Shell.

Shellaine and her best friend Caris were lying on their fronts on
Shellaine's bed, scanning the floor. They were eight.

"This faery," Shellaine said. "She comes every day now."

"What she say?"

"Oh, she don't say nothing. I speak to her, though. Well,
whisper."

"What you say?"

"Oh, I just says like, hi, how are you, and that."

"Cool."

"I know why she don't answer, though."

"Why?"

"My mum told me. Because I an't got nothing to give her. But I have
today. My tooth's fell out. Look."

Shellaine pulled a tissue from her pocket. Inside was a small tooth
with a speck of blood on it.

"And I'm not giving this to the faery unless she speaks," Shellaine
said.

The light dimmed.

"OK, here she comes."

"Where?"

"Over by the radiator. Sssh!"

*

Feet dangled under the radiator, and the faery slid down on to the
carpet and stepped forward, dusting herself off.

She was wearing white. She had a short white dress on with puffy
pleats, and white tights, and white cord knee-boots, and a lacy beany
hat. She didn't have wings. She had a rucksack on her back.

Caris gripped Shellaine's arm so tight that her nails dug into her
skin.

"Aw, she's so pretty," she said.

The faery was lit from within by her own glow. She glanced all around
her and then shaded her eyes and looked up at the girls. When she
spoke, her voice was small but clear. She had a Cornish accent, just
like Caris and Shellaine's.

"What do you wish me to take away?" she said.

"My tooth, please," Shellaine whispered.

"I knew there was something," the faery said. "We can always tell. OK,
let's see the goods."

Shellaine reached down and placed the tissue on the carpet in front of
the faery, opening it so that the tooth sat like a jewel on a velvet
cushion.

The faery put her glasses on and walked all round the tooth, nodding
and scratching her chin.

"A bit small," she said at length. "But top quality. We can make a few
decent brooches out of this."

She took her rucksack off, opened it, and dragged out a pound coin,
which she stood upright on the carpet. It came up to her knees.

"Flippin heavy, lugging that about, I can tell you," she said. "Go on
then, take it."

Shellaine stretched and picked up the pound coin.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"Thank you," Caris said.

"And thank you too," the faery said. "Nice to meet people who can
actually see me, for once. Not many about these days."

She packed the tooth into her rucksack, and hoisted the rucksack onto
her back. And then she walked over to the radiator, shinned up the
pipe, and was gone.

The ceiling light flickered on properly again.

"That was so so so cool," Caris said.

After a dazed moment, the girls crept over to the radiator and peeped
behind it. There was a wonky hole where the pipe entered the
wall.

"Must have been a squeeze for her," Shellaine said.

*

The door opened and Tony came into the room. Tony was Shellaine's
stepfather.

"What you two up to?" he said.

"We've just seen a faery," Caris said.

"Sssh!" Shellaine said.

"Have we now?" Tony said. "Well, that's pretty remarkable, considering
faeries don't exist."

"Oh yes they do," Caris said. "And we got proof, an't we, Shell? And
the faery gived Shellaine a pound coin for her tooth. So there."

"A pound coin?" Tony said.

Shellaine looked at the floor.

"Let me see it," Tony said.

Shellaine opened her hand and revealed the mint pound coin.

"Where d'you get that?" Tony said. "From your mother's purse?"

"No I did not."

"Are you telling me lies?"

"No."

"No, she's not telling lies," Caris said. "I told you, she got it from
the faery. She did, she did."

Shellaine could tell that Caris was about to cry.

"He never believes nothing what I say," she said.

"Anyway, Caris, sweetie," Tony said. "Time for you to go home."

"No," Shellaine said. "No, mum said Caris can stay till she gets home
from work."

"Oh, did she? Well, that could be any time. What if the restaurant's
busy? Could be midnight. I can't be messing about with that. Now, come
on, Caris, get your coat."

Shellaine didn't dare argue further with Tony.

"I'll phone you," she said to Caris.

"You stay here," Tony said to Shellaine. "I'll let Caris out."

"Anyway, bye," Caris said, red-faced. "Thanks for the faery."

When Shellaine heard the door bang downstairs, she hid in the
cupboard.

*

"Out of there, please," Tony said.

Shellaine pushed the cupboard door open and stepped quietly out.

"So you been stealing from your mother's purse again, have you?"

"No, I an't."

"And what d'you think she'll say when she finds out?"

"I dunno."

"Answer me."

"I dunno, I said."

"Well, I know what she'll say. She'll tell me to give you a good hiding
again." Tony paused. "Won't she?"

Shellaine didn't answer.

"I say, won't she?"

"Yes."

There was a long silence, and then Tony moved towards Shellaine. She
thought he was going to hit her. Instead he picked her up and sat down
on the bed with her on his knee. She could smell his sweat and his
deodorant and his cigarette breath.

He spoke in a friendlier voice.

"Anyway, maybe I won't tell her. What's a quid between friends,
eh?"

He fumbled in his pocket with his free hand, pulled out a crumpled five
pound note, and pushed it down Shellaine's jumper.

"There. That's for my favourite little girl, who loves money so much."
He was breathing heavily. "What do you say?"

"Thank you."

"I shouldn't do it, really, cos mummy don't like me spoiling you. So
make sure you don't tell her. You understand?"

Shellaine nodded and put her thumb in her mouth.

"Tell you what," Tony said. "Let's play our little game."

*

The next time the faery came, Shellaine was ten. The faery was wearing
grey.

She had a vest top on, a pair of low-waist combats, grey canvas shoes,
and an African-style silk headwrap. She glowed just as before, but this
time she was slightly transparent. She stood on Shellaine's sketchpad,
with her thumbs in her belt loops, looking up.

"What do you wish me to take away?" she said.

"My life."

The faery thought about that for a moment.

"I can't do it," she said.

"Why not?"

"Because we can only take away a part of you." The faery looked sad.
"It's in the rules. I'm sorry."

"Well, you're not much use then."

"Oh, don't you be so sure." The faery sat down cross-legged on the
paper. "So you want us to take away your life, eh? May I ask
why?"

"Because I hate it."

"Tony?"

"You know?"

"Of course we know."

"Well, why don't you do something, then?"

"Our powers are strictly limited. That's just the way it is. But we can
see everything."

"I wish I could be a faery," Shellaine said.

"Well, you can't. We're spirits. The way you see me now is only a
shape, to fit your imagination. We don't really have bodies."

"Wish I didn't."

"Why not?"

"Because of Tony. He hurts me."

"Look, isn't it about time you told your mother about all that?"

"You must be joking, she'd kill me. She already calls me a little liar
and a thief. And, and, I don't want to break her heart. Tony's all what
she's got."

"She's got you."

"Huh."

"Can't you tell you tell Tony to stop?"

"Yeah, right. You try it. You can't tell Tony anything. He does what he
likes."

"I'm sorry for you, I truly am."

"I try not to think about it, but I do, all the time, all the
time."

A tear dropped on to the sketchbook in front of the faery.

"Look," the faery said, and took a deep breath. "How about we just take
your body?"

"If I'm dead, you're welcome to it."

"I don't mean that. I mean, if you want, Shellaine, we can take your
body away to a place where you'll never have to think about it
again."

"Would I be invisible?"

"No, course not. Humans can't ever be invisible."

"Oh, I wish I could be."

"We'd leave you your shape, you see. That's what we're good at, shapes.
Illusions. You'd still look just like you do now. No one would be able
to tell the difference."

"Does it hurt?"

"No, quite the opposite, you won't feel anything. You'll just be
numb."

"Will it last for ever?"

"It must."

"Promise?"

"Faery's promise."

*

After that, Shellaine coped better with her life.

Now, when Tony did what he did to her, she felt nothing, as if it was
happening to someone else.

She even stopped hating him, and did jobs for him around the house. In
a way, she took the place of her mum, who was out working at the
restaurant most nights of the week. Shellaine would make Tony's tea and
do the washing up. And then she'd sit on his lap, or whatever he
wanted.

He didn't know that she wasn't really there.

*

The next time the faery came, Shellaine was twelve. The faery was
wearing black.

She had clunky boots on, with the laces undone, and a black denim
jacket over a long black dress. A chough's feather jaunted from the
back of her hair, and she swished her face with a black lace fan, which
blew her invisible now and again. Shellaine had to scrunch up her eyes
to see the faery properly.

"I was wondering when you'd turn up," she said.

The faery sat down on Shellaine's pencil box in the middle of her
desk.

"What do you wish me to take away?" she said.

"My childhood."

She'd had the answer ready for a long time.

"But you're only twelve."

"I don't want to be twelve. I want to be an adult."

"Why, Shellaine?"

"So Tony will leave me alone."

"Ah, right. And will he?"

"Yeah, he's a paedophile."

"You've changed so much since the last time."

"Too right I have."

"And what do you wish in return?"

"Like I said, to be an adult. That's about it."

The faery closed her fan and tapped it on the pencil case.

"It's a difficult one."

Shellaine sighed.

"Why?"

"Because we've already changed your body once. We can't change it
again. And also, it's technically impossible to age it."

"But I hate it. It's like it's not mine."

"That's what you wished for."

"I know. And I'm so unhappy."

"All right, I'll tell you what we can do. We can make your mind
old."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you'd still look twelve, but you'd be thinking an adult's
thoughts."

"Will that make Tony leave me alone?"

"You bet."

"You sure?"

"Oh yes."

"OK, do it, please."

"But remember this. If we take your childhood away, you can never have
it back."

"Good. I hated it anyway."

*

Shellaine didn't wait to see the faery go.

She went into her mother's bedroom and took a red lipstick out of her
mum's makeup case. She stroked it over her lips and rubbed plum shadow
into her eyelids and drew black lines round her eyes with a pencil.
Then she went back to her own room and put on her silver crop top and
her Tammy Girl skirt.

She heard Tony's feet on the stairs. When he walked in, she turned and
faced him.

"This room is private," she said calmly.

"What's that on your face?"

"What's it look like?"

"Wipe it off. Now."

"No."

"Do as you're told."

"No."

"What are you, a little tart? Look at you. You're disgusting."

Shellaine smiled coldly and shook her head slowly.

"No, Tony. It's you that's disgusting."

"How dare you give me lip!"

Tony sprang across the room and grabbed Shellaine by the arm and
smacked her round the behind and threw her on to the bed on her
back.

She rubbed her arm and waited for the worst to happen. Instead, Tony
sank to his knees. And then he started crying.

"I'm sorry," he said, trembling all over. "I didn't mean to hurt you.
It was, you, you reminded me of your mother then for a second, and I
just lost it, and, and I shouldn't have. Will you forgive me?"

For a minute Shellaine watched him sobbing, and then she stood up. Tony
was still on his knees.

"Please forgive me, I beg you," he said.

"Just don't ever touch me again."

She heard the door bell. She walked out of the room and down the
stairs.

It was Caris.

*

"You look cool," Caris said, as they walked to the park.

For a while they sat on a bench. Caris made a daisy chain, but
Shellaine was bored. Caris hung her daisy chain round Shellaine's
neck.

"Shall we look for faeries?" she said.

"Wha?" Shellaine said.

"Faeries. You know, like that time. When we saw the faery in your
bedroom? D'you remember?"

"No."

"You do. Oh, it was so awesome. Know what?"

"What?"

"That was, like, the best moment in my life, ever."

"You're sad."

"Shell, don't go all moody on me."

"I'm not."

"Well, what's up, then?"

"Nothing."

"There is."

"Leave it, will you?"

"Oh, come on, I'm your friend, talk to me. Tell me what's in your
mind"

Shellaine crossed her legs and picked a speck off her skirt.

"All right, if you insist. It's just that, have you got any idea how
childish you sound sometimes?"

Caris sniffed. She sniffed again.

"All right then, I'll shut up."

"Good."

"Good."

Shellaine stood and straightened her top. She pointed to a group of
boys in the shelter.

"I'm going over there."

"Why?"

"Because I am, all right?"

"But that's them horrible boys what we don't like. They'll tease
us."

"So? I'll tease them back."

"I don't want to go over there, Shellaine."

"Stay here then."

Shellaine pulled off her daisy chain and threw it in pieces to the
ground and walked down the slope towards the shelter

*

The next time the faery came, Shellaine didn't see her.