Sophia and her brother Sandro’s favourite place to explore, and to camp overnight in their own tent, was Sprivers Wood.
No matter how many times they visited - and Sandro and Sophia had visited Sprivers more than a hundred times - they would always find somewhere new to investigate, or a new game to play.
Sprivers was guarded by The Bewls, tiny little creatures no bigger than your finger, who looked after the wood. But they weren’t harmful unless you were doing something to hurt Sprivers. And besides, Sandro and Sophia had made friends with them one night then they’d shared their meal at the campfire.
So on this one occasion, when Sophia and Sandro took the normal, big path into the wood - and then saw the path they’d made themselves last week that led off into the trees and took them all the way to their secret, private campsite - they were hoping they’d be joined by the Bewls.
And sure enough, soon after they’d lit their campfire and tipped some water into their kettle to brew up some Smashberry tea, they heard a scurrying in the bushes, and the jabber of excited conversation, before Berry and Stokes - two of their favorite Bewls - appeared.
They all had a lovely evening sat around the fire, swapping stories and telling jokes, before the conversation got on to who was the fastest? A Bewl or a human?
Well of course both Berry and Stokes insisted it was the Bewls - they could fly, and skip up and over branches and dart through holes in the undergrowth. But then Sophia and Sandro insisted it was humans because what if there were no trees or holes to dart through? Just a track, or a beach? Humans were far bigger, with powerful legs. Not everyone lives in forest.
The funny argument went on so long that it got dark, and the two humans and two Bewls decided the only way to settle it was to have a race the very next morning when it got light.
And with that, their fire flickered out. Sandro and Sophia zipped up their tent, and they all fell asleep.
The next morning Berry and Stokes were waiting outside the tent, fluttering about excitedly. Sandro and Sophia didn’t even have time for breakfast as they discussed the route of the race. One lap of the wood.
Both Sandro and Sophia knew that Stokes and Berry had woken them up early to try and trick them and make sure they were tired. But that wasn’t going to work. They were focussed! And ready to race!
As Sandro and Sophia started running, they were sure that they were in front, but then they’d hear Stokes and Berry zipping through the leaves in the trees up ahead.
Then, Stokes and Berry thought they were in front, but would see Sandro and Sophia ahead of them on the path down below. The two bewls decided that the path must be quicker than the trees and zipped down to Sandro and Sophia’s ankles to race alongside them when all eight of their feet (that’s two feet for Sandro, two feet for Sophia, two feet for Berry, and two feet for Stokes, so that’s eight) began to feel heavy.
The two Bewls tried to zip upwards but they couldn’t. And the two humans tried to lift their legs. But they couldn’t.
“STINK-SAND!” said Stokes.
“What’s Stink Stand!” said Sophia.
“It’s sand you sink in,” said Berry.
“You mean SINK sand,” said Sandro.
“No,” said Stokes. “STINK Sand. It STINKS.”
The smelly pong was overwhelming. Everyone was now stuck fast… and sinking.
“Lift me out,” said Berry.
Sandro and Sophia were only about a meter away from the two Bewls but when Sophia reached out as far as she could she could just about touch Berry, but Stokes was out of reach. She got her hand under Berry’s feet and scooped, and then he was free! Fluttering up into the sky!
“Get help!” Said Stokes.
Berry knew what Stokes knew, but what Sophia and Sandro didn’t know. Which was, that the Stink Sand would swallow you up in a matter of minutes and that would be the end of you. So, even though Stokes was light, he was sinking the same as the two humans. From ankle… to knee… to thigh…
Berry flew up to the top of the trees and looked around desperately. It was so early that all the other Bewls were still sleeping. But there, out to the East, in the middle of the wood, was Crystal Mist Reservoir. He had an idea, and raced down towards it.
As the morning mist covered the reservoir, the famous crystals began to appear. Crystals that were famous because breaking one off would grant you any wish you wanted. But to break one off for no reason was one of the most serious crimes in the whole wood. But this WAS serious. Stokes, and the two humans, were going to perish!
Berry snapped off a crystal as it emerged from the water, and wished…
At Horsmarlonerpool Airport, Laura Bora was just making her first cup of tea when she got an uneasy feeling in her tummy.
Something felt very wrong.
She quickly looked out of the window at her airport, but everything seemed normal. But then the feeling in her tummy got worse. Something, somewhere was very wrong. And without knowing why she put down her cup of tea and ran outside to her helicopter.
Within seconds she had left the ground and was hovering high over the airport. Her instinct told her to head north, and so she dipped the nose of the helicopter and go north she did. But what was she looking for?
As she got closer to Sprivers wood, the feeling in her stomach got worse and worse and she looked down at one patch of trees in particular. Feeling that this was the place to be, she began to lower her helicopter towards the tops of the branches.
Berry was far too small to spot, of course, but he waved frantically to the helicopter and then darted back down to the path where Stokes, Sandro and Sophia where now up to their armpits in stink sand but surrounded now by dozens of panicking Bewls.
They could feel the wind from Laura’s helicopter buffeting through the trees, shaking all the branches around them - when Sophia had an idea.
“Our school is called Half Hitch,” she said.
Sandro shook his head. “They don’t want to hear about Half Hitch now,” he protested.
“It’s called Half Hitch,” continued Sophia, “Because a half hitch is a knot that might not be strong by itself, but if you combine them, it makes a rope that’s unbreakable. Let’s combine!”
The Bewls got the idea immediately. And as some linked on to Sophia, and some to Sandro, and some to Stokes, they formed a line right up to the treetops and then out to the helicopter. Two of the more senior Bewls, Grip and Webb, flew up to the Laura’s windscreen and tapped it. Laura was shocked out of her skin at seeing a Bewl so close up, but saw that they were pointing upwards.
Gently, she pulled back on the controls and the helicopter rose. The line of Bewls held strong under the strain. And down below Sophia, Sandro and Stokes were sucked up and out of the stink sand.
Half an hour later, after Laura Bora had found a safe place to land, she, Sandro, Sophia, Berry, Stokes and all the other Bewls were sitting around the camp fire drinking Smashberry Tea.
“We’ve not proven who is the fastest,” said Stokes. “Bewls or humans.”
Sophia rolled her eyes. “We nearly died trying to prove that!” she said.
“Exactly!” said Laura Bora. “If you want my advice, it doesn’t matter who’s the fastest, or who’s the strongest. What matters is who has the brains and the heart to help each other out.”
And with that, everyone looked at Berry, who was sat with his tiny acorn cup of tea, smiling proudly.
