten years to teach German and Art, and maybe Japanese if she studied hard enough. After German she had a fifteen minute break. She went to visit Lilly in her office. Lilly was busy with her fingers glued to the computer, so Leaf chatted to Apple who was making the tea. “We should use your Key to take Dew to visit that second cousin she fancies in the Rainbow Mountains,” suggested Apple. “She is getting desperate to find a husband and she doesn’t like anyone around here.” “I don’t have a Key. I handed it in but we could use Lilly’s,” Leaf said, eager to go and see the beautiful mountains in Peru. Lilly grunted. She was busy fitting articles like a jigsaw on the second page of the newspaper and not really listening. “We’ll plan something before the end of the summer,” Leaf assured her. Lilly pressed save. Leaf finished her tea and left with Lilly to go to Natural Medicines class outside the cottage. On the way Leaf told Lilly what she had been discussing with Apple, and Lilly thought it was a great idea.

Charlotte Winters walked her class down to the Poppy Field looking for milk thistles. “It is tall plant with a spiny margin, white milky veins and a head of purple hair. It is usually found on waste ground or in the hedge banks. Check over there by the hedges.” “I’ve found one,” called out Valerie. They all went over to the hedge by which she stood. “Yes, that’s it. You can use the whole of the milk thistle and it is very good for your blood and liver. It is used for curing jaundice, catarrh, pleurisy and beneficial to cancer suffers. Old Anglo Saxons used it to keep snakes away and to remedy snake bites. It helps with breaking and expelling stones from the body and is boiled and eaten as a blood cleanser.”

“I’ve found another one over here,” said Susan who should have been listening rather than looking. “The stalks can be eaten and are very nutritious. The young leaves can be added to a salad,” Charlotte told them and plucked off a leaf and ate it.

During party prep time, Leaf went to Lilly’s office to send an email to the Key Carer costume company to order all the monks cloaks they would need for all the students and a few teachers. Megan went down to see Aunty Clara to tell her that on the last night students would be eating in the dining tent at seven, before the party, and no special food was required. There wasn’t that much more to do until the actual last day, so most of these prep sessions just became forty-five minutes of free time and the Prefects usually went to play football on the pitch, skateboarding or swimming. They were on their way back from a friendly football match of Wolf Prefects against Bear Prefects when they heard Grayson screaming hysterically. The screams were coming from the Bear’s toilet block. Grayson came running out waving his hands about in a flap. “Help! Help! I don’t know what to do! It’s Beans, he’s thrown a fit and he’s smashing his head on the floor. Some one stop him!” Grayson screamed. Leaf, Christian, and Patrick ran into the block and saw John Lemon convulsing on the tiled floor. There was blood on the floor behind his head. Christian put his rucksack under John’s head which only had a jumper in it. They all stepped back to let John breath. As the convulsions were slowing, Christian turned John onto his side. After a few minutes he stopped convulsing and was able to sit up and have some water. They walked him down to the Medical Hut for Nurse Norma to check him out. She gave him the once over, checked his heart rate and blood pressure, sewed up the small cut on his head and told him he would have to stay overnight in the Medical Hut under observation. She assured the others that he was fine, and they all went to Key Talk.

Key Talk started with a five minute meditation and then the Cubs went off to have a Science lesson while the older Guardians had a student union meeting.

“I think we should have a film room where we can go and watch films during our breaks,” said Ali. “The point of being at camp is to be outside in nature not in front of the television,” said Susan. They had a show of hands for a film room, but it was split fifty-fifty. “Denied,” ruled Luke. “I think we should have some more camp chickens, so we can have fresh eggs every morning,” Lucy suggested. “We could keep them with Zachary’s chickens up by the allotments.” “I think I would have to have that approve by Zachary as well as the Director but let’s see a show of hands,” Leaf said. The majority voted for the chickens. “Can we have rabbits too,” asked Megan. “No!” half the prefects said together.

At six-thirty, Leaf went to see if the Director needed anything. He sent her on a couple of errands and then she went and had supper. That night Leaf had vegetable curry, and for dessert she had fried banana drizzled in honey. After eating, she had to collect the large buckets outside the dining tent where the students had dumped their used plastic plates in the soapy water. Leaf scrubbed and rinsed the plates, while Lilly did the knives and forks. Leaf dried the plates and piled them up in the kitchen tent. Lilly put the dry cutlery in their box. At eight o’clock, Leaf went to the Blue Meadow to light the fire with the bow and drill method that caused blisters on her hands, and Lilly put the marshmallows on the skewers.

Chapter Six

NIGHT IN THE DESERT

Leaf cleared it with the Director and Zachery to have more chickens. Zachary and Lloyd set about making another hen house behind the allotments. At lunchtime, Zachary took Leaf in his truck to a local farm and they bought six chickens and a handsome cockerel. Zach let Leaf choose the chickens and he selected the cockerel. They took them back to camp in four metal cages, keeping the male separate from the females for the time being. When they returned to camp Lloyd was finishing the hen house by fitting the lock on the door. They had to wait only ten minutes before they could release the chickens into their new space. Zachary said they would keep them locked up in the large hen house for a few days and then start letting them out during the day but they would have to be put away at night or the foxes would get them. Lloyd placed a slanted sheet of corrugated metal on top of the roof to keep the rain off. The chickens hid in the corners as the bold cockerel strutted his stuff but they seemed more terrified than impressed. “Give them time to get settled. They’ll learn to tolerate him in a few days,” Zachary told her. Leaf went to see if there were any sandwiches left, and if not she would get Aunty Clara to make her one and she could take it with her and eat it at the back of the Social Studies and Religion class she was sitting in on. Yair was teaching the Fifth Years about Jainism, and the Buddhist Middle Way. “Before the Buddha became enlightened, he tried many ascetic practises such as starving himself, sleep deprivation, holding his breath. Before Buddha most people in that region were either practising Brahmanism or Jainism. Jainism started five thousand years ago, they believe there is no god only eternal souls, matter, and the universe which they believe has always existed and that we are responsible for our own actions and karma. They teach salvation by living pure lives cleaning their souls, not harming any living

creatures and ascetic practises. Jiva is their belief in eternal souls of all humans, animals and plants. Ajiva is their belief in matter, time, and space with their own natural laws that we must obey and that karma attaches to our souls and that we must cleanse our souls to reach Nivana, free themselves of reincarnation, connect with the one universe and reach Moksha. Everything they believe in is portrayed in the Jainism symbol.” Yair projected a symbol onto the screen. “As you see here it has an odd outline but this outline represents the universe we are trapped in and to free yourself you need to elevate your soul to the perfection of Moksha. The Swastika here represents good fortune. The four points represent the ways our souls can enter the universe, you can come back as a deity before you reach Moksha, or you can come back as a human, a hellish creature, an animal or even a plant. It represents the infinate happiness, infinate energy, infinite knowledge and infinite perception. Above the Swastika you have the three dots that show the straight path on which Jainists can achieve Moksha through belief, knowledge and conduct. This hand with the wheel at the bottom is Ahimsa which means to not hurt other souls if you want to stop your reincarnation cycle. The spokes on the wheels represent the twenty-four great teachers. This Sanskrit writing at the bottom says that all life is bound together by mutual and interdependence.” “I agree with most of what they believe,” said Leaf. “I’m not sure I believe you can come back as an animal or a plant though because I believe in evolution, and once you have reached being a human I don’t think you go backwards but you can stay trapped in bad lives until you work out your karmic lessons. Yair nodded. “Jainists have five vows to cleanse their souls and I think you will like them, Leaf,” Yair told her. “They believe in no violence and no injury to any creature. All Jainists are vegetarians or vegans, some don’t even eat root vegetables because they believe you are hurting the microorganisms. If you step on an ant by mistake you will not get bad karma but if you make a conscious decision to step on the ant you will attach karmic matter to your soul. There is a vow of not lying, a vow of not stealing, a vow of chastity which does not mean you have to be celibate but you must not be a slave to sexual addiction, and they have a vow of non possessiveness. Buddha agreed with most of these things but the old Jainists used ascetic

means (self-discipline), and when Buddha became enlightened he disagreed with people harming themselves to be rid of bad karma or to seek pleasure through pain. He taught that the Middle Way between ascetics and indulgence was the correct way, and that you could find pleasure in wholesome living and meditation. He believed indulgence was harmful and would ultimately cause pain to those that had become attached to material possessions and addicted to obsessive intake, both of which would eventually lead to loss and suffering.” Leaf agreed and decided to add that to Universalism, that a good Universalist would live the Middle Way and heed the Five Jainist Vows. She put up a sign on the notice board and one on the tuck shop to let the Universalists know.

At supper Luke told Leaf that afternoon the tuck shop had sold out of the Universalist T-shirts. “Who will carry on the faith when you leave camp?” Daisy asked her at supper. “The faith will carry on in the hearts and minds of the believers,” Leaf replied. “But who will be here to tell the new Guardians?” “It is not a belief system restricted to Guardians. Those that follow can tell whoever they like but if you really feel someone needs to be here to spread the word at camp you are more than welcome to do it, Daisy,” Leaf told her. Daisy looked like she had got the answer she was hoping for.

Survival Skills on Thursday lasted twenty four hours. Tom Jumped all the Prefects to a rangers cabin on the edge of the Sahara Desert at seven in the morning. He told them that they could remove their masks. He gave them each a bottle of cold water and then trekked them across the hot sand for three hours, and then just left them there with nothing but a cup, a blue plastic sheet, rope and two white sheets. “I will be back at this time tomorrow. DO NOT move from here,” Tom told them and he walked off into the hazy distance that flickered in the heat.

“First thing we need is water,” said Lilly, taking charge. “Luke and Hassan, dig a square with a deeper hole in the middle, use the cup and cut up our bottles to make containers in the lower part and cover it with the plastic sheet. Put more stones in the middle of the canvas so the condensation drips from a larger area into several of the containers. We need shelter. Patrick, Fabrizio, David, and Christian, you can help me dig a deep trench in the sand. It will be thirty degrees cooler in the sand beneath the surface.” She told Valerie, Susan, and Leaf to tie rope to the corners of the sheets. First they needed to cut the rope into eight pieces and so Laurence without communicating went off into the desert to fine a sharp rock. The rope was cut by the time he returned as several people had their penknives on them. “It will get cold tonight so we will need a fire. We will go look for wood and tinder,” said Alba, taking Megan with her. Tammy threw a white sheet over the five people digging the deep trench and covered herself from the sun with the other sheet. It was difficult excavating in dry sand with only their hands, especially with the sheet over their heads but after two hours they were really making progress and the sand was easier to manage. However, they were very hot and thirsty. A full cup of water had been produced from the condensation under the sheet and they shared it between them, a small gulp each, and then they put the containers back to collect more. When the deep square had been dug over a metre deep in a north-south direction, they hung a sheet across the trench and using large boulders on the corners which Fabrizio and Patrick had lugged across the sand to keep the sheet above the hot ground. They suspended the second sheet above the first, tying smaller rocks in place to sit safely on the boulders in between the two sheets to leave a gap for cooling air to blow through. The other ends of the ropes were tied to long sticks which Christian pushed deep into the sand. They crawled in under the sheets and sat in the cool earthen bunker and waited for more water to be produced. They stayed as still and quiet as possible, breathing only through their noses to conserve their energy and bodily fluids. Every two hours Luke would retrieve a container half filled with and they would have a small mouthful each. They held it in their mouths for as long as they

could, allowing little drips to seep down their throats. The sun scorched down on the desert plain. They sat listless and sweating in the heat, finding pleasure in every cool breeze that blew through the shelter. It was boring and tested their endurance. The day was really long.

At five thirty the sun began to drop, and they ventured out to for search for food and to light the fire. There was the most amazing sunset as the heavens caught fire. The temperatures dropped suddenly. Freezing, they huddled together around the fire. Patrick, Fabrizio, Alba, Luke, David, and Laurence all returned with something edible. “Do we really have to?” Lilly whined when she saw what they had. Alba had managed to hit a bird with a stone. Fabrizio had six small salamanders. Patrick had a snake. David had several cactus fruit he had peeled with his pocket knife but he spent the rest of the night complaining about spines in his hands. Susan used the tweezers from her pocket-sized first aid kit to remove them, and told him to stop whinging like a baby. They roasted the skinned and gutted food on sticks on the fire. Leaf sang songs and the others lay back huddled together for warmth, looking at the billions of stars above them in the black sky. After they had cut the cooked food into tiny morsels to be shared evenly, they climbed back into the trench, huddled together, and tried to get some sleep.

They awoke in the early morning just after dawn when the temperatures were just starting to rise. Fabrizio and Patrick went to find food but returned with nothing so there was no point relighting the fire. They sat hot and bored and waited for Tom to turn up at seven. He arrived in high spirits to find the fourteen Guardians alive but dishevelled. They were glad to see him, especially as he had a backpack full of bottles of water and breakfast bars.

Under the cover of the sheets, Tom marched them two hours back across the desert. At the wardens hut he jumped them back to lunchtime the day before. They all asked Aunty Clara for extra sandwiches and she told them to come into the kitchen tent and help themselves. They made whopping great sandwiches filled with left over chicken, mayonese, salad, ham, Jamon Serrano. Leaf had two cheese and salad sandwiches, and two with avocado. They took their crisps, fruit and drinks and went to pig out in the Picnic Area. Then they all went for an hour’s nap in their tents, missing the next class, but as it was a class of their choice, no one was missing them. During party prep time and after supper, they studied for the Friday exams and then got an early night. Leaf fetched Bubba and zipped her in the tent while she and Lilly ran to the toilet block to brush their teeth. Leaf was ready to snuggle with Bubba and sleep straight away but Lilly sat up for another hour trying to brush all the sand out of her long blue streaked black hair. Bubba snored and farted. Leaf got woken up by Lilly complaining. “Go to sleep, Lilly!” “Your dog is a stinky farter,” Lilly told her. “Goodnight,” Leaf said into her pillow, not caring.

Chapter Seven

SNAKE BITES

On Friday, Leaf had exams for her subjects plus exams on cooking, and also exams on the Lockers and their family tree. For the cooking exam she had to name dishes that they serve in Hungary, Chile, Mongolia, and Poland. Then she had to write a fruit for a list of countries. She ed most of them.

Armenia - Apricot Bangladesh - Jackfruit Brazil - Capuaçu Bulgaria - Wild Raspberries Cambodia - Lady Finger Banana China - Kiwi Denmark - Elderberries Egypt - Figs - Apricots Greece - Watermelon India - Mango Japan - Lychee

Mexico - Avocado Mongolia - Java Apples Malaysia - Papaya Sweden - Cloudberries Yemen - Peaches

After the exams, all the students lined up outside the medical hut to have Nurse Norma take their temperatures. No one had a fever so they were all allowed to finally be rid of their masks. They all cheered and threw their masks up into the air in celebration. Leaf and Lilly were told to go around with a bin bag and gloves on, picking up the scattered array of colourful masks.

At the weekend, Leaf and Lilly were occupied with band practise and washing their clothes in the Laundry Hut on the Activities Field. Susan delivered clean towels and sheets to their tents once a week. After helping the Director with errands, Leaf helped Lilly muck out at the stables and exercise the horses. Later, she hung out in the office with Lilly and Apple while they worked on the Camp Gazette, and she took Bubba on a long walk around the camp grounds. On Sunday she gave her first art lesson in the Sandbag Hut to Daisy, Henry, Jimmy, and Grayson. She taught them perspective and how to mix colours. Then she put an apple on the table and told them to sketch what they saw as she went around giving them pointers.

On Monday Tom gave them an interesting class on how to treat snake bites. The class took place inside the classroom on the Activities Field. He tacked coloured pictures up on the board of different snakes, placing them in four groups.

“Snake venom is either hemotoxic or neurotoxic. Many snakes inject both. There are four types of snakes:

PIT VIPER SNAKES come under the type of CROTALIDAE.

BACKFANGED BOOMSLANG are COLUBRIDAE

SEA SNAKES are HYDROPHINE

CORAL SNAKES, COBRAS, MANBAS, ASPS and KRAITS are ELAPIDE.

Kill the snake that bites you, and this will make it easier to identify what type of snake it was. Lie the patient down, sit down if it is you and you are alone, and immobilise the limb. Keep the patient warm and quiet. Identify the type of snake and ister treatment accordingly:

CROTALIDAE from pit snakes will create swelling around the bite, gradually spreading. The site of the bite will hurt a lot and you will start bleeding from major organs, destruction of tissue and blood cells. You will feel headaches and thirst, your pulse will rise and your blood pressure drops. Death can occur within twenty-four to forty-eight hours if untreated. If an antidote cannot be istered within an hour then make an incision of 0.31- 0.63 centimetres in the direction of the muscles through the bite. Apply suction using a mechanical device, or use your mouth as a last resort, and only if

you have no cuts, cavities or sores in your mouth. Incision and suction should not be used if more than an hour has ed since the person was bitten. DO NOT use a tourniquet, bandages or cold packs, or give the person food or alcoholic drinks. Give water at frequent intervals. Give saline in an intravenous drip to prevent shock. Use morphine or other strong painkillers if needed.

COLUMBRIDAE (backfanged boomslang) and ELAPIDE (coral, cobras, mambas, asps, and kraits) cause severe headaches, blurred vision, dizziness, weakness, confusion, twitching, difficulty breathing, irregular heartbeat, drop in blood pressure and tingling. Apply a tourniquet around the affected limb closest to the bite, over a single bone like the elbow or knee. Tighten to stop the arterial flow but release for thirty seconds every twenty minutes to allow fresh blood into the limb. ister the antivenom. DO NOT USE MORPHINE.

HYDROPHINE (sea snakes) bites are normally painless. Within two hours there will be muscle pain. In three hours you are likely to have reddish brown urine and nuerotoxic symptoms. Death occurs between twelve and twenty four hours without treatment. All hydrophine bites will need a treatment for shock and if no antivenom is immediately available then put a restricting bandage NOT A TOURNIQUET around the bite. Use ice or cold water to keep it as cold as possible. Antivenom is the only antidote, incision and suction are of no use in hydrophine bites.”

On Tuesday Leaf sat in on a culture class and was fascinated by the facts that Yair taught the class. “In Northern Siberia women throw slugs at a man to show they love him,” Yair told them. Leaf wondered how Christian would feel if she started throwing slugs at him. “Swedish girls put seven different herbs inside their pillow cases on

midsummer’s night to dream of their future husbands.”

After the class Leaf searched around the Poppy Field for seven different herbs. But if she dreamed who her husband would be, by the morning all was forgotten and she remained none the wiser.

Chapter Eight

LEMON AND SALT

“I can’t wait to see my mum, I miss her so much,” Jade said on the way down to the gate on Visitor’s Day. “My mum is my best friend and it has been really hard keeping the Key a secret from her.” “My mum and I are best friends too, and I also found it hard because I used to share everything with her,” Leaf told her sadly. “I can’t stand my mum, and my mum can’t stand me,” Eden laughed at her own joke and then explained that her mum was a fall down drunk and she had been put into foster care three times. “Is your mum coming today?” Jade asked, as they all put their masks on in preparation. “I hope not,” replied Eden. Leaf thought that was really sad. She didn’t know how she would have coped without her mum. Unfortunately, Eden’s mum did show up and she was already intoxicated and staggering around without a mask and being loud. “WHERE HAVE YOU HIDDEN MY DAUGHTER?” she shouted. Eden was so embarrassed that she hid in the East Forest so no one would know it was her mum. The woman was so out of control that the Director had to ask her to leave, and had her escorted out of the camp by the security guard. She had come on several buses but the Director called her a taxi and paid for her journey all the way back to Burnt Oak in North London.

Leaf’s dad had brought Willow and Yuri to visit. Leaf gave them piggybacks across the Activities Field and pretending she was a horse as she galloped over the bridge with Yuri on her back and Willow running behind.

Leaf settled them all in the Picnic Area and told Dad to get himself a cup of tea from the dining tent, while she just went to check on a friend for ten minutes. Leaf found Eden crying on her bed, took off her mask and gave her a long hug. Then Leaf pulled away and looked at Eden earnestly. “This is a big problem, Eden, and you should not have to deal with it on your own. I think you should have a chat with Penelope and she will know how to advise you. Do you have any brothers and sisters to share this rotten burden?” “No, it is just me and my mum, but it is more like I am the mum. Sometimes I have to dress her and feed her and bath her. I can’t cope anymore. I feel so ashamed,” Eden told her. “You have no reason to feel ashamed. Come on, we will go and find Penelope.” She helped Eden up and gave her a tissue from the box on the table to blow her nose. They put their masks on and walked down to the Teacher’s Hut and found Penelope reading on the sofa. Leaf left Eden with her having explained the situation a little. Penelope switched the kettle on to make Eden a cup of tea. Leaf returned to her dad, Willow, and Yuri. She picked Willow up and swung her round. “Everything alright?” Dad asked, holding Yuri. “I just wanted to check on that drunk woman’s kid,” Leaf told him, sitting down at the picnic table. “Parents are supposed to protect their kids from harm but a lot of parents cause harm to their kids,” said Dad, trying to get Yuri to eat his sandwich. “Was she alright?” “I suppose. I took her to the camp councillor for a chat and a cup of tea,” Leaf told him. “Did your mum tell you our flat got broken into? They totally ransacked the place!” Dad told her.

“No, Mum didn’t tell me but I haven’t spoken to her since she called me last week.” “Luckily, we were all out having dinner with Dana’s friends and their children. They didn’t steal anything but they turned the place upside down. It was like they were looking for something in particular. It is all too coincidental that your old house got ransacked and your grandmother’s house too. I think our family has been targeted for some reason. I told the police all of this and they think it is suspicious. Unfortunately they have no suspects.” “House burglaries are on the rise. A few kids here have been robbed too in the last few months. It is probably just an epidemic in North London,” Leaf told her dad. She knew it was the Lockers. They had seen her face at Skinwalker Ranch. Although they still had no proof that she was a Key Guardian, they would suspect her and Lilly more than ever as they had managed to get to America in time to save Lilly’s dad. She knew the Lockers thought she might have hidden the Key at her father’s house. “Hiya Leaf,” said a voice behind her. She turned around and was overjoyed to see Samuel Dickery Pratt, AKA Winnie The Pooh. She jump up and hugged him. Three year old Yuri came up and hugged him too, even though he didn’t know him, but his big sister obviously liked him and that was enough for him. They laughed, it was so cute. “I’m going to hang out with Luke and Christian now but I’ll hang out with you later,” Sam told her and then in a whisper he said, “I’m staying tonight. I’m crashing in a sleeping bag on the floor of Luke and Hassan’s tent. I will have to lay low after four o’clock so I will meet you at the tree houses at nine-thirty.” “Okay,” Leaf whispered back, and he left. “Let’s take Willow and Yuri to see the horses,” Leaf suggested. Dad nodded and picked up Yuri who was trying to catch a butterfly. Willow wanted Leaf to carry her. She was five and getting heavy. Leaf was struggling by the time they reached the Poppy Field so she put Willow down and made a game of running through the flowers looking for rabbits. Mandy was at the stables preparing the horses to give visitors lessons. Willow loved the horses and stroked their noses. Yuri was scared when a horse snorted at him. Dad lifted Willow onto Bessie’s back and Mandy led her around

the field. Willow squealed with joy. “You should get her riding lessons, Dad,” Leaf suggested. “I’ll look into it. She does seem to love it,” Dad replied, and smiled lovingly at his youngest daughter looking so very proud of herself. Leaf wondered if he loved Willow more than her. Yuri wanted to go to the Dog Den to see Bubba. Leaf took Dad and her siblings to see all the fruits and vegetables they were growing. They ate cherries off the trees in the orchard and Yuri had figs. Yuri still wanted to see Bubba. They collected Bubba and went for a walk through the Rainbow Forest. Dad took photos with all his three children playing between the colourful trees. They returned Bubba to Susie’s care and went for lunch, followed by a lazy afternoon in the poppy field. Dad pointed out a fox by the tree line and several rabbits scarpered.

After assembly, Leaf walked them to the gate and kissed them all goodbye through their masks. Willow cried to leave her sister but Leaf promised to see her soon. Leaf had band practise for the next two hours, and then she ran errands for the Director before supper. After washing up, she hung out with Lilly until ninefifteen. Then Leaf went to meet Sam, and Lilly went to find Luke. Leaf was walking past the Bear Den on her way to the tree houses, when she caught sight of Christian Devoir and Tammy Gordon kissing behind a tree. “I love you so much, Christian, I want to be with you forever” Tammy told him. “Me too,” Leaf heard Christian reply, and Leaf’s heart fractured. She started running towards the East Forest. The tears were running down her cheeks. She ran faster and faster, dodging the trees at a breakneck speed. She stopped close to the tree houses, caught her breath, and walked the rest of the way, sobbing. She tried to pull herself together as she got close to the tree house.

“Hiya,” said Sam who was sitting under a tree outside the Wolf tree house. “I can’t use my Whiteash Key anymore today or I’ll end up with a severe nose bleed so I’m staying over. I don’t have keys to get into the Bear tree house anymore, so you will have to let me into Wolf territory. I’ve never seen inside the Wolf tree house.” Then he stopped talking because he noticed that she was upset. “What’s the matter?” “I really liked Christian Devoir but he just told Tammy Gordon that he loves her and wants to be with her forever,” Leaf purged, and then burst into tearsagain. “You win some, you lose some,” Sam replied, unsympathetically. “Thanks!” Leaf laughed through her tears. “Come on, get the gate open, Woman” Sam shoved her towards the gate and she got the key out of her pocket. They locked the gate behind them and climbed the stairs up the tree, along the wooden bridge and onto the platform with the hut that had LOCO LOBOS FOREVER painted up the side. Leaf opened the door with another key and they went in. Sam looked around quite impressed. They had a camping gas stove and cool boxes with melted ice and warm fizzy drinks in them. The walls were covered in reading material and pictures that the Wolves had stuck up: poems, jokes they had written, pictures they had drawn or articles and pictures cut from magazines. The floor had a grey carpet and large colourful cushions to chill out on. “Got any glasses?” Sam asked, pulling a bottle of tequila out of his bag. “I don’t think so.” “That’s okay, we can just swig from the bottle. Have you got your knife on you?” Leaf got out her penknife. “Here, Cut up these four lemons. I just got them fresh from the Gnome’s Rainforest. I had to kill time while you were all at supper so I went for a walk and got the lemons. I have some salt in here too. Luke swiped it for me from the dining tent, you can take it back later. And I have some music.” Sam pulled out his phone and pressed play on his favourite playlist. Leaf cut up the lemons in thick slices, how Sam instructed. He showed her how to lick the area of her hand between her thumb and index finger and

cover the area in salt, take a swig of tequila, suck a lemon and lick the salt. Leaf was feeling low so she was up for it, she wanted to feel numb. At first Leaf pulled faces at how strong the tequila was and how sour the lemon but after the second swig, lemon and salt, the flavours of sour and salty became addictive. They chatted away, listening to music and taking swigs. They laughed and talked about old times and not once did the chatter lull in two hours. They were lying next to each other on the cushions, completely chilled out, the bottle three quarters empty. “So what is this about liking Christian then? If he wants to be with Tammy let him. There are plenty more fish in the sea for a girl as beautiful as you, Leaf.” “Do you think I am beautiful, Sam?” Sam turned and looked her dead in the eye. “I think you are one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen, and I’m including girls on the TV,” he told her. His words flattered her. She looked at him. Being seventeen really suited him. Leaf would be turning seventeen really soon and wondered if it would suit her too. Sam really was handsome these days. He was such a lovely, funny person; such a good friend. He cared about her a lot more than stupid Christian did. She was busy thinking this and was still looking at him. He took it as a sign. He leaned forward and kissed her. It felt nice. She was drunk and feeling carefree. She closed her eyes and kissed him back. Before she knew it, they were both taking their clothes off.

Chapter Nine

NEVER AGAIN

Leaf awoke the next morning with her face stuck to the carpet. She had a blinding headache and at first she didn’t know where she was. Then the tree house stopped spinning long enough for her to identify it. She was wearing only knickers and Sam was in his boxers. “Good morning!” Sam’s words clanged like two saucepans in her painful brain. “Oh my god, Sam, we did “IT” last night, didn’t we?” Leaf said, using her fingers in quotation marks for emphasis. “Do you regret it?” he asked her. She thought about it, before she answered. “I don’t most of it. I really regret drinking and I am definitely giving it up. Never again! I regret not sticking to my life plan of losing my virginity at nineteen. In a month I will be seventeen, so I am two years early. I regret that I will never be a virgin ever again. BUT, if I was going to lose it, I don’t regret losing it to someone I am so comfortable with and trust. However, you are one of my dearest friends, Sam and I don’t want to mess that up. So I think this should be a onetime thing, okay?” “Okay. It was my first time too, and I’m glad it was with you,” Sam replied, earnestly. Leaf gave him a hug. He tried to kiss her but she pulled away and said they should not complicate things. Leaf hoped this wasn’t going to ruin their friendship. “What time is it?” Leaf asked. “Leaf, you are so late for your exams! It’s eleven o’clock. You missed breakfast, and assembly,” Sam stated.

“I missed my meeting with the Director and my Gardening exam. I’m late for my driving test and I’m still too drunk to drive. I’m in so much trouble! I’ve got to go!” They pulled themselves together and ran out the door, across the wobbly bridge, spiralling round the tree down to the ground and out the gate. “Bye Sam. I’ll call you and we’ll meet up soon, okay,” she said. He went to kiss her on the lips and she diverted the kiss to her cheek. It was awkward. Sam looked a bit moody but she did not have time to worry about it and ran to the Go-Kart track. Tom was waiting in the car. “What time do you call this?” Tom scolded her. “I’m sorry. I overslept,” Leaf itted, closing the car door. Her head was pounding and she felt extremely sick. “Leaf, get out of the car! NOW!” Tom ordered, “You reek of alcohol. You are getting a zero on your test. Now go away, and get yourself cleaned up.” Leaf did the walk of shame to the showers, vomiting in a bush on the way. She swore to herself she would never drink again, and for the next two years she never touched another drop. She never ever drank tequila ever again, never. For the rest of her life just the smell of it made her want to vomit.

Leaf went back to the tent, took two headache pills, drank three glasses of water and fell asleep. When she woke up it was after lunchtime and she was supposed to be in band practise. She presumed the band would go over the music. It might be good for them not to have the singer there for a session. Her head was still pounding and the tent was spinning. She had to put one foot out of the bed and onto the floor to try and ground herself. She was sick eight times into the bucket Lilly had considerately put beside her bed when she was sleeping in a stinking stupor. Leaf felt a bit better after vomiting, drank some water and lay resting on her bed.

At the end of lunch Lilly came to find her. The next forty-five minutes was supposed to be in classes of their choice and they had no exam for that, so they chilled out in their tent and listened to music. Lilly got two cans of cold drinks

out of the fridge and gave one to Leaf. “So where have you been?” Lilly wanted to know. Leaf told her what had happened the previous night. “How do you feel not being a virgin anymore?” Lilly asked her friend. “The same as before really, except I feel slightly queasy as I still haven’t eaten. I’m glad I lost it with someone who cares about me but I’m worried it is going to make things awkward between me and Sam.” “Did you use protection?” Lilly questioned, concerned. “Yes. I that bit. We were laughing ‘cause he couldn’t get it on at first.” “Was it crap as it was your first time? Did it hurt?” “It wasn’t crap. It was kind of funny because I was with Sam but it wasn’t brilliant either. It only hurt for a moment, and then I didn’t feel very much, and then it was okay, quite nice actually. It only lasted about five minutes and it got all weird at the end, a bit like Sam was having a fit, and five minutes later he fell asleep. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” Leaf told her. “I heard that it gets better. Luke and I still haven’t done it but I think I’ll be ready to soon, maybe in a few more months. I’m lucky ‘cause Luke doesn’t pressure me and says he is happy to wait until I’m ready. I think seventeen is a good age to start.” “I almost made it to seventeen, missed that marker by one month.” “Oh well, never mind. Come on, let’s go you slut or I’ll be late for my Hebrew exam,” Lilly teased. Leaf gave her a friendly punch in the arm. Leaf quickly got changed into her Kimono and ran down to her Kung Fu exam where she had to avoid looking at Christian. She felt paranoid that he would be able to tell that she slept with Sam, and she felt guilty like she had cheated on Christian. She realised in that moment that she had had sex with Sam for three reasons: mainly because she was angry and hurt by Christian. The second reason was because stupidly she got drunk because she was angry at

Christian, and the third reason was because Sam had kissed her and it felt good because she was drunk and angry at Christian. Leaf wondered if Christian had had sex with Tammy yet. Then she felt angry and sad all at the same time. She scolded herself because Christian was not her to feel possessive over. She should be happy for Tammy not jealous. Leaf wanted to talk to her mum about Christian and losing her virginity but it wasn’t the sort of thing you said over the phone. Leaf felt a bit displaced for the rest of the day. She went to the Teachers Hut and apologised to Edward for not turning up that morning. She said she had been feeling sick and stayed in bed. The Director told her that it was okay, there had not been much to do, that he had it covered and she should go and take it easy as she looked a bit green. With that compliment she left. She could not wait for her bed and climbed into her sleeping bag and snuggled up with Bubba straight after supper. Lilly went to hang out with Luke and let Leaf get an early night. Leaf had a dream that Christian Devoir was trying to get to her. Tammy and Sam were trying to stop him by using fire extinguishers and creating a thick white fog. Leaf and Christian were lost in the whiteness, calling each other’s names. Leaf ed the next morning that she still had the herbs in her pillowcase. Both Sam and Christian had been in the dream.

Chapter Ten

GNOMES IN PERU

On the second Saturday, Leaf held band auditions for the new camp band that would start next summer. As there was a shortage of musicians and just enough applicants, the auditions did not take long. Kwasi seemed to have all round talent in percussion, and while Ali stayed on drums, Kawsi added to the band with bongos, skills on the tambourine, rainmakers and hand shakers. John Lemon was okay on the guitar and with practise he would soon improve. Eden Welsh could play violin and basic piano. Valcom stayed on bass. Grayson, Lucy and Jade tried out for singing. They all had reasonable voices but Lucy was by far the best. Leaf chose Lucy for the lead. Grayson and Jade became the backing singers. “What kind of music do you think you’ll sing with the band?” Leaf asked Lucy. “I like Ariana Grande and modern stuff. The stuff you did was great ‘n’ all but most of it was ol’ stuff. I’m going to mix modern stuff with swamp blues.” “Well the new name of the camp band is Lucy and The Swamp Bugs. What do you think?” “I think it’s great!” exclaimed Lucy, grinning. After all the band had been chosen, they left. Leaf and the Tree Whisperers had a rehearsal for the special night they had planned for their last ever concert.

That afternoon no one had booked horse riding so Lilly and Leaf had free time, and had arranged to meet Apple and Dew at the office to go to the

Rainbow Mountains in Peru. They all wore extra layers as Dew had warned them that it can get very cold. They each had a bottle of water. Leaf took her first aid kit and her knife. Lilly took snacks and lip protector. Dew had a big rucksack hoisted on her back. “I’m probably not coming back with you,” she explained, “I’ve told my parents that if Rio will have me, then I will be staying in Peru.” “She’s leaving me,” Apple sulked. “And I will have no one when you two leave after the summer.” “When we come back to teach we will take you to visit Dew, and you can always ask another Guardian to take you before then,” Lilly said, trying to comfort her. “I suppose,” Apple replied but she did not look happy. Lilly put her Key in the lock and gave instructions for the door closest to the Rainbow Mountains in Peru. Apple and Dew held hands and Apple held onto Leaf’s skirt. Leaf held onto Lilly. They all went through the doorway and found themselves coming out of a hut with a corrugated metal roof that served as a shop for hikers. In the distance they could see snowy peaks and all around them was green, brown and grey mountainous terrain but they could not see any rainbow colours and Leaf felt disappointed. However, there was a promising red path. “We have to hike up this red path towards the Red Valley. Walk slowly and breathe deeply,” Dew told them. It was cold but the sun was out. The high altitude made breathing difficult. Dew and Apple lagged behind as their little legs could not keep up. A colourfully dressed Peruvian was descending towards them with a flock of woolly lamas. Leaf and Lilly quickly removed their coats, each picked up one of the Gnome girls and covered them. The Peruvian man waved and they waved back. Continuing to carry the Gnomes, Leaf and Lilly pressed on.

Three hours later, they reached the summit, and there before them was the most beautiful view. The mountains were streaked with red, cream, lavender, green, turquoise, gold and maroon. They stopped to drink water and take photos of the breathtaking, panoramic view.

“Where do we go from here?” Lilly asked Dew who was on the ground peeking out of Lilly’s coat. “This way,” Dew said, thrusting off the coat and taking off along the ridge. Lilly picked up her coat and they followed Dew. After crossing to the next colourful peak, Dew started to descend. Panting, they went after her. Halfway down, they came across a cave and Dew guided them inside. At the back of the cave was a small hole. Leaf and Lilly were too big to fit inside. Dew told them to wait there and Apple went with her. Twenty minutes later they returned with three other Gnomes who wore jackets and hats in rainbow stripes. “This is Rio,” Dew introduced a teenage Gnome with a happy face. “And this is his mother and father who will soon be my in-laws.” Leaf and Lilly shook hands with Rio’s parents. “Mucho gusto,” the girls said politely, meaning “Pleased to meet you.” The parents replied that they were enchanted to meet them and thanked Leaf and Lilly for bringing Dew. “Have you asked him then?” Leaf questioned Dew. “He asked me what I was doing here. I told him that I had come to marry him and he said that would be great. It was as easy as that. His parents are very pleased for us and have said that I am most welcome to live with them.” “You Gnomes don’t mess about when it comes to marriage, do you!” Lilly remarked. “Are you sure this is what you want?” Leaf asked her. “Oh yes, I could not be happier,” Dew assured them. “Where are you actually going to be living? In that hole?” Leaf was concerned. Dew laughed. “That hole leads to gigantic caverns that stretch out under the Rainbow Mountains. There is a whole Gnome city under there with shops and everything. It is five times the size of the Gnome Village at the Whiteash Camp. There are over three hundred Rainbow Gnomes living down there, and

they are such lovely people,” Dew assured her. Leaf wished she could see it as it sounded amazing. Rio’s parents had recognised the look of concern on Leaf’s face and in Spanish they promised that Dew would be well taken care of. “Well, give us a hug goodbye then,” Apple told her friend and she started to cry as Dew embraced her in a farewell hug. “I’ll see you again,” Dew promised. Apple nodded and wiped her eyes. Dew jumped up and hugged Leaf and Lilly. The Rainbow Gnomes reached up and Leaf and Lilly bent down and shook their hands. Apple led them back out of the cave and back along the ridge. They saw a Peruvian woman leading a small rag of colts. They hid Apple under Leaf’s coat and called to the woman, asking her how much she would charge to let them ride two of the horses back down the mountains. “Diez pesos,” she replied. Lilly asked if she would accept twenty American dollars. She was overjoyed to accept. Lilly gave her the money and they climbed up into the saddles with Apple still hidden in the coat which Leaf placed in front of her on the colt. They trotted slowly alongside the woman and her other colts. The way was long, arduous, and the horses continually farted.

After two and a half hours, they could see two rainbow flags blowing in the wind and soon the shop came into sight. They dismounted, thanked the woman, and waited for her to continue on her journey before they turned to the closed shop door. Lilly used her Key, and Leaf carried a weeping Apple through the door back to camp.

Chapter Eleven

CRAWLERS

Leaf awoke to Bubba panting her fishy breath in her face. It was unusually hot that Sunday morning. Leaf woke Lilly and they got dressed. Leaf went to drop Bubba off at the Dog Den and then went to breakfast. Lilly had saved her some chocolate cereal. Hassan was talking to Luke but also looking at Lilly and Leaf, hoping to rope them in on his idea. “In India one of the most sacred Hindu temples is the Panabhaswamy. I have been there twice with my father. We only stood outside because we are not Hindu, and only Hindus are allowed inside. The temple has a locked room that has never been opened, and it is said to contain treasures and a secrets. All my life I have wanted to know what is in that room,” Hassan told them. “Let’s go this lunchtime and find out what’s in there.” Luke, Lilly, and Leaf all agreed to go.

Leaf spent the morning teaching art but at lunchtime she and her friends gathered at Lilly’s office and Hassan put his Key in the lock and gave directions. Leaf and Lilly wore colourful saris which Hassan had nipped home and borrowed from his aunty. They wore long silk scarves to cover their hair and faces so no one would realise they were not Indian Hindus. The boys put their collars up and kept their heads down. They stepped through the portal of a parked van into the warm spicy smell of India. Dominating the view was a temple of epic proportions, its façade of shimmering gold. “How will we find the room? It looks gigantic,” Leaf whispered.

“It is supposed to be below ground,” Hassan answered. They entered the temple, following Hassan. The central room was huge and in the middle was a reclining Vishnu icon leaning on a serpent. They went through a third door and came across a twenty feet high stone Sri Panabha after whom the temple was named. Hassan hurried them through the temple. Luckily, there were not many people as prayers had not begun yet and no one noticed them. “They found six chambers below the temple, five of which contained enormous jewels and gold coins and more treasure than you could ever imagine, thirty billion dollars worth. Despite all the goodies they found in the five chambers, no one dares to open the sixth door and no one knows why,” said Hassan. “Well, if they don’t want all the gold and the billions worth of jewels behind door number six, then we should take it,” Lilly replied. “There must be a terrible curse that protects it,” Hassan warned. “I don’t think we should take anything. I just want to see. I want to know what is in there.” Curiosity had got the better of them all. When the security guards were not looking and the cameras had turned the other way, they leapt over the chain that had a sign on it saying, NO ENTRY, and hurried down the stone stairs. There were five iron doors with lack locks and hatches but the sixth was preposterous in its humungous size. Two huge embossed cobras guarded the double doors and smaller carvings of snakes twisted around the whittled frame made to look like thorny vines growing around the entrance. In the middle of the frame above the centre of the door, an uninviting devilish mask with an extended tongue scared off those who dared to come near. The Guardians approached it with trepidation. There seemed to be no lock. “Some people say that if you open that door a great torrent of water will come out and flood the whole of city of Kerala,” Hassan warned them. “There must be a trick to open it,” Luke concluded, taking no heed of Hassan’s fear. “Look around for a lock.” Leaf and Lilly looked about the door. Hassan looked for signs of water or damp. Luke studied the carvings on the doors: a shield and a cobra on each side.

“Wait,” said Hassan, suddenly ing and rummaging in his bag for something. He produced a folded piece of paper on which he had written the Garuda Mantra his grandfather had taught him. “We all have to chant this in time, melodically in a low tone like how the Buddhist monks sing. We can open the doors with vibration the same way the monks moved the huge boulders. They all started to chant in unison in a low hum. They had to go into a meditation state and chant for a long time. When they got the rhythm right the doors began to shake a little, then a lot. Then it popped open just a crack, enough for Luke and Hassan to put their weight behind the doors and push. They opened enough to get through but found themselves in a compartment facing a large wooden door. Again they chanted and the door opened. Then they were faced with a solid iron door. They chanted but nothing happened. “I think we have to chant for longer and put all our energy into it. Everyone sit down and go into a deeper state of meditation,” Hassan instructed. They all sat in a circle and took a few minutes to go into a meditation limbo. Almost in a trance they chanted for fifteen minutes and finally the door started to move. Knowing that they would be unable to push it open they continued the chant for another half an hour. Finally the gap was wide enough for them to squeeze through.

At the end of a dark and damp empty chamber was a series of catacombs, a network of ages leading to rooms once used as an underground cemetery. They walked along the empty tunnels using their phones as torches. They entered one of the rooms. The walls were crumbling under the pressure of roots and ivy. There were twelve earthen tombs with broken lids. Luke approached a tomb and looked inside but it was so dark. He could barely see anything. Trying to shine his torch inside wasn’t helping, so he slid his hand into the gap to feel around. He managed to squeeze in up to his wrist. There were hissing sounds coming from all the cracks in the walls and ceiling. Serpents started to wriggle out and drop down on them. Lilly and Leaf screamed. Something inside the tomb grabbed Luke’s hand and he screamed but he managed to wriggle his hand out of the hole.

All of a sudden, from out of the tomb burst a vile and terrifying creature. Its mouth opened wider than its eyeless head, showing hundreds of ferocious sharp teeth like an anglerfish. Its body emerge, grey, thin and human-like in shape but it crawled across the floor on all four at a tremendous speed. “RUN!” cried Hassan, “It’s a Crawler! They eat people!” Hassan had seen a picture of one in a book once but he never believed they really existed. All the other tombs began to break open and more Crawlers were escaping. The creatures seemed to be blind until they held their hands up to their closed and sunken eye sockets. At the end of each of their fingers, instead of nails there were tiny eyeballs which spotted the Guardians running towards the tunnel. They gave chase on their hands and feet with their mouths wide open. The Guardians sped through the earth tunnel, reached a network of stone ages and took the one they had come down to get back to the chamber with the three doors. They leapt over a quiver of giant cobras, and hysterically waded through a sea of baby cobras. Near the iron door, a smaller cobra struck at Lilly’s leg and she screamed. The Crawlers had stopped at the choice of tunnels, raising their hands to their eye sockets, searching for the Guardians. They spotted the footprints in the dust and gave chase. The Guardians slipped through the partially opened iron door, pulling Lilly with them. They dropped to the floor, Luke and Hassan trying to meditate and chant to close the door. Leaf assessed Lilly’s wound. Lilly said she felt weak and dizzy. She started to twitch uncontrollably. “It is an elapidae venom,” Leaf said and Lilly nodded. “Yes, it was a small cobra,” Lilly confirmed. “My head is starting to really hurt.” Leaf ripped the sleeve off her shirt and applied a tourniquet above Lilly’s knee using a pen and twisted it to cut off her blood flow. She told Lilly to hold it tight. Seeing that Lilly could still manage that, Leaf dropped into a lotus position with the boys and chanted. Leaf ed the exact tone and perfect pitch.

At first the chanting wasn’t working, snakes were slithering through and Leaf was trying to stay calm and not panic. Then the Iron door closed a little, enough to lessen the gap so that the Crawlers could no longer get through. The monsters screeched in frustration having reached the door and a Crawler’s arm lashed out at them through the opening. They continued to chant. The Iron door closed completely. A crawler screamed and there was a wet crunching sound. No one looked. They squeezed through the opening of the wooden door and chanted. The door slammed shut. Lilly was able to limp through the heavy cobra embossed doors. Together they all chanted and watched the doors close. Leaf released the pressure for thirty seconds to let the blood flow, and then tied the tourniquet tighter. Luke lifted Lilly who was too weak to stand. They ran to the stairs. Leaf hurdled the no entry sign on the chain. Hassan helped Luke and they ran for the nearest door with a lock before anyone could stop them.

Once through the portal, they ran down Learning Land carrying Lilly to the Medical Hut. “Cobra bite!” screamed Leaf as she burst through the door. Nurse Norma raced to the cabinet and an exhausted Luke placed a ed out Lilly on the bed. Lilly was injected with the anti-venom but still her eyes remained closed. Nurse Norma hooked Lilly up to an I.V. The others stayed by her bed, waiting and praying. After twenty minutes, Lilly opened her eyes and smiled at the worried faces of her friends. “She is going to be fine but she must stay here overnight,” Nurse Norma told them. Presuming that the incident had happened during survival training, Norma didn’t report it to the Director as she presumed Tom would. The guilty Guardians could not believe their luck.

Chapter Twelve

OUTBACK

On Monday morning after she had dropped Bubba off, Leaf went to collect Lilly from the Medical Hut. Lilly was having a cup of tea with Nurse Norma and looked so much better. They went to breakfast and Luke could not stop kissing Lilly because he was so relieved not to have lost her. After assembly Leaf went to run errands for the Director. He had told her to return to the Teacher’s Hut afterwards as he had another job for her. “I have to go and sort something in the Gnome Village. Susan Shepard brought a bloody cat to camp and it spends all its time terrorizing the Gnomes. While I am gone I would like you to lock the door and go down to the chamber where we keep the Whiteash Files. On the shelf you will see the box with all the Keys. They get put down there after the Guardians have handed them all in. I want you to check each Key against the Master Key to make sure none of them are fake. The Key Book is also there, so you can check for a name if you find a fake one,” the Director told her and then left. She locked the door and pushed the desk off the trapdoor. After removing the rug, she pulled open the hatch and climbed down the steps using her torch phone. It was so eerie being down there on her own. She thought about how Elizabeth and her friends had searched for the tunnels before the Shadowman had taken her. She wanted to tell Elizabeth that she knew where the tunnels were but she could not break another oath. It was bad enough that she was going to have to lie about the Keys and say they were all real, and if someone got caught Key Jumping the Director would know that she had lied and would think that she could not be trusted. Despite how she hated it, it was more against her nature to betray all of her friends. She walked into the middle chamber which had a small desk, lots of filing

cabinets, and a row of photo albums up on the shelf. She saw the box and the Key Book but she did not bother to get them down. Instead she reached for a photo album and sat at the desk to look at it. She flicked through all the photos of Guardians taken as far back as the summer of 1918. She saw two photos with Grammy in them taken in 1959. She hardly recognised her but her name was written underneath, Bernadette Latoure. Leaf traced her finger over the image of the woman she had adored and sorely missed. Leaf put the album back and returned to the Teacher’s Hut. Leaf wrote a note for the Director saying all the Keys glowed and left it on his desk so that she would not have to lie to him in person.

At eleven forty-five Tom told them how to treat burns. “Burns can be life threatening in a survival situation. There are three types of burns you must learn to identify in order to give treatment. First degree burns are the least serious and usually only the first layer of skin is burnt. Second degree burns are very red, produce blisters and are very painful for up to forty eight hours. Third degree not only burns through the top two layers of skin but also deeper tissues. With third degree there is a high risk of infection and severe fluid loss. The skin is usually charred black and the victim will suffer intense pain.

“1, Irrigate the burn with sterile cold water and remove any foreign objects from the wound. 2, Pour peroxide on the burn followed by a light coating of Iodine and an antibiotic cream. 3, Cover wounds with non-adhering gauze pad (make sure it is sterile). Do not make the dressing air tight. 4. All yellow and white dead tissue must be removed. Take off the bandages everyday and scrub the burn with sterile gauze and peroxide. Then repeat the cleansing and dressing.”

The children all winced thinking how excruciatingly painful that must be to have third degree burns scrubbed with gauze and peroxide. They walked away with gratitude that they had not had to experience that. Leaf considered herself so lucky that only her hair had been burnt in the fire of Lucy’s and Daisy’s tent.

On Tuesday, Chen Yin took Leaf, Megan, Valerie, and Laurence to Japan to practice their Japanese. Leaf hung out with Megan because Valerie was giving her the cold shoulder since she had been talking with Tammy. In the distance was a snow covered mountain but in the park of cherry blossoms the weather was quite warm. The surrounding buildings had two or three stories with upturned roofs. In Japanese, they ordered snow cones from a street vendor. They had three different flavour syrups to pour over the crushed ice in the paper cones, Leaf chose plum. Their group traipsed happily on a Japanese style bridge over a manmade pond of coy fish, and watched two beautiful painted ladies walk past in silk kimonos and thick soled wooden shoes. Chen Yin explained that they were Geisha. A boy on a bicycle stopped to try and sell them chewing gum but Chen Yin waved him away. People travelled in carriages with two big wheels pulled by men with hankies tied on their heads to keep the sun off. Pale skinned women carried sun umbrellas. The streets were immaculately clean and everything seemed efficient and well organised. Chen Yin took them to his favourite sushi restaurant in a Japanese-styled restaurant with sliding paper doors. They sat on the floor, had Jasmine tea and a feast of sushi. Leaf could not have been happier. She loved everything about Japan, especially sushi, and promised herself that she would return on a regular basis.

On Wednesday they had a First Aid class on treating broken bones and spinal

injuries. “A person might hear or feel their bone break. If there is loss of motion, partially or completely, this is an indication of a fracture or if there is a grating sound with movement. If the limb has an abnormal movement, such as the arm bending instead of the elbow, then something is broken. There will be tenderness, maybe muscle spasm, around the injury and usually a change of colour. An open fracture is when the bone has come through the skin or something has penetrated the skin and fractured the bone. A closed fracture means that the bone is broken but the skin is not open.” “A fractured limb should be put in a padded splint in exactly the position you find it so as to prevent further injury on the way to hospital. If you cannot get to a hospital, check the pulse at the wrist. If the hands are cold and there is no pulse there then you must restore blood flow to the lower arm or risk the need for amputation.” “Pinch the hand and if there is no feeling the fracture should be considered serious. Apply traction by continuously pulling the limb to try to restore nerve response and pulse. Release traction slowly, checking pulse and nerve response. If they are there, even only partially, apply a splint.” “When there is internal bleeding but no bones broken, you will see discolouration. Elevate the limb and apply moderate pressure. If the bones are chipped apply a cold pack to the elevated limb.” “If it is an open wound, control the bleeding by applying pressure. Check for nerve response. Irrigate the wound and remove any loose bone fragments or foreign objects. Use traction, try to reset the fracture, and then close the wound. Check first for nerves and pulse, reapplying traction and resetting if there are none. A broken finger should be strapped to a small straight piece of wood. A broken toe should be strapped to the toe next to it. Any spinal injuries can cause paralysis and be fatal. Pain in the back and being unable to move are indications of spinal injury. If you see a deformity in the spinal column or it is tender to the touch, arms uncontrollably extended above the head, a persistent erect penis, and a loss of bladder control, these are

all signs of spinal injury.” The students sniggered. “Spinal Injury is no joke and you are not ten years old anymore. May I continue?” The sniggering stopped. “If the patient is face up, carefully put a folded blanket under the small of their back to stop bone fragments compressing the spinal column. If the person is face down, put the blanket under their chest. If you have to move the person, always move the whole body, especially the spine, as a non-flexible unit on a board longer than the patient.” Tom instructed them to follow him to the Activities Field so that they could practise on the dummies from the equipment sheds. He continued the class as they walked. “If a person’s neck is broken fit it with a cervical collar. If you don’t have one then place a rolled towel under the neck and place two sandbags or boots or something similar on either side of the head to stop it moving and wait for an ambulance to arrive. When the ribs are broken apply an elastic bandage or tell the patient to hold their breath while you apply two strips of adhesive tape across the shoulder on the injured side. Apply felt or foam rubber or something similar over the injured ribs and tell the patient to hold their breath while you tape around the body. It will take four to six weeks to heal and rest is recommended. For a skull fracture you must place the patient in the recovery position. If there is yellow liquid seeping from the ears and nose, place the person leaking side down to allow the liquid to escape. Keep the person immobilised and comfortable and call for help. Tom continued to teach them about dressings, tourniquets, how to stop arterial bleeding and how to suture wounds. He went round assisting each of them and repeated information, all of which they practised on the dummies. By the time they went to lunch, they all felt like they had done a shift in the emergency room at a hospital.

At four forty-five on Wednesday afternoon, Charlotte Winters - now

Charlotte Potter - took them to the Australian outback in 1930 to learn Aboriginal medicines. The land was expansive, barren and hot. Sweating, they hiked behind Charlotte across the plain to an Aboriginal settlement where she was welcomed by the dark curly haired people who knew her. She introduced her class to a bulbous nosed man named Pikey who like his piers wore only a loincloth. His body was covered with scares that looked like they had been made intentionally. Charlotte explained that they were there to learn from the Aboriginal way of life. Pikey nodded. This was not the first time that Charlotte had bought a group of young people to learn from him. “Well this morning I bagged myself five Iguanas, so I could show you how we have a cookout,” Pikey told them. He told them to follow him, and he walked them into the bush. “This is a Pandanus tree,” he said, tapping on a tree that had several thin trunks leading up to a spiky head of long leaves. “We use the fibres from the top leaves to make bags and we eat that knobbly fruit you see growing up there.” He stripped off several fibres from the leaves and tied them to the side of his loincloth. He walked them back to his camp and close by he pulled up some shoots to show them the Australian yams which looked like small turnips. “Long yams can be eaten raw but we grate the skin off these small yams into pulp, put them in bags we make from the pandanus fibres, and soak them in the river for twenty four hours to get rid of the poisonous toxins. Then we can make potato cakes with them.” He took them to the river, where several bags tied to rocks were bobbing in the water. He lifted a bag and water poured out of several holes. He tied the dripping bag to his loincloth and headed back up the bank, stopped at a large anthill to poke about in it. “Termite mounds hold heat for the fire. We put the yam pulp on a tray of sticks and birch bark with vegetation soaked in water to protect the yams from the fire. Back in my hut I have long yams which I will cook tonight. We pile on the yams and cover the whole fire in earth and leave it one hour to cook. I’ll take this bag of yam pulp back to my wife and she can make sweet potato cakes for my kids, but I fancy iguana for lunch,” Pikey told them.

There was a fire already burning by his hut and he invited the Guardians to sit around it. They watched him tie iguana’s legs with the long fibres from the pandanus leaves so that the legs did not burn on the fire. He slipped a stick through the legs and ed them over the fire to roast. “You see this? It is called a King Alfred’s cake. It is made from the fungus on the ash trees. You break it in the middle and put smoking tinder between the two halves and it will burn like charcoal.” While waiting for the iguanas to cook, he showed them several plants that they used for medicine. When he was satisfied that the iguanas were well done, he retrieved them from the fire, cut one up and offered the morsels around. Charlotte encouraged everyone to try it. Leaf, despite feeling sorry for the iguanas, reached out and took a small piece. “It tastes like fish,” Leaf said and everyone agreed. Charlotte thanked Pikey and told him that they ought to be making tracks. He nodded. The class said goodbye and followed Charlotte back across the hot plain to the door of a house they had used as the portal, and they all went back to camp.

That evening it was Leaf’s turn to round up the chickens and chase them into the coop. It was quite a palaver and she slipped in the mud as the defiant chickens ran in every direction. Eventually she caught them all, locked the gate and went to get changed for supper.

Chapter Thirteen

ULTIMATE SURVIVAL WEEKEND

Leaf was walking up to the tuck shop during party prep time when she saw Daisy, Valcom, and Henry at the top of Learning Land. She was close enough to see and hear what was going on. “She loves me, as strange as it may seem to you. Why can’t you just leave us alone,” Henry yelled at Valcom but looking nervous and nerdy. “I’m her friend and I think you are being overly possessive,” Valcom squared up to him. Henry’s knees began to knock but he bravely or stupidly answered back. “I’m not possessive! YOU ARE!” Henry said, short of breath. Valcom punched him on the jaw and knocked his glasses off. Daisy ran up and retrieved his glasses from the ground and protectively put her arms around Henry, telling Valcom to get lost. Henry was having an asthma attack and Daisy patted his pockets to find his inhaler. “Tent,” Henry wheezed, unable to breathe and he was turning blue. “Valcom, run to his tent and get his inhaler,” Daisy ordered. Valcom hesitated in defiance. Leaf ran towards them. “He’s dying, you idiot,” Daisy screamed at Valcom, and he ran for the inhaler. He must have run like his own life depended on it because he was back in less than ninety seconds. Daisy pumped the medicine into Henry’s lungs. He gasped for air and began to breathe normally. Having caught his breath and feeling stronger he stood up to face Valcom. “You almost killed me!” raged Henry, and an instant wind whipped up. The trees around them swayed, leaves swirled around Valcom, and branches fell from

the trees. One branch floated through the air and aimed for Valcom’s head. “Henry, stop it, now!” Daisy cried in despair. Henry heard the stress in her voice and immediately the wind stopped and the branch fell to the ground. Daisy grabbed Henry’s arm and dragged him away, shouting at Valcom to leave them alone. Leaf walked back to the tuck shop and asked Luke if he had just witnessed what had happened but Luke was obliviously watching football on his phone. She bought some chocolate, and with time to kill, walked slowly down to Key Talk.

The third weekend was Survival Weekend. At four o’clock the Wolves headed off into the East Forest. Fifteen minutes later, the Bears were allowed into the forest. Jimmy Leggit stayed behind in the Medical Hut because he wasn’t feeling great and Survival Weekend would be too much for him. “Why don’t we just use the huts we built last year as the Bears still don’t know where they are,” suggested Patrick. The others agreed and the headed to the two huts on the furthest rim of the forest that they had built last summer. They found the huts but they were in need of repair as they had been weathered but it was easier than building new shelters. Leaf had collected a bag of vegetables from the allotments and set to work making a hangi. She dug a shallow pit, placed wood in crossed sections, and then put lots of large stones on top, then more wood topped by more stones as Tom had shown them in a Survival Skills class. She lit the wood, and when the stones were very hot she put chicken burgers for the others on a hot metal rack resting on the hot stones, and above that she placed the vegetables on a wire rack. She covered it all with a wet hessian sack and then soil, to be left one hour to cook. Patrick and Fabrizio climbed up into trees to act as snipers and look outs. Armed with paint balloons, Lilly sent Hassan, Luke, Daisy, and Lucy off to search for the Bears. Megan pitched the flag into the ground about two metres from the huts. Alba and Lilly went to make rope traps around the camp to hoist any snooping

Bears up into the air. Leaf set about making the shelters snug for the night ahead and kept an eye on the hangi cooking the food.

Leaf was starting to unearth the hangi to retrieve the food, when she saw the flag starting to wobble. It lifted magically into the air. She ran to it, jumped and managed to grab hold of the pole. She yelled to the boys in the trees. They looked around and spotted Henry’s head poking out of a bush. “Henry at three o’clock. Grab him!” Fabrizio yelled back to her. She dropped the flag and chased after Henry who was trying to run for it. Leaf tackled him to the ground and sat on him, calling for Megan and Alba to come and help her. They emerged from the trees carrying rope. The three girls tied Henry up and marched him back to the camp. “Where is your camp?” Megan demanded. “I shall never tell,” Henry replied. “Then we shall torture you until you tell us what we want to know,” Alba told him, sounding like the Gestapo. Megan and Alba tied him to a tree and began to tickle him. He squealed. Leaf went to find his glasses which had fallen off when she had tackled him. She placed them on his face and told the others to leave him be. “Are you on your own? Or did others come with you?” she questioned him. “We all spit up. I saw the flag over the bushes. I should have gone back to tell the others but I thought I could get the flag without you noticing,” Henry itted. “Keep your eyes open for Bears, they are close by,” she yelled up to Patrick. “We can’t let him go, he knows where the camp is,” Alba said. “Leave him tied to the tree but don’t torture him,” Leaf replied. “Grab your ammunition and let’s go scout around to keep the others Bears away.” They each grabbed a bag of paint balloons and headed off deeper into the forest. Alba had to run back to gag Henry as he was screaming out to warn the others and

trying to give away the location of the Wolf camp. Leaf and Megan ran from tree to tree trying to stay covered. About fifty metres from their camp, they saw Kwasi and John running through the bushes. They lobbed their balloons at them and hit John but Kwasi managed to get away. They followed him. Catching sight of Hassan, Luke, Daisy, and Lucy, they quietly signalled them to follow too. Kwasi, thinking he had escaped, led them straight back to the Bear camp. The Wolves ambushed the camp, and while a full on war of flying paint took place, Leaf managed to run unscathed into the centre and grab hold of the enemy flag. She held it high and cheered. It was over. “YOU LED THEM STRAIGHT TO OUR CAMP!” David yelled at Kwasi and turned his balloons on the boy. The other Bears turned on Kwasi and pelted him with the rest of their paint balloons. Poor Kwasi was dripping from head to foot in red paint. Triumphantly, Leaf and the others returned to their camp with the flag. Fabrizio came down from the trees, shot Henry with his paintball gun and told him that was what he got for being a hero. Leaf cut Henry loose. He lifted his shirt to reveal an angry red welt from where Fabrizio shot him, and ran off into the forest, crying. The Wolves ate the food that had cooked in the hangi but after supper they decided not to spend the night in the forest. They packed up and headed back to the Wolf Den to spend a comfortable night in their tents.

Chapter Fourteen

THE LAST WEEK

On Thursday they had their second Visitor’s Day and Mum came with Duncan and Sarah. Mum went to the cottage, Duncan went to find Christian and Laurence, and Leaf took Sarah up to the stables to go horse riding. It was another pleasant Visitor’s Day that ed all too quickly. Both Sarah and Duncan were sad when they parted at the gate, knowing that this would be the last time they would ever visit the camp. Duncan had exchanged details with all his camp friends and promised to stay in touch. When her guests had left, Leaf returned to her tent to study for the Friday exams. Lilly was already there studying as neither of her parents had come to England that year. She had spent the day helping Mandy to give horse riding lessons which had ended by two thirty.

After the day of tests, they got their final exam results in Friday’s Key Talk. Leaf was pleased, she had scored all eights and nines. Apple was waiting outside the Blue Meadow with a trolley full of the Camp Gazette. The headlines of the last week’s newspaper was: LILLY LEAVES. Leaf read on. Camp journalist and editor of the Camp Gazette, Lilly Fontaine, is leaving in a few days and she wishes to say a fond farewell to all her readers. Leaf started to cry. She could not bear goodbyes. She stayed outside the Blue Meadow collecting all the fake keys as the students filed past, her heart gaining weight with each goodbye.

After the last exam, most Guardians collected around the chessboards in Learning Land to watch the final chess game played between Hassan and Laurence. Laurence won and would leave camp the undefeated champion.

On the last Saturday morning, Leaf went with Lilly to muck out the horses. Leaf missed Flash Gordon being there to greet her. Mandy was there and she helped to clean the stalls. Afterwards, Leaf and Lilly went for a ride through the Rainbow Forest and talked about their plans for after camp. “I am determined to start a band this year so I am going to hang notices for band outside all the colleges and see if I can get any response. I don’t suppose you want to be the guitarist do you?” Leaf asked. “I could be an on and off member but I can’t be there for every rehearsal as I will be really busy trying to get my own magazine off the ground. I’ve also got an apprenticeship with the magazine California Culture.” “We’ll work something out. First, I have to find the other band . I am really sad that Leaf and the Tree Whisperers will be over soon.” “It is good that we get to stay at camp an extra two days, even if it is to work. I think it will make leaving easier,” commented Lilly. “I just can’t think about it or I’ll start crying,” Leaf replied. They galloped back to the stables. The rest of the afternoon the two girls spent in band practise. Susan turned up at the Practise Hut to deliver Leaf’s, Lilly’s, Christian’s, and Valerie’s caps and gowns for the leaving ceremony. Leaf felt dread in the pit of her stomach when she saw them.

Before supper they dressed in their graduation gowns, adorned their tasselled caps and walked down towards the Hidden Garden. The other Prefects were on their way down and they ed the procession of navy blue. They entered the Hidden Garden, walking tall with pride and sat on the front row that had been reserved for them. The Director, Edward Steinberg, climbed the four steps up onto the stage,

and with microphone in hand he faced the seated crowd of Guardians. “Tonight is a night crossed with both sadness and joy. Supper will be in the dining tent at seven. At eight we will all assemble in the Rainbow Forest for the end of camp party. Before we celebrate what a wonderful summer it has been, we must say a sad farewell to our fourteen Prefects. When I call your name will you please come up to the stage and receive your Key and diploma. Susan Shepard, Bear, Key number twenty-seven.” Susan rose from her chair and went up to receive her Key and her Diploma that was under the fake name of Hill Croft Summer Camp. As the audience clapped, she put her tassel to the other side and walked to the end of the stage to wait. “Valerie Taylor, Bear, Key number eighteen.” Some people cheered for Valerie. She had always been popular as she bought laughter wherever she went. Except now Jimmy Leggit was sitting in his wheelchair wailing at the loss of his friend. People were laughing because they thought he was faking it. He was over exaggerating to make it funny but his tears were real. The Director handed Valerie the Key. She did a little celebratory dance and finished with a Michael Jackson spin. Everyone laughed and clapped. “Thank you very much,” she said into the Director’s microphone imitating the voice of Elvis Presley. Everyone clapped hard with smiles on their faces as she did the moonwalk to the end of the stage. Leaf was sad that Valerie was no longer talking to her over the Tammy and Christian situation. Tammy was suspicious and had shared those suspicions with Valerie and they had been ignoring her for days. Leaf would never do anything to purposely hurt Tammy, and she was trying to avoid Christian as much as possible but she could not help the way she felt. “Tammy Gordon, Bear, Key number sixty-four.” Leaf clapped along with everyone else. She had always liked Tammy, before they both fell in love with Christian. Tammy looked down at Christian and smiled, sharing this moment with him. “Laurence Portier our computer whizz. Bear, Key number six.” The Seventh Year boys cheered for him and everyone else clapped. “David Hummer, Bear, Key number nine.” Everyone clapped politely. “Christian Devoir, Bear, Key number forty-six.” Everyone clapped

enthusiastically. Christian looked down at Leaf and smiled. She smiled back and then looked at Tammy who was seething. “Patrick O’Malley, Wolf, Key number twenty-four.” All the Guardians clapped hard, especially the Prefects. Patrick was well liked. “Fabrizio Tononi, Wolf, Key number seventy-four.” Patrick cheered from the end of the stage for his friend as he accepted his Key. Fabrizio winked at Lilly, moved his tassel and went to stand beside Patrick who hugged him. Leaf’s legs were starting to shake, knowing her name would soon be called. She prayed she wouldn’t just a get a polite clap like David. She was so nervous that she took Lilly’s hand. Lilly looked at Leaf and told her to breathe. “Luke Charlton, Wolf, Key number sixty.” Luke kissed Lilly and went up to receive his Key and diploma. Lilly cheered. Leaf released her hand so they could clap. Everyone clapped enthusiastically and there were a few yells of, “Go on mate!” “Megan Garcia, Wolf, Key number thirty-seven.” Megan went up to applause. “Alba Lopez, Wolf, Key number eighty-three.” Alba went up, received her Key and diploma, moved her tassel and ed her friend. “Lilly Fontaine,” Leaf squeezed her hand. “Wolf, Key number thirty-three.” Lilly got up to whistling and cheering. She walked up the steps, shook the Director’s hand, accepted her Key and diploma and smiled to the clapping crowd. Leaf cheered but she felt sick knowing she was next. “And finally we have our camp lead singer, let’s hear it for Leaf Golden, Wolf, Key number forty-nine.” Leaf stood and walked up onto the stage. The crowd were on their feet, cheering as loudly as they could. Leaf had her hand over her mouth in disbelief as tears poured down her face. They were giving her a standing ovation. Her! The girl who had arrived at camp ten-years-old with only one friend in the whole world. Now she looked out over a sea of ers, friends that loved and understood her. Lots of them were wearing their Universalist T-shirts. They all smiled and clapped hard with their hands above their heads. She would miss every one of them. Even Valerie was clapping, and Tammy was sort of putting her hands together, so as not to stand out.

Leaf collected her Key and hugged the Director. “Well done, Leaf,” congratulated the Director. She moved her tassel and walked towards the others. Leaf pulled off her cap, and yelling “THE PREFECTS OF 2021!” she threw her cap high into the air. The other Seventh Years did the same. The crowd went wild. When the clapping and cheering had stopped and everyone had hugged everyone, they filed out to go back to their tents before supper. Leaf caught Grayson on the way out of the Hidden Garden and asked him if he would give her a makeover. He agreed and she followed him to his tent of cosmetic transformation. She emerged forty minutes later looking stunning, and ran with Grayson to the dining tent late for their Mongolian supper.

“COSTUMES FOR TONIGHT! COSTUMES FOR TONIGHT!” Leaf yelled around the Wolf Den. She popped into each tent to deliver their black hooded monks robes. Everyone hugged her and wished her well and made her cry. After checking her waterproof mascara in the mirror of the Wolf toilet block, she carried the remaining robes to the Bear Den. She saw Christian and asked him to hand them out. “You look very pretty,” Christian told her, taking the robes. She held his eye for a moment. It felt like he was trying tell her something through his eyes. Unsure what was being silently said, she blushed and walked away.

Wearing their robes, the Prefects left supper early. Taking drinks, a table and D.J equipment, they headed off to the Rainbow Forest to set up for the party. They lugged the tree stump stools from the Blue Meadow and put them around the wooded area in groups. Lloyd had built the band a simple platform to serve as a stage, and they ran a super long extension cord to the forest from the cottage. By the time the other’s

arrived the Seventh Years were all dancing to Laurence’s perfectly mixed music. It started the party off well and everyone ed in. It was a joyous night, surrounded by the beauty of the colourful trees. There was lots of laughter. David had people in hysterics trying to dance like a robot. The Gnomes turned up wearing tiny little robes. All their costumes were made by the women of the village who seemed to all be talented seamstresses. The Gnomes looked like they belonged in a Star Wars film. A few teachers showed up: Yair, Tom, Mrs. White (Time Changes and Consequences), Susan Tracker (Martial Arts), Sarah Newport and Mr. Johannson who were now officially a couple and were going to find a flat in Sussex and move in together. They all wore the robes that Leaf had left in the Teacher’s Hut. Most of the other teachers had already left camp. Tammy Gordon was clinging onto Christian’s arm for dear life. He had to tear himself away when the band got up on the stage. Leaf raised her hood and the band started to play I Put a Spell on You by Nina Simone. “Tonight we have a surprise for you and we are going to take you to a magical place. So we have a few songs we would like to sing for you to set the vibe,” said Leaf into the microphone. She began to sing and everyone was transfixed. Leaf tried not to catch Christian’s eye as she sang the words. The crowd cheered as they finished. Kwasi ed the band to play percussion instruments with the next song of “Spooky” by Dusty Springfield. The audience started dancing to the infectious beat. Everyone was grooving and having a good time. Patrick and Fabrizio were pouring drinks and telling everyone that monks invented beer, as a code for they had beer stashed under the table. Some of the older Guardians handed over their plastic cups to be filled under that table. Leaf would not be drinking any of that, she had sworn off alcohol forever.

The next song was fun and Christian and Leaf played around with I Want to be Evil by Eartha Kitt. Leaf prowled around the stage and threw an imaginary pie at Christian who jerked backwards pretending to be hit as his fingers continuously danced on the piano keys. Leaf acted out the words to the song and

pretended to stomp on feet and pull the wings off flies. Everyone laughed and enjoyed the performance. It ended in enthusiastic applause. The next song was one of Leaf’s favourites, Goodnight Moon by Shivaree which was from Leaf’s second favourite film, Kill Bill 2. “This song I dedicate to my dearest friend, Lilly Fontaine,” Leaf said.

Leaf felt her stomach drop when the band started the last song as it affected her so much. It was I’d rather Go Blind by Etta James. Christian was watching her. She closed her eyes. Leaf sang into the microphone, feeling every word. Halfway through Leaf opened her eyes and looked at Christian and the tears rolled down her cheeks. Christian didn’t take his eyes off her and Leaf sang the song to him with her heart overflowed with emotion. Even Christian’s eyes welled up. Leaf sang with such feeling that some of the audience were also in tears. Everyone cheered when the song was over and the band wrapped up for the night. “Thank you everyone, you have been a wonderful audience tonight and for the last six years. This was the last ever concert by Leaf and the Tree Whisperers. Next year the Whiteash Camp will have a completely new band, called Lucy and the Swamp Bugs.” Lucy waved from the back of the stage and the audience clapped but they were sad Leaf and the Tree Whisperers were finished. “Student Guardians, now we are all going on a little trip to Stonehenge, so everyone make your way down to Learning Land to be put into groups to be Jumped there,” Leaf told them and she got down from the stage with the rest of the band. The Gnomes waved goodbye and headed back into the North Forest. The teachers went to the Teachers Camp, and the Guardians drifted towards Learning Land. The Director organised a line of nineteen students. Prefect Susan Shepard bullied three students into her line. Lilly and Leaf went together. “The closest locked door to Stonehenge,” Lilly instructed the door as Susan

and the Director had said before her. They came through the door of a thatched roof cottage down the road from the site. It was almost midnight and the road was quiet. They walked single file carrying the battery powered lanterns, along the side of the main road to avoid the odd car. Without the lantern they would be almost invisible, shrouded in their robes in the darkness. The moon was exceptionally bright despite only being a waning moon. Leaf thought it was a shame that the moon wasn’t full as it had been on the previous weekend. They did not want to be seen jumping over the low barbed wire fence, so they turned all the lanterns off. They hopped over the fence with their robes hitched up and trekked under the half moon over the grass of the Salisbury Plain towards the giant stones. The wind whistled past their ears. The energy got stronger the closer they got to the henge. They formed a semicircle, inside the outer circle of stones, facing the moon. They all had their hoods up and would have looked very spooky to any onlookers. The Director handed out all their Keys and Christian began to chant. The other Guardians and the Director ed in:

“Praise be to the Ogdoads from the ocean of Nun who gave us life. Praise be to the Anunnaki who gave us knowledge. Praise be to the square throne of Amoun our door between the physical and the spiritual.

Praise be to Hathor who gave us magic.

Praise be to Osiris and Isis who protect us under the constellations of Orion and Sirius.

On the lines of Saint Michael and Mother Mary who shelter us.

In the eye of the father Elias Whiteash and those who guide us in wisdom. Bestow upon us fullness in our need.”

At that moment a cloud ed in front of the moon and everything turned black. The students felt afraid. Unable to see anything, they waited. No one turned on the lanterns as they did not want to be seen from the road. When the cloud moved, a moon beam shone down through the standing stones, hitting the altar stone and illuminating the whole area, bathing it in moonlight. It felt very peaceful and magical. “Oi, you lot! What are you up to?” shouted an argy voice in the darkness. They scarpered. The students fled through the darkness in the direction of the thatched cottage, forming into their groups before they reached the door. The Director took his group first. They could hear sirens approaching. Susan Jumped her group. Lilly and Leaf went through the door just as a police car went past with lights flashing.

Back at camp, the Seventh Years went to clean up the Rainbow Forest, and the rest of the Guardians went to bed. At two in the morning Leaf and Lilly fell onto their cots. “Your voice was even more amazing than usual tonight,” Lilly told her in the darkness. “…and Christian is definitely in love with you.” “But it is too late now,” Leaf sighed. “Que sera, sera,” Lilly answered, meaning what will be will be. “Goodnight beautiful Moon,” Leaf said.

“Goodnight beautiful Leaf. Goodnight Moon.” “Goodnight Lovely Lilly.” Leaf did not want to fall asleep because she did not want camp to end. Eventually exhaustion got the better of her and she closed her eyes.

Chapter Fifteen

THE VERY LAST DAY

Leaf awoke feeling melancholy. Everyone was quiet at breakfast. Lucy started crying which set all the Seventh Year girls off. In Assembly the Director gave an inspiring speech about knowledge opening doors and knowledge being the Key. “KNOWLEDGE WILL SET YOU FREE!” yelled the students in response. “I wish you all well during the next eleven months until we see you again. To our Seventh Years, we hope you find great happiness in whatever choices you make in this lifetime. Enjoy your morning everyone. The gate will be opened at four so you can meet your parents outside the gate at whatever time you have arranged after that. If any of you need to leave before four in order to catch flights, please let me know after the assembly. We will now end with the Camp Motto,” Edward Steinberg said.

“WATCH WHAT YOU DO!

WATCH WHAT YOU SAY!

DON'T TAKES THINGS PERSONALLY!

DO YOUR BEST EVERY DAY!

DON'T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS!

KNOW ALL YOU SEE!

TRY TO DO GOOD, AND ALWAYS PROTECT THE KEY!”

As everyone was leaving assembly, Lilly and Leaf got all their friends to sign their new “I was at camp 2021” T-shirts. Leaf went to ask her favourite teachers to sign and Yair wrote, “I know you will go far. Best wishes for a wonderful future, Yair”. Leaf was really pleased and gave him a hug.

Lilly, Luke, and Valerie were sent to help Aunty Clara pack up the kitchen and dining tents. Other Prefects were sent to help out in other areas of the camp, and to check with all the Guardians to see if anyone needed help taking stuff down to the gate after four. Leaf went to help the Director. She had to collect all important documents, plus a copy of the camp maps and rules and hide them down in the Director’s hidden chambers. Everything else Leaf had to take to the Blue Meadow and burn it. All the other Guardians returned to burn their paperwork on the fire. Leaf watched the evidence of her last year at camp go up in smoke. Her heart felt sad. She hugged Lucy, Daisy, Henry, and Valcom goodbye in the Blue Meadow. As Leaf was leaving the meadow, she saw Henry and Valcom shaking hands. Daisy gave Valcom a hug. Leaf smiled and went back to see what more needed to be done for the Director.

At three thirty, Leaf went to hide out at the cottage because she could not bear to watch everyone leave. She hated goodbyes. Charlotte and Elizabeth

welcomed her and put the kettle on and Leaf played on the floor with Forest. They invited her to stay for supper and she accepted. Charlotte served an organic salad, homemade bread and fresh grilled sardines. She returned to the Wolf Den at six thirty. It was getting dark. The quiet of the camp made Leaf feel sick with emotion. Lilly was waiting for her in their tent. “We have to cover all the tents except the Prefect’s tents with those blue covers,” Lilly told her. “What now?” “Yes, we are supposed to get it done before it gets dark.” “Let’s get on with it then,” replied Leaf and they went outside and pulled the covers over all of the tents. As they covered each tent, Leaf thought about whose tent it was and if she would ever see them again. She tried hard not to cry.

Back in their tent, Lilly was sorting out all her stuff, most of which she would have to give away as her Mum had told her only to bring two suitcases and one piece of hand luggage home. Lilly gave Leaf her lava lamp, her purple rug, her dream catcher, the beaded curtain and some of her clothes. Lilly also gave clothes to Megan and Alba. She said she was giving the fridge to Luke. At eight-thirty, Leaf went to relight the fire in the Blue Meadow. Zachary bought down tins of baked beans, sliced bread to make toast, drinks and left over cakes from the kitchen tent. At nine, all the Prefects showed up and they got busy making their supper on the fire. They talked about memories they had of camp. “ when Ernie and Dylan let that giant into the camp,” Leaf said, and they laughed. “Those crows were terrifying,” Lilly added.

“What about when we had that tomato fight between the tree houses,” Valerie reminded them. “David almost got pelted off the bridge.” “ how we found old Elizabeth,” said Lilly. “And what about when the Lady of Shalott gave us beer,” Patrick added. “And when Sam farted in Nostradamus’s cupboard,” Luke recalled and everyone laughed. They all had great memories to tell and the night ed with lots of laughter and nostalgia. At midnight, Leaf snuggled up in her bed with Bubba. “It is so sad that it is all over,” Leaf said to Lilly. “I can’t think about it, Leaf. I just have to move on with my life,” Lilly told her, bluntly. Lilly wasn’t open when it came to emotion, she preferred to block her feelings off. “Goodnight Lilly. Goodnight Moon.” “Sleep well, Leaf. Try not to think about it. Goodnight Moon.”

Monday ed too quickly, filled with chores. In the afternoon they all went swimming in the river. Leaf watched Christian’s body language with Tammy. He looked like he was trying to be kind and tolerant but she could see that he was also trying to spend some time with his friends which was difficult with Tammy stuck to him like a limpet. Christian caught Leaf watching him. He gave her one of his heart melting smiles.

Tuesday was the Seventh Year’s very last day. In the morning Leaf and Lilly went to the Gnome Village to say goodbye. All the Gnomes gathered around them to shake hands or hug, depending on how well they knew Leaf and Lilly. Apple wailed and turned to sob on Jackdaw’s shoulder. “I’m leaving you the office. You are now the new chief and editor of not

only the Gnome Monthly but also the Camp Gazette. It will be a big job covering both and you will need staff,” Lilly told her. “I can get Jackdaw to help me, and I’m sure Fertilizer and Hedgehog won’t mind running errands. Thank you, Lilly. Thank you for everything. I shall miss you and I will never forget you,” Apple sobbed. “Thanks for being a great assistant. I couldn’t have done it without you. I will never forget you either and hopefully you will be here when I come back to teach, whenever that will be. Take care of yourself.” Apple and Lilly had a long hug and then Lilly put her back down on the ground and then Leaf picked Apple up and hugged her.

Leaf walked with Lilly to the stables, but then Leaf continued on to the cottage. Old Elizabeth gave her a bag of fresh scones to take home to Mum. Elizabeth wiped her old eyes, and thanked Leaf for the last time for saving her and bringing her back to Ben. They hugged. “Bye Leaf, thank you for helping to deliver Forest. Go now, before you make us all cry, and come back soon to teach or a least for a visit because we will all be missing you,” said Charlotte. Leaf hugged them both and kissed baby Forest goodbye. She ran from the cottage, crying. Blinded by tears, she ran straight into Christian who caught her and asked her what was wrong. He did not let go of her. “I don’t want it all to be over,” Leaf cried into his shoulder. “What if life is really about to begin?” Christian proposed. “I know we have to move on but I love it here.” “I want to take you on a walk, so that we can talk. Will you come with me?” Christian asked. Leaf nodded. She followed him over the bridge to the Equipment Huts and he stuck his Key in the lock. “Where are we going?” “It is a surprise,” answered Christian. He opened the door and they came out

of the back of a moving train. “When it gets to the bend it will slow down and then we have to jump. Okay are you ready?” Christian told her. Leaf looked at him with fear in her eyes. “I have done it loads of times. I would not let anything bad happen to you, Leaf. On the bend it almost stops, I promise. Do you trust me?” Leaf nodded. He took her hand and waited for the bend. It was true, and at the bend the train was almost at a standstill. “Now!” They jumped off. The train continued slowly around the bend. Leaf and Christian walked in the opposite direction. Before, Leaf had been eyes down focusing on the track ing beneath the train, but now she looked up and saw the beauty of where they were. A green tunnel created by the foliage on both sides extended before them. It was breathtaking. “Do you know where we are, Leaf?” “No, it’s very beautiful though.” “We are in the Tunnel of Love in the Ukraine,” he told her, looking deep into her eyes, hoping she would get the message. “Why did you bring me here when you are in love with Tammy?” “I’m not in love with Tammy,” he stated. “But you told her you love her. I heard you,” Leaf protested. “I have never told anyone outside of my family that I love them. Tammy told me she was in love with me and I did not want to be rude or hurt her so I said, “Me too”. I did not actually say the words, Leaf. I like Tammy a lot but I am not in love with her.” Christian stopped walking and turned to face her. “You are the only girl I have ever been in love with, Leaf,” he said and drew her to him. He kissed her gently on the lips, he stayed close and kept his mouth almost touching hers. “Don’t you know that I have always wanted to be with you,” he breathed into her. Her lips yearned to be closer, touching. She moved towards him and their

lips met and danced together in perfect rhythm. Leaf felt herself melting into him. Nothing in the world existed except this blissful moment. She had never felt so much in a kiss before. It lasted for ages, as if all else was forgotten and the only need left in life was to be ed physically to this person. Leaf could not feel her legs, and her head had taken off to another planet. Suddenly they were jolted back to earth by Christian feeling the rumble of an approaching train. “RUN! We have to get off the tracks,” Christian said, panicked. He grabbed her hand and started running. There were steep banks on the other side of the trees and they had to find safe ground where they could step back away from the train. Leaf looked behind and could see the train approaching. They ran as fast as they could. The train was getting closer. The noise was deafening. At the last second Christian pulled Leaf off the track and held her close to him, out of danger. Leaf hid her face, buried in his fresh washing powder smell, from the battering wind of the train going ed. It seemed to take ages.

They laughed at the near miss and walked hand in hand back down the track to the ticket hut of the nearest station. Christian waited before he put the Key in the lock. “Leaf, camp ends today and I don’t want to hurt Tammy on the last day. So I will call her next week and end it.” “Are you sure you want to do that? You said you were going back to , so we are rarely going to see each other, Christian.” “We can Key Jump anytime we like,” he reminded her but Leaf had a strange feeling that she might not see Christian after today. “Don’t tell Tammy today and we will just see how things go,” Leaf said. She really did not want to hurt Tammy, and even with the Key it felt like Christian would be a long way away in . Leaf could not explain it but instead of feeling overjoyed at finally getting together with Christian, she felt sad. She had this overpowering feeling that he was meant to be with Tammy for now. It might have been a lack of confidence. She thought that if he dumped Tammy for

her he would soon want to return to Tammy. She just felt that as much as they wanted it, it wasn’t going to happen. She did not tell him, she kept her negative thoughts to herself. He kissed her again and all worries melted away. She could have kissed him forever. Eventually he pulled away and put the Key in the lock. They came out of the Time Changes and Consequences Hut and shut the door behind them. He was about to kiss her again, when Valerie came around the corner, followed by the appearance of Tammy. Christian jumped away from Leaf as if she was on fire. “See you later,” he said to her and walked up to Tammy. Leaf went back to her tent and packed up her things. She felt like her heart was drowning in a river of sorrow weighed down with cement blocks.

With forty minutes to spare until Mum arrived, Leaf took a walk around the whole camp. She said goodbye to Learning Land and thanked it for the education she had received there. She said goodbye to Lilly’s office and knocked on the door to give Apple another farewell hug. They both cried again. Leaf walked to the Picnic Area and said goodbye to the dining tent and the kitchen tent and thanked them for all the great meals. A peacock landed on a picnic table and strutted towards her. “Goodbye Mr. Peackock,” Leaf sobbed. The peacock bowed its head and then flew away. Leaf went to say goodbye to the Blue Meadow and thanked it for all the memories. She said goodbye to the Poppy Field and all the wildlife and flowers. She went to the stables and said goodbye to the horses and Mandy. She took a selfie in the Rainbow Forest and said goodbye to the allotments and the orchard and the robin redbreast. She picked an apple and said thank you to the tree. The crisp English apple smelt divine, it was a smell that would always reminded her of camp. She walked back through the East Forest, ing the Storm Huts, ing the moment Forest was born. She said goodbye to the Wolf Den and hugged Megan, Alba, Patrick, and Fabrizio goodbye. After lots of tears and a few more goodbyes, she collected Bubba and her bags. Lilly walked her down

to the gate. Lilly was staying an extra couple of hours and then she was getting a taxi to the airport with her three remaining bags and her guitar. She was taking the flight rather than Jumping home because her dad was picking her up from the airport in California. She had to come out of arrivals and she was scared the airline might call her dad if she did not board the plane and she Jumped instead, and she really wanted to see if they had reopened the shops and sushi restaurant at the airport yet. She wanted to see the changes and new rules of the outside world as they had been cut off from society over the last four weeks and none of them had watched the news recently. Leaf did not envy Lilly having to sit masked on a plane for hours.

On the way to the front gate, Leaf said goodbye to the river, the bridge where they played Pooh Sticks, the Hidden Garden, and the Activities Field. Towards the end of the Tree Garden, Leaf felt a panic attack coming on. She didn’t want it to all be over. She didn’t want to leave. She sobbed on Old Ben’s shoulder. “There, there, now,” he said patting her back. “Ye be going off into the big wide world on lots of Guardian adventures. Get some experience behind ye, and then you can come back and teach the new Guardians. Dry your eyes now, Miss Leaf. Here, it’s a clean one,” he said handing her the freshly washed cotton hankie. She wiped her eyes and went to hand it back. “Ye can keep that as a keepsake, it has my initials on it.” Leaf saw in the corner the letters B.O.P. “Bop,” Leaf Laughed and sniffed. “What does the O stand for?” “Benjamin Oliver Potter is my full name,” he told her. Leaf promised to return as a teacher in ten years with Lilly and Sam. She hoped it was a promise they could keep. She hoped Old Ben would still be alive then. “Bye Bop, I shall miss ye,” Leaf said. “Aye, and me ye. Be gone with ye now, lass,” He wiped his eyes and let them out of the gate.

“Now keep in touch loads,” Leaf said to Lilly. “I’ll try to come for your birthday, and see if you can make it for mine.” “I already wrote your birthday on my calendar so I’ll be there and we’ll hang out loads. Here’s your mum,” Lilly told her, and Mum’s Ibiza drew up beside them. Leaf felt a wave of panic again. She felt that if she got into the car and left, it would all disappear and she would never return as a student. But if she stayed it might go on forever. She wanted to stay in that moment. But the moment was gone, she was no longer allowed back in as a student. She had to accept her time at the Whiteash Summer Camp was over. Lilly hugged her as Mum put Leaf’s bags and Bubba into the car. Both girls sobbed and held each other tightly. “Our lives are about to begin, Leaf, and we are going to do great things. We must be happy we had it, not sad over what we have lost. Anyway, we’ll work it out so that we come back to teach at camp together. I love you, Devil Sister. I’ll call you when I get home,” said Lilly through her tears. “Have a safe flight. Every night I will say, “Goodnight Moon,” and think of you. Thanks for being my tent mate, it was really fun,” Leaf replied. They hugged again. Leaf got into the car and waved a final goodbye to Lilly. Mum drove them away, and the Whiteash Key Camp disappeared.

DRAWINGS BY LEAF GOLDEN