LOUIE THE BEE™
by
Dave Corrick

SMASHWORDS EDITION

PUBLISHED BY:
Dave Corrick on Smashwords

Louie the bee™
Second edition for ebook release
www.louiethebee.com
Copyright © 2010 by Dave Corrick

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

DEDICATION

Louie the bee is dedicated to my wife and long time companion Julie. Thank you Julie for your help, encouragement and support in the writing of ‘Louie the bee’. In many ways Julie is Lulu in the story. 
Dave



louie the bee™


Contents

Chapter 1  The stream and the insect community.
Chapter 2  Al Spider is on the move.
Chapter 3  Al Spider arrives at the Reserve Bank.
Chapter 4  Back to normal and a picnic is organised.
Chapter 5  The picnic at Virgil’s special place.
Chapter 6  Two years later. The tunnel is discussed.
Chapter 7  A meeting about the tunnel is called.
Chapter 8  Lulu meets Pearl and a happy occasion.
Chapter 9  The tunnel project goes wrong and something strange happens.
Chapter 10 Pearl has a theory and tells all about what happened through the quartz
Chapter 11 Pearl explains her theory.
Chapter 12 Pearl Baker-Moth’s theory is tested.
Chapter 13 A job to be done on the other side.
Chapter 14 Some new powers are discovered.
Chapter 15 Louie and Lulu help Mr McFarland using the new powers.
Chapter 16 Louie’s world nearly comes to an end.
Chapter 17 Preparations for the wedding are made.
Chapter 18 The big day. Louie and Lulu are married.
Chapter 19 Back from the honeymoon and Pearl has made a startling
discovery.
Chapter 20 Pearl’s new discovery is tested.
Chapter 21 A magic Christmas for Louie and Lulu.
Chapter 22 The bee household over the Christmas New Year holiday period.
Chapter 23 Pearl is worried about the future of the stream community.
Chapter 24 The Appleton Property issue is dealt with.
Chapter 25 Moving on with Pearl’s plans to save the insect community.
Chapter 26 The councillors return to face the music!
Chapter 27 A footnote and goodbye for now.


Chapter 1
The stream and the Insect Community

Louie the bee is an important member of an insect community that resides along the banks of a quietly flowing stream. The stream flows through bush lined banks, alongside a road, through reserve land and onto a village a couple of kilometres away. 
The stream described is probably a typical scenario that can be found in many places. However it needs to be pointed out that this stream is no ordinary stream, it has a unique property. We need to have some technical explanation right at the start of this incredible story.
The stream we are talking about is in a small country of temperate climate located in the southern hemisphere of planet earth. The land was created millions of years ago from up thrusted sediments rich in volcanic debris.
In the beginning, subduction of crustal plates produced protrusions of now extinct volcanic activity, through the raised sediments. The stream in this story starts high in hills to the west of this land from one of these protruded volcanic formations. The water for all streams in the area comes from deep underground sources and has high concentrations of colloidal minerals. One of these minerals is Mellennium, an element yet to be discovered by humans.
All insects along the stream naturally consume the water from the stream together with small amounts of Mellennium. Mellennium has the property to block the genetic ageing processes within the body cells of insects. This means that insects living along the banks of the stream live way beyond normal insect life spans, in fact up to 100 years! 
Getting back to Louie, Louie is of a bumblebee variety, fairly young (thirtyish) and has large appealing eyes. Louie is modest in personality and in the early stages of this story may appear to be a bit of a duffer. However as we shall see, Louie is in fact a very strong, loveable and special bee.
On the west side of the stream is a property belonging to Mr McFarland, a gentleman in his retirement years who is kind to bees and other insects living along the stream.
On Mr McFarland’s property is a disused shed with a loft. The shed is close to the stream where Louie lives. Louie runs an important business in the loft of Mr McFarland’s shed. We shall discuss this later.
Today it is a fine spring morning; the sun’s rays are fingering their way through the bush on the bank opposite Louie’s house.
Louie’s house is also located to the west on the stream bank. It is of an environmentally friendly construction and made from empty honeycomb filled with clay. It is thus energy efficient and provides perfect comfort and insulation during the winter.
The view across the stream towards the rising sun is breathtaking. Louie emerges from his house making light buzzing noises of pleasure on feeling the warmth of the early morning sun.
Louie pauses and adjusts his wings ready for flight. He powers up his wings to about half-throttle. Louie smiles to himself with satisfaction. He knows that he is powered by a renewable energy source, namely honey and that his carbon footprint is therefore extremely small.
From a gentle idling buzz Louie opens the throttle to full power producing a noise that is hard to describe. A bumblebee under full power, hmmm? – Maybe a sound similar to that of a bus ticket caught in an electric fan! 
Louie lifts off smoothly, gains some height before descending to just above the stream and heading off at great speed down stream towards the village.
Today Louie will check out a few of his friends along the bank before finally joining his lifetime friend, Pearl Baker-Moth. 
Pearl Baker-Moth as you might be able to tell from her name is royalty in the insect world. We shall learn more of Pearl Baker-Moth shortly.
Before we meet the associates of Louie one needs to have an understanding of how the insect community and Louie the bee operate, and why Louie is so important.
All of the insects along the stream live in a civilised society where the exchange medium is honey rather than money. Honey value is measured in dollops and scents!
A dollop is self-explanatory; a scent of honey is one hundredth of a dollop, an amount that is just big enough to be detected by a bee such as Louie sniffing around. So when Louie heads off for a long flight, the cost of fuel can be as much as two dollops and fifty scents.
Next we need to understand how Louie operates in the business world.
Louie is the governor of the bank where dollops and scents are stored. The bank is located close to the stream on the reserve land towards the village and is therefore known simply as the ‘Reserve Bank’. This Reserve Bank is unusual in that unlike other banks, the longer deposits remain in the bank, the lower the amount of interest!
Similar to how gold has been used in the human world, honey forms the basis of the insect monetary system. ‘Notes’ and ‘coins’ replace the need to carry dollops and scents of honey to pay for things. Insects could redeem ‘notes’ and ‘coins’ for dollops and scents at the Reserve Bank as required.
At the risk of too much information, ‘Notes’ were small neatly cut pieces of dried mint from Mr McFarland’s garden. Each ‘note’ had the stamp of approval from Pearl Baker-Moth and formed the basis of the Royal Mint. ‘Coins’ were lavender seeds and thus conformed to the concept of a Scent.
Let’s get on with it!
Louie apart from being the governor of the Reserve Bank operates a cleaning and maintenance service for the insect community. As mentioned previously this is situated in the loft of Mr McFarland’s shed.
If you have ever wondered how insects such as beetles, ladybirds, bees, and cicadas come to have such shiny beautifully coloured bodies, this is where Louie the bee’s Cleaning Service comes in. 
Louie the bee’s Cleaning Service, generally referred to as the ‘Factory’, not only provides insect polishing and cleaning but moth and butterfly cleaning and valet services as well. A butterfly can receive a complete wash, shampoo and set for one dollop and fifty eight scents.
The reason why the Factory was set up in Mr McFarland’s shed was that Mr McFarland, being a gentleman in his later years, had given up driving a car some time ago. In the shed remained more than adequate supplies of car polishes, car shampoos, tyre black and other useful stuff that were no longer required. These materials provided the means and opportunity for Louie to set up his business.
Mr McFarland knows Louie is operating in his shed and it doesn’t bother him that many insects are coming and going from the loft, in fact he enjoys it. Besides at the back of the shed, bees have provided Mr McFarland with wild honeycomb. Louie had arranged this with the bees as a gesture of goodwill for the use of the loft in Mr McFarland’s shed.
Louie by no means does all the work at the Factory by himself. Oh no, Louie has a team of Ten Ants that do all the work for him and they are paid dollops and scents of honey per hour for their effort. This also comes with free accommodation for the Ten Ants below Mr McFarland’s shed.
Louie runs a tight ship and expects the ants to perform as per the Ten Ants agreement. However Louie is a good boss and rewards the Ten Ants in other ways, as we shall learn later. 
The Factory premises have been suitably fitted out with a waiting room, operations and storage rooms. The staff room has a sign above the door ‘Ten Ants’ only. Other signs display ‘Ten Ants’ Parking Only’, ‘We Don’t Do Ducks’ and above the entrance is an important message and motto for the insect world ‘Straighten up and Fly Right’.
Louie’s office is right next door to the staff room so he can hear any nonsense that might be going on and sort it out if necessary. However it is more often that Louie closes the door, puts his feet up (all six of them) and has a snooze and doesn’t hear what the Ten Ants are up to anyway. 
On Louie’s office door it states ‘Knock and Wait before entering’ – just in case he might be snoozing and it will give him time to wake up and look important.

Louie has names for all of his Ten Ants. The names relate to the personality and abilities of the individual ant:

1)  Combat (ant)  a bit of a hot head.
2)  Defend (ant)  good at Kung Fu.
3)  Depend (ant)  totally reliable.
4)  Expect (ant)  always hoping for more.
5)  Import (ant)  essential to have around (the supervisor).
6)  Inform (ant)  quite knowledgeable.
7)  Flatul (ant)  likes eating cabbage.
8)  Resist (ant)  never does as instructed.
9)  Ignor (ant)  never gone to school.
10) Deodor (ant)  needs to take a bath.

Ah yes, as with any good manager, Louie knows his team well. There are frequent staff meetings to discuss pay and working conditions. The ‘Ten Antsy Tribunal’ deals with any disputes.
The Factory operates five days a week (Monday to Friday). The Factory opens sharp at 9.00 a.m. and closes at 5.00 p.m. Picnics and other good things are usually held on Saturdays or Sundays.
As mentioned previously, today Louie is up and about and has flown down the stream to the village. It is Monday; about 8.30 a.m. Louie has picked up some chocolate cake from the village cake shop, a special treat for his friend and the Queen of the streamside community, Pearl Baker-Moth.
If you ever visit a cake shop and there is a bit of your chocolate cake missing, you never know, Louie may have taken it. Nobody at the village seemed to mind that small amounts of chocolate cake and other goodies disappeared on occasions.
Louie is a bit early to visit Pearl Baker-Moth who unless there are things to be up early for, doesn’t usually rise until after 9.00 a.m.
Louie eases back on the power as he zooms along above the stream and alights on the flower of a Rhododendron Bush. The Rhododendron flower is a delicious supply of nectar for Louie. The consumption of the nectar helps Louie to avoid the temptation to eat the chocolate cake he has with him.
While Louie rests in the sun we shall introduce Pearl Baker-Moth and provide a few other pieces of information about the stream and its residents.
One important thing in relation to Pearl Baker-Moth is that as a mark of respect we learn to pronounce her name correctly from the start. In the insect world Pearl Baker-Moth as we have mentioned previously is royalty, a sophisticated beautifully patterned green moth with large red and blue spots on her wings. Accordingly when pronouncing ‘Baker-Moth’ the two names should be run together quickly.
It needs to be emphasised that although Pearl Baker-Moth likes her name to be pronounced correctly and expects standards to be maintained, she is a very approachable moth and mixes at all levels of the insect society. 
Now believe it or not, Pearl Baker-Moth lives in a street lamp above the road to the village. Being a smallish village, there is not much traffic on the road so Pearl is not bothered too much by any road noise from the cars that pass by below.
At the back of the big fluorescent lamp, looking towards the stream, Pearl Baker-Moth has a luxurious apartment with central heating, floor to ceiling windows and a magnificent view looking out over the stream and beyond.
Pearl Baker-Moth is into the good things in life such as chocolate cake and has been known to partake of a glass of red wine or two in the evenings or on special occasions. There is a gum tree right outside her apartment so it is easy for Pearl to make a cup of her favourite gum leaf tea at any time.
Being of royalty and living in a street lamp apartment, Pearl Baker-Moth does not have to worry about the mundane things of life such as power bills, rates or water bills. Louie and his associates fly in most of her needs, so for Pearl it’s mainly a life of looking beautiful and looking after her subjects. As we shall learn, Pearl does indeed look after the insect community and her subjects, in fact without her they wouldn’t survive.
Pearl Baker-Moth can survey all of her Queendom from her apartment. Her apartment is to the west of the stream and as previously mentioned is alongside the road to the village.
From her apartment Pearl Baker-Moth can see the village to the north. She can also see Louie’s house and Mr McFarland’s land just to the south. Further on to the south on the west bank is the home of Sir Cada and Lady Bird - aristocratic acquaintances of Pearl’s. 
Between Pearl Baker-Moth’s apartment and the village to the north is a streamside café that Louie and Pearl often frequent for meals.
The café looks a little like an upturned bird’s nest, which in fact is exactly what it is but much larger. Some years ago a company called Sparrow Construction was engaged to build the café and it has been a very popular meeting place for all the insects along the stream. The café is generally known as the Nest Café. 
The Nest Cafe is licensed and as a specialty serves delicious spider eggs; poached, scrambled, over easy, sunny side up, sunny side down (really!) and as omelettes. Of course they also keep adequate supplies of chocolate cake and red wine for you know who!
On top of the café is a clock so that insects and other creatures know whether it is lunchtime or otherwise. A tick named Tock lives above the café with his family behind the clock and looks after the time. 
Tock very cleverly sets the time by studying the moon, yes Tock is a lunar tick.
It happens some times when the ticks all go down to the café for lunch and there are no ticks left, the clock stops. However nobody minds as it just means more time to have lunch!
The area around the Nest Café is quite a little gathering point for insects and other creatures. Alongside the café is a supermarket, built of pine bark pieces with a post in the middle of it. 
On top of the post is the post office, strategically placed in an elevated position for the delivery and pick up of airmail. This is the only type of mail service in the insect world. 
As mentioned the supermarket was built of pine bark pieces. It looks modern and trendy. However the company that built it, Fly by Night Ltd, used untreated pine bark so here was another case of leaky-building-syndrome. Yes the insect community had its fair share of problems just like any other.
Alongside the supermarket in the same building is a medical centre and a travel centre.
At the medical centre the resident doctor is an Asian Paper Wasp by the name of Sum Ting Wong. Doctor Wong is a qualified beeknee-ologist. Although Dr Wong majored in bee’s knees he looks after all the insect’s medical needs. 
Dr Wong is a very mild mannered insect and is therefore unlikely to lose his patients. Because of this the insect community thinks he really is the ‘bee’s knees’!
In relation to the travel centre there is another important creature living along the west bank of the stream. This happens to be Virgil Blue, a large powerful blue dragonfly. Virgil has premises south of Louie’s place and frequently calls into the Factory for cleaning and servicing.
Virgil Blue provides air transport services for the insects and owns and operates Virgil Blue Airlines. Virgil’s services are used for importing and exporting goods from the area together with carrying passengers as required. 
The travel agent alongside the supermarket is known as the ‘Fright Centre’ and does all the travel booking arrangements for Virgil’s airline. As we shall learn, most of Virgil’s passengers travel on the outside of the aircraft rather than inside thus possibly explaining the name of the travel centre.
Virgil uses Pearl Baker-Moth’s streetlight as a navigation aid if flying at night. Virgil is properly registered as an air transport operator and has ZK 10NANA painted in bold black letters on his fuselage. The Ten Ants at the Factory, using tyre black, carefully painted Virgil’s registration number on.
Nobody is quite sure why Virgil’s registration number is 10NANA but it is believed that it is because he can carry up to ten passengers and he is quite fond of his Nana.
Virgil Blue operates a fleet of twenty wasps. The wasps serve as helicopters as well as taxis for non-flying insects that need to be transported from place to place. Virgil also runs airmail to and from the post office as well as courier services.
On occasions Louie will give the Ten Ants a day away. Virgil Blue at a cost of three dollops and fifty scents per hour will happily fly with the Ten Ants onboard to wherever Louie might direct for a picnic.
Getting back to Pearl Baker-Moth, she can see most things that are happening along the stream from her apartment. All the creatures along the west bank love and respect their monarch for her kindness, intelligence and understanding of the insect world. 
It seems that the world in which Pearl Baker-Moth resides and rules is absolutely perfect and idyllic. There is no police force, no crime to speak of, the insects support one another and they are kind to each other. However the appearance of being absolutely idyllic is not quite so.
To the east of Pearl Baker-Moth’s apartment, in fact in the ‘Middle East’ for want of a better word, is a valley. The valley tends to be a little dark and mysterious. This is because the surrounding trees and ridge shade it from the sun. 
In the middle of the valley is an old barn in which resides the dreaded Al Spider and the Valley Barn Gang. This Middle Eastern area with Al Spider and the Valley Barn has been nothing but trouble for the western insect civilisation for many years.
The Valley Barn gang, lead by Al Spider is a group of large black ominous looking spiders. All gang members are patched. The stick-on patches are made from cut-up band-aids stolen from Mr McFarland’s bathroom first aid cabinet. 
The patches were stolen by an elite division of spiders. These spiders cleverly made a hole in Mr McFarland’s bathroom wall and gained access to the bathroom cabinet by sneaking along the underside of a bath rail fastened to the wall. This elite group were known as the ‘Bathrailies’ and were appropriately attired with tea towels on their heads. The stolen patches have been sinisterly stained with blackberry juices from blackberries growing wild in the valley. It’s all very scary!
The aim of Al Spider and the Valley Barn Gang appears to be to steal from the west and destroy respect for the insect’s Queen and leader, Pearl Baker-Moth. 
We shall learn more about trouble in the Middle East as time goes by.

………..well the time is just after 9.00 a.m. and back to Louie. Louie has finished relaxing on the Rhododendron Bush and is much refreshed from the delicious nectar. Louie powers up his wings and gains altitude in the direction of Pearl Baker- Moth’s apartment.
Louie circles around Pearl’s street light apartment a few times, taking in the view along the stream before alighting at Pearl’s front door. 
Armed with the chocolate cake, Louie knocks and waits for a response.
In answer to Louie’s knocking, Pearl Baker-Moth calls out. ‘Is that you Louie?’
‘Yes’, replied Louie. ‘I have brought you some chocolate cake’.
Pearl who is now up and about, has been relaxing and reading in the sun, puts down her copy of ‘Moth’ers Day’ and goes to let Louie in.
Pearl Baker-Moth is quite resplendent with her neatly folded feathery green wings. She has large appealing eyes that command immediate respect. Her exquisitely curled feelers and matching black eyelashes show a beauty not seen elsewhere in the insect world. Louie feels proud to be her friend and to be a subject of her Queendom.
‘Come in Louie’, said Pearl.
‘Hello Pearl good to see you’, said Louie and gives Pearl an affectionate hug. Remember these two have known each other for some time.
Pearl thanks Louie for the chocolate cake and they move out onto a deck that extends from Pearl’s apartment on the side that faces the stream. Louie and Pearl sit down to discuss the day ahead.
‘What time do you have to be down at the Factory Louie?’ Pearl asked.
‘Not until about eleven I guess’, Louie replied. ‘Import(ant) has everything in hand until I get there but I will give him a call on my smell phone in a minute just to check’.

It needs to be clarified here exactly what a ‘smell phone’ is!

This amazing piece of technology has been developed by the fly community who are well known for their ability to smell anything from miles away. Taking this ability and technology further, the smell phone was developed so that messages could be instantly transmitted by smell waves through the ether via the smellular network. The insects in Pearl Baker-Moth’s Queendom use these insect and bird only capable devices for communicating and texting messages. Texting in the insect world can be extremely fast using all six legs at once!
The Company of young and clever flies that developed this amazing technology, (Fly Odours Near You Ltd and now known as The Fony Corporation) also developed Fly TV of which Pearl Baker-Moth has one and Louie sometimes joins her to watch.

We digress

Louie explains to Pearl that they are quite busy at the Factory at the moment with spring coming on and the insects wanting to look their best.
‘Today we have bookings for two butterflies, four bees, two large beetles and a couple of cicadas. Sir Cada and Lady Bird are both booked in for a wax and polish tomorrow morning, I believe they are going to the Moth Ball on Wednesday night – are you going this year Pearl?’ inquired Louie.
‘No not this year Louie’, Pearl replied. ‘Heads of State from other areas are flying in on Wednesday to discuss global warming issues – in particular what we may be obliged to contribute in the way of a carbon tax. It’s a silly idea that has been picked up from the human world. I’m hoping to avoid it Louie, but we may end up having to contribute some of the deposits in the Reserve Bank, which naturally could be a sticky problem’.
‘This would be totally unacceptable!’ Louie protested. ‘As far as I am concerned we use renewable energy resources and don’t add to the carbon dioxide levels. How can we pay the Ten Ants and other service providers if we have to waste dollops and scents on this nonsense?!!’ 
Louie was getting quite agitated to the extent that some of his yellow stripes almost turned pink. Louie went on and on about the unfairness. Pearl Baker-Moth was becoming a little concerned that Louie was getting over agitated and might do himself a mischief. She went to her larder and brought Louie a drink of nectar and a pill to swallow.
‘What’s that?’ exclaimed Louie.
‘Just a little something to calm you down Louie’, said Pearl. ‘It’s not good for you to get so upset; I worry about you at times’.
Louie took the nectar and swallowed the pill and immediately calmed down.
‘Sorry Pearl’, said Louie. ‘I didn’t mean to lose it like that. It really upsets me when I don’t believe this tax is necessary’.
Pearl Baker-Moth was a very intelligent and knowledgeable moth and had studied health and vitamin supplements for many years. The pill she gave Louie was one of the B group vitamins – in fact Vitamin B Quiet!
To reassure Louie, Pearl added. ‘Louie I will do what I can at the meeting on Wednesday to avoid this tax, I am as much against it as you are, you know that. The important thing is don’t worry about it’.
‘Pearl how about a little breakfast down at the Nest Cafe before I go back to the Factory?’ suggested Louie.
‘Good idea Louie’, said Pearl. ‘It might take my mind off the meeting on Wednesday too’.
Louie waited patiently while Pearl made herself ready and filled her handbag with an inordinate amount of stuff that Louie felt was totally unnecessary. In ten minutes flat they were off. 
Pearl and Louie headed east and descended to the stream. They then headed north at full speed flying just above the stream surface.
Flying so low both had to be vigilant and keep an eye out for ducks landing on the stream. It was a beautiful day; they both waved to some bees who were making honey to deposit in the Reserve Bank. Life was good. The air was full of fragrance from Jasmine growing wild along the stream bank. Louie soon forgot his worries about the carbon tax.
Louie and Pearl both reduced power as they neared the cafe. Louie allowed Pearl to land first, which she did, adroitly in a soft muffled flutter. Louie on the other hand wasn’t quite watching what he was doing. In spite of applying full reverse thrust he landed beside Pearl with a thump outside the Nest Café (hence the name bumblebee). The manager of the cafe rushed out to see what was happening and welcomed them both in.
Inside the Café it was quite noisy. The juke box was playing somewhat loudly and a group of young fleas were hip hopping about to the music. No the music wasn’t by the Beatles – that would be far too uncool. The music they were playing was by the popular group ‘Pink noise and the Mother Flutters’ get it right man!
Immediately Pearl Baker-Moth entered, the young fleas sat down and lowered the volume of the music. Pearl acknowledged the respect shown by the fleas with a smile and a coy flutter of her eyelashes. Everyone respected Pearl as their leader and Queen.
An elderly fly sitting at table two looked relieved that the noise had ceased and got back to reading his Fly Paper.
Basil, a preying mantis, and his wife Sybil managed the Nest Café. The food served was always delicious and of a good standard. Person bird waitresses, neatly dressed in aprons cut from white lilies, scurried about serving the patrons and showing them to their tables as they arrived. For the uninitiated, person birds is the politically correct term for ladybirds.
Louie asked for his favourite table, number twenty-seven that was by the window overlooking the stream. Today Louie was in luck it was available. Basil led the way and showed Pearl and Louie to their table.
Louie and Pearl studied the menu briefly and immediately opted for the spider egg omelette with gum leaf toast and of course with a cup or two of Nest Café coffee.
Pearl opened the conversation. ‘Louie it has been very quiet in the Middle East recently, I hope Al Spider is not up to anything sinister. I have noticed some of his scout planes about recently and I wonder if they are planning something’.
 Al Spider’s scout planes were in fact part of quite a large squadron of mosquitoes that flew around feeding information back to Al Spider about the west.
Louie commented that he hadn’t noticed anything in particular recently but would keep an eye out for any suspicious activity. The worry for Louie was that Al Spider and the Valley Barn gang could raid the Reserve Bank. Several attempts had been made in the past without success.
Pearl went on to say she felt that Al Spider and the Valley Barn could become a problem of behemoth proportions unless dealt to with vigilance and clear thinking.
Louie didn’t understand big words like ‘behemoth’ but felt comfortable in the fact that the word contained both ‘bee’ and ‘moth’ so Pearl would want him involved in any problems that might arise.
Louie feeling confidant that he sort of knew what ‘behemoth’ meant added. ‘After breakfast Pearl I will call into the Reserve Bank on the way to the Factory and check that all is OK’.
Louie and Pearl relaxed and enjoyed the view along the stream while they finished their breakfast. 
Below them they watched Duck Paddle Cruises in operation.
Duck Paddle Cruises provided a means for insects to cruise, for a small fee, on the back of a duck, up and down the still waters of the stream. Down at the wharf there was a crowd of grass hoppers getting ready to ‘hop’ aboard the next cruise.
 Next-door the supermarket was busy, Louie and Pearl could see all sorts of creatures coming and going. Virgil’s wasps were flying to and from the post office at regular intervals. Louie and Pearl both chuckled on seeing a Slater outside the supermarket who had a young pet sand hopper bouncing along behind him on a jumper lead!
Louie reflected on what a wonderful peaceful scene it was, the sun was high by now, the air was warm and the sunlight sparkled on the waters of the stream.
Louie picked up his smell phone and spoke again briefly to Import at the Factory. Louie advised Import that he would be calling into the Reserve Bank first and wouldn’t be at the Factory until about 11.30a.
Louie and Pearl having finished breakfast and discussing the day ahead, paid Basil at the counter and headed outside.
Louie waved goodbye to Pearl as she gently fluttered off up to her apartment. Louie powered up his wings and lifted off and flew down the stream towards the Reserve Bank. Louie was a little concerned about what Pearl had said about Al Spider.

 The Reserve Bank was close to the stream where the stream widened. The reserve was chosen as a site to build the bank because it was an area that remained relatively undisturbed. Also the fact that the stream widened here made it less accessible for Al Spider and the Valley Barn gang. 
Because of the isolation of the Reserve Bank it was necessary for bank staff to be flown in and out every day by air via Virgil Blue’s air transport services. Virgil Blue also ran half hourly air passenger services up and down the stream so that non-flying insects could call at the bank, visit friends or meet at the Nest Café.
Sparrow Construction Ltd (who also built the Nest Café) built the Reserve Bank some years ago out of locally sourced materials. The result was a fine looking building made from sun baked clay bricks. Sparrow Construction had sub contracted a lot of the work to White Ant Excavators who were experts in using local clays to make the fine looking building the Reserve Bank was. White Ant Excavators had expertly created the underground vaults where the dollops and scents were stored in large quantities.
As governor of the Reserve Bank, Louie was always concerned about the level of the water in the stream. If the levels became raised too much, Louie would seriously have to consider floating the dollop. In floating the dollop there would be dilution in value and the interest levels would naturally drop. Additionally if the stream levels rose too much there could be some downstream effects on the whole western insect economy, it could just end up as a sticky mess. In all Louie had a very responsible job as governor of the Reserve Bank. 
Louie landed safely outside the bank on the spot marked ‘Reserved – governor’ and went inside. Sparrow Construction had fitted the bank out beautifully with timber appropriately polished with beeswax. 
The bank employed a chief teller and three junior tellers. The chief teller was a middle aged bespectacled stick insect named Arnold and the tellers were money spiders. Arnold having heard Louie arrive was hopping about getting the junior tellers out of the staff room where they had been for nearly three quarters of an hour having morning tea.
When Louie entered, the tellers were in their places so all looked well to Louie.
Louie took Arnold into the governor’s office to be briefed on the status of the bank and to discuss current interest rates and levels of deposits. Louie mentioned his concerns about Al Spider to Arnold and asked Arnold to report back to him any sightings of Al Spider’s scout planes. 
Arnold went a sort of blotchy green colour and his feelers curled up with fright at the mention of Al Spider. Louie reassured him that he was relatively safe from Al Spider but to be vigilant and let him know of anything suspicious. However, secretly Louie was a little worried about the situation.
Louie and Arnold proceeded to the vaults to inspect the store of dollops and scents. Louie, with relish, sampled a few of the dollops just to ensure that interest levels were being maintained. Arnold reassured Louie that the oldest dollops and scents were being issued first. 
Feeling satisfied that all was well, Louie bid adieu to Arnold and headed out of the bank to fly to the Factory. 
As Louie came out into the sunshine again his thoughts about getting to the Factory were interrupted by a high-pitched whining noise. He looked up. There were two mosquitoes circling overhead, two of Al Spider’s scouts. On seeing Louie emerge they immediately disappeared to the east.
‘Oh dear’, said Louie to himself. ‘Something is up’. 
Louie put his mind back on the business in hand and took off for the Factory.
Instead of flying at stream level, Louie opened the throttle and ran his wings up to about 2,500 r.p.m. At this rate he rapidly climbed to a height of about 50,000 feet (remember insects only have small feet so this was about four lamp posts high).
Louie looked across to the Middle East – nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. There was no sign of the mosquitoes anywhere; all looked quiet at the Valley Barn. 
Louie descended from where he was in wide circles above the stream. He was exhilarated by the wind in his face and the speed of the descent to such an extent that he re climbed to 50,000 feet and did it all over again. Al Spider and the Valley Barn were soon forgotten!
Louie flew in through the portal (more correctly described as a hole in the side of Mr McFarland’s shed) to the Factory. The Factory was to one side of the loft, away from the “portal” leaving adequate floor space for Louie’s clients to land and arrive in safety.
Louie stopped, folded his wings and walked up to the Factory entrance.
Inside the Ten Ants were hard at work. In the work area was a large black beetle that had had tyre black applied and was now being waxed and polished ready to be finished in about half an hour.
The beetle was an off the road type (six wheel drive) that had been doing some carrying work for White Ant Excavators Ltd and had arrived in quite a dirty state. Import came over and explained this to Louie.
Louie the good manager he was went to the waiting room and explained to the customers waiting there that they wouldn’t have to wait much longer, the beetle was just about finished.
The waiting customers were happy enough anyway, Louie had had the foresight to get Fly TV installed in the waiting room and at the time there was an exciting match of bugby football being played. 
Louie went back to where the Ten Ants were working on the beetle and inspected the work, what an excellent job thought Louie and conveyed his impressions to Import.
Feeling satisfied Louie headed to his office where, being Monday, he had to check the Ten Ants’ time sheets from the preceding week.
Import had placed the time sheets on Louie’s desk for him to check. Louie would always thoroughly check them before phoning Arnold at the bank and arranging for delivery of dollops and scents on Thursday - payday.
Louie scanned the sheets, are yes as had often happened before, Ignor had put his times in the dollops column and Expect had claimed sixty hours which was impossible as they only worked forty hours maximum! 
Louie cursed under his breath and uttered a bee word. However rather than stopping the ants now when things were running behind it would be better if he corrected it himself and talked to those involved later.
With the now corrected time sheets in front of him, Louie picked up his smell phone to phone Arnold at the bank.
‘Hello is that you Arnold?’ said Louie in a business like voice.
‘What?’ said the voice at the other end. 
‘Is that the Reserve Bank?’ queried Louie who by now was wondering who on earth was this at the Reserve Bank!
‘Reserve what!?’ said the voice at the other end.
‘The Reserve Bank!’ shouted Louie somewhat agitated by now.
‘Who deserves thanks?’ said the voice at the other end.
‘Is that the R-E-S-E-R-V-E B-A-N-K?’ Louie yelled into the phone.
There was a pause on the end of the phone and Louie heard someone mutter to someone else. ‘There’s some guy on the phone selling tanks!’
Louie just about exploded and was about to launch forth with a tirade of never heard before bee words when another more authoritative voice came on at the other end and said. ‘Hello this is the home for deaf centipedes, can I help you?’
Louie hung up the phone immediately and cursed to himself. ‘These smell phones are not what they are cracked up to be!’
Louie being a bee of reasonable intelligence realised what had happened. He had forgotten to open a window. With no windows open a smell phone could be directly affected by any odours that might be in the room. Calls out could end up anywhere!
We should mention here that Louie’s office computer was in fact the same as his smell phone and used ‘Windows’ (open ones in particular) to operate and connect to the Internet via the smellular network. Louie’s computer was a FlyBM (Fly bee Model) operating with Windows. 
Louie opened the window - success! Louie managed to get through to Arnold at the bank. Arnold would have the Ten Ants’ pay ready and waiting for Virgil Blue Courier Services to pick up and deliver on Thursday morning. Arnold requested that Louie send a beemail confirming this. Subsequently Louie got onto his PC and sent the beemail off to Arnold.
For those technical readers interested in computers, the insect world didn’t have laptops. However FONY had developed small computers that sat neatly in the gap between an insect’s thorax and abdomen. In the insect world these had become loosely termed as ‘gaptops’. Louie had one of these and often took work home at night if the pressure was on.
Louie spent the remainder of the afternoon on his office PC, spread sheeting last week’s production from information Import had given him. Things were looking quite good now after a quiet period over the preceding winter months.
Just before five the Ten Ants were packing up to go down to their accommodation in the floor of the shed. Louie would remain and lock up after everyone had gone and then fly home.
Louie wandered over to the production area and looked at the forward bookings that Import had put up on the wall. Louie was very happy with how things were going. It looked like being a good summer season.
Louie shut the window in his office, closed the door and headed to the portal in the side of Mr McFarland’s shed. He could hear Mr McFarland in the distance mowing his lawn. There was a delicious smell of cut grass and onion weed wafting past the shed - ah the wonderful smells of spring Louie thought.
Sometimes after work in the evening Louie would call up to Pearl Baker-Moth’s place to join her for an evening meal. However not tonight, Louie was tired and besides Pearl was busy working on important stuff for the global warming summit on Wednesday.
Louie launched himself into the now cool evening air and lazily descended to stream level. 
Before going home Louie flew upstream past Sir Cada and Lady Bird’s place. They were sitting out on the deck having evening drinks and waved to Louie as he sped past.
Louie loved to fly just above the stream surface at speed; it was an exhilarating experience for a bee.
At a wide section of the stream Louie did a U-turn and sped off back down to his home on the bank.
Before going inside Louie went around to the back of his house and gathered some twigs. Louie had a wood stove that he used for heating and cooking. 
Louie carefully placed some fly paper in the stove then loaded the twigs. Above the stove was a jar of matches (Beehive of course). Louie reached for these and lit the fly paper. Soon there was a rosy glow that lit up the interior of Louie’s home. The flickering light from the stove cast shadows across the exposed beam ceiling above the room.
Louie’s home was clean and tidy. The stove was in a largish kitchen area with pots and pans hanging from the ceiling. At the back of the kitchen was an opening to the lounge. Shelves of interesting looking bee books could be seen in the dim light.
When Louie was a young bee he had belonged to the local Bee Scouts and gained a woodcraft badge with first class honours.
Yes Louie was indeed a clever bee. Around Louie’s house were lots of ferns. Louie had used his wood crafting skills to make some lovely ‘ferniture and fernishings’ for his home.
Louie had some nectar in his larder with which he had mixed in a bit of honey and allowed to ferment a little – a delicious sort of mead. Louie sat down in his favourite chair (expertly made from ferns) and supped on the mead, he felt relaxed and satisfied. A shadow of Louie in the chair danced on the wall behind him from the light of the flickering fire in the stove. There was a light almost incense fragrance in the air from the wood fire in Louie’s stove.
For today we will leave Louie sitting in his favourite chair in front of his stove. Shortly he will cook a meal, possibly honey fritters tonight. After tea he will perhaps doze in front of the stove until the flames finally die then he will head of to bed to be ready for another day. 

Chapter 2
Al Spider Is On The Move.

Pearl Baker-Moth being the Queen of the insects along the stream had taken it upon her self to provide protection and security for the community to the best of her ability.
Some years ago Pearl had set up a secret and elite organisation called the K.G.B. The aim of the organisation was to know about things before they got out of hand and became a threat to the residents of her Queendom. K.G.B. was a convenient acronym for Knowledge Gained Beforehand.
To operate effectively the K.G.B. had to be totally secret, in fact none of the insects along the stream (including Louie the bee) knew of its existence. For effective operation, this was the way it needed to be. 
The main threat to the area was of course Al Spider and the Valley Barn Gang. Not even Al Spider knew of the existence of the K.G.B..
When Pearl Baker-Moth originally set up the K.G.B., the requirements were for a team of tough, emotionally detached insects that were fast on land and in the air. It was essential for this elite squad to have perfect eyesight and hearing (that is didn’t wear glasses, contact lenses or have hearing aids). They were to have no friends or associates in the insect community along the stream. The K.G.B. was set up as a discrete undercover operation. 
To set up such an organisation, Pearl needed several locations away from the stream as operational centres so that the K.G.B. could be run with military precision along with a military style administration.
As luck would have it, along the road to the village, which ran parallel to the stream, the village telecommunications company had installed fibre optic cabinets for the supply of telephone services to the likes of Mr McFarland. 
There were four of these cabinets, all within view of Pearl Baker-Moth’s street lamp apartment, two to the north and two to the south. These cabinets were dry and warm and made the ideal place to set up K.G.B. operational centres. 
At each of the four cabinet locations Pearl Baker-Moth had commissioned a beetle who remained onsite at all times for administration and reporting functions. For security reasons the beetle administrators were known simply as B1, B2, B3 and B4. Pearl was simply referred to as ‘Mam’. The beetles were, in the scheme of this sophisticated operation, Pearl’s ‘Cabinet Ministers’.
Under instruction from Pearl Baker-Moth, B1, B2, B3 and B4 had employed the elite force of insects we talked about before. 
At each cabinet, reporting directly to each Cabinet Minister was a team of highly trained flies. The team was made up of one senior bluebottle and five highly trained house flies; that is, a Bluetenant and five Flight Sergeants. 
The flies were not just ordinary houseflies; no they were smart and well educated. All of them had graduated from kindergarten and gone on to higher education at Fly School. However as Pearl had pointed out to her Cabinet Ministers; in selecting the right candidates, intelligence was not the number one priority as this was an intelligence gathering operation, not an intelligence using one. 
The flies had been brought in from outside the area and fitted all the criteria to be mercenary, fast in the air and on the land and had perfect eyesight and hearing.
Under Pearl Baker-Moth’s instructions the K.G.B. ran foot patrols on a daily basis along the stream banks under camouflage to watch for any signs of Al Spider. Some of the Flight Sergeants were also stationed on the ridge behind Al Spider and the Valley Barn to watch for any activity. At night at least one Bluetenant would be airborne to watch out over the streamside community.

Most of the time all was peaceful and activities along the stream carried on from day to day as normal.
However it was one grey day towards the end of summer at about 9.00 a.m. Pearl Baker-Moth was relaxing at home in her street lamp apartment when her smell phone rang. It was B4 from the northern most cabinet. ‘Hello Mam, B4 reporting in. I don’t wish to worry you Mam but I am afraid it looks serious’.
‘Go on’, said Pearl.
B4 continued. ‘Al Spider and two hundred or more of his gang members are on the move south on the west bank a short distance from the village. It appears they have crossed the village bridge during the night. I presume they are probably heading for the Reserve Bank’.
Pearl paused and thought for a moment. There had been the odd occasion when Al Spider and/or some of his gang members had been on the west side, however not in the numbers B4 was indicating.
Pearl responded. ‘Thanks B4 for advising me of the situation. If they are heading for the Reserve Bank, any estimate of how long they will take to get there?’
‘At the present rate we estimate less than 24 hours Mam. I would say tomorrow morning 6.00 a.m.’, B4 replied.
Pearl thanked B4 for the information and asked him to keep her posted and to advise B1, B2 and B3 of the situation.
Pearl immediately phoned Louie, who was busy at the Factory, and asked him to come to her apartment as soon as possible.
Louie took about five minutes, which gave Pearl a chance to think about the situation and how it might be dealt with. Pearl reflected, ‘thank goodness’ she had put in place her Cabinet Ministers and Intelligence gathering services. It gave her some warning and time to think and react.
Louie arrived hoping it was something special for morning tea, however by the look on Pearl’s face and the fact that her feelers stood straight up meant something was up apart from her two feelers.
‘What is it Pearl?’ said Louie.
‘A bit of disturbing information Louie’, said Pearl. ‘Al Spider and about two hundred of his gang are on the move up the western side of the stream and it is believed they are heading for the Reserve Bank. Apparently they came over the bridge in the village during the night’.
‘Oh no, two hundred!’ exclaimed Louie. ‘The Reserve Bank is full of deposits from the summer season we have to do something to stop this guy!’
Louie paused for a moment and felt slightly guilty that his first consideration had been for the dollops and scents when the most important thing was that Arnold and the tellers were at the bank unaware of the situation.
Pearl pre-empted Louie’s thoughts and said. ‘Louie you are going to have to advise Arnold and the tellers of the situation and get them out of there. First of all I suggest we get on the phone to Virgil and get some of his wasps in to pick them up and take them to the Factory. At the Factory we can explain the situation’.
Pearl paused for a moment then said. ‘Louie you phone Arnold and I will get on to Virgil right away’.
Louie did as suggested and advised Arnold to be ready to be picked up by the wasps within the next 15 minutes. Louie advised Arnold that he couldn’t say over the phone why they were being picked up but he would tell all at the Factory later. Louie added, to ease the situation, that there was some chocolate cake and nectar in the office and to help themselves when they arrived.
Louie then phoned Import at the Factory to advise that Arnold and the tellers would be arriving in the next half hour and to make them welcome.
Pearl in the meantime had spoken to Virgil who had duly dispatched the wasps to pick up Arnold and the bank staff.
Pearl remained relatively calm and collected. She realised the situation was serious and that they still had to think of a way to prevent Al Spider from reaching the bank.
Louie was nervous and his wings trembled a little at times. Pearl went into the larder and brought back a couple of glasses of nectar together with one of her B Vitamins for Louie – this time, Vitamin B Calm.
Pearl said, ‘Louie come and sit down, we have done all we can for the moment, we need to deal with just one thing at a time. The next thing to consider is how we stop Al Spider and the Valley Barn Gang from gaining access to the Reserve Bank’.
While Pearl and Louie were sitting down, Pearl’s smell phone rang, it was Virgil Blue.
‘Just a moment Virgil, I have got Louie with me, I’ll just switch over to speaker phone’
‘Go ahead Virgil’, said Pearl.
‘Hi Pearl and Louie’, said Virgil. ‘I have a bit of a problem; my wasps have arrived at the bank, in fact they are overhead at the moment. Unfortunately they can’t land; there are at least a hundred of Al Spider’s mosquitoes blocking the entrance to the bank!’
Pearl’s feelers stood straight up again. Pearl thought for a moment then responded. ‘Thanks Virgil. Bring the wasps back and we will consider an alternative, over and out’.
‘Wilco’, Virgil responded.
Pearl and Louie sat in silence for a moment. Louie was really worried. Pearl returned to being calm and collected and her feelers went down again.
‘Louie’, said Pearl. ‘We have two main issues here. The first is the safety of your staff at the bank and the second is that of Al Spider coming south along the stream’.
Louie listened intently and Pearl continued. ‘First of all phone Arnold and get him to barricade himself and the tellers in. Explain the situation but don’t frighten him. The mosquitoes don’t have the capability to break into the bank; they are just a means of stalling any rescue efforts by us. The staff will be safe in the meantime. Explain to Arnold that we are handling the situation and not to worry. We will work through this somehow’.
Louie felt better with the reassurance from Pearl and phoned Arnold.
While Louie was phoning Arnold, Pearl phoned Virgil again and asked for a meeting about an idea she had.
When Louie was off the phone, Pearl exclaimed with some urgency. ‘Louie I have phoned Virgil and asked for a meeting at his hangar, I will tell you about it there, let’s go’. 
Off the pair went at top speed to Virgil’s premises where he was waiting in the hangar.
‘Hi Pearl and Louie’, said Virgil. ‘Come in and sit down and let’s hear this idea of yours Pearl’.
Pearl reiterated that the two issues were one, the safety of the staff at the Reserve Bank and two, to slow the progress of Al Spider coming up from the village. 
‘I think to deal with the staff trapped at the bank’, said Pearl. ‘We should do as follows. In Mr McFarland’s bathroom cabinet is some mosquito repellent. What I suggest we do is for you Louie to organise the Ten Ants to bring this out bit by bit across to the hangar here, then we air lift it and drop it on the mosquitoes outside the bank!’
‘Not a bad idea’, said Virgil. ‘I can certainly arrange to ‘top-dress’ the mosquitoes if you can get the stuff to me Louie’.
Virgil went on to add that. ‘The best time to do the ‘top dressing’ would be early in the morning when the mosquitoes are on the ground; it would be difficult to do it while they are flying’.
Louie chipped in and said. ‘This would be too late Virgil, Al Spider will be there by early morning and all will be lost’.
Pearl then reassured Louie. ‘Louie this is where the second part of my idea comes in. We need to slow down the progress of Al Spider’.
‘Virgil’, explained Pearl. ‘On Mr McFarland’s driveway there are thousands of small stones. Would it be feasible for a team of your wasps to pick these up one by one and strategically drop them on Al Spider and the gang? It should slow him down and give us a window of opportunity to drop the mosquito repellent in the morning’.
‘Yes I believe that is quite feasible’, said Virgil.
 As an afterthought Virgil said. ‘Just one thing, I would be a bit concerned about taking the wasps off taxi and courier services for the rest of the day’.
‘Well I think I can help you here Virgil’, said Pearl. ‘I will make contact with the rest of the community and advise them of the situation. In fact we will put a message over Fly TV. All at the Nest Café will see it and I will personally advise the rest that all air transport will be reduced for twenty-four hours to a skeleton service of say two wasps. Would that be OK Virgil?’
‘Seems OK to me Pearl’, said Virgil. ‘How about you Louie, would the Ten Ants co-operate in bringing out the mosquito repellent?’
Louie seeing that there was a positive path of action ahead responded. ‘Yes I think the Ten Ants would welcome a change from their routine work if I reward them suitably – no problem’.
Louie went on to say ‘If we could arrange a day away for the Ten Ants with your air services after this is all over Virgil, I would have no bother getting the Ten Ants behind us on this one’.
‘Done’, said Virgil. ‘We will all look forward to it!’
 The three of them went over the plan again and reiterated and confirmed their individual responsibilities. 
 The plan was for Louie to immediately arrange for the Ten Ants to start bringing the mosquito repellent to Virgil’s hangar and for Virgil to arrange for his wasps to start ‘bombing’ Al Spider with stones from Mr McFarland’s driveway. By the end of the day Virgil was to have mosquito repellent ready for takeoff and dispatch at dawn. Pearl would advise the insect community of reduced air services.
 Both Virgil and Louie congratulated Pearl on the splendid idea. Pearl smiled.
 ‘Thanks you two’, she said. ‘It’s so good to have you helping me like this. 
The three had agreed to keep in contact and meet back at 4p.m. at Virgil’s hangar to report on progress.
Within half an hour the Ten Ants were on the job of transporting the mosquito repellent. It was quite a tedious job as there was a reasonable distance between Mr McFarland’s bathroom cabinet and Virgil Blue’s hangar. The job would most likely take the Ten Ants the rest of the day. 
Virgil had cleverly arranged for empty courier packs to be strapped to the Ten Ants to carry the mosquito repellent. These in turn were emptied into larger courier packs at Virgil’s hangar ready for dispatch in the morning.
Virgil recalled eighteen of his fleet of twenty wasps. The wasps were excited at the prospect of the job in hand. Virgil warned the wasps to be vigilant in picking up the stones from Mr McFarland’s driveway; Mr McFarland wasn’t too fussed on wasps in his garden. However it appeared as though luck was on the insect’s side, Mr McFarland had in fact headed to the village for the day to do his weekly shopping.
By now it was late morning; Pearl Baker-Moth was back in her apartment surveying the scene below. She could see the wasps flying past one by one carrying stones and disappearing in the direction of the village. Looking south she could see the Ten Ants marching in line with the courier packs full of mosquito repellent. So far so good!
Pearl Baker-Moth was pensive however. There was still the issue of Al Spider and the gang eventually arriving at the bank and stealing the dollops and scents. The dollops and scents stored in the Reserve Bank were essential to keep the western insect economy going through the coming winter months.
It was of serious concern that if Al Spider and the Valley Barn gang got hold of the dollops and scents in the Reserve Bank, the dollops and scents could end up as being toxic assets and throw the whole western insect economy into depression. Something had to be done.
Pearl had a plan. She opened up her gaptop (insect world lap top), opened the window and was onto the Internet.
Pearl who was often on the Internet looking for things going ‘cheep’ immediately got onto Twitter then twittered and tweeted to the World Wide Web: ‘Free spider meal’! 
Because birds are really into twittering, Pearl had an immediate response from a starling. ‘Where?’
Pearl carried on twittering and tweeting with the starling for the next 15 minutes, explaining the situation.
After much twittering and negotiations Pearl had arranged for up to two hundred starlings to be perched on Mr McFarland’s shed roof at 7-30 in the morning. Pearl had explained where the Reserve Bank was. Pearl would contact the chief starling on his smell phone when Al Spider and the gang were in the open outside the Reserve Bank and order an attack.
The starling Pearl was twittering with was very sympathetic to the cause and very co-operative. What a ‘darling starling’ thought Pearl.
Pearl made some notes for the meeting scheduled for 4p.m. with Virgil and Louie down at the hangar.
The next job was to get onto her Cabinet Ministers and keep them informed of what was going on. It was essential for the Bluetenants to keep the flight sergeants out of the area during the starling attack tomorrow. In fact Pearl had declared for all of tomorrow morning the area between Mr McFarland’s shed roof and the Reserve Bank was to be a ‘No Fly Zone’.
Having informed her Cabinet Ministers of the situation there wasn’t much for Pearl to do now until the meeting in Virgil’s hangar. She relaxed and waited.
At 4.00 p.m. the insects met at Virgil Blue’s hangar to compare notes on progress.
The Ten Ants had worked hard and had already finished the job. Louie had let them have the remainder of the day off for their efforts but had kept Import back at the meeting in case there might be some further involvement for the Ten Ants. 
Virgil opened the meeting and reported on progress. ‘The wasps have done their best to slow the progress of Al Spider; a significant number of the gang are now stoned and have headaches. I would estimate we have slowed their progress by about two hours. This means Al Spider and the gang will be due outside the Reserve Bank about 8.00 a.m.’ 
 Virgil went on to say. ‘What I propose to do is to do run the top dressing operation at first light which will be 6.00 a.m. Louie I will need the Ten Ants onboard to make the drop’.
The mosquito repellent the Ten Ants had brought in from Mr McFarland’s bathroom now filled ten large courier bags. These were to be strapped to Virgil’s fuselage. With the Ten Ants onboard each ant would release the packs on a signal from Virgil.
Louie responded. ‘Yes that will be fine, I will get Import to arrange for the Ten Ants to be here at say 5.00 a.m. for briefing and instructions before boarding?’
Louie turned and spoke to Import about the proposal. Import was really really excited about the whole deal and ran off as fast as an ant can go without getting his legs in a knot to tell the others.
‘Excellent’, said Virgil. ‘When we fly in and wipe out the mosquitoes I will have ten wasps follow to pickup Arnold and the tellers immediately afterwards’.
‘The question is’, said Virgil. ‘What do we do with Al Spider and the gang once they arrive at the bank, shall we continue dropping stones on them?’
Pearl who had been quiet up until now, explained what she had arranged with the starlings. Virgil and Louie were very impressed with Pearl’s brilliant idea. 
‘That is just fantastic!’ said Louie and Virgil.
Pearl went on to ask. ‘Once the mosquito repellent drop has been made and the bank staff have been lifted out, Virgil could you circle over the Reserve Bank and advise me by phone when Al Spider and the Gang arrive?’
Virgil agreed to the strategy and added that he would keep a reasonable distance away so that Al Spider wouldn’t detect him.
Having agreed on Virgil’s observation role, Pearl continued. ‘Virgil once you have advised me that Al Spider and the Gang are in place could you discreetly vacate the area and return to the hangar. I want everyone out of the area between Mr McFarland’s shed roof and the Reserve Bank so the starlings can do their job’.
The plan was in place, everything was set for the morning. Louie and Pearl thanked Virgil for his marvellous efforts. It had been agreed to assemble at 5.30 a.m. at Virgil’s Hangar the next day.
Louie and Pearl headed back up the stream as the afternoon turned to evening. 
‘Let’s go to the Nest Café for tea’, suggested Pearl.
‘Good idea’, said Louie.
The two insects flew down the stream and on to the Nest Café. Pearl was looking forward to relaxing with some red wine after such a tense day.
Later, quite a bit later, after a really enjoyable meal, the pair headed back to their respective homes in the light of a full moon, ready to take on what ever lay ahead the next day. 

Chapter 3
Al Spider Arrives At The Reserve Bank.

Louie was up at 4.00 a.m. for the big day. He was a little apprehensive about what could go wrong with the planned attack on Al Spider.
Louie soon pushed these negative thoughts out of his mind, after all, Pearl Baker-Moth would handle the situation and she always knew what to do in a crisis.
Louie stretched his wings and legs then brushed his body and washed his teeth (this is what bees do).
Next he lit the stove to make his breakfast. Because there was not much time he quickly made some over easy spider eggs, accompanied by some gum leaf toast washed down with some of Louie’s favourite tea, a special blend of tussock grass tips that he bought at the super market, known as TG Tips.
It was still dark outside. The streetlight where Pearl lived was still shining brightly and he wondered what Pearl was doing.
Pearl Baker-Moth was up and about preening herself ready for the day ahead. Pearl had decided to skip breakfast, there was much on her mind and besides she felt the preening bit was more important.
Pearl phoned each of her Cabinet Ministers and reminded them of their responsibilities for the day. B3 reported that Al Spider was making progress as expected. Pearl twittered the information to the starlings that everything was happening and it was all go. 
Pearl summed up in her mind the chain of events that were about to unfold.
Firstly the mosquito force outside the Reserve Bank was to be immobilised. Next Virgil’s wasps would move in and pickup the bank staff and take them to Virgil’s hangar. Pearl thought it best if Virgil’s hangar were the HQ for the day; it was well south of the action and probably safest for all. The final and crucial action was the call for the starlings to move in and finish off the job.
 Pearl Baker-Moth was ready for action. She checked her smell phone battery to ensure it would last the day; indeed the battery was a nice full round shape and unlikely to go flat over the next twelve hours or so.
Pearl phoned Louie to check that he was on the ball as indeed he was.
‘Leaving in five minutes Louie’, said Pearl. ‘I will go straight to Virgil’s and see you there as arranged at 5.30 a.m.’
‘OK Pearl, I will leave in five minutes too and see you there’, replied Louie and hung up. 
The two insects made their way to Virgil’s hangar. There was a faint glimmer of pink in the eastern sky. Could mean rain later thought Pearl but at least for now it was clear and calm for the pending operation.
 Louie was there when Pearl arrived. The Ten Ants had already been briefed and were lined up ready and waiting for action. Virgil already had the ten courier packs of mosquito repellent onboard and was close to doing a boarding call for the Ten Ants. 
There were ten wasps waiting with wings at idling power ready to go. It was all very exciting with the buzz of activity.
First of all Virgil went over the flight plan with Pearl and Louie. ‘After take off I will fly west in a wide circle and climb to an altitude of 50,000 feet (again remember insects have small feet so about four lamp posts high). The ten rescue wasps will follow me and remain circling beyond the road to the west until I call them in’.
 Virgil lowered his voice and continued. ‘The key is an element of surprise; we don’t want to wake the sleeping mosquitoes. To this end at the appropriate time and some distance away from the Reserve Bank I will cut power and glide in. The Ten Ants have been instructed to release the mosquito repellent on my call of “C.F.A.A”’
Louie trying to sound knowledgeable queried. ‘I presume this means ‘Cleared For Action Ants’’.
No replied Virgil. ‘To keep the Ten Ants focused it stands for ‘Chocolate Cake for All Afterwards’.’
‘Right’, said Virgil. ‘Action time, would passengers seated in rows nine and ten board now please’. 
This happened to be Deodor(ant) and Flatul(ant). Virgil had arranged that they sit down the back of the aircraft because of the possibility they may interfere with smell phone transmissions. However let’s be fair, these were two fine capable Ants from Louie’s Team and were not to be sniffed at.
Having got Deodor and Flatul onboard Virgil announced, ‘Would the remaining passengers in rows 1 to 8 now board please’.
Everything was going well. The Ten Ants were now strapped in (or rather on) and ready for takeoff. Because the flight was of a military nature there were no cabin crew today. Normally there would have been a person bird (ladybird) looking after passengers and making the usual in-flight announcements.
Virgil started up. Running at about 1,500 r.p.m. he slowly moved out of the hangar. The large powerful blue dragon fly was a magnificent sight in the darkness of the early morning. As Virgil moved out, the ten pickup wasps followed and lined up with military precision behind Virgil.
Virgil idled for a minute or more, checking wind direction, power settings and advised the Ten Ants to remain seated during takeoff.
Then it was full power, Louie and Pearl found it hard to hold on to the ground with the wash of air from the powerful wings. Virgil lifted off and headed west as planned, the Ten Ants were waving to Louie and Pearl in absolute excitement.
Immediately after Virgil had gone, the ten wasps, at full power lifted off and flew in a Vee formation behind Virgil.
Pearl and Louie just stood and looked in awe. It was like something out of Star Wars.
All went quiet again. 
‘Right’, said Pearl. ‘Louie, you and I, back to my place where we can observe what is going on’.
The pair took off in the early dawn and headed to Pearl’s street light apartment.
It was now five minutes to six, about four minutes before Virgil would move in for the drop.
Pearl put her smell phone on speakerphone so Louie could hear as well and opened up communication with Virgil.
‘This is operations, come in ZK 10NANA’, said Pearl. 
‘Roger, this is ZK whatever’, said Virgil who couldn’t quite remember what his registration number was, let alone see it in the dark. 
‘In position now’, continued Virgil. ‘Will be proceeding for the drop in two minutes, over and out’.
Pearl and Louie went to the window and could just make out Virgil and the wasps circling in the west. The pair waited in silence.
‘There he goes’, exclaimed Louie. ‘He’s heading in the direction of the Reserve Bank’.
Sure enough, the large dragonfly with the Ten Ants and the mosquito repellent onboard were making a power off gliding descent towards the Reserve Bank.
As Virgil made his approach he could see the top of the Reserve Bank ahead, just visible in the early morning light. Virgil made the glide path low enough to prevent being spotted by the mosquitoes asleep out the front of the bank. 
Virgil spoke to the Ten Ants over the intercom. ‘This is your Captain speaking; we are now one minute away from the drop. Stand by for a count down to ground zero. A fifteen second count down will commence shortly’.
The Ten Ants readied themselves as instructed; they had been drilled many times earlier in the morning on the procedure. Nothing could go wrong now. They were ready for action immediately they heard the code C.F.A.A.
‘Here we go’, said Virgil over the intercom. ‘Count down starting now; zero minus fifteen seconds, fourteen, thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one - C.F.A.A. and go!!’ yelled Virgil.
The Ten Ants immediately let all the courier packs go. Bull’s eye! Right on target, the sleeping mosquitoes didn’t know what had hit them. The mosquito repellent spread everywhere with each impact of the courier packs. 
The mosquitoes didn’t stand a chance. Within less than a minute all were lying dead on the ground outside the Reserve Bank.
The Ten Ants and Virgil cheered. The operation had been a complete success. Virgil had timed the operation beautifully.
Virgil now had another small job to do before he called in the ten wasps. Power on again, he turned remaining low over the eastern side of the stream and headed back across to the Reserve Bank. Once Virgil was over the bodies of the dead mosquitoes he hovered then blasted with full power. He blew all the mosquitoes into the stream and dispelled any remaining mosquito repellent. Yea!
Having now cleared the area, Virgil instructed the ten wasps to move in to pickup the bank staff. They sure would be relieved to be free again! 
Mission completed!
A short time later, Virgil called up operations and reported in. ‘Operation a success, the bank staff are on their way back to the hangar now. Remaining in the Reserve Bank area, will advise when Al Spider and the Gang emerge. Over’.
Pearl and Louie were overcome with relief. ‘Phase three now’, said Pearl and looked out the window towards Mr McFarland’s place. It was about a quarter to eight. As planned the starlings were gradually gathering on the roof of Mr McFarland’s shed. By the numbers that were there it appeared as though there could be more to come.
Pearl called up the chief starling (the darling starling she had spoken to the day before) on her smell phone. Yes there were a few more to arrive. 
‘Give me a call back in five’, said the chief starling.
Pearl and Louie continued to wait while looking out the window of Pearl’s apartment at the growing number of starlings on the shed roof.
Then horror of horrors! Mr McFarland had heard the noise of the starlings on his shed roof and had come out to see what was going on.
Immediately Mr McFarland started picking up stones off his driveway and throwing them at the starlings. This was by no means the normal behaviour of Mr McFarland who loved animals. It was just that there were so many of them. He was really quite frightened.
Pearl’s smell phone rang; it was the chief starling. He was no longer in a mood to be a ‘darling starling’ oh deary me no!
‘What the hell is going on – you didn’t tell me about this!’ the chief starling yelled. ‘Unless something can be done we are off!’
‘Just hold on’, said Pearl. ‘We will think of something’.
‘Well hurry up’, said the chief starling. ‘This is worse than flying in hail stones!’
‘Dam!’ said Pearl and her feelers stood straight up again.
Louie was a bit taken aback with this utterance from Pearl as she usually just said ‘bother’, ‘golly’, or ‘gosh’ when things went wrong. It must be serious he thought.
‘Right’, said Pearl. ‘This requires drastic action, Louie I am going to have to make a private call and sort out this business with Mr McFarland, I am sorry but it is hush-hush stuff, I can’t involve you in it’.
Pearl went into another room and closed the door leaving Louie wondering what Pearl was up to.
Louie could just hear an urgent conversation between Pearl and someone else on the phone. There was something about ‘don’t touch the blue wire’, a red and a green wire.
Pearl emerged from the room and her feelers were in the curled position again. Louie was humming a tune to himself pretending that he hadn’t heard anything.
‘Right’, said Pearl. ‘Let’s have a look out the window’.
Louie was dumbfounded. Sure enough, Mr McFarland had disappeared! 
Pearl got straight on the phone to the chief starling and said. ‘You should be OK now’.
‘That’s a relief’, said the chief starling and went on to say. ‘All of our numbers are in position now; we are awaiting further instructions’.
‘Will be calling you shortly’, said Pearl back in control of the situation.
By now it was just after 8.00 a.m. and Pearl hadn’t heard from Virgil.
The pair waited another couple of minutes. Louie was wondering how on earth Pearl had sorted out the issue with Mr McFarland, there was no sign of him.
At four minutes past eight the call they had been waiting for came from Virgil. It was confirmed that Al Spider and the Gang were out in the open in front of The Reserve Bank.
Pearl thanked Virgil who was now heading back to the hangar at maximum certified airframe speed.
Pearl phoned the chief starling and just shouted over the phone, ‘Go!’
Pearl and Louie watched. The starlings lifted from the shed roof in a speckled swirling cloud and headed north to the Reserve Bank where Al Spider and the Gang were trying to gain entry. It was a moving sight, so many birds flying in close formation under one instruction from the chief starling.
Pearl and Louie rushed over to the north facing windows of Pearl’s apartment and watched the starlings. It was a minute or so and then they saw the starlings dive. It would be all over for Al Spider and the Gang!
Al Spider and the Valley Barn gang were taken by complete surprise. The hungry starlings consumed most of Al Spider’s gang and hopefully Al Spider. A few escaped badly injured and were likely to be months being nursed in a nursery spider hospital.
Well the two much relieved insects, Louie and Pearl, shouted in unison. ‘Yea we did it!’
It was an emotional time; the insect community had been saved from a very grave situation.
Pearl and Louie sat in silence for a moment taking it all in.
‘What are we waiting for Louie?!’ said Pearl. ‘Let’s get down to Virgil’s hangar and celebrate before the Ten Ants eat all the chocolate cake!’
Pearl and Louie laughed with relief.
The question remains, how did Pearl Baker-Moth stop Mr McFarland from throwing stones at the starlings, what was all this red wire, blue wire, green wire stuff that Louie had overheard?
Well what had happened was that Pearl had phoned her Cabinet Minister B2. What she had done was get B2 to connect the necessary wires in the cabinet to make Mr McFarland’s phone ring all the time. Naturally Mr McFarland had stopped throwing stones at the starlings; he had gone in to answer his phone!
Every time Mr McFarland answered the phone there was of course no one there and every time he hung up it started ringing again! This kept Mr McFarland preoccupied in a rage for sometime, well enough time to at least remove the threat to the starlings!
Pearl Baker-Moth is one clever lady, don’t you think! 

Chapter 4
Back to Normal and a Picnic is organised.

The day following the Al Spider attack (it was now Tuesday), Louie the bee was up and about at 8.00 a.m. He normally got out of bed earlier, but today he had given the Ten Ants the day off. The Factory was closed and Louie was in a frame of mind to relax a bit. After all it had been very stressful the day before.
The Reserve Bank had to be reopened to keep trading for the community. Arnold had looked after this; services were as usual, so Louie had no bother here.
 As usual Louie had brushed his body and washed his teeth and made his breakfast. Today he had toasted rose hip flakes with plenty of dandelion milk and a bit of honey to sweeten it, delicious! (Well to Louie anyway). 
Pearl Baker-Moth had told Louie that rose hips were very high in vitamin C; Louie naturally thought that this would be good for a tired bee, as indeed he was. 
Louie the bee, being the governor of the Reserve Bank and the owner of the Factory was a reasonably well to-do sort of bee and was able to afford things such as a dishwasher.
The dishwasher’s name was Rose, a middle aged person bird who came in twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays) to do things such as dishes and cleaning as Louie required. Rose’s partner had apparently run off with a younger person bird so Rose was only too glad of the work. 
Louie had finished his breakfast, Rose was happily doing the dishes so Louie went out on the deck and sat and relaxed with a cup of his favourite tea, TG Tips.
It had rained overnight but the sun was shining across the stream from a now clear blue sky. Louie relaxed on his deck ferniture after carefully tipping off any water from the overnight rain. Louie had of course made the deck ferniture himself out of ferns. 
Above Louie, hanging over the front of Louie’s house, was the end of a fern frond with a raindrop on the end of it. The rain drop was about the size of Louie’s head and to Louie looked like a huge crystal jewel hanging in the sunlight of the early morning. 
The rain drop acted as a prism and refracted red, yellow, blue and violet colours across the front of Louie’s house. What an amazing world thought Louie to himself.
Louie had been relaxing for about half an hour and had just about dozed off when his smell phone rang. It was Pearl Baker-Moth.
‘Good morning Louie’, said Pearl. ‘I hope all is well after yesterday’.
Louie told Pearl that he was fine and just relaxing in the sun and explained that the Factory was closed for the day.
Pearl went on to say. ‘Louie would it be OK with you to meet at Virgil’s place and we can just tidy up a few issues hanging over from yesterday’.
‘Sure Pearl’, said Louie. ‘That would be good; I need to talk to Virgil about a picnic for the Ten Ants as we promised. In fact we need a day away for all of us’.
‘Good’, said Pearl. ‘I will put it on the agenda’.
Pearl had tentatively arranged with Virgil to meet at the hangar at 11.00 a.m. This suited Louie, he could relax in the sun for another hour or so.
You may wonder why it was that all such meetings were arranged at Virgil’s place and not at Pearl Baker-Moth’s, seeing she was doing all the organising. Hmmm! It was purely a matter of logistics. Virgil was just too big to fit in Pearl’s lounge let alone get through her front door!
Louie had fallen asleep outside in the sun. Rose came out and reminded him that he needed to be at a meeting at eleven.
Louie thanked Rose, stood up and stretched his legs and flapped his wings that were creased from lying on them. He felt much refreshed after his snooze in the sun.
‘Rose’, said Louie. ‘I will be away until about mid afternoon, help yourself to anything in the larder for lunch’.
Louie powered up his wings and lifted off to go and meet with Pearl and Virgil. 
First of all Louie climbed high enough so he could see the Reserve Bank to the north. Everything looked normal. Happy with what he saw, Louie reduced power and descended towards the stream. Below him he could see Pearl Baker-Moth heading for Virgil’s hangar. Louie joined her on the starboard side and they chatted as they cruised on down to Virgil’s hangar.
Virgil was re-fuelling when they arrived. He had taken onboard ten dollops or more worth of honey from special underground tanks that had been built by White Ant Excavators. Louie and Pearl could tell Virgil was refuelling because the ‘No Smoking’ sign was on.
You may wonder how on earth it could be that a ‘No Smoking’ sign was on, let alone be even necessary, when Virgil was in fact refuelling with dollops and scents of honey. After all, honey is not inflammable! No for Virgil there was good reason. If anything made him cough (such as smoke) while ingesting fuel he could either choke or end up with air bubbles in the fuel. Yes Virgil was very safety conscious and ran things by the book.
Louie and Pearl with power off glided in and alighted just as Virgil was finishing. 
‘Hi you two’, said Virgil. ‘Come on in, I won’t be a moment’.
Virgil cleaned up any fuel spills, particularly around his mouth where the fuel went in, then went over to Louie and Pearl who were by the entrance sitting in the sun. The three exchanged pleasantries and agreed what a relief it was that yesterday was over. 
Pearl had come with the agenda for the meeting and gave a copy to Louie and Virgil. First of all Pearl requested that all smell phones be turned off for the duration of the meeting.
The first item Pearl had was addressed to Louie. Pearl felt that in order to learn from what had happened yesterday and improve things should it ever happen again, it would be worth considering creating an escape route at the back of the Reserve Bank. After all Arnold and the tellers had been placed in some danger and had ended up being trapped overnight.
Pearl went on to say. ‘If Al Spider had gained access to the bank with the staff inside it is too terrible to think about what could have happened. They could have made matchsticks out of Arnold’. Arnold was of course a rather defenceless stick insect.
‘What I suggest’, said Pearl. ‘Is that at some time in the future we get White Ant Excavators to create a tunnel that runs west to the edge of the Reserve, to a secret location that only we know about. A tunnel would be useful for getting the dollops and scents out if it became necessary to do so’. 
Louie and Virgil nodded in approval.
The second item Pearl had on the agenda was to somehow reward Arnold and the tellers for the ordeal they had been through. Pearl beneath her appearance of being unemotional, firm and in control, had a genuine affection for all her subjects. Seeing them being hurt or put in compromising positions affected her quite deeply.
‘Any suggestions Louie?’ said Pearl.
Louie thought for a moment. Arnold was not a particularly sociable chap and neither were the tellers so really picnics or parties were out of the question.
‘I think’, said Louie. ‘Our best course of action would be to give them all a pay increase with an extra week’s holiday so they can enjoy themselves as they see fit’.
‘Excellent’, said Pearl. ‘I really believe that this would be the right approach Louie’.
The next item Pearl had on the agenda was to do with Mr McFarland. Through Pearl’s efforts to save the insect community the day before, poor Mr McFarland had had stones pinched from his driveway, hundreds of starlings on his shed roof and finally been infuriated by a phone that wouldn’t stop ringing!
‘I have thought about this one quite a bit’, said Pearl. ‘We could drop some honeycomb in his letterbox; I know he likes honey or maybe even a nice flower on his doorstep? Have you two got any ideas?’ asked Pearl.
Virgil shrugged his wing roots, Louie thought for a moment.
‘Yes’, said Louie. ‘There is possibly something we could do. The downpipe on the spouting of Mr McFarland’s shed is blocked. When it rained a couple of weeks ago, water flowed over from the spouting and washed away some lettuce seeds that Mr McFarland had sewn alongside the shed. What we could do is get White Ant Excavators to clear the downpipe and Mr McFarland can re sew his lettuces again without any worry’. 
‘Sounds good Louie’, said Pearl.
‘Alright’, said Louie, ‘I will get that organised ASAP’.
Louie went on to say in an important business sort of voice. ‘I can charge this against maintenance costs for the Factory as the blocked downpipe can cause flooding in the Factory premises’.

The reader may be thinking that the items Pearl has raised are a bit mundane or irrelevant to the story. Virgil was of the same opinion and kept fidgeting with things that Dragon Flies fidget with. However it demonstrates that Pearl is a very caring creature and besides if these issues weren’t dealt with now we may not have a story!!

The final item on Pearl’s agenda was the day away and picnic for all present, together with the Ten Ants. The Ten Ants had of course been promised a picnic for their efforts the previous day. The Ten Ants were quite a sociable lot and would be terribly disappointed if there was no picnic.
Virgil stopped fidgeting.
‘Virgil you know the area around here well’, said Pearl also turning to Louie. ‘Louie does either of you have an idea of what could be a good place to go to for a picnic with the Ten Ants?’
Virgil responded immediately and with quite a degree of excitement. ‘Yes I just haven’t been able to wait to tell you all! I know of a wonderful place that I discovered recently quite by accident. It is a full day trip away but I know everyone would just love it!’
‘Where?’ said Louie and Pearl at once.
‘Well’, said Virgil. ‘I would like to keep it as a surprise. I would love to take you all there because I am thinking of using it as a tourist destination for day trips next summer. I would really appreciate some feedback on what you all think of this beautiful place!’
‘Wow’, said Louie. ‘This sounds exciting!’
‘Agreed’, said Pearl.
‘What I suggest’, said Virgil. ‘Is that we all meet here at 8.30 a.m. on Saturday, load up and head off at 9.00 a.m. Louie if you could arrange for the Ten Ants to be here. I can’t pick them up as I will be busy preparing for the trip. Everyone needs to bring what they require for the day and perhaps a little extra in case of emergency. We can load it all into my number two cargo container’.
Virgil’s cargo containers, varied in size from one to three (three being the largest). These containers fitted neatly underneath his fuselage and could be filled with all sorts of goodies. The containers had been made at Louie’s Factory by the Ten Ants some time ago. They were made from woven dried grass covered with the cement bees use for honeycomb. They were of a light ‘fibregrass’ construction ideal for air transport use.
Virgil went on to suggest with a twinkle in his eye. ‘Bring plenty of chocolate cake and red wine; let’s make a ball of it!’
For those who may be worried about the possibility of drinking and flying (and quite rightly so) it needs to be pointed out that dragonflies and other insects are a unique species in that they are not affected in their ability to fly by the consumption of red wine, no not at all! It might be because they have six legs and that this is a sufficient number of legs to never become legless! Hmmm, really?
The three concluded the meeting with some happy banter about the pending picnic. Louie and Pearl tried in vain to get Virgil to tell them where they were going for the day on Saturday, but he wouldn’t!
With the meeting over Pearl thanked Virgil for making himself available. Being lunch time Louie and Pearl headed back down the stream to the Nest Café for a snack.

The following morning the Factory was back in full action again. The Ten Ants were hard at work when Louie arrived about 9.30 a.m. Louie checked with Import as to how things were going and said he would like a meeting with everyone in his office sharp at ten.
Import mumbled to himself. ‘Probably timesheets and over claimed hours again’, and went to tell the others.
At 10.00 a.m. the Ten Ants duly filed into Louie’s office, or the ‘bored’ room as they referred to it amongst themselves.
When the Ten Ants were seated Louie said with a look of mischief in his eyes. ‘Right you lot; timesheets’.
There was a groan from the Ten Ants seated around the table. ‘Aw not again Mr Louie!’
‘Yes’, said Louie laughing. ‘I want to leave them and discuss them next week!’
‘Yea!’ the Ten Ants cheered.
Louie went on to tell the Ten Ants about the picnic on Saturday and how it was a surprise destination and there would be plenty to eat and drink. The Ten Ants were really happy and excited about the whole deal. 
‘Sounds like a mystery tour’, said Expect gleefully.
‘What I need you to do’, said Louie. ‘Is to get you all to make your own way to Virgil’s hangar on Saturday morning and bring with you anything you might need for the day. Be there sharp at 8.30 a.m.’.
The Ten Ants really were happy about the whole prospect of the day away on Saturday. They had secretly thought that the picnic, which had been promised to them, might have been forgotten.
Louie in concluding the meeting explained to the Ten Ants that he was very proud of them all for what they had done two days ago and that he really couldn’t have a better team. 
‘The fact that you all supported me in this time of crisis’, Louie continued. ‘Makes me feel very very humble. Our Queen and leader Pearl Baker-Moth, has expressed to me the same. You are all heroes!’
Some of the Ten Ants had tears in their eyes. Mr Louie was quite a good boss really!

Chapter 5
The Picnic at Virgil’s Special Place.

Saturday, picnic day, came around soon enough. The day dawned fine and clear, with no wind to speak of. The picnic was on!
Louie was up and about early and made sure he had a good breakfast to put him in good stead for the day ahead.
Louie put together all the things he might need for the day, including sun block for bees, Wingdolene to keep his wings nice and clean, underwing deodorant, a back scratcher, people repellent, an old compass that always pointed north, a map of the world and a packet of Beehive Matches. Louie felt satisfied that he had everything. Gosh Louie we are only going for a picnic!
Why Louie was bringing all this stuff nobody knows. It might have been that because Louie lived on his own there was no one to tell him that all this stuff was unnecessary!
The previous day Louie had, with the help of a couple of Virgil’s wasps, brought heaps of chocolate cake and red wine up from the village and dropped it off at Virgil’s hangar.
At 8.15 a.m. Louie checked that all was well with Pearl and that the Ten Ants were on their way to Virgil’s hangar.
‘Well that’s it’, said Louie to himself. He had put all his ‘stuff’ in a bracken sort of basket he had made for himself and strapped it under his body.
Louie meticulously checked that all the windows were shut; that he had his front door key, smell phone, clean hanky and he was off.
Louie felt really excited. He paused on his deck and idled his wings momentarily before applying full power and taking off for the great day that lay ahead.
Louie lifted off and circled his little home that he was so fond of to check all was secure then headed full speed up the stream to Virgil’s hangar.
‘Ah this is the life’, said Louie to himself as he sped along just above the stream surface. He had made up a little song that he sung to himself when he was happy. It went a little like this:

‘How wonderful to be,
A bee like me,
To fly so free,
And see all I see’.

‘Bother!!’ – No, this wasn’t part of Louie’s song, Louie had forgotten something. This something shall remain secret for now but stay tuned and all shall be revealed later!
Louie turned around and sped back home to pick up the ‘something’.
When Louie finally arrived at Virgil’s hangar, the Ten Ants were busy putting the last of all their stuff in Virgil’s fibregrass container. Pearl Baker-Moth had put her handbag in and there was just enough room left for Louie’s bracken basket.
‘Hi Louie’, said Pearl.
‘Hi Pearl’, said Louie. ‘Sorry I am a bit late, I forgot something’.
‘Silly bee’, said Pearl affectionately.
By ten to nine Virgil was loaded up. The boarding call had been made for the Ten Ants. As usual Flatul and Deodor were seated in rows nine and ten.
Virgil called everyone around him to brief them on the flight plan. He informed Pearl and Louie that he would lead the way and they were to follow closely behind. Virgil requested that smell phones be kept open on speaker mode so that constant communication could be maintained at all times.
‘When we fly out of here’, said Virgil. ‘We will head upstream to the south. We will fly just above the stream surface so we are clear of the bush canopy overhead. It is important that we stay together’.
 Virgil looked around to make sure everybody was paying attention then went on to say. ‘This is the first stage and it will take us about an hour to reach the foot of the hills where we will rest for awhile before moving on’.
Virgil checked if there were any questions – no there weren’t any.
‘Right’, said Virgil. ‘Follow me’.
The large dragonfly with the Ten Ants and all the gear onboard, wings throbbing at idling speed, moved out into the sunshine and lined up ready for take off. Pearl and Louie moved in behind. 
Virgil went through his checks. He requested that the Ten Ants remained seated at all times and checked that smell phone communication was open with Louie and Pearl.
‘Ready to go Louie and Pearl?’ Virgil called over the smell phone.
‘It’s all go’, said Louie.
‘Ready’, said Pearl. 
Virgil put on full power and yelled in into his smell phone. ‘Lifting off, let’s go!’
Virgil, as usual, a magnificent sight in flight under full power, moved out above the stream and turning south gained speed up the stream towards their destination. Pearl and Louie flew in behind just slightly above Virgil so that they were out of the wash from Virgil’s powerful wings.
Virgil checked again. ‘OK Louie and Pearl?’ 
Louie and Pearl were fine. This was just so exciting.
Below them the stream changed from calm pool areas to areas of small rapids as they moved upstream.
The stream twisted left and right in lazy turns. The insects banked at speed in lazy exhilarating turns to follow the line of the stream.
Above them, spears of sunlight shone through the bush canopy and penetrated the waters of the stream. Other creatures of the insect world waved to the trio as they sped past.
About twenty minutes into the journey, Virgil announced. ‘We are coming shortly to a point where the stream divides; we will be turning west and heading towards the hills. From here on we climb a bit and there are quite a few small water falls, stay close’.
Sure enough, the stream divided and they turned west. There was quite a straight part of the stream ahead. The insects could see a series of many small waterfalls cascading over stepped levels of the stream. 
The stream now bubbled and was alive. The insects were passing large boulders on either side. Tall rain forest trees and ferns had replaced the bush and scrub of the lowland.
With boulders extending some distance either side of the stream, the insects were now flying out in the open in the warm sunlight. 
The insects continued climbing until nearly the first hour had passed. The hills were close in front of them now.
Virgil announced. ‘Shortly we will be coming to a large waterfall. There is a large pool at the base of the fall and to the left an extensive flat rock area where we will be landing to have a rest. Just follow me in’.
Sure enough, there they were cascading down in front of them, huge falls that Pearl, Louie and the Ten Ants had never seen the like of before. The falls extended so high above the insects it was hard to determine where the top was. 
The falls cascaded in a rainbow mist with quite a roar into a deep green pool at the base. To the left was the large flat rock area that Virgil had described. Louie and Pearl followed Virgil in and landed safely.
For a moment nobody spoke. The three insects felt so insignificant standing close to such huge falls.
Louie broke the silence with a ‘WOW!’ 
Pearl’s eyes were big and wide open in awe at the sight.
Louie and Pearl moved close to Virgil so they could speak and be heard above the roar of the falls. 
‘Magnificent isn’t it!’ said Virgil. 
After a short period of being mesmerised by the sight, Virgil went on to say, shouting above the noise. ‘We will stop here for half an hour for refreshments and a rest. I will explain the next phase when we have rested’.
Louie opened Virgil’s container and took out some morning tea. The Ten Ants rushed down to the water’s edge and lined up looking into the deep pool, chattering amongst themselves with squeals of delight.
Louie and Pearl put their feet up and leaned against a rock. Virgil lifted his feet and rested comfortably on the container strapped beneath him.
Chocolate cake was handed around together with some tea Pearl Baker-Moth had brought in a Thermoth. As if by magic the Ten Ants arrived back from the pool edge at the mention of chocolate cake!
The sun was warm and the insects relaxed in a slight breeze mixed with the odd bit of misty spray from the downdraft created by the waterfall.
While they were all together and relaxing, Virgil explained that the area they were in was originally volcanic. ‘The cliffs are full of vent holes’, said Virgil. ‘In fact the falls come out of a large one of these holes, which is more of a cave, in the cliff face’.
Virgil went on to say. ‘The next stage is for us to fly to the top of the falls and into the cave where the stream comes out. Inside the cliff we will follow the stream a short distance before we branch off into a tunnel that will take us on to our final destination. About half way to our final destination we come out into a chamber where something very special will happen. We need to be in this chamber at 11.00 a.m.’.
Louie uttered another ‘WOW!’ and the Ten Ants just couldn’t believe what a wonderful adventure it was that was unfolding. The Ten Ants now sat very quietly while they listened to what Virgil had to say. Pearl sighed with pleasure while she sat in the warm sun and said to Virgil. ‘It just gets better and better!’
‘Just out of curiosity Virgil’, said Pearl. ‘How will we see when we are flying in the tunnel?’
Virgil smiled in a non committing sort of way and said. ‘A surprise!’
It was getting on to 10.30 a.m. now and Virgil said. ‘Right, Ten Ants, aboard now please and gear back in the container; we will leave in five minutes’.
Virgil checked smell phone communication once more and requested that smell phones be on at all times.
‘After takeoff’, said Virgil. ‘Follow me closely. For safety we will fly away from the falls so that we are not caught in the downdraft and spray’.
Virgil took off again with Pearl and Louie close behind.
In wide circles away from the falls, the trio climbed for about 5 minutes then turned back to where the falls emerged from the cliff face. Sure enough, as Virgil had said, the stream emerged from a large hole, or rather a cave, before cascading down the face of the cliff. The view from the top of the falls down to the green pool far below, where they had morning tea, was incredibly beautiful. The effect of the falls dropping away below gave the insects a feeling of constantly rising. The falls were so big and the insects were so small.
Virgil flew to a level above the cave where the stream emerged to avoid any downdrafts caused by the falls. Easing back on the power, Virgil glided into the cave mouth with Pearl and Louie close behind. The Ten Ants were silent, completely dumbstruck by the beauty of the surroundings.
Once in the cave they were out of the sunlight and the noise of the falls subsided. The cave was quite large and dark.
Virgil spoke. ‘We will circle here in the cave for a short time so we can adjust our eyes to the light, then I will take you into the tunnel at the back of the cave’.
The insects circled for awhile then Virgil announced. ‘Right follow me’.
At the back of the cave the stream appeared to just come out of the ground. Of course as mentioned in the beginning, this was where the water containing Mellennium appeared from deep within the hill and gave the insects the ability to live many many times longer than normal.
 Just above where the water appeared was a hole in the rock, about the width of three dragon flies. Virgil flew in, Louie and Pearl followed, a little apprehensively. Ahead was a long straight tunnel. It was a horizontal vent hole from volcanic activity many years before that had been widened and smoothed by water. It was magic; yes the walls of the tunnel were lit by glow worms! Little fluorescent lights as far as the eye could see.
Further on the tunnel widened and contracted in places as the insects sped on through. The glow worms provided all the light they needed to navigate their way ahead. 
Virgil’s voice broke the silence. ‘Just wonderful isn’t it!’
Pearl and Louie agreed, they had never seen anything like it before.
Virgil continued. ‘Shortly we will come out into a large chamber where as I mentioned earlier, something very special happens. We will stop and land again then wait for awhile’.
Sure enough, as Virgil had promised they all came out of the tunnel into a huge chamber deep inside the hill. In the middle was a crystal clear pool surrounded mainly by rock. Virgil flew a wide circle inside the chamber then descended low over the pool and landed on a small sandy ‘beach’ at one end. Around the walls of the chamber there were some glow worms but the main light source was an opening high up where daylight entered.
It was about five to eleven. Virgil explained that they would have to sit for a few moments and wait. He asked the Ten Ants to stay aboard as they would be moving on shortly. It was comfortable sitting on the soft sand. It was absolutely quiet, not a sound could be heard. Louie and Pearl wondered what it was they were going to see and sat in silence taking in their surroundings as did the Ten Ants.
Then at 11.00 a.m., as Virgil had promised a magnificent event occurred. A blinding shaft of light suddenly appeared from the opening in the ceiling of the chamber. The sun had moved into position overhead so that a golden shaft of light penetrated and shone directly into the depths of the pool. It was as though the chamber was on fire. There were grotesque shadows up the walls that moved slowly as the shaft of intense light moved with the sun.
Louie and Pearl gasped and stood up in response to the magnificence of it all. They just couldn’t thank Virgil enough for bringing them to such a beautiful place.
‘I will never ever forget this Virgil’, said Pearl.
‘Me neither’, said Louie.
Then as fast as the shaft of light had appeared it disappeared. Louie and Pearl sat down on the sand again. The three sat a little longer to get used to the now subdued light and gather their thoughts.
Virgil broke the silence and went on to explain what they would be doing next. ‘We are about twenty minutes away from our final destination. Next we fly up towards the opening at the top of the chamber. Then we fly into another tunnel that takes us further west again’.
Virgil prepared himself for flight then went on to comment. ‘I have flown out through the opening at the top, there is a fantastic view looking back towards where we all live, we might have a look on the way back’.
Virgil took off from the little sandy beach where they had been sitting and rose in wide spiralling loops up and around the walls of the chamber. Louie and Pearl followed and marvelled at the sheer size of the cavity within the hill. Near the top Virgil flew into another tunnel. The tunnel was again lit with myriads of glow worms. This tunnel was larger than the first in places; in fact it was really a series of small chambers connected by tunnels. Some of the chambers had stalagmites and stalactites. Some had water running through them with small waterfalls coming down the sides. In parts Virgil slowed to a near hover where the tunnel ceiling was very low.
The insects flew on for about another quarter of an hour. What an amazing feeling it was to fly for such a distance inside a hill.
Louie noticed it first and said. ‘What’s that smell?’
Pearl had noticed it too. There was something in the air they had never smelt before. It wasn’t an unpleasant smell but just something the pair didn’t recognise. The Ten Ants were chattering amongst themselves, they had noticed it too but didn’t know what it was either.
Virgil didn’t comment on the smell the others had detected but instead announced. ‘We are just about there team. Prepare for landing’.
The tunnel veered left a little then opened up into a large cave. At the end of the cave in the cave mouth was an oval of bright blue, almost blinding to the insects after flying in the dark of the tunnel.
Virgil announced. ‘Landing on the sandy strip to the left of the pool. Just follow me’.
Pearl and Louie followed Virgil in.
From an insect’s point of view the cave was quite large. To the right was a pool of crystal clear rain water extending to the mouth of the cave. 
The blue that could be seen outside the mouth of the cave was in fact the sea. This was what Louie, Pearl and the Ten Ants could smell while flying in. None of them had ever seen the sea before.
The cave was situated high above the sea on a sheer cliff side. The floor of the cave was flat and wide and apart from the extensive rain water pool was mainly soft sand. What an incredible place for a picnic!
The Ten Ants rushed to the edge of the cave mouth then backed off a little when they saw how high they were. Louie warned them to be careful. To the Ten Ants the sea looked like the ripple on the top of a huge blue chocolate biscuit.
Louie and Pearl joined them. It was an amazing sight. It took a bit of time to comprehend the fact that that the insect community where they all lived along the stream was so small in the scheme of things.
Louie, Pearl and the Ten Ants quickly went back to Virgil and thanked him for bringing them all to such a wonderful place.
The Ten Ants after seeing the sea were asking. ‘What is it? How far does it go? Why is it there?’ 
Virgil didn’t know. All he had done was discover it. He explained he had flown some distance out over it and it seemed to go on forever! 
Virgil detached the container and relaxed on the sand. It was good to rest for awhile.
Pearl brought lunch out of the container and they all sat together on the sand by the pool. They talked about the sea, recounted the flight through the tunnels and marvelled at the chamber with the shaft of sunlight.
 Towards the back of the cave was a deserted seagull’s nest. None of the insects really knew quite what it was. It did look like a large bird’s nest. The seagull’s nest was a great source of interest to the Ten Ants who clambered all over it later on that afternoon.
Along the walls of the cave were little hollowed out ledges that contained soft sand, an ideal place for a snooze after lunch.
During the afternoon the Ten Ants swam, played and splashed around in the pool. Between swims the Ten Ants moved closer to the mouth of the cave where the sun shone and sunbathed.
Pearl lay down on one of the sandy ledges and snoozed for awhile as did Louie. What a paradise.
Virgil being free of the container launched himself off the edge of the cave mouth and glided around effortlessly in the updrafts off the sea. 
 The afternoon passed quickly. It was soon approaching four o’clock when it would be time to pack up and leave. Virgil came in from gliding around outside the cave and called everyone together.
 ‘Well folks’, said Virgil. ‘Sad to say we will have to pack up now and leave if we want to get back before dark’.
 Virgil paused a moment then said. ‘Just as a suggestion, we have got plenty of food and supplies, why don’t we stay here for the night and go back in the morning?’
 The Ten Ants were all excited by this prospect and pleaded. ‘Yes please could we stay Mr Louie?’
Both Pearl and Louie thought how silly it would be to go back now when everyone was enjoying themselves so much.
‘Brilliant idea Virgil’, said Louie. ‘Let’s do it’.
‘Well that’s settled’, said Virgil. ‘I’m going back for a bit more flying off the cliff, let’s all stop what we are doing at half past five and we will get things ready for the overnight stay’.
The Ten Ants elated at the decision tore off and dived into the pool again. Pearl propped herself up on a sandy bit and read a book she had brought with her called ‘Ideal Gums for Moths’. It was one in a series of books about oral hygiene. Louie did a bit of exploring of the cave on his own.
While Louie was exploring the cave he stopped and looked at the seagull’s nest and wondered what sort of bird could have built a nest so large. While he was pondering the origins of the nest he came up with a really good idea that he would explain to everybody at half past five.
By half past five the sun was lower in the west and shone straight into the cave. Virgil came in and landed on the sandy strip. They all gathered around.
Virgil said. ‘It won’t be that long until it gets completely dark, three hours at the most I reckon, we probably should eat fairly soon’.
This is where Louie came in with what he had thought of earlier in the afternoon when he was inspecting the seagull’s nest.
‘I’ve got a really good idea’, said Louie dying to tell everybody.
‘That nest or whatever it might be is an excellent supply of fire wood. I have brought some matches with me, let’s make a fire near the entrance to the cave and we can all sit around it and have tea!’
Well this was just the icing on the cake. Everybody cheered. What a clever thoughtful bee! Not only would this keep them all warm but it would provide light for them into the night. Pearl gave Louie a big hug and Louie’s yellow stripes went pink with pleasure.
‘Fantastic Louie’, said Virgil.
Louie and the Ten Ants brought the ‘firewood’ to the front of the cave. Pearl busied herself getting a meal ready with the food they had left and placed it on a smooth piece of raised rock to act as a table.
Because of the huge effort Virgil had made during the day to bring in the Ten Ants and all the goodies, Virgil was ordered to find a nice sandy spot and to sit and rest, which he did.
Just after six, Louie lit the fire; the Ten Ants danced and jumped around with excitement. The soft smell of the wafting smoke added to the ambiance of the moment. The fire was soon a mass of flames radiating a welcome heat over the insects who had moved in close to get the benefit of the warmth.
Louie told Pearl, who had been doing the meal preparations, to stop and come and sit in front of the fire. Louie passed around the red wine. The Ten Ants didn’t like red wine that much and instead had some of Louie’s fermented nectar with honey that Louie had thought to bring for them.
The red wine and nectar made everyone feel very pleasant. 
The sun by now was just above the horizon. The sky was flooded with an orange red in the west and graduated to an inky blue straight above the cave entrance. Within an instant the sun was gone and soon beyond the glow of the fire, stars could be seen in the now black sky.
It was after tea when Louie stood up and said, ‘I have a special little announcement to make’. 
Louie went over to the container and brought back with him the ‘something’ he had forgotten after leaving home earlier in the day. It was a small parcel, carefully wrapped in rose petals. Louie turned to Pearl and said, ‘Pearl this is for you as a token of thanks from all of us for what you did to save us from Al Spider. Without you Pearl none of this wonderful experience today would have been possible’. 
‘Oh Louie’, said Pearl. ‘You wonderful bee and thanks to all of you for the parts you played in the terrible two days we all went through. I just couldn’t have done it without the help of everyone here’.
Pearl stood up and a tear fell from her big eyes and went plop on the sand.
Pearl carefully undid the parcel. 
Louie as we remember had gained a badge in woodcraft when he was a Bee Scout in his younger days. What he had done was to carve a beautiful Moth Figurine out of rosewood and then he had polished it to a fine gloss with beeswax. 
There was a small plaque at the base on which Louie had inscribed:

Pearl Baker-Moth.
The greatest Moth that has ever lived

Pearl broke down and cried. Virgil, Louie and the Ten Ants spontaneously broke into song and sang ‘For she’s a jolly good fellow’.
‘Thank you, thank you, thank you, all of you said Pearl. ‘You are the greatest friends I could ever wish for’.
‘A Toast’, said Louie. ‘Please raise your glasses, To Pearl Baker- Moth’.
‘To Pearl Baker-Moth’. The response echoed around the cave and made it even more special.
 The red wine and nectar flowed, they all rejoiced in the splendour of the evening.
 Later on when the fire had died to a pile of glowing embers with a few dancing flames, they all gathered around in a circle and Virgil told them ghost stories.
Eventually tiredness overtook the insects and it was time to end the most perfect day.
Pearl and Louie retired to the soft sandy ledges they had found. Virgil made a hollow in the sand near the fire. The Ten Ants had pulled up a pile of soft seagull feathers to sleep on, close to the fire. Soon everyone was sound asleep.
The fire died, all was quiet apart from a gentle snuffling snore from one Louie the bee!

In the morning they all had a chocolate cake breakfast before making their way home. Chocolate cake was about all that was left but nobody objected to this!
On the way back Virgil took them out the top of the chamber where they had stopped on the way in. From here they all glided back lazily down the hillside, over the tops of the trees, down to the stream far below and flew on home again.
It certainly had been two days that would never be forgotten by the intrepid team, led by Pearl Baker-Moth who had beaten Al Spider and the Valley Barn Gang.

Chapter 6
Two Years Later. The tunnel is Discussed.

Two years have passed since the day of the attack by Al Spider.
Over the summers of those two years, the insect community along the stream bank has prospered. 
Virgil Blue has flown many tourists up to the hills to the waterfall and caves for day trips and overnight stays. In fact it had been so successful for Virgil that he partnered with another dragon fly named Virginia! They were married a couple of months ago and as a sideline may start up an aircraft factory! 
Virgil and Virginia have both worked very hard to make their air transport service the success it is today.
Louie at the Factory has become a lot busier too. He has had to take on additional staff to cope with extra demand for his services.
The Ten Ants have taken on a more supervisory role. Ten worker bees have been employed. In effect each of the Ten Ants runs a working bee!
The worker bees have speeded up the process for Louie and the Ten Ants quite considerably. It means that after washing and cleaning, clients can now be blow dried by the beating wings of the bees. Well-done Louie!
To help Louie in the office, doing time sheets and other clerical tasks Louie has employed a bee of the bumble variety (same as Louie) named Lulu. Lulu also helps Louie with some Reserve Bank duties at times when Arnold is off sick. 
Lulu came to Louie a year or so ago after she had lost her family in a scrub fire some distance up the stream towards the hills. It was all very sad. Lulu had appealed to Louie for a job because of her circumstances, and being quite an attractive bee she secretly appealed to Louie as well. Yes deep down Louie was very fond of Lulu.
However Louie, wouldn’t admit to himself that he had employed her because she was an attractive bee, goodness me no. It was purely that Lulu was good at bookkeeping and as Louie was always losing the books, it was very appropriate to employ someone who could actually keep them and not lose them.
It was about 10.00 a.m. in Louie’s office; Louie had just brought Lulu a cup of tea and some honey and dandelion seed muffins. You would think it would be the other way around that Lulu brought the tea and muffins in for Louie; however Lulu was doing some important work and Louie thought that Lulu shouldn’t be disturbed, hmmmm! 
Lulu had asked if she could run over a couple of things to do with Louie’s book keeping. By the state of the books one might have thought they had been ‘run over’ already. Louie was about to sit down with Lulu when his smell phone rang, It was Pearl Baker-Moth.
‘Hi Louie’, said Pearl. ‘Do you feel like a bite to eat down at the Nest Café? I would just like to discuss an issue that we should probably address’.
This suited Louie as Lulu had eaten all the honey and dandelion seed muffins anyway.
‘Right Pearl’, said Louie ‘I will leave now and call into your place then we can go on together’.
Louie explained to Lulu that he had to go and see Pearl Baker-Moth and asked if they could leave the stuff to run over to perhaps this afternoon.
‘Oooo’ said Lulu. ‘Pearl Baker-Moth - must be important’. By the ‘oooo’ Lulu had uttered Louie wasn’t sure whether Lulu was miffed or impressed. Maybe this pretty little bee actually had a liking for Louie, who knows? Louie secretly wishing that Lulu did like him, apologised and headed off to Pearl’s place leaving Lulu and the Ten Ants in charge.
Louie headed down the stream and then up and over to Pearl’s apartment. It was a grey day, quite cool with possibly rain threatening. 
Louie hoped that it wouldn’t rain as raindrops to a bee are very large and could make flying a bit of a headache (literally).
Pearl was just emerging from her front door when Louie arrived. She waved to him as he was approaching. 
Louie didn’t land. Pearl joined Louie and the pair descended to the stream and headed off to the Nest Café.
The café was quiet and table twenty seven, Louie’s favourite, was available.
Pearl and Louie ordered a coffee and chocolate cake, and sat down. They watched the activities across at the supermarket and post office. It was busy.
Pearl opened the conversation, saying. ‘It really is quite busy isn’t it Louie’, Louie agreed.
Pearl continued. ‘Louie it’s mainly to do with the fact that the community has grown so much in the past two years that I wanted to talk to you and see what you think’. 
‘Go ahead Pearl’, said Louie feeling important.
‘We discussed it briefly a couple of years ago, after the attack by Al Spider’.
‘We should probably consider an escape route at the back of the Reserve Bank in the event of another situation as we had with Al Spider. I think you agree with me Louie, the community has indeed grown considerably. The Reserve Bank contains a considerable amount of wealth belonging to the community and we should do everything we can to protect it’.
Louie knew Pearl was right but had procrastinated somewhat in dealing with the subject because of the dollops and scents that it would cost to construct such an escape route.
Pearl sensed that Louie was a bit hesitant in committing to the large amount of expenditure that would be required and went on to say. ‘As you know Louie, Sir Cada and Lady Bird have considerable wealth tied up in the Reserve Bank. I was talking to them last week and I believe they would be interested in investing in a tunnel in return for a shareholding in the bank’.
Louie thought as he had often thought in the past, what a clever Moth! Yes of course this could be the answer. 
Louie had his governor of the Reserve Bank thinking-cap on and could see that Sir Cada would draw out the dollops and scents to pay for the tunnel, then whoever built the tunnel would receive the dollops and scents as payment and put it back in the Reserve Bank!
Secretly these things were very complicated to Louie and frightened him a little. However he now had Lulu who could do bookkeeping and thus look after all the complicated stuff that he didn’t really understand.
Louie feeling confident responded to Pearl. ‘You are right Pearl, we do need to build this tunnel, how do we go about approaching Sir Cada?’
‘Thanks Louie’, said Pearl. ‘I believe Sir Cada and Lady Bird may want to involve another couple of investors on this one and that they will probably want to meet with you and me at his Country Club’.
‘Wow’, said Louie feeling very important that he might be invited to Sir Cada and Lady Bird’s Country Club.
‘What I will do now that I know you feel happy with the idea’, said Pearl. ‘Is talk to Sir Cada and Lady Bird and come back to you about a possible meeting’.
Louie was quite happy about all this together with the possibility that other investors may be coming onboard as well. This would make his position of being governor of the Reserve Bank even more important. Yes the insect community was growing and Louie was part of it.
While Louie and Pearl are sitting enjoying the remainder of their morning tea we can perhaps enlighten you as to what and where exactly Sir Cada and Lady Bird’s Country Club is. 
Well, through the village runs a railway line. 
A considerable distance away in insect terms and out in the country along this line is a railway station where there is a restaurant. 
The Country Club we are talking about has been set up in the ceiling of this railway station, firstly because it is out in the country and you can’t have a country club without being out in the country, and secondly the restaurant below has a marvellous supply of good things such as red wine, chocolate cake and other goodies.
As with the owners of the cake shop in the village, the owners of the restaurant at the country railway station couldn’t understand how bits of chocolate cake and other selected items of food disappeared at times. However being of relatively small quantities they didn’t really mind.
In the ceiling of the country railway station, the members of the Country Club had set up really quite marvellous premises, with bars, lounges and meeting rooms. There were extensive views out across a rural scene. Members of the Club could relax and look out across to the pavilion at the Club’s cricket ground. Cricket wasn’t actually played here it was rather where crickets played.
Sir Cada was the president of the Club and being relatively wealthy and not having much to do, spent quite a bit of time relaxing here.
How, you may well ask did the insects and others get to the Club when it is so far away?
For Sir Cada and Lady Bird it was quite simple. They both flew down to the village railway station and ‘caught’ a train. Yes all that they had to do was to wait for a train to come along and then off to the Club they went.
Most of the flying insects used the train service, at one time or another.
The idea was to either find a near empty carriage and fly in when the doors were open or get into the engine driver’s cab where it was nice and warm.
To most insects the engine drivers cab was the best option. This was because while the engine driver was driving the train there was always the possibility of getting into his or her cut lunch and having a snack. Oh to be an insect!

Back to Louie and Pearl at the Nest Cafe, they have now finished morning tea and discussing issues at hand. 
‘Right’, said Pearl. ‘Good to see you Louie I must get back and make a list of what needs to be done. Give me a couple of days to organise things with Sir Cada and Lady Bird and I will get back to you’.
Pearl headed back to her apartment and Louie headed down stream to the Reserve Bank. He had a good look at the area where the escape tunnel might go. Louie felt a little apprehensive about the pending meeting and felt he needed to be as knowledgeable a bee about the whole issue as possible.
To Louie there were two options, run the tunnel under the scrub and bush of the reserve to a clear area to the west or run the tunnel along the stream to the area beside the Nest Café and supermarket. The first option would cost less because it was shorter. The second option would be more expensive and would also have the problem of where to dispose of the tunnel excavations without drawing too much attention to what was going on. 
‘A lot to think about’, said Louie to himself.
Louie turned and headed back in the direction of the Factory and descended to the stream. 
Louie changed his mind about going back to the factory and instead called in at his home. He relaxed on his deck and thought more about the tunnel before later having some lunch and a snooze. About mid afternoon he headed back to the Factory.

Chapter 7
A Meeting about the tunnel is called.

It was a Tuesday morning, about 9.00 a.m. Louie was still at home. Normally he would have been at the Factory by now but unfortunately Louie’s dishwasher wasn’t working. Yes Rose was sick so Louie had to do the house work and dishes that Rose would have normally done on a Tuesday.
Pearl phoned to say that a meeting had been organised for Thursday midday. There was to be a conference over lunch at the Country Club to discuss the tunnel project and formulate a plan of action.
Pearl suggested that Louie call into her apartment at 10.30 a.m. Here she would brief him on the agenda and inform him as to who would be in attendance. Pearl had added that they would catch the 11.20 a.m. train with Sir Cada and Lady Bird. 
‘Louie before you go’, said Pearl. ‘You will need to wear a bow tie and perhaps those natty spider silk shorts with braces you have to go with the tie. They are fairly strict about dress at the Country Club’. 
‘Ok’, said Louie, trying to disguise a sigh. ‘Will do’.
Louie was a bee that liked to keep things simple and hated having to wear clothes like this. However Louie would do anything to please his good friend and mentor Pearl Baker-Moth. 
Louie cursed to himself that Rose was sick as he would also now have to wash and press his shorts himself. Then there was the problem of actually finding his braces and bow tie. He hadn’t worn them since attending the Moth Ball last year.
‘Never mind’, Louie sighed to himself. ‘This is an important meeting and I really have to look to be an important business type of bee’.

On Thursday morning Louie didn’t go to the Factory. He felt a little embarrassed about going dressed in his spider silk shorts with braces and bow tie. Lulu and the Ten Ants were perfectly capable of running the operation for today.
Louie had a leisurely breakfast then sat out on his deck in the sunshine and thought about the tunnel project. 
Louie couldn’t help thinking to himself what a shame it was that things needed to get complicated because of the community having grown larger. If only things could stay the same, then all these complications of bringing in investors, contracts, contractors, meetings and other pressures could be avoided. He looked at the stream below him, for ever flowing, nobody telling it what to do, no complications. ‘That’s how I would like life to be’, thought Louie.
‘This won’t do’, Louie said to himself. ‘After all I am a business bee and I must support my good friend Pearl Baker-Moth to the best of my ability’, and he pushed all thoughts of complacency out of his mind.
‘Right’, said Louie pulling himself together. ‘It is time to get changed and head off to Pearl Baker-Moth’s apartment’. It was getting on towards 10.15 a.m.
Louie emerged in his smart neatly pressed spider silk shorts with braces, sporting quite a large bow tie. The bow tie was black with yellow dots to match his stripes.
Louie looked immaculate, in fact with his natty shorts and braces he looked a little like a member of a barber shop quartet! (Don’t tell Louie though!).
Louie also carried a black brief case with some notes he had written. In spite of a lot of thought about what to write in his notes Louie hadn’t really got past a reminder to get some more TG Tips at the supermarket. However Louie, complete with brief case was a very smart looking bee indeed.
Louie took off for Pearl’s apartment and chanted to himself several times along the way: 

‘Today I have to be a strong and fearless bee.
I have to be someone who really isn’t me’.

Louie arrived at Pearl’s apartment on time at 10.30 a.m. Sir Cada and Lady Bird were there.
Pearl welcomed Louie and told him how wonderful he looked. 
‘Take a seat Louie’, said Pearl. ‘You know Sir Cada and Lady Bird; I’ll just get my notes’. 
Louie said ‘Hi’, to Sir Cada and Lady Bird. 
Sir Cada and Lady Bird responded with, ‘How do you do Mr Louie’ and they all shook hands.
Sir Cada with the finest of educated accents went on to say. ‘I say what wonderful weather we are having don’t you think?’
‘Lovely’, said Louie in response, wondering where Sir Cada must have been when it rained all day yesterday. 
Sir Cada went on to explain how ‘fwightfully’ well his son and daughter had done at Fly School and were going on to do medicine at upper Fly School next year.
Louie secretly thought it might be better if they took some medicine instead of doing medicine. Poor Louie felt uncomfortable in these situations.
Fortunately at that moment Pearl came back with her notes before Sir Cada could enquire as to what sort of ‘degwee’ Louie had.
‘Come and sit around the table’, said Pearl. Pearl looked beautiful, Louie was relieved that Pearl was in control and they could all get on with it.
Pearl first of all confirmed with Sir Cada that a meeting room had been booked and that lunch had been arranged. 
Yes of course Sir Cada had arranged all this. Everyone had to hear several times with whom he had arranged it all, how long Sir Cada had known him and what a ‘dependable chappy’ whoever it was, was!
Pearl waited then went on to say that the attendees at today’s meeting apart from themselves would be:
White Ant Excavators Ltd, Overland Transporters Ltd, Handover Finance Ltd, Honey Corp Finance Ltd and for contract documentation the legal firm Moore, Payper and Staff Ltd.
‘At the meeting today’, said Pearl. ‘White Ant Excavators will give a presentation on how they will carry out the work in conjunction with Overland Transporters Ltd. White Ant Excavators will put forward a construction proposal and cost for acceptance by the investors including yourselves Sir Cada and Lady Bird’.
‘Quite quite, jolly good’, said Sir Cada.
 After a nudge from Sir Cada, Lady Bird nodded in approval.
Pearl continued. ‘Moore, Payper and Staff will have documents ready for signing once all parties are happy to proceed. Louie once we know the financial requirements for the project we will want you to confirm that the Reserve Bank has sufficient reserves to release funds for payment’.
‘Right sounds good to me’, said Louie not wanting to say anymore in case he was asked things he didn’t understand and couldn’t answer.
Sir Cada started to say. ‘You know when I was a young lad…’.
Pearl quickly interjected before he got to far down the path of his days as a young lad and said. ‘Goodness me look at the time, we must get down to the train before we miss it’.
‘Oh’, said Sir Cada. ‘I guess we must, don’t want to be late now do we, it could be fwightfully embarrassing if we didn’t turn up, couldn’t it Pearl?!’
Sir Cada laughed at his inane joke, in what was a series of sharp intakes of breath syncopated with snorts while looking around for approval.
Louie had a sort of ‘what-am-I-doing-here’ look on his face. Pearl smiled a tolerantly watery smile and said. ‘Let’s go’.
Once out in the sun and fresh air again Louie felt better and enjoyed the flight down to the station. In fact everyone did. It was truly lovely flying down the stream to the village. 
The foursome passed the Nest Café and supermarket then it was on past the Reserve Bank. They chatted amongst themselves and felt a little more at ease. It was as though flying together had broken down any barriers and they were all on equal terms. 
Sir Cada and Lady Bird lead the way and Louie and Pearl flew close behind. Under the village bridge they went, then down the High Street to the railway station. Here they alighted on the station veranda that extended out over the rail tracks and waited. It was pleasant sitting in the sun.
Louie was very careful not to get his shorts dirty and carefully chose where he sat. 
The train arrived on time; the four took off together and flew into the engine driver’s cab. They were off to the Country Club at last. Louie had certainly brightened up a bit. He was quite peckish, as bees tended to get about this time of the day. Lunch wasn’t far away now! 
The train sped along through fields and countryside. The station where the Country Club was located was reached after about half an hour.
The team flew off the train and up into the club located in the ceiling of the station.
Sir Cada had everything organised and talked to a ‘cricket chappy’ (A chappy who was a cricket) by the door about the meeting room that had been booked.
Apparently the meeting room would be available in about ten minutes and lunch would be served straight away for all the participating members.
In the meantime while waiting in the lobby there were lots of club members coming and going. Sir Cada and Lady Bird were in their element with many a. ‘Nice to see you’. ‘Well fancy that’. ‘Here for an important meeting you know’. ‘Have you met Louie?’ 
The ‘Have you met Louie’ bit meant that Louie was constantly being pestered with ‘How lovely to meet you and what do you do?’ 
A lot of the members knew Pearl (Pearl was also a member) so she was engaged talking to others while poor Louie was left floundering a little, trying to talk sensible conversation apart from the weather. Poor Louie.
However Louie didn’t have to wait long. The other meeting representatives had arrived and they all filed into the meeting room. Louie was most impressed, the food was beautiful. Fresh salads, lots of honey, red wine, white wine, chocolate cake, muffins and other food and cake Louie had never tried let alone seen before.
Louie sat next to Pearl so at least he had someone to talk to that he knew. 
‘Isn’t this wonderful’ said Pearl. ‘It’s a wonderful place to come to’.
‘Gosh yes said Louie’, who had never seen so much food.
Louie picked up his serviette (made from white lily pieces) and tucked a corner between his bow tie and his neck. Pearl having fortunately sat next to Louie, discretely removed the serviette from Louie’s neck and placed it on his lap (or gap as we have learned earlier). Pearl whispered to Louie. ‘This is the way we do it you loveable bee’ and squeezed his arm.
What a wonderful friend Pearl was. She treated all her subjects as being equal.

The insects thoroughly enjoyed their lunch.
After all had eaten, Pearl called the meeting to order and the items on the agenda were discussed and agreed upon one by one.
The process took them well into the afternoon and by 4.00 p.m. everything was signed and ready to go. 
It had been agreed that the option to put a tunnel from the back of the Reserve Bank, west to the edge of the Reserve was the best. This had found favour mainly because there was plenty of land to spread the excavations around without attracting too much attention.
White Ant Excavators Ltd was to carry out the excavation work underground. While the excavating was in progress White Ant Excavators Ltd explained that carpenter ants would shore up the tunnel, bulldog ants would work at the digging face and large army ants would carry the diggings out. It was also explained that the tunnel would be lined with a clay mortar and then pointed to look like bricks.
Louie was very impressed by all this as was Pearl.
To prevent drawing attention to the project by having great piles of earth around the entrance to the tunnel, White Ant Excavators would employ Overland Transporters Ltd to distribute the extracted earth. It worked like this: Overland transporters employed a large team of daddy-long-legs. The daddy-long-legs would pick up extracted material and run off with it and drop it bit by bit in the surrounding area.
For the reader to grasp what this might look like, just think of three hundred long legged camels in a camel race!
Well all in all it was a successful outcome. The meeting finished and all the insects joined at the bar for drinks and socialising.
It was about 5.00 p.m.; Pearl came over to Louie and said. ‘Louie I think I will stay on for a while and catch-up with a few friends that I haven’t seen recently, feel free to stay too’.
‘Thanks Pearl’, said Louie. ‘But I think I will head off home’.
Louie caught the next train back to the village and flew back up the stream.
Louie felt down. He was a very sensitive and loving bee and he felt that he just didn’t fit into the scene at the Country Club. Louie felt very lonely and a tear welled up in his eye. 
‘What’s wrong with me’, said Louie to himself. ‘I am just a failure; I will never be like them’.
Louie tried to cheer himself up by thinking about all he had with the Factory and running the Reserve Bank. It helped a little.
‘In fact’, said Louie to himself. ‘What I will do is head down to the Factory and just reflect on what a wonderful little operation I have there. It’s my world, nobody else’s, that will make me feel better!’
Louie feeling happier now carried on up the stream, past his home and onto the Factory.
To Louie’s surprise Lulu was still there. Lulu was deeply engrossed in doing the tax return for the Factory. Louie had stuffed it up earlier because he thought a tax return was something where tax was returned and therefore meant more dollops and scents in the bank. Lulu was deeply engrossed in reversing the entries Louie had made and didn’t notice Louie arrive. 
Louie stood there for a moment. Lulu had a pink ribbon tied in a bow around her head. To Louie she was a very very pretty bee. 
Louie spoke. ‘Hi Lulu, gosh you are still here, you should be home by now’.
Lulu replied. ‘Hi Mr Louie, no I wanted to get this work finished for you by tomorrow as a surprise’. Louie was overcome with Lulu’s the thoughtfulness.
‘Have you had a good day Mr Louie?’ Lulu ventured to ask.
‘Yes Lulu’, Louie replied a little unconvincingly. ‘The meeting went fine’.
Louie was silent for a moment, he was welled up with emotion and his eyes filled with tears. He looked to Lulu for support and then blurted out. ‘Lulu I just feel so useless, I don’t fit in with the crowd at the Country Club’. Tears rolled down Louie’s stripes. 
Louie apologised to Lulu. ‘I am so sorry to break down like this but I just feel so alone and I don’t know what to do’.
Lulu went over to Louie and gently held his arm to reassure him. ‘It’s alright Mr Louie, we all love you, and we don’t think you are useless’.
‘Please call me Louie’, said Louie. He looked into Lulu’s appealing eyes. She had tears too.
‘Lulu’, said Louie just about breaking down again. ‘I don’t know how to say this and I don’t want to embarrass you but…’
‘But what’ said Lulu squeezing Louie as if to get him to respond.
Louie couldn’t hold back something he had wanted to say for a long time. It came out in a flood of emotion and tears. ‘I love you Lulu, I have done, from the very first day that I met you’.
Louie didn’t know what to expect now, but he couldn’t hide his love for Lulu any more.
Lulu looked up at Louie and looked straight into his eyes. ‘I love you too Louie, I have been secretly hoping something could happen for months now. I love you 
‘Louie, you are not useless’, Lulu shook Louie. ‘You are the finest most considerate and loving bee I have ever met’.
It was as though there were only two bees in the whole world; Louie held Lulu close to him and said again. ‘Lulu I love you so much’.
The pair looked at each other for what seemed an eternity then embraced again and kissed.
Louie spoke again at last. He was on a high. What a day of going from the lows to the highs! ‘Lulu let me take you to the Nest Cafe. We can have a meal and then maybe dance and be together until the small hours of the morning!’ 
‘Oh yes yes yes’, said Lulu and she danced around the Factory in sheer joy.
‘Right you beautiful bee’, said Louie. ‘Let’s go!’
Hand in hand Louie and Lulu walked to the portal. Louie brought himself back to the present and reality. He looked back at the factory for a moment. Yes this was where he belonged.
Happy everything was secure he held Lulu close to him. The pair paused briefly. They were both in another world of being carefree and very happy.
Louie and Lulu, hand in hand, launched themselves into the evening air and headed on down to the stream. They glanced at each other as they flew in the twilight to the Nest Café.

…..The Nest Café was humming. There was a live band playing jazz, Louie’s table twenty seven wasn’t available but who cared! There was a magic feel to the place with the soft light of beeswax candles on the tables and around the walls. 
Louie and Lulu sat in a booth rather than at a table and remained quiet for awhile, holding hands, looking at each other, taking in the sounds of the chatter and the music, it really was magic.
The pair danced until after midnight. I think Lulu might have stayed over at Louie’s house that night!

Chapter 8
Lulu meets Pearl and a Happy Occasion.

A few weeks have passed. Louie has dropped in at Pearl’s apartment to check out what the situation was with the construction of the tunnel to the back of the bank. It was due to be started within a week and Louie wondered if he should be doing anything.
‘Louie’, said Pearl. ‘I have noticed that there is something different about you, you are always humming to yourself, you are more absent minded than usual, yet you seem to have loads of confidence, what’s up?’
Louie went a little bashful and explained to Pearl about Lulu. 
‘Louie that is just wonderful for you’, Pearl responded. ‘You really are a dark horse, you loveable bee. I am just so happy for you and Lulu’.
Pearl Baker-Moth gave Louie a hug of approval. Pearl had known all along that Louie was a lonely, shy bee who lacked confidence. The change she could see now was phenomenal. It would do him a great deal of good to have a partner that he could love and cherish.
‘Pearl I love her so much, I would love to bring her to meet you’, said Louie with an imploring look on his face.
‘Oh Louie’, said Pearl. ‘I am dying to meet her, why don’t you go and get her now?’
‘Could I really!’ said Louie getting quite excited.
‘Of course you can’, said Pearl excited about the prospect of meeting Lulu. ‘In fact bring her back here and we can all talk about the tunnel project as well’.
Louie whose heart was bursting with pride said. ‘You will love her Pearl; I will go and get her now’.
Louie was off. He powered up his wings and headed down to the stream. On the way down he did a couple of loop the loops and yelled to himself. ‘Yippee!!’ 
Louie rushed into the Factory, waved to the Ten Ants and went on into the office where Lulu sat. Louie grabbed Lulu and hugged her. Lulu was a bit overcome by all this but of course didn’t really mind at all!
Louie lifted Lulu into the air and held her in front of him. Lulu was a very cute smallish bee and easy for Louie to lift. 
‘Pearl Baker-Moth wants to meet you now’, said Louie all excited.
‘Pearl Baker-Moth! But, but I haven’t got my best ribbon on and my best clothes you silly bee’, said Lulu, protesting and laughing at the same time.
‘No I mean it!’ said Louie.
‘Oh Louie’, said Lulu.
‘Just wait and let me make myself look nice, p-l-e-a-se!’ Lulu pleaded.
‘Alright’, said Louie. ‘I won’t stop you but you look just beautiful the way you are. I’ll wait in the office for you’.
Lulu was back shortly and smiled coyly at Louie, took his arm and said. ‘I am ready to go my master!’ 
Louie spoke briefly to Import before they left for Pearl’s place and let him know where they would be. 
The Ten Ants were really pleased for Louie and Lulu. They were especially pleased now that Louie, for some reason, seemed to have forgotten all about time sheets and other things that occasionally got the Ten Ants into a bit of bother!
Louie smiled at Lulu, took her hand and off they flew together out the portal of the Factory and on up to Pearl’s apartment.
Lulu was quite taken aback by just how strikingly beautiful Pearl Baker-Moth was, and instinctively curtseyed in a shy and humble way. 
Pearl smiled at Lulu and said. ‘Hello Lulu I am just so glad to meet you, Louie hasn’t been able to stop talking about you!’ 
Pearl embraced Lulu and whispered in her ear. ‘Louie is a wonderful loving bee I know you two will be very happy’.
Lulu looked directly up at Pearl and said. ‘Oh thank you Mam, I do love him’.
‘Please call me Pearl’, said Pearl softly. 
Turning to Louie Pearl said. ‘Come out onto the deck you two, this is a very special occasion and I think a little red wine would be quite in order!’
Lulu uttered a couple of ooo’s of coy delight. Louie put his arm around Lulu’s waist and ushered her out onto the deck where the trio relaxed in the sun. The conversation bubbled with the happiness of the occasion.
Pearl raised her glass of red wine and pronounced. ‘My best wishes to you both’.
‘Thanks so much Pearl’, said Louie.
Lulu’s eyes misted up with emotion before she uttered. ‘Thank you, Thank you Pearl; it is such a privilege to know you’.
Pearl smiled, what a lovely bee she thought to herself. She should make Louie very happy.
‘Right’, said Pearl. ‘On with the business at hand, the commencement of the tunnel project’.
Pearl picked up some notes she had then went on to say. ‘Today week, that’s next Monday, White Ant Excavators will be on site ready to commence the tunnel. Part of the contract states that they receive progress payments in advance each week. Louie can it be arranged that the appropriate payments are made available each Monday until the project is finished?’
Louie was about to say something like ‘ah er yes I don’t think that would be a problem’ when Lulu spoke up and said. ‘Yes it is all arranged with Arnold to make the payments every Monday until the project is finished. I have arranged it so that Arnold forwards the documentation to me for checking and approval, Louie authorises it and the payment is then made’.
Louie squeezed Lulu’s hand, what a great team they would make together. Louie had been a bit reticent lately and had forgotten to do things. His beloved Lulu had saved the day! 
‘That’s just great’, said Pearl. ‘You two are certainly on the ball’. Louie squeezed Lulu’s hand again. 
Pearl went on to say that there would be a brief meeting at the Country Club three weeks from today to discuss progress and ensure the stakeholders are happy.
‘I think you should both attend with me’, said Pearl knowing that Louie’s new found confidence depended on a certain person being with him! 
Louie was quite excited about this; there would be nothing better than to have Lulu there with him by his side this time. He felt so proud of her.
‘Well’, said Pearl. ‘Having now met Lulu, why don’t you two do what you have to for the rest of the morning and we will meet for lunch, say at 1.00 p.m. down at the Nest Café’.
‘Wonderful’, said Louie. ‘Let’s do that’.
Louie and Lulu headed back in the direction of the Factory. Half way there Lulu said to Louie. ‘Louie, can we stop of at your place just for a moment before we get back to the Factory?’
‘Sure anything for you Lulu’, said Louie wondering what Lulu had in mind.
The pair stopped at Louie’s house and they stood together outside on the deck. It was peaceful and quiet. There was just the gentle sound of the stream below. Lulu held Louie tightly and looked up into his eyes and said, ‘Louie I just wanted a private moment with you before we get back to the Factory, just to tell you what a wonderful person you are to take me to see Pearl Baker-Moth. I just feel so honoured. My family was never very well off and I have never known anything like this. I don’t really know how I can deserve to be so happy?’
‘Oh Lulu’, said Louie, gently stroking Lulu and looking into her eyes. ‘You are so beautiful and I love you so much. I really wonder what I have done to deserve someone like you. I have tried so hard during my life but I have never been a particularly clever bee. Maybe it’s you that deserves better?’
‘Oh no Louie’, said Lulu. ‘It’s not cleverness, qualifications, wealth or any of those things that really matter. It’s being sensitive about others and being kind. That is what you are Louie’.
Louie held Lulu tightly and stroked her again gently for a moment. He then held Lulu at arm’s length and looked at Lulu straight in the face. Louie was strong, calm and collected. Louie spoke softly. ‘Lulu would you marry me?’
Lulu’s eyes filled with tears, Lulu sobbed uncontrollably.
‘Yes, yes oh yes Louie’, she replied.
What a magic moment. Time passed, an hour or more passed unnoticed.
Louie suddenly realised what the time was. ‘Lulu it’s just about one o’clock and we are meeting Pearl. Let me dry your eyes. Let’s let Pearl know we are engaged to be married, let’s do it!’
Lulu smiled up at Louie. ‘Yes my husband’, she said mischievously. ‘Let’s go and tell Pearl’.
The truly happy pair flew off to the Nest Café to meet Pearl. They told Pearl what had happened. Of course Pearl asked the question. ‘When will the wedding be?’ 
‘We haven’t decided yet’, said Louie.
Louie looked at Lulu and said. ‘How about spring?’
‘Yes’, said Lulu. ‘Oh yes that would be just wonderful’.
‘Well’, said Pearl. ‘If there is anything I can do to help you two just let me know’.
After a marvellous and happy lunch, Pearl flew back to her apartment. Louie and Lulu headed back to the Factory to complete the tasks for the day.
Lulu continued with the tax return while Louie had a meeting with the Ten Ants to discuss production issues. The main purpose of the meeting was however to inform the Ten Ants that he would be marrying Lulu. 
The Ten Ants cheered. ‘Hooray for Mr Louie and Lulu!’
Then addressing the Ten Ants, Louie said. ‘Organise your working bees to carry on with the work then come back in my office and we will break out the chocolate cake and honey. I have got some of my honey nectar for you too!’
The Ten Ants were elated and rushed off to get things organised. They were back in a flash.
From mid afternoon onwards there was quite a little party in Louie’s office. Lulu joined Louie of course. Louie relaxed and mingled with the Ten Ants as did Lulu. They were a great team and really got on so well together.
 About 6-00 p.m., the worker bees had left for the day; the Ten Ants wished Louie and Lulu the best for the future and headed off to their home in the floor of the shed.
Louie and Lulu tidied up the office and prepared to leave for the night.
Louie held Lulu close to him and said. ‘Well my wife to be, you are coming home with me!’
‘Oh yes’, said Lulu. ‘Let’s go Louie’.
The happy pair flew out the shed portal into the cool evening air; the sun was low in the west.
Against the golden glow of the setting sun could be seen the silhouette of two happy bees, flying close together to Louie’s home. A home that was now Lulu’s as well.
Thus ends a very special day in the life of Louie the bee.

Chapter 9
The tunnel Project Goes Wrong and Something Strange Happens.

It is now early winter and two months have passed. The Factory is quiet and is only working one or two days a week. Many insects and other small creatures have hibernated for a few months. Some butterflies have flown off to warmer climates.
Louie and Lulu have spent a great deal of time snuggled up in front of Louie’s stove and had many a pleasant evening watching Fly TV. Sometimes they just sat watching the dancing shadows from the beeswax candles they used for lighting and thought about their future together.
Apart from the snuggling bit, Louie and Lulu had been quite busy. Louie had been adding an extension to the lounge and adding on an extra bedroom in case they needed to have guests to stay for their wedding in spring.
Lulu had been cleaning out cupboards, making some new spider silk bed linen and a wedding dress for the coming spring.
Louie had been a bit of a hoarder. Lulu had found many jars of nectar, pollen biscuits and other delights that were way past their use by date. (Loveable Louie she thought).
Louie didn’t mind the big tidy up, he had meant to get around to clearing out ‘old stuff’ as he referred to it, but being Louie it tended to be something he would do tomorrow.
Some winter days were really cold with rain and wind and the two bees would happily be busy indoors. However there were some fine sunny days. On these days Louie and Lulu would fly the stream together to enjoy the sunshine and rush of cool winter air on their faces. Louie was so happy having a mate to do these things with now. Looking back he had been such a lonely bee before.
Occasionally Louie and Lulu would drop into the Nest Café for lunch or an evening meal. It was good to discuss wedding plans over a candlelit evening meal and plan their future.
Each Monday Louie and Lulu would call the Reserve Bank and talk to Arnold to arrange the progress payments for the tunnel project. If the weather was fine it was a good excuse to get out and go and see Arnold rather than phoning him.
The tunnel Project was progressing quite well but was a little behind schedule because of some unusual rock formations encountered.
Louie and Lulu had attended the progress meeting at the Country Club some time earlier. Lulu enjoyed the occasion and Louie was full of confidence this time having Lulu by his side. There were congratulations all round from those attending on the engagement of Louie and Lulu. Sir Cada had naturally said. ‘I say jolly good old chap’, and slapped Louie on the back at the same time so that poor Louie just about choked on his honey nectar. Louie’s confidence was restored when Lulu had whispered to Louie. ‘Thank goodness you’re not like that Louie!’
Louie, Lulu and Pearl had been down a few times to inspect the tunnel operation. It was very impressive. It was beautifully constructed with the smooth clay lined walls pointed to look like bricks. The tunnel was lit with beeswax candles mounted at intervals along the walls. On entering the tunnel the beeswax candles could be seen extending into the distance to where the bulldog ants were working at the digging face.
When Louie, Lulu and Pearl first arrived for an inspection they couldn’t stop laughing at the Daddy Long Legs, at least a hundred of them, speeding off with excavations and spreading them around the surrounding area. The Daddy Long Legs did a great job. 
The foremen on the job, a no-nonsense Soldier Ant, warned the three not to laugh as daddy-long-legs are known to sulk if laughed at. The last thing the foreman wanted was a stop work on his hands.
Pearl had apologised and assured the foreman that it wouldn’t happen again.
By all accounts everything seemed to be going well until one day Pearl had a call from White Ant Excavators to say that they had struck rock. In fact they had come up against a huge wall of very hard crystal quartz. White Ant Excavators had stopped work in the meantime to try and sort out what to do.
Things had become tense amongst the stakeholders. A meeting was held on site with Handover Finance, Honey Corp, Sir Cada on his own (Lady Bird had a headache that day) in attendance to consider the situation.
White Ant Excavators had indicated that to go around the huge piece of quartz would mean that the contract price would have to be doubled and had asked for a variation to the contract accordingly.
The investors in the project baulked at this increase in cost and refused to invest any more. Legal action was pending. Moore, Payper and Staff, naturally concerned about being paid were worried about the withdrawal of funding by the stakeholders. Because of this they refused to act on anybody’s behalf!
An impasse resulted. White Ant Excavators didn’t return to work and withdrew all labour. The investors went off in a huff and the incomplete project remained as it was, a beautiful tunnel ending at a block of crystal quartz!
It was quite unpleasant; Sir Cada and Lady Bird weren’t talking to Pearl because of the investment they had lost. None of the investors wanted to take responsibility for the now useless bit of tunnel and had insisted on signing their ownership rights over to the Reserve Bank. After all they didn’t want to have to part with any more dollops and scents to maintain something that was now apparently useless!
Louie, now being a more assertive and confident bee, with Lulu by his side, considered the situation and took it upon himself to use some Reserve Bank dollops and scents to get Sparrow Construction to build a door at the entrance to the tunnel. This meant it could be sealed off and nobody would have access unless authorised by Louie. He also with Lulu’s help used Moore, Payper and Staff to document legal title in the name of the Reserve Bank as the investors had requested. Louie had a feeling that the tunnel could be used somehow, possibly as another vault for storage in the future. Maybe the project could be readdressed at some time. 
Once legal title to the tunnel was in the name of the Reserve Bank, Louie took the Ten Ants down to help clean up the remaining mess left by the contractors. It really was a fine looking piece of tunnel. The Ten Ants enjoyed helping Mr Louie; it was something different for them to do.
At the end of the tunnel was of course the face of quartz that had stopped White Ant Excavators Ltd from excavating any further. One day during the cleanup process, Louie and the Ten Ants happened to be working close to the quartz face. Louie stood and studied it. It appeared to have a pale translucent bluish tint. Louie thought this was strange as the beeswax candles gave more of a yellowish hue to the tunnel. What was causing the quartz to look blue? As he moved closer to the quartz it started glowing! Louie gasped, not really believing what he saw. It was a strange pulsing blue light strong enough to light up the tunnel! When he moved away it disappeared and the quartz took on the yellow hue of the candles once more. 
The Ten Ants who were with Louie didn’t seem to notice the blue light. To them it was just a large lump of rock blocking the tunnel. Louie shrugged it off as something he must be imagining. He wasn’t about to embarrass himself by talking to the Ten Ants about a strange blue light they obviously couldn’t see. 
Deep down however what Louie thought he had seen, disturbed him. Being tired after a long day he decided that he didn’t want to have any more of this nonsense by going close to the quartz again. Perhaps another day, besides which, whatever it was might have gone away by then.
Louie flew home that evening to his beloved Lulu. He sighed and sat down in front of the stove. It was warm and comforting after flying home in the cold evening air. Lulu said she had missed him. Louie had missed her too.
Lulu sensed that something was bothering Louie and held him close then whispered in his ear. ‘What’s bothering you Louie, did something happen today?’
Louie turned and looked at Lulu and said. ‘Dearest Lulu you are so precious to me. You are the only person I can talk to who understands me. Something really strange happened in the tunnel today’.
Louie was silent for a moment then explained to Lulu about the light he had seen being emitted from the quartz at the end of the tunnel. He explained that the Ten Ants hadn’t seen anything. 
Lulu was quiet for a moment and then said. ‘Louie if you say you saw the light then you must have seen it?’
‘Lulu it really worries me that the Ten Ants didn’t see what I saw. Am I going mad or something?’ Louie responded with a puzzled look on his face.
‘No Louie, there must be an explanation’, said Lulu reassuring her mate. 
Lulu held Louie close to her and stroked his head to comfort him. She said softly. ‘What I suggest Louie is let’s get Pearl to come with us and have a look. We can all go to the tunnel and see if we can see anything’.
‘Lulu what would I do without you’, said Louie feeling more positive now and turning his head towards Lulu. ‘You are right. Let’s talk to Pearl about it tomorrow. She is bound to know what it is with all her knowledge’.
After a pleasant evening meal the pair sat in front of the stove until the fire died then headed off to bed. Louie had seen something, Lulu believed him, what was it?
Next morning Louie and Lulu talked about the tunnel again. Louie had hoped that it was just a dream and that he would have forgotten about the whole thing. He hadn’t. It was still quite vivid in his memory how the blue light had glowed brighter when he had approached the quartz.
While they were talking Lulu made a suggestion. ‘Louie at this stage let’s not mention the light you saw to anybody. Let’s just ask Pearl to come and see if she might have any suggestions as to how the tunnel could be used. Then we can all see if we can see anything in the way of blue lights!’
‘Good idea’, said Louie. ‘You are so right as usual; after all it wouldn’t look too good if I mentioned I had seen blue lights when there weren’t any! Pearl thinks I am enough of a nut case now!’
‘Louie!’ said Lulu giving Louie an affectionate smack, ‘Pearl doesn’t think that about you! I will get cross with you if you say that again!’
‘Sorry Lulu’, said Louie. ‘I mustn’t think like the bee I was before I met you!’ 
Louie smiled and held Lulu close to him.
After breakfast Louie phoned Pearl and arranged that they fly up to her place about 9.30 a.m. He asked her if he and Lulu could talk about possible uses for the tunnel and then go and have a look.
Louie and Lulu tidied up after breakfast then headed up to Pearl’s apartment. Pearl was glad to see them as usual. 
‘Morning you two’, said Pearl smiling. ‘Come on in’.
Louie, Lulu and Pearl sat inside; it was quite a cold cloudy and dark sort of winter’s day. The street light where Pearl’s apartment was situated was in fact still on. 
Pearl’s apartment was always nice and warm from the heat generated by the street lamp at night. One end of Pearl’s lounge was a clay brick wall that had originally been installed by White Ant excavators. On the other side of the wall was of course the powerful street lamp. The clay bricks heated up at night and kept the apartment warm during the day. Temperature control was a simple open and shut case; the windows!
When the three had all sat down Pearl said. ‘You mentioned the tunnel Louie and possible uses for it. I can’t think of anything in particular. But it would be worth a look again. It could possibly be useful as a shelter should there ever be an attack on the community or perhaps in the event of the stream flooding. I believe it is a good idea to maintain it in a useable condition for the foreseeable future’.
The three shared a cup of gum leaf tea and talked some more before heading off out and away to the tunnel.
The three noticed the change of temperature on leaving the warmth of Pearl’s apartment. The day was indeed quite cold and there was a strong head wind to fly against. It was good to reach the shelter of the tunnel. Louie had the key to the entrance and opened the door then closed it behind them. It was dark and imposing initially until Louie had lit one of the beeswax candles near the entrance. Louie had brought some of his Beehive Matches with him.
As they moved along the tunnel Louie lit the remaining beeswax candles that were spaced at suitable intervals along the wall. It was quite cosy in a strange sort of way.
The tunnel wasn’t that long so it was only a minute or two before they were nearing the quartz rock wall at the end.
Lulu looked ahead to where the tunnel ended; strangely it did seem to have a faint blue colour in contrast to the yellowish light of the beeswax candles. Lulu wondered if she was imagining it.
The three were now close to the wall. Louie was wondering to himself, was it indeed just a dream he had yesterday? No! Suddenly the wall started pulsing with the electric blue light that Louie had seen the day before.
‘My God’, said Pearl. ‘What on earth is that light?’ 
Lulu froze, Louie had been right. All three of them had seen the rock glow. To Louie it seemed to be a lot brighter than the day before with all three of them now standing close to the quartz.
Feeling a little apprehensive Pearl said. ‘Let’s move back a bit’.
As soon as they all moved back the glow disappeared and the crystal face took on the yellowish hue from the beeswax candles.
Louie explained to Pearl that he had an admission to make. He had really got her down to the tunnel because of what had happened the day before when he had seen the blue light and the Ten Ants couldn’t see what he had seen.
‘Sorry Pearl’, Louie explained. ‘I wanted to get you down here to see if you saw what I saw. I really thought I was going mad’.
Pearl thought for a moment, as we know she was a very well read and knowledgeable Moth. ‘Don’t worry Louie; I’m really glad you got me down here. This is something that is very very interesting. 
It’s a possibility’, said Pearl, her brain racing, ‘that there is a great deal of pressure on the quartz from above. Such pressure can produce strong voltages and electric fields across the crystal faces of the quartz. I believe this is what could be producing the blue light. What I can’t understand though is why it glows blue only when we stand close to it. Is it the angle from which we are looking at it maybe? Or is it something about us that causes it to react this way?’ 
Pearl moved forward so the blue light radiated again. She stood for a few moments fascinated by what she saw and then went on to say. ‘The production of light here I believe must be similar to the street light where my apartment is. High voltages excite atoms and produce light. High voltages have to be present here too’.
Louie hadn’t been good at science at Fly School and Lulu’s real expertise was bookkeeping so neither of them really understood what Pearl was saying. The pair stood nonplussed and silent trying to take it all in.
‘What I can’t understand’, said Pearl, ‘is, Louie you were saying that the Ten Ants couldn’t see the light. It surely must be the three of us that are causing the production of the light but the thing is what’s so special about us?’
Lulu was a bit scared about the whole business. She held Louie tightly and dragged him back away from the quartz.
Pearl moved back from the crystal face as well, watching the blue light fade. Then she moved forward again. The blue glow correspondingly grew brighter. The closer Pearl moved to the wall the brighter the blue light became. It intrigued her. What was causing it?
Pearl carefully moved up to the wall and nervously reached out to touch it. Lulu screamed!........ My God! Pearl disappeared through the wall!
Louie moved forward to go after Pearl. Lulu trembling uncontrollably pleaded. ‘No Louie please, stay here with me, please, please I am so scared!’
‘It’s alright Lulu’, said Louie rushing back to Lulu and holding her very tight. ‘I promise I won’t leave you. What ever happens I am sure Pearl can look after herself’.
Lulu was still trembling uncontrollably with fright. Louie comforted and reassured her. Louie was a bit frightened himself. What on earth was happening?
‘All we can do Lulu’, said Louie, ‘is sit here and wait and see what happens’.
Louie and Lulu stared in silence at the cold crystal rock. They dared not go too close. In being some distance away, the face had taken on the yellow hue of the beeswax candles again. Louie and Lulu stood holding each other for more than an hour. They were really getting worried about Pearl now.
‘Louie do you think we should go and get help?’ said Lulu sobbing and worrying about Pearl.
‘I don’t know what we could do if we did get help’, said Louie.
At that moment the quartz wall started to glow blue again.
Lulu grabbed Louie and pointed at the wall. The blue light was getting brighter and started to pulse. Lulu was so frightened words just wouldn’t come out. Suddenly Pearl ‘re-emerged’ back through the wall as strangely as she had disappeared! 
Louie rushed forward. ‘Louie! Louie!’ Pearl shouted. ‘Don’t go near the wall, not yet anyway. I need to get my mind together as to what is happening here’.
Pearl was obviously in a state of shock. It took her a while to speak. Pearl was trembling and breathing hard. Eventually Pearl managed to regain a small degree of composure and said. ‘I am OK now and I think everything is alright but I want all of us to go back to my apartment and talk about what I have experienced’.
The three headed back up the tunnel. Louie extinguished the beeswax candles as they went. Pearl said nothing.
Back at Pearl’s apartment, Pearl just sat in silence for awhile as the shock wore off. 
‘Louie’, said Pearl. ‘Can you please get all of us a red wine; I have got the most amazing story to tell. I don’t know whether to be terrified, just scared, or excited. I am so confused and overwhelmed with trying to understand what I have experienced’.

Chapter 10
Pearl Has a Theory and Tells All About What Happened Through the Quartz.

When Pearl had had a few sips of red wine she stopped shaking and fully regained her composure. Then she spoke. ‘I don’t know where to begin, it’s all so overwhelming’.
Pearl’s mind was still racing; there had been a lot to take in.
‘Well I will explain it the best I can’, Pearl continued. ‘Down in the village you all know the old bank building in the centre of the town; we fly past it when we go along the High Street to the railway station. 
You may or may not remember. The wall at the front of the bank, just to the left of the entrance consists of a huge façade of quartz crystal. I would say it was quarried from the same area as the quartz at the end of the tunnel. It was probably extracted many years ago when the bank was first built.
When I walked through the quartz at the end of the tunnel yesterday, I could feel every cell in my body changing. I was suspended in rays of blue light momentarily and then I emerged from the quartz wall at the front of the bank in the village! I couldn’t believe it, I thought I was in a dream, but no it was real! The scary part was that I had mutated into something similar to a human form, much bigger than I am as a moth. I had my wings but I also had the arms, hands and legs of a human. Looking at myself I could see some sort of translucent blue shape, but really there was nothing there, I could see straight through myself!’
Louie and Lulu sat spellbound; Lulu uttered several ‘Oh my goshes’. With her hands clutched to her face.
Pearl paused a minute to get her thoughts in order and then continued. ‘Even though I was in a human form, as I said I had my wings. I could fly as I normally do. All the same feelings I have as an insect, walking and flying were there! When I first arrived through the wall I just stood frozen on the spot wondering what the people around me might do to me. I could hardly breathe with the terror I felt.
The really amazing thing was it soon became apparent that nobody could see me! Yet I could move about, touch things and even move things! 
After awhile I gained some confidence and walked around a little. I flew up onto the roof of the bank and back down again just as I can normally do. None of the human beings around me took any notice; it really was as though I didn’t exist!
I carefully walked into the bank where in my nervousness I accidentally brushed against a customer. The customer looked around in surprise to find nobody was there!
There were some papers sitting on the counter. I was gaining even more confidence by this time so I picked them up and threw them in the air. The nearest teller was startled and asked a fellow teller to go and close the window!
Out of curiosity I went out of the bank and flew back up the stream. I noticed that I could fly many times faster than I could as an insect, presumably because my wings were so much bigger.
When flying up the stream I noticed that our community wasn’t there, the Nest Café, supermarket, Reserve Bank – none of it was there!
Mr McFarland’s house was there, I could see him out in the garden. When I landed near him he couldn’t see me but interestingly he felt the wash of air from my beating wings as I landed. He looked around in surprise wondering where the sudden ‘wind’ had come from! I realised that I would have to be careful when landing near people. Thinking about it later I realised Mr McFarland had probably heard the swish of my wings as well.
This was when I really thought I must be in a bad dream of some sort. Nothing I did would wake me up though.
I left Mr McFarland and flew back to the village again. I went into the cake shop where we get our chocolate cake, nobody could see me. I picked up a small piece of chocolate cake to eat. When I tried to eat it, it just fell on the floor. This was much to the amazement of the owner who couldn’t understand how a piece of chocolate cake managed to move out of the cabinet all by itself!
I left the cake shop and flew back up the stream to where the tunnel entrance should be but it wasn’t there! This really scared me, how on earth was I ever going to get back if the tunnel didn’t exist?
‘After nearly an hour my brain was numb with trying to take it all in. I thought to myself, could this be the end of my life? I couldn’t eat or drink. How could I get back to my good friends Louie and Lulu and the insect community again?
‘I should mention, while I was in the area where the tunnel entrance should be, I marked a cross on the ground with a stick. I thought perhaps it might tell me as to whether this was a dream or not if I ever got back. 
‘With finding it difficult to think clearly I was getting into a bit of a panic. I realised that probably my only chance to survive would be to get back to the quartz wall of the bank and see if I could get back through.
‘Much to my relief, when I approached the quartz wall of the bank it glowed blue just as it had on the other side. Nobody around me noticed. I walked up to it and through, back to the tunnel where I was just so relieved to see you two again. I had been so afraid that my life was coming to an end and that what I was experiencing was what it was like when you are in the process of dying!’
Pearl stopped to take a breath for a moment.
Louie and Lulu were spellbound, could this be true, could they go and do it too? Would they even want to?
Pearl was beginning to feel a bit more relaxed having talked about her experience and went on to say. ‘Now that I have had a chance to think a bit more, I have a theory on why this is happening. In fact if my theory is right I can’t see any reason why you two can’t join me on the other side. Potentially there is a lot of good we could do with this ability. I think we may all realise this in time. 
To be safe, before we all have a go at going though the wall I would like to try something to verify my theory. Once I have verified my theory and explained it to you two, you can then decide if you want to join me for another try’.
‘Louie has Arnold seen the tunnel before?’ Pearl asked.
‘No he hasn’t’, said Louie.
‘Good’, said Pearl. ‘To help me get this thing worked out in my mind could you arrange for Virgil to get six of his wasps to pick up Arnold from the Reserve Bank and to meet us at the tunnel in half an hour? Tell him we just want to show him the tunnel. This whole business must remain strictly confidential to the three of us’. 
‘Sure’, said Louie.
It should be noted that Arnold being a stick insect required six wasps, one on each leg, to fly him to the tunnel entrance.
‘In the meantime’, said Pearl. ‘I am going to have a lie down and gather my thoughts. You two make yourselves at home until we go and meet Arnold’.

A little over half an hour later Louie, Lulu and Pearl met Arnold at the entrance to the tunnel. Arnold was quite interested and pleased that sufficient interest had been taken to even show it to him.
The four made their way down the tunnel. Louie lit the beeswax candles as they went.
As they neared the end, Pearl whispered to Louie. ‘Let Lulu and Arnold get ahead just a little, I just want to make sure that Lulu makes the quartz turn blue just as it does with you and me’.
Pearl and Louie lagged behind a little. Sure enough, when Lulu was close to the quartz wall; the wall turned a pulsing electric blue.
Lulu stopped, not wanting to get any closer. Arnold moved on and up to the wall and touched it. Nothing happened. Arnold inspected it for the marvellous piece of quartz it was.
Pearl said to Arnold. ‘A beautiful piece of quartz isn’t it?’
Arnold agreed and commented that it looked similar to the front of the bank in village.
‘I think you are right Arnold’, said Pearl not giving anything away. 
The quartz was pulsing a very bright blue now with Louie, Lulu and Pearl in close proximity. As with the Ten Ants, Arnold had no perception of the phenomenon that was occurring. In fact he was wondering why everyone was hanging around looking at the quartz. To Arnold it just appeared to be an ordinary piece of quartz rock. To him it just had the faint yellowish appearance from the light of the beeswax candles. 
Arnold thanked Louie for showing him around, he really had appreciated it.
The four walked back to the entrance where the wasps were waiting to take Arnold back to the Reserve Bank.
Arnold and the wasps departed. Pearl turned and spoke to Louie and Lulu. ‘I believe I know partly what is going on. The fact that Arnold couldn’t see the blue light seems to confirm what I have been thinking. Let me go back to my apartment to think about it some more. I suggest we all meet at the Nest Cafe tonight at say seven and I will explain what I can over a meal. I need to do some more research on the Internet this afternoon. Tonight all will be revealed!’
Louie and Lulu agreed that this would be a great idea.
Just before they departed, Louie feeling that he might have something clever to contribute said excitedly. ‘Pearl what about the cross you were telling us about, the one that you marked in the ground!’
‘Yes, yes!’ said Pearl. ‘Good work Louie, I almost forgot. Let’s fly together over the area. It’s somewhere open where the ground is exposed and the earth is soft from what I remember’.
The three flew together around the tunnel entrance in widening circles.
Lulu saw it first and exclaimed. ‘Look there it is!’ 
Sure enough, there was the cross Pearl had described, so it couldn’t just be a dream, it was very real!
The insects landed and checked it out. Pearl exclaimed. ‘That’s it alright, this is amazing!’
Pearl was silent for a moment. She then turned to Louie and Lulu. Her eyes were alive and sparkling. Then she said. ‘I don’t want you two to worry. I really believe that this could be a truly exciting discovery! I will see you both at the Nest Café tonight’.
Pearl flew back up to her apartment. Louie and Lulu headed to the stream, then along and up to their beloved home where they felt safe again.
Louie lit the stove, Lulu made a light snack and they thought about what it could be that Pearl was going to tell them at the Nest Café. 

The evening came soon enough.
Just before seven, Louie and Lulu keeping close together flew along the stream in the near dark to the Nest Café. Both were excited about what might lie ahead and what Pearl would have to say. Louie had phoned previously and managed to secure table twenty seven looking out over the stream. Soft music was playing, the beeswax candles were lit, and it would soon be time to hear what Pearl was going to say! 
Louie and Lulu sat and enjoyed each other’s company while they waited for Pearl. Apart from the excitement of the tunnel, the spring wedding was on their minds and they talked through some of the plans they had. 

Chapter 11
Pearl Explains her Theory.

Pearl soon arrived at the Nest Café. She waved out to Louie and Lulu acknowledging that she had seen them.
Before she sat down, she stopped and chatted to some of her subjects. She was indeed a much adored Moth.
When Pearl finally sat down she enquired apprehensively. ‘How are you two now?’
‘We’re fine’, said Lulu. ‘In fact we were just talking about our wedding coming up in spring’.
‘Oh good’, said Pearl relieved. ‘I am really glad that you are not too worried by this business with the tunnel. We really could be onto something quite incredible here’.
Pearl relaxed with a little red wine and composed herself before announcing her theory.
‘It’s a complicated subject’, said Pearl. ‘I will explain it the best I can. I did a lot of research this afternoon before meeting you, and I think I have got it just about nailed.
‘As you know there are many creatures on the planet, ranging from small ones such as ourselves, to large ones such as humans or even elephants’. 
Louie had no idea what an elephant looked like but mentioned that he had heard it was not good to be sat on by one.
Pearl smiled patiently and reassured Louie that even though large forces were involved in her theory, being sat on by an elephant was not one of them! 
Pearl continued. ‘There is one thing in common with all of us; we are made up of the elements of the earth itself. Everything in our wings, legs and bodies comes from the earth via the food we eat’.
Pearl now had the undivided attention of Louie and Lulu.
‘I believe’, Pearl continued, ‘that when life first started on this planet, a simple form was created by the passing of electrical forces through a mixture of some of the Earth’s elements. The electrical stimuli possibly came from lightening or sun activity, who knows.
One theory I have is that a source of electrical stimuli could have been from quartz crystal similar to what we have found in the tunnel. As I explained yesterday, when quartz crystal is impacted or compressed, extremely high voltages are produced across the crystal faces. These high voltages, if conditions are right, appear to have the ability not only to create living cells but to change the characteristics of DNA and bring about a mutation to something else’.
Louie and Lulu remained silent, staring intently at Pearl.
Pearl paused for a moment to gather her thoughts then went on to say. ‘Yesterday when I was close enough to the quartz to be affected by the electric fields present, I mutated into another form. In the normal course of events nothing happens when a living thing encounters quartz, even if the quartz is in a state of being highly compressed. We saw this with Arnold from the Reserve Bank. 
I believe that before being able to mutate into something else via quartz as I did yesterday, the cells of a living creature have to be first conditioned and undergo a molecular change through some other force. This conditioning has happened to me and it is why I could go through the quartz yesterday. I believe that the conditioning I am talking about here has also happened to you two’.
Louie and Lulu were totally lost as is maybe the reader.
Louie sighed and said ‘Sorry Pearl I don’t really understand it, this conditioning, what does it mean? I am not the brightest of bees’.
‘Louie, both of you’, said Pearl realising it was very hard for Louie and Lulu to grasp. ‘I’ll just go over it again. Don’t worry yourselves too much about the detail. Just accept that in the quartz at the end of the tunnel there are electrical forces at play that have brought about what we have observed. As I explained before, they are due to the quartz being under immense pressure from the surrounding weight of rock and earth. What I haven’t been able to understand up until now is why Arnold and the Ten Ants haven’t been able to see the blue light that the three of us can.
‘As I have just explained, it appears that there has been some molecular conditioning of our bodies that allows us to see the blue light and it is unique to the three of us!’
‘I sort of see’, said Louie hesitantly. ‘So what you are saying is that you, Lulu and I have been conditioned in some way so we can see this light and also be accepted for mutation by the quartz into something else?’
‘Precisely, you have got it Louie’, said Pearl amazed that Louie really was catching on to the concept now. ‘Can either of you guess what this unique conditioning might be?’
Louie and Lulu thought about it for a moment.
‘Does it only apply to insects that can fly like us? The Ten Ants can’t fly and neither can Arnold’, said Lulu.
‘Good try Lulu’, said Pearl. ‘No it’s not that. It actually relates to a place where only the three of us have been and it is where there are strong electrical forces at work’.
‘Gosh what is it, where is it?’ said Louie. ‘What has changed us and nobody else?’
‘Well’, said Pearl. ‘My theory is that the only insects that have been changed and can be accepted through the quartz in the tunnel are those who have been in my apartment!’
‘Your apartment!’ said Louie and Lulu together. ‘How!?’
Pearl continued. ‘It’s like this. Louie, you and Lulu have both been in my apartment when the street light has been on. I wondered at first about Lulu but remember when you first came yesterday it was quite dark and grey and the street light was on. When the street light is on there are quite strong magnetic and electric fields passing through my apartment and thus anyone in it. This is what I believe has changed my molecular structure as well as yours. This change we have undergone is the catalyst for us to be accepted by the quartz in the tunnel for mutation to another form!
Seeing more puzzled looks on Louie’s and Lulu’s faces Pearl went on to further explain. ‘I know it’s difficult to grasp. Even I am having trouble to come to terms with the concept. However I am sure that over millions of years it has been phenomena such as what we have found here that has created the diversity of life on the planet and it is why we are not all the same’. 
‘Remember’, Pearl continued, ‘insects were on this planet long before humans. Think about it, where did humans come from?
I believe the DNA of insects such as us may at some stage in the past have been changed by the electrical forces similar to what I have described. Different species such as birds, humans and others could have subsequently evolved from insects such as us.
What I experienced yesterday appears to be exactly this. For some reason that I can’t yet explain, the process here is incomplete, it is sort of in between. Yesterday I had the ability to go forward or back from being an insect to something near being human. In the halfway state my molecular structure was probably akin to that of quartz thus providing the ability to move through it’.
Pearl smiled and her eyes glistened. She concluded by saying. ‘The fact that it is possible to go forward or back opens up so many many exciting possibilities!’ 
Louie and Lulu sat quietly for a moment then Louie said. ‘You must be right Pearl, it’s the only explanation. You are just amazing with what you have found’.
It was an exciting theory. Lulu was still a little bit reserved and said to Pearl ‘Do you think the ‘whatever it is’ in your apartment has harmed us in any way Pearl?’
‘The electrical fields from the street light?’ Pearl responded. ‘No I don’t believe so. We are all subject to various forms of radiation all the time without coming to any harm, for example high frequency radiation from the sun. I have lived in my apartment for some years now without any side affects at all. No I really don’t believe there is any problem and that this is something to be really excited about’.
Lulu feeling relieved at what she was hearing and realising perhaps it really wasn’t something to be scared of after all, hugged Louie then turned to Pearl. ‘I just can’t believe what is happening in my life. A short while ago I was just nothing, my life was so dull and boring, now having met you two it is just excitement beyond my wildest dreams!’
‘Yes Lulu’, said Pearl. ‘I believe it really is something to be excited about. If we can, we must explore what this ability can offer’.
Louie also feeling a bit more relaxed after Pearl had explained things said. ‘Where do we go from here Pearl?’
‘Let’s order some food’, said Pearl. ‘Then I will tell you about some thoughts I have and what I think we should do’.
The three chatted about the incredible discovery while they waited for the food to arrive. Pearl went over the concept again to help Louie and Lulu understand. Pearl could see that Louie and Lulu were gaining in confidence, and their feelings were changing from being apprehensive to being curious and excited. 
The food duly arrived; they all had a spider egg soufflé peppered with pollen. Pearl then went on to talk about thoughts she had and what they should do. 
‘Something that has bothered me at times is that our community is in a quiet relatively undisturbed area where the only concentration of humans is a comparatively small number down in the village. We have become complacent because there has never really been much to disturb or threaten us apart from Al Spider. It’s highly likely that sooner or later humans will probably change our area. Unfortunately from what I am seeing it’s more likely to be sooner.
‘Through human activity we might have to move away, we could lose everything. Humans are taking up more and more of the free space left on the planet. In fact as I see it, the planet is now infested with humans’.
Pearl stopped for a moment to have some more of her soufflé. It was delicious.
She then continued. ‘I don’t want to bore you two with too much detail but I have come to realise that the human society and the economic system that operates within it depends on an increasing population to sustain it. This is a recipe for disaster. At some time in the future it’s quite likely that because of overcrowding and dwindling resources, humans will disappear as a species and leave the world to the insects again, as it was millions of years ago. However before that ever happens our insect world could be badly affected by pollution and disruption by human activities’. 
‘When I was on the “other side” yesterday, I climbed high over the village, higher than we do as insects. In the distance I could see the outskirts of a large city. Because of expanding population this city will be getting larger and coming ever closer to us here. At some stage, the area we live in now is likely to be destroyed in the name of human progress. With what we have discovered there are probably many things we can now do to protect our lives and preserve things as we know it and want it.
‘Another aspect to this new found ability that came to me was that we all enjoy things from the village such as chocolate cake and wine. I believe we are now in a position to return a few favours to the village for this privilege’.
‘How could we do this Pearl?’ said Louie.
Pearl explained. ‘I have come to realise that the human society has some horrible social characteristics that we don’t have. Examples are greed, crime and corruption. I believe as mutated invisible forms we could reduce the effects of greed and do a lot to prevent acts of crime and corruption. Doing so would alleviate some of the misery these characteristics of human society cause to people such as those who live in the village. It is early days yet but I think you will see what I mean as we gain more knowledge about the scope of our abilities’.
‘One thing I felt when I was in the village yesterday was that the life we have here along the stream bank is the most precious and essential thing to preserve. The humans I saw didn’t have the happiness we have here’.
Pearl paused to reflect a moment and enjoy her wine then carried on to say. ‘In the morning, if you two are happy to do so, I suggest we should meet at the tunnel and test that we can all go through the quartz to the village. If the transformation is successful we need to see how we look to each other, test whether we can communicate, just get a feeling for how we can use this new ability to the best advantage for our community and for the village’.
Pearl was deadly serious for a moment. ‘I think you will both agree that any use of this ability must be for the good of our community and the planet’.
Louie and Lulu both agreed.
‘Yes you are so right Pearl’, said Lulu. ‘Using this ability to do good can only bring about more good’. 
‘Well I think this is just about enough about my theories!’ said Pearl. ‘Don’t commit yourselves to going through the quartz now, think about what I have said overnight and we can meet again in the morning. I really don’t believe there is anything to be afraid of in going to try out and discover what abilities we might have. It’s actually probably the other way around; if we don’t take advantage of what we have found then there will be something to be afraid of. As I said earlier if you two feel happy to do so, we will go and test the theory tomorrow. In the meantime let’s relax and enjoy the rest of the evening’.
The three did indeed relax and enjoy the evening. Pearl had convinced Louie and Lulu that there was probably little to be afraid of. In all likelihood they would attempt to go through the quartz tomorrow with Pearl.
Louie and Lulu had several dances together. 
There was an elderly Cicada sitting by himself. Pearl asked him to dance with her. The dear old Cicada was just overcome with joy that the Queen of the insect community had asked him. Yes the insect community along the west bank of the stream was a wonderful place to be and may long it stay that way.

As a footnote to this chapter, if the reader feels that what Pearl has been telling Louie and Lulu is a complete load of rubbish it is suggested to do some research on the ‘Piezoelectric effect’. 
Pearl Baker-Moth is one clever moth to have worked this all out for herself!

Chapter 12
Pearl Baker-Moth’s Theory is Tested.

Louie and Lulu were up early. Both were excited and nervous about the day ahead.
As with all good bees, both had brushed their bodies and washed their teeth. 
It was quite a beautiful winter’s day. There was a light northerly breeze bringing air down from warmer latitudes. The early morning sun was still low in the east but it was just warm enough for the pair to sit out on the deck after breakfast with a cup of Louie’s favourite tea, TG Tips.
The stream flowed quietly past below them. The sunlight filtered through the trees and bush on the opposite bank and flickered as the trees moved in the slight breeze that was blowing up the steam from the direction of the village.
Louie had an arm around Lulu and held her close to him to keep her warm. 
Louie reflected and said. ‘Pearl was so right Lulu in saying last night that we need to do everything we can to protect what we have here. We just can’t let the humans of the world destroy it’.
Lulu sighed and agreed with Louie. 
‘What I find incredible’, Lulu went on to say. ‘Is what Pearl was saying about the greed and crime that exists in the human world, and how they steal from and hurt each other. It seems to me that money is the root of it all and they will do anything to cheat each other out of it’.
‘I agree’, said Louie. ‘What also really amazes me is the immense amount of knowledge that Pearl has, and her ability to work things out. We are so lucky to have her as our leader and Queen’.
Louie looked at the stream and the bush that surrounded them. He then looked at Lulu and thought to himself that he would never ever want to be part of the human world. 
‘Lulu’, said Louie. ‘I really do believe we have got to try this thing with Pearl. We owe it to her with all the effort she has made to look after us and the other members of our community. The biggest fear I have is that something could go wrong and we can’t get back. If we do this with Pearl today and something does go wrong, I do love you and I will forever’.
The pair hugged and cuddled each other for a moment and sat in silence. It was a serious decision they were making.
Lulu broke the silence and turned and looked at her mate. ‘I agree with you Louie, we have to do this with Pearl and if it all works out we can do so much to preserve what we have here now, we can’t be complacent about the future. It’s probably going to be a bit scary at times if we do go with Pearl but just think how happy we will be if we make the effort and get back safely again’.
‘Right my precious Lulu’, said Louie. ‘It’s agreed, I will phone Pearl now and let her know we will be at her apartment in half an hour, ready to go and test her theory!’
‘Yea!’ said Lulu. ‘Let’s go and do it! I am so proud of you Louie’.
After confirming with Pearl, Louie and Lulu were soon out over the stream and on their way up to Pearl’s apartment.
Pearl was pleased that they had decided to test her theory. She knew it had been a big decision for the pair to make, there were potentially unknown risks involved.
The intrepid trio were soon at the quartz crystal face in the tunnel. They were now close enough to make it glow.
‘What I suggest’, said Pearl, ‘is that we link arms and move through together. When we are on the other side, for safety, no matter how strong the impulse to gasp or cry out, don’t utter a sound. Once there just follow me’.
The three insects advanced nervously, Lulu looked up at Louie and clung to him tightly, the pulsing blue light became more intense.
‘Here goes!’ said Pearl. ‘Remember on the other side, strict silence’.
They were all through! There they were in the open outside the bank in the village. There were plenty of people around. Pearl carefully led Louie and Lulu away to a clear grassed area in front of the bank where there were no people.
‘Can you hear me?’ said Pearl shouting in a whisper.
‘Wow yes’, said Louie.
‘Yes I can’, said Lulu.
The three of them stood close and looked at each other. Their appearances were of being translucent blue nymph like creatures with quite beautiful transparent blue wings. However they no longer had the six legs of an insect but instead arms, hands and legs like humans, they even had to breathe like humans. Pearl was the largest and tallest; next there was Louie and Lulu the smallest. Apart from this they were difficult to tell apart.
Pearl spoke. ‘I forgot to mention yesterday, it appears that our smell phones or anything else we have with us doesn’t arrive on this side. Apart from talking directly to each other we don’t have any other means of communicating. If any thing goes wrong and we get separated I suggest we make it a rule to make our own way back through the wall’.
Louie and Lulu stood speechless for a while, adjusting to what was happening. Pearl waited for them to take it all in and gain some confidence then said to Louie. ‘Let’s test something. Louie see that group of people standing by the bank entrance?’
‘Yes’, said Louie.
‘Shout out “Oy” to them, as loud as you can’.
Louie did, sure enough the group turned around and stared. They had heard something but couldn’t see anything.
‘Now you see what I mean’, said Pearl. ‘We can be heard but we can’t be seen’.
‘What I suggest now’, said Pearl, ‘is that we go back to the tunnel, but this time we will go through one by one. You go through first Lulu then Louie. I will stay to the last in case anything should go wrong’.
‘Here goes!’ said Lulu nervously. 
Lulu walked over to the quartz façade of the bank, it glowed blue and none of the people close by noticed it. Lulu disappeared. Louie followed and then Pearl. It worked they were all back on the other side in the tunnel!
Lulu was overjoyed that it had worked and they were all safe, and jumped for joy. This was becoming really exciting! The three of them hugged each other and laughed with relief that it was so simple!
‘Right’, said Pearl. ‘It seems that there is no problem going back and forth through the quartz. The next thing is to see if there are any risks to us in doing things on the other side. Let’s go back again. Be careful to avoid touching anybody. They can feel you but not see you, remember too that the beating of our wings may be heard if they are beating quickly. We will try flying over the area, just keep close and follow me. Remember, just fly as you normally do, nothing is any different’.
Outside the bank Pearl took off and Louie and Lulu followed. As Pearl had said, they could fly as they normally did.
Louie and Lulu flew close together behind Pearl. Lulu studied Louie beside her. It wasn’t the same. Louie didn’t have a wonderful warm furry body any more; he was a translucent blue shape. However he still had a loveable bee face of sorts. She could touch him and hang on to him but he was neither warm nor cold. ‘Thank goodness’, she thought, at least we can talk to one another.
Pearl led the way up into the sky. She pointed to the distant city that was sprawling ever closer to the village.
‘As you can see’, said Pearl. ‘It won’t be too much longer before the village becomes part of that city. That’s the time when our world as we know it could be destroyed’. 
It was disturbing for the insects to contemplate what could happen.
Pearl led the way down to the stream. As Pearl had said there was no sign of the Reserve Bank, the Nest Café, the supermarket or Louie’s house. However they could see the cross Pearl had marked on the ground the other day, most strange.
Pearl flew on to Mr McFarland’s place. Yes Mr McFarland was out giving bread crumbs to some sparrows.
‘This will be interesting’, said Pearl. ‘Let’s go down and land beside Mr McFarland to see if the sparrows can see us’.
The three insects glided in and landed right beside the sparrows. They didn’t move. Mr McFarland didn’t see any of the three arrive either.
Louie went over to Pearl and whispered as quietly as he could. ‘Let’s go down to the shed and see if we can see the Factory’.
‘Yes let’s’, said Pearl.
Louie led the way. The portal to the Factory was there but there was no Factory inside. Amazingly enough they saw ten ants on the floor of the shed down where the Ten Ants lived. So the Ten Ants were still there but there was no way they could communicate with them! 
Pearl said. ‘Let’s go and sit down by the stream for a moment’.
Pearl found a nice grassy spot in the sun. The three sat down and relaxed for a bit. It was good to pause and reflect for a moment on what they were seeing, what they were and where they were. It was just so surreal.
It was strange; none of the insects could feel the warmth of the sun. It was a neutral feeling, no sense of hot or cold. 
Pearl and her enquiring mind were at work. She couldn’t understand why it was that they couldn’t see their homes and other things where they lived.
‘I think’, said Pearl after a period of silence and intense thinking. ‘That in coming here through the quartz there must be a time difference between our world and the human world. It may only be a few seconds. I don’t think we can see where we live because if we could, we could alter things that have happened in either the past or the future’.
This was a very profound statement by Pearl and it had Louie and Lulu deep in thought for awhile. It was almost too much to comprehend.
‘I believe’, said Pearl. ‘What we have discovered is just too complex to ever explain fully. I guess we just accept it for what it is and use it to our best advantage. We will learn more about what we can and can’t do as time goes on. Sometime when we have gained a bit more confidence and we know more about any limitations we might have, we should go into the big city and check out what we can see and do’.
‘It’s strange’, said Louie who normally liked to snack quite frequently, ‘that I don’t have any sense of being hungry or thirsty’.
‘Me neither’, said Lulu.
‘Yes that is an interesting point’, said Pearl. ‘I wonder how long we can stay here without food or water. Or is it even relevant? Why is it we need to breathe, yet maybe we don’t need food or water?’
Lulu reached out to touch Louie to make sure he was still there. ‘Louie when I touch you I can feel you as an object yet there is no warmth or cold’. It really was as though they were all in some sort of dream.
After resting for awhile, Louie suggested ‘Let’s fly over the Valley Barn and see if we can see anything’.
The insects took off again and headed east. Sure enough, the Valley Barn was there but no sign of Al Spider or any of the gang, not that there should have been after the starling attack. However there were spiders there that were similar to the type that Al Spider and the Gang had been. 
‘Hmmm’, said Pearl. ‘I firmly believe that there must be some slight time difference here, but even that doesn’t fully explain things’.
‘Before we go back’, said Pearl. ‘Let’s go to the cake shop and get a bit of chocolate cake to see if we can take it back with us’.
‘Good idea’, said Louie and they headed back to the village.
The cake shop along with other shops was on the edge of a landscaped and grassed square off to the left of the High Street.
 Louie, Lulu and Pearl landed in the middle of the square.
 ‘We have to be careful here’, said Pearl almost laughing. ‘If people see a piece of chocolate cake floating across the square they might panic. ‘I’ll go and get it; I think if I wrap my “hand” carefully around the cake it won’t be visible’.
Pearl went off, carefully avoiding coming into contact with any people as she went and then disappeared into the cake shop.
Louie and Lulu sat on the grass and waited. Pearl was back in a moment. She opened her hand and sure enough, there was the chocolate cake for all to see. 
‘Well’, said Pearl. ‘I think this has been enough excitement for one day; let’s go and see if we can take the chocolate cake back with us! Louie you take the chocolate cake, I know you will be dying to have some!’
The three stood for a moment looking around, still not really believing it was happening. Lulu held Louie’s hand (the one without the chocolate cake!). Not that it really meant anything to hold Louie’s hand because there was nothing really to feel.
‘Louie’, said Pearl. ‘You lead the way, Lulu you next and I will follow last. Let’s go back through the wall’.
They took off and flew to the bank wall in single file. With Louie leading the way, one by one they disappeared.
What a relief to be back in the tunnel. Lulu hugged Louie, he was real again. Louie stroked Lulu softly to reassure her.
Louie however was really disappointed about one thing. The chocolate cake hadn’t come through! It became obvious that they couldn’t bring anything back with them through the wall.
‘Never mind Louie’, said Pearl laughing. ‘If it had come through it might have mutated into something horrible and smelly!’
The whole experience had been an exciting but emotionally draining. The three insects grabbed each other and held on tight. They were glad to know everything was alright and they could do it again whenever they wanted to. What a relief to be back safe again.
The change from the tense feelings on the other side to one of tremendous relief that they were all now safe had an effect on the insects as though they were coming out of a state of shock.
Pearl, usually very calm and collected in any situation broke down and tears flowed a little. ‘I am so glad you two are alright, it is such a relief to be home again. The wonderful thing is it really does appear to be quite safe for us to do it again’.
Lulu started crying and Louie gulped back a sob or two with relief that Lulu was OK. There really had been that awful underlying thought that something could go wrong and they would never get back. 
‘What a hopeless pack of softies we are’, said Pearl crying and laughing at the same time!
They all sat down close to the quartz face so they were bathed in blue light. They talked about the experience, recapping on the dangers, the strange things and the highlights. They all now had a good understanding of what was involved.
‘What I suggest over the next week’, Pearl ventured, ‘is that we come through as and when we feel like it. It will give us more confidence and understanding. Then we can look at what we might do to make the world a better place’.
‘Tonight’, said Pearl as they walked back up the tunnel. ‘I think we should all go back to the Nest Café and celebrate the success of today. This could in fact have been one of the most important days of our lives, not only for us, but for the whole insect community’.
Pearl didn’t realise it then but what she was saying was indeed very true, as we shall see.
The trio continued on up and out of the tunnel. It was about 1.00 p.m. Louie gave Pearl a key so she could come and go as she pleased. Pearl gave Louie and Lulu a final hug, bid adieu and headed to her apartment. Pearl’s mind was full of ideas she had for using this new found ability and how to better fulfil her role as the Queen of the insect community and to protect it.
When Pearl had departed, Louie locked the door to the tunnel. He and Lulu flew back to the stream and on home. What a relief to be back. Louie and Lulu held each other close, relieved that everything was still there just as they had left it. 
Much later in the evening they joined Pearl at the Nest Café once more for a truly wonderful evening.

Chapter 13
A Job to Be Done on the Other Side.

It is getting on towards the end of winter now.
Louie, Lulu and Pearl Baker-Moth have been through the quartz numerous times to gain experience, confidence and become totally familiar with the concept. It had now become second nature to the insects.
Although transforming through the quartz was a fascinating experience, it palled a little after awhile. The insects quite frankly liked to remain in the comfort of their own environment and did so unless something arose requiring their attention on the ‘other side’.
Things had been fairly quiet in the village. Nothing had warranted the insects taking any action to preserve their own environment or assist the villagers with any issues. In fact everyone has been getting on with their lives in peace and harmony.
Louie and Lulu had set a date for their wedding at the end of spring. They had chosen the end of spring because it would be a bit warmer. Louie wanted to take Lulu on a honeymoon to the cave over looking the sea where Virgil had taken him with Pearl and the Ten Ants a couple of years earlier. They had asked Pearl Baker-Moth to marry them. Pearl was of course only too glad to do this. 
A venue for the wedding had also been set. Pearl had offered the Country Club but Louie and Lulu thought that the Nest Café might be better. However after finalising the guest list the Nest Café had ended up being too small to take all the guests that Louie and Lulu wanted to invite. In the end Virgil’s hangar was opted for. The Nest Café had been asked to do the catering and Virgil’s wasps would fly the food in on the day. Virgil and Virginia were only too glad to assist in any way that they could, having recently been married themselves.
Even with Virgil’s hangar there was still a problem with fitting everybody in. Virgil suggested that they could use the roof of the hangar to take additional guests. The roof was quite a good place as Virgil had adapted it as a facility for his wasps to come and go from. There was plenty of room.
On this basis Louie and Lulu divided the guest list into close friends and not so close friends. The close friends could be inside the hangar with them and the not so close friends outside on the roof. The former list was headed up as the “hangar’s in” list and the latter as the “hangar’s on” list! 
Yes things were just ticking along nicely. Even Pearl had sorted out the differences she had with Sir Cada and Lady Bird over the failure of the tunnel project. They were all good friends again. 
In fact one Tuesday morning, Pearl was preening herself and getting ready to join Sir Cada and Lady Bird at the Country Club for lunch. She was about to leave when she had a call from her Cabinet Minister B1.
‘Good morning Mam, B1 reporting in’.
‘Good morning B1, I hope everything is alright’, said Pearl.
‘Don’t know Mam’, said B1. ‘South of McFarland’s house the council from the village seems to be carrying out some work that may affect the stream bank community. Don’t know yet but there is a bulldozer cutting a path from the road to the stream, there are a couple of workman’s vehicles on site and two or three workmen’.
B1 went on to say that. ‘I know the village council does maintenance work now and then but what attracted the attention of one of our Flight Sergeants was that there was a group of villagers with placards protesting against whatever it is the council is doing’.
‘Good work B1’, said Pearl. ‘Thanks for that keep in touch and let me know any more details as they come to hand’.
‘Don’t like the sound of it’, said Pearl to herself after talking to B1. ‘Hmmm don’t like it at all. What is the council up to?’
Pearl phoned Louie to tell him of what she had learned. Of course Louie didn’t know where Pearl had got the information from. No the K.G.B had to remain secret to be an effective security tool for the insect community.
Louie was at the Factory when Pearl had phoned. The Factory was working a couple of days this week on some of Virgil’s wasps. Most of Virgil’s wasps had a clean and polish once a fortnight. Lulu was with Louie as usual working in the office.
‘Louie’, said Pearl after explaining what was happening south of Mr McFarland’s place. ‘I think tomorrow morning first thing we should go through the quartz to the village and see if we can glean any information from the community notice board. After that we can head down to the site and have a look for ourselves. I don’t like the sound of what is going on, it would be good to determine if there is a threat to our community’.
‘Right’, said Louie quite excited that there might be something constructive to do with their new found ability. ‘Lulu and I will come up to your place at 8.00 a.m. if that suits you Pearl’.
‘Excellent’, said Pearl. ‘See you then’.
Pearl would have gone to check out the community notice board today if it hadn’t been for the luncheon at the Country Club. She dare not cancel the luncheon with Sir Cada and Lady Bird having just cleared up the rift that existed because of the tunnel project.

Next morning was quite a good day. There was a strong northerly wind blowing which slowed Louie and Lulu’s progress up to Pearl’s apartment, however the weather was fine.
The three of them headed off to the tunnel and through the quartz. The community notice board was in the grassed square near the cake shop.
Pearl, Louie and Lulu studied the notice board, being careful not to touch the people around them or make a sound if anyone was close by.
There were all sorts of notices about coming events, council meetings, church groups, workshops, a fair, and library opening hours. There seemed to be everything but what they were looking for. 
Lulu thought she had found something and said ‘This might be it, look at this, something about a water pipe’.
Sure enough, there was a council notice advising that a large water pipe was to be constructed starting from south of Mr McFarland’s property 
It appeared the intention of the council was to run the pipe along the west bank of the stream to the village. The water pipe was to be installed above ground supported by concrete stands at appropriate intervals. Apparently due to the expansion of the village population the project had become necessary to keep the village supplied with water in future years. 
The notice advised the public to keep clear of the area from a certain date as there was to be some rock blasting where the pipeline was obstructed by rocky outcrops at a couple of points.
There was also a map showing exactly where the pipeline would run in relation to the stream. It was frightening to the three insects; it would wipe out Virgil’s operation, Louie’s house, the Nest Café, supermarket and the Reserve Bank; all the things that were so important in their lives.
‘This really is serious’, said Pearl. 
‘Oh no!’ said Lulu just about in tears and dying to touch and hold Louie. (Of course she couldn’t while being on the other side of the quartz).
Louie just went silent with the dread of what could happen. His home and happiness would be gone if something wasn’t done.
Pearl who was also deeply shocked said. ‘Look at this, the villagers have signed a petition to say they don’t want the pipeline along the stream. That’s what they have been down at the site protesting about’.
Pearl was angry about what they had found.
‘It really amazes me’, said Pearl. ‘In the human world the people elect politicians to serve them, yet the politicians in complete arrogance do exactly what they want!’
Pearl thought for a moment then said. ‘Well team I think this might be our first job to help the people. Let’s go up to the site and see what is going on’.
Pearl, Louie and Lulu took off and headed up the stream.
They arrived at about half past eight. There was a large group of citizens with placards blocking the progress of a bulldozer. The insects could see that the bulldozer was there to remove bush and trees to clear a path for the pipeline.
The citizens were chanting ‘Don’t spoil our stream with your bloody pipe dream!’ over and over again.
The trio glided in and landed right beside where all the action was taking place. Of course none of the people around could see the blue “nymph like” forms that had just arrived. In front with the protesters was Mr McFarland with a placard saying ‘Don’t spoil my property, put the pipe somewhere else’. Poor Mr McFarland. 
Confronting the protesters was a bull necked contractor with a couple of cronies a little further back. 
“Bull Neck” had just about reached the end of his patience with the protestors who had been on site since 7.00 a.m. Bull Neck with a hand held loud speaker shouted ‘You have been warned; unless you leave the site we will turn the hose on you’.
The protesters stood their ground, and kept on chanting. ‘Don’t spoil our stream with your bloody pipe dream!’ Feelings were running high. Bull Neck was getting mad; his face was red with anger.
‘Right’, said Bull Neck hardly able to contain his rage. ‘Thirty seconds, you have been bloody well warned you lot. Fred, point the hose at them!’
The hose, normally used to clean equipment, was connected to a powerful pump drawing water from the stream.
The protesters still stood their ground and kept on chanting. 
After thirty seconds had passed, Bull Neck ordered the hose on. The blast knocked quite a few senior citizens including Mr McFarland to the ground. They were soaked.
Bull Neck laughed. ‘Serve you right, I don’t want to see you lot here ever again’.
The protesters had no alternative but to leave. Pearl, Louie and Lulu rushed in to help those who had been knocked down.
Mr McFarland, who of course couldn’t see who had helped him to his feet, uttered, ‘thank you, thank you’, thinking it must have been some divine intervention.
As the protesters reluctantly left, Pearl, Louie and Lulu sat down in silence and studied the situation.
Once all the protesters had gone, the bulldozer started up again and carried on clearing bush and making a path to some distance away where there was a large mound of rock right by the stream. The rock stood in the way of the proposed pipeline.
‘I suppose’, whispered Pearl, ‘that is one of the pieces of rock they are going to blast and remove’.
The insects kept well out of the way and carried on observing.
After about an hour the bulldozer had cleared the ground up to the rock. The bulldozer was then turned around and run back up to the road out of the way.
With a cleared path now in place, Bull Neck drove a truck in loaded with prefabricated boxing sections. These were placed at regular intervals along the cleared path by Fred and a mate called Blue. It became obvious that these boxing sections were to be filled with concrete and thus form the supports for the pipe. 
It was just after 10.00 a.m. when Bull Neck yelled. ‘Smoko!’
Fred and Blue stopped what they were doing and went to the truck to get their morning tea. They sat around in a group laughing at what had happened with the protesters.
Louie being a bit of a mischievous bee at heart and still feeling a little angry about what had been done to the protesters whispered to the others. ‘Let’s have some fun!’
Louie moved closer to where Bull Neck was sitting with his back to him. Louie picked up a stone and hurled it at Bull Neck. It caught him fair and square in the middle of his great thick neck.
Bull Neck got to his feet rubbing the back of his neck and said what Louie thought was ‘D-U-C-K!!!! Louie might have been wrong, after all why would someone say duck after being hit by something, one usually said it when they were about to be hit by something.
‘Who’s there!?’ roared Bull Neck. 
Bull Neck of course couldn’t see anybody. ‘Bloody kids I bet’, he said to Fred and Blue. Bull Neck sat down again, rubbing his neck.
Louie picked up another stone and aimed it at Bull Neck again. This time he missed Bull Neck and instead hit Fred. 
Fred let out another almighty ‘D-U-C-K!!!’ just as Bull Neck had done. Louie thought this really was quite weird.
Fred, with the shock of the impact had the misfortune to throw his hot cup of tea all over Bull Neck. Bull Neck in response stood up and socked Fred in the face!
‘What the hell did you do that for’, Bull Neck said to Fred. Bull Neck not only had a sore neck from Louie’s earlier effort but was now burnt by the tea as well! 
‘Sorry’, said Fred, who was obviously a bit scared of Bull Neck. ‘S-sorry mate but I got hit by a stone like you’.
‘W-H-A-T!!!’ Those little B…’.s’, (bleep, censored here) yelled Bull Neck and he walked over to the bushes where he thought the stones were coming from. The insects had to move quickly to get out of the way.
‘Come out of there you lot otherwise I will come in and give you a hiding’, Bull Neck yelled.
Of course nothing happened and Bull Neck went back and sat down again. The insects could hardly contain themselves.
Having moved to get out of the way of Bull Neck the insects were now behind Fred. 
Lulu whispered. ‘It’s my turn’, and she picked up a stone and hurled it at the back of Fred.
Lulu missed and it caught Bull Neck right on the nose! This was just too much for Bull Neck who now had a sore neck, a sore nose and was burnt from the spilt tea. He stood up and roared. ‘You bloody kids, I’ll get you!’ 
Bull Neck went to the truck and got his cell phone and called up his boss. ‘I want some protection down here, kids are chucking rocks at us, send the police with dogs and have them rounded up’.
Bull Neck sat down again. ‘That should fix the b…’s’, said Bull Neck. 
At that moment Pearl without saying a word moved forward, picked up Bull Neck’s cell phone and dropped it in his tea.
Bull Neck just lost it then. The surrounding trees were just about blown over with Bull Neck’s expletives! 
To inflame the situation even more, Poor Blue, who didn’t say much anyway, moved away from where Bull Neck was frantically shaking his tea soaked cell phone and as a nervous oversight sat on Bull Neck’s cut lunch! 
The fact that Blue was quite a rotund chap meant that Bull Neck’s bloater paste sandwiches looked more like pan cakes!
Fred and Blue were terrified with what Bull Neck might do next and were about to take off when the police arrived.
‘Right team’, whispered Pearl. ‘Time to make a strategic withdrawal, let’s head down stream a bit and discuss what we do next’.
The insects alighted on the east bank of the stream some distance away from the action. 
‘It was too risky for us to stay there with police dogs around’, said Pearl. ‘We really have no idea yet whether we can be detected when we are on the other side of the quartz’.
The three of them lay on the ground for awhile and laughed until it hurt with what had happened.
Finally Pearl said. ‘I think we have done all we can for today, let’s come back in the morning and see what we can do. The police and the dogs won’t find anything so I doubt if they will come back tomorrow’.
Louie and Lulu agreed, it would be nice to get back home again and have some lunch.

The next morning the insects, having gone through the quartz once more, arrived at the site about 9.00 a.m.
During the previous day, after all the fiasco in the morning, the men had made some progress. All the sections of boxing for the pipe supports were in place, right up to the rock that was to be blasted. 
Bull Neck and Fred were there. It seemed that Blue had probably had enough and hadn’t turned up.
The pair were sitting and leaning against a tree near the rock. It appeared as though they might be waiting for a concrete truck to arrive. While they waited both talked drivel about some sport they felt they knew more about than anybody else.
Bull Neck had left his truck parked up by the road, presumably to allow free access for the concrete truck. The insects waited and watched. 
 Shortly another man arrived. Yes he was there to deliver concrete and had also parked his concrete truck up by the road. He had walked in to get instructions from Bull Neck.
‘Quick’, said Pearl. ‘Follow me’.
Pearl took off and flew quickly back along the cleared path with the two blue nymph like forms of Louie and Lulu in hot pursuit. 
Yes sure enough, there was the concrete truck, barrel turning on the back, ready to move in and fill the boxed sections with concrete. It was parked right next to Bull Neck’s truck.
‘Louie, Lulu’, come and help me said Pearl. ‘Lulu, wind down the window of Bull Neck’s truck. Louie help me with this chute’. Of course the insects could do all this, unseen by anybody, now they were on the other side of the quartz.
Pearl and Louie manoeuvred the concrete chute at the back of the truck and put it in through the window in Bull Neck’s truck.
‘Louie quickly’, said Pearl, ‘pull that lever on the right hand side; pull it down as far as it will go’.
Sure enough, the barrel started turning fast and all the concrete in the concrete truck went down the chute straight into the cab of Bull Neck’s truck! Right up to the dash board!
‘Quick’, said Pearl. ‘Put everything back as it was; push that lever right up Louie’.
Louie pushed the lever back up. Pearl and Lulu swung the chute back to where it should be.
‘Right, back to Bull Neck and Fred’, said Pearl.
By now the concrete truck driver had talked to Bull Neck and gained the appropriate instructions. He was walking back to his truck. Not suspecting anything to be amiss he drove the concrete truck back in to where Bull Neck and Fred were, and backed up his truck ready to pour the first box.
Well of course strangely enough the concrete truck wouldn’t deliver anything. Funny that! 
Bull Neck fired up with the fiasco from the day before, socked the concrete truck driver in the face. Hmmm, this Bull Neck fellow definitely had a problem and needed to attend an anger management course! 
It was all on then with abuse and shouts from both sides.
‘You bloody idiot’, shouted Bull Neck. ‘My boss is going to kill me if I don’t get this job done today’.
‘What do you think my boss is going to say when I tell him my load of concrete has evaporated!’ yelled the concrete truck driver.
‘Not my problem’, yelled Bull Neck. ‘Go and get another load and this time don’t lose it!!!’
The poor concrete truck driver, bruised, shaken and by now speechless got back into his truck and drove off to get another load of concrete.
‘Moron!!’ yelled Bull Neck as the concrete truck drove off.
The insects had moved well clear by now in case their laughter could be heard.
‘That was a smart move Pearl’, said Louie. ‘I hate to think what Bull Neck will say, let alone his boss, when they discover his truck cab is full of concrete!’
‘I think’, said Pearl. ‘We will leave it at that for now and come back again tomorrow. I don’t want to be around when Bull Neck finds out what we have done to his truck’.
The next day the insects returned through the quartz about the same time in the morning. Strangely enough Bull Neck had another truck and his boss was with him this time!
Most of the concrete had been poured and the pipe supports were now in place. This was a little disappointing to the insects. So far they hadn’t been able to stop the project.
With the concrete now poured, Bull Neck and Fred proceeded to drill holes in the rock that was obstructing the path of the pipeline. The drilled holes were to take the charges that would be detonated and break up the rock for removal.
When the pair had finished drilling the holes in the rock, Bull Neck went off and got the “new” truck and brought in the charges that were to be inserted in the holes. There were ten in all.
Detonating cables were carefully attached to the charges. The charges with detonating cables attached were slid down into the drilled holes in the rock.
Once the charges were in place, Bull Neck carefully checked everything once more. After yesterday we didn’t want anything else going wrong, that was for sure!
Bull Neck moved his truck back out of harm’s way then he and Fred walked slowly back up the cleared access, unreeling the detonating wire as they went. This was all under the watchful eye of Bull Neck’s boss. 
Some considerable distance away they set up the detonating plunger that would ultimately set the charges off.
Pearl, Louie and Lulu had remembered from the community notice board in the village that the detonation time had been publicly advertised for 11.00 am, it was now 10.15 a.m.
Bull Neck, Fred and the boss now waited in their safe position for 11.00 am to arrive. Every five minutes they announced over a loud speaker that detonation would be in so many minutes and to please clear the area.
‘Quick’, said Pearl. ‘We haven’t got much time, follow me’.
The insects went over to the rock to be detonated. Pearl carefully pulled the ten charges back out of the rock with the help of Louie and Lulu. 
Once the charges were out of the rock and on the ground, Pearl said. ‘Louie and Lulu, put five of them in through the front side window of Bull Neck’s truck, make sure the detonation lines stay connected. The remaining five I am going to put under some of the concrete pipe supports’.
What mischief, it was hard to stop laughing. 
The three mischief makers heard in the distance, ‘Fifteen minutes to blasting, please clear the area’. They still had some time left.
When the insects had finished the job they took off and flew to where Bull Neck, his boss and Fred were. 
‘Five minutes to blasting, clear the area’, Bull Neck yelled into his hand held loud speaker.
Bull Neck’s boss turned to Bull Neck and said. ‘You had better not stuff it up this time mate or you will be toast!’
Bull Neck ignored his boss and concentrated on the job in hand. ‘One minute to blasting, please clear the area’, Yelled Bull Neck.
A short time later Bull Neck counted down. ‘Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, CONTACT!’
There was an agonising pause then there was a huge explosion. The shock waves swished through the trees, scaring the birds, animals and insects into absolute silence. Some half minute later there was an echo from the distant hills.
‘That should do it boss’, said Bull Neck smirking.
‘Let’s go and see’, said Bull Neck’s boss. 
The insects followed close behind as the three men headed back expecting the rock to have been demolished.
The men stopped in their tracks. Five of the pipe supports had been destroyed; two were up a tree! Worst of all the ‘new’ truck, all that was left of it was the tray! The front end was scattered far and wide.
‘My truck!’ wailed the boss.
Bull Neck’s boss turned and socked Bull Neck in the face and shouted. ‘You bloody incompetent idiot, I can’t believe it!!! First you fill one truck up with concrete then you blow up this one. What are you bloody well going to do for your next trick!? I can’t take any more!’
Bull Neck’s boss was shouting and wringing his hands. Fred had taken off by this time; there was no way he was ever going to come back. Bull Neck followed Fred yelling. ‘The place is spooked!’
Well after that nobody did come back! The project was reconsidered by the council and the pipe was eventually laid under the road to the village. This was just as the villagers had originally wanted it.
Our three intrepid insects flew back to the quartz wall at the bank and through to the tunnel.
In the tunnel Pearl turned and said. ‘A job well-done you two!’
‘That was just incredible’, said Louie and Lulu together. ‘You are a genius Pearl’.
That night it was back to the Nest Café for the three to celebrate what they had achieved.
The insects realised that they had tremendous powers to do good.

Chapter 14
Some New Powers are Discovered.

It was a Sunday morning, the sun was shining. Louie and Lulu were sitting on the deck outside their house just watching the stream go by.
‘Lulu’, said Louie. ‘Let’s go through the quartz and have a bit of a fly around together’.
‘Good idea’, said Lulu. ‘We haven’t got much else to do today. I’ll just tidy up the breakfast dishes then let’s go’.
While Lulu did the dishes, Louie went around to the back of the house and brought in some more firewood for the stove. It was still quite cool in the evenings and it would be quite good to have a reasonable stock of it. Yes two happy bees doing their domestic chores. 
At about 10.00 a.m. the pair were ready to go.
‘Don’t forget to bring the matches Louie’, said Lulu. The matches of course were needed to light the beeswax candles in the tunnel.
The pair took off together, flew down the stream then west to the tunnel entrance.
 Louie and Lulu, having been through the quartz many times now, were full of confidence and the process had become second nature.
Louie lit the beeswax candles as they progressed along the tunnel. Once at the end of the tunnel the quartz started to pulse with the blue light they had now become so familiar with. Louie and Lulu stood close together and marvelled at the blue light for a moment before going on through, it was actually quite beautiful in a cold sort of way.
On the other side, the village was fairly quiet being a Sunday. 
The pair explored the village for awhile then headed along the stream towards the hills. 
‘I’ll show you part of the way to where we are going for our honeymoon’ said Louie.
Louie took Lulu to the falls. Being able to fly much faster than they could as insects meant it only took a few minutes. The falls looked magnificent as they cascaded into the pool at the base. It never failed to be an awe inspiring sight. 
The pair landed on the flat piece of rock where Virgil had taken Louie much earlier on. Louie explained about the cave at the top of the falls where they would go and head to the cave overlooking the sea. 
Louie and Lulu having come through the quartz were too large to go into the cave at the top of the falls and on through the tunnel to the sea. They sat and relaxed on the rock at the bottom of the falls instead.
Next to Lulu was a clump of buttercups, a sign that spring must be on the way. The flowers fascinated Lulu because if she was back at home on the other side of the quartz, she could actually fly onto the flower and enjoy the nectar, but on this side she was too big and stood many times taller than the plant.
Lulu lay on her back and did a lazy stretch, arms outstretched. With fists clenched she lowered her left arm towards the buttercups.
She was about to unclench her fist and pick one of the buttercups when she noticed there was a blue aura around her fist. Not only was there a blue aura but the clenching of her fist had caused the buttercups to shrink!
As soon as Lulu unclenched her fist the blue aura disappeared but the buttercups remained in the shrunken position.
Lulu fascinated by this, rolled towards the buttercup and then clenched her right fist quite firmly in front of the clump of buttercups. A blue aura appeared around her right fist as it had done previously with her left fist. To her amazement the buttercups started growing back up again; in fact they kept on growing then shrivelled and died!
‘Louie! Louie!’ said Lulu excitedly. ‘Come and see this’.
Lulu squeezed her left fist in front of another buttercup. The blue aura appeared and the buttercup went back in time and became smaller. When she squeezed her right fist in front of the same buttercup, again a blue aura appeared and the buttercup grew up, advanced in age then withered and died just as the other one had done.
Louie couldn’t believe what he was seeing. ‘Let me try’.
Sure enough, it was the same for Louie. If he squeezed his right fist close to any living plant, a blue aura appeared about his fist and the plant advanced in time until it died. Conversely if he squeezed his left fist it had the opposite effect and the plant went back in time.
Louie looked at Lulu in disbelief!
‘Let’s try it on a piece of rock’, said Louie amazed at what they had found.
Louie tried it first with his right fist then with his left. The blue aura appeared as before but the rock didn’t change. ‘Looks as though it has to be something living’, said Louie.
Louie squeezed his fists looking at them in amazement. He had to squeeze really hard but the harder he squeezed the brighter the blue aura became.
‘Tell you what’, said Louie. ‘Let’s try it on that little Kauri tree over there. Lulu you squeeze your right fist on this side and I will squeeze my right fist on the other’.
This was unbelievably amazing! With the two fists held close and glowing blue, the Kauri tree started to grow bigger and bigger, in fact it doubled then tripled in size. The expanding trunk actually pushed Louie and Lulu away.
‘Right’, said Louie. ‘Let’s try squeezing our left fists and see if we can make it grow smaller again’.
The Kauri tree shrank back down again. Louie and Lulu took their fists away when it was back to the size they thought it had been.
‘Am I dreaming this Lulu?’ said Louie.
‘I don’t think so’, said Lulu.
There was a dead leaf lying on the rock beside them. ‘I wonder if we can revive this leaf?’ said Louie.
The pair tried by squeezing their left fists near the leaf. Again, the blue auras appeared but nothing happened. Obviously for anything that was no longer living, it just didn’t work.
Louie tried holding his left fist some distance from the remaining buttercups and squeezing. There was no reaction until his fist was moved close to the plants; in fact nothing happened until the blue aura engulfed part of the plant. With Lulu it was exactly the same.
‘Look over there’, said Lulu pointing, ‘there is a sparrow sitting by the water. Let’s try it on the sparrow’.
Louie crept slowly closer. The sparrow couldn’t see him of course. Louie squeezed his right fist hard so the blue aura was glowing brightly. He then carefully moved his fist so the blue aura engulfed the sparrow. The sparrow sensed something and immediately flew off. 
‘The sparrow must have sensed something was affecting it’, said Louie. ‘I guess with that short time it might be a couple of seconds older, I hope I haven’t harmed it’.
Louie and Lulu amused themselves making plants older and younger, still not believing that it was for real.
Lulu had a good idea. ‘Louie I wonder if this just applies to being on this side of the quartz. Does everything change back when we leave?’ 
Lulu paused for a moment then went on to say. ‘Louie opposite our house on the east bank is a tree that blocks the sun a bit in the mornings. Let’s go and see if we can make it younger and smaller. Then we can see when we get back if it is still in the changed condition’.
‘Brilliant Lulu’, said Louie.
The excited pair raced back to where their house should be but naturally couldn’t see it. However they could see the tree that would be blocking the sun and alighted beside it.
‘Here goes’, said Louie.
Louie clenched his left fist tightly, squeezing until the blue aura appeared. He moved his fist close to the tree, sure enough, as soon as the blue aura touched, the tree slowly reduced in size. 
‘Enough do you reckon Lulu?’ said Louie.
‘Spot on’, said Lulu excited about this new find. ‘Wouldn’t it be great if it works!’
Louie and Lulu sat down for a moment. ‘I wonder what causes this’, said Louie’. I have a feeling that when we clench our fists we must be doing it with a force similar to that which makes the quartz glow at the end of the tunnel. Some sort of electromagnetic radiation must be emitted as Pearl was explaining to us earlier on’.
‘Maybe you are right’, said Lulu getting excited about an idea she had.
‘Louie’, said Lulu. ‘If we have such strength to this with our fists, maybe we have tremendous power to lift things as well, let’s face it, we have never tried it!’
‘You are right Lulu’, Louie was excited by this possibility too.
Louie looked around for something that they could lift and then said, ‘Lulu, see that fallen tree trunk over there, that quite large one that has been lying there for years, let’s try lifting it’.
Lulu went to one end of the trunk and Louie some distance away took the other. On the count of three the pair lifted for all they were worth. They were both surprised; they could lift the huge trunk with ease! Not only were they able to lift the trunk but they were able to keep holding it up without any difficulty.
‘I can’t believe this!’ said Lulu. ‘Let’s try flying with it’.
Louie and Lulu could hear their wings beating hard. The surrounding grass flattened in the downwash of air. No matter how hard the pair tried, no, they couldn’t fly with the trunk, it was a physical impossibility.
‘Well that’s that’, said Louie. ‘Let’s put the trunk down again’. The pair lowered the trunk.
‘I wonder’, said Louie. ‘Can we lift any weight at all and fly with it? Let’s try something smaller’.
 Louie selected a rock which was in fact quite heavy. Yes he could fly with it. There was no problem at all. 
Louie lifted a piece of dead tree that was lighter than the rock he had picked up. No he couldn’t fly with it?!
It didn’t make sense. Louie and Lulu experimented with lifting various objects and trying to fly with them. Some they could, some they couldn’t
It was Lulu who worked it out eventually. It wasn’t the weight so much. It was the size! What Lulu had discovered was that they could only fly and lift an object that was smaller than or equal to the size of them! It was quite possible to lift and fly with really heavy objects as long as the object didn’t have a height or width greater than themselves. Louie was slightly bigger in size to Lulu so he could lift objects that were slightly bigger in dimension. It was all very interesting. 
‘Let’s go and let Pearl know what we have discovered Louie’, said Lulu.
‘Can’t wait to tell her’, said Louie. ‘When we get back on the other side again let’s first check the tree we have reduced in size and see if it has stayed the same’.
Louie and Lulu took off and flew back to the quartz wall at the village bank. To help avoid detection from the sound of their wings they had learnt too come in high then glide down and through the wall.
On the other side Lulu rushed up to Louie and hugged him. She was partly relieved that they were safe on the other side again but she was also excited about what they had found.
Louie was fascinated by what had happened on the other side and clenched his right fist now as an insect. No there was nothing there, no blue aura at all. It must be something to do with what Pearl had said that on the other side their molecular structure was similar to quartz.
Louie put his arm around Lulu, the pair walked back to the tunnel entrance and out into the sunshine again. It was good to feel its warmth after not being able to feel anything when on the other side.
‘First of all let’s go and look at the tree’, said Louie as they flew off towards the stream. 
Louie and Lulu hovered above their house and looked over towards where the tree should be that they had reduced in size. Yes! It had worked so they would have more sunshine in the early morning!
Louie and Lulu descended to the deck.
‘This is really exciting my wonderful bee’, said Louie picking Lulu up and holding her.
Lulu giggled and squealed with delight. 
‘Let’s go and tell Pearl all about it’, said Lulu.
Off the pair went, on and up to Pearl’s apartment. ‘Hope she is home’, said Louie.
Pearl was home.
Pearl was a religious sort of moth and being Sunday she was religiously checking stocks of red wine and chocolate cake, doing the vacuuming, washing the windows and preening herself for the coming week.
Oh and yes, Pearl had her faith, absolute faith that if she ran out of red wine or chocolate cake, her subjects (usually Louie) would be only too glad to remedy the situation. 
Louie banged on the door of Pearl’s apartment and shouted ‘Are you there Pearl? Are you there Pearl? It’s me and Lulu. We have something exciting to tell you!’
‘Who’s me? Said Pearl pretending she didn’t know it was Louie and thus giving herself some time to make herself look presentable. ‘Louie’, said Louie.
Louie and Lulu had caught Pearl a little by surprise. She wasn’t really expecting them and she still had her feelers in curlers.
Pearl opened the door and laughed. ‘Gosh you two what’s up? You will have to forgive me; I wasn’t expecting anybody and I haven’t finished doing all the stuff that I religiously do on Sundays!’
Pearl looked beautiful in spite of her reservations. ‘Come out on the deck and tell me all about it, I haven’t seen you so excited for a long time, are you two getting engaged again?!’ Pearl laughed.
Louie and Lulu explained and went over everything they had found and observed.
‘I believe you could be right about the pressure created by clenching your fists’, said Pearl. ‘In fact it probably now confirms that on the other side our molecular structure is indeed some abstract form of quartz. I am sure this is why we can’t feel heat or cold. It also explains why we have a translucent blue appearance similar to the quartz in the tunnel. I am sure you are right in assuming that the pressure created in clenching your fists also creates the blue aura you have described’.
‘Well’, said Pearl ‘I am afraid I can’t wait to try all this with you, have some lunch with me now and show me this afternoon!’
‘Yes, Yes’, said Lulu, you will be so excited Pearl.
After lunch Pearl removed her curlers, and the three headed back through the quartz.
Everything Louie and Lulu had described earlier on, Pearl could do too.
‘This is incredibly exciting’, said Pearl. ‘It’s hard to know just yet what we can use all this for, no doubt we will find out soon enough. – As indeed they did!

Chapter 15
Louie and Lulu help Mr McFarland using the New Powers.

Louie and Lulu were busy at the Factory. As the end of winter approached, work had increased to a level where the Factory was working four days a week. Many insects were coming out of hibernation and wanted to look their best for the coming spring and summer months.
Today, a Tuesday was particularly busy. There were two beetles, three ladybirds and a couple of bees in the waiting room. Still they enjoyed waiting while they watched Fly TV. There was a gardening program giving hints on how to keep pests away such as people.
It was 10.00 a.m.; the Ten Ants joined Louie and Lulu for some morning tea while the worker bees carried on with production.
In casual conversation Inform mentioned that Mr McFarland had recently had a contractor in and cut down a Sycamore tree that was close to his house. It had been dying off at the top and the leaves had given a lot of problems in blocking the guttering.
Inform went on to say that Mr McFarland’s guttering was still blocked with leaves and that because of his age it was difficult for him to get up on a ladder and clean it out. Mr McFarland lived on a pension and had limited funds to get things done around his house. The cost of having the tree cut down was all he could afford this year so he couldn’t afford to have someone clean out the guttering.
The insects always wanted to do what they could for Mr McFarland as he was kind towards them and of course allowed them to use his shed to run the Factory.
‘If you like Mr Louie’, said Inform, ‘we (the Ten Ants) could try and move some of the leaves from the guttering for Mr McFarland over the weekend. It would be a big task; maybe we could get some help from White Ant Excavators again?’ 
‘Thanks Inform’, said Louie. ‘That’s very thoughtful of you all to consider it. What I will do is have a look myself and see what can be done. Keep your weekends free for what you want to do. It’s a bit of a tall ask to expect you all to carry out such a big task by yourselves’.
After morning tea when the Ten Ants had returned to work, Louie turned to Lulu and was about to say something.
Lulu pre-empted Louie. ‘I know what you are going to say. With our new found abilities, if we go through the quartz you and I can easily go and clean Mr McFarland’s guttering for him. We could do it in no time!’
‘You are exactly right’, said Louie. ‘What a clever bee you are, let’s go and do it now, it would only take us half an hour, the Ten Ants are looking after the Factory’.
Louie let Import know that he and Lulu would be out for and hour or so. 
Louie and Lulu after flying out of the portal in the shed, headed for Mr McFarland’s house to have a look.
‘Look’, said Lulu. ‘Once we are through the quartz on the other side we can easily lift out the leaves and put them on the compost heap out the back’.
‘No problem’, said Louie taking Lulu’s hand. ‘Let’s head for the tunnel’.
Louie and Lulu circled a couple of times over Mr McFarland’s property then headed northwest towards the tunnel entrance. They felt pleased that they could do something to help Mr McFarland.
Once on the other side of the quartz, Louie and Lulu headed away from the village bank and straight back along the stream to Mr McFarland’s place. 
The pair lifted the leaves out of the guttering in big handfuls then flew over to the compost heap and piled them neatly on top. They had to be vigilant about what they were doing and ensure nobody was watching. It would certainly attract attention to see bundles of leaves flying through the air! The job really didn’t take them any time at all.
‘Doesn’t it feel good’, said Lulu, ‘to be able to use this ability we have to help others’.
Louie and Lulu settled on Mr McFarland’s lawn for a moment to survey the scene. The contractor who had cut the tree down had cut it all up into firewood and stacked it neatly under the eaves ready for next winter. The stump where the tree had been felled was neatly cut close to the ground.
‘Now that the guttering is free of leaves’, said Louie, ‘rain water won’t flow over the edge. That firewood will keep nice and dry’.
‘Job well-done’, said Lulu. ‘I guess we should think about heading back’.
Just at that moment a council car pulled into Mr McFarland’s gate and came up the drive to the front door.
In the car was one Cyril Marchfart, a council inspector who generally went about annoying people, imposing council regulations. Cyril Marchfart had no feelings for others; in fact he seemed to take delight in making other people miserable. It seemed to give him some sort of sense of power.
Everything that Cyril said was prefixed with a sharp intake of breath (‘Hffffffffff’).
Cyril would take great delight in saying things like:
‘Hffffffffff no you can’t build that there!’
‘Hffffffffff no you will have to get a permit first!’
‘Hffffffffff you didn’t get a permit? Oh well you will have to take it down!’
Cyril carried out many duties for the council, including issuing parking fines and having cars towed away in the village, just a general misery maker.
Cyril was really a nasty little piece of work. He was allowed to take his council car home at night; it was strictly for council use only. However so he could use the car at weekends Cyril disconnected the speedo during the week to make it look as though he was only doing council business. Not that this has really got anything to do with the story, it just demonstrates the sort of person Cyril was. (As Pearl had said, humans are always trying to cheat each other).
Cyril emerged from his car, now parked outside Mr McFarland’s front door. Cyril looked just the part, dressed in a sloppy brown button up cardigan with walk shorts and knee high socks to match. What a doozey!
The council being right into low carbon foot print conservation measures had supplied Cyril with an ECO friendly car, of such small proportions that rather than driving the car Cyril practically wore it!
Cyril, bum up, reached inside the postage stamp sized door of the car and brought out some official looking papers. He then marched up to Mr McFarland’s door and knocked.
‘Let’s move closer and listen’, said Louie.
Louie and Lulu, (in their invisible form) were right next to Cyril when Mr McFarland opened the door.
‘Can I help you’, said Mr McFarland politely.
‘McFarland?’ said Cyril.
‘Yes’, replied Mr McFarland.
‘It has come to my attention that you have cut down a Sycamore tree without obtaining consent from the council, is this correct?’
Mr McFarland went on to explain that he didn’t know he needed consent; after all it was his tree on his property.
‘Hffffffffff this is serious’ said Cyril taking absolute delight in scaring the living daylights out of Mr McFarland. ‘You realise there is a $5,000 fine for removing trees without council consent?’
Poor Mr McFarland didn’t know what to say, he couldn’t afford such a fine, where would he get the money?
Cyril continued knowing Mr McFarland wouldn’t fight back. ‘I am issuing you with a prosecution notice now. You will in due course be summoned to appear at the Village District Court’.
Cyril gave the notice to Mr McFarland. Mr McFarland’s hands were shaking so much he could hardly take hold of the notice. Mr McFarland the poor old fellow was really frightened.
Cyril left Mr McFarland to his misery and with a smirk on his face went around to where the tree had been cut down and took some notes.
Louie and Lulu were shocked. In the insect world such nastiness just didn’t occur.
‘Quick Lulu’, said Louie with a smirk of mischievousness on his face. ‘Follow me’.
Louie took Lulu around to the front to where Cyril’s car was. It was out of sight of Cyril.
‘Grab the other end of Cyril’s car’, said Louie. ‘Turn it over and put it on its roof, quick!’
The pair carefully turned Cyril’s council car upside down and lay it on its roof. Of course being on the other side of the quartz they had the strength to do this quite easily.
There it was in Mr McFarland’s driveway, the council car upside down, Cyril’s cut lunch and papers all mixed up inside on the roof of the car!
When Cyril had finished taking notes he went back around to where he had parked the car outside Mr McFarland’s front door.
‘What the…!’ said Cyril to himself. He just stood and stared at what he saw; he started to go red from his neck up and looked for all the world like an overheated thermometer when all the red stuff inside has gone to the top.
Cyril stormed in a rage up to Mr McFarland’s front door and knocked again.
Mr McFarland opened the door. Cyril was about to launch forth with a ‘who did that?’ when Mr McFarland burst out laughing. ‘Have you got a consent to turn that thing upside down laddy?’ and slammed the door in Cyril’s face.
Apart from feeling intense annoyance at being called “laddy”, Cyril had got himself into a bit of a predicament now. He had hoped to use Mr McFarland’s phone to get help but he had blotted his copy book there.
In the pecking order at the council, Cyril was not far enough up the chain to be issued with a cell phone. He would have to go down the road to phone for help. How was he going to explain this to his boss at the council? Oh dear. Cyril was worried. Off he went to talk to his boss and hopefully organise a tow truck.
Having organised the tow truck Cyril returned to Mr McFarland’s place to wait. 
Of course we know what had happened while Cyril was away, our mischievous insects had carefully turned the car back up the right way again. Louie and Lulu had retreated some distance away for fear of their laughter being heard.
‘Oh no’, said Cyril to himself. ‘I will have to get back and cancel the tow truck’.
Too late, the tow truck had pulled into the driveway just as Cyril was about to leave again.
The tow truck driver, had shoulders that sloped up to the top of his bald head. His head looked for all the world like a smooth round spud with dried apricots stuck on for ears! He slung his tattooed arm out the window and shouted. ‘Where’s this bloody car that’s upside down?’
‘It’s OK I managed to fix it myself’, said Cyril lying through his teeth.
The tow truck driver studied Cyril for a moment. Cyril’s physique was that of a stick insect and he had a chest like a budgie. 
‘Don’t believe ya’, the tow truck driver yelled. ‘That will be two hundred bucks sign here’.
Cyril who didn’t want to get into an argument with the burly tow truck driver capitulated and did the ‘sign here’ bit.
The tow truck driver turned his truck around, yelled to Cyril ‘plonker!’ and drove off. 
Cyril hoping all this nonsense might be over now, got back into his car and tried to start it.
In turning the car upside down all the petrol had drained out and gone all over 
Mr McFarland’s driveway. In fact combined with some engine oil that had leaked out it had made quite a mess. Cyril reluctantly now had to go and phone his boss again to see if he could get some petrol brought out for the car.
Our mischievous pair would have loved to have gone and heard what Cyril’s boss said to him but Lulu had another idea.
‘Louie’, she whispered. ‘Cyril has probably gone to phone his boss and get some petrol brought back. While he is away let’s see if we can re-grow the tree! It’s probably not dead yet. The tree was only recently cut down’.
‘Brilliant Lulu!’ said Louie. ‘Let’s give it a go’.
Louie and Lulu went over to the stump where the tree had been.
They looked closely. There were some green shoots starting to sprout from the side of the stump. Indeed the tree as Lulu had hoped was not dead.
‘What we will have to do I think’, said Louie, ‘is take it back to when it was just a seedling and then re-grow it from there. I don’t think it will go forward from the stump it is now’.
Louie and Lulu clenched their left fists really tightly, holding them close to the stump with the blue auras glowing brightly. Sure enough, the stump shrank in size, going back in time to when the tree was just a seedling.
‘Right’, said Louie. ‘Let’s grow it back to the tree it was before it was cut down’.
With their right fists clenched, Louie and Lulu grew the tree grew back to how it used to be. When they had finished, the tree even had the dead bits at the top that had originally worried Mr McFarland.
Lulu was right; in due course Cyril arrived back with the boss in a slightly larger ECO friendly car. They had the petrol.
Cyril’s boss, who Cyril addressed only as ‘Sir’, was giving Cyril a dressing down for wasting his time and to be more careful in the future.
While Cyril was pouring the petrol into the car, Sir who wore a suit and looked quite imposing said. ‘What were you doing here anyway Marchfart?’
‘McFarland’. Cyril went on.
‘Mr McFarland!’ Sir interjected.
‘Yes Mr McFarland has without consent, cut down a large Sycamore tree. I have accordingly issued him with a prosecution notice’.
‘That’s a bit hasty isn’t it?’ Sir said. ‘I hope you know what you are doing. Show me the tree in question when you have finished what you are doing’.
Cyril, now extremely nervous about the whole situation, overfilled the tank and more petrol spilled on the drive.
Sir came around to have a look. ‘Good God man’, Sir exclaimed. ‘What’s all this petrol and oil over this man McFarland’s driveway? You’ll have to get this cleaned up Marchfart, and the cost is coming out of your wages!’
Sir, who was getting highly irritated by the whole business by now said. ‘Right Marchfart, show me where this tree is’.
Marchfart took Sir around the corner of the house. Oh no, the tree was still there. How could this be? ‘But he cut it down!’ Cyril pleaded. ‘He did, I saw it’.
‘You’re a blithering idiot Marchfart, the bloody tree is still there; did you dream this or something? What are you trying to do to this poor man?!’
‘Right Marchfart here is what I want you to do. 
One; go and apologise to Mr McFarland, tell him the prosecution notice is withdrawn. 
Two; tell Mr McFarland that you will be back to personally to clean up his driveway. Take note, I will personally inspect it when it is done. 
Three; go to the bloody doctor and get your eye’s checked’.
Cyril was very subdued, he was almost sobbing. ‘Yes Sir, I will’.
‘Good’, said Sir, ‘I will wait while you go and apologise to Mr McFarland, get on with it!! Don’t stand there dithering, I haven’t got all day’.
Mr McFarland didn’t really know what was going on when Cyril apologised and withdrew the prosecution notice. He was just relieved that it was all cleared up. He went inside, sat down and had a cup of tea.
Cyril managed to get his car started again and he and Sir drove off.
As soon as Sir and Cyril had gone Louie and Lulu quickly moved in and with left fists clenched, reduced the Sycamore tree back down to nothing.
‘Yea! Look at that’, said Louie, no one will know that a tree was ever there’.
Louie was right, the stump had completely disappeared. 
Of course Mr McFarland was inside having his cup of tea so he was unaware that any of this was happening. When he came out later he was puzzled not to see the stump and mumbled to himself. ‘Must have imagined it’, shook his head and went back inside.
Louie and Lulu were extremely happy with the results of their ‘work’. They had made a nice old man happy again.
It was about mid afternoon by now and the two headed back to the quartz at the bank and through to the tunnel.
‘I feel so happy helping Mr McFarland today Louie’.
‘Me too’, said Louie and pulled Lulu close to him. ‘As you know Lulu, until I met you I just felt useless, doing these things now with you is giving me so much more confidence’.
The pair walked back to the tunnel entrance and then flew back to the Factory. Louie apologised to Import for taking so long and thanked him for looking after things for him. Import reflected to himself what a great boss Louie had been since meeting Lulu!
The next day, poor Cyril turned up at Mr McFarland’s place to clean up the driveway. He nearly collapsed when he saw the tree had gone. He just couldn’t understand it. He really would have to go and get his eyes tested.
Mr McFarland being a kindly and sensitive man offered Cyril a cup of tea at 10.00 a.m. Cyril smiled and said ‘Yes please, I am so sorry for what I did yesterday’.
Yes Cyril had learnt his lesson. He wasn’t going to be unkind to anyone anymore. 

That evening Louie and Lulu called in to see Pearl and tell her all about what they had done. 
Pearl laughed and congratulated them on a great effort. 
Pearl reflected on just what wonderful things were happening and how her job to keep the insect community secure was now so much easier.

Chapter 16
Louie’s World Nearly Comes to an End.

It is now into the first week of spring. It is the insect’s favourite time of the year. There are many flowers along the stream emitting delicate wafting fragrances like smokeless incense. Daylight hours were getting longer, there was a magic in the air.
Louie and Lulu are up and about; it is Monday about 9.00 a.m.
Pearl Baker-Moth had let Louie know that she was a little bit low on chocolate cake and red wine. We may remember that on Sundays Pearl religiously checked stocks of red wine and chocolate cake and let Louie know if any re stocking was required. 
This was the wonderful part about the insect world; each insect, no questions asked, had a desire to help others. They knew their society wouldn’t survive if they didn’t
Louie and Lulu were sitting outside on the deck together after breakfast discussing the day ahead.
‘I think’, said Louie, ‘we should perhaps head to the village and pickup some chocolate cake and red wine for Pearl before we go to the Factory’.
‘Good idea my loveable bee’, said Lulu who was enjoying the sunshine and didn’t really want to move. ‘Hold me for a moment Louie and then we can go’.
Louie held Lulu and stroked the beautiful furry black and yellow stripes on her body. Louie didn’t really feel like moving either.
‘Louie’, Lulu broke the silence, she had been thinking about something, ‘when we go to the village can we fly down alongside the road? The village council has planted some Daffodils, Freesias, and Jonquils amongst the trees, they are just so beautiful at this time of the year and the nectar is so sweet’.
‘Of course Lulu’, Louie would do anything for Lulu.
The pair lay in the sun until about 9.30 a.m.
‘This won’t do’, said Louie, and he stood up laughing and pulled Lulu to her feet. ‘Come on my bee, the day is passing, we must make a move’.
Lulu agreed, she held Louie close to her and looked up with her soft brown eyes and said. ‘I love you Louie’.
Louie felt crushed with happiness.
Louie went and got the bracken baskets they would take to bring the chocolate cake and red wine back in. The red wine would be put into six-packs of sealed honeycomb cells.
While Louie was getting the baskets and the empty six-packs ready, Lulu tidied up a few things. Louie had a habit of leaving things on the floor such as his best spider silk shorts. Lulu also had to check that Louie had a clean hanky and of course that he had washed his teeth. Lulu loved him and tidying up after Louie was just part of loving him.
At 9.44 a.m. Louie and Lulu headed off. This time they flew away from the stream and towards Pearl Baker-Moth’s apartment. They just cruised along lazily, past Pearl’s apartment and on towards the village.
Down below, as Lulu had said, were the beautiful spring flowers she had talked about.
‘Let’s go down Louie’, Lulu led the way and Louie followed.
Lulu was happy and carefree and wasn’t thinking clearly what she was doing.
Louie shouted. ‘Lulu, lookout!!!’
But it was too late, Lulu hadn’t heard Louie. Lulu had done a wide circle out onto the road and was hit by a passing car.
‘Oh no’, cried Louie. ‘Oh no, please be alright Lulu’.
 At first Louie couldn’t see Lulu. Then he saw her. ‘Help!’ cried Louie. ‘Help me someone’, but nobody could hear him.
It was just terrible. Lulu was lying on her back in the middle of the road; her bracken basket was lying crushed further along. Lulu’s pink ribbon was rolling along in the breeze.
Louie was by Lulu’s side in an instant; her wing was broken and pointed upwards, her legs moved in involuntary spasms. Her beautiful little body had a gash along the side.
It seemed that Lulu was close to dying. Louie was beside himself with grief. Louie hugged Lulu and sobbed uncontrollably.
Suddenly another car passed. The wind from the car blew Louie and Lulu further along and separated them. Lulu’s broken wing waved helplessly in the breeze.
Louie was bruised and slightly hurt from the action of being rolled by the passing vehicle. He was in absolute despair and limped back to Lulu. He had lost his basket and with it his smell phone. He couldn’t contact anyone for help.
Louie wanted to die with Lulu. Louie thought maybe he should just hold Lulu and lie in the middle of the road with her until the end came.
Another car was approaching, this time Louie saw it and flew up out of the way. 
Back down again with Lulu, Louie could see she was still twitching and her lifeless broken wing was pointing skywards, but she was still alive.
‘I have got to save her, I have got to save her’ Louie repeated to himself over and over again.
Louie tried to pick Lulu up; it was difficult with Lulu twitching and the angle that the broken wing was pointing.
Just as Louie picked Lulu up another car passed and he dropped her.
‘Oh please somebody help me, please somebody help me’, Louie cried. There was no one to help him. Louie was on his own.
Louie dragged Lulu in the direction of the side of the road nearest the stream. It was a long agonising process. As more cars passed, Louie had to let Lulu go and fly up out of the way. 
Another car passed straight over the top of Lulu and she was rolled further down the road again.
It was a terrible sight to Louie, Lulu’s broken body on the road and he felt desperately sick.
Louie tried again and managed to drag Lulu closer towards the edge of the road. 
More and more cars passed and Louie had to keep on dropping his beloved Lulu time and time again. Louie was tiring, he ached.
One more try he did it, he managed to get Lulu off the road into the shade of the grass. Louie was still sobbing uncontrollably, he couldn’t see for the tears.
Lulu was twitching less now, she really was close to dying and Louie knew it.
Lulu was badly dehydrated from lying on the hot surface of the road; Louie had to get her water to cool her little body.
Louie took off for the stream and dived into the surface. He then flew back to Lulu, his furry body soaked in stream water. He hovered over Lulu and shook the water off his body onto Lulu. He did this several times, there seemed to be some benefit Louie thought. Lulu seemed to move a little more and the water cooled her.
Louie leaned over Lulu and held her again. ‘Can you hear me Lulu? Please, please say something’.
Louie waited for a response, there was nothing.
Louie went back to the stream and got some more water for Lulu one more time. 
He suddenly realised what he had to do, Louie was thinking more clearly now. He had to leave Lulu and get to the tunnel and through the quartz.
Louie covered Lulu carefully with grass so she would be shaded and kept cool. He then headed off to the tunnel. Louie flew at full power, his wings and body ached but he knew he didn’t have much time. Louie arrived at the tunnel entrance. Oh no! Louie didn’t have the key, he would have to fly home and get it.
Louie was desperately tired and sore but just pushed on. Home he flew to pick up the key. Everything around him was a blur; he didn’t feel or see the beautiful spring day. He had a purpose and he didn’t mind if he died trying.
Back to the tunnel, Louie now had the key. Down to the quartz wall he went. He didn’t have time to light the beeswax candles and consequently bruised himself as he ran in blind panic in the dark down to the quartz wall. 
‘Please, please don’t let me be too late’, said Louie to himself.
Once through the wall and out into the village, Louie flew back to where Lulu was.
It took awhile to find her. In his panic to save her he hadn’t left a marker of any sort. Eventually after some moments of desperate searching he found her.
Louie looked at Lulu, she seemed to be lifeless. She looked so tiny to Louie now that he was on the other side of the quartz.
Would it work, could he do it?
Louie clenched his left fist close to Lulu. Oh No! Louie had injured himself as a bee and his left fist was weak, there was virtually no blue aura. He couldn’t use his right fist as that would advance Lulu to certain death and then he could no longer help her.
Louie touched Lulu to see if there was any life and said. ‘I Love you Lulu’.
Yes, there was a flicker of movement in one of her legs.
Louie squeezed his left fist for all he was worth, he was desperate, it was agony. Yes! Yes! He had managed to produce the necessary blue aura. Lulu was slowly going back in time and turning back into the beautiful bee she had been.
Louie rested his arm then squeezed his left fist again, almost there.
Miraculously Lulu’s bent and broken wing folded back and down to where it normally was. The gash along the side of her body melted away. Lulu opened her eyes and stood up.
Louie’s problems weren’t over yet. Louie forgot he was on the other side of the quartz and said ‘Oh Lulu, you are going to be alright’.
Lulu, who didn’t know what this voice was, let alone where it was coming from, immediately flew off in fright.
‘I can’t believe it’, Louie said to himself. ‘I can’t believe how stupid I have been. How will I find her now?’
Louie quickly returned to the quartz in the village and through to the tunnel. He blundered his way along the tunnel in the dark and out into the light again.
Louie flew to where Lulu had been, he called her but she was nowhere to be seen. He flew home, maybe she had gone there. No, Lulu wasn’t there or at the Factory either.
Louie had just about had it, his wings ached so much and he was dirty from being on the road.
In desperation Louie flew straight to Pearl’s apartment, she would know what to do.
Louie banged on the door. ‘Pearl, help me, help me, please help me, I have lost Lulu’.
Pearl opened the door and took the poor distressed bee in.
Louie explained what had happened between the sobs that kept coming uncontrollably.
Pearl comforted Louie and thought for a moment. 
‘Louie where do you think Lulu might go if she was frightened?’ asked Pearl.
‘I don’t know said Louie, I just don’t know. She isn’t at the Factory, she isn’t at home and I’ve looked by the road’.
Pearl thought some more. ‘I think Louie she would head for somewhere high up, maybe a tall tree? There are some tall trees on the reserve just up from where you say Lulu flew off. Let’s both of us go and check there’.
Louie and Pearl flew off together. They called and called Lulu to no avail.
Louie and Pearl rested for a bit.
Pearl thought for a moment. ‘Louie, I think Lulu would be disorientated and not know where she was. I believe her first thoughts would be to try and find you, but she wouldn’t know where to look. Remember in healing her after the accident you have taken her back in time. What I suggest is that we just sit here very quietly and listen.
Louie and Pearl sat and listened. They waited and waited. Louie was trying to control his sobbing so that he wouldn’t miss any chance of hearing Lulu.
‘Listen!’ said Pearl.
Louie also heard something in the direction of the stream.
‘Let’s fly closer and listen again’, said Pearl.
Louie and Pearl alighted in the top of a tall pine tree and listened again.
Yes they heard it. ‘Louie, help, Louie, help’.
Louie took off instantly; he had heard his beloved Lulu. 
Sure enough, at the top of another pine tree there she was, her wings now perfect again were quivering with fright.
Lulu recognised Louie and Pearl immediately and spoke. ‘Oh Louie, Louie, Pearl what has happened? Have I had a bad dream or something? I’m lost; I don’t know where I am’. 
Louie finding it difficult to even speak said. ‘Lulu, Lulu, thank goodness you are alright!’
Louie and Pearl comforted Lulu.
Pearl took command of the situation. ‘Louie, bring Lulu back to my apartment and we can tell her all about what has happened. We can get you cleaned up too’.
Louie took Lulu’s hand and said. ‘Fly with me, everything is alright’.
Back at Pearl’s apartment, Pearl made some hot strong gum leaf tea and Louie took a hot bath and massaged his bruised body.
While Louie was taking his bath, Pearl relayed to Lulu what Louie had told her. Pearl explained to Lulu how she had been hit by a car and how Louie had put his own life at risk to save her. ‘What really frightened you Lulu was actually Louie when he was on the other side of the quartz and he tried to talk to you’.
Lulu was very quiet. There were tears in her eyes. She realised if it hadn’t been for her wonderful Louie she wouldn’t be alive now.
After a while, Louie came back into the room, a now clean and tidy bee, a little sore but oh so happy. Louie grabbed Lulu and gave her as big a hug as his sore body would allow. She was just as she was before being hit by the car; the only thing that was different was the pink ribbon that she normally wore was missing. 
‘Oh Lulu’, I really thought I had lost you.
 The three of them were stunned and sat in silence.
 ‘Isn’t it incredible’, said Pearl. If the properties of the quartz in the tunnel hadn’t been discovered, first by you Louie, we probably wouldn’t be sitting here talking now. Your homes would have been destroyed by the water pipe project and worst of all Lulu might not have been with us’.
The shock was easing to some degree. Louie turned to Pearl. ‘Thanks so much Pearl, if it wasn’t for your clear thinking as to where to find Lulu, we might not have found her’.
‘Who knows’, said Pearl. ‘Really we have all been so lucky’.
‘What I would like to do now’, said Louie. ‘Is to take Lulu home and spend the rest of the day with her. Then tonight we will take you Pearl to the Nest Café and shout you the wine and chocolate cake we didn’t manage to get today!’
Pearl laughed. ‘You don’t have to do that but I won’t say no!’
‘I need to recover a bit’, said Louie. ‘Tomorrow Lulu and I will try again to get you your chocolate cake and red wine from the village! This time we won’t stop and look at flowers along the road, will we Lulu?!’ Louie had a twinkle in his eye, he loved his Lulu and she was home again.
Louie and Lulu flew back out into the beautiful sunshine of the spring day and on to their precious little home.
Louie and Lulu sat out on their deck, overlooking the stream where they had started from earlier that day. They were safe again. 
Lulu had found another pink ribbon and put it on. She looked even more beautiful. 
Lulu stroked Louie’s bruised limbs. They were still quite painful, but he didn’t really notice any more. He had his Lulu with him.
The thought of what could have happened would be with the two bees for quite some time. Later that evening Louie and Lulu headed off to take Pearl to the Nest Café.
Before they left, Louie went down to the stream edge and picked a small daisy for Lulu. Lulu tucked it into the ribbon around her head. She looked beautiful.

The next day Louie’s bruised limbs were still quite sore. He was struggling to move around to some degree. Louie suggested that they both go to Dr Wong down by the supermarket to have a check up. Lulu agreed.
Louie phoned Dr Wong and they were booked in at the surgery for 10.00 a.m.
When they had arrived the waiting room was full of Ants. Obviously there was some sort of anty virus going around. Louie went in to see Dr Wong first. 
Dr Wong gave Louie a thorough check-up. Dr Wong felt that the bruising would be gone within a day or two and gave Louie a course of anti inflammatory medicine to take twice a day. It was in a nectar mixture so Louie would quite enjoy this. ‘Yea!’
Louie came out and smiled at Lulu and gave her a hug and said. ‘All OK, your turn now’. Lulu went in and Louie waited.
Lulu was gone quite awhile and Louie was getting quite concerned.
When Lulu came out, she was in tears; she was very distressed about something.
‘Louie, take me home, I can’t talk here’.
The pair flew home along the stream close together; Louie wondered what on earth could be wrong. Lulu wouldn’t stop crying.
The sun was shining so Louie and Lulu sat out on the deck. 
‘Louie hold me’, pleaded Lulu. ‘I don’t know how to tell you, you may not want me anymore’,
‘Shsh nonsense’, said Louie holding Lulu tightly. ‘What is it?’
Lulu broke down and the tears just flowed. Lulu looked at Louie as though she was pleading for help.
‘Louie oh Louie, after the accident something has happened to me and I can’t have any little bees, oh help me Louie. I’ll understand if you don’t want me any more’.
Louie held Lulu close to him and stroked her gently to soothe her and said. ‘Lulu, nothing in the world will stop me loving you and we are going to get married’.
‘Louie’, replied Lulu. ‘Do you really mean that, you could marry someone better than me?’ Lulu sobbed. 
‘No Lulu’, said Louie quite firmly looking at Lulu straight in the face. ‘You are the only one I would consider marrying, we will work through this together’.
‘Oh Louie’, said Lulu relieved at what Louie was saying. ‘Dearest Louie, thank you. I was so afraid you might not want me any more, you don’t know what it means to me for you to say that’.
‘Lulu’, said Louie. ‘I love you even more; I feel for you so much in your distress over this but it doesn’t matter, it’s not important. I want you to forget all about it. Our lives together go on the same as before’.
Lulu sobbed some more. It was more with pleasure now knowing that she wouldn’t lose Louie. 
The pair remained silent for awhile then Louie said. ‘Lulu just think, it might be my entire fault. When I brought you back to life I may have stopped the process too soon and some damage hasn’t been completely reversed’.
‘Louie, dear Louie, you are so kind’, said Lulu drying her eyes and raising a smile.
‘That’s better’, said Louie. ‘You stay here and I will get you a cup of TG Tips and some chocolate cake, that will make you feel better’.
Lulu laughed and said. ‘Yes please, thank you my wonderful bee’,
Louie came back with the tea and chocolate cake and sat down beside Lulu again. The crisis for Lulu had passed and she was returning to her old self.
Louie smiled and delicately stroked Lulu’s head. ‘Apart from this nonsense’, said Louie laughing. ‘I hope Dr Wong didn’t find anything else wrong!’
‘No Louie’, said Lulu. ‘Everything is just fine and to know that you still want me makes everything just as good as it could be. I would dearly love for us to have some little bees of our own but if it is not to be, so be it I guess’.
‘Agreed’, said Louie. ‘You are not to worry about it any more, I will get very cross with you if you do!’ and gave Lulu an affectionate squeeze just about spilling her tea!
Lulu laughed.
It was getting on towards midday now; the sun was high and quite warm. Louie and Lulu moved the deck furniture into the shade of a fern frond.
‘You know Lulu’, said Louie, ‘what Dr Wong has told you is nothing in the scheme of things. I was just so close to losing you and I didn’t. That’s what counts!’
 Louie was right. Louie and Lulu held each other and slept under the fern frond well into the afternoon. Life was good again; there was a wedding to organise now.

Chapter 17
Preparations for the wedding are made.

It is now the second week of spring. Louie and Lulu have put behind them the terrible trauma of the car accident and are concentrating on getting things organised for their wedding.
It is a Saturday morning and the pair are sitting (close to each other) outside on the deck of their streamside home.
The wedding date has been firmly set for the last Saturday in spring.
There are eleven weeks to go. There is quite a lot to be done, however eleven weeks should be enough. In the insect world things can be done unbelievably quickly as we shall soon learn! 
Lulu has almost finished getting the invitations ready.
The happy couple are enjoying a cup of Louie’s TG Tips. Louie is deep in thought about the number of guests that would be arriving and where they might stay.
Louie summed it up in his mind. There were about five rooms available underneath the Nest Café, he had built an extra room onto their house and expanded the lounge. Pearl had a couple of spare rooms in her apartment. The Country Club could accommodate all of the guests if required, but that was too far away. No it was best if the guest accommodation could be along the stream close by somewhere. Louie had an idea.
Louie put his arm around Lulu. Louie as we know has become quite an assertive bee and he wanted things to be just right for the beloved Lulu that he nearly lost.
Lulu was thinking along the same lines as Louie about guest accommodation and she raised the subject.
‘Louie, where do you think all our guests for the wedding should be accommodated?’ Lulu had turned her head and looked into Louie’s eyes then gently kissed him. ‘I don’t really want them to have trouble finding accommodation if we can avoid it. The problem is there isn’t anything close by that is big enough’.
‘Lulu I have been thinking about it too’, said Louie, ‘and I really have an idea that I am quite excited about’.
‘Tell me’, said Lulu smiling.
‘As you know Lulu’, Louie continued. ‘At the Nest Café there are several rooms underneath that are quite nice for guests. What I suggest be done is to build more rooms here and make it into extensive hotel’.
What Louie was saying here was indeed a good idea. The insect community along the stream had grown over the years and was woefully short of accommodation for visitors. Virgil Blue had expanded his operation and it had become somewhat of a nuisance to have visitors to the area accommodated out at the Country Club, nice as it was.
Louie continued. ‘There is a new company called Beehive Apartments who can quickly assemble luxury honeycomb units. They have a very large team of honey bees and we could get Sparrow Construction to build the roof over the finished accommodation so that it matches the Nest Café’.
‘That sounds just wonderful my clever bee’, said Lulu now sitting up and giving Louie her full attention. ‘Do you really think it could be done?’
‘Don’t see why not’, said Louie. ‘I would need to get approval from Pearl to use some of the Reserve dollops and scents. However I am sure she would say yes, mainly because it would be good for the area, tourism and all that’.
Louie went on to say. ‘One real advantage of building more accommodation at the Nest Café would be that it would give the Nest Café more business as well. Actually while we have the contractors on site it would be good to refurbish and extend the Nest Café, I am sure Basil and Sybil would welcome the opportunity’.
‘Gosh’, said Lulu. ‘Quite the entrepreneur, aren’t we! It sounds wonderful Louie. I am so proud of you’.
‘I have even got a name for the new hotel’, said Louie proudly.
‘Tell me’, said Lulu, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.
‘Well’, said Louie quite excited by now. ‘The stream outside where the hotel would go, just babbles on past and down to the village. So let’s call it the Hotel Babbleon!’
‘You clever bee’, said Lulu. ‘It sounds very posh and inviting’.
‘Right’, said Louie. ‘How about we go up and see Pearl and get things moving. If we get her approval I will contact Beehive Apartments today and we can all meet on Monday’.
Louie phoned Pearl and she was free for the pair to call up and see her. Two very excited bees were off.
On arriving at Pearl’s apartment Pearl said laughing. ‘Gosh what’s exciting you two now!?’
Louie went over the plan and it didn’t take long before Pearl said. ‘Yes Louie, I believe this is a truly marvellous plan!’ She looked at Louie and smiled, he really had become such an assertive but still loveable bee. Pearl thought the name Hotel Babbleon was just “spot on” and told Louie so.
‘Well’, said Pearl, ‘to get things moving Louie, phone Beehive Apartments now and let’s arrange a meeting with them at the Nest Café on Monday at 10.00 a.m. We can show them what we want, discuss cost and I’ll sign the contract, simple!’
Lulu jumped up and down with excitement.
‘This is truly excellent’, said Pearl reflecting further on Louie’s idea. ‘It really will be good for our little community. Let’s celebrate. This is a very special occasion, not only from the point of view of your wedding but it will be a milestone for the community as well; we’ll have some red wine. Lulu we can go and sit out on the deck and talk wedding things while Louie gets it for us’.
First Louie phoned Beehive Apartments; yes they would be there at the Nest Café, 10.00 a.m. on Monday. It was all go. Louie poured some red wine and went to join Lulu and Pearl out on the deck.
The trio discussed and formulated in their minds what the hotel should look like.
‘I think we should try for a hundred rooms or more’, said Pearl. ‘Let’s have it extended out to the back of the Nest Café so that views from the Café aren’t obstructed’.
Pearl went on to suggest five stories high so that the top levels would have a good view along the stream.
The three spent the rest of the morning discussing the final details for Monday. Pearl put together an agenda for the meeting. The Hotel Babbleon really was all go!
Louie and Lulu left Pearl and headed back down to their house for lunch. Lulu made some delicious dandelion leaf sandwiches toasted in buttercup oil.
With the Hotel Babbleon project virtually under way, Lulu spent the afternoon adding to the invitations that there was to be a new Hotel built close by to the wedding venue. Lulu requested as part of the R.S.V.P. for respondents to indicate if accommodation would be required.
Yes indeed, things were starting to move along.
Later in the afternoon Louie suggested that they go for a fly along the stream and drop in to see Virgil to let him know about the latest developments with the hotel. Louie suggested that first they go downstream and fly over the Nest Café area to have a look before going to Virgil’s.
Lulu agreed, she was a bit tired of being inside sorting out the invitations. It would be good to get out for awhile.
The pair lifted off the deck and on down to stream level. Louie laughed and put on full power. ‘Bet you can’t catch me!’
‘Oh yes I can’, said Lulu. She was soon alongside her mate and just to show how clever she was she did a barrel roll around Louie shouting ‘yippee’ at the same time. What happiness!
Louie and Lulu arrived over the Nest Café and looked from above at the area where the Hotel Babbleon would be constructed.
‘Look Lulu’, said Louie easing back on the power. ‘There is plenty of room at the back of the Nest Café, probably need to clear a little of the vegetation’.
Yes indeed, the site would be excellent. There were some large ferns hanging over the stream just a little distance behind the Nest Café. It was quite a beautiful setting for the Hotel. 
For fun Louie and Lulu dropped down to the stream again and flew down to the village bridge. 
At this point Louie shouted. ‘Race you back to Virgil’s place - Go!’
Off they went, just above the stream surface as fast as they could go, Lulu slightly behind because Louie had cheated by saying “go” before Lulu had a chance to turn around. 
Lulu didn’t mind, she would get her own back!
Lulu shouted to Louie. ‘Look back there!’
‘Where?’ said Louie, looking back.
‘Fooled you!’ said Lulu laughing and shot past her mate and into the lead.
‘Ha Ha, very funny’ said Louie. ‘I’ll catch you!’
But he didn’t, Lulu was the first to arrive at Virgil’s hangar. ‘I beat you’, she shouted with glee.
‘You’re a clever bee’, said Louie stopping beside Lulu. ‘What would I do without you?! You rascal!’
Louie picked Lulu up and pretended he was going to throw her in the stream. Lulu screamed in a ‘stop it I like it’ sort of manner. Virgil came out of the hangar to see what all the commotion was. ‘Might have known it was you two’, said Virgil laughing.
At that moment Virginia flew in and landed. She had just come back from taking some tourists up to the cave for the night.
Virgil and Virginia came over to see Louie and Lulu. ‘Good to see you guys, how’s it all going?’ said Virginia.
‘Everything is going really well’, said Louie. ‘I think we have got some good news for you guys’.
Louie told them about the hotel project; Virgil and Virginia were really pleased at the prospect, it had affected their operation in not having accommodation close by.
Virgil suggested that it would be a good idea to incorporate a landing pad on the roof of the hotel so that he and Virginia could land to pickup and drop off guests as required. Louie took a mental note for the meeting on Monday.
Louie and Lulu went over the plans for the big day with Virginia who was organising the hangar for the ceremony. Lulu kept on having sort of tingly feelings of excitement and found it hard to sit still and concentrate.
Louie confirmed with Virgil that for their honeymoon he and Lulu would be staying at the cave for a week. Virgil was organising it so that at the cave there would be adequate supplies of food, including chocolate cake, red wine, honey nectar and a few other things that bees were partial to. Not forgetting of course a week’s supply of Beehive Matches!
Lulu’s toes just curled up with excitement, she clutched Louie very tightly. 
Louie and Lulu’s happiness was infectious; Virgil and Virginia reminisced, talked and laughed about their recent wedding too. 
It was late afternoon by now. Virgil’s wasps were returning one by one and parking themselves in the hangar for the night. Here they would refuel and be ready for the next day. 
It was fascinating to watch the wasps returning in the reduced light as evening was fast approaching. Initially there would be the sound of a wasp at cruising power some distance away along the stream. This sound would reduce in pitch as the wasp approached. Finally with power off the wasp would come into view, bank to the west and sweep in from the stream and land perfectly outside the hangar. Louie and Lulu stood together and watched for awhile, they both felt very special being part of the insect community. 
Virgil had to go and attend to the needs of the wasps so Louie and Lulu bid adieu and headed back down the stream to home.
It had been another good day. Louie and Lulu sat out on the deck again until the sunset had gone and it was starting to get cool. Louie held Lulu to keep her warm, neither spoke, words weren’t necessary to express what the two bees felt.
 
On Monday, Louie and Lulu called into the Factory about 9.00 am to check that all was well. The Factory was back to working five days a week again.
At 10.00 a.m., Pearl, Louie and Lulu met with a representative of Beehive Apartments at the Nest Café.
The representative from Beehive Apartments was a really nice bee called “Buzz”.
Buzz was an unusually short bee; Pearl wondered what Buzz was short for. Maybe his parents hadn’t fed him as a child! 
Basil (the manager of the Nest Café) joined them and Buzz laid some plans out on the table. It was truly marvellous what Buzz had done at such short notice.
It was an intensive morning; Buzz had several different options for the hotel. He carefully explained advantages versus costs to help with the decision making process.
After much discussion it was agreed that 120 rooms would be built, there were to be no expenses spared. As Pearl had originally suggested it would be built on five levels. Buzz explained how with their highly trained team of bees, the honeycomb units could be put up in a very short time.
Beehive Apartments were very comprehensive in what they offered. Included in the contract price was the staffing of the hotel. Beehive Apartments would arrange to employ all the necessary person birds for reception and room services together with a team of professionally trained beetles to manage the hotel.
All rooms were to be fitted with Fly TV, oh yes all the mod con’s right down to beeswax soap on a rope in the bathrooms.
Buzz went on to confirm that when the rooms had been completed, Sparrow Construction would put a roof on the Hotel to match the Nest Café. An area on the roof had been allocated for Virgil Blue to land and take off for the flying in and out of guests as required.
While Beehive Apartments were building the new hotel it was agreed with Basil that it was a good time to refurbish the Nest Café and extend it with a new bar facility. Basil felt that with the new bar added they would have built more on! Hence the new bar should be known as the “Builtmore”.
It was all settled. What a grand concept, the Babbleon Hotel, 120 rooms and fully staffed. Then of course directly connected to the hotel was to be the refurbished Nest Café with the new Builtmore Bar. Everybody was very pleased with the whole concept. Pearl signed the contract and it was a done deal. Beehive Apartments would be on site within a week. The Hotel Babbleon was due to be finished three weeks before Louie and Lulu’s wedding.
The meeting finished just after midday, Buzz left to get his wings and things moving. Pearl, Louie and Lulu stayed on and had a spot of lunch.
 Over lunch the trio talked about and planned the wedding day itself. Pearl of course was marrying Louie and Lulu and it needed to be discussed how and when the couple would arrive, what time the ceremony would be etc. The fact that they were all together now was a good time to finalise a few things.
It had been a good day. Many exciting things were about to happen. Pearl headed back to her apartment about 3.00 p.m. Louie and Lulu stayed a little longer and talked some more about the wedding day and their future together.
‘Right’, said Louie. ‘Come on my Lulu, let’s head back to the Factory and check all is OK there. Then I think we will call it a day!’
Back at the Factory, Louie and Lulu called the Ten Ants into the office and let them know about the new hotel. They also let the Ten Ants know that their being very special to them they were all invited to the wedding and that they would be seated at the front in the hangar!
The Ten Ants cheered, ‘Hooray for Mr Louie and Lulu’.
Louie got out some chocolate cake and honey nectar and they all chatted and talked until it was time to go home. 
The Ten Ants went down to their home in the floor of the shed. Louie and Lulu held each other and reflected once more on the future happiness they would share. 
A little later was the now familiar scene of two small figures close together, silhouetted against the setting sun, flying down the stream to their little home on the stream bank. 

Chapter 18
The Big Day. Louie and Lulu are married.

It is now the evening before the wedding. 
The Hotel Babbleon has been completed for some three weeks now. The wedding guests have all arrived with most staying at the new hotel.
The Nest Café is humming; Basil is extremely pleased with the renovations and the addition of the new Builtmore Bar. It is 6.00 p.m. and the Nest Café person birds are rushed off their feet to cater for all the additional guests. The hotel is completely booked out for the big day tomorrow.
Louie is at home, nervous as a bee can be. Lulu is staying the night with Pearl Baker-Moth. Louie won’t see Lulu until tomorrow morning at 11.00 a.m. The wedding time had been arranged reasonably early so that Louie and Lulu would have time to get away on their honeymoon. The get away time was to be about mid-afternoon, after speeches had been made and the guests had lunched.
During the day Louie, to keep his mind off being nervous, had flown twice down to the tunnel entrance to make sure it was securely locked and that everything was secure at the Reserve Bank. Now back at home Louie was pacing up and down reciting his speech to himself and practicing the vows that he would say to Lulu tomorrow. The nervousness didn’t relate so much to the wedding itself but to that old alone feeling he had without Lulu being there. It had brought about a feeling of lack of confidence. This worried Louie as he felt he might let Lulu down by saying something stupid in the nervousness of the moment at the wedding. Well that is what he thought but we all know that no matter what Louie did, Lulu would still love him!
Yes Louie did have that desperate feeling of loneliness without having Lulu with him. It really did take him back to the days when he lived alone. However the situation wasn’t too bad. He wasn’t completely alone; Import (ant) had been chosen as Louie’s best man and was staying the night to keep Louie company.
Lulu felt the same as Louie, she missed him but all would change tomorrow, besides Pearl was wonderful company and she reassured Lulu that all would be well.
Lulu had made her own spider silk wedding dress. It was hanging up on the wall in Pearl’s apartment. The pair admired the dress and kept adjusting and fiddling with the train to make it ready for the next day. At Louie’s request Lulu was to wear a pink ribbon around her head. He hadn’t forgotten the terrible day of the car accident when her pink ribbon was lost, blown away in the wind down the road. The pink ribbon was very special to Louie.
Before Lulu had left home for Pearl’s she had carefully laid out Louie’s clothes for him. He was to wear a new pair of white spider silk shorts, a natty little black waistcoat that Lulu had made and a black top hat to match the waist coat. Lulu instructed Louie what to do before she had left. She had tears in her eyes as she reminded him not to get the shorts creased or dirty and told him where he could find things. She hated being apart from him and she knew that he could be a forgetful bee at times.
Louie and Import filled in the evening watching Fly TV. Louie hardly took anything in; his mind was on the next day.

The next day, the day of the wedding, dawned beautifully fine not a cloud in the sky. Louie and Lulu felt relieved that the big day had finally arrived. They would soon be together again.
By 10.30 a.m., the guests had assembled at Virgil’s hangar and they cheered as Louie and Import arrived. Louie raised his top hat to all his friends and associates that were there. Louie, with Import at his side, headed into the hangar to wait for Lulu and Pearl to arrive.
Red wine and honey nectar flowed freely. The Nest Café had done an excellent job of catering. Louie and Import felt a bit more relaxed after the consumption of some red wine and honey nectar and joined in the chatter for awhile before waiting at the alter.
Pearl and Lulu by this time had dressed for the wedding in a room set aside for them at the Hotel Babbleon. Lulu was ready and looked magnificent.
Pearl had arranged it so that Duck Paddle Cruises would take them to Virgil’s hangar. It was a very clever and thoughtful thing Pearl had done. Today the M.V. Penelope (a duck named Penelope, Mallard Variety) covered in a mass of spring flowers formed a float that was to move slowly upstream with Pearl and Lulu standing proudly in the middle.
Pearl and Lulu walked the short distance down from the Hotel Babbleon to Duck Paddle Cruises. Lulu had bundled up her long train and Pearl walked to one side helping her carry it. A few well-wishers were there to wish Lulu the best for her wedding. Lulu gasped when she saw the vessel alongside waiting for them, it was magnificent. The M.V. Penelope had been covered in a mass of daisies and roses. A line of pink roses delicately touched the water around the water line. The rest of the M.V. Penelope was covered in Elfin Daisies of all colours, yellow, pinks, reds, blues and violet. The duck wore a coronet of Louie’s favourite daisies that had been picked from the water’s edge by their house on the stream.
Towed behind the vessel was a water lily that had only just opened. On the satin crème petals of the lily had been carefully written the words ‘Louie’ and ‘Lulu’ with the shape of a heart between the two names. The words had been written in bright red berry juice. Pearl and Duck Cruises, together with some assistance from the Ten Ants, had done and incredible job.
Pearl had even arranged for Sparrow Construction to make a special ramp leading from the wharf up onto the magnificent vessel. Entwined in the ramp were masses of freshly cut Jasmine flowers.
Lulu and Pearl walked gracefully up the ramp onto the upper deck of the M.V. Penelope. Pearl spread Lulu’s train out over the flowers behind where the pair stood. On a signal from Pearl the powerful twin screw M.V. Penelope moved slowly away and on up the stream. The well-wishers on the wharf cheered.
As soon as Pearl and Lulu commenced the journey, a truly remarkable thing happened. Sir Cada had arranged it so that many hundreds of his relatives lined the banks of the stream between the hotel and Virgil’s hangar. Immediately they broke into song. It was an unbelievably magic moment. The constant shrill of the cicadas moved both Lulu and Pearl to tears. Pearl and Lulu waved to well-wishers lining stream banks. It was a fairytale scene, trees and fern fronds with fresh spring growth hung over them. The smell of flowers filled the air.
The M.V. Penelope stopped alongside the stream bank at Virgil’s hangar. Lulu and Pearl alighted. Nine of the Ten Ants were there to assist them to disembark.
Lulu, now standing ready to move to the altar, looked exceptionally beautiful in her exquisite wedding dress with the long train. The ants moved to take up their positions, four each side and one at the rear to carry Lulu’s train. Of course around Lulu’s head was the pink ribbon, behind which had been inserted some of Louie’s favourite daisies; again taken from the stream bank by their home.
At the point of disembarking, Pearl had again arranged something very special. 
A couple of weeks before the wedding Pearl had been onto Twitter. What Pearl had done was to arrange for two young thrushes to be at each side of the point where they alighted. On a signal from Pearl the two birds emerged from the bush either side of them. They too were dressed for the occasion with red rose petals and a coronet of small flowers. 
When in position the two thrushes broke into the most beautiful bird song anyone had ever heard. A hush went through the guests as they listened to the exceptional performance. When the thrushes had finished, all the guests clapped and cheered. What a happy occasion and what an incredible event!
The guests formed a line either side of Lulu and Pearl as they moved towards the hangar. Lulu and Pearl smiled and waved.
Ahead of Lulu and Pearl in the Hangar the jazz band from the Nest Café was playing.
The band was led by a cool dude by the name of Bluie Armstrong who played sax. Bluie was a middle aged Blue Bottle fly and looked quite the part in sunglasses that he wore even if there wasn’t any sun. His father was believed to have been a weightlifter, possibly explaining the name Armstrong. 
Accompanying, Bluie was Beetle Harris on base together with five cicadas on clarinet and flute. There was also a vocalist - some fella Fitzgerald. The band was playing some really cool romantic music that all added to the marvellously happy occasion.
As Lulu and Pearl entered the hangar, Bluie raised his arms and the band played the Wedding March. Louie turned and saw his beloved Lulu, it was going to happen at last, they were about to be married. Lulu looked stunning.
Lulu moved to Louie’s side at the altar and reached out and touched him. Pearl stood in front of them and called for everybody’s attention.
The Wedding March stopped playing, the guests were absolutely silent. Pearl Baker-Moth by her very presence had everyone in awe and under her control.
Pearl’s voice was heard strongly and clearly through the hangar as she went through the ceremony. Her diction and authority were as though a greater power had taken over. Pearl was indeed the Queen of the insect community.
Louie and Lulu spoke their vows to one another in such a manner as to be pleading to be together for ever.
Import stood close to Louie and had the ring ready for the right moment. The ring originally belonged to Louie’s mother whom he loved dearly. Something sad had happened in Louie’s life that he never talked about; his mother was no longer alive.
Louie slipped the precious ring onto Lulu’s tiny finger. Louie knew that this was the right place for his mother’s ring to be; he knew that his mother would have been oh so proud to have Lulu as a daughter in law.
Finally Pearl paused and smiled then said ‘I pronounce you to be husband and wife, you may now kiss the bride’. 
Everybody cheered, the band started playing again and Lulu jumped for joy. Just the most wonderful wedding ever!!
Before joining the guests for lunch and speeches, it was now time for wedding photographs. Louie and Lulu were whisked out a rear door in the hangar. Pearl and the Ten Ants went with them.
Virgil had arranged to do the photography and was on top of the hangar ready with his camera to take some shots of the happy couple.
Virgil was very interested in this photography stuff. He had originally bought the camera because it was supposed to be good for aerial shots. However the only aerial in the area was Mr McFarland’s television aerial so the camera hadn’t been used much. 
Close by to the hangar was a Rhododendron bush in full flower. Louie, Lulu and Pearl had alighted on a flower on the bush. The Ten Ants had climbed on top of an Elfin Daisy. Everybody was in place for Virgil to proceed. 
Virgil was lining up the camera. It was a FONY flash model, well fairly flash, and was of the fidgetal type. Yes it took Virgil a lot of fidgeting and fiddling to get the dam thing to work.
For the photographic experts, Virgil had read in the camera manual that the camera had something like ten Megapixies (it was some word like this anyway). Virgil thought that if there were this many pixies making the picture it must be good!
The real advantage of using a FONY camera was of course as we have learnt before, all concerned could view the images via the smellular net work at a later date.
Well the wedding photos were finally taken. Louie, Lulu and Pearl on the Rhododendron bush looked just splendid. The Ten Ants on the Elfin Daisy made a great shot as they waved and smiled at Virgil taking the pictures.
It was then back to the guests in the hangar. The guests were by this time seated at tables that the Ten Ants had spent many weeks painstakingly weaving and forming out of dried grass. The tables were decorated with masses of spring flowers. Oh it was so beautiful.
Louie squeezed Lulu’s hand for a moment and said. ‘Look what the Ten Ants have done for us, we are so lucky to have them’. Lulu just sighed with pleasure and looked up at Louie.
Pearl was seated at the head of the main table, Louie and Lulu on her right and the Ten Ants on the left.
Sir Cada and Lady Bird sat next to Louie along with other dignitaries that had been invited.
Pearl called for a toast to the Bride and Groom. The band played a delightfully soft medley of ‘toasting’ type music.
Louie gave quite a long speech for a bee who was generally a bee of few words. Louie was however just completely overwhelmed, as was Lulu, with what their friends had done to make this day special for them.
Particular thanks went to Pearl for the float she had arranged, the thrush song and for the many other things she had organised. A very very special thanks went out to the Ten Ants who had been so supportive and had worked tirelessly for the past months to make the occasion such a success. Then of course there was Sir Cada and his thoughtfulness in organising the chorus of cicadas
Of course the wedding couldn’t have taken place if it wasn’t for Virgil and Virginia making the hangar available for the occasion. There were just so many friends to thank who had contributed to the success of the occasion. As Louie spoke, his voice was faltering with emotion.
After Louie sat down, Import as best man told a few stories about Mr Louie and a few things that had happened over the years at the Factory! The guests laughed with affection for Louie. Louie’s yellow stripes turned a little pink. At the end of Import’s speech Import turned to Louie with genuine affection and told him what a fine person the Ten Ants thought he was and how they all loved Louie and Lulu very much. 
Everybody relaxed and had a marvellous lunch. Louie and Lulu stayed and talked to their friends until 3.00 p.m. It was then time to say goodbye to everyone.
The pair got changed at Virgil’s hangar. Louie hugged Pearl and thanked her. Louie and Lulu made a special effort to get the Ten Ants together. Lulu gave them all a hug and Louie shook hands.
It would have been nice to stay but the pair wanted to get to the cave before dark.
Pearl took Louie in one hand and Lulu in the other and walked the happy couple to outside the hangar. ‘You two are very very special to me’, said Pearl. ‘We have all got some wonderful times ahead, take care won’t you’. Pearl hugged them both.
The pair launched themselves into the air and waved goodbye. Louie and Lulu circled overhead. Pearl waved to the pair with a tear in her eye. 
After circling overhead a few times Louie and Lulu flew off up the stream. It was almost like Peter Pan and Wendy. Everybody cheered. 
The cheering faded as Louie and Lulu moved away from the hangar and off on their honeymoon. They glanced at each other as they flew close, side by side. It had happened; they were together now, forever.
The pair flew in silence for awhile, thinking about what had happened and what the wonderful Pearl Baker-Moth and others had done for them. On they flew, up the stream, turning right at the fork and on to the falls.
At the falls they landed and rested on the rock where Virgil had taken Louie two years or more ago. There was still some warmth in the afternoon sun. The pair, although they had such a good time at the ceremony, felt so good to be alone together. The transition from the tension of the wedding to being alone and free again took a little getting used too. 
The pair looked around at the beauty of the falls. Lulu had only been this far before and then it was when they were on the other side of the quartz.
The Kauri tree Louie and Lulu had made grow larger and then smaller was still there. So was the clump of buttercups. A lot of things had happened since that time.
Louie explained what they would be doing next and to stay close behind him when they went through the tunnels. ‘First of all’, Louie explained. ‘Follow me to the top of the falls; we go into a cave there. In the cave we need to circle around to get our eyes used to the lack of light….’. Louie stopped here; Lulu wasn’t taking a blind bit of notice of what Louie was saying!
‘Are you listening to me?’ said Louie.
‘No I’m not’, said Lulu moving over to Louie and stroking him. ‘You have told me a million times already you loveable bee!’
‘Oh have I?’ said Louie not really remembering.
Lulu gave Louie an affectionate slap for forgetting that he had already told her then ran off in an enticing manner, not too fast, just so Louie could catch her again and hold Lulu close. ‘I love you Lulu’, said Louie. ‘You’re just a big tease!’ and gave her an affectionate slap back.
Lulu squealed and ran off again. ‘Come here Lulu’, said Louie. ‘Your ribbon is all crooked now, let me fix it’.
Lulu raced back to Louie and held him at arm’s length looking straight at him. ‘Yes Louie, please fix my ribbon’.
Louie’s soft touch, as he adjusted Lulu’s ribbon, made her tingle and her wings quivered with delight.
‘There’, said Louie. ‘That’s better’. 
Most of the flowers that had been tucked in behind Lulu’s ribbon had now gone. Louie carefully adjusted the remaining flowers. As Louie had thought when he first met Lulu, she was indeed a very very pretty bee.
The sound of the falls had a mesmerising affect on the couple as they lay side by side on the rock, basking in the remaining warmth of the sun.
‘Well my beautiful bride’, said Louie finding it hard to consider moving. ‘We had better move on before it gets too dark’.
Lulu followed Louie to the top of the falls. Then it was on through the tunnels to the cave. 
Lulu gasped at the beauty of the glow worms lining the tunnel walls. She glanced at Louie as they flew side by side, she loved him very much. How truly wonderful she thought, for him to have thought to bring her here.
When they arrived in the cave, the sun was setting and shining straight in from across the sea that was far below. It gave the interior of the cave a reddish yellow hue.
‘Oh Louie’, said Lulu. ‘It’s even more wonderful than I imagined!’ 
Lulu cast her eyes around. The rainwater pool looked so cool and inviting. The seagull’s nest was still there. The view out of the mouth of the cave over the sea had Lulu dumbstruck for a moment. She too had never seen the sea before.
‘What is that out there?’ asked Lulu.
‘It’s the sea’, said Louie. ‘I don’t really know what it is either. Virgil told us that he has flown out over it but said it seems to go on forever’.
 Lulu turned to Louie and reflected. ‘We are so small aren’t we Louie’. 
 Louie held Lulu for a few moments then said. ‘Yes we are very small Lulu, it scares me sometimes’.
Lulu let Louie go and danced around the cave with mischievous delight. ‘I don’t feel scared’ said Lulu full of confidence. ‘I’ve got you Louie’.
 Louie laughed. No he wasn’t really scared either, he had Lulu.
 ‘Tomorrow’, said Louie excitedly and grabbing Lulu around the waist as she frolicked past. ‘We can lie in as late as we like. Then we can go for a swim in the pool and have breakfast! We can swim and sunbathe the rest of the day if you like or go back through the tunnels and explore. It’s going to be so wonderful Lulu’. 
Lulu rolled over on her back on the soft sand, panting from the effort of dancing around and let out a long. ‘Oh Wow!’
Virgil had made sure they had plenty of supplies including some of Louie’s Beehive Matches to light a fire.
Louie turned to Lulu and grabbed her hand to get attention. 
‘What I want you to do Lulu’, said Louie, ‘is for you to sit in the last of the sun while I get the fire ready for us to sit in front of tonight. I will get a meal ready for us too’.
Lulu kissed Louie then went and sat near the entrance to the cave and watched the sun go down. Louie busied himself getting wood from the seagull’s nest. Every so often Louie stopped what he was doing and looked at Lulu sitting at the cave entrance. How he loved that bee.
When the sun was just about gone, Louie lit the fire. 
Some chocolate cake and red wine relaxed the pair. Later they had a meal of one of Louie’s favourites. Honey fritters that they toasted by holding them over the fire with pointed sticks from the seagull’s nest.
They laughed and teased each other until tiredness overtook them.
The fire died and two happy little creatures lay on the sand in front of the remaining embers, clutching each other tightly. It was off to dreamland after a big, big day!
Outside the cave the stars shone brightly, there was a full moon. Louie and Lulu didn’t notice it but I am sure the man in the moon had a smile on his face!

Chapter 19
Back from the Honeymoon and Pearl Has Made a Startling Discovery.

It is now early summer and Sunday morning.
Louie and Lulu had arrived back from their honeymoon yesterday and are relaxing on the deck outside their home. They are looking at the wedding photos Virgil had taken. 
In spite of some previous reservations about Virgil’s photographic ability, the photos were indeed very good. Louie had just downloaded them onto his gaptop from the smellular network. Lulu had made a cup of TG Tips. The pair were lying back close together on their deck ferniture under the shade of a fern frond. 
‘I love you in that top hat Louie and doesn’t Pearl look wonderful with us on the Rhododendron flower’, said Lulu studying the photos and giving Louie a bit of a nudge.
‘Personally I quite like this somebody in the middle’, said Louie pointing to Lulu. 
‘Really?’ said Lulu in a teasing mood. ‘Do you think you will stick with her Louie?’ 
Louie turned towards Lulu and kissed her. ‘Oh yes, oh yes, for ever and ever’.
‘Lulu’, said Louie softly and being serious for a moment. ‘Now we are back from our honeymoon and we are moving on with our life together. I want you to know that it doesn’t matter that we can’t have baby bees. You mustn’t worry about it’.
‘Louie you are so kind and thoughtful’, said Lulu in response, holding Louie tightly. ‘It’s just a female thing I guess for me to have little bees to cherish and love. But I love you Louie and that’s all that matters’.
‘Thanks Lulu’, said Louie tenderly stroking her. He could tell by the look in her big brown eyes that she was disappointed but it was something to put aside and move on. Lulu smiled. 
There were some really good photos that Virgil had taken after Louie and Lulu had left for their honeymoon. 
‘Look at that Lulu’, said Louie. ‘Those two bees there; I haven’t seen them since I was at Fly School. That’s Rupert on the left. He and I used to be great mates. That’s Rastus on the right, he and I used to fight’.
‘I like the look of Rupert’, said Lulu mischievously sitting up to take a closer look. ‘Just as well I met you first Louie!’ Lulu put her head down in case she would get a slap from Louie and laughed. Lulu then reached up and pulled Louie close to her and whispered, I love you Louie, there would never never be anyone else!’
‘Just as well’, said Louie and gave her the friendly slap she deserved.
‘Ow!’ said Lulu. ‘Do that again Louie!’
Louie laughed and gave Lulu a squeeze. 
‘Don’t the Ten Ants look great on the Elfin Daisy Louie’, said Lulu. ‘I love the smiles on their faces, and look at Import in the middle waving’. 
Louie agreed. Indeed the Ten Ants did look great. They had been so supportive to Louie and Lulu. Louie felt somehow he would like to do more for them.
Oh it was so good to lie back in the sun with Lulu beside him. Lulu had her eyes closed now. They had finished looking at the wedding photos. Lulu was lying on her side holding on to Louie. Louie looked at her and reflected on how she had changed him. He thought how before he met Lulu he had been a bit of an eccentric bee, probably because he was on his own so much. He felt he had acted a little old for his age; he had been a little frightened of life itself and lacked confidence. In part this was due to his mother dying when he was young. His father who was also now dead had been hard on Louie.
Louie looked at the ring on Lulu’s finger. It was of course the ring that had once belonged to his mother. The ring was Lulu’s now. The support he once had from his mother now came from Lulu. It was as though the loss of his mother had finally been put to rest.
A wave of happiness passed over Louie, he smiled to himself and he felt he had the confidence to face anything life would throw his way now.
The couple lay in the sun in silence for an hour or more. Below them the stream flowed as it always did, quietly drifting on past and down to the village and beyond. About the only sound was when occasionally one of Virgil’s wasps passed, ever busy carrying mail and non flying insects.
Louie’s smell phone rang about 11.00 a.m. It was Pearl.
‘Hi Louie, just checking that you and Lulu are safely back again’.
‘Hi Pearl, yes Lulu and I are safely back. We had the most wonderful relaxing time. We got back late yesterday afternoon. We are just out on the deck taking in a bit of sunshine, how are you Pearl?’
‘I’m great’, said Pearl. ‘I have missed you two though’.
‘Aw shucks, thanks Pearl’, said Louie feeling honoured that someone as special as Pearl Baker-Moth would say such a thing.
‘Would love to catch-up with you both’, said Pearl. ‘I have something incredibly interesting to discuss too. Would you like to meet at the Nest Café for lunch?’
‘Yes indeed’, said Louie. ‘What time?’
‘Make it one’, said Pearl.
Louie turned to Lulu who was still half asleep and said. ‘OK to have lunch with Pearl 1.00 p.m. at the Nest Café?’
Lulu nodded and smiled.
‘Yes Pearl’, said Louie. ‘Look forward to it, see you then’.
Louie sat down beside Lulu again. Her pink ribbon had come off and lay on the deck so Louie carefully put it back around her head.
‘There that’s better’, said Louie.
‘Yes thank you Louie. Could you take it off and put it on again, that was nice’, said Lulu in a sleepy sort of voice.
Louie took the ribbon off and obligingly put it on again. Louie was thoroughly awake now and in a teasing mood and started tickling Lulu before she had a chance to doze off again.
‘Stop it stop it! You naughty bee’, Lulu squealed and wriggled then she started tickling Louie.
‘Help!’ said Louie. ‘You win, I give in’. The pair laughed and hugged one another.
‘Tell you what’, said Louie. ‘We have got an hour or so before we meet with Pearl, let’s go and say hello to the Ten Ants. We can take them a bit of chocolate cake and nectar’.
‘Great idea my clever bee’, said Lulu. Louie liked this clever bee bit!
‘I’ll go and make myself look nice while you get the chocolate cake and nectar ready’ said Lulu.
‘Right’, said Louie and he went and found one of their special bracken baskets. He loaded it with chocolate cake and a honeycomb six-pack of Louie’s special honey nectar that the ants liked. Lulu was ready in no time. Off the pair went up the stream, flying low towards the Factory. 
The Factory of course was in Mr McFarland’s shed and the Ten Ants lived in the floor below. 
Just to the right of Mr McFarland’s place was a small field of vacant land. Growing in the field were hundreds of Bluebells. As Louie and Lulu were nearing the Factory, Lulu shouted. ‘Race you through the Bluebells Louie!!’ 
Lulu had turned sharp right with Louie in hot pursuit. ‘I’ll catch you yelled Louie!’
‘No you won’t’, laughed Lulu.
The pair zig zagged at full speed through the Bluebells, just above ground level. Lulu was still ahead. Out the other side she went, then turned down and back through the way they had come.
Louie caught Lulu just as they were coming back out the other side again.
‘Told you I would’, laughed Louie.
‘No we were dead equal!’ shouted Lulu. 
‘Liar, you rascal!’ said Louie.
Louie grabbed Lulu’s hand then up to the Factory portal they flew.
Once inside they went down to where the Ten Ants lived and shouted. ‘Anybody home?’
Expect came out and called to the others. ‘Yea it’s Mr Louie and Lulu, they are back!’
Louie and Lulu went down into the Ten Ants’ home. It was nice and cool after the race through the Bluebells.
The Ten Ants’ home was below the floor boards of Mr McFarland’s shed, under the ground. They had built themselves a combination of tunnels and rooms to live in.
The Ten Ants were really glad to see them. Louie gave them the chocolate cake and nectar and they sat around and talked about the cave and how wonderful it was and what Louie and Lulu had done on their honeymoon.
The Ten Ants told of the wonderful time they had at the wedding after Louie and Lulu had left. 
‘We were treated like royalty’, said Import. ‘None of us have ever felt so special Mr Louie’.
‘Deservedly so too’, said Louie. ‘Lulu and I just can’t put into words how we appreciate what all of you did for us. We will never forget it. You are all so special’.
 The Ten Ants went all bashful and chorused in response. ‘Gee thanks Mr Louie and Lulu’. Louie explained that they couldn’t stay long as they had to meet Pearl at one. Louie and Lulu got up and headed out the Ants’ tunnel, chatting and laughing with the Ten Ants as they went.
‘See you all tomorrow at the Factory, take care and thanks again for all you have done’, said Louie as he and Lulu left and flew off to the Nest Café. 
The Ten Ants waved goodbye. They were so happy that Louie and Lulu had thought enough of them to call in.
Louie and Lulu put on full power and headed down to the Nest Café, they were running a little late. Pearl was already there when they arrived.
Pearl knew Louie liked table twenty seven and being vacant she had seized the opportunity to take it.
‘Hi Pearl’, said Louie and Lulu together. ‘Sorry we are late but we took the time to drop in and see the Ten Ants on the way’.
‘Don’t even think of it’, said Pearl. ‘It’s very pleasant sitting here watching what goes on out there on the stream. It’s just marvellous to see that new hotel there too’.
Yes the new Hotel Babbleon looked most impressive. The supermarket was busy as was Duck Paddle Cruises immediately below them. How things had changed in the last year.
Lunch was ordered after a few leisurely honey nectars. Pearl wanted to know all about the honeymoon. 
Lulu excitedly told Pearl about how they swam in the pool and sunbathed for a fair amount of the time.
‘Louie showed me how the shaft of sunlight comes into the chamber, that was very special’, said Lulu. ‘We did quite a bit of exploring of the tunnels and went out the opening in the roof in the chamber a few times’.
‘Best of all though’, Lulu carried on to say, ‘was sitting in front of the fire after having the evening meal. We just watched the sun go down and the stars come out, I will never forget it’. Lulu reached over and squeezed Louie’s arm.
‘Yes I know what you mean Lulu’, said Pearl. ‘Your wonderful Louie made it very special for me when I was there a couple of years ago, didn’t you Louie!’
‘The least I could do Pearl, it was you that saved us all’, Louie responded feeling very proud of what Pearl had said. 
Louie explained to Lulu how Pearl had saved them from the dreaded Al Spider. Lulu listened in awe as to what this wonderful moth, their leader and Queen had done.
Pearl went on to say. ‘Thanks to you two getting married, look at the hotel we have got now and the renovations that have been done here at the Nest Café with the new Builtmore Bar’.
‘Enough about us’, said Louie. ‘You had something special to tell us Pearl. We are both dying to know!’
‘Yes please’, said Lulu excitedly.
‘Well’, said Pearl. ‘Just like other things we have found when we have been through the quartz on the other side, this is equally mysterious. However this discovery has the potential to be of even greater advantage to our community’.
‘While you two were away on your honeymoon’, Pearl continued. ‘I was on the other side of the quartz just checking what was going on in the village. As you know I like to do this on a regular basis in case there is some issue that might affect our community and I can take action if necessary. I happened to be in the square outside the cake shop. There weren’t many people around and I had gone over to where there are plants growing in a bed put there by the council. You may remember it, it’s right beside the community notice board’.
‘Yes I do remember it’, said Louie. ‘It has some flax, a few conifers and there are Marigolds around the edge. I remember because as a bee, the nectar in those Marigolds is particularly delicious’.
‘That’s exactly the one’, said Pearl.
‘I probably shouldn’t have done what I did’, Pearl continued, ‘but because I am still fascinated with the powers we have, I was bending over making a couple of the Marigolds grow older and younger by clenching my fists. In fact I was completely absorbed in what I was doing and not paying attention to where I was. I had clenched both fists so that the blue auras were visible. Of course one Marigold was growing up from the aura of the right fist while the other was shrinking from the left. Then I crossed my arms over and reversed the process. I became mesmerised watching the plants age then become younger again. How does this happen? I kept saying to myself. What’s the process at work here? All these sorts of thoughts were going through my mind.
‘Anyway unbeknown to me, a person some distance away behind had noticed something odd about the plants and had come over to investigate. My first awareness of anyone close was from their shadow, right there beside me. I panicked and swung around. There was a person standing inches away from me. I had both fists clenched. In fright I had actually tightened my fists even more. Normally swinging around as I did I would have hit the person. I would possibly have even injured them!’
Pearl was getting quite emotional now and said to Louie. ‘Pour me another nectar Louie; I am still shocked a bit from what happened next. Talking about it brings it all back’.
Louie poured Pearl another nectar and she had a spot of chocolate cake to settle her nerves.
‘Gosh what happened?’ said Lulu who was on the edge of her seat by now.
‘Well’, said Pearl. ‘Instead of this person feeling the effect of my swinging fists’. Pearl paused wondering to herself if it really had happened. ‘As soon as I made contact, I merged with and became that person! That’s the only way I can describe it’.

To help the reader grasp what Pearl was saying, hold a finger up in front of your face, just a little distance from your nose. Look at something behind your finger. You will see two fingers. 
Imagine one finger is Pearl and the other finger is the person. Now slowly shift your focus from behind your finger to your finger. You will see the two fingers merge! This is exactly what it was like with Pearl and the person by the Marigolds in the village.

‘I know it sounds unbelievable’, said Pearl, ‘but I actually became that person. I had my own thoughts but I also had the thoughts of the person. Now that I was in the merged state I found myself wondering, as the person obviously had, why the two Marigolds had been moving in such a strange way. That’s not all though. It gets even more incredible’. 
Pearl had the full attention of Louie and Lulu and paused for a moment before continuing. ‘Amazingly I could walk around as that person, I could speak and my voice came out as that person but it was me talking! The person I had merged with was a youngish male and I had quite a deep voice!’ 
‘As this person, or for want of a better word, my host’, Pearl went on to say. ‘I had by this time walked a short distance away from the Marigolds. Suddenly I thought to myself how on earth can I demerge? Am I trapped? Am I destined now to be this human for ever! I was getting into a bit of a panic as you can imagine. It was just like the time when I first went through the quartz. Fortunately I found that all I had to do was clench my two fists tightly and just simply ‘walk out’ of the person which I did. The poor chap was quite confused. He was now some distance away from the Marigolds and he couldn’t remember how he had got there!’
Louie and Lulu sat transfixed by what Pearl was saying. Their minds were racing with the possibilities that this new found ability might offer.
Pearl continued. ‘As I mentioned I had to clench both fists to merge and demerge. Using a single fist as we know just increases or decreases the age of a living thing. I sat down for a few moments to take it all in. The person I had merged with had gone back to the Marigolds to have another look; he knew that something strange had been going on’.
Pearl paused to gather her thoughts for a moment then continued. ‘After gaining a bit of confidence my curiosity got the better of me. I went back to the man and merged again, no problem. I walked over to the cake shop. Then I walked back to the Marigolds and demerged at the exact spot that I had originally merged with him. He showed no signs of confusion and just stood there looking at the Marigolds as though he had been there all the time!’
Louie and Lulu continued to sit in stunned silence while Pearl carried on explaining more. ‘Having now fully regained my confidence I went and tried it on another person. This time it was a young girl sitting outside the cake shop. She was eating a cake and reading a book. It was just the same, I became that person. I quite enjoyed the cake! I even had full knowledge of what the young girl had been reading and her thoughts. When I demerged the young girl looked slightly confused. She couldn’t remember having eaten the cake! I was a bit unfair there I guess as I had all the pleasure of finishing the cake and she didn’t!
‘I noticed that when merged with a person that there was no ability to fly or do things as we do as insects. The only capabilities I had were those of the person merged with.’
‘Another interesting aspect to this was that when merged with a person, I could tell from their stored thoughts what sort of person they were. I didn’t stay merged very long with either person but I had access to their memories, it was a great insight into the human psyche. I could feel their world. I could sense their intentions and attitudes to others. Humans are so different to us; I must say I didn’t really like it. I guess we will know more as we experience merging again in the future’.
‘This is just amazing Pearl’, said Louie. ‘Can you explain to us how it all happens?’
‘Yes partly’. Pearl shrugged. ‘I have to admit I can’t fully explain it’.
Pearl thought about her theory and sorted it out in her mind before continuing. 
‘Recapping on some of the things I have said before. When we go through the quartz my theory is that we end up in a state somewhere between being an insect and a human. In this halfway state our molecular structure seems to be that of an abstract form of quartz. To me this is the reason why we have a translucent blue appearance. There are forces that are at work as with the quartz in the tunnel that make our fists glow blue when we clench them and apply pressure. Our clenched fists give off some form of radiation similar to the quartz in the tunnel that acts as a catalyst for transformation to another form. I think that when both fists are clenched and held near a living thing, time can neither go forward or back, the two fists cancel each other out. On this basis the time is now and transformation takes place to the human form’.
 Pearl could see by the look on the faces of Louie and Lulu that they were completely lost.
Pearl noticing the lack of comprehension said. ‘To try and make it simpler consider this. When we come through the quartz we are neither insect nor human. We are in a form waiting to be transformed to one or the other. We have two choices, we can go back through the quartz and become insects again or we can use the radiation from our two clenched fists and go in the other direction and take on the human form’.
‘It is a bit hard to understand’, said Louie. ‘But I am really excited by your find Pearl’.
‘Thanks Louie’, said Pearl. ‘Yes I am really excited too; there are some important things that can be done which I will talk to you both about some time in the future when we have tested things a little more’.
‘You will find’, said Pearl trying to explain further. ‘That as with many things in life, we don’t fully understand them but using them and becoming familiar with them makes questioning it no longer relevant’.
‘Where do we go from here?’ Lulu enquired.
‘What I suggest we do’, said Pearl. ‘You two take it easy for the rest of the day. In the morning go and check the Factory then let’s meet at the tunnel at 11.00 a.m. We can go through the quartz and try it together! It would be good to have you two with me; I am still wondering if I actually imagined it!’
Lulu and Louie had of course both been through the quartz many times. What Pearl had explained to them was something to be explored and presented no real fear to them. It potentially added another exciting dimension to what they could already do.
‘Gosh Pearl’, said Louie. ‘If only we had known about this when the council had tried to put the water pipe along the stream, we could have had a lot more fun with Bull Neck!’
‘Yes’, said Lulu all excited. ‘I could have merged with Bull Neck right at the start and turned the hose on his work mates!!’
‘You’ve got the right idea Lulu’, said Pearl laughing.
‘What I would have done’, said Louie. ‘I would have merged with Bull Neck and told his mates Fred and Blue they were fired! He would have been left with no one to help him!’
The three started giggling and laughing at the possibilities.
‘Stop it you two’, said Pearl desperately trying to suppress another giggle. ‘We have to be serious. It doesn’t look good for me to be behaving like this’.
Pearl pulled herself together and spoke seriously for a moment. ‘This appears to be a very strong power that we have and as I have said before there must be a pact between the three of us that now and in the future any of the powers we have been gifted with are only used to do good for the insect community, the villagers or the planet itself’.
The three agreed. Pearl knew she could depend on Louie and Lulu.
‘Well you two’, said Pearl. ‘I think I have burdened you with enough information for one day! Let’s all go and try it out tomorrow’.
‘Oh no you haven’t burdened us at all’, said Lulu. ‘I just can’t wait for tomorrow to come now’.
Pearl thanked Louie and Lulu for having the time to meet with her. Louie and Lulu headed home as did Pearl.
As they were flying back up the stream, Lulu grabbed Louie’s hand and said to him as she had said before. ‘I just can’t believe how exciting my life has become since meeting you my wonderful bee. It seems as though it is about to get even more exciting!’
‘But Lulu’, said Louie. ‘It’s the other way around; my life was dull and boring until I met you! As you say, with what Pearl has found, life is certainly going to get interesting from here on!’
The pair laughed and flew on home in the mid afternoon sun.
 Once home the pair lay out on the deck again and talked further about the possibilities of what Pearl had discovered.
‘Just think Lulu’, said Louie. ‘If I had merged with Cyril when he was annoying Mr McFarland about his tree, I could have phoned his boss, sworn at him over the phone and told him I was resigning! That would have been the end of Cyril, much simpler than what we went through!’
‘No what I would have done’, said Lulu mischievously. ‘I would have written out the prosecution notice so that it was Cyril himself who was to be prosecuted for cutting down the tree! Cyril wouldn’t have known about it until he was summonsed to go to court!’
‘Very clever Lulu’, said Louie. ‘You are too smart for me!’
Louie and Lulu had a very happy afternoon thinking up ways of how they could have done better using the new power Pearl had discovered. 

Chapter 20
Pearl’s new Discovery Is Tested.

The next day (Monday) Louie and Lulu were up and about early. There was a lot to do. It was the first day back at the Factory after being away for a week on their honeymoon and they had to meet with Pearl at 11.00 a.m. at the tunnel.
We don’t really have to keep mentioning it, but as good clean bees they both washed their teeth and brushed their bodies.
Today it was Lulu’s turn to make the breakfast and Louie did the dishes afterwards. Although it was early summer it was a coolish cloudy sort of day so both sat inside by the stove.
It was 8.30 a.m. when the two newly married bees headed off for their first day back at work. The two bees were totally inseparable. It was so good that they could work and be together.
The Factory was in full swing when they arrived. The Ten Ants had done a marvellous job of keeping the place running while Louie and Lulu had been away. 
Lulu went straight away to phone Arnold at the Reserve Bank to organise the weekly pay for the Ten Ants. She then worked on the weekly production report. Lulu hoped to have this finished for Louie before they went to meet Pearl.
Louie called Import into his office to discuss workload. Yes it was going to be a busy week. White Ant Excavators had fifteen Bulldog Ants arriving for servicing after coming off a major tunnelling project. Louie wanting to do something for the Ten Ants after what they had done for he and Lulu, suggested to Import that if he needed to he could employ some more worker bees.
‘Thanks Mr Louie’, said Import. ‘I wouldn’t mind doing it if that is OK with you’.
‘Feel free to use my office if you want to do any interviewing Import. In fact with the Factory expanding and getting busier, why don’t you organise some carpenter ants from White Ant Excavators to build yourself an office of your own?’
‘Gee thanks Mr Louie can I really?’ said Import all excited.
Yes the Ten Ants were a real asset to the Factory and needed to be rewarded for the initiatives they had shown.
‘Hmmm’, said Louie to himself. ‘What a difference Lulu has made to me, I probably wasn’t a very good boss before she came along’.
Louie got on with tasks at hand and it wasn’t very long before it was time to go and meet Pearl.
Louie told Import that he and Lulu would be with Pearl for most of the day.
Down at the tunnel Pearl had arrived ahead of them and was fluttering around taking in the scenery while she waited.
The excited trio landed at the tunnel entrance and Louie unlocked the door.
 As usual Louie lit the beeswax candles along the wall and they headed down to the quartz face. Pearl was happy to have Louie and Lulu with her; it was much better doing these things with others who can share in the experience.
‘Here we are’, said Louie. 
The three were now close to the quartz and bathed in the pulsing blue light.
‘When we get to the other side’, said Pearl, ‘we will go to the square by the cake shop and start from there’.
‘You go through first Pearl’, said Louie, ‘Lulu and I will follow’.
‘Right’, said Pearl. ‘See you both on the other side’.
Once the three were in the square, Pearl moved to an area where there were few people. Louie and Lulu followed. It was a strange feeling being back together in the square again. Last time they had done it together had been before the wedding. Where had the time gone?
‘We can sit here and observe for awhile’, said Pearl. ‘I will give you a demonstration first and then you two can try’.
The three sat close together on the grass. Pearl was watching and waiting.
‘First of all’, said Pearl. ‘I will pick a lone person and merge with them. Then I will come to where we are sitting now. Remember I will be able to talk to you but I won’t be able to see you. You will have to make a sound for me to know exactly where you are’. 
They waited on the grass a few more minutes then Pearl spotted a young girl coming towards them some distance off.
‘Right, here goes’, said Pearl getting up and heading towards the girl.
Louie and Lulu watched the blue nymph like shape of Pearl move off towards the girl. Pearl held out her arms straight in front of herself and moved closer. Pearl’s fists were glowing blue. Suddenly Pearl disappeared and the girl started moving towards where Louie and Lulu were sitting.
‘Wow’, said Lulu. ‘Look at that! Pearl must now be merged with the girl’.
When the girl was closer to where Louie and Lulu were sitting, the girl said. ‘Louie, Lulu, can you hear me?’
‘Yes over here Pearl’, said Louie. ‘Move to your left slightly then straight ahead. Almost there now. Stop!’
The girl stopped a little distance away right in front of Louie and Lulu.
‘Pearl is that really you?’ said Lulu.
‘Yes’, said Pearl. ‘As you can tell it is not my voice, I am speaking as this girl would’.
‘Lulu’, said Pearl. ‘I can’t see either of you. Can you come and take my hand so I can sit down with you two’.
Lulu moved forward and took Pearl (the girl) by the hand and they sat down by Louie.
‘This really is unbelievable’, said Louie. ‘What’s it like in there Pearl?’
‘Just a moment’, Pearl whispered. ‘I’ll just have to make sure that no people can see me when I am talking as it would look as though I am talking to myself!’
Pearl carefully looked around and made sure she had her back to any people near by.
‘Well’, said Pearl in the girl’s voice in answer to Louie’s question. ‘It is just amazing. The girl, judging by her thoughts, is heading to the High Street to do some shopping. I can also tell that she is a happy person and essentially honest. I can sense that she feels well. She is slightly concerned that she might not have enough money to buy what she really wants. I can feel a slight sensation of being hungry so she will probably have something to eat. In fact she is as bad as we are; she seems to be partial to a bit of chocolate cake!’
‘Louie reach out and touch my face’, said Pearl. Louie did.
‘Yes I can feel that Louie’, said Pearl. ‘Your touch is cold as though you really are a form of quartz as I mentioned. What do you feel when you touch me?’ 
‘I can feel you as an object’, replied Louie. ‘But there is no feeling as such. It is as if my fingers are numb. If I touch your skin I can feel it “give” if I push it but there is no sensation of hot or cold, roughness, smoothness. Nothing we normally feel’.
‘It’s an interesting point isn’t it’, said Pearl. ‘We obviously have no sense of touch in the state we are in when we have come through the quartz. This is quite strange as other senses are there such as balance, sight, smell, hearing, even laughter! We can feel our breathing, walking, talking and flying as we normally do, our emotions and feelings are all there – I guess we will never know exactly why is we have no sense of touch’. 
‘Pearl what would happen if I tried to merge with you?’ said Louie.
‘Good thinking Louie’, said Pearl. ‘We need to know these things. That’s really what we are here to do today. Try it Louie’.
 Louie clenched his fists so there was a blue aura around both fists and made contact with the girl. Nothing happened.
‘That’s interesting’, said Pearl. ‘Obviously because the girl’s molecular state has been altered by me. Another merge can’t be accepted’.
Pearl was concerned about stopping the girl from going about doing what she intended. 
‘What I will do now’, Pearl explained. ‘I will go back to where I merged and demerge. If I leave her at the original spot, theoretically the only difference will be that time has advanced while she has been my host, she should just carry on walking to the High Street as she did before’.
Louie and Lulu watched the girl walk back. Amazingly, Pearl ‘stepped out’ of the girl and the girl went on her way as if nothing had happened. Pearl could now see where Louie and Lulu were sitting and flew quickly over to them.
‘Isn’t that just amazing!’ said Pearl, ‘I wasn’t dreaming, it’s so good to have you two here to see it!’
Pearl added, ‘You can see that it is important to demerge with a person where they were first originally merged with. That girl would have been confused if I had demerged where we are. She would have wondered how she got here’.
‘Can I have a go now’, said Lulu anxious to try. ‘Look over by the Marigolds is an older man. I will go and try it with him’.
Lulu flew close to where the man was, then walked forward and did exactly as she had seen Pearl do. Sure enough, Lulu disappeared. Louie became a little anxious.
‘It’s alright Louie, Lulu is fine’, said Pearl reassuring Louie.
Lulu (now as the man) started walking over to where Pearl and Louie were sitting. Louie called out anxiously. ‘Lulu, Lulu, over here’. Lulu had heard Louie and moved in the direction of the sound. 
‘Stop Lulu’, said Louie. Louie got up and grabbed the man (Lulu) by the hand and led him over to where Pearl was sitting.
‘Can you hear me Lulu?’ said Louie.
Louie just about burst out laughing when Lulu said in an elderly man’s voice, ‘Yes I can my loveable bee!’
‘Louie, Pearl this is just amazing’, said Lulu. ‘I can tell by this man’s thoughts that he was waiting until nobody was looking and then he was going to steal some of the Marigolds. He was going to put them in this bag he is carrying!’
‘Ah ha’, said Pearl, ‘This is where this new ability we have can be so useful. We can determine the intentions of people. Unfortunately Lulu you can’t change the man’s thoughts but what I suggest we do is take his bag off him so he has nothing to put the Marigolds in!’
‘Right’, said Lulu. ‘What I will do is go and put this bag in that rubbish bin over there. Then I will demerge by the Marigolds again’.
Louie still couldn’t believe that his precious Lulu was speaking in such a strange voice; it certainly was a surreal experience.
Lulu stood up and walked over to the rubbish bin she had spotted and buried the bag in it. She then walked over to the Marigolds to the exact spot she had picked up her host. She then demerged. Lulu flew back to Pearl and Louie and they watched to see what the man would do next.
Yes sure enough, the man was looking around for his bag to put the Marigolds in. After looking around for it and not finding it he moved off.
‘Well-done Lulu!’ said Pearl. ‘That’s our first job to help the village community’.
Lulu laughed and said. ‘Gosh that was so interesting. That man has got arthritis in his legs and I could feel it as I walked around. We really do become the person we have merged with’.
‘Your turn Louie’, said Lulu. ‘It’s just an amazing experience. There is nothing to it; I can’t believe how easy it is!’
Louie thought he would be different and picked a young boy who was barely six years old. His Mother had gone into the cake shop and left him to play on the grass by himself.
‘Let’s all move closer’, said Pearl. ‘In case his Mother comes back’.
The three moved closer to the boy who was running around chasing a butterfly. Louie quickly walked up and merged. The boy stopped chasing the butterfly and headed for Lulu and Pearl. 
‘Over here Louie’, said Lulu.
Lulu moved forward and took the little boy by the hand. ‘Is that really you in there Louie?’ said Lulu in disbelief. 
‘Yes it really is me’, said Louie. ‘It is truly amazing having a host that is so young! The thought patterns are so immature and the extent of knowledge is so small, a bit like me as a bee I guess!’ Louie laughed. Lulu just about lost control with laughing hearing Louie talking in this small boy’s voice.
‘He really is a nice little fellow’, said Louie. ‘He hasn’t got a single nasty thought on his mind. He knows his mother has gone to get some cakes to eat in the square and he can’t wait!’
‘Quick’, said Lulu with some urgency. ‘Here comes his Mother’.
Louie moved away and quickly demerged. The boy ran around looking for the butterfly he had been chasing but of course it had gone. Louie was quickly by Lulu’s side again,
Pearl, keeping an eye on the situation, realised there were more people close by and cautioned Louie and Lulu to move away. It was important not to become complacent and forget where they were. People could hear them if they weren’t careful and maybe cause problems. 
Some distance away Louie said. ‘As I was saying, how incredible to have the thoughts of somebody so young. His thoughts were in simple words and images. He loves his parents. I think he must be a much loved child’.
‘Yes it is incredible isn’t it’, said Pearl in response to Louie.
Pearl thought for a moment and then said, ‘What I would like to try now if we can is to find three people who are together. We will then merge and see if we can talk to each other and move about as the people we have selected. What do you reckon team?’
‘Great idea Pearl’, said Lulu.
‘Let’s fly up the High Street and see what we can find’, said Louie.
‘Right let’s go!’ said Pearl.
The three circled above the town for some time before they spotted a suitable target. 
‘Look down there’, said Lulu pointing to outside the bank where there were three men standing talking. They didn’t look to be particularly nice people. 
‘Maybe they are going to rob the bank!’ said Louie jokingly.
‘Looks interesting’, said Pearl. ‘Let’s fly in and merge, you take the one on the left Lulu, I’ll take the middle one and Louie you take the one on the right’.
‘Ay Ay captain’, said Louie laughing and thrilled at the excitement.
The three men were dirty, scruffy and had heavy tattoos on their arms. On merging, the three conferred amongst each other as to how they felt. 
‘These three really are a nasty piece of work’, said Pearl. ‘From what I can tell they have been here sizing up the bank to rob it at some stage’.
‘I am getting the same vibes’, said Louie. 
‘Me too’, said Lulu.
‘Let’s go over to that coffee shop over the road and have a coffee and something to eat’, said Louie, ‘I’ve got some money in my pocket’.
It’s interesting how the insects, now merged as humans, didn’t have to learn about money and buying things. It was of course simply the normal behaviour of the human that was their host. 
On entering the coffee shop, most of the customers left! 
‘We must look really frightening’, Lulu whispered in a gruff voice.
The three ordered coffee and cakes then Louie paid the shop owner. The shop owner was by now cowering behind the counter with fright at the sight of the three thugs.
‘It’s alright we won’t hurt you’, said Pearl in rasping voice ruined by years of smoking.
The three sat down at a table by the window so they could see what was going on down the High Street.
‘I don’t know about you two’, said Lulu, ‘but I seem to have a very painful knife wound in my right leg! The thoughts of the person I am in are definitely about robbing the bank at some time in the future’.
‘My mouth feels and tastes like the bottom of a bird cage’, said Pearl whose host obviously smoked and never brushed his teeth, disgusting!
Louie had picked up something and said excitedly. ‘These guys robbed the jewellers’ shop in the High Street last week and they have done heaps of house burglaries as well!’
‘You are right’, said Pearl. ‘I have even got the address of where all the stolen goods are! It’s at 23 Eagle Street on the outskirts of the village. It must be where these guys live’.
‘What do you think we should do Pearl?’ said Lulu, nervous but excited.
The coffee and cake arrived, Pearl thought about it for awhile.
‘I know what we should do!’ said Pearl. ‘I’ve got a great idea. When we have finished our coffee and cake we will walk down to the police station and hand ourselves in! We can tell the police where all the stolen goods are and everything can be returned to the rightful owners!’
‘Brilliant Pearl’, said Louie.
Lulu wanted to give Pearl a big hug for being so clever. Fortunately she stopped herself in time. A thug hug was out of the question, it just wouldn’t look right!
The intrepid trio enjoyed their coffee and cake and laughed about things they might do.
‘When we get to the police station’, said Pearl on a more serious note. ‘We will need to let the situation advance until we feel it is the appropriate time to demerge from our hosts. Just keep close together and act tough! If I feel anything looks risky I will I say to demerge, you both know what to do’.
‘By the way’, said Pearl. ‘My name appears to be Jo, any feelings for what your names might be?’
‘Meat Head comes to mind for me’, said Lulu, ‘I must be the dumb one’.
‘Crafty for me’, said Louie, ‘I can feel it in my fingers; I am an expert at opening safes!’
‘Good’, said Pearl, ‘We might need to use our names at the police station’.
‘When we go’, said Louie, ‘I will leave all the money I have in my pocket as a tip. It will make it up to the shop owner for scaring off the customers!’
The three slouched off out of the coffee shop much to the relief of the owner. Still the huge tip made up for the scary time the owner had experienced.
Walking along the High Street towards the police station it was interesting seeing how people crossed the road to avoid coming anywhere near the three of them. Pearl thought to herself that what they were about to do was exactly the sort of thing that they could do to help the villagers. They were all terrified of these guys.
At the police station the three walked up to the counter behind which was a senior constable studying some papers. The constable looked up and immediately recognised the three. 
‘Hello eelo eelo, what have we got ‘ere now. Meathead, Crafty and Jo this is the last place I would expect to see you lot’, said the senior constable looking surprised. ‘What have you lost your mummy or something?’
‘No’, said Pearl who of course was Jo. ‘We have come to confess to the jewellers’ shop robbery and several other burglaries’.
‘Are you having me on sonny?’ said the surprised senior constable.
‘No I mean it, we have all decided we want to change our lives and go straight’, said Pearl.
‘And just how am I supposed to believe you?’ said the senior constable. ‘Especially when I have had nothing but a pack of lies from you lot in the past’.
‘All the proceeds of our burglaries are at 23 Eagle Street under the house’, said Pearl in a gruff but fairly convincing voice. ‘Take us there and we will show you’.
‘Really? Well so there is no nonsense, you lot can prove you mean it by letting me handcuff you all right now’.
‘Go ahead’, said Pearl.
The senior constable handcuffed them all together so they couldn’t move. He then went to get a police car. Another constable took over at the counter.
Pearl whispered to the others, ‘Don’t worry; we can demerge at anytime if things get too rough. The handcuffs don’t have any affect on our ability to demerge. Remember if you need to demerge, just clench your fists and walk away. You won’t be seen’.
It may well be asked how could the insects demerge and escape when they were all handcuffed together? Remember that in any change of state, the insects can’t take anything with them, including handcuffs, which was a bit of a blessing in this situation! Pearl realised this in reassuring Louie and Lulu.
The police car pulled up outside the front of the police station. Louie, Lulu and Pearl were bundled into the back. They all sped off to 23 Eagle Street.
On arrival the senior constable went straight away to look under the house. There was a locked room. 
‘Where’s the key?’ the senior constable demanded.
Without even having to think, Pearl (Jo) reached into her pocket and pulled out a bunch of keys. ‘It’s this one’, said Pearl
The senior constable opened the door, he couldn’t believe it. The room was chocker with money, jewellery, household items and clothing of all sorts! There was thousands and thousands of dollars worth of stolen goods right there in front of him.
‘My God! Right-o you lot, you are under arrest’. The senior constable barked. 
‘Demerge now!’ Pearl whispered to Louie and Lulu. 
Louie, Lulu and Pearl all clenched their fists and walked out of their human hosts.
The thugs now as themselves again couldn’t believe it. They were standing in front of all their stolen goods with the senior constable. They were caught – maybe blue handed?
Louie, Lulu and Pearl flew away as quickly as they could. 
‘Yea!’ said Louie. ‘We did it; they won’t trouble the village for a while now!’
‘Enough for today’, said Pearl. ‘Let’s go back through the quartz and we can talk on the other side’.
Three happy insects emerged from the quartz in the tunnel, elated at what they had achieved on the first day with their newly found ability.
Lulu hugged Louie, ‘Wasn’t that just fantastic my bee’. Lulu went over to Pearl and hugged her too.
‘You are just such a wonderful clever Moth Pearl’, said Lulu looking admiringly and smiling at Pearl.
‘Couldn’t have done it without you two’, said Pearl holding them both close to her. ‘We can do a lot of good I believe’.
The three walked arm in arm back up the tunnel talking about their adventure.
‘Doesn’t it feel good’, said Louie. ‘We have prevented a lot of people from suffering at the hands of those rogues in the future. I feel very very happy’.
It was late afternoon when they left the tunnel. Pearl turned to Louie and Lulu and said. ‘Thanks you two. There is a lot to take in after what you saw today. It’s only two weeks to Christmas now and I suggest we put off any more adventures until next year. If you feel like it though, just go and try what we did today for yourselves. The more you two feel comfortable with the merging and demerging process the better’.
Pearl was serious for a moment. ‘In the new year I have an idea for quite a major initiative using what we did today. There are some quite serious issues that I will need to talk to you about then. In the meantime I think we should all relax over these last two weeks before Christmas and enjoy ourselves. No more serious stuff for awhile!’ Pearl laughed.
‘Thanks Pearl’, said Louie. ‘We will catch-up again in the next few days, give Lulu or me a call if anything comes up though’.
‘Will do’, said Pearl, ‘‘Bye for now and thanks again’.
Pearl headed back to her apartment, Louie locked the door to the tunnel then he and Lulu headed home. The sun was setting, the sky was clear and there wasn’t a breath of wind. Even though it was early summer there was a possibility of a light frost overnight.
Once at home with Lulu in their little house by the stream, Louie lit the stove.
Louie broke out some of his favourite honey nectar. He poured a glass for Lulu and himself. The pair sat in front of the stove together, watching the flickering flames. Lulu had her arm around Louie and held him close. They were warm and cosy.
‘I am so glad I don’t live in the human world Louie’, said Lulu. ‘As Pearl has said there is so much greed and dishonesty. We have got everything here in the way of true happiness; it would be terrible to lose what we have’.
‘Yes’, said Louie. ‘We are so fortunate to have Pearl with her foresight to protect us all. This project or whatever it is she mentioned next year must relate to some new threat she feels could be mounting against our community’.
Louie paused, watching the flames in the stove, then continued. ‘The wonderful thing about what we saw and did today is that we can go through the quartz and deal with threats before they get out of hand. The power we have is almost unbelievable. The scope of what we can do hasn’t been fully realised yet, today was just the beginning’.
‘I think the wonderful thing about what we did today’, said Lulu, ‘is that it has given me a tremendous feeling of security. Within reason we can control our own destiny and not be threatened by the infestation and pollution of the planet by humans’.
Although Lulu didn’t really realise it now, what she had just said was incredibly profound and true, as we shall begin to learn as time goes by!

Chapter 21
A Magic Christmas for Louie and Lulu.

It was ten days before Christmas about 9.00 a.m. Louie and Lulu were at the Factory busy with the things the two bees were usually busy with.
Louie’s smell phone rang and it was Pearl. Pearl asked if Louie could come and see him urgently, there was something very important to discuss.
‘I can’t tell you over the phone’, said Pearl. ‘I need to see you without Lulu. Tell Lulu that I have an idea about a Christmas present for her, which is quite true. I think she would be over the moon with the idea I have but I need to discuss it with you first Louie’.
Louie agreed to go and see Pearl straight away and went to tell Lulu.
Louie went up to Lulu, who was deeply engrossed in some accounting stuff, and put his arm around her. 
Lulu jumped. ‘Louie’, she said. ‘You gave me a fright!’
‘It’s alright Lulu, Pearl wants to see me. I can’t take you with me because it is something about a surprise for you at Christmas. Pearl sounds really excited. I won’t be too long. Phone me if you have any problems’.
‘Really Louie what sort of surprise?’ said Lulu trying to get it out of Louie as to what it might be. 
‘Honestly I don’t know. Pearl hasn’t told me yet which is probably just as well. You would have made me tell and then it would no longer be a surprise!’ said Louie laughing.
‘Oh Louie I love surprises as long as they are nice ones’, said Lulu still a bit curious as to what was going on.
‘Don’t worry about that Lulu, Pearl thinks the world of you and I just know that there would be no nasty surprises you silly bee’.
‘Be carful Louie, please’, said Lulu.
‘I will’, said Louie. ‘I will probably only be half an hour’.
Louie gave Lulu a hug and headed off to see Pearl.
Half and hour later Lulu had a call from Louie on her smell phone.
‘Hello my bee’, said Louie. ‘I am going with Pearl to look at something. I am terribly excited. I can’t tell you anything yet. Just remember I love you and I will be about another hour’.
‘Louie why can’t you tell me?’ said Lulu.
‘It’s just so special’, said Louie. ‘I still need to go with Pearl and confirm delivery of your Christmas present. I don’t want to disappoint you if I can’t get it. I should be back in and hour Lulu. Don’t worry everything is alright’.
‘Please be back soon Louie, I miss you already’, said Lulu.
Lulu sat wondering what on earth it could be that was so special. 
Louie was back within an hour as he had promised. Lulu could see he was excited by the ear to ear grin on his loveable bumblebee face. 
‘I am so excited Lulu’, said Louie hardly able to contain himself. ‘I would love to tell you but you will have to wait until Christmas morning’.
‘Aw Louie’, said Lulu. ‘Can’t you just give me a clue? Please Louie’.
‘No’, said Louie. ‘You would never guess in a million years’.
Louie went over to Lulu and held her close to him and kissed her. Lulu looked up at Louie with her big brown eyes pleading Louie to tell her. ‘Just be patient Lulu’, said Louie. ‘It is only ten days to Christmas now’.
‘One other thing Lulu’, Louie’s grin had turned to a serious sort of frown. ‘I have to do some special little things at home between now and Christmas, you are not to look in the spare room until I tell you to on Christmas morning!’
Lulu could tell by the serious but excited look on Louie’s face that it was indeed something special. 
‘Alright my bee’, said Lulu. ‘I will do what I am told!’
Louie and Lulu laughed and went and joined the Ten Ants for morning tea.
In the days leading up to Christmas, Louie was busy doing things in the evening in the spare room. Lulu could tell he was making something but she had no idea what it could be. There was quite a bit of banging and hammering at times along with a bit of cursing and swearing when things weren’t going too well for Louie.
Lulu was excited. She was very tempted to have a peep in the spare room but she knew that Louie would be very hurt if she did.
With two nights to go before Christmas, Louie had finished all the banging, hammering, cursing and swearing in the spare room. The couple could really relax now as the Factory was closed for two weeks until after New Year. They didn’t have to think about going to work in the morning.
Louie and Lulu sat outside on the deck. It was quite warm, in fact it was a beautiful summers’ evening. The sky was flooded with red as the sun went down 
Lulu kept on teasing Louie about the secret Christmas present but Louie wasn’t telling.
‘Tell you what’, said Louie. ‘Let’s go through the tunnel and the quartz to the town and see what it’s like just before Christmas. It might stop you needling me about your Christmas present!’
Lulu laughed, ‘What a good idea, let’s go now, we might be able to do some good for the people’.
Louie went and got his Beehive Matches for the tunnel and the pair took off.
It was quite a thrill flying along the stream in the red glow from the sunset.
Louie lit the beeswax candles along the tunnel and on they went to the quartz.
‘Race you through’, said Lulu but Louie was too quick for her. Louie had been caught out by Lulu before. This time he was prepared and emerged in the village just ahead of Lulu.
Louie and Lulu climbed high above the village and circled overhead. The beautiful big blue wings they had now they were in the nymph like form somehow went with the theme of Christmas.
Below them there were lots of people out and about doing their Christmas shopping. A brass band played Christmas Carols in the square. 
Also in the square was a large beautifully decorated Christmas tree. The Christmas tree lights had just come on and seemed to be flashing in time to the band playing the Christmas Carols.
In the distance Louie and Lulu could see the city, far away as a blaze of lights on the horizon.
‘Isn’t it magic Louie’, said Lulu after taking it all in.
‘Oh it really is Lulu’, said Louie. ‘It really was a good idea to come and have a look’.
Louie and Lulu flew over the houses that surrounded the town area. 
‘I somehow feel like Santa Claus flying above the houses like this’, said Lulu laughing and uttering a couple of ‘Ho Ho Ho’s’
‘Aw look at that down there’, said Louie pointing. ‘Look at those idiots graffiti-ing that fence’.
There below them sure enough, were two youths with paint spray cans ruining some poor innocent victim’s fence.
‘Right’, said Louie. ‘Let’s go down and do some good here. Lulu you merge with the one on the left and I will take the other’.
The pair dived, fists outstretched in front of them glowing blue. 
Once they had merged Louie said. ‘Really Lulu you do look a right plonker with that cap on back to front or maybe you have got your head on back to front!’
Lulu laughed ‘By the way you speak Louie you sound as though you have just graduated from kindergarten. Besides what are you wearing a hood for on a warm summers’ evening like this? Have you got a head cold or something you poor lamb!’
‘By what I am finding’, said Louie. ‘I really wonder if my host has even got a brain. There seems to be nobody at home here!’
‘Well’, said Lulu laughing, ‘It goes with how you look!’
‘What I suggest’, said Louie. ‘Let’s decorate ourselves for Christmas with these spray cans! I am sure our hosts would appreciate it!’
Louie and Lulu just about emptied the spray cans by covering each other with paint. It was all over their clothes, in their hair and even filled their shoes! It was great fun.
‘I’ve got an idea’, said Lulu. ‘I know my name, phone number and address. Why don’t we put this information on the fence! After all, an artist should let people know who they are and sign their work!’
‘Brilliant Lulu, let’s do it’, said Louie impressed with Lulu’s smart thinking.
Louie and Lulu carefully added the information to the fence.
‘There that will do’, said Louie. ‘That was a great idea Lulu. I doubt if these guys will do it again’.
‘I’ve got another idea Lulu’, said Louie, feeling quite mischievous by now. ‘Let’s go and knock on the door of the owner and own up to what we have done! Then we can demerge from these two dudes and leave it up to the owner!’
Lulu laughed. ‘Come on Louie let’s do it’.
Louie and Lulu marched up to the door of the owner‘s house and knocked. The door was opened by a burly looking man who was obviously annoyed at being taken away from watching his favourite TV program.
‘I am awfully sorry sir’, said Louie, ‘but we have just graffitied your fence’.
The owner just burst out laughing at what he saw in front of him, he couldn’t contain himself, was it Christmas or was it Halloween!
‘Quick demerge now’, said Louie.
Louie and Lulu flew back up into the sky and left the psychedelic paint soaked youths to the wrath of the owner.
Louie and Lulu circled again high above the town. It took awhile to bring their laughter under control! It was truly wonderful flying in the near dark with the Christmas lights and the carol singing below them in the village.
‘Let’s go and sit in the square again for awhile and watch’, said Louie. Lulu agreed.
 The pair landed in front of the Christmas tree and lay for awhile watching the lights and the people. The sky was black overhead now. Stars were shining and there was a full moon rising in the east behind the village church spire. 
Lulu noticed it first. There was a lone woman sitting on a bench under the Christmas tree. She was crying. Something was very wrong.
‘I wonder what is wrong’, said Louie.
‘What I will do is go and merge with her’, said Lulu. ‘I should be able to find out what is troubling her. You stay here Louie and I will come back to you shortly’.
‘Be careful Lulu’, said Louie.
Lulu merged with the woman and stayed with her for about five minutes. Lulu demerged and headed back to Louie.
‘Louie’, said Lulu. ‘It is so sad. Her husband is dying of cancer. Her name is Dorothy Ashton. She is sitting in front of the Christmas tree because it reminds her of better times in the past when her husband was well’.
‘All sorts of thoughts are going through her mind’, Lulu continued. ‘She is thinking of her children when they were young and how they all had a good time as a family. The children have all moved away now and she is so alone’.
Lulu sat down beside Louie. ‘Apparently her husband has been in a coma for the last ten days and is in the village hospice, just a short distance from here. She is missing him terribly especially now that it is Christmas. Do you think there is anything we can do Louie?’
Louie thought for awhile. He thought about all the things that Pearl had taught them. ‘Yes said Louie, maybe there is. First of all I suggest that you go and remerge with the woman and then walk to the hospice’.
Louie thought some more then said. ‘I will follow and think about it while you walk there. I have got a plan’.
Lulu merged with the woman and started walking to the hospice. Lulu could feel her legs as being very tired. It was quite an effort to walk, there was no strength. The will to do anything seemed to be overwhelmed with despair. Louie flew above thinking about what they might do.
Lulu could feel everything that Dorothy Ashton felt. Lulu passed happy people shopping and laughing. Lulu could see it and feel it too but to Mrs Ashton it was just a blur.
Lulu arrived at the hospice. It was shut.
‘What do I do now?’ said Lulu.
‘Lulu, knock on the door and ask to see your husband’, said Louie. ‘Then go to him and I will follow’.
Lulu knocked on the door and a pleasant nurse answered. ‘Hello Mrs Ashton, have you come to see your husband?’
‘Yes I have’, said Lulu.
The nurse ushered Lulu in and took her to the bedside of Mr Ashton. Louie followed close behind. 
The nurse put an arm around Lulu (Mrs Ashton) and said. ‘I am so sorry Mrs Ashton; your husband is very frail now. Feel free to stay with him as long as you want. I know it is so hard for you at this time of the year. Just call me if you want anything’.
The nurse scurried off to attend to other patients. Lulu sat down beside Mr Ashton. Indeed Mr Ashton was very ill. He lay very still. There was an occasional spasm from his poor cancer ravaged body. He was dying.
‘What now Louie?’ said Lulu.
‘I am going to try and take him back in time with my left fist’, said Louie. ‘It should work because he is still living. It’s similar to what I did with you Lulu when you were hit by the car’.
Louie clenched his left fist. It was glowing blue. He held the fist close to Mr Ashton so the blue aura touched.
Sure enough, Mr Ashton started to change. His previously painfully thin form filled out and he started to look healthy again. It was a miracle. The previously sunken eyes were now coming back to normal and flickered open. He sat up. He was confused as to where he was.
While Mr Ashton was sitting up in a dazed state, Louie continued the process of taking Mr Ashton back in time a little further. Louie hoped that by doing this Mr Ashton could go back to a totally cancer free state again. Louie had to be careful he didn’t go back too far. Coming back into reality with a memory that applied several years ago could put him into a state of shock.
Louie stopped and said to Lulu. ‘Demerge now Lulu and let’s watch what happens’.
Lulu demerged and left Mrs Ashton sitting by the bed. Louie and Lulu moved carefully to one side of the room.
Mrs Ashton was confused as was Mr Ashton. Was it just a dream thought Mrs Ashton? The pair sat and looked at each other for a moment. 
‘Is that really you Harold?’ said Mrs Ashton. 
‘Yes it is, it really is’, said Harold Ashton, touching himself and looking around in disbelief. ‘Dorothy what am I doing here?’
Mrs Ashton couldn’t believe it. She clutched her hands to her face, it wasn’t a dream and Harold seemed to be completely normal again!
‘Nurse, nurse!’ cried Mrs Ashton ‘Harold is alright!’ 
Mrs Ashton embraced her beloved husband and held him close with tears streaming down her face.
Louie and Lulu left discretely and headed back to the square. They sat on the grass again for awhile to think about what had happened.
‘Oh well-done Louie’, said Lulu, ‘that was just marvellous, I wish I could hug you but I can’t!’
‘Amazing wasn’t it’, said Louie. ‘I have no idea if Mr Ashton will stay healthy. As time goes forward he may get cancer again. It could be in his genes in which case we can do nothing about it. The process will just repeat itself again. The main thing is’, said Louie brightly. ‘Dorothy and Harold Ashton will be together for this Christmas’.
Louie and Lulu lay on the grass for awhile longer watching the lights flashing on the giant Christmas tree.
‘I can’t help thinking Lulu’, said Louie as they lay on the grass together. ‘Pearl has taught us so much since we found the ability to go through the quartz. I never thought much about the human society up until now. They were just there, we did our thing and they did theirs. As Pearl said it is something we are going to have to watch so we can protect our own community. I have been so naive and complacent about a lot of things’.
‘No you haven’t been naïve and complacent’, said Lulu. ‘But there is a lot to think about’.
‘Enough of this thinking stuff!’ said Louie brightening up. ‘Let’s go home, we have done our good deeds for the day, besides I want that hug you can’t give me while we are here Lulu!’
‘Race you to the wall’, said Lulu.
The pair headed for the quartz wall at the bank and through they went.
‘There that took your mind off asking about your Christmas present all the time’, said Louie as they walked back up the tunnel. 
‘Sorry Louie, I promise I won’t ask again. After all it is only one day to go now!’
‘Aw Lulu, I am just teasing you. What have you got me for Christmas?’
‘Not telling’, said Lulu coyly and held Louie close to her.
The pair walked with their arms around each other back up the tunnel. They felt very happy with what they had achieved.

Of course all good things come to those who wait. Christmas morning duly arrived. 
Lulu woke first and shouted in a whisper. ‘Louie! Louie! It’s Christmas morning. Can I go and look at my present now, please, please can I?’
‘What’s the time? Is it time to go to the Factory yet?’ said Louie rubbing the sleep from his eyes and pretending he didn’t know that it was Christmas morning.
‘It’s six, it’s Christmas morning, can I go and look at my present now?’ said Lulu sensing that Louie might be teasing her.
‘What present?’ said Louie trying to act surprised.
Louie laughed and reached out and pulled Lulu close to him. ‘Sorry Lulu I am just teasing you. I know it is Christmas day and there is a very very special present for you. Your present is arriving at seven’, said Louie.
‘What!’ said Lulu giving Louie a friendly smack. ‘What’s in the spare room that I haven’t been allowed to look at then?’
‘All will be revealed’ said Louie. ‘Go and make a cup of TG Tips then we will go out on the deck and wait’.
‘Aw Louie’, said Lulu. ‘What are you trying to do to me, I have hardly slept with excitement all night and now I find my present isn’t even here yet!’
‘Just be patient my bee. Go and make that cup of TG Tips, it’s not long now’.
Poor Lulu, this was getting even more mysterious. Lulu could tell Louie was excited, so after a sigh of frustration she did as he bid.
Out on the deck, the sun could just be seen coming up in the east. 
‘Come and sit beside me Lulu and wait’, said Louie.
Lulu snuggled up beside Louie and held him close. It was just coming up to 7.00 a.m. This was the time of course Louie had promised something would happen.
‘What are you up to Louie?’ said Lulu. ‘This really is most mysterious’.
‘Sh Sh Sh listen’, said Louie.
‘What?’ said Lulu trying to hear something but couldn’t. Then Lulu heard it. A fluttering sound she had heard before but couldn’t think what it was.
The fluttering sound was getting closer. 
Suddenly out of the early morning sky, in fluttered a beautiful moth. Indeed it was Pearl Baker-Moth. She was carrying beneath her one of Louie’s bracken baskets. ‘What could it be?’, thought Lulu.
Pearl alighted gracefully on the deck and smiled. ‘Happy Christmas you two. Louie you take the basket, let’s go inside. Lulu you don’t have to wait anymore!’
Inside, Pearl put her arms around Lulu and then said to Louie. ‘Louie show Lulu what’s in the basket’.
Louie held the basket out to show Lulu. ‘They are for us Lulu’, said Louie softly, looking directly at Lulu and smiling.
Inside the basket were two very small beautiful baby bees. They were barely two weeks old. They lay on their backs waving their little legs while making happy little squeaks that only baby bees happen to make.
‘Oh Pearl, Louie my dearest Louie are they really ours?’ Lulu was jumping up and down clutching her hands to her face. She hugged Louie, then Pearl, tears streaming down her face. She couldn’t believe the beautiful sight that she beheld in the basket that Pearl had brought.
Lulu fell to her knees in front of the basket again clutching her hands to her face.
‘You beautiful creatures’, said Lulu. ‘I love you’.
The two little bees were squeaking louder now and Lulu reached into the basket and picked one up. She clutched it to herself closely. The wee mite reached out. It sensed somehow Lulu was its mother.
Lulu carefully picked up the other one and held them both together. They were so tiny yet they had the most perfect little yellow and black stripes. Louie and Pearl stood back and watched.
‘I think she likes them Louie’, said Pearl and gave Louie a hug.
‘Oh yes Pearl’, Louie responded. ‘Thank you so much for what you have done’.
Lulu cried softly and held the wee bees close to her for awhile. Then she put them back in the basket and turned to Louie and Pearl.
‘You have no idea what this means to me’, said Lulu now sobbing again. ‘They are just the most wonderful two wee bees I have ever seen; I can’t believe they are ours’.
Pearl went over to Lulu and put her arm around her. ‘Yes they officially belong to you and Louie. It has all been arranged’.
‘Come and sit down for a moment Lulu’, said Pearl gently.
‘A couple of weeks ago, the mother was killed on the road. Strangely enough very close to where Louie saved you. These two, a male and a female, were fortunately found and taken to the medical centre. Dr Wong has been looking after them for the past ten days and has made sure they were fit and healthy. The day they were found I phoned Louie as I knew how disappointed you felt after knowing you couldn’t have baby bees yourself.
‘Louie and I agreed for them to stay at the medical centre so that it could be a surprise for you today Lulu. Louie just fell in love with them straight away. Louie naturally insisted that it be arranged so that you and Louie are the parents. All the documentation has been arranged by Moore, Payper and Staff. So yes they are yours to love and cherish Lulu’.
Pearl was fighting back the tears now!
‘What a right lot we are’, said Pearl. ‘We shouldn’t be crying we should be laughing and be happy!’
‘Lulu’, said Louie almost forgetting. ‘Come and look in the spare room’. 
Louie took Lulu to the spare room where Lulu had been dying to have a peep for the past week or so.
There it was. Louie had built a cradle out of bracken for the two baby bees. On it were tiny little sheets cut out of white lilies. There was a red rose petal on top.
‘Oh Louie that’s just so wonderful, I had no idea. Let me go and get the babies and put them in the cradle’.
Lulu first of all hugged Louie as tight as she could then went and got the two baby bees. The little ones squeaked with delight as Lulu laid them carefully in the cradle.
‘Let’s celebrate’, said Louie. ‘Will you stay for breakfast with us Pearl?’
‘Love to’, said Pearl wiping her eyes and laughing.
‘Right you two go out on the deck and talk baby stuff while I get some glasses of nectar’.
The three relaxed and talked about the wonderful moment for an hour or so. Lulu had to keep going in to check the little bees every five minutes.
Louie made breakfast. The sun by now was shining; it was the most perfect Christmas morning.
Half way through breakfast Lulu jumped up and said, ‘Louie my poor Louie, I forgot about your Christmas present!’
Lulu rushed inside and came out with a beautifully wrapped parcel for Louie. Inside was a new pair of yellow and black striped shorts that Lulu had spent hours making. The stripes perfectly matched Louie’s own stripes. The shorts were of course made from the finest spider silk.
‘I can’t match what you and Pearl have done’, said Lulu starting to sob a little.
‘Don’t be silly Lulu’, said Louie. ‘Look at the hours you have spent making these shorts for me’.
Louie went back inside and came back with another parcel. This time it was for Pearl. 
What Louie had done was get a small piece of quartz from the tunnel. Louie had polished it and mounted it on a rosewood base. 
Being quartz from the tunnel it glowed blue when any of the three held it. On the base Louie had inscribed. 

Happy Christmas Pearl
Thank you for all you have done for us
Love Louie and Lulu

‘Oh thank you Louie and Lulu. That is just so beautiful. I will treasure it for ever. You two make me so so happy’. Pearl wiped away a tear as she held the quartz close and it glowed blue.
Louie, Lulu and Pearl sat outside on the deck for the remainder of the morning, reminiscing about what had happened over the past year. Pearl laughed about the episode that Louie and Lulu had with the graffiti “experts” just before Christmas and was so pleased with what they had been able to do for Mrs Ashton. 
Pearl headed back to her apartment about midday. Louie and Lulu doted over the two new additions to the family for the rest of the afternoon. Lulu frequently picked up the precious little bundles and held them close to her. The joy of being a mother, that she thought she had lost, had been returned to her!
By evening the two little bees had names. They were now to be known as ‘Tiger’ and ‘Lily’!
When Louie and Lulu were in bed late that evening Lulu said, ‘I think Tiger looks just like you Louie’.
‘You think so Lulu, the poor little chap!’ Louie didn’t duck in time to miss a friendly smack from Lulu.
Lulu had moved the cradle into the room beside the bed so she could be near Tiger and Lily. Tiger and Lily were already sound asleep. 
Lulu climbed out of bed and bent over the two little bees. There was a little snuffling sound coming from each of them. The tiny little partly formed wings were neatly folded down their backs. She marvelled at how their wings could be so small. They looked like little angels. 
Lulu stroked the tiny little heads and just looked at them in disbelief that they belonged to her and Louie. 
Soon all four were sound asleep. The moon was overhead just as it had been when Louie and Lulu were in the cave for their honeymoon. I think the Man in the Moon had a smile on his face once again!

Chapter 22
The bee Household over the Christmas New Year Holiday Period.

For the week between Christmas and New Year each day dawned fine and clear. Louie had a good feeling about the weather. The sunsets had been red, there was no wind and his bee senses told him that there was a high pressure weather system around. 
Typically Louie and Lulu would be up about 7.00 a.m. Tiger and Lily were very good in that there was never a squeak out of them during the night.
After Louie and Lulu had brushed their teeth and washed their bodies it was then time to attend to the little blighters still asleep in the spare room.
It was such a peaceful sight when Louie and Lulu went into the spare room. Tiger and Lily would be sound asleep, side by side in their cradle with sounds of soft snuffly breathing.
Louie would pick up Tiger and stroke him gently. Louie didn’t want anything to frighten Tiger as he woke up out of dreamland and came back into the real world. Lulu did the same with Lily.
There would be a few ‘ooos’ and ‘aaars’ from Louie and Lulu as the little eyes opened and the tiny arms and legs waved around reaching out to feel Mum and Dad.
Tiger and Lily couldn’t speak but communicated with squeaks. 
To get an idea of what Tiger and Lily sounded like, say ‘Eek’ to your self in a high pitched falsetto voice. It was something like that.
It seemed to be that one squeak expressed surprise at something new. It was a sort of ‘what have we got here’ noise.
Two squeaks meant ‘yes I like it’ and continual squeaking was definitely a ‘food required’ type of noise.
Occasionally there would be a long low squeak which meant displeasure. This typically happened when Lulu might be washing Tiger’s gums (no teeth yet!) or maybe Lily’s diapers needed changing!
While the two mites were waking in Louie and Lulu’s arms, there were double squeaks of pleasure. However these would quickly change to frequent squeaking, indicating that somebody was hungry.
At this point Louie would go and light the stove and warm some dandelion milk for Tiger and Lily. Lulu would go and brush the little bodies and wash their gums ready for the day ahead.
Louie had made a couple of feeding bottles out of single honeycomb cells. In the tops Louie had cemented hollowed out rose thorns with the sharp ends cut off so the milk could flow.
On a sunny morning (as was every morning between Christmas and New Year) Lulu would take Tiger and Lily outside on the deck and feed them with the dandelion milk Louie had prepared. Louie would then prepare breakfast for Lulu and himself. Today Louie was doing over easy spider eggs with gum leaf toast and of course accompanied by TG Tips tea.
Once Lulu had fed Tiger and Lily they tended to be a little bit sleepy again so Lulu put them on a special little deck chair that Louie had made for them.
Lying in their deck chair Tiger and Lily looked a really cool pair of little dudes. Louie had made a couple of sun hats out of small acorn cups turned upside down. The pair also wore little sunglasses that Louie had fashioned out of shed cicada skins. The cicada skins were similar to a hard thin transparent plastic and had factor 30+ properties to protect the little eyes from ultra violet radiation. 
If you don’t believe that cicada skins filter out ultra violet radiation, just think with all the time cicadas spend singing in the sun, when was the last time you saw a sun burnt one. Hmmm?
By the time Tiger and Lily had been fed and were resting, Lulu would move quietly to the table out on the deck and position herself so she could keep and eye on them.
Louie would quietly tip toe out with the breakfast for Lulu and himself and the pair would chat in whispers and laugh softly so as not to disturb Tiger and Lily.
It would only be after about an hour that Tiger and Lily would be wide awake again and crawling around the deck. Tiger tended to be a bit of a tease at times and would pounce on Lily from behind when she was least expecting it. This was accompanied by two squeaks from Tiger and a long low protesting squeak from Lily. Lily would then run to Lulu for support. 
Seeing Lily run to Lulu, Tiger would know that he had probably pushed things a little bit far and go and put his arms around his little sister to comfort her.
Louie and Lulu would sit back after breakfast, holding each other close, and watch the little bees at play. Their favourite play thing was an apple seed that Louie had found and dried on the stove so that it had gone hard and bouncy. The little bees would take turns at hiding the apple seed then the other would have to find it. At times the antics of the two little ones made Louie and Lulu laugh until they had tears running down their stripes.
Below the deck of course was the stream. From the deck was a small path just big enough for a bee to walk down to the stream. At the end of the path was a delightful little place shaded by wild Elfin Daisies, buttercups, dandelions and small ferns. At this special little place by the stream was a small inlet with a sandy bit that sloped gently to the water’s edge like a small beach. Louie had often come here before he met Lulu. He had found great comfort from the simplicity and beauty of the small area when he had been bothered about something.
When breakfast was over and dishes had been done, Louie would take Tiger, Lulu would take Lily down to the special little place by the stream. 
Tiger and Lily would be fascinated by the water and run down and try and touch it. A single squeak would indicate that they didn’t understand what it was. Lily managed to get one up on Tiger when she found that with a quick flick of a foot she could splash Tiger. Great fun she thought! There would be a puzzled look on Tiger’s face accompanied by the utterance of an indignant low squeak!
Louie and Lulu would lie in a little grassy place watching their two treasures. Their antics filled Louie and Lulu with absolute delight and they held each other very closely.
On occasions Tiger or Lily would exercise their wings. The tiny little wings were by no means fully grown yet. The little mites would power up for all they were worth. At times they would almost lift off then they would fall over and land upside down on their backs. Louie and Lulu would smile while suppressing their laughter and rush over to comfort and encourage them. It wouldn’t be long before they could fly. 
Occasionally Tiger and Lily would come running up from the stream and think that it would be a good idea to jump on Mum and Dad in case they had gone to sleep. Of course the little rascals just got squeezed with the love and feelings Louie and Lulu had for them and they would all lie in the sun together until something else caught Tiger and Lily’s attention.
Just by the water’s edge was a sycamore leaf that had been dried and curled in the sun. Louie would push the leaf out onto the calm waters of the inlet. The leaf floated beautifully. 
Louie would hold the leaf while Lulu placed the two little bees on it. Louie “walked” the leaf up and down the length of the inlet with the wee bees onboard. Tiger and Lily rushed from side to side of the leaf in excitement while Louie paddled along in the shallows of the inlet. 
Of course as midday approached squeaks from Tiger and Lily became more frequent which meant it was time to go back up to the house for lunch. After lunch the little bees would become sleepy again. This was time to put them back in their cradle and let them sleep for the afternoon.
Each day, usually late afternoon before tea, Louie and Lulu would get Tiger and Lily to sit on their backs and hang on tight. Louie and Lulu would then carefully take off themselves. On the first day it was a short distance above the deck and straight down again. Each time they did it Louie and Lulu would say, ‘time for a fly’. The little bees loved this business of climbing on Mum or Dad’s back and going for a fly. 
After a few days if either Louie or Lulu said ‘time for a fly’ the little bees would immediately jump on their parents’ backs. This was great fun. Louie and Lulu after a few days of practice could fly a short distance up the stream with their children.
Two days before New Year’s Eve the family was out on the deck after breakfast. Lulu noticed it first and said. ‘Louie did you hear that? I think Tiger said something’.
The pair listened; yes he was trying to say something. 
‘I know what it is’, said Louie. ‘It’s fairly indistinct but he is saying “time for a fly’’’.
‘You are right Louie’, said Lulu excitedly. ‘Let’s phone Pearl and take them up to see her’.
Louie phoned Pearl and said, ‘Could Lulu and I join you for lunch and bring two passengers?’
‘Really! That’s wonderful’, said Pearl. ‘Are they flying with you already? By all means come on up. I would love to see you all’.
Louie packed a bracken basket with some chocolate cake for Pearl, some honey nectar and two feeding bottles filled with dandelion milk.
Tiger and Lily were playing on the deck. Louie only had to say ‘time for a fly’ once and the little bees were up on the backs of Louie and Lulu ready to go.
‘It’s such a nice day’, said Lulu, ‘Let’s take Tiger and Lily down to the village and back before we go to Pearl’s’
‘Good idea’, said Louie.
Louie and Lulu stood side by side on the deck with their wings idling and checked that the two precious little pieces of cargo were holding on securely. The two little blighters liked to snuggle down in the warm fur of their parents.
‘Let’s go’, said Louie.
The pair lifted off. Louie was looking at Lulu and smiling. Tiger and Lily were uttering a mixture of squeaks and unintelligible words as Louie and Lulu headed on down to stream level and off towards the village. 
 Louie and Lulu circled over the Nest Café and the Hotel Babbleon to show Tiger and Lily. 
‘Louie’, said Lulu. ‘Before we go to Pearl’s let’s take Tiger and Lily for a Duck Paddle cruise’.
‘Great idea’, said Louie. ‘You go down first Lulu’.
The pair with the two little bees onboard landed outside Duck Paddle Cruises then boarded for a half hour cruise. Louie phoned Pearl to let her know that they would be about an hour.
Tiger and Lily loved the cruise. Louie and Lulu talked to the little bees about things along the stream bank and pointed to them as they cruised along. There was a very strong bond now between Tiger and Lily, and their parents. 
Once the cruise on the stream was over it was full speed off to Pearl’s apartment. The little bees blinked with the pressure of the air from flying at speed and squeaked with delight.
Pearl was so glad to see them all. Pearl hadn’t seen them since Christmas morning. Somehow it seemed ages ago.
Tiger and Lily were absolutely intrigued with Pearl’s apartment. It just had to be explored. Pearl didn’t mind, she just laughed at the little bee’s antics as they got under, into, over and around everything in sight.
Pearl, Louie and Lulu went out onto Pearl’s deck and relaxed while the little bees went about their exploring.
Later everybody had lunch including the two little bees who had their dandelion milk. 
After having their milk, Tiger and Lily curled up together in a sunny corner of Pearl’s deck while Louie, Lulu and Pearl talked and relaxed until late afternoon.
Towards the end of the afternoon Pearl made a suggestion. ‘I don’t know how you two feel but how about we all go up to the cave for New Year’s Eve the day after tomorrow. I could phone Virgil and ask him and Virginia to join us. They could bring the necessary supplies. Louie you or Lulu could phone Import and see if the Ten Ants would like to join us’.
‘Yes! Yes! What a great idea’, said Louie and Lulu both at once.
Tiger and Lily came running up to Louie and Lulu with a mixture of squeaks and words that only they understood. They all laughed. These two little bees instinctively knew that something exciting was up! 
‘It would be a great experience for Tiger and Lily too’, said Pearl. ‘It would be something they will never forget’.
First of all Louie phoned Import. Yes the Ten Ants were really very keen and excited about the whole idea. Louie told Import he would phone him back after confirming with Virgil. 
Pearl phoned Virgil. Virgil thought it would be a great idea and thanked Pearl for her brilliant idea.
‘Bring anything you want to take over to the hangar tomorrow, tell the Ten Ants to do the same. We will load up and head off the next day’. Virgil confirmed.
‘Shall we make it we meet at 9.30 a.m. at your hangar Virgil’, said Pearl tentatively.
‘Is that OK with you two’, Pearl whispered to Louie and Lulu. Louie and Lulu nodded.
‘Yes that will be fine Pearl’, said Virgil to Pearl on the phone. ‘Virginia and I are really looking forward to it and to meeting Tiger and Lily’.
Pearl hung up then turned to Louie and Lulu with a sparkle in her voice, ‘All settled team, 9.30 a.m. at Virgil’s hangar on the morning of New Year’s Eve. We can all be together again just like it was over two years ago. This time though we will have Lulu, Tiger and Lily with us’.
Everybody was very happy with this arrangement. What a great idea of Pearl’s.
‘Well Pearl’, said Louie laughing, ‘we must take these two back home before they completely wreck your place’.
‘No they are absolutely no bother, they are a delight to have here’, said Pearl sincerely.
Pearl looked at the two wee mites and reflected to herself how it had been the right decision for Louie and Lulu to take Tiger and Lily after the tragic death of their mother. Tiger and Lily were certainly going to have a wonderful life with their two doting parents.
‘Thanks for having us all Pearl’, said Louie. ‘I’ll give Import a call when we get home and confirm arrangements with him. We had better get these two home. Apart from wrecking your place they are getting hungry!’
Lulu went up to Pearl and whispered in her ear. ‘You have made Louie and I so happy, you wonderful moth’.
Pearl whispered back to Lulu, ‘Tiger and Lily just couldn’t have better parents’, and gave Lulu a squeeze.
Louie and Lulu headed for the door.
‘Watch this Pearl’, said Louie. Louie called out, ‘time for a fly!’
As if by magic two little creatures jumped on the backs of their parents and held on tightly ready to fly home.
Pearl laughed. ‘See you two the day after tomorrow at Virgil’s hangar. I just know we are all going to have a wonderful time’.
Louie and Lulu flew home, their hearts just bursting with happiness. What a great idea of Pearl’s.
Pearl watched the four disappear into the distance and listened to the little squeaks and other noises get softer and softer until they could no longer be heard. Pearl’s heart was full of happiness too.
The next day (the day before New Year’s Eve) about mid morning, Louie and Lulu along with Tiger and Lily, made several trips to Virgil’s hangar. Each time they were loaded with essentials for the trip away to the cave. Virgil then proceeded to put it all in one of his containers. Pearl dropped by with her stuff too as did the Ten Ants later on in the afternoon.
When Tiger and Lily first saw Virgil they ran to their parents and hung on for dear life, Virgil was so big! However after a bit of tender stroking and continually saying ‘Virgil won’t hurt you’, the two little bees gained confidence and scampered around saying something that sounded like ‘Virgil won’t hurt, Virgil won’t hurt’. 
With now having reassurance from their parents, Tiger and Lily wanted to climb onto Virgil. Louie said sternly ‘No Tiger, No Lily’. 
The two wee bees, although they couldn’t yet understand what Louie was saying, knew by the intonation of Louie’s voice that this was not the best of things to do be done by a small bee and said something that sounded like ‘naughty bee’. Instinctively Tiger and Lily, knowing that they should not be “naughty bees” obeyed the command of Louie and stood looking in awe at Virgil, muttering little squeaks of frustration. 
Virgil laughed and said ‘It’s OK Louie, come here Tiger come here Lily’. Tiger and Lily looked back to their parents for approval with mischievousness written all over their little faces. With a smile and complete capitulation by Louie (and Lulu) Virgil became fair game for two small bees to climb all over him. They thought Virgil was something very special. To them he was a gentle giant.
Virgil felt very honoured to have become the centre of attention and lifted the pair onto his back. Virginia came over and stroked Tiger and Lily. She laughed at the utterances of the little double squeaks. The two little bees made everybody oh so very happy.
It was great for Louie and Lulu to have all they were taking on the trip in Virgil’s container. All Louie and Lulu now needed to bring tomorrow were Tiger and Lily.
As an after thought Louie suggested, ‘Maybe we should put Tiger and Lily in the container it would save us a lot of hassles in the morning!’
‘Louie!’ said Lulu giving Louie another of her affectionate smacks. ‘You naughty mischievous bee!’
‘Sorry Lulu’, said Louie. ‘You know I don’t mean it! They are coming with us. In fact the highlight of tomorrow will be these two little blighters coming with us and being with us!’
Louie held Lulu close to him and said, ‘You make me so happy, we are going to have such a good time tomorrow’.
After the final trip to bring all the gear to the hangar, Louie and Lulu thanked Virgil and Virginia for their trouble and headed back home to take it easy with Tiger and Lily for the rest of the day. They would all be returning again in the morning ready and eager to go. Everyone was very excited!

The day of New Year’s Eve dawned fine and clear. The bee household was up and about at 7.00 a.m. as usual. Two little bees were given their breakfast and made ready for the day ahead. They knew that something exciting was about to happen but they didn’t quite know what.
Louie and Lulu had breakfast out on the deck while Tiger and Lily scampered about uttering the usual unintelligible words peppered with squeaks! They were excited.
At about 9.15 a.m., everybody in the bee household was ready to go. Louie said the magic words ‘time for a fly’, and the two little bees were within an instant in position on their parent’s backs. Louie and Lulu checked that Tiger and Lily were safely in position then it was off to Virgil’s hangar. 
At Virgil’s hangar Pearl had already arrived as had the Ten Ants.
The Ten Ants of course presented something new to Tiger and Lily. It was a case of circling around the Ten Ants with caution while uttering ‘what have we got here noises’ until any fear had disappeared. Having satisfied themselves that the Ten Ants were quite harmless, Tiger and Lily gave each of them a big hug. The Ten Ants were delighted, especially being of a similar size to Tiger and Lily. In no time they were all the best of friends.
Pearl joined Louie and Lulu to watch. ‘Isn’t that just marvellous to see them getting on so well together’, said Pearl. Louie had brought the dried apple seed with them. The Ten Ants were throwing it for Tiger and Lily to chase and catch. Tiger and Lily flapped their tiny wings while running and scooted along quite quickly to the delight of everyone.
By 9.30 a.m. Virgil had the main container attached. Virginia had a second smaller container so that there was plenty of cargo space to take everything required.
Virgil made his usual boarding call for the Ten Ants with Deodor and Flatual seated in rows nine and ten. Virgil then called everybody around for flight instructions.
‘What I have decided’, said Virgil in his captain of an aircraft sort of voice, ‘is that as we have our leader and Queen in our midst, Pearl should lead the way’.
Everybody cheered and agreed; yes they all owed so much to Pearl. Tiger and Lily rushed up to Pearl and squeaked as if they knew she had saved them. They both knew instinctively that Pearl was indeed a very special moth.
‘I would be honoured’, said Pearl and she picked up Tiger and Lily and told them what wonderful little bees they were.
‘Right that’s settled’, said Virgil. ‘Pearl you lead the way, I will be immediately behind. Next will be Louie and Lulu with Tiger and Lily. Virginia will follow at the rear to ensure all is well with the wee bees. Please line up as indicated ready for takeoff’. 
Pearl moved out onto the take off area ready to lead the team of insects. Virgil positioned himself behind Pearl. Louie and Lulu called Lily and Tiger aboard and moved in behind Virgil. Virginia lined up at the rear.
Once everybody was in position Virgil announced. ‘All smell phones on in speaker mode please’. Virgil tested that everybody could communicate. 
Virgil had his wings idling at 1,500 r.p.m. ready for takeoff. Louie and Lulu checked that Tiger and Lily were OK and Virginia was behind with her wings also idling at 1,500 r.p.m.
‘Everybody ready for takeoff?’ Virgil called over the smell phones. Yes everybody was ready. The Ten Ants had stopped chattering and were eager to go.
‘Pearl’, said Virgil. ‘You are our captain; we will all takeoff behind you on your command’.
‘Thank you Virgil’, Pearl responded taking control. ‘After takeoff we will fly at stream level. Follow me to the falls. I will count down from ten to takeoff’. Pearl felt very proud indeed to be in control.
Pearl counted slowly down from ten to zero. Virgil and Virginia increased power as did Louie and Lulu. Tiger and Lily were hanging on tight. 
‘Takeoff!’ Pearl announced. ‘Follow me!’
What a wonderful sight. Pearl Baker-Moth leading the way. The two dragon flies at full power lifting their loads. Two bees with happy little creatures on their backs. They were off, the Ten Ants were cheering. On they went for a well deserved trip away for the night. 
Pearl checked communications with the others, ‘Everybody alright back there?’ Yes everybody was.
‘Increasing speed to twenty knots, maintaining twenty feet above the stream’. Pearl announced.
We remember of course that insects had small feet so twenty feet was in fact quite close to the surface of the stream. Knots in the insect world were derived from the speed at which a centipede could run. At twenty knots a centipede was likely to end up with twenty of its legs in a knot. It was quite a good way for insects to measure speed. Naturally the maximum was one hundred knots.
Louie and Lulu were on a high. Ahead they could see the Ten Ants seated on the back of Virgil, waving and chattering amongst themselves. Louie and Lulu frequently glanced at each other and looked at the precious little bundles on their backs, snuggled down into the furry bodies of their parents. Behind them they could hear the powerful wings of Virginia. It was comforting to know Virginia was there to watch over them.
On up the stream the five flew in a tight formation. Pearl turned right at the fork then up the rapids she climbed on to the falls. The team followed. 
Just before the falls Pearl announced, ‘Reducing speed to ten knots, Louie and Lulu please circle overhead with me and let Virgil and Virginia land first’.
Virgil and Virginia landed first and parked well up so Pearl, Louie and Lulu could land safely.
On arrival it was just as it had been on the previous occasion. The Ten Ants rushed to the pool edge chattering amongst themselves.
Tiger and Lily stayed with their parents for a moment until they had been reassured that the falls were nothing to be frightened of. Louie and Lulu pointed at the falls trying to explain to Tiger and Lily what they were. They both held Tiger and Lily for a moment saying. ‘Don’t be afraid’.
With confidence restored, Tiger and Lily ran off to join the Ten Ants at the edge of the pool while saying to themselves something that sounded like. ‘No fraid, no fraid’.
Yes the Ten Ants were now Tiger and Lily’s buddies. It was a happy little scene down at the water’s edge. Louie and Lulu were happy as they knew the Ten Ants would watch over Tiger and Lily.
As with the trip two years earlier Pearl had packed her Thermoth and they all sat around enjoying a hot cup of gum leaf tea. Lulu served up chocolate cake and some pollen biscuits she had made the day before. Of course as soon as chocolate cake was mentioned the Ten Ants, Tiger and Lily appeared from nowhere. 
Tiger went to Louie and put his arms around his neck as if to say ‘thank you for bringing me here’. Lily did the same with Lulu. 
Tiger and Lily munched on little bits of chocolate cake; yes they were starting to take solids now! Tiger liked to dip his chocolate cake in his dandelion milk. He made many utterances of ‘I like this’ sort of noises. It didn’t take long for his sister to catch on to the idea too.
Most of the chocolate cake and dandelion milk went into the mouths of the little blighters, however some of it didn’t. Some of their yellow stripes had a distinct autumn toning! – Until Lulu carefully cleaned them down by the pool. Yes these two little bees provided plenty of happy entertainment and laughter for the others in the party.
Pearl as leader of the expedition called everybody to order and announced it was time to move on. If they timed it right they would be able to see the light in the chamber at 11.00 a.m.
With everything packed away again Pearl led the way to the top of the falls and in they went to the cave behind. The little ones with Louie and Lulu went very quiet as they circled around to get used to the dark.
‘Entering the tunnel now’, Pearl announced and the others followed with Virginia at the rear.
Tiger and Lily squeaked with delight at the sight of the glow worms lining the tunnel wall.
Because of the newly acquired liking for chocolate cake, anything the pair saw that they liked brought about a sound from them that distinctly sounded like ‘cake! cake!’ as was the case when they pointed to the glow worms along the tunnel.
‘No, glow worms’, said Louie laughing.
After coming through the first tunnel and landing in the chamber, Louie and Lulu sat close to Tiger and Lily and said softly. ‘Watch, something special will happen. More special than cake!’
Sure enough, it did. No matter how often the insects had seen the phenomenon before, it never failed to bring about absolute silence. That was until Tiger who was watching in awe said something like. ‘More cake?’ Everybody laughed.
Tiger didn’t quite know what he had said and clung to his father for reassurance, just in case he had said something wrong!
The shaft of light lasted a few minutes then it was gone. Tiger and Lily rubbed their eyes to try and adjust to the dark again. It was a bit scary not being able to see Mum and Dad and there were a few whimpery little squeaks. Louie and Lulu picked them up and comforted them for awhile. Holding them tight and stroking their little furry backs soon made the world right again for the little bees.
When everybody had adjusted to the reduced light, Pearl called for takeoff. The little bees climbed aboard Louie and Lulu. On Pearl’s command the insects followed Pearl up to the top of the chamber where the second tunnel commenced. It was then on to the cave.
Even though the insects had flown through the tunnels before, it was always a thrill to do it again. It was a unique world that could only be enjoyed by them. Everybody was silent as they sped along. All that could be heard was the sound of beating wings and the occasional splashing sound of a waterfall or two. The glow worms either side rushed past like shooting stars. Louie held Lulu’s hand while they were flying alongside each other. Their hearts were full of the love they had for each other and for the two little bees on their backs.
After about half an hour Pearl announced. ‘Coming to the cave, slowing to five knots, prepare for the change from dark to light’.
The bright blue of the sea and sun shining in from the cave entrance that Pearl had warned about, blinded the insects momentarily. Pearl had control and announced. ‘Louie, Lulu, you land first, with me. Virgil Virginia please circle and hold outside the cave entrance until Tiger and Lily are safely in position’.
‘Roger’, said Virgil on behalf of Virginia and himself.
Louie, Lulu and Pearl landed safely on the sandy bit to the left of the pool and then vacated the area for Virgil and Virginia to land.
‘All clear to land Virgil and Virginia’, said Pearl.
‘Robert’, said Virgil who thought other names besides ‘Roger’ might as well be used. 
Virgil and Virginia landed safely and detached their containers. 
Oh it was so good to be back again. Louie and Pearl smiled at one another, reminiscing about the time they had been at the cave over two years ago. 
Virgil came over to Pearl and congratulated her on controlling the flight in. ‘Well-done Pearl! Thanks for that, couldn’t have done better myself’.
‘Thanks Virgil’, said Pearl. ‘Only too glad to be of assistance!’
The first thing to address was lunch. Tiger and Lily had with various “where’s the food” type noises let everybody know that this was probably the best course of action.
Pearl and Lulu organised the food and they all sat at the mouth of the cave looking out over the sea. Tiger and Lily stayed quite close to their parents; it was quite scary being so far above something that looked so strange and blue. 
After lunch the wee bees were quite sleepy so Lulu put them up on one of the sandy ledges where they slept for an hour.
After their sleep, Tiger and Lily joined the Ten Ants at the pool and splashed around the edge under the watchful eye of Louie and Lulu. The splashing around bit was good for getting any remains of chocolate cake and dandelion milk out of the fur of the two little bodies.
Pearl, Louie and Lulu sat together relaxing for most of the afternoon and talked about the past year. While they talked, Virgil and Virginia flew outside the cave gliding in the updrafts off the sea from an onshore breeze. This was something the two dragonflies really enjoyed doing together. 
At about 6.00 p.m., Louie and the Ten Ants with a bit of help from Tiger and Lily, piled up some of the sticks from the seagull’s nest ready for a fire to sit around in the evening. The pile of sticks was setup close to the entrance of the cave.
At 7.00 p.m. Virgil and Virginia came in from their afternoon of flying. The fire was lit with some of Louie’s Beehive Matches. It was time for some red wine, chocolate cake, and honey nectar for the Ten Ants.
Tiger and Lily were fascinated with the fire. It was warm and made crackling noises. What was it? Louie and Lulu explained that it was something to be respected and not to go too close.
It had been a good day. Virgil and Virginia talked about when they were out gliding they had gone all the way down the cliff to the sea. Near the bottom, close to the sea, they had found another cave much larger than the one they were in. They were both excited that there maybe access via tunnels from the other side. It was something to be investigated another time.
After the evening meal, everybody propped themselves up on the sand in front of the fire and sat and watched the dancing flames. Louie passed around a few more glasses of his famous honey nectar. Talking and chatter flowed with the consumption of the nectar.
Every so often Louie put some more wood on the fire and sparks would fly upwards into the darkness like a fireworks display. Tiger and Lily jumped for joy pointing skywards and squeaking with excitement. Louie thought Tiger had said something like ‘more glow worms daddy!’
Beyond the fire, way out to sea the sun had by now disappeared below the horizon. Darkness was upon them, the stars shone brightly.
The flames of the fire lit up the cave and produced dancing shadows across the walls. The insects had a feeling of excitement and anticipation about the year ending and a new one beginning.
Virgil had remembered to bring his ten ‘Megapixie’ fidgetal camera and spent some time capturing the magical moment. Virgil must have taken at least three or more pictures.
A little later in the evening, Virgil and Virginia moved closer to the fire and sat side by side. It wasn’t well known but Virgil and Virginia were quite musical dragonflies. Virgil had in fact spent many years learning to play the triangle. 
Apart from Virgil’s triangle talents, he and Virginia had beautiful singing voices and the pair broke into a perfect two part harmonised song. Everybody clapped including the two wee bees who quickly imitated their parents and squeaked with glee.
Virgil and Virginia went on to sing songs where everyone joined in. It was wonderful, it was magic. Virgil then gave instructions to the insects for rhythm participation to accompany a special song about two small bees that he and Virginia had written.
Pearl was to flutter when instructed, the bees were to buzz and the ants clap. On Virgil and Virginia’s instruction the rhythm section went something like; buzz buzz flutter clap; buzz buzz flutter clap. Yea! Virgil had them all going while conducting the group with a stick from the pile of firewood.
‘Come on louder, I want to hear you’, said Virgil.
Buzz buzz flutter clap.
‘Louder!’ said Virgil waving his firewood stick baton.
BUZZ BUZZ FLUTTER CLAP!
‘That’s better, that’s what I want to hear!’ said Virgil.
Now having the group at full swing Virgil and Virginia broke into song. Some of the words of the song went a little like this:

‘Louie was a bee of modest means who lived quite close to a stream.
He lived by himself in a little house and little did he dream.
That a beautiful bee named Lulu would come into his life.
They would fall in love then Louie would ask her to be his wife.

Oh Louie and Lulu. (Chorus)
The best bees in the world.
We love you both just oh so much.
Of you we feel so proud.

For Louie and for Lulu, when they were husband and wife.
There was something sadly missing that they needed in their life.
Although it seemed impossible and some would have said it was silly.
They wished for two little baby bees and along came Tiger and Lily.

Oh Louie and Lulu. (Chorus)
The best bees in the world.
We love you both just oh so much.
Of you we feel so proud’.

……………….A couple of buzz buzz’s were missed from the buzz buzz flutter clap sequence while Louie and Lulu held each other very tightly with tears streaming down their stripes. They picked up Tiger and Lily and held the two little mites. They were both squeaking and clapping their little hands.
The Ten Ants replaced the missing buzz buzz bits with some extra clapping. What fun Virgil and Virginia had made New Year’s Eve.
Virgil and Virginia sang some beautiful romantic songs. Louie and Lulu danced together under the shadows flickering on the ceiling of the cave. The fire was like a bright sun in the black of the cave entrance. They were lost in another world.
Louie whispered to Lulu and said. ‘Sit with Tiger and Lily for a moment I will go and ask Pearl to dance’.
Lulu squeezed Louie for his thoughtfulness and went and sat down and held Tiger and Lily so they could watch Louie and Pearl.
‘Please dance with me your highness’, said Louie going up to Pearl and bowing.
‘My pleasure sire!’ said Pearl laughing. 
Louie and Pearl danced beautifully. The beautiful moth was like something from Swan Lake. Everybody clapped when they had finished. Louie held Pearl at arm’s length for a moment. He looked into her beautiful eyes and just simply said. ‘You wonderful moth’.
Oh dear, what a wonderful evening. Emotions were running high with the feelings the insects had for one another. There was such a strong bond between them all.
The hour of midnight was approaching. Tiger and Lily were looking up expectantly at their parents wondering what exciting thing would happen next. They were too excited to sleep even though it was way past their bed time.
 Virgil said to Louie, ‘Pile some more wood on the fire Louie’. Louie and the Ten Ants did as Virgil bid. The flames went high and the shadows danced and flickered through the cave even more.
Virgil and Virginia moved to where the two containers were. They were lit up by the light of the roaring fire that Louie and the Ten Ants had made.
Virgil and Virginia started beating their wings on top of the containers in a rhythm that to a human would have sounded like something from the African jungle. Virgil and Virginia chanted a count down to the magic hour. Yea! Everybody cheered, it was the New Year! 
There was more dancing then the insects sat down in front of the fire again and watched the flames die down.
 Tiger and Lily had their little arms tightly secured around their parents’ necks. The two little blighters had dropped off to sleep. It wasn’t long before tiredness overtook all the insects and soon they were all sound asleep!
As the Ten Ants had done when they were at the cave last time, they had pulled up some seagull feathers and made themselves a cosy little arrangement to sleep on.
The fire died. There was no moon tonight, it was dark and all was hush. Tiger and Lily had an experience that they would remember for the rest of their lives.

The following morning breakfast was made and the much refreshed insects talked about the New Year and what might lie ahead. 
The insects reluctantly departed about mid morning and headed home. It wasn’t quite as exciting as it had been coming the day before. 
Virgil led them home and took them out through the opening in the roof of the chamber. It was a high speed run at fifty knots plus, down the hill side, past the falls and on home along the stream again. The rush of air at such speed was exhilarating. The Ten Ants ‘yahooed’ and ‘yippeed’ all the way down!
Louie and Lulu said goodbye to Virgil, Virginia and the Ten Ants who peeled off to land at the hangar. Pearl accompanied Louie and Lulu for a short distance then headed up to her apartment. 
‘Happy New Year to you all’, Pearl called back as she headed away.
‘You too Pearl, see you soon’, Louie and Lulu called back to Pearl.
Louie and Lulu landed outside their precious little home by the stream. They both felt a little flat after having such a good time up at the cave. It was all over and another year was beginning. The joy of Christmas had come and gone and what a very special Christmas it had been. Louie held Lulu close to him. The little bees clung to their parents. Louie looked into Lulu’s eyes and said. ‘Lulu I love you so much, it is so good to be home and safe again with you Tiger and Lily. What a wonderful Christmas and New Year we have had’.
‘I know Louie’, said Lulu looking up at Louie. ‘Nothing could ever replace what we have here. Look at these two wee mites, they love us so much’.
‘Come on my bee’, said Lulu. ‘We have got another week of holiday and we are going to enjoy it’.
‘You are right my Lulu’, said Louie lifting Lulu off her feet and squeezing her. ‘This is the first day of the rest of our lives. Today is not only the first day of the New Year but it is a new beginning for us all!’
Louie and Lulu walked outside and onto the deck and looked down at the quietly flowing stream below them. Tiger and Lily followed, clinging to their parents while looking up at them in adoration. 
‘Let’s take some lunch down to the stream’, said Lulu. ‘Tiger and Lily can splash around in the water and we can sit and watch them.
‘Yes let’s’, said Louie.
Lulu went and put together a lunch of some hard boiled spider eggs, pollen biscuits, chocolate cake and of course some dandelion milk for Tiger and Lily.
The four bees spent a very happy afternoon down at the water’s edge.

Louie and Lulu relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the week with Tiger and Lily. It rained on a couple of days but the remaining time was spent in their special place, down the little track by the stream.
The week of living in paradise of course eventually came to an end. The Factory was due to start operating again. 
Things weren’t going to be quite the same as before. Louie and Lulu had discussed it and agreed that Lulu would work at the Factory two days a week. On these days Rose would take care of Tiger and Lily. 
However this was to be a short term arrangement until the wee bees had settled in a little more and then Rose would look after Tiger and Lily for five days a week.
Louie couldn’t help reflecting on those happy happy days before Christmas when Lulu was with him every day at the Factory. He would miss her. 

Chapter 23
Pearl Is Worried about the Future of The stream Community.

A month has passed since the Factory started again in the New Year.
Rose was now looking after Tiger and Lily five days a week so that Lulu was back with Louie at the Factory every day.
Tiger and Lily were an absolute delight. Their doting parents couldn’t wait to get home in the evenings to be with them.
If the weather was fine, Rose would have Tiger and Lily out on the deck waiting for their parents to arrive in the evening. Louie and Lulu flying down the stream from the Factory could see the little bees waving to them from some distance off. There was always so much joy to be back together again. The two little creatures were quite agile now and would bounce up and down like little springs on sighting their parents.
The two little bees were saying the odd word now such as ‘Daddy”, “Mummy”, “Hungwy”, “Don’t Like”, “No” and “Yes”; that was about the extent of their vocabulary however it was improving all the time. 
They were truly good little bees and were no bother for Rose to look after. In fact she just adored them and helped greatly with the gradual process for them to learn about life itself. 
Rose had usually fed Tiger and Lily by the time Louie and Lulu arrived home after a day at the factory. This meant the couple could enjoy their own meal together while Tiger and Lily played and scampered around making Louie and Lulu laugh. Yes life in the bee household was pretty good.
Later in the evening Louie and Lulu would have the pleasure of putting the two little bees to bed in their cradle. 
Louie and Lulu with their arms around one another, would watch the little eyes of Tiger and Lily close. There would be a few squeaky little yawns and stretching of little arms and legs. Finally small snuffling sounds would indicate that the pair were indeed sound asleep.
Before Louie and Lulu tiptoed out of the room they would stroke the little heads gently and stare in wonder at the two precious little bundles. 
Louie and Lulu would look at each other and smile, then go and spend the rest of the evening out on the deck if it was warm or inside by the stove if it was cool.
On several occasions over the past few weeks Louie had opened up his gaptop and he and Lulu sat and looked at the photos Virgil had taken up at the cave on that magic New Year’s Eve. Louie and Lulu clung on to the memory of that wonderful time as they moved into the reality of the New Year. It helped to maintain an inner strength to face what ever life might throw at them.
Louie and Lulu hadn’t seen Pearl for a few weeks now. Pearl had been really busy fulfilling her role as Queen to keep the insect community safe by any means that she could. 
Pearl had been spending a lot of time through the quartz, merging with various humans to try and determine what the aims of the village council were, particularly in relation to the stream where the insects lived.
The ability the insects had to merge with humans had enabled Pearl to attend council meetings and determine the agendas of the councillors and the associated administration. Pearl had also merged with people in the village library and researched the history of the village, amongst other things. Pearl wasn’t happy about what she was finding. It was time to act before it was too late.
One evening, after the two little bees had been put to bed and Louie and Lulu were sitting out on their deck, Pearl phoned Louie.
‘Hi Louie, Pearl here’, said Pearl. ‘I hope I haven’t disturbed Tiger and Lily by phoning you?’
‘No problem’, Louie replied. ‘They are both sound asleep; Lulu and I are sitting out on the deck just watching the stream go by while the sun goes down. As you know it’s another one of those beautiful summer evenings’.
‘Yes I think I can just see you two’, said Pearl looking out the window of her apartment.
‘We have both missed our favourite Moth, we haven’t seen you for awhile’, Louie continued.
‘Thanks Louie’, Pearl replied. ‘Yes I have been quite busy. I wonder if I could meet with you and Lulu some time this week. You may remember last year I mentioned a major project we need to undertake. It has become quite urgent to take some action. I’d like to go over it with you and Lulu. We could go to the Country Club if you like and I will shout you a meal? The only thing is getting dressed up; you know what they are like there Louie’.
‘I’ll just check with Lulu Pearl’, said Louie holding the phone to his chest while he talked to Lulu. 
‘Let’s go to the Country Club! Please Louie’, said Lulu looking up with her appealing brown eyes. The pleading look on Lulu’s face caused Louie to agree without question, even though he hated getting dressed up!
Louie responded to Pearl. ‘The Country Club it is Pearl, when would you like to meet?’
‘That’s great Louie’, said Pearl. ‘Could we make it next Monday, it will be quiet then. Come up to my apartment just after 11.15 a.m. and we can get aboard the 11.48 a.m. train’.
‘See you then Pearl’, Louie confirmed.
‘Thanks Louie, give Lulu a hug from me’, said Pearl before hanging up.
Louie sat down beside Lulu again and put his arms carefully around her then squeezed her tightly. ‘This is from Pearl’, said Louie laughing.
‘Well how about another one from you then Louie?’ said Lulu mischievously. Louie obliged of course!
Lulu was glad that they were going to the Country Club. She had made herself a delightful little green mini skirt with a matching top, out of pressed dandelion leaves. Lulu was dying for an excuse to wear her new outfit. 

Monday came. Louie had arranged for Import to look after the Factory. Rose was looking after Tiger and Lily.
Just before 11.15 a.m. Louie and Lulu were ready to head for Pearl’s apartment. Lulu looked just the cutest little bee in her new outfit. She was so pretty. Louie was very proud of her. 
Louie wore his spider silk shorts and braces together with a natty looking green tie Lulu had made to match her outfit. What a stunning couple!
Louie and Lulu said goodbye to Rose, Tiger and Lily. Tiger and Lily waved to their parents as they flew off and disappeared up to Pearl’s apartment.
It was only a moment before they were at Pearl’s apartment. It was good to see Pearl again.
‘Come on in you two’, said Pearl as she opened the door. ‘My! You both look so smart! Make yourselves at home; I will be ready in a few moments’. 
Shortly afterwards when Pearl was ready the trio headed down the stream, through the village, and then alighted on the roof of the railway station in the sun and waited for the train.
While they waited on the station roof Pearl filled in the time talking about her experience merging with people in the village library. 
‘It’s been an amazing educational experience for me at the village library’, said Pearl. ‘I have learnt so much more about the planet we live on. I used to think the planet extended from the hills we see in the west to somewhere past the village! Not any more. I have learnt about what the sea is that we see from the cave and how out across these seas are other countries like where we live here. The planet we live on has millions and millions of humans. I’ll tell you more about it sometime. Believe me the powers we have are almost unimaginable.
‘If you two get a chance some time, go and merge with someone in the library, you will be amazed’.
Louie was about to say something when the train arrived.
The insects flew into the train driver’s cab. They were off to the Country Club. Louie looked at his beautiful Lulu and thought how much happier he felt now compared to the time when he had first come out for the meeting about the tunnel project.
On arrival at the Country Club, Pearl took Louie and Lulu to a special table she had booked by the window.
Sir Cada and Lady Bird were at the Club (as they were most days) and came over to have a brief chat. Before Sir Cada and Lady Bird arrived at their table, Lulu nudged Louie gently and whispered in his ear. ‘You are to be on your best behaviour you naughty bee’. 
All went well however. Sir Cada thought it was “fwightfully” good to see Louie and Lulu again and didn’t even mention how clever his son and daughter were or how many “degwees” they had. In fact all was very pleasant and Sir Cada and Lady Bird went off and sat down at their table again.
Pearl sighed with relief and smiled at Louie and Lulu without saying a word.
Some glasses of honey nectar were ordered. Today the food was being served as a buffet so the insects could help themselves as required. There was a beautiful selection of their favourites including chocolate cake of course!
Pearl got straight on to what she wanted to say. Deep down she was very very worried and it was good to have Louie and Lulu with her. There was a degree of urgency in her voice.
Pearl set about explaining what she had been doing in the village for the past few weeks, particularly in relation to the village council. First of all she gave Louie and Lulu a background on how the town politics worked before moving on to what the council had been up to.
Pearl’s explanation went something like this:
There were twelve councillors including the Mayor, Mayor Twyfle. It had become apparent to Pearl that Mayor Twyfle was easily manipulated by the other eleven councillors and was certainly no leader. 
The twelve councillors voted on village issues put forward by either the Mayor, individual councillors or by submissions from the public.
A chief executive officer, a certain Mr Grovelmoore, implemented the courses of action agreed by the councillors via the council staff hierarchy. The staff under Grovelmoore consisted of an overly large number of over paid, paper shuffling seat warmers!
As a simple example of how it all worked, Pearl recalled the Cyril Marchfart debacle (the council inspector who had caused a great deal of bother to Mr McFarland). Marchfart was simply part of the council staff hierarchy carrying out policies formulated by the councillors and its executive. In this particular case the policy being administered was not about saving trees but a subtle means of collecting revenue! 
Since the beginning of the year, the village council had met twice to formulate and document the direction the council would take in the coming twelve months. Pearl explained how she had merged with all of the councillors at both of the meetings. To Pearl’s disgust, the councillors including Mayor Twyfle, had an underlying attitude to put their own needs first without any real consideration for the welfare of the village and its citizens. Pearl had seen this by the way many public submissions were ignored. Often responses to public submissions were deliberately prepared in such a manner as to say why things couldn’t be done.
One thing that had really shocked Pearl was that at the first meeting the councillors had all agreed that they needed to double their remuneration so that what they were paid matched the private sector! Really? Pearl had thought if they wanted payment similar to the private sector then go and get a job there. It appeared to Pearl that these particular councillors had failed in the private sector and this was the only reason they were with the council. Disgusting!
In order to achieve the change in remuneration together with other spurious expenditure it was going to be necessary to raise rates by twenty percent. This had been agreed to by all the councillors in five minutes flat!
To Pearl, raising the rates by twenty percent could have serious implications for the insect community. Residents such as Mr McFarland in all likelihood wouldn’t be able to afford such an increase and would therefore sell up and move away. If Mr McFarland moved it was quite possible that the Factory could be destroyed. New owners would probably demolish the old shed where Louie and Lulu ran their operation. 
Pearl had found that the culture that existed amongst the councillors was to make money, not to serve the ratepayers who had elected them. They even referred to ratepayers as customers! Were these guys for real! 
In the minds of the councillors and the executive, the council was to be run as a business. Ratepayers were to pay for services on a user pays basis even though the rates collected had paid for the services many times over. As far as the councillors were concerned, rates were to be collected to fill the trough that they and the executive had their snouts firmly entrenched in!
As part of this money making culture, the councillors felt that it could be a good idea to sell off the reserve land along the stream and turn it into a housing development. This was totally against what ratepayers wanted. However the councillors had agreed to ignore the interests of the ratepayers in favour of their own selfish needs and considered the option as a done deal.
What really worried Pearl deeply was that if it eventuated that the reserve land along the stream be turned into a housing development, Louie’s Reserve Bank would disappear; the dollops and scents would be gone. Worst of all, the tunnel would go and the insects would no longer be able to go through the quartz and do the things they were able to do now. Yes what Pearl had been discovering was very serious indeed.
There was more, much more. Pearl had also found that the councillors had voted unanimously to spend a large amount of ratepayer’s money on a trip away they had defined as being a “fact finding mission”! Yes all of the councillors were to be away for the whole of the next month. However it became obvious to Pearl that this was no “fact finding mission” but instead a holiday at the ratepayer’s expense! In fact the councillors had laughed amongst themselves how easy it was to use ratepayer’s money to their own advantage and considered it their right to do so. To make matters worse, the councillors had agreed to give Grovelmoore, the chief executive officer, a massive bonus so that their own agendas would be executed without question! 
Pearl had uncovered another disgusting piece of human greed.
Up the stream well past Sir Cada and Lady Bird’s place was a large property that had up until recently been owned by a Mrs Appleton. Her husband had died some years ago. Mrs Appleton had lived off the land and grown beautiful flowers along with vegetables and had planted a fine stand of native trees. It was a delightful place for the insects to visit on occasions. 
Unfortunately Mrs Appleton had now died. In her will she had left the property to the council with clearly spelt out instructions to designate her property as additional streamside reserve land. Her intentions were for all citizens to enjoy what she had known.
The councillors in order to suit their own needs had overturned Mrs Appleton’s wishes by declaring the land to be subject to flooding and therefore not suitable as a reserve for the public. Pearl knew very well the land had never flooded in the time the insect community had been around. 
However it soon became apparent that this was all part of an agenda of one councillor Shufflegrub. He had now bought the land off the council for a considerably reduced sum to further his own interests. 
The land Mrs Appleton had owned was quite extensive and fertile. It had a beautiful home that Mrs Appleton had meticulously maintained. Councillor Shufflegrub had in his wisdom decided that there was money to be made in dairy farming. He intended to run a herd of two hundred cows on the site and live there with his family. Apparently two hundred cows was only the start. It could end up being one thousand or more later.
This might have sounded innocent enough however Pearl had to her horror discovered that a consent had been granted by the council to run the effluent from the milking shed straight into the stream! This on its own would destroy the whole of the insect community along the stream banks. Even worse was the fact that this wasn’t a “might happen”, the milking shed had already been built and the effluent pipe to the stream was not far off being laid.
Pearl referred again to how she had spent some considerable time in the village library and reiterated what an amazingly valuable source of information for the insect community it was. She had researched the history of the village.
What Pearl had found was that some thirty years earlier the village council had been run on an almost voluntary basis. In earlier times it had been an honour to serve as a councillor. Councillors in these times had the village in their hearts and did their best to fulfil the ratepayer’s wishes and to make the village a good place to be. Rates in these times had been comparatively low and most services were free. Unfortunately human greed had been allowed by stealth to infiltrate the village council culture to such an extent that now the agenda was to exploit the villagers to support a greedy few. In effect what the council and the team of councillors had been doing via the council processes was make dishonest and immoral practices legal. They felt it was their absolute arrogant right to do so! 
Finally to add insult to injury Pearl had noted with interest that as part of the greed by stealth process it was proposed over the next ten years to double the number of councillors. The chief executive officer position was to be replaced with a team of five highly paid directors. The five directors would report to a managing director.
For cooperation in this deviousness, the current chief executive officer, Grovelmoore, was to be elevated to the managing director position. Where would it all end?
Pearl could see that human greed manifesting itself in the form of legalized dishonesty would eventually destroy the insect community as well as possibly the lives of the people in the village. Unfortunately it was not something that would happen in the future, it was happening now. 
Pearl was very very angry and at times was shaking with rage as she spoke about what she had found. 
Heaven help anyone who enrages Pearl Baker-Moth; as we shall soon learn!
Pearl spent a good hour or more explaining to Louie and Lulu just how serious the situation was. She carefully went over things that Louie and Lulu didn’t understand.
When Pearl stopped talking there was a long silence. Pearl settled her emotions and gained composure while Louie and Lulu reflected on what Pearl had said. Lulu was afraid for the future of the two little bees at home with Rose.
Pearl now having composed herself broke the silence and said, ‘Come on you two, none of us have had any lunch! Let’s get some and then I will talk some more. There will always be ways around these things. I’ve got a few ideas already and you two can help me implement them’.
‘I think we need a little red wine after that lot’, said Louie. ‘I will get us all a glass’.
When the three had sat down again to have their lunch Pearl went on to say, ‘When we were up at the cave for New Year’s Eve it really struck me just how precious and wonderful our lives and our community are. We have to do everything we can to preserve it. I know how happy you two are together; I can see it and feel it. As for those two little blighters Tiger and Lily, I would die before I let anything happen to them’.
Lulu reached out to Pearl and said. ‘Louie and I would die for Tiger and Lily too Pearl, we are right behind you in anything you decide to do’.
‘Thank you, I do need your help and support with this one’, said Pearl. ‘I don’t want you two to worry. As I said there are ways around these things. We do have tremendous powers and if we use them sensibly and with integrity we will continue to preserve what we have. Goodness only knows Louie what would have happened if you hadn’t come across the blue light from the quartz in the tunnel, we would be history by now’.
Pearl paused for a sip of red wine then went on to say. ‘The problems we face immediately are difficult enough and somehow we will deal with them. Unfortunately this won’t be the end of it. With the greed culture that now prevails in the human world there is no genuine concern for the planet itself. Most initiatives by humans to save the planet are a cover for extracting money off others. An example is the carbon tax which will make a few rich and many poor. It’s just unbelievable.
 ‘The real issue that there are too many humans on the planet will never be dealt with. The greed for money along with religious cultures will see to that. With the ever expanding human population, eventually we could if we are not vigilant, be overrun by shear numbers and a lack of space left on the planet. We will need to recognise threats early and deal with them accordingly. Some of these problems will be much bigger than we are facing now. But again I am sure we can deal with them’.
Pearl paused for a moment then went on to say. ‘Take heart in the fact that our community uses renewable energy resources, we don’t pollute the planet and we don’t have a culture of greed. Insects such as us should be around long after humans have destroyed themselves. We need to be strong. If we take the necessary action we will prevail’.
What Pearl had been saying was indeed very very profound. She really had learnt a great deal from the information available in the village library.
‘I guess’, said Louie recognizing that it was a case of dealing with one thing at a time, ‘the immediate problem to deal with is the pollution of the stream by the proposed dairy farm. I hope there is still time?’
‘You are right Louie’, said Pearl. ‘What I suggest is that we go and have a look at Mrs Appleton’s property in the next few days, the sooner the better. How about say Thursday 10.00 a.m., I could call in at your place first. I would love to see Tiger and Lily again’.
Louie looked at Lulu. Lulu nodded.
‘Right that’s settled’, said Pearl. ‘We are moving in the right direction, one step at a time. I have an idea in my mind how to deal with the councillors. I will talk to you about it later when I have had more time to think and formulate a plan. In the meantime let’s relax and enjoy ourselves. I don’t want you two to worry. With your help and some determination I just know we can deal to the issues I have outlined. We have to, to survive’. 
With a complete change of subject and an attempt to dispense with the gloominess that prevailed, Pearl looked at Lulu and said, ‘Lulu you look absolutely stunning in that new dress you have made and I love the green tie you have made for Louie to match’.
‘Thanks Pearl’, said Lulu. ‘Sorry I have been down a bit but what you have said has come as a bit of a shock’.
‘Don’t worry Lulu’ Pearl responded smiling at Lulu while reaching out and clutching her hand. ‘As I have said the problems have been recognised and now we can deal with them. We are just so fortunate to know about them now before it is too late’.
The three felt a little more positive having talked it through. There was a very strong resolve to preserve the happiness they all had and they would do it at any cost.
About mid afternoon the trio caught the train back and flew on home. They were all quiet and virtually said nothing all the way. There was a great deal to think about. It was a very serious situation to be in. 
After flying back up the stream Pearl waved goodbye and headed back to her apartment. As she flew off and up to her apartment she shouted back. ‘See you on Thursday at 10.00 a.m. at your place, you are not to worry, that’s an order!’
Louie and Lulu landed on the deck outside their home and held each other tightly for a moment; they were both stunned with what Pearl had told them.
The tension didn’t last long however. Two little bees came running out shouting ‘Daddy’, ‘Mummy’ and clung to their parents as though they hadn’t seen them for a year! Louie picked up Tiger and Lulu picked up Lily. Louie and Lulu faced each other and smiled, then they laughed, yes they would fight this thing to the bitter end! No one could ever be sad with Tiger and Lily around!

Chapter 24
The Appleton Property Issue is dealt with.

On the Thursday morning when Pearl was due to arrive, our two bees Louie and Lulu were feeling much more positive. Thank goodness Pearl had the foresight to find out what was going on in the village. 
Since last seeing Pearl, Louie and Lulu had been getting Tiger and Lily to practice standing together and saying ‘Hello Aunty Pearl’. When Pearl was due to arrive it was “coming out” something like “Hu wo Arny Bell” followed by a giggle, a few unscripted claps and a bashful curling up of the tiny little toes! Louie and Lulu laughed. 
‘They will never get it right!’ said Lulu.
‘Pearl will love it!’ said Louie.
Louie and Lulu relaxed out on the deck and waited for Pearl to arrive. It was another beautiful summer’s day. 
At about 10.00 a.m. they heard it. Just as it had been Christmas morning. It brought a tear to Lulu’s eyes. Yes the flutter of Pearl’s wings getting closer and closer.
Pearl landed perfectly on the deck looking radiant as usual.
‘Morning Pearl’, said Louie. ‘Stay there for a moment; we want to show you something if we can!’
Louie turned towards the house, ‘Tiger, Lily, Pearl is here!’
Two little figures ran out of the house then marched up to Pearl, looked straight up at her and went through the routine of ‘Hu wo Arny Bell’ followed by a giggle, a few unscripted claps and a bashful curling up of the tiny little toes!
Pearl’s eyes misted over and she bent down and clutched the two little bees to her body. ‘You beautiful, beautiful little creatures, can you remember when you stayed with me on Christmas Eve?’ said Pearl choked with emotion while gently stroking the little bodies.
‘Why don’t you sit and hold them for a while Pearl’, said Louie. ‘I’ll make you a cup of gum leaf tea before we go if you like?’
‘Oh thanks Louie and Lulu, that would be really nice’, said Pearl. ‘They are just so delightful; they have grown a little too’.
Pearl and Lulu chatted while Louie went and made some tea for them all including Rose.
‘Come and have a cup of tea with us Rose’, said Louie.
Rose joined them and Louie introduced Rose to Pearl. The four watched Tiger and Lily get up to their usual antics. The game of hide the apple seed was on the go. Poor Lily was not having much success at finding it. Tiger had stuck it to Lily’s back.
‘Naughty Tiger’, said Lulu laughing. ‘Go and show Lily where it is!’ 
Tiger ran up to his sister and showed her where it was. He then hugged his sister as if to apologise for teasing her.
‘This is certainly what life is all about isn’t it’, said Pearl looking at Tiger and Lily playing, then glancing at the stream and bush below.
Louie, Lulu and Pearl finished their tea then bid adieu to Tiger, Lily and Rose before heading off up the stream. 
‘Let’s forget about the Appleton property and head for the cave!’ said Louie laughing.
‘I know how you feel’, said Pearl. ‘It’s very tempting but we have a job to do!’
The trio passed Virgil’s hangar and waved to Virgil and Virginia. It was on past Sir Cada and Lady Bird’s place for about another quarter hour of flying.
‘When we get there’, said Pearl. ‘I suggest we head for a tree and survey the situation. It’s best to keep well out of harm’s way until we know more about what is going on’.
‘Right’, said Louie. ‘You lead the way and Lulu and I will follow you’.
Pearl turned west and flew away from the stream and onto the Appleton property. Pearl selected a small Kauri tree in front of the house and the three alighted on a branch in the shade near the top.
The three sat close together and surveyed the scene.
In front of them was the magnificent house Mrs Appleton had owned. It was quite a large house, probably 80 years old or more. The house was painted white and had beautifully maintained sash windows with blue shutters. The steeply pitched cedar tile roof had several dormer windows for a number of upstairs bedrooms. The front entrance door was wide and had narrow, arched, stained glass inserts. The door knocker, door handle, and letter flap were of polished brass and glistened like gold in the sun.
A veranda with a grey painted rounded corrugated iron roof ran along the front of the house and along the eastern side so as to catch the sun. Pink and white climbing roses had wrapped themselves around some of the veranda columns and entwined themselves in the white painted iron lattice work at the top below the roof.
On the northeast corner of the veranda was the rocking chair where Mrs Appleton had sat in her final years and reminisced about the good times when her husband had been alive. The house would have made ideal accommodation for visitors to stay. 
‘How dare the council take this away from the citizens of the village’, Pearl muttered to herself with intense anger.
A long finely pebbled driveway came in from the west and stopped at the front of the house where there was a turning and parking area. To the west of the house was a large garage, big enough to take several cars. There was no sign of Councillor Shufflegrub or his family at this time, however judging by washing on the line out the back, the house was now occupied.
To the left of where the insects were perched and quite close to the house was the new milking shed. Obviously Councillor Shufflegrub didn’t want to have to walk too far to check his precious milking equipment. The milking shed was an eyesore in the sense it was stark and sterile. It clashed with the architecture of the beautiful house. Still to Councillor Shufflegrub this was obviously not an issue. After all the object was to make money and to not worry about trifling matters such as this! 
The drive to the house had been extended a short distance to the east to the new milking shed, presumably to allow milk tanker access. The drive extension was of rough coarse stones. It had obviously been laid in a hurry and looked a mess.
The milking shed had been fitted out with sophisticated automated equipment. This meant that the cows could walk into the milking shed at their leisure and “milk” themselves. It must have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. 
Pearl reflected to herself that Councillor Shufflegrub was not only milking cows but the ratepayers of the village as well! 
Pearl noted that the water supply for the milking shed came from an underground supply that also supplied the house. ‘Thank goodness’, Pearl thought, that at least the water wasn’t being drawn from the stream. The amount of water required would have just about run the stream dry!
Beyond the milking shed were a contractor’s vehicle and a mechanical digger. The digger was working as the three watched, making a trench for the pipeline to the stream. 
Dumped near the milking shed was a large pile of concrete pipes and some building materials. There was also a concrete mixer. 
There were two people onsite, the digger operator and a labourer. As the insects watched, the labourer was leaning on a shovel watching the digger do its work. 
Behind the insects were the fields where the cows would graze. The fields stretched quite a distance to the north and had been fully fenced ready for the delivery of the cows at some stage. Councillor Shufflegrub had in his wisdom bulldozed away all the flowers and vegetables that Mrs Appleton had planted, and sewn grass. Some of the native trees Mrs Appleton had planted had been felled. It was a sad sight. Some of the natural beauty had been destroyed in the name of commercial gain.
Louie, Lulu and Pearl took in the surroundings from their vantage point for a few minutes to check if there was any danger before making another move.
‘Seems all quiet’, said Lulu. ‘Let’s go over and see what that contractor is up to’.
‘Right’, said Pearl. ‘Follow me’.
Pearl alighted right on the edge of the milking shed roof on the side looking directly towards where the digger was working. Louie and Lulu sat beside Pearl and watched.
‘Looks as though it will be a day or so before the trench has been dug all the way to the stream’, said Pearl.
‘What do you think we should do?’ said Lulu.
‘Hmm it’s a bit of a tough one’, said Pearl.
Pearl studied the situation for awhile. She looked below her. Some pipe running from the effluent pump in the milking shed had already been laid in the trench and covered over again. Obviously the intention now was to finish the trench then lay the pipe on down to the stream. Pearl looked at the pile of pipes stacked ready to be laid. She noticed that there were numerous different angle sections of pipe. 
Pearl thought these angle sections of pipe might be useful and wondered to herself what they could be for. Looking down the pipeline she saw where they would be used. Towards the stream were some rocky outcrops. The pipeline would have to change direction and go around these.
After a lot of thought Pearl responded to Lulu. ‘We could just block the pipe so that effluent wouldn’t flow. However this would no doubt be discovered and fixed then we would be back to square one. No we have to stop the effluent ever reaching the stream and somehow make this venture unattractive to our greedy and dishonest Councillor Shufflegrub and his family.
‘What I suggest we do’, said Pearl, ‘is come back through the quartz tomorrow fairly early and do a bit of rearranging of the pipe work!’ Pearl was sounding quite mischievous and laughing.
Yes Pearl now had a plan in her mind and explained it to Louie and Lulu. It went something like this:
Tomorrow it would be arranged for Louie to merge with the digger operator. Louie would dig a trench from just outside the milking shed where the pipe ended now, and run the trench to the house. 
At the house end of the trench, Louie would go underneath the foundation and up under the house. Remember in merging, Louie would have acquired all the skills of the digger operator. Digging such a trench would be second nature to him.
While Louie would be busy digging the trench, Pearl and Lulu would lay a pipeline from where the pipe ended now to underneath the house. We remember that when through the quartz the insects had the power to lift heavy things almost effortlessly. 
Either Lulu or Pearl would merge with the labourer. It would be necessary to merge with the labourer, firstly to prevent him from interfering with what the insects were doing, and secondly to assist with sealing the pipe connections.
Fortunately there were plenty of angle sections of pipe so it would be easy to change the direction of the pipe from its present course and run it back towards the house. 
Once the “new” pipe work was in place Louie could cover it up again. It would be easy enough to remove any evidence of Louie’s trench, it would be under the rough extension to the driveway and it would be just a case of raking the stones back over the top again. If necessary, any missing vegetation could be grown back with a little right fist clenching, simple! To complete the job a dummy section of pipe would be placed in the correct trench (just outside the milking shed) and partly covered over. It would look as though this section of pipe was still connected to the effluent pump and be sitting ready to be extended to the stream!
With this arrangement nothing would of course ever reach the stream and the insects would be saved from this threat. But!! Once the milking shed was in operation, effluent would gradually accumulate under the house until it started coming up through the floor boards! Brilliant Pearl!! Councillor Shufflegrub and his family wouldn’t be too keen to stay around with that lot!
As an after thought, Pearl suggested that about the time of discovery of the effluent by the Shufflegrub family, it might be prudent for the three of them to return, maybe on a nice summers’ evening, and with their left fists clenched reduce the cows to calves! No milk for Councillor Shufflegrub!
After Pearl had finished telling Louie and Lulu about the plan, Louie and Lulu were almost speechless but managed to say, ‘Absolutely brilliant Pearl!’ and marvelled about the prospect of what could happen.
‘You really are amazing Pearl’, said Lulu grabbing Pearl’s arm and squeezing it.
‘Thanks team’, said Pearl. ‘I can’t wait for tomorrow to come!’
‘When we have finished tomorrow Louie’, Pearl added, ‘and you have demerged with the digger operator we will have to see what happens. For one thing the digger operator may be confused as to why he hasn’t progressed with the digging of the trench and secondly he will probably wonder why half of the piping has disappeared!
‘Louie if you get time you could carry on digging some of the correct trenching before demerging so that at least the operator can see something for his day’s work. He may in fact go home and not even notice the missing pipes in which case it will be thought they have been stolen overnight. We will play it by ear!’ 
‘This is going to be fun Pearl, I am quite looking forward to operating the digger!’ said Louie with a mischievous smile on his face.
Louie then turned to Lulu and said. ‘What we need to do now is call in at the Factory and tidy up a few things and then we can have a full day down here tomorrow. How about we meet at the tunnel at 8.00 a.m. Pearl?’
‘Agreed’, said Pearl, ‘8.00 a.m. tomorrow it is’.
The now happy insects headed back down the stream. Pearl flew back to her apartment and Louie and Lulu stopped off at the Factory.

The next day the excited trio met at the tunnel at 8.00 a.m. as arranged. It wasn’t long before they were through the quartz and had flown as invisible forms to the Appleton property.
When the insects arrived they landed in front of the house and surveyed the scene. There was a car in the driveway belonging to Councillor Shufflegrub. 
Some distance away where the digger was, Shufflegrub seemed to be having an animated discussion with the digger operator and the labourer. He was waving his arms around quite a bit.
‘Let’s go and find out what that’s all about!’ said Pearl.
Louie, Lulu and Pearl landed right beside Councillor Shufflegrub. Of course nobody could see them.
Yes Councillor Shufflegrub was not pleased. He wanted the digging of the trench for the pipeline finished today, no ifs or buts! Time was short. Two hundred cows would be arriving in five days and he would be away after that for a month (we remember of course the “fact finding mission” trip away at the ratepayer’s expense!). 
The digger driver was obviously a little scared of Shufflegrub who was a man of monstrous proportions as well as being a bully. Anyone in close proximity to Shufflegrub would not be far from wrong to think there was a total eclipse!
The digger driver had promised reluctantly that he would stay on into the evening and get the trench finished so the pipe work could be laid tomorrow. 
Shufflegrub stormed back to his car. Lulu thought it was strange how the digger driver and the labourer waved to the departing Councillor Shufflegrub with two fingers in the air!
When Councillor Shufflegrub had departed Pearl took over.
‘Right Louie, merge with the digger driver and Lulu you merge with the labourer’. 
It was all go. Louie ran the digger back towards the house and started digging the trench as directed by Pearl. 
As the trench progressed, Pearl lifted the sections of pipe and placed them in the trench. Lulu as the labourer had the concrete mixer going flat out mixing mortar to join the pipe sections. It really was a sight to see! Was this really two bees and a moth doing all this?
By late morning Louie had finished the trench running up to and under the house. He then drove the digger back to where the digger operator had been earlier working and carried on digging the proper trench. Pearl and Lulu continued laying the pipe and connecting the sections. It was taking awhile to mix the mortar and get the pipe sections connected. The labourer wasn’t used to the work Lulu was demanding of him either!
It was just before midday, Lulu noticed it first. A car was coming up the driveway.
‘Pearl, Pearl’, shouted Lulu in her labourer’s voice. ‘There is a car coming up the driveway’.
Pearl looked. Sure enough, there was Councillor Shufflegrub coming back, obviously to check on the progress of the digger operator. After all Shufflegrub wasn’t going to have anything prevent him going away on his “holiday”!
Pearl stopped helping Lulu with the pipes in the trench and said. ‘I’ll be back shortly Lulu, just a little job to do!’ What was Pearl up to Lulu thought?
Pearl flew off quickly and merged with Councillor Shufflegrub, just as he got out of his car. Pearl didn’t want him to see any of what was going on!
When Pearl had merged with Councillor Shufflegrub, she got back into the car and drove back down the drive and on some distance towards the village. Of course Pearl had the ability to do this being merged with the councillor.
Pearl stopped the car and parked it by the side of the road. She got out and systematically went around and let all the tyres down! Then she picked up the councillor’s cell phone and threw it as far as she could into the adjacent field. 
‘That should keep him occupied for awhile’, said Pearl to herself as she demerged and flew back to help Lulu again.
‘Where’s Councillor Shufflegrub gone?’ said Lulu when Pearl arrived back.
‘He’s been let down by somebody and won’t be back for awhile’, said Pearl laughing. ‘I’ll tell you about it later Lulu; let’s get this pipe work finished’.
Just after midday the pipe work was in place and Pearl called Louie back with the digger to fill in the trench again. Pearl strategically placed the piece of dummy pipe in the trench outside the milking shed and got Louie to put some earth over part of this too. Soon there would be no evidence of the pipe work going back to the house.
Within an hour Louie had filled the trench to the house and had done the extra bit for Pearl. He then went back to carry on digging the proper trench.
Pearl got Lulu (as the labourer of course) to carefully rake the stones back in the driveway where Louie had dug the trench. No one would know that the pipe had been laid under the drive now! 
Just alongside the milking shed Pearl carefully used her clenched right fist to grow back grass and weeds where some of the soil had been disturbed. What a fantastic job!
Pearl thought to herself, one job left to do and spoke to Lulu. ‘Lulu let me change places with you, there is a little bit more mischief to be done’.
Lulu demerged with the labourer and Pearl remerged before the labourer had a chance to know what was happening.
Pearl now as the labourer went quickly and mixed up some concrete. Then she took a full barrow of it and went around the brick base of the house and carefully blocked all the vent holes so that none of the cow excrement could leak out and be noticed. Well-done Pearl! This would mean that the excrement in the basement really would keep rising until it came up through the floor boards! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!
By mid afternoon all was finished. Pearl and Lulu carefully inspected the work they had completed. There was not a sign of what they had done. The concrete mixer was put back. There were quite a number of pipes missing of course, however this shouldn’t be a problem!
Pearl still as the labourer walked to where Louie was busy digging the proper trench. Lulu followed. Louie had been making good progress and stopped on sighting the labourer approaching. 
‘Hi’, said Louie in his digger operator’s voice, ‘Are both of you there?’
‘Yes it’s Pearl here’, said Pearl. ‘I am the labourer. I suggest we demerge now and let these two get on with the job. I’ll lean on this shovel by the digger Louie; you keep the digger working, let’s both demerge on the count of three’.
Louie and Pearl demerged at the same time and moved away to join Lulu. The three sat on the grass to watch what happened next.
It was as they had hoped. The digger operator carried on as though nothing had happened. He probably felt a little hungry not having stopped for lunch!
The labourer however was rubbing his legs and arms a little. He was a bit sore after doing the most work he had ever done in his life. Little did he know what in fact he had done!
‘Job well-done team’, said Pearl. 
Pearl told Louie and Lulu what had happened to Councillor Shufflegrub! ‘In fact’, said Pearl. ‘It was of real advantage to us that I did merge with Councillor Shufflegrub. I know what his program is now. The cows are going to be delivered by truck next Thursday. Shufflegrub and his two sons are then to spend the following three days getting the operation underway. On the next Monday Shufflegrub and the family are off on this ‘fact finding mission’. While they are away the council CEO (Grovelmoore) is going to stay in the Shufflegrub house and look after things, all very cosy. I hope he brings some air freshener!’
‘That was quick thinking with Shufflegrub’, said Louie, ‘It could have been a bit of a nuisance if he had discovered what we were doing’.
The trio lay on the grass watching the digger working. Everything seemed to be perfectly normal.
‘I guess’, said Louie, ‘that we just wait and see what happens over the next few days now. The cows aren’t due to arrive until next week. Lulu and I could come up here before going to the Factory each morning and keep an eye on progress and keep you posted Pearl’.
‘Thanks Louie’, said Pearl. ‘That would really help me. I need to think carefully about what we need to do about the council itself and how we will handle it. Let’s all go back now and you two can keep me updated each day about anything that is happening’.
Once back through the quartz the three insects walked back up the tunnel and talked about what had happened during the day. It was good to be back in their own territory again.
Pearl laughed and said. ‘It’s going to be really interesting. A few days after the Shufflegrubs leave is when things are likely to go drastically wrong!’
Pearl thought for a moment then said. ‘On Monday week I wonder if I could drop up to see you two at the Factory, say at 10.00 a.m. and go over the next part of my plan. The Shufflegrubs leave that day and I would like to move fairly quickly on the next phase. What I hope to do ultimately is replace the current councillors with individuals who will look after the interests of the village ratepayers together with our own interests. I need about a week to have the plan clear in my mind’.
‘Sounds good Pearl, OK with you Lulu?’ said Louie holding Lulu and smiling at her. 
‘Oh yes!’ said Lulu. ‘I can’t wait to know what you are up to next Pearl!’
Once out of the tunnel Pearl flew off up to her apartment. Louie and Lulu headed over to the stream and then along to their house. 
The sun was getting low in the sky in the late afternoon. As Louie and Lulu neared their home they could see Rose out on the deck with Tiger and Lily. Tiger and Lily were now bouncing up and down with excitement. They had seen their parents in the distance. It was a joy to be home again. 
 Later that evening when the two wee bees had been put to bed, Louie and Lulu sat out on the deck, close together. They felt a lot happier now with what had been achieved today. It had been a step in the right direction. Somehow they knew Pearl would have a plan to save them all, as indeed she did.

Over the next two days, Saturday and Sunday, Louie and Lulu flew to the dairy farm to check what was happening. They took Tiger and Lily with them and made a picnic of it.
On the Saturday the pipe to the stream was due to be laid in the morning after the digger operator had worked late the previous day to get the trench work done. Strangely enough only a small section had been laid. It had been discovered that a significant quantity of piping had gone missing! Oh dear how could this have happened?
Councillor Shufflegrub was in residence with his family and had come out of the house to abuse the digger operator for losing the pipes. Of course Shufflegrub was still smarting from the day before when Pearl had let his tyres down and was likely to take it out on anybody! Yes it was an entertaining picnic for the bees who remained some distance away.
Later on during Saturday, more pipes were delivered and the poor digger operator and the labourer worked late once more to get the job finished and keep the bad tempered Shufflegrub happy.
When the bee family called in on the Sunday, the pipe work had indeed been completed and the trench filled in. Louie and Lulu flew, with Tiger and Lily on their backs, to the stream to have a look. There was the end of the pipe that nothing would ever come out of thanks to Pearl’s quick thinking. Yes it would have been an absolute disaster for the insects if the effluent had ever got into the stream.
Away from where Shufflegrub had cleared the land for his cows there were still some flowers left on the property that Mrs Appleton had planted. Louie and Lulu showed the flowers to Tiger and Lily and they had a lovely afternoon tasting all the different nectars. Not a bad life being a bee! 
During the week that followed, Louie and Lulu flew to the farm on a daily basis and observed the situation as they had promised Pearl. There was nothing much to see or report back to Pearl until Friday morning.
When Louie and Lulu arrived on the Friday, the cows were there, they had been brought in by truck the previous day, all two hundred of them. There was plenty of room for them on the large expanse of land. As Pearl had previously mentioned, probably this was just a start and there could be many more to come some time in the future.
With the visits to the farm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Louie and Lulu saw the Shufflegrub sons training the cows to find the milking shed and use the automated milking equipment. Something attracted the cows to the shed; it was probably some special feed, the insects thought.
By Sunday the milking was virtually a hands free operation. The cows were coming and going from the shed as they felt the need too. Of course the cows may have come from a farm with a similar setup and it was just a case of the cows knowing where the milking shed was. In all the two bees thought it was quite an impressive operation and the Shufflegrub sons seemed to know what they were doing.
Louie and Lulu could hear the machinery working in the shed. Yes there would be a slowly rising pool of effluent under the house! 
Thanks to Pearl blocking the vents and other holes in the brick base of the house, there was no evidence of any effluent leakage – well not yet anyway!

Chapter 25
Moving on with Pearl’s Plans to save the Insect Community.
It was now Monday morning. It’s the day Pearl is meeting Louie and Lulu at the Factory at 10.30 a.m. to discuss the plans she had. Louie and Lulu were up early to get Tiger and Lily ready for Rose to take over.
Louie and Lulu said their goodbyes to Tiger, Lily and Rose. They then flew off to see what was happening at the Shufflegrub dairy farm. They headed off upstream together just after 8.00 a.m.
It was quite exciting having this job to do for Pearl. Apart from flying along a beautiful part of the stream, the bees didn’t know what they might find with each visit.
On arrival Louie and Lulu headed for the safety of the top of the Kauri tree in front of the house and watched.
Everything seemed to be functioning well. The cows were coming and going from the milking shed, the machinery was running nicely. 
Today Councillor Shufflegrub’s car was parked at the front of the house. Yes Councillor Shufflegrub’s wife was carrying out suitcases and loading them in the car ready to go on their “fact finding mission”. Wherever they were going they had obviously decided to make an early start.
Councillor Shufflegrub really did seem to be a bit of a bully, as did his two sons who looked a little like their father. Shufflegrub yelled to his wife. ‘Hurry up woman, we haven’t got all day you know!’
Poor Mrs Shufflegrub struggled with the suitcases while the sons looked on and did nothing to help. Their job was to look after the cows, not help their poor mother.
Shufflegrub left his wife to carry on loading the car and called his sons over to the milking shed. The three inspected everything to make sure all was right before leaving. They seemed to be laughing amongst themselves about how clever they had been and how much money this new venture was going to make.
Lulu was watching Mrs Shufflegrub load the car. Lulu put an arm around Louie and said. ‘Look Louie, Mrs Shufflegrub is crying. If only we could help her. Why are humans so unkind to each other?’
‘I don’t know’, said Louie. ‘Take heart in the fact that Shufflegrub will be brought down a peg or two shortly’. 
Shufflegrub and his sons ambled back from the milking shed. Shufflegrub again yelled at his wife. ‘Haven’t you finished yet you stupid woman, what are you doing?’
‘Just finishing dear’, said Mrs Shufflegrub sobbing to herself.
‘Stop snivelling woman!’ Shufflegrub yelled at his wife again.
‘What sort of holiday are these people going to have?’ said Louie to Lulu.
‘Not a very happy one’, said Lulu quite upset by what she was seeing. 
At that moment a car came up the driveway. It had a trailer on the back with quite a bit of gear loaded. 
‘I bet this is that Grovelmoore chap that Pearl mentioned’, said Louie. Sure enough, it was. 
Grovelmoore was of the same ilk as Shufflegrub, arrogant and rude.
Shufflegrub and Grovelmoore walked over to the milking shed and went through the procedures to be adhered to while the Shufflegrub family would be away. There was a lot of arrogant laughing, back slapping and hand shaking. Maybe Grovelmoore was party to some deal the pair had. Outside Shufflegrub pointed down the pipeline towards the stream where he thought the effluent was going. Again Shufflegrub shook Grovelmoore’s hand. Grovelmoore may have organised the consent to discharge effluent into the stream.
Shufflegrub and Grovelmoore talked in the vicinity of the milking shed for about half an hour. Poor Mrs Shufflegrub sat in the car waiting for about twenty minutes; she dare not say anything to her husband.
In due course the Shufflegrub family departed. 
‘Good riddance’, said Lulu.
Grovelmoore went back to the milking shed and satisfied himself that indeed everything was working fine. He then went back to his car and started moving belongings from his trailer into the house ready for the stay over the next month. There was quite a large amount of gear. Louie and Lulu assumed that there must be more of his family to come. 
At about 9.30 a.m. Grovelmoore drove off. Presumably he would be back with his family soon. It seemed strange to go away and leave such a complex setup running without anybody to keep an eye on it.
‘Well my Lulu’, said Louie. ‘We must head for the Factory; it’s not long until Pearl arrives’.
Louie and Lulu flew high over the property and circled for awhile to take a final look. All looked well. Indeed nobody suspected that the effluent pipe outlet had ended up underneath the house! It was just a waiting game now until the effluent level reached the floor boards.
Just as Louie and Lulu were about to depart for the Factory they saw Grovelmoore’s car coming back up the drive, this time without the trailer.
‘Let’s go back for a moment and watch’, said Louie. ‘We have got time, just in case there might be something more to report to Pearl’.
‘Agreed my bee’, said Lulu and the pair flew back to their vantage point in the Kauri tree.
Grovelmoore had indeed brought his family back. Grovelmoore had a wife, a son in his late teens and a teenage daughter. The wife and the daughter went inside. Grovelmoore and his son went over to the milking shed. It appeared as though the son was quite familiar with the operation so no doubt he had been here before.
Grovelmoore departed, and left his family to it. Grovelmoore would of course have council business to attend to.
Louie and Lulu flew back to the Factory at top speed. Pearl was due to arrive very shortly. Yes it was all go and it was exciting!
Pearl arrived at the Factory soon after Louie and Lulu. Import kindly made them all a cup of gum leaf tea and the trio filed into Louie’s office.
Louie and Lulu reported on today’s findings at the farm. Pearl was pleased and smiled to herself; yes everything seemed to be going to plan. 
‘It’s a bit of a guess’, said Pearl. ‘But I think we have got at least another week or so before the effluent rises to a level where they will notice it. They might notice a bit of a smell but they will probably think it is coming from the milking shed. This gives us time now to get on with the other part of the plan’.
Louie, Lulu and Pearl sat around the table in Louie’s office sipping their gum leaf tea and Pearl explained the plan she had, it went like this:
There were two main issues. 
Firstly the councillors and the executive of the council had to be stopped from squandering ratepayer’s money. 
Secondly because of the culture of greed and dishonesty that existed within the council, the existing administration had to be removed and replaced.
Pearl had found from her extensive research in the village library that the only way that a council administration (councillors and the executive) could be replaced was in the event of blatant incompetence by such an administration. 
If blatant incompetence was found to be of a sufficient magnitude, central government would step in and appoint a commissioner. It would then be the commissioner’s job to appoint and set up a new administration.
The first part of Pearl’s plan was for the three of them (Louie, Lulu and Pearl) to go to the village bank where the council held its bank account. Pearl would merge with the bank manager and Louie and Lulu would merge with two next in line administration staff.
Pearl would call the two administration staff members into “he”’ office. From here the three would transfer all of the council funds into a holding account. In fact more funds than those available would be transferred so the council account was at least run past any overdraft limit.
All records of the transfer of funds to the holding account would be deleted so there would be no evidence where the funds had gone! All records of rates and receipts would also be removed so the status of the council account would end up showing no funds and no reason as to why there weren’t any funds! 
It would be a confusing situation. The only comment the bank would be able to make would be ‘sorry no funds sonny you are overdrawn’ dear oh deary me! 
Ratepayers would have proof of payment but it would show up as incompetence on the part of the council for ‘spiriting away’ or at least not accounting for ratepayers contributions. What a mess!
There would no doubt be some transactions in the council’s account showing disappearance of funds into a certain dairy farm, probably under the name of Appleton Estate expenses. Maybe some consent fees and possibly some pipe work? Who knows what the intrepid team would find on investigation. These transactions would not be removed so that evidence remained of naughty greedy things carried out by the councillors!
To prevent the councillors and their families from consuming any more council funds while away on the “fact finding mission”, all credit cards in the councillor’s names and their families would be cancelled and deleted. It would be as if the credit card facilities had never existed. It might have to mean an early home coming from the lovely holiday the councillors and their families were enjoying! What a nuisance!
Anyone owed money by the council, contractors, staff etc would soon be making loud noises as to why they weren’t being paid. The council administration would have no satisfactory explanation for this “minor little problem”! The council would in effect come to a standstill. A commissioner would ultimately have to be appointed to keep essential services operating and sort out the mess
On the appointment of a commissioner Pearl intended to merge with either him or her and take over the process of reinstatement of the council administration. What Pearl had in mind was to put in place a system that had integrity and values that were more akin to the values of the insect world. That is devoid of greed and dishonesty.
As commissioner, Pearl would call for submissions from the village community from those who would like to be on the council as a councillor or mayor.
In submitting names, those wishing to be on the council would have to state what they required in the way of remuneration together with how they proposed to serve the village. In this way the village community could then vote for the most cost effective mayor and councillors who genuinely had the village interests at heart.
Pearl had felt after observing the antics of the existing council administration the community would have been better served by a team of children just out of kindergarten! It would have cost a lot less!
Pearl had also decided in her wisdom that because the village was not great in size that five councillors plus the mayor would be sufficient. Naturally Grovelmoore and his staff would be fired and replaced at the discretion of the new mayor and councillors (with perhaps a little guidance from Pearl at times!).
Having outlined the plan to Louie and Lulu, Pearl said smiling, ‘Well that’s it team, what do you think?’
‘Unbelievable Pearl’, said Louie.
‘I knew it would be something clever’, said Lulu admiring Pearl for what she had come up with.
‘That’s the plan outline as I see it’, Pearl continued. ‘We may find as we go along that things need to be changed. It depends on what we find with the council bank account, what happens at the farm and how soon the councillors return from their little holiday. Another factor of course is how soon it will be before a commissioner is appointed; there are a few things beyond our control’.
‘Of course’, Pearl continued, ‘once the new councillors are in place we will go back to the bank and restore the money in the holding account back to the council account’.
Pearl thought for a moment and then continued, ‘If you two can manage it could we all go and start at the bank tomorrow? It will take a few days for the holiday makers to realise that their credit cards are no longer valid. If we do start at the bank tomorrow, the return of the councillors will probably coincide with the time things start happening at the farm’.
Louie and Lulu were quite happy with starting at the bank the next day.
‘How about we meet at the tunnel at ten Pearl?’ said Louie. ‘Lulu and I will go up to the farm first to see what is going on then meet you back at the tunnel’.
‘That would be great’, said Pearl. ‘I am really excited about this job, it is quite complex but I believe if we can pull it off we will have not only helped secure the future of our own community but of the people of the village as well’.
Pearl left the Factory and flew back to her apartment. She was smiling to herself. Yes everything was going to be alright.
Lulu was smiling too. She hugged Louie. 
‘Tell you what Lulu’, said Louie. ‘Let’s go to lunch at the Nest Café. I feel really happy about what is happening and feel like celebrating. We can drop in and see Tiger and Lily on the way too’.
‘Yes my bee’, said Lulu affectionately. ‘Let’s do it’.

The next day (Tuesday) Louie and Lulu flew to the farm and arrived about 8.00 a.m. Things looked normal. There was a milk tanker outside the milking shed taking a delivery of milk. 
Louie and Lulu noticed that there was a slight weeping brown stain down the brick foundation of the house nearest the milking shed. It wasn’t significant and nobody had noticed it. At least it confirmed that effluent was building up under the house.
Grovelmoore and his son were talking to the milk tanker driver and signed some dispatch papers. When the tanker had gone Grovelmoore drove off in his car and left the operation in the capable hands of his son.
‘Nothing to report yet’, said Louie to Lulu. ‘Let’s get back to the Factory for an hour or so before we meet with Pearl’.
‘Good idea’, said Lulu. ‘On the way back let’s just fly to the stream over there and check for sure that nothing is coming out of that effluent pipe’.
‘Good idea Lulu’, said Louie.
No nothing was coming out of the pipe, all was well. 
‘It’s a good thing that this outlet is quite a way from the milking shed’, said Louie. ‘That lot are too lazy to walk this far and check it. It would probably spoil everything if they did discover there was nothing coming out’.
Later at 10.00 a.m. Louie and Lulu met with Pearl at the tunnel and they all went on through the quartz to the bank.
Once in the bank Pearl said, ‘Right team, just follow me and I will let you know what to do as we go on’.
Pearl looked around for the manager’s office. Yes there it was. The door was closed.
Pearl moved to the door and knocked. The manager came out and was initially surprised that no one was there. Within seconds Pearl had merged then whispered to Louie and Lulu to come into the office. Of course Pearl could no longer see Louie or Lulu and asked them to stay close so she could talk to them.
‘What I need to do’, said Pearl. ‘Is sit here for a moment as the manager and determine which two staff members would be best to work with me to manipulate the council bank account’.
After a minute or so Pearl stood up and looked through a glass partition into the area behind where the tellers stood.
‘Louie, Lulu, see over there’, said Pearl pointing, ‘there is a woman in blue with her back to us. Lulu if you could merge with her. Next to her on her right is a young man, Louie could you merge with him. When you have merged I will call you both into my office’.
Louie and Lulu went and merged with their hosts, and Pearl knowing their names called them into “her” office. So far so good!
Once in the manager’s office the three then systematically set about creating a holding account for the money from the council account. 
‘I know what we shall call the holding account’, said Pearl. ‘Tiger Lily holdings Ltd!’
‘Yea yes!’ said Louie and Lulu together. 
The three worked for over an hour. Ultimately all the credit card accounts operated by the council were deleted and the council bank account no longer had any funds available. The overdraft facility was run significantly over its limit so the bank would be asking a few questions as to why this had occurred.
On investigating, it was obvious that there had definitely been some serious dishonest mischief making in relation to the Appleton Estate. It appeared that the milking equipment, the shed and fencing, had been funded with council money in the name of property maintenance! Generally automated milking equipment companies didn’t carry out property maintenance, did they?
With all the council’s money safely stashed away in the Tiger Lily Holdings account and no record of the money ever being transferred, the three insects went about demerging and leaving the bank.
‘Louie, Lulu’, said Pearl. ‘You two go back to your places and demerge and let’s meet outside in the square before we go back’.
 Out in the square the three relaxed and congratulated themselves on a job well-done.
‘Well it’s a waiting game now’, said Pearl. ‘Within a few days all sorts of things are going to happen! I can’t wait. The situation will be very serious so I would think that there will be a commissioner in place fairly smartly to sort things out with the council. What I will do is come through the quartz each day to the bank to see what is going on. If you two could keep checking at the farm each day that would be great. Let’s keep in touch with our findings’.
The excited trio went back through the quartz to carry on with their normal activities for the day.

Chapter 26
The councillors Return to Face the Music!

Over the next few days Pearl checked in daily at the bank and merged with the bank manager. Pearl could tell that the bank manager was more than a little concerned about the status of the council bank account.
By Friday there had been several calls to the bank from Mayor Twyfle, Shufflegrub and the other councillors demanding to know why their credit cards were being rejected, poor things!
The bank had been trying without success to find someone at the council who could explain why the council account was significantly overdrawn. In fact the bank was threatening to seize council assets to cover the shortfall. This would indeed help the cause for the insects.
With all the councillors away the only person available to take all the flack was the chief executive officer, our good friend Grovelmoore. Grovelmoore was getting close to a state of panic. He was having to spend a great deal of time back at the council when he was supposed to be managing the dairy farm! Worst of all he was in the position of appearing to be a completely incompetent fool in not being able to explain where the council funds had gone! Shufflegrub had phoned him twice and abused him for not getting things sorted out. 
Pearl was enjoying this; it would inevitably be any time soon that a commissioner would be appointed. Also it wouldn’t be long before the “team” on the “fact finding mission” would be heading back due to lack of funds.
Pearl was keeping in touch with Louie and Lulu to keep them informed about what was going on. 
Louie and Lulu had been visiting the farm each day. Things were carrying on as normal although it appeared that the Grovelmoore family was worried about serious odour problems throughout the house. More brown stains had appeared down the foundations but still nobody had taken any notice.
It was on the next Tuesday when Louie and Lulu made their usual 8.00 a.m. visit to the farm. It had happened. All of the members of the Grovelmoore family, including Mr Grovelmoore, were outside the house some distance away, standing in their night attire! Obviously it had happened sometime during the night. Yes the cow effluent had come up through the floor and had filled all of the ground floor rooms. It was flowing out the front door, across the veranda, down the steps and over the driveway! To make matters worse the Grovelmoore car was right in the middle of the stinking mess running out from the front door! 
The stench was overpowering. The Grovelmoore family couldn’t get anywhere near the house or the milking shed because of the smell. Consequently the milking operation just carried on doing what it was supposed to do, producing more milk and more effluent! 
Grovelmoore couldn’t believe what he saw. What would Shufflegrub do to him?
In blind panic Grovelmoore yelled to his family. ‘Run for it! Get in the car!’ 
The family splashed their way through the effluent and got into the car. They were gone! In fact the Grovelmoore family was never seen again, not by anybody. Grovelmoore was not going to wait around for Shufflegrub that was for sure!
‘Oh my goodness’, said Lulu. ‘Let’s get Pearl down here to have a look!’
‘Phoning her now’, said Louie.
Pearl was with them in about twenty minutes. 
‘What a mess!’ said Pearl with roguish delight. ‘This is better than I ever thought it would be. Everything is obviously going to plan. I heard yesterday that the councillors are on their way back today and will be here tomorrow. Shufflegrub won’t be too pleased!’
‘I wonder Pearl’, said Lulu. ‘If the councillors aren’t due back until tomorrow. Why don’t we do our little trick now of reducing the cows to calves! There’s nobody around to see what we are doing at the moment’. 
‘Great idea Lulu, well-done!’ said Pearl excited by the prospect of more mischief. ‘In fact it really would be a good idea to do this now so the cows don’t go on producing milk’.
Half an hour later, Louie, Lulu and Pearl were back again having gone through the quartz so they could do the job with the cows.
It was time consuming but the team managed to reduce all the cows to calves within four hours.
‘Another surprise for Shufflegrub!’ said Pearl with glee when they had finished.
The three looked at the house, yes the poor house that had once been the pride and joy of Mrs Appleton. What a mess it was now.
‘I guess Pearl’, said Louie. ‘Once the new council is established it wouldn’t be too much of a problem to get the house cleaned up again?’
‘Exactly Louie’, Pearl replied. ‘Perhaps a bit of merging with the new councillors will ensure that it is dealt with promptly!’
‘I think the next step’, said Pearl. ‘Is to wait for the councillors to arrive back from their wonderful holiday! I intend to spend most of the day at the council tomorrow to keep an eye on what is going on. I need to watch out for the appointment of a commissioner. Once the councillors arrive I will come back through the quartz and give you two a call and you can join me at the council and see what happens’.
‘Oh this is so good Pearl’, said Lulu. ‘It’s just working out beautifully so far’.
‘Yes’, said Pearl. ‘I must admit we have been really lucky with a few things. I must go back now. You two stay awhile and we will catch-up again tomorrow’.
Louie and Lulu did stay on for awhile. It was fascinating watching the young calves frolicking around. Louie and Lulu flew over all of the calves to ensure that they were eating grass. It was of concern if they had made any of the calves “too young” they wouldn’t be able to feed themselves. All was well.
‘Let’s go back through the quartz now Lulu’, said Louie. ‘I suggest we call it a day and spend the afternoon at home with Tiger and Lily. Import can look after the Factory for us’.
‘Yes please’, said Lulu. ‘That would be just perfect; I think we have earned it!’
Louie and Lulu flew on home and landed on the deck much to the delight of Tiger and Lily who came rushing out to meet them.
Rose was there of course and came out to see them. 
‘I think Tiger and Lily want to show you something’, said Rose.
Tiger and Lily had lined up in front of Louie and Lulu and were uttering what sounded like, ‘ook at me, ook at me’.
Tiger and Lily then proceeded to flap their little wings for all they were worth, yes; they lifted off the deck and hovered in front of their parents for a short time then landed back on the deck panting with the effort!
‘Oh you wonderful wee bees’, said Lulu.
‘Well-done’, said Louie. ‘Show us again, show us again!’
After a couple more “ook at me’s” the pair did it again. It was a little bit shorter this time, their little wings were getting tired, but they managed to do it! Clever little blighters.
Louie and Lulu clutched the little bees and held them close while stroking their little bodies with affection. They were so proud of them. Louie looked at Lulu and smiled. All the work they were doing with Pearl was certainly worthwhile!
The next morning (Wednesday) when Louie and Lulu were at the Factory, Louie had a call from Pearl. Yes the councillors were due back at any time. Pearl had come back through the quartz to phone Louie and suggested he and Lulu join her for the fun! She would be in the council chambers.
Louie quickly went and told Lulu and they were off to the tunnel, through the quartz and on to the council.
Sure enough, Pearl was waiting in the council chambers, Louie and Lulu could see her blue shape in the corner when they arrived and went to join her. 
All was not good! Most of the council staff had walked off the job because of course they hadn’t been paid. Grovelmoore had gone forever so the administration function was without a leader. It was going to be interesting to see what happened when the councillors arrived.
The bank manager was there, still trying to get answers out of anybody who might be around as to why the council bank account was overdrawn.
Several contractors were demanding payment for services rendered. What a welcoming committee for the team coming home prematurely from a wonderful holiday!
Apart from all these people there was one person there that Pearl felt might be very useful! It was a “chappy” from the Dairy Board who knew Shufflegrub quite well. He had heard Shufflegrub was due back mid morning. Pearl had merged with him briefly to find out what he was up to. 
What this fellow wanted to do was have a look at the dairy farm then take Shufflegrub to lunch. Oh yes Shufflegrub was going to be one of the biggest most efficient suppliers of milk in the area. There could be some cosy arrangements for them both to make money, typically to squeeze out some of the smaller farms. It was a case of the old “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” scenario.

The happy councillors and Mayor Twyfle arrived back a little after mid morning. Shufflegrub was really mad about having to come back because of the no more money issue. He ranted and raved, ‘Somebody’s head will roll for this I tell you. Nobody, I tell you, nobody embarrasses me like this and gets away with it!’
None of the councillors knew the true gravity of the situation of course. Mayor Twyfle told those waiting that they would have to make an appointment with his secretary and to not bother him now. Mayor Twyfle’s attitude was not to have any direct contact with the hoi polloi from the village, oh no!
The arrogance on the part of the Mayor and the councillors was the catalyst to fire up the bank manager into action. He went away and got straight onto the country’s Prime Ministerial Office. Just what Pearl had wanted, there would probably be a commissioner appointed within twenty four hours.
Once the hoi polloi had gone, Shufflegrub went over to his mate from the Dairy Board to find out why he wanted to see him. What a good idea Shufflegrub thought, a visit to the dairy farm and a spot of lunch! It would remove him from the irritating nonsense that was happening around him now. Shufflegrub suggested that as he was dropping his family (who were waiting impatiently in the car) off at the farm that the Dairy Board chappy follow in his car. Splendid!
One thing that worried Shufflegrub slightly was that most of the staff were missing, including Grovelmoore. Still he supposed all would all be sorted out tomorrow.
‘Quick’, said Pearl to Louie and Lulu. ‘Let’s fly down to the farm and see what happens!
Louie, Lulu and Pearl quickly left the council and flew off to the farm and waited for the Shufflegrubs and the Dairy Board chappy to arrive. Of course with our trio being on the other side of the quartz in their invisible forms, they could fly at some speed and were at the farm within minutes
‘Oh gosh’, said Lulu, ‘What on earth will happen next?’
‘I believe’, said Pearl. ‘We are heading into the final phase of our operation now. By tomorrow there should be a commissioner appointed and it will be the end of these rogues who are in council now. I don’t think that Shufflegrub will stay around after he sees what has happened here anyway!’
As the three insects sat and waited for Shufflegrub to arrive, the milking shed continued to function as it had been programmed to do so. Of course now there were no cows. Only calves remained so no milk was being produced. The calves had no instinct to go anywhere near the milking shed. Water and any remaining effluent however was still being pumped under the house and flowed in copious quantities out the front door, across the veranda and down the steps onto the driveway!
The moment they had been waiting for arrived. Sure enough, up the drive came the Shufflegrub car followed closely by the Dairy Board chappy. 
Shufflegrub got out of his car in front of the house. He stepped into ankle deep effluent and stared speechless for a moment in absolute amazement. The stench was overpowering! 
Louie was sure he heard the same word that Bull Neck had used sometime ago when the insects had stopped the water pipe project. Yes an almighty ‘D-U-C-K!!!!’ or some similar sounding word was emitted by Shufflegrub. Hmmm – strange Louie thought.
The Dairy Board chappy “sloshed” his way over to Shufflegrub while holding his nose and said, ‘I say Shufflegrub, what sort of operwation do we call this? Looks more like a fertiliser factorwy to me!’
Shufflegrub couldn’t believe it. He surveyed the scene before him. The most amazing thing was that there were two hundred calves instead of two hundred cows! What on earth had happened to them? Was he dreaming it? Secretly he was wondering if his past misdemeanours had caught up with him and this was some divine intervention! Which I suppose in some ways it was!
It was too much for Shufflegrub. He ignored the Dairy Board chappy and sloshed his way back through the effluent then got back into his car. He then drove off at speed back up the drive. Shufflegrub and his family, as was the case with the Grovelmoore family, were never seen again. Rumour has it that after seeing the cows reduced to calves the Shufflegrub family sought salvation and joined the Destiny Church! May god rest their souls.
‘Well that’s got rid of that lot’, said Pearl.
The Dairy Board chappy muttered to himself and got back into his car. The smell of the effluent in his car that had spilled from his effluent filled shoes would probably take at least a year to get rid of, well maybe! It was pretty bad anyway!
The triumphant trio flew back to the quartz and walked back out of the tunnel. What a successful day it had been.
‘When this is all over’, said Pearl. ‘We are going to celebrate! Not today though. Tomorrow I will need to go to the council and wait for the commissioner to arrive. I will give you two a call when something happens’.
Pearl flew off back to her apartment. Louie and Lulu decided to head home to have a little late lunch, and perhaps stay at home for the rest of the afternoon. What a good idea!

The next day Pearl went back through the quartz to the council chambers. She knew she didn’t have to go too early as the councillors felt it was their arrogant right to never start before 10.00 a.m.
By 10.30 a.m. Mayor Twyfle and the councillors (apart from Shufflegrub) were seated in the council chamber. They were worried. There were no staff on hand to look after their morning tea and bikkies. The councillors couldn’t start without having tea and bikkies, it was unheard of!
Mayor Twyfle ordered a junior councillor to go and get the tea and bikkies and to be quick about it.
By 11.15 a.m. the mayor and councillors had had their tea and bikkies and it was on with the business at hand.
‘Does anybody know where Councillor Shufflegrub is?’ said the Mayor.
Nobody did.
‘Would somebody get Grovelmoore so we can get to the bottom of this staffing and financial nonsense’, the mayor said, confidant that a little application of his authority would soon sort all this out. After all he was the mayor. People bowed to his needs and ran around calling him ‘Your Worship’!’
‘Grovelmoore has gone’, said one of the councillors.
‘What do you mean gone?’ said the mayor getting slightly worried that he might have to get directly involved in sorting something out and even make a decision. ‘Well somebody go and find him then!’
The councillor’s attitude to this was for the mayor to go and find him himself. They had manipulated the mayor in the past. They weren’t about to change things now and let him have his way. Getting the morning tea had been bad enough!
Mayor Twyfle had no intention of lowering himself to the level where he actually had to go and do something himself, oh no. To save face he called for the council meeting to be adjourned until such time as Grovelmoore could be found.
Just as the councillors and the mayor were shuffling their papers and putting them back in their brief cases a figure appeared at the door to the council chambers. It was a man in his forties, tall and lean with cruel eyes. His hair was thick and jet black, brushed fiercely back from his forehead. He had a face shaped like a ferret and wore an ominously black suit. He looked like the very devil himself. He stood in the doorway for a moment and surveyed the councillors.
‘Who the hell are you?’ said the Mayor. ‘You don’t come barging in here like this. Get out!’
This was completely the wrong way for the mayor to react. The imposing figure at the door stood his ground and didn’t budge. 
‘My name is Direshark’, said the figure at the door. ‘I am a government appointed commissioner. I have come to take control of this council, effective as of now. Here is my warrant’. 
Direshark flashed his warrant in front of the mayor. ‘You will all sit down. Anybody attempting to leave before I give the authority to do so will risk arrest by the police’.
The mayor and the councillors sat down in silence. They couldn’t believe what was happening. They were right out of their comfort zone now.
While Direshark was addressing the now subdued and somewhat terrified councillors, Pearl slipped away and flew through the quartz to let Louie and Lulu know that the commissioner had arrived and to come on down.
When Pearl returned, Direshark was trying to get information out of the councillors as to why the council had no funds.
‘It’s nothing to do with us’, said Mayor Twyfle. ‘You would have to talk to our chief executive officer, Grovelmoore’.
At this point Pearl merged with the commissioner and took over the grilling of the councillors.
Of course Pearl had far more information than Direshark about what the councillors had been up to. 
Under Pearl’s questioning the councillors had no satisfactory answers as to:

1. Why families had gone on the fact finding holiday with all expenses paid?
2. Why the Appleton Estate had not been left to the people as requested?
3. Why there had been the purchase of hugely expensive milking equipment under the guise of property maintenance?
4. Why was the council virtually bankrupt?
5. Why council cars belonging to Shufflegrub and Grovelmoore were unaccounted for?
6. Why when the council was short of funds had it been voted to double councillor’s remuneration?
7. Why had there been a sizeable bonus payment to Grovelmoore when there was nothing to justify it?
8. Why had it been decided to double the number of councillors and appoint five directors?
9. Why had it been decided to turn designated reserve land into a housing development?
10. What were two hundred cows doing on the Appleton Estate?

The Mayor and councillors knew they had been caught out and sat in mortified silence. They had no answers to this onslaught of questioning. How on earth did Direshark know all of this? Clever Pearl!
Louie and Lulu had arrived by this time and were watching Pearl at work.
Pearl laid it clearly on the line to the councillors that personally they were each to deposit $50,000 into the council bank account. If they didn’t they would be arrested for fraud. Pearl knew that this would probably not in all reality be enforceable but it was worth a try.
Mayor Twyfle groaned. How could this be happening? He and the councillors were above all this. After all it was their right to take money off the ratepayer hoi polloi not the other way around. 
Pearl rummaged through Direshark’s bag. Yes she found what she wanted. The resignation forms for the councillors and Mayor to sign. Things were falling into place.
Pearl sat silent for a moment and stared at the terrified mayor and councillors. Then she spoke. ‘As far as I am concerned you lot are about as useless as a ranch slider on a submarine! I want you all to sign these resignation forms and depart immediately. You have been made aware of the consequences if you don’t each deposit $50,000 in the council bank account. I want the money deposited immediately after you leave here. Is that quite clear? You have one hour!’ The mayor and councillors nodded in agreement. ‘None of you are to be seen anywhere near this council again’.
The Mayor and councillors signed the forms and left with their tails between their legs. Intuitively they knew they had done wrong. They had been given the option to pay the $50,000 as an out. They didn’t want to be in court for fraud. They went away to do as Pearl had bid. Pearl put all the resignations neatly in front of Direshark on the table.
‘Yippee!’ said Pearl when they had all left. ‘Are you there Louie and Lulu?’
‘Yes we are right beside you Pearl, that was brilliant’, said Lulu.
‘What I want to do now’, said Pearl. ‘Is get one of you to change places with me as Direshark. What I will do is go and merge with the bank manager and phone Direshark to tell him that the councillors have deposited funds into the council bank account. Direshark will then be able to get staff back and pay them. This will at least get the council functioning again’.
‘I’ll change places with you Pearl’, said Lulu.
‘Thanks Lulu’, said Pearl. ‘When I phone, just answer Direshark’s cell phone and I will tell you what to do’.
Lulu and Pearl changed places and Pearl headed off to merge with the bank manager. She had Direshark’s cell phone number with her.
When Pearl arrived at the bank there was a line of sad looking ex councillors making deposits! 
Pearl, once merged with the bank manger, phoned Direshark’s cell phone number. Lulu answered.
‘Is that you Pearl?’ said Lulu.
‘Yes’, said Pearl. ‘What I want you to do now is demerge from Direshark. You and Louie just wait and watch until I get back’.
Lulu demerged. Direshark looked a bit startled as though he had woken from a dream. He had his cell phone to his ear and someone was talking to him, yes it was the bank manager.
Pearl (as the bank manager) told Direshark that the council bank account was now back in the black and thanked him for what he had done to remedy the situation. Pearl even went on to say that she would be phoning the Prime Minister’s Office to say what a great job Direshark had done!
After hanging up, Direshark was still a little confused. Where had everybody gone? How did the bank manager know his number? In front of him he had the signed resignations of the mayor and councillors. Direshark wasn’t really quite sure what had happened but he was amazed it had been so easy to get rid of the existing administration and restore some funds to the council bank account! Let’s move on he thought to himself.

Pearl with the assistance of Louie and Lulu had done what she had set about to do. The council administration had gone. It was a new beginning.
With funds back in the council bank account, Direshark restored the administration staff and appointed a council manager. Under Pearl’s “guidance” Direshark had appointed a manager rather than a chief executive officer as had been the case before.
Over the next two months Direshark asked for submissions from the public for names of those who would like to serve as mayor or councillors. During this period Pearl stayed close to Direshark and merged as required. She made sure the request for submissions contained the words ‘state remuneration required if selected’. Yes this was very cunning of Pearl. It meant that only those who had a genuine interest in the welfare of the village would put their names forward.
A new council was duly elected. There were now only five councillors plus the mayor. And guess who the mayor was? 
Yes it was Mr McFarland! He was overjoyed at the prospect; it gave him the small amount of remuneration that he had asked for but best of all he had something to do in his retirement years that he really enjoyed!
When everything at the council had settled down again under the new administration, Louie, Lulu and Pearl called back at the bank. They took the money out of the “Tiger Lily holding account”, closed it, and returned the money to the council account. There were now sufficient funds in the council bank account for the councillors to reduce the rates the village residents were paying by twenty five percent! What a happy village.
In due course the Appleton house was cleaned up and all the dairying equipment removed. Native trees and flowers were re-planted and the property was opened up to the public as had been requested by Mrs Appleton when she had died.
Reserve land was retained as reserve land and the stream remained pollution free. 
Strangely enough, the village over the coming years would prosper. Yes people were attracted by the clean green living and the low rates!

Chapter 27
A Footnote and Goodbye for now.

It is late autumn now. The new council administration has been running successfully and thriving with a new core of vitality.
Mr McFarland with his little bit of extra remuneration as mayor, had put it to good use and painted the shed where of course Louie and Lulu’s Factory is. Some of the timber that was rotting had been replaced and the shed had a new roof. Very smart indeed! The future of Louie and Lulu’s Factory was secure for sometime to come.
 The reserve land, on which the Reserve Bank was situated, remained natural and undisturbed. The store of dollops and scents was safe.
Pearl had been overseeing the council for some time, but now her job was done. She picked up her phone to call Louie and Lulu.
‘Hi Louie, Pearl here’.
‘Hi Pearl’, replied Louie. ‘Good to hear from you’.
‘Louie you may remember’, Pearl went on to say, ‘some months back I said when our project was over we should all go and celebrate, well let’s go and do it!’
‘Oh yes please Pearl’, said Louie.
Louie whispered to Lulu who was beside him, ‘It’s Pearl, we are finally going out to celebrate the end of the project!’ Lulu screwed up her toes and hugged Louie.
‘Nothing particularly special in mind’, said Pearl. ‘What I suggest is an evening at the Nest Café. It has got a lot of memories for us all, particularly with what has happened over the past year’.
‘Oh definitely Pearl’, said Louie. ‘I couldn’t agree with you more, I know Lulu will be very happy too. We both have some very very happy memories there’.
‘Let’s make it Saturday evening, say at seven’, said Pearl, ‘and bring Tiger and Lily with you. I know Bluie Armstrong and his band are playing. That will bring back some memories for you two as well!’
‘Fantastic’, said Louie, ‘We will see you there at seven Pearl’.
‘What’s happening?’ said Lulu bouncing up and down with excitement.
Louie explained and mentioned that Pearl had asked Tiger and Lily to come as well.
It should be explained here that Tiger and Lily were now capable of flying with their parents without any assistance. Yes the little bees were growing up. Their vocabulary had expanded considerably over the past five months as well.
At that moment Tiger and Lily rushed over to their parents having detected that there was possibly something to be excited about.
‘Wa’s up daddy wa’s up mummy’ two little voices exclaimed in unison.
Louie and Lulu explained to Tiger and Lily what the ‘wa’s up’ was! 
The two little creatures danced around shouting. ‘Yea! see Arny Bell, Yea! see Arny Bell’. 
Louie and Lulu watched them and hugged each other. Yes they were all safe now thanks to the wonderful Pearl Baker-Moth and her clever thinking. 

Saturday night came around soon enough. Lulu put on her little green mini skirt outfit, and around her head she had Louie’s favourite pink ribbon. Louie naturally had on his spider silk shorts, neatly pressed by Lulu, and the green tie to match Lulu’s outfit. To cap it all off Lulu had painstakingly made similar outfits for Tiger and Lily. Yes they looked just as cool as their parents!
 It was hard to stop the little bees getting their nice clean outfits dirty before departing. The pair were up to all sorts of mischief, they were so excited to be going out with their parents.
It was a coolish evening. At a quarter to seven the four bees moved out on the deck ready to fly to the Nest Café.
‘Right’, said Louie. ‘I want you Lulu to fly in front with Lily, Tiger and I will follow’.
‘Yes my master’, said Lulu remembering fondly the earlier times of falling in love with Louie. 
There was a bit of moonlight, certainly enough to be able to see while flying along the stream. Lulu and Lily took off first and headed down to stream level. Louie and Tiger followed. What a proud moment, the bee family off out on their first official engagement. A special evening with their Queen and friend, Pearl Baker-Moth.
After flying a short distance along the stream, Louie and Lulu could see Pearl ahead of them. The four bees speeded up to catch her so they could arrive together.
On arrival at the Nest Café Pearl entered first followed by Lulu, Lily then Louie and Tiger. Basil and Sybil rushed over to greet them. Bluie Armstrong and his band were playing. Bluie on seeing Pearl arrive quickly changed the tune and played God Save the Queen, a special jazzed up version! Everybody in the Café clapped and cheered, Pearl curtsied and thanked them all.
When Bluie spotted Louie and Lulu with Tiger and Lily he changed the tune to “For they are jolly good fellows” and the whole café sang along. Yes Louie and Lulu together with Tiger and Lily had become much loved bees in the community. Lulu couldn’t help it; she had tears streaming down her stripes, overwhelmed with the emotion of the occasion. 
Basil showed the five to their table, yes table twenty seven by the window, Louie’s favourite. Lulu held Louie close, and whispered in his ear, ‘Oh thank you, thank you, my bee. I love you so much’.
Louie looked at Lulu and responded. ‘You look so beautiful Lulu, dance with me please Lulu, I love you too’.
Pearl sat down with Tiger and Lily, Tiger on her left and Lily on her right. She held them tightly and they watched Louie and Lulu dance together.
Pearl ordered some drinks, red wine for herself, fermented honey nectar for Louie and Lulu, and just straight nectar for Tiger and Lily. Some chocolate cake and pollen nibbles were also ordered.
Louie and Lulu sat down again. The party reminisced about what had happened over the past few years. Louie and Lulu proposed a toast to Pearl for what she had done.
It was a wonderful scene. The Café was buzzing, the band was playing and the beeswax candles around the walls and on the tables produced a magic flickering light.
Lulu noticed it first. Doctor Sum Ting Wong and his wife were sitting at a table not far from them. It was Sum that had looked after Tiger and Lily before they came to the home of Louie and Lulu.
‘Louie, Pearl’, said Lulu pointing discretely. ‘Doctor Wong is sitting over there. Let’s take Tiger and Lily over to see him’. 
Pearl looked around to where Lulu was pointing as did Louie. ‘Yes, yes said Pearl, let’s all go and see him’.
It was a special reunion. All the wonderful feelings that were there on Christmas day, many months earlier, came flooding back. Doctor Wong was most impressed with how Tiger and Lily looked now. Somehow Tiger and Lily knew that Doctor Wong had a part in their lives and gave him a huge hug as small bees can be inclined to do at times! (Ever seen a slightly red Asian Paper Wasp?).
Another patron at the Café was Arnold and his wife from the Reserve Bank. It was so good to see these insects that had been close to Louie, Lulu and Pearl in the past few years.
Back at their table again Lulu said that she might have something a little special. Lulu went over to the band and whispered something to Bluie Armstrong. Louie and Pearl were watching. What was Lulu up to?
Lulu walked back to the table and said to Tiger and Lily, ‘Are you ready?’
Tiger and Lily nodded and giggled then walked out onto the dance floor. Two beautifully dressed cute little bees.
Lulu gave a signal to Bluie; the band played a fast Beetrot (similar to a Foxtrot). Our two little bees put together a wonderful little dance routine that Lulu had been secretly teaching them for the past few days. Even Louie didn’t know! The dance wasn’t perfect but the cuteness of the two little bees just about brought the house down! Louie and Lulu were just so proud of them. Tiger and Lily did the cutest little bow at the end and ran to their parents shouting, ‘Wos that awight? Wos that awight?’ Oh yes that wos awight!
The evening moved on. Pearl made many of the patrons happy by asking them to dance with her. Little did they know though what their Queen had done for them. Lulu and Louie danced together many times as did our two little bees who had gained an enormous amount of confidence after their star performance.
Towards the end of the evening the two little bees fell asleep at the table. How Louie, Lulu and Pearl loved those little creatures. This was the world the four bees and Pearl wanted to preserve forever.
When it was time to go, Louie and Lulu lifted the two tired wee bees up onto their backs, held them tightly and headed off into the night and on home. Pearl accompanied them part of the way before turning away to the west and up to her apartment. Oh they had had such a good time.

Before we go we will leave you with a little scene at the bee household. It is a week after the celebration at the Nest Café. The time is early evening just after the evening meal.
Winter is not far away now. The trees have lost their leaves and look stark on often cloudy cool days when showery squalls would interfere with the insects flying.
The Factory is only working one or two days a week, the demand for services has dropped off again as winter approaches once more. Louie and Lulu have been able to spend more time at home with Tiger and Lily. 
Louie has now built another room on their house so that Tiger and Lily have their own rooms.
Tonight outside there is a full moon. It is a clear frosty night. The stream below the house glistens in the moonlight. The water is pristine clear and unpolluted. The dollops and scents stored in Louie’s Reserve Bank are safe. The future of the insect community along the stream is assured for now.
Inside the little house by the stream the stove is burning brightly, casting flickering lights and shadows about the room. Louie and Lulu are sitting beside the stove holding each other close in the warmth. Tiger and Lily are playing on the floor in front of them, and there is a faint warm smell of wood smoke from the stove.
Louie the bee is safe with his beloved Lulu. Living beside the stream is indeed a good place to be.

As an afterthought, if you ever feel so inclined, a spot of chocolate cake and red wine is really rather delicious!

The End.

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Thank you for reading Louie the Bee. I hope you enjoyed it. 

This is not the end of the story about Louie. No there is much more to be learnt about the life of Louie and Lulu in the second book "The World Belongs To The Insects". 
In the second book Louie and his friends discover an unbelievably wonderful place to live. Find out how the insects relate to the ancient Egyptians. It is a truly amazing. See the second book at Louie the Bee: The World Belongs To The Insects

Take care and help look after Louie's world!
Dave.