In a Fairy Mound?

She looked out of Errol's yard, and policemen were there looking everywhere except to the yard and house itself. She was sacred at first, but then she saw one turn his head towards her and go on turning it as if he had not seen her. It was not one of the two that had been in the tree, nor any of those she had yet seen. He did not see her, although she was unarmed and just one yard away from him, with a small pallisade between. He went on looking just where none was. Then she went in again.

"What is happening, Errol?"

"I was asking you the same - have you practised archery more recently without telling me?"

"Hmm ..."

"You can trust me, you see, the policemen are not seeing my house, nor will I betray you."

"That was what I was asking you about. It's as if they were hypnotised not to see any of our house or as if we were in a ..."

"Fairy mound? Maybe we kind of are."

"But we see no fairies, and we are no fairies ourselves?"

"I was just wondering whether you were. Since the fairy mound is where we are, both of us must have some fairy blood."

"I am sure I have none. Earliest known relative was a charwoman."

"Ah ... my earliest known relative was a widowed duchess - who abdicated the duchy and left it with her sons as soon as House of Lords did nothing to prevent the horrors that were done on Indians in Canada. I mean, even if it was the House of Commons were those actively voting the Residential Schools - I will tell you another time - the House of Lords should have stood up against it. One Earl would have, but was dead, his widow was not allowed to speak for him, since she was a woman, and their daughters, Fanny and my mother were brought up under the name Kirrin after the property the duchess kept after renouncing the title. It was an old property with a bay and an island."

"Kirrin Bay and Kirrin Island - like George's place?"

"Georgina is my cousin on my mother's side. She used to be called George up to the last few years. Yes."

"So that means your maternal grandmother left off being a duchess much as I left off being a teacher?"

"Something like that. Now the funny thing is, I heard from one Professor Kirke that back then there were three people of fairy blood - one Mrs Lefay who was godmother to his uncle, one duchess, and one charwoman."

"And so we are here as the last fairies of England?"

"And on some fairy ground, since the police are not seeing the fairy mound."

"Well I never ..."

"But we are not quite fairies either. We are human, since we have lived human lives."