“But what happened to that forest?” Anne asked, and in her pocket Tuli was now also listening very carefully.
“The pigtail man bought the forest two years ago, and announced at the time that he was going to build a mall on the site. Then we and residents of the neighbouring town started a petition, and almost everyone who lives in the area signed it. Almost 25,000 signatures were collected. Remember, Dad used to come home so late because he was visiting every house with the petition. We fought for weeks, but then the forest was cut down, and now there is this huge concrete monster in its place”.
“But what does this have to do with our forest?” Anne asked in shock.
“The guy just told the police that he owns this forest too, so he can do whatever he wants in it. I’m afraid he wants to build something here too, maybe a hotel with a nice view of the valley”.
“Mum, he can’t do that! We must stop him! If they build a hotel there, they can never come back”.
“Who are they, Annie?”
“The animals. The frogs. The beetles! And we can’t play there anymore, and that would be terrible!”
“We’ll think of something”.” “When Dad came home from the office in the afternoon, Mum and Anne told him everything. Tuli was huddled in Anne’s pocket, alternating between crying and hoping. She was worried about her companions. Even for Gembi, who was really insufferable.
“I’ll tell you what we’ll do,” Dad said after a long thought. We’ll start a nationwide petition. The result will be a huge scandal. One of my patients, who just had a root canal with me today, works for a major commercial TV station. I’ll call him to see what we can do”.
Dad phoned, and lo and behold, early the next morning, a full TV crew drove into Lavender Street, stopping right in front of the green-fenced house. Soon afterwards, the bell rang at Anne’s house.
“Good afternoon, we are looking for the little girl who made the report to the police”. Anne wanted to hide in her room, but it was too late: she had barely woken up before the huge camera was in her face and a nice young lady was shoving a microphone in front of her mouth.
“Can you tell our viewers what you saw exactly?”” “Anne was shaking, but she had to speak.
“I was on my way home from school when I saw the black smoke… and I called the fire brigade on my mobile phone, and there was a little kid who I didn’t know riding past me, and he said that a man with a pigtail had unloaded the tyres and the garbage from a big black car… but then the kid rode off, and I didn’t know what to do, and finally, the next morning, I called the police”.
“You were very clever” the reporter whispered, and then, looking into the camera, she continued:
“It was later revealed that the suspect had bought the forest where he is planning to build a luxury hotel under rather dubious circumstances. Local residents have started a petition to preserve the forest. One of the IT professionals on the street has also set up a website for the petition this morning, so if you would like to sign it, you can do so by visiting www.savetheforest.com. Monica Brown from Lavender Street, now back to the studio!”
The report was broadcast on the evening news. Anne ‘watched’ herself on TV with a shy face, but her parents were very proud of her.” “The case has become a national scandal. For days it was the talk of the TV news, and thanks to the police investigation, more and more sordid details about the man with the pigtail were revealed. And the petition had already been signed by tens of thousands of people. Tuli was overjoyed: at night she flew out of the window and painted tiny tires on the pavement in front of the doors of the houses in the neighbourhood using Anne’s tempera.
Small black tires appeared on the pavements around Lavender Street. No one knows who makes the mysterious drawings, but they seem to have achieved their goal: in a matter of days, the strange act has spread across the country. In some cities, there are already protests with tyre stickers and billboards against the construction of a hotel on the outskirts of a small rural town, news like this and similar stories have been broadcast on television in the evenings.
“Tuli!” Anne cried out one July morning, looking out of the skylight towards the green-fenced house.
“What happened?” yawned the fairy, climbing out of the cot.” ““Look! Is that a ‘For Sale’ sign?” Anne pointed towards the green fence.
“Let me see!” Tuli was already flying out, and soon brought back the wonderful news.
“Yes, it is indeed. A ‘For Sale’ sign. And the black car has also gone”. Anne ran downstairs to the kitchen, where her parents were already preparing breakfast.
“Mum! Dad! The guy with the pigtails has moved out! There’s that sign outside his house! What happened?”
“Wow, how do you know that? Can you see from the window?” Mum asked in surprise, but Dad cut her off.
“That’s right! We couldn’t wait to tell you! News came early this morning that the guy has not been granted planning permission for the hotel, and may even be convicted of other crimes. And the forest has been declared a nature reserve! You have done a fantastic job!”
“WE have done it!” smiled Anne. “I’m going for a ride on my scooter to celebrate!”
The red scooter glided gently down the street, and Anne’s little fairy happily peeked out of her pocket.
“Anne! Maybe now we can finally look for my partners. We can tell them they can come back. Because next spring everything will bloom again”.
“Don’t worry, Tuli. I am sure we will find them,” Anne winked.