Emerald Oasis 12/18

Blackpool: the pinnacle of Joyce's childhood. When Fore brought her to Blackpool in his shed, it was a ghost town. Back again, it was an even darker ghost town. The one thing that never changed was the seagulls cries and the sea crashing onto the grains of the sand.

Rodger parked up outside Blackpool Tower since there was no traffic warden to stop them and give tickets. Not that it mattered, it wasn't their car, as far as they knew, they were under no liability to pay off the fine.

"This isn't the Blackpool I remember," Joyce muttered.

"Of course it isn't," Rodger said. "It's two in the morning: everything is closed."

"What's open now?" Dorothy wondered, leaning on the window. "Surely there's something that's open 24 hours?"

"Maybe there's a bar or a hotel?" Victoria suggested, crossing her legs over.

Joyce gazed at the tower's peak. "If only there was a way to get into the tower."

Rodger clapped his hands. "I fancy having a go at the slot machines and maybe a bout at the casinos if I'm feeling lucky."

Dorothy squinted. "So how are we going to get round all that in one night?"

Fore and Queen Suzy popped out of the steering wheel. "We'll help you."

"How did you two get in?" Joyce asked.

Rodger lept out of the car. "What you on about? Dorothy and Joyce have been here the whole time."

"No!" Joyce pointed at the two fairies. "I'm on about Fore and Queen Suzy. You know, the leader of the Black Dogs. The apparent terrorist fairies. You know them. We met them at the chapel. That shed in the garden belongs to Fore."

"Don't be daft," Rodger spat out. "That shed belongs to the handymen!"

"It belongs to Fore," Joyce insisted. "He holds all his meetings in there. Plus he took me to Blackpool in it."

It was apparent that Rodger couldn't see them. "Anyway, we never went to any chapel."

Victoria threw herself on the back of her seat. Her eyes rolled at Rodger. "We did! You took us there. I saw my husband's grave and you saw your factory."

"I saw my factory," Rodger admitted. "I don't remember any chapel."

"We all saw something," Dorothy remembered. "We never found out what it was: we all nodded off."

"Can't you show yourselves to them?" Joyce requested. "They all think I'm mad!"

"They're not wrong," Queen Suzy screeched. Joyce wasn't sure if she meant it as a compliment or an insult until they covered their ears.

Rodger gasped. "What was that? I can't deal with any spooky stuff in my age now."

"That was Queen Suzy," Joyce confirmed.

"Who's Queen Suzy?" Dorothy asked.

"She one of your fairy friends?"

"No Rodger, I've only just met her tonight."

"Aww," Queen Suzy lowered her head. "I thought you of you as a friend." She burst into tears and the noise hindered every eardrum in the car.

"Okay Queen Suzy, I'm sorry!" Joyce wailed. "You're my friend."

The crying stopped and the car vibrated when the two at the back jumped. Joyce wondered how Fore coped with her.

"Do you feel better?" Fore dragged Queen Suzy into his arms. "Are you okay?" he asked again. "You need to be careful, you can make people deaf doing that."

"I'm sorry." Queen Suzy looked around. "Why do they look so shocked? We just meant them not so long ago?"

"They've got this condition," Fore explained. "It's something to do with their brains and memory." He bit his lip and eyed up Joyce. "What's the name of it?"

"Dementia?"