The Rally 2/11

She went into the woods until she was near the place where the old witch had come through her door. Then she began looking carefully on the ground to see if there were any marks left where the door had been, but it had all happened too long ago. At least she was able to recognise the tree that she was supposed to have raced around.

It didn’t come as too great a surprise when Eve hurried up, obviously a bit out of breath. She must have run out of her house as soon as she’d spotted her going into the woods.

“Hello Jane dear, I do hope we didn’t cause too much bother for you all the other day. It was so exciting when we found out how to use a door, that we never stopped for a moment to think we might be causing any problems!”

“I shouldn’t worry too much about it if I were you. If the Council decide against you, then you won’t remember anything at all about the alternate world. Mum and dad have already told you what will happen if you tell any one here who doesn’t know about the fairy folk and if you’re lucky then perhaps you’ll be taught how to go about safely while you’re over there!”

Eve watched her for a moment as she made another attempt at searching the ground for any traces of the old door. But it was no use, so she straightened up and was just going to say goodbye before going to her canoe, when Eve spoke to her again.

“I don’t want to interfere, but would you mind telling me what you’re looking for down there?”

Jennifer Jane explained the story about the race she’d once had with a witch and that she was hoping to find some evidence of the old postholes for the door she’d used.

“Can’t you just work backwards from the general area and find the origin that way. Georgina explained that it was the easiest way to find where a door came from and led to. She did say she’d tell Adam how to do the calculations, but of course we didn’t know then that she didn’t intend to be around that spot ever again!”

Jennifer Jane looked at Eve with a bit more respect. She’d never even heard about calculations for checking out doors. As far as she was concerned you had to choose a spot, build your door and then go through carefully to find out where you were going.

“I don’t think anyone will mind if I take you to the Witches’ Home to see Abigail,” she said making up her mind, “I was going there anyway in my canoe, but that’s not big enough for the two of us. Now that dad’s been able to bring back the lugger I’m sure he wouldn’t mind letting me use it by myself, it isn’t very far to sail, so nothing should go wrong.”

She hurried off along the woodland path, Eve excitedly following a few steps behind. Then somehow, just as Jennifer Jane had gone round it, a bush seemed to get into Eve’s way and she lost sight of her for a moment.

“Hey, don’t you know your next door neighbour is following you?” asked a goblin, “I only just managed to move a bush in front of her, she was ever so close behind you!”

“It’s quite alright thank you! She’s found out about the alternate world, but the witches haven’t made up their minds yet about how much she’ll be allowed to remember. Provided she or her husband are with one of us, I think it’ll be allowed for a little while anyway.”

The goblin shrugged his shoulders and stood aside. A moment later Eve caught her up.

“I don’t know where you got to, but for a moment there I thought I’d lost you!”

Jennifer Jane grinned and set off again, anticipating Eve’s surprise when she saw Wilfred’s pool for the first time. It was every bit as good as she’d thought!

“I say, this is the lake that Adam photographed isn’t it! Why on earth couldn’t he find it again? And there’s that boat, It must have been your dad’s all the time, I suppose you must have hidden everything by magic!”

She agreed, smiling all over her face, as she led Eve round to the far side of the pool and began taking off the lugger’s cockpit cover. Fortunately Wilfred was away at the moment and there was no need to have to explain about him, so it wasn’t too long before she’d cast of the mooring ropes and set the jib for a leisurely trip along the small river leading to the travel fog.