Carrie Hatchett's Christmas Read online

  “Wait a minute,” said Carrie. “You were at Selfridges too? When the...er...the spotlight burst?”

  “No light burst when I was there,” said Emily. “I don’t know why the newspapers said that. It was those elves. I saw them plain as day as they were running away.”

  “You were in both places, though?” said Carrie.

  “What happened next?” asked Dave.

  “Oh, I’ll never forgive myself,” said Emily, bursting into fresh tears. “I grabbed Beth—she was the littlest of the children—and told the rest to follow me. I didn’t want to them to get involved in that nonsense. But I got confused. I went down the wrong aisle. I thought I was leading them to the exit, but we ran right into some of the elves. I tripped over someone’s bag and dropped Beth. Then, because the children were following so quickly they all tumbled over me. By the time I managed to get to my feet, the elves must have taken Beth. I couldn’t see her among the children. I turned round and thought I spotted some of the elves running down some steps marked 'private’. I tried to follow, but by then aisles were filling with people who wanted to leave. I got to the stairs, but I must have been mistaken because they led to a dead end.

  “I couldn’t find any theatre staff for a while. After I finally told them what had happened, they looked everywhere. No one can find her. Those awful elves must have taken her. Poor Beth. I’m so sorry.”

  “No one in the ticket office has seen any elves leave the theatre,” said Mrs. Beaumont, “and the stage manager hasn’t seen anyone backstage who shouldn’t be, so they can’t have got out the exit at the rear of the theatre. I’m sure they must be hiding somewhere.”

  Carrie put a hand on Emily’s shoulder. “It isn’t your fault. Don’t worry, we’ll do everything we can to find her. I’m sure we can get her back. Can you show us where you think the elves went?”

  Emily nodded and forced herself to her feet. Mrs. Beaumont led the way downstairs. As they reached the ground floor, there was the sound of arguing. The show was over and uniformed police were manning the doors. No one was allowed to leave.

  “Oh dear,” said the theatre manager. “The audience won’t be very happy about this. I’ll have to ask the actors to keep them entertained. Mrs. Wainwright, could you excuse me for a few moments? Can you guide our friends to the stairs in question?”

  “Yes, I remember where they are very clearly.”

  The manager left them, and Emily led Carrie and Dave into the theatre, pushing through the people crowded at the exits. When she reached the spot where she had fallen, she stopped. “It was those stairs over there. But I don’t think there’s much point. It’s a dead end, and the theatre staff have searched that area. They said there’s nothing there.”

  “It won’t hurt to look again,” said Dave. “Carrie and I can sometimes spot things other people can’t.”

  With a heavy heart, Emily went to the stairs. They were dusty and rarely used, leading down into a door in shadow. The tracks of the recent passage of feet were visible on the treads. Gripping the rickety iron railing, Emily descended and went through the ancient fire door.

  Beyond was a short corridor with two doors on either side and a blank wall at the end. Both doors were open. Inside the rooms were piles of old, red velvet stage curtains, grimy props and costumes. Painted scenery leaned against the walls. There was no sight nor sound of the elves or little Beth.

  “They came down here, but then where did they go I wonder?” said Carrie, looking around.

  “Is there anything else you can tell us?” asked Dave. “Anything at all?”

  Emily bit her lip. There was one thing she’d noticed, but it seemed ridiculous. She decided to tell them anyway, but at that moment the door to the stairway opened and the theatre manager appeared.

  “This is where they took the girl?” Mrs. Beaumont asked.

  “This is where I saw them run to,” replied Emily. “If Beth was with them, this is where they brought her.”

  A frown creased the manager’s forehead.

  “Maybe they hid here for a while and left, and no one noticed,” said Carrie.

  “Maybe,” said Mrs. Beaumont, “and maybe not.”

  “They must have,” said Carrie. “Unless...” She turned to Dave.

  “Gavin said they don’t use gateways,” said her friend.

  “Then they must have gone back into the theatre,” Carrie said.

  “I think I should show you something,” Mrs. Beaumont said. She went into the dead-end corridor. “This theatre is more than three hundred years old,” she continued. “It was built at a time when acting was not a respectable profession. Many actors had questionable past lives. Lives that sometimes caught up with them, and when they did, it was helpful if the actors could make a quick getaway.” She was at the end of the corridor. She crouched down and ran her fingers along the old, bare floorboards. “I don’t tell anyone about this, you understand. Too much temptation for silly pranks from the actors and staff.” With the heel of her hand, she pushed quickly down on a section of the floor, and three sides of a square trapdoor popped up. She lifted up the door. Emily peered over the woman’s shoulder and into the hole. A rusty ladder led down into darkness.

  Behind them, the fire door to the audience area opened. Emily turned in time to see it close by itself, without anything apparently coming through. She squeaked and clutched Mrs. Beaumont. “What was that?”

  A look passed between Carrie and Dave and the theatre manager.

  Mrs. Beaumont said, “Theatres are strange places, Ms. Wainwright. Please try not to be alarmed. We must concentrate on finding little Beth.”

  Chapter Six – Elf Encounter

  Carrie stepped from the bottom of the ladder onto a damp earth floor. She fished in her toolkit and took out a torch. Above her, Dave began to climb down. As the beam from her torch penetrated the shadows, it revealed an ancient tunnel lined with bricks.

  While she waited for her friend to descend, unformed ideas niggled at Carrie. Ideas about the Slevs, and something the woman, Emily, had said.

  Dave jumped the last few rungs of the ladder. “You two probably shouldn’t come with us,” he called up. “I’m not sure it’s safe.”

  “I want to come,” said Emily. “I have to help. How could I live with myself if I didn’t?”

  “I’m coming too,” added Mrs Beaumont. “It’s my theatre. I feel responsible.”

  Both women climbed down, then they all set off. From behind came the faint pings of something invisible also descending the ladder. Gavin was wise to remain silent and invisible, thought Carrie.

  The tunnel must have been built at the same time as or not long after the building of the theatre. The bricks were very old, uneven and a mixture of colours. They were cracked, and the mortar between them had all but disappeared. Steady rivulets of water had worn channels in some areas, and the floor was muddy.

  “You said you knew about the existence of the tunnel. Do you know where it leads?” Carrie asked the theatre manager.

  “I don’t, I’m afraid. I never dared come down here myself. I only know about it because my predecessor showed it to me.”

  And yet the Slevs had known it was there. Did they have some way of detecting hidden tunnels, or had they been there before, wondered Carrie. “We’re so stupid,” she said to Dave.

  “Speak for yourself.”

  “I mean about the Slevs. It’s been staring us in the face all this time. They look like elves because they are elves. Slevs, elves, they’re practically the same words. It’s like Gavin was saying, stories of Slevs appear in cultures across the galaxy. The Slevs must have visited Earth before, and that’s how they knew about the tunnel.”

  “What do you mean, they visited Earth before?” asked Emily. “Are you telling me the elves are aliens? I thought they were little men in costume.”

  Carrie sighed. “I shouldn’t have mentioned it in front of you, but, yes, the creatures who might have taken Beth are aliens.”

  �
�Oh no,” exclaimed Emily. “I was hoping that this might be just a silly prank. Aliens? What are they going to do to little Beth? This is all my fault.” She began to weep.

  “Of course it isn’t your fault,” said Carrie kindly. “You aren’t responsible for any of this. How could you be?”

  “I shouldn’t have brought her here, not after what happened in Selfridges. She isn’t well, but like a fool I thought a trip to the panto might do her good. And it’s Christmas. I didn’t want her to be away from the other children. It didn’t seem right for her to be left out.

  “I should have left her safely at home. Poor Beth. She’s such a funny, lively, loving little girl, but I knew she would struggle to find a forever home. It’s hard enough finding foster parents to take her occasionally, just because she looks a little different. I should have adopted her myself.”

  Emily had hit one of the things that had been niggling at Carrie. Slevs had appeared at both places where Beth had been. They’d been examining the children, looking at their faces, lifting up their hats. And Beth looked different from other children. Was she being targeted because of how she looked? Carrie grabbed Dave’s arm to share her idea, but a peal of laughter sounded from up ahead. High, maniacal, elvish—or Slevih—laughter. With a glance at her friend, Carrie pushed her torch into Emily’s hand and raced forward towards the sound.

  “Carrie, hold on,” called Dave. The beam from his torch jiggled on the ancient tunnel bricks as he ran to catch up.

  She’d expected to encounter the Slevs around the next bend, but darkness stretched out before her, deeper than her light could penetrate. The tunnel must have echoed the Slevs’ voices from farther away than they’d seemed to be. As they ran on, Carrie worried briefly about Emily and Mrs. Beaumont, who were now far behind, then she recalled that Gavin was with them.

  The laughter sounded again, much closer. Ahead of them, light glowed. Light that shone from the wet bricks, shimmering and dancing. There were the Slevs. A group of the creatures sat in the tunnel as if waiting for them. They leapt to their feet at the sight of Carrie and Dave, and began jumping up and down and waving.

  It was the first time Carrie had seen the aliens. Her mind filled with thoughts of the captive little girl, and she bore down on them. They were indeed the very image of Santa’s elves, looking as though they’d stepped out of a fairy tale. From the long ears that reached up the sides of the green sensory organs on their heads, which looked remarkably like hats, to their silver boots. Rushing towards them, Carrie’s resolve wavered for a moment. These creatures didn’t look evil. They didn’t look the type to abduct children. They even had rosy cheeks, just like Santa. But their eyes, there was something weird about their eyes.

  The Slevs were chattering loudly and gesticulating, but of course Carrie couldn’t understand what they were saying. It didn’t matter anyway. She had only one objective: to get little Beth back safe and sound.

  “Carrie,” gasped Dave from just behind her, “do you think we should—”

  She ran at the Slevs, screaming like a banshee. The aliens took one look at her and tried to flee, but in their panic they bumped into each other and ended up in a heap on the floor.

  “Carrie,” shouted Dave.

  “What?” she snapped. This wasn’t the time for a conversation. A Slev had got to his feet and was running away. She bounded after him.

  “Wait a minute,” said Dave. “Look at them. They aren’t putting up a fight.”

  Carrie stopped and turned back. Behind her were Dave and the dazed Slevs she had terrified. The aliens were getting to their feet and rubbing their bumps and bruises. They began chattering and laughing again. They seemed to have found the experience of being frightened very funny.

  She walked back to the group. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m not sure,” replied Dave, “but I think we might have the wrong idea about the Slevs.”

  “Hello? Hello? Are you there?” Emily asked from somewhere down the tunnel.

  “We’re right ahead of you,” said Carrie. “Just keep walking.”

  In a few moments, Emily and Mrs. Beaumont appeared.

  “There they are,” exclaimed Emily when she saw the waiting Slevs. “They’re the ones that took Beth. Where did you take her? Give her back!”

  A Slev went to Emily and knelt down. He touched one ear then the other to the wet tunnel floor before standing and taking the woman’s hand and pulling her forward. Carrie finally got a close look at the creatures’ eyes. They were entirely black, with no white showing.

  “He wants me to go with him,” said Emily.

  “I think we should do what he says,” Carrie said.

  The tunnel air was clammy with moisture, and as the group went a little farther along, the reason for the humidity and the dancing reflected beams on the ceiling became apparent. They arrived at a waterway; an underground river, and floating on its surface was a metallic green, torpedo-shaped vessel. A Slev starship.

  Chapter Seven - Farewell

  “I believe it will be necessary for me to become visible again,” whispered Gavin’s voice in Carrie’s ear as the Slevs led them aboard their ship.

  “You mean so you can translate?” asked Carrie.

  “Indeed.”

  “I think you’re right. Hey, everyone,” she called out. “We’ve brought a friend with us. He’s been invisible up until now, but he needs to uncloak. You might think he looks quite frightening, but there’s no need to be alarmed.”

  Mrs. Beaumont clamped her hands over her eyes and peeked between her fingers as Gavin appeared. At the sight of the moulted alien insect, her hands fell away from her face and her mouth gaped. The new Gavin was spectacular. His carapace was transformed from bronze to brilliant gold. He’d grown half a metre in every direction, and on his back he now bore two sets of glistening wings.

  “Gavin, you’re beautiful,” Carrie exclaimed. The Slevs were on their knees, touching their ears to the ground. Emily stood transfixed.

  Even Dave seemed to have lost his customary unease over Gavin’s appearance. “Nice one, mate.”

  But the insectoid alien was too busy speaking Slevih to pay attention to these compliments. The Slevs leapt to their feet and walked backwards into their ship, scooping their arms downward and towards themselves, indicating that the rest follow.

  “Is it safe?” asked Mrs. Beaumont.

  “It is quite safe, I believe,” answered Gavin. “The Slevs have been apologising profusely ever since they saw you, only you did not understand.”

  Carrie winced.

  They passed into a wide, hollow space filled with Slevs busily chattering. A child’s shout sounded above the hubbub, and a little girl wearing a parka ran out from among them and into Emily’s arms. She hugged the woman and buried her face in her belly.

  “Beth, you’re safe,” exclaimed Emily. “You’re safe, thank goodness. Are you all right? Did the elves hurt you?”

  “Oh no,” said Beth. “We’ve been playing games. And they gave me something to drink. I feel so much better. I don’t feel tired anymore.”

  The little girl looked up at Emily, and her hair fell back from her face. Carrie breathed in sharply. Her eyes. They were completely black.

  “And look, Emily, look,” the child continued. “They look like me.” She pulled down her parka hood. Two pointed ears stuck up and a small green point swelled from the top of her head.

  “They do,” said Emily. “They do look like you. I couldn’t admit it to myself for so long, but it’s true. And now I think I know why they’re here.” She burst into tears.

  The Slevs crowded around Emily and Beth, chattering and patting the pair. The Slevs’ appearance on Earth, their examination of children, their abduction of Beth, it was all beginning to make sense, but Carrie wanted to check with Gavin. The golden insectoid alien was deep in conversation with a Slev.

  “It’s amazing, isn’t it,” said Dave. “They must have flown their starship right under London. Are we in a
sewer? It seems too big.”

  “If I’m right,” said Mrs. Beaumont, “it’s The Fleet, an underground river. It used to flow on the surface before it got too polluted and was built over. The tunnel from the theatre must lead to its banks, where the actors could make a quick getaway if their creditors were after them. There are many miles of underground rivers and sewers under London, connected in a huge network.”

  “The perfect hiding place,” said Dave. “The Slevs would have access to the whole city from here.”

  “Ahem,” said Gavin, joining them. “Would one of you mind helping me converse with the woman whom I believe is named Emily?”

  “I’ll help,” said Carrie, though she wondered whether Emily would want to hear what Gavin had to say.

  Emily and Beth were surrounded by cheery Slevs. They parted to let Gavin and Carrie through. Emily had calmed down but looked very sad. Beth appeared joyful, however, and was bouncing happily from Slev to Slev, poking their round tummies, pulling their ears and giggling.

  “Emily,” said Carrie, “Gavin has something he has to explain to you.”

  The woman turned mournful eyes to the insectoid alien. The Slev who had been speaking to Gavin returned to his side, chattering at a clip.

  “The Chief Slev, first of all, would like to offer his deepest apologies for alarming you by snatching Beth and running away with her,” said Gavin. “He explains that they were desperate. They had to find their child and treat her before she became seriously ill.”