On the fifth day of her journey, Bíbor arrived at her last destination in the late evening, completely exhausted. There was only a small house standing in the middle of the field. Weak, warm light escaped through its windows. She knocked and asked for admittance. A woman with a tired expression opened the door. The woman barely asked her any questions. She invited her in, gave her dinner, and prepared a bed for her. Bíbor suspiciously watched her and thoroughly analysed their surroundings but didn’t find anything unusual. However, even after this, she dared not fall asleep immediately. Only she was so exhausted that in the end, her eyes shut. 

In the morning, she was woken up by curious children. When their mother noticed they were bothering their guest, she quickly shooed them away like flies. She invited Bíbor to have breakfast and then placed a whistle on the table next to the glass of water. The fairy looked at the object with wonder, then raised the same gaze to the woman. 

”You came for this, right?”

The small copper whistle couldn’t even look more simple. Bíbor had no idea what it was for, but her wisdom didn’t let her ask questions immediately. Instead, she waited for the widow to finish what she wanted to say.

”The táltos steeds only listened to my husband. Since he died, so many people wanted to take them away from me. I’m so weary of protecting them. You look like a proper person. I doubt that you would use this whistle for wrong. Take it! I don’t want to see it again!”

Now she understood. In the evening, she wondered where the equerry was. It hadn’t even occurred to her that she was in the wrong place. But according to the widow’s words, the steeds need only to be called with the whistle. Bíbor was about to reach for it, but she couldn’t bear to do so for some reason. The woman’s gaze was sour. Despite her words, she clearly did not want to give up her husband’s treasured possession. But then, why was she giving it away in such a rush? Bíbor was just about to ask when the field was shaken by hoofbeats. The widow jumped up from the table and shouted to her children. 

”Hide! Quickly!”

Bíbor grabbed the whistle, then reached for her sword. She looked at the woman, expecting an explanation, when someone hammered at the door. The widow motioned for her to hide as well, so she went into the clean room*. The widow opened the door, and a dozen men dashed into the house. They immediately started to rummage through everything. 

”Stop it! I told you that I don’t have it anymore!”

”We will believe it when we see it!"– answered one of them, then pushed the woman away from the bench. 

It did not take long for one intruder to start making his way towards the bedroom where the children were hiding. The woman was on the verge of panic. She stood no chance against these men, and she was sure if she angered them, they would neither spare her nor her family. But before anything could happen, Bíbor stepped out of her hiding spot. 

”Leave!"– her voice rang.

The men looked her up and down, then burst out in laughter.

”You want this, right?”- she raised the whistle – ”This is why you harass this poor woman?”

The mood became much more severe. One of the intruders tried to snatch the whistle, but Bíbor quickly dodged him.

”If you give it to us, we will spare your lives!"– rattled another one. 

”So nice of you!"– laughed the fairy, then she bore her sword.

She did not kill any of them, but injured them well enough for them to flee with their tails between their legs. Knowing that now she was the owner of the whistle, they would not bother the widow and her children again. Bíbor thanked the family for their hospitality and went along her journey.

When she could not see the widow’s house behind her back anymore, Bíbor blew the whistle. The earth started to shake under her feet. She heard consistent hoofbeats that kept getting louder. When she turned around, she stood before a stud of táltos steeds. She politely bowed, and the horses returned her gesture. 

”I would like to ask for your help!”

”You saved our late master’s family. We are at your service!”

”In this case, please take me to Hajnal!”

”As you wish!”

*A "clean room" (or tisztaszoba) is usually an unused room in traditional Hungarian houses. It's furnished and decorated with the best items the family owns and mostly reserved for guests, and the sick. Also, it's always kept very tidy (therefore its name).