Over the last few days and weeks, the warm and sunny summer had been turning to a chillier and much wetter autumn. But this didn’t mean there was less fun to be had outside. In fact, Leah and Felix had enjoyed it raining very much - and had a special reason for doing so.
See - their favourite place to go exploring was Sprivers Wood, and they especially enjoyed trying to make their way along the banks of Sprivers Stream that flows through the wood and empties up into Crystal Mist Reservoir.
And now it had been raining so much, they knew the stream would be more like a river, and even more exciting to follow.
You see, Sprivers Stream doesn’t just flow into Crystal Mist Reservoir like a river flows into the sea. It swirls through the wood, and then crashes over some rocks and falls down as a waterfall. Well today, Leah and Felix did indeed find the stream swollen up with rain water, and when they reached the end it was exploding over the rocks and crashing down into the reservoir with a sound like thunder.
Climbing down the side of the rocks, they were soon at the bottom - and getting wet just from the mist of the falling water.
“Well if we’re already wet through,” said Leah. “Watch this!” And she stepped under the falling water!
“You’re a crazy person!” Said Felix, but shut his eyes and went and stood under the cascading water himself. It was surprisingly warm, like having a nice relaxing shower, and soon, Leah and Felix began to look about them. They’d never been BEHIND the waterfall before, so stepped in deeper until they emerged at the entrance to a large, and perfectly dry cave.
The falling water was like a door behind them - no-body would ever know this cave was here. Perhaps they were the first to discover it?
“Who goes there?” said a little voice.
“Trespassers,” said another voice. “Thieves!”
Leah and Felix knew that voices like that in Sprivers could only belong to one type of creature: Bewls. The tiny beings that guarded the wood. And you didn’t want to get on the wrong side of Bewls.
“We’re not thieves,” said Leah. “Or trespassers.”
Felix nodded. “We’re friends,” he said.
As their eyes got used to the darkness inside the deep cave, they saw four little eyes blinking at them, and then - cautiously - two Bewls emerged.
“I’m Leah, and this is Felix,” said Leah. “We have never stepped through this waterfall before.”
“We’re sorry if we frightened you,” said Felix. “What are your names?”
The two Bewls looked at each other and then one of them spoke. “I am Wentworth. And this be Pec.”
“And what are you doing behind here?” said Leah. “Are you hiding?”
Pec and Wentworth looked at each other. “Hiding… maybe,” said Pec. But then Wentworth interrupted: “But this be our home.”
“You live in a cave?” said Felix, and then realized that that might have sounded a little bit rude.
“I - I mean,” he stammered. “It’s a very nice cave.”
Pec and Wentworth stared at Felix and then, with a wave of their tiny arms a thousand glowing lights illuminated the whole space. Leah and Felix gasped. Not only was the cave enormous, it was fantastic - with lots of little wooden rooms, and slides, and bedrooms up in towers, and comfy leaves piled into other spaces within the structure for sleepovers.
“You built this all by yourselves?” said Leah.
For the first time, Pec and Wentworth smiled. They were proud of their home - and quite rightly so.
“But it’s so big,” said Felix. “You can’t just live here all by yourselves.”
The smiles of Pec and Wentworth’s faces faded, and they turned around and walked further into the cave, where some rocks had been smoothed into chairs. Leah and Felix followed, and felt they were being offered the chance to sit down. So, they did.
Eventually, Pec spoke.
“Three years ago, we built a treehouse, a big treehouse, in one of the trees by our tribe’s base. But - it was too heavy. We got it wrong and it…” he started to cry - so Wentworth continued.
“It broke down two trees,” he explained, sorrowfully. “Bewls protect Sprivers. But we broke it down. So we ran away.”
Leah and Felix looked at each other. “So when you said you were hiding…” said Leah to Pec and Wentworth. “You’ve been hiding in here for three whole years. And you built this by yourselves? …Wow.”
After Leah and Felix had drunk three tiny cups of smashberry tea with Pec and Wentworth, they went back through the waterfall and stood by the banks of Crystal Mist Reservoir. “I’ve got a plan,” said Leah.
“I thought you might have,” said Felix, doubtfully.
They both knew Sprivers Wood very well, and also knew where they were most likely to find the Bewls. And sure enough, in a clearing, they called out and several Bewls appeared to see what the fuss was about. “We need to speak to Stokes and Berry,” said Leah.
Well Stokes and Berry were both very senior Bewls, but Leah and Felix had made friends with them before.
When Stokes and Berry appeared, looking wary, Leah said “We need to talk to you about Pec and Wentworth.”
Well. At the mention of Pec and Wentworth, there was a flurry of activity in all the trees and bushes and Leah and Felix realised that there were hundreds of Bewls listening to them.
Stokes looked at Leah urgently. “Pec and Wentworth? You’ve found them? You know where they are?”
“Yes,” said Felix. “But before we tell you, are they in trouble still?”
“In trouble?” said Berry. “Why? They were our best builders! Their leaving made all Bewls sad and worried. Please, tell us good news.”
Minutes later, Leah and Felix led a whole army of Bewls, with Stokes and Berry at the front, to the waterfall where Sprivers Stream crashes down into Crystal Mist Reservoir. And then, they stepped through it.
Emerging into the cave, which was still lit by the thousands of glowing lights, the hundreds of Bewls soon emerged through the water after them and stood staring in wonder at the huge space and the buildings in it.
“Pec… Wentworth…” said Leah. “We forgot something…”
Pec and Wentworth, happy to hear Leah’s voice, emerged smiling but then stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of Stokes, Berry and all the other Bewls.
And at the sight of Pec and Wentworth the Bewls jumped around in excitement, and Stokes and Berry rushed forwards to embrace them.
The two senior Bewls looked around the cave. “You did all this,” said Berry to Pec and Wentworth.
“We need you to return. There’s so much that needs to be done in the forest. And you are our most skilled builders.”
Pec stared at him. “But the trees we broke…”
Stokes wrapped his arms around them! “Accidents happen,” he said. “Especially to brave young builders.”
Well that very evening Pec and Wentworth were back with their tribe and all their old friends for the first time in three years. And they built new roadways up the trees, and brand new huts, and brand new slides, and brand new places for sleepovers.
But at night, after their work was done and they’d eaten their meal with their friends, they returned to somewhere they both loved more than anywhere - their home behind the waterfall at Crystal Mist Reservoir.
