Outside the building she pulled out her phone and hit Oz's number as though she had a grudge against it.

"Oz? Get your arse over here now."

"Certainly, dearheart. Um, who is this calling?"

"Don't be a smart-arse, I'm not in the mood."

"Just checking. You'd be surprised at the number of summonses from females demanding my body I receive. You sound vexed, which, admittedly, is not unusual. Has anything in particular caused this, or are you just royally pissed-off in general?"

"Daisy. I know who's behind it and we're going to kick his majority right in the polls."

"Excellent. Your place?"

Ess looked around. The street was quiet. She couldn't go back to the flat, not now, and Shades would be awake in ten minutes or so. Besides, she was so angry she couldn't just stand still.

"No. Outside the library. Ten minutes. Oh, and bring a bit of iron with you."

She hung up and marched down the street. Davenport had messed with her head. Her! A sister of Gaia. Not only that, he'd messed around with her relationship with Shades. How had he thought to get away with it? Well, admittedly, he almost had. If it hadn't been for Dorothy... She pushed the thought away, angry at herself for nearly falling for it, almost as angry as she was at that smarmy politician. He was going to be lucky if she just used the sockful of shot on him. Well, he'd picked on the wrong sister this time, and he was going to find that out big time.

Oz arrived at the library almost as soon as she had. She wrenched open the car door and flung herself into the passenger seat. Oz looked her in the face and raised his eyebrows.

"Gods, I'm glad I'm not on the receiving end."

"Its Davenport," said Ess. "He enchanted me and Shades to put us off the scent. It all makes sense now. How else would he be so successful? I mean, you've seen him. He's nothing special, but everyone raves about him. And he tried to flim-flam me. Mess with my head, would he? I'll show him messing with people. I'll mess him up so bad he'll be whimpering for the rest of his life."

Oz held up his hands. "Whoa, I'm not the enemy. Let's try and keep to our indoors voices, shall we? So, where to, my incandescent amazon?"

"Davenport's place."

"His house?"

"Yes. Um, I mean, I guess so."

"Let's save us a bit of time, shall we?" Oz pulled out his phone and started hitting keys on the screen.

"What are you doing?" asked Ess.

"Trying to harness the wonder that is the Interweb. Damn these things, they make the keys far too small. Politicians, they're all on Twitface or whatever, and the Freedom of Information Act makes it easier too. Ha, there, see?" He waved the screen in Ess' face. "He runs a surgery one morning a week. Boreham Wood."

"Okay, Boreham Wood, then. What are you waiting for?"

Oz shrugged and pulled out into the road. "Thanks, maybe," he muttered. "An acknowledgement of my genius. An admission that I'm more than just a sidekick. But no, I'll just do all the donkey work, that's fine."

"I said, I'm not in the mood."

Oz muttered something inaudible and turned the ancient vehicle north.

The surgery was held at a non-descript little building that might once have been a newsagent or corner shop, but had been converted into the local party offices by the expedient of frosting the wide front window. Ess strode in, Oz skipping behind her in an effort to keep up.

"I need to see Davenport. Where is he?" she demanded of the woman seated behind an ancient desk.

"He'll see you shortly," said the woman, smiling without involving her eyes in the operation. "There are a couple of other constituents before you, Ms...?"

For a moment Ess considered barging through doors and hunting the little rat down, but Oz laid a hand on her arm.

"Tell him it's Ess Williams. He knows me and he's going to want to see me ASAP."

"Come on," said Oz, tugging at her arm gently. "It's Davenport you're angry at, not the rest of the world. Come sit down."

Ess allowed herself to be led to the row of seats along one wall. A couple of people already sat there, studiously avoiding her eye.

"Give me a sec," said Oz, winking at her. He turned and made his way over to the woman at the desk, who eyed him warily. Oz leant over the desk and talked at a volume too low for Ess to hear. Gradually she saw the woman thaw, throwing the occasional glance across to Ess. Then she giggled. Ess shook her head and looked away. Whatever it was about Oz, when he wanted to he could charm a smile from a lemon farmer, if she was female.

Oz returned and sat next to her. He leant close. "The thing about people behind desks," he said in a low voice, "is that the only power they have is how flexible they are in the execution of their duties. Screaming and demanding works sometimes, but not nearly as often or as well as charm. Now I understand you're angry, and you have every right to be, I'm sure. But screw the lid on it. Keep it nice and tight until we actually get to see the man, okay? She may well let us jump the queue, but shouting at her is going to put the mockers on it, so just stay shtum, okay?"

It made sense, but that didn't mean Ess was happy about it. She let herself resent the power of the secretary to keep her waiting, of Oz's patronising and calm attitude and even the hard plastic chair she was forced to sit on, and added it all to the fury at Davenport trying to hoodwink her. For once Oz remained mercifully silent, perhaps sensing the inevitable eruption and not wishing to be in its path when it happened.

A door behind the secretary opened and an old man shuffled out. The secretary rose and leant into the room. Ess couldn't make out the words of the muttered conversation within, but seconds later she straightened and turned.

"Mister Davenport will see you now," she said haughtily, as though it were a special audience. Ess bounded from the seat and angled for the door, Oz following in her slipstream.

Davenport rose from behind his desk, his face beaming and his hand extended.

"Ms. Williams, what an --"

"You're a fairy!" spat Ess, jabbing a finger at him.

"Indoor voices," muttered Oz. "People in the waiting room."

"Excuse me?" said Davenport, taking a step back.

"You're a fairy, and don't pretend you're not. You think you can run people's lives, run the country's lives, just because you can sprinkle fairy dust wherever you please?"

"Look, I really -- "

"No, you look. You're trying to put me off finding Daisy, and I've found out why."

"You have?"

"Yes. It's because you're a fairy. Don't deny it."

Davenport stared at Ess for a moment, glanced at Oz then sat down.

"Please, take a seat. Your friend too."

Ess vibrated with righteous anger, determined not to let it off the boil in case he tried to enchant her, but when Oz sat down she felt awkward being the only person standing. She hesitated, then sat, as angrily as the motion allowed, and perched on the edge of the seat.

"Ms. Williams, firstly let me say that I represent my constituents as fairly as possible. That's all my constituents, regardless of political affiliation, race, creed, gender and lifestyle. I find it particularly offensive that you should use such a derogatory term. And whilst it is nothing to be ashamed of, I can assure you that that side of my life is an open book, and nothing, I repeat, nothing in my private life can lay me open to that sort of claim."

"Are you denying you're a fairy?"

Davenport winced. "Believe me, Ms. Williams, that whilst I feel no need to deny it, as though it were some crime, it just so happens I am very happily heterosexual. And if you are going to make a fool of yourself with these ridiculous allegations, could you perhaps use the term 'gay'?"

"What?"

"The LGBT community fight hard for equality. Frankly, I'm surprised that a young educated woman such as yourself would use such terms."

"What? I'm not -- I wouldn't -- I'm not accusing you of being gay."

Davenport sat back and frowned. "You're not?"

"No, of course not. Why would I do that?"

Davenport spread his hands. "I have absolutely no idea. Why are you?"

"I'm not. Why would you say that?"

"Because you said it."

Ess closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She snapped them open and fixed Davenport with a triumphant glare.

"Then why are you using fairy dust?"

"Fairy dust? Sorry, are you accusing me of being a drug addict now?"

"Don't try to enchant me. You know full well what I'm talking about. Yesterday you dosed me and Shades up with fairy dust. You know you did."

"Oh, so I'm a drug pusher, as well as being an addict and gay? Ms. Williams, I have no doubt that you have been under the influence of illegal substances, but I assure you, you did not get them from me."

"Yeah? Well, what about this then?" Ess grabbed her talisman, pulled it over her head and thrust it forward. "See? You're not dealing with some amateur here. This is iron, this is. I've got bread in my pocket too. Oz, get your iron out."

"Excuse me?" said Oz.

She turned to him and gave him an urgent look.

"Your iron," she hissed.

"Oh, right." Oz fished into his pocket and held out a horseshoe, then shrugged an apology at the politician.

Davenport licked his lips nervously and glanced at Oz. Then he leant across and took the talisman from Ess. Caught off guard, she let it slip through her fingers. Davenport examined it.

"Um, very nice, I suppose. And this means?"

"It's iron," said Ess, doubt creeping into her voice despite the anger.

"Yes?" He shrugged and offered it back. Ess snatched it from his hand and clutched it to her chest.

"Um, Ess, dearheart --" said Oz.

"Shut up."

"No, but it's iron, and this gentleman handled it quite easily."

"Shut up, Oz. He's a fairy, he has to be. How else do you explain the dust?"

"But he handled the iron. Can't you read him?"

Ess glared at the politician. "Fine," she said at last and unfocussed her eyes. It wasn't easy. Reading auras required a still centre, and a tornado whirled in her centre at the moment.

"Perhaps you could explain just what the hell is going on," said Davenport, turning to Oz.

"My colleague is under the impression that you are a person of a supernatural persuasion," said Oz. "Not human. To wit, a fairy." Ess let Oz run with the conversation. She couldn't do both at the same time.

"A fairy? You mean... " Davenport raised his hands and flapped them in imitation of tiny wings. "A fairy?"

"A fairy," confirmed Oz. "One of the gentle folk. Elfin in the very core meaning of the word. A fairy."

For a moment Davenport snorted before recovering himself.

"And is she under some sort of medication?"

"Not intentionally, though we have reason to believe that her mind was affected by a foreign substance. As it happened in the same timeframe as your meeting we rather assumed it was you."

Davenport's aura swam into Ess' view, faint and blurred. Not enough to make an accurate and detailed reading, but good enough to see he was human, and as far as she could see, he wasn't lying either. But she had been so sure. What other explanation could there be?

"Has she often been, um, under these impressions?"

"Oh, we both are, though I must admit, fairies is a new one. Ess, dear?"

Ess snapped her vision back.

"I know you're involved," she said through gritted teeth. "You can use dust as much as you like, but I know you're involved."

"With...?" Davenport gave every impression of being nonplussed.

Ess turned the laser beam of her gaze to Oz. He shrugged and had the grace to look embarrassed.

"I'm not giving up on Daisy," she said, rising.

Davenport leant forward to Oz and said in a voice not quite low enough, "I have some good contacts in social services, you know, if you need them."

"Oz!" Ess turned on her heel and marched out the door.