She was the same size as my trusty companions – barely a few inches high – and her wings matched Hester’s translucent iridescence, but any resemblance stopped there. While Otis looked like a thumbnail version of a jaunty factory worker from the nineteenth century, and Hester dressed exclusively in funereal black as if she fashioned herself on Queen Victoria with some elements of more up-to-date Goth-Girl chic thrown in, this brownie looked like an honest-to-goodness princess. In fact, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d told us that she’d stepped out of the pages of a fairy tale.
She had long blonde hair that curled down her back yet somehow avoided getting tangled up with her wings; her features were delicate and her nose was cute and upturned. She was wearing a sky-blue hoop dress with a lace trim. I reckoned Disney would licence her in a heartbeat if they knew she existed.
‘Good morrow,’ she said nervously in a musical voice then flew down to the sink and perched on the edge of the white porcelain.
Hugo and I gaped at her; Otis, however, had already sprung into action. ‘My lady!’ He darted forward, took her hand, bent over and kissed it. ‘You are a true vision.’ He smiled and I realised that his cheeks were flaming red. His blush wasn’t holding him back – far from it. He straightened up, took off his cap and smoothed down his hair. ‘I am Otis.’
The blonde brownie was also blushing, although the colour on her cheeks was more like a blooming rose than a fire engine. ‘It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Eloise.’
Hester snorted. ‘Of course she’s called Eloise,’ she muttered. ‘She wouldn’t be Bertha or Drusilla or Prudence, would she?’ Iwasn’t sure anyone was called by those names nowadays, but I took her point: everything about this unexpected brownie was pretty, even her name.
‘I am so sorry for breaking into your home,’ she said. She lifted her chin and addressed Hugo, suggesting that she was aware of whose home she was in. ‘It is a truly stunning castle.’
‘How long have you been here?’ Hugo asked. His voice was low and gentle but I sensed the steel behind it. Eloise was tiny, beautiful and wholly unthreatening – and that made us very suspicious indeed.
A trace of guilt crossed her face. ‘Since last night.’
‘You smashed the window to get in?’
Her head drooped. ‘Yes.’
Otis looked horrified. ‘You did that? Are you alright? Did you cut yourself on the glass?’
Hester crossed her arms and glared at her brother. ‘Unbelievable. She’s the intruder, Otis! She’s probably a thief. She’sdefinitelyevil.’
Eloise shrank visibly but she didn’t try to deny it, which was curious in itself. ‘I am a thief,’ she admitted. ‘I stole some of your food.’
‘I knew it!’ Hester said. She scowled at Eloise as if she deserved to be hung, drawn and quartered for her actions.
‘You were hungry?’ Otis asked.
‘Starving,’ Eloise mumbled.
I felt my heart go out to her, and I wasn’t the only one. Otis reached out and offered her a hug. She edged away, shaking her head; she didn’t want his touch.
‘I’m also afraid that it was me who knocked down the suit of armour,’ she said quietly. ‘The visor was open and I needed somewhere to hide, so I flew inside but my foot caught and the visor dropped. I was somewhat over-zealous when I tried to find a way out. I panicked and made the suit fall.’
Otis gasped sympathetically. Hugo took a step back and gestured to Miriam, who was standing just behind us. I knew that he was asking her to close the door to the Bone Zone before Eloise glimpsed what was inside.
‘So she’s not just evil,’ Hester said loudly. ‘She’s clumsy too.’
‘That’s enough, Hester,’ I said.
My little sidekick stuck out her tongue. Then, because pulling faces wasn’t enough, she aimed a kick at my jawline. ‘Hey!’ I protested. ‘That hurt!’
‘It was supposed to hurt,’ she sniped.
Otis wasn’t paying us any attention; he was focused entirely on Eloise. ‘What is it?’ he asked her. ‘What’s wrong?’
The blonde brownie was cowering as she stared at me with wide, terrified eyes. It appeared she was expecting something from me, but for the life of me I couldn’t work out what. ‘Are you alright?’ I asked.
‘She’s shaking like a leaf,’ Hugo murmured.
‘Don’t hurt her too much,’ Eloise pleaded. ‘I’m sure she didn’t mean it.’
I tilted my head, baffled. ‘Hurt who? Hester?’
Hester kicked me again. ‘I did mean it,’ she said. ‘And I meant that kick too.’ She eyed Eloise. ‘If you don’t believe me, I’ll kick you as well and you can feel for yourself how much I meant it.’
