Fairy Doors (conclusion)

    Dunstan House is beautiful. I can see why Ethan Day would want to live there. It lies at the end of its own driveway off of a quiet lane. It is a large cottage really. Thatched roof. Local stone. Roses around the door. And it sits amid a beautifully mature garden of around two acres (which is actually the Frithgeard that Aelfric was talking about at yesterday’s meeting).
    Everyone who said they were going to come along are here with me. Today, being Litha, Summer has brought a garland of flowers with her and is wearing a circlet of daisies around her head. The garland is to be a gift for Dunstan House from the Fae council. “Good idea,” I tell her. And it is.
     Granny, too, is looking rather summery in a primrose coloured frock two sizes too small. Her normal grey frizz has been tamed by some sort of coconut oil and she is still wearing her old black boots. It is a look undoubtably inspired by Summer but it’s not a good look and a terrible idea.
    Stephen is looking every inch the respectable vicar that he is. And he clearly wants to take charge.
    The first hurdle we are faced with is security. A very tall, strong, wrought iron gate with cameras and an intercom system is preventing us from strolling up the path to knock on the door. A friendly cat appears from the bushes and can clearly come and go through the gate and makes a point of weaving in and out of the bars, mewing loudly as it does so.
    “Now, you're just showing off!” Granny says to it.
    She likes cats.
    “I think it’s best if I do all the talking,” says Stephen.
    It really isn’t.
    “No, it should be Helen. She is the leader of our council and you know nothing about the Frithgeard,” says Aelfric.
    He’s right.
    I clear my throat in readiness to push the button and talk our way in.
    But the Reverend Stephen Miller has other ideas and he pushes me out of his way and firmly presses the button.
    I gasp.
    Granny pokes him with her wand.
    The cat pounces on something and runs away with it through the gate and up the path.
    “Hello,” comes the voice from the intercom. “Can I help you?” It’s a female voice and she sounds a sweet person.
    But Stephen is having trouble finding his words.
    “Hello?” The voice sounds a little concerned.
    “Good morning,” I say. “We are the Fae Council of Thornton Under Elm and we haven’t properly welcomed you to the village. Is this a good time?” I cringe at hearing myself say that.
    “Er,” comes the reply.
    Summer leaps to the rescue. “It being Litha and all that,” she says. “Do you know about Litha?”
    “Actually I do, yes.”
    “Ah! Good.Well, we have come with a gift for you and for the Fae folk you live with.”
    Aelfric smiles and nods his approval.
    Barbara and I wince.
    Stephen is opening and shutting his mouth like a fish out of water.
    Granny is chuckling to herself.
    There is a loud click and a buzzing sound. The gates are opening.
    “Come on,” says Summer, leading the way with Aelfric's arm linked through hers, “let’s get this sorted.”
    As we walk up towards the Dunstan House the door opens and a woman is waiting for us on the doorstep. She has a child with her.
    “Oh how wonderful!” Aelfric is clearly excited. “She is a colourful lady like your self Barbara. Like you, only darker. And taller. And younger.”
    “Oh dear!” Barbara is sounding worried. “That poor woman.”
    Ever since Barbara and her family moved into the village Aelfric has been enamoured by her dark skin colour. He believes that the best thing about humans is that we all come in different colours. Fae are pale. Paler than pale, and they are all the exact same shade of pearlescent. Aelfric loves all women but a dark skinned woman, to him, is a goddess. We have lost count of the times he has propositioned Barbara. Much to her horror.
    “Goodness,” says the lady, as we all arrive on her doorstep. “What a little crowd you are.”
    Summer steps forward. “We, the Fae Council, present to you, on the occasion of Litha, this flower garland.”
    “Thank you very much,” says the woman taking the garland from Summer, “I accept it with grateful thanks.” She looks at us all, more than a little bemused. “Is that what I have to say?”
    “It’s not what you should say,” says Summer, “it’s more about what you should do.”
    I see where she’s going with this.
    “What I should do?” The woman looks confused. “What should I do?”
    “Take down all those little fairy doors,” says Summer. “The ones you stuck on the trees.”
    “And why should I do that?”
     “So that the real faeries can come out and party.”
    “Excuse me?”
    Summer lets out a deep sigh. “It’s mid summer night tonight. Litha.”
    “I know what Litha is,” the woman is starting to sound angry. “What d’you mean by real fairies?
    “The Fae,” says Summer. “They're real.”
    She should never have said this but the conversation is going too quickly for me to interject and steer it in a more ordinary direction.
    “And those doors you’ve put up might look cute but they're really not.”
    The little girl, quiet at her mother’s side until now, squeals in delight. “We have real fairies in our garden?”
    “Yes, yes you do,” says Summer. “Your garden is very special to the Fae and there’s a lot of faerie folk who live here.”    
    “And I am their king,” says Aelfric.  And he shows the little girl his pointed ears.
    Barbara and I groan in unison.
    “Show us,” says the woman.
    “Darling!” Ethan Day pours out of the front door with the cat in his arms. “The cat’s been going mad inside. Been playing with something weird.  And he’s gone and eaten it. D’you think he’s going to be okay?”
    Before the woman can do or say anything, Granny has forced her way through us and stands before Ethan Day. “Let me have a feel of your cat. I can tell you if he’s going to die or not. Give ‘im to me.”
    Surprisingly Ethan Day hands his beloved cat over to Granny without a word. And he looks intently on as she ums and arrs and tickles the cat under its chin.
    “He’s going to be fine. It was nothing poisonous,” she says handing the cat back.
    “Are you sure?” Ethan Day
    “Oh yes, I is very sure. I comes across a lot of cats in my line of work. It was unfortunate he ate what he ate but, well never mind.”
    It’s at this point Ethan Day suddenly notices us all. “Who are … ?”
    His wife raises her hand to him.
    “Show us,” she says again.
    “Show you what? Whats going on?” Ethan bends down to let the cat run off back inside.
    As Aelfric and Summer lead the woman and her daughter into the garden. I catch the words, “And this is what we call the Frithgeard,” coming from Aelfric before they all disappear behind the house from view.
    “So, who are you lot?” Ethan Day is very confused.  “Alicia never said.”
    I apologise to him for our intrusion and I explain about the Fae council and about the Litha celebrations, leaving as much out about the real Fae as I possibly can. I am in no doubt that Summer and Aelfric have informed his wife and daughter of everything they shouldn’t.
    “Ethey, babe, they've got to come down now,” Alicia has become a woman on a mission. “You know you said you felt this place was special? You were right. It is.”
    “We’ve got real faeries, daddy,” squeaks the little girl.
    “It’s got to be a secret though, Aggy,” her mother tells her firmly.
     I apologise, once again, for our intrusion. I thank them for their time and I make sure we leave as a group.
    As we leave the premises, Summer sighs and says,” Well that went well!”
    “You think?” Barbara is being sarcastic.
    “Indeed it did,” says Aelfric. “The fairy doors are being removed and the family are going to look after the Frithgeard properly. I’d say it went very well.”
    “They’ve joined the Fae Council, now, too,” says Summer.
    “What do you mean? They can’t just join. They have to be invited,” I say.
    “And we did invite them,” says Aelfric.
    “By me,” I say. I’m hurt and annoyed by their actions. I’m especially upset that I can do nothing about it.
    Barbara tells me to calm down.
    I don’t want to calm down.    
    “I don’t know why you are so upset, Helen. We did good. Stop putting a downer on it,” says Summer.
    “Did good? A little girl is probably going to invite all her friends to see the faeries. And the Reverend has lost his voice which probably has something to do with Granny.” I am fuming.
    “Not his voice, his tongue,” says Granny. “And yes, it was me.”
    Stephen makes a funny sound and runs off towards the vicarage.
    “See!” I say.
    “At least nobody got arrested,” says Granny.
    And that is very true.
    Nobody got arrested.
    

The End