“Dwarfs work with stone and metal and jewels,” Watch said. “They like to be underground. They’d never have built this.”
“What about the leprechauns?” Sally asked.
Watch shook his head. “Leprechauns try to stay hidden so no one can find them. They wouldn’t build such an obvious and big place.”
“But it’s empty,” Cindy said.
“It might just appear to be empty,” Adam warned. “I don’t see anyone but I feel like we’re being watched.”
Sally nodded. “So do I. I think we should get out of here.”
“And go where?” Cindy asked.
“Let Watch and me explore the palace,” Adam suggested. “You girls stay here.”
“No way,” Sally said. “We go where you go. Right, Cindy?”
Cindy nodded without enthusiasm.
They crept into the palace, actually into a courtyard. It was as wide across as a football field and lined with branches and vines and decorated with multicolored flowers. There was a fountain in the center of the courtyard, and the water splashed out of a block of stacked stones and then collected in a sunny pool. They sat beside it and had a long drink. They were all so thirsty.
Then everything changed.
First the sky dimmed and took on a greenish hue. Then they heard a faint whistle echoing in the various rooms of the palace. The sound came at them from all sides. It was definitely not caused by the wind because there was a rhythm to it. Also, its source seemed to shift as they tried to pinpoint it. Then it was as if the very air itself began to change, to fill with faint figures that seemed to be made of sunlight and mist. It was impossible to focus on them, to be sure they were there.
“What’s happening?” Cindy asked, nervous.
“They look like ghosts,” Sally said darkly.
“They’re not ghosts,” Watch explained. “Ghosts don’t build green palaces in the middle of the forest.”
“Did you notice that we didn’t see a thing until we drank the water?” Adam said.
“Do you think it was poisoned?” Sally asked, glancing at the fountain.
“It could have had something in it besides poison,” Watch said. “Wait a second. Something’s happening.”
The ghostly figures vanished as the sky darkened more. It took on a purple color now. The whistling abruptly stopped, and an eerie silence filled the courtyard. They anxiously waited for something dreadful to happen.
They didn’t have long to wait.
A figure appeared at the doorway of the courtyard, at the same place they had entered. It wore a dark-hooded robe, which hung low over its head and cast a shadow across its face. The figure was tall, thin, and in its right hand it carried a glowing green crystal.
“Oh no,” Sally moaned.
It walked toward them.
4
The gang waited. There seemed to be no point in running, no place to hide. The figure moved stiffly as if there were only bones under that dark robe. Yet after it stopped in front of them and threw back its hood, they found themselves staring up at a beautiful woman. Her hair was blond, with red highlights, and her eyes were so green they seemed to sparkle with the light from the crystal she held. For a long time she stared down at them, her expression serious but not frightening. She didn’t smile, nor welcome them in any way. When she finally did speak, her voice was little more than a whisper, not unlike the sound the wind makes as it moves through the leaves.
“Why have you entered our home?” she asked.
“We’re sorry,” Adam said quickly. “We were just looking for the leprechauns who stole our bikes.”
“There are no leprechauns here,” the woman said.
“That’s fine,” Sally replied, trying to edge her way to the doorway. “We’ll just be on our way.” She grabbed Adam’s shirt sleeve. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Wait,” the woman said. “You drank our water.”
“Just a little,” Adam said, following Sally and the others as they slowly made their way around the woman. “We were thirsty. We’re sorry if that’s a problem.”
“Humans should not drink fairy water,” the woman said.
Adam stopped. “Is that what you are? A fairy?”
“What did you think I was?” the woman asked.
Watch shrugged. “You look like a woman to us.”
At that the woman’s face darkened. “A fairy never likes to be compared to a human. It annoys us and it’s rude, especially to say such a thing in our own house.”
“We’re sorry,” Adam said for what felt like the third time. “We meant you no harm. We’ll be on our way now and we won’t bother you again.”
With his friends, Adam turned to leave. But just then the fairy woman held up the hand that held the green crystal and the light of the object began to increase dramatically. Pretty soon all they could see was green light, and they were stumbling over one another as they tried to get to the exit. Adam had to shut his eyes—the light was that blinding.
Then it stopped. A switch could have been thrown, it was that sudden. For a full minute Adam blinked his eyes to focus them. The sky had returned to its familiar blue, and the fairy had disappeared. Everything appeared perfectly normal, but Adam should have known better. He was dealing with a fairy, after all.
It took him another moment to realize his friends were gone.
Or were they?
“Sally?” he called. “Watch? Cindy?”
“Adam?” Watch called. “Where are you?”
“I’m right here. Where are you?”
“I’m right here,” Watch said. “But you and the others must be invisible.”
“I’m not invisible,” Adam heard Sally say. “You guys are invisible.”
“I think we’re all invisible,” Cindy said.
“That’s it,” Adam said. “She must have used magic on us. Let’s go stand together on the first step of the doorway. At least we’ll be able to touch.”
But Adam was wrong. Even though they stood right next to one another on the same step, they couldn’t touch. Adam began to worry that they might be invisible for the rest of their lives.
“Maybe if we leave this fairy palace we’ll be all right,” Sally suggested. “Maybe the magic only works in here.”
They tried that, and the situation actually got worse. Because as soon as they stepped outside the place, they began to have trouble hearing. Watch insisted they return inside.
“Because if we can’t even talk to each other,” he said, “then we’re bound to get lost.”
They hurried back inside.
“Did she turn us into fairies?” Cindy asked. “Is that the problem?”
“I don’t think so,” Adam said. “She seemed to think fairies were much better than humans, and I doubt that she would do us a favor by making us into her own kind.”
“I agree,” Watch said. “This is some kind of spell.”
“So what have you read about fairy spells?” Sally asked.
“That they’re a pain in the butt,” Watch said.
“That’s helpful,” Cindy muttered.
“There must be some way to counteract the spell,” Adam said. “I mean, fairies aren’t supposed to be all that powerful.”
Watch agreed. “There is usually a trick to breaking any spell. It’s often something simple, like walking backward or holding your breath or spinning in circles.”
“Why don’t we try all those things?” Cindy asked.
So they did, but they only ended up feeling dizzy and out of breath. They still couldn’t see or touch one another. Yet without warning, Adam caught sight of somebody’s skin. The vision lasted only a second.
“Who was that?” he called.
“Who was what?” Sally asked.
“I saw a piece of somebody,” Adam said.
>
“Who was it?” Cindy asked.
“I don’t know,” Adam said. “It was just a couple of inches of somebody’s face.”
“You should be able to tell my face from the others,” Sally said.
“Maybe the things we just tried are working,” Cindy said. “Maybe they just take time.”
They waited for a few minutes to see if that was the case. But Adam saw no more slices of flesh pop out of the air.
“Maybe we should spin some more,” Cindy said finally.
“I don’t think that’s it,” Adam said. “Let’s examine what each of us was doing at the instant I saw that piece of someone’s face.”
“I was scratching my face,” Cindy said.
“You were probably picking your nose,” Sally muttered.
“That’s not true!” Cindy snapped. “I never do that in public.”
“Now you can,” Sally said.
“Stop arguing,” Adam interrupted. “This is serious. What were you doing, Sally?”
“Just standing here.”
“You must have been doing something besides that,” Adam said.
“I was breathing,” Sally said. “And picking my nose. What were you doing?”
Adam paused. “Nothing. I was just standing too. What were you doing, Watch?”
“Wiping my glasses,” he said.
Adam jumped. “That’s it! The glass in the glasses must be the key. I actually saw two small pieces of skin, each as large as your lenses. Watch, give me your glasses.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m over here,” Adam said. “No, wait, that won’t work. We can’t touch. But let’s think about this. What if when light passes through glass it shows our skin?”
“Then why can’t we see Watch’s eyes right now?” Sally asked. “I assume he has his glasses on.”
“I do,” Watch said.
“But Watch always walks around with his head sort of down,” Adam said. “Watch, take off your glasses and hold them up to the sun. Look up as well, so that your face is right behind them.”
Watch must have done what he was told.
His nose and upper lip suddenly appeared.
“It works!” Cindy exclaimed.
The pieces of skin vanished.
“It must only work while the sun is shining on those two spots,” Sally said. “The effect isn’t permanent.”
“But I think we’re on the right track,” Adam said. “What we need is a bigger piece of glass so our whole bodies can become visible at the same time. Then the effect might remain, and we could see each other again.”
“That makes sense.” Watch said.
“It does?” Sally asked.
“We’re dealing with fairy magic here,” Adam said. “The principle is what counts.”
“But we’re not going to find a huge piece of glass out here in the forest,” Sally said.
“We might not have to, though,” Watch said. “Like you said, Adam, it’s the principle that matters. Rather than stand in light that has been filtered through glass, what if we stand in light that has been reflected? In that situation we’d also have light that has been slightly altered.”
“As we’ve been slightly altered,” Adam added.
“But where are we going to find a huge mirror out here in the middle of fairyland?” Sally asked.
“We don’t need a mirror to find reflected light,” Watch said. “The water from the fountain collects into a pool of water. Let’s stand to the right side of it, on those rocks.”
“I don’t want to get near that water,” Sally said. “It’s what started our troubles.”
“Fine,” Cindy said. “Stay invisible for the rest of your life. Then we won’t have to look at you anymore.”
But Sally must have ignored her because a moment later—as they climbed onto the rocks beside the pool—the four of them suddenly became visible. Not only that, but they were able to touch one another, and none of them looked any the worse for wear.
“But we could disappear the moment we step out of this reflected light,” Sally said.
“No. Once you break a fairy spell,” Watch said, “it’s broken.”
To prove his point, he jumped off the rocks and moved away from the pool. He remained visible.
“Good,” Adam said. “Let’s get out of here before that fairy woman comes back.”
“Yeah, I didn’t like her,” Sally said. “She was creepy.”
“Like this is the best place in the whole world to insult her,” Cindy said as they hurried toward the entrance of the fairy palace.
5
They were afraid to return to the dwarf cave because they had taken so many turns underground that they thought they’d get lost and have to remain in the dark. Walking out in the sun, even if it was under the trees and in the neighborhood of a bunch of fairies and leprechauns, seemed safer. But they were still lost. They had never been in these hills, in this part of the woods, and even when they climbed higher they weren’t able to catch a glimpse of the city or the ocean.
“Whose idea was this picnic anyway?” Sally grumbled.
“Whose idea was it to confront leprechauns and show them how tough we are?” Cindy asked.
“It’s weird how we’ve seen so many magical creatures all at once,” Adam said. “Usually, when we have an adventure, we deal with only one creature at a time. But now it’s like a doorway has opened to another dimension, and the elementals are moving in.”
“What are elementals?” Cindy wanted to know.
“Any kind of a nature spirit,” Watch answered quickly. “And I don’t think it’s good we’re seeing so many of them. Look how much trouble we’ve had already, and we’re used to dealing with aliens and monsters and demons. What if normal people ran into these creatures?”
“I always think of myself as normal,” Sally said.
“We all have our illusions,” Cindy answered simply.
“But there must be a reason for all these creatures showing up all at once,” Adam said. “Maybe if we figure out what it is, they’ll all go home and leave us in peace.”
Just then a voice seemed to speak from the sky.
“We can’t go home.”
The four of them almost jumped out of their skins. The voice was thick with power, clearly not human. It didn’t sound angry, however, only a little sad. Adam cautioned the others to remain silent while he searched the immediate area. Yet no one was visible. Finally he stared up at the sky, spoke to it.
“Who’s there?” he asked.
The voice replied, “Pan.”
“Oh no,” Watch said.
“Who’s Pan?” Sally whispered.
“The king of the elementals,” Watch said. “He’s supposed to be very powerful.”
“But is he evil?” Cindy asked.
“It depends on your definition of evil,” Watch said.
“I’m not that bad,” the voice answered.
“Where are you?” Adam asked. “Can we see you?”
“Do we want to see you?” Sally muttered.
“Continue the way you’re going,” the voice said. “I am not far. I will talk to you when you arrive.”
Adam and Watch started to move, but Sally jumped in front of them. “Wait a second,” she said, “this guy sounds like the big boss.”
“That’s good,” Watch said. “He’s the perfect one to tell us what’s going on.”
“He’s the perfect one to turn us into toads,” Sally said. “I say we run the other way, and not look back.”
Adam shook his head. “We can’t leave this mystery unsolved. Also, we have nowhere to go.” He paused. “I think I remember reading a little about Pan. He plays the flute, doesn’t he? He can’t be all bad.”
“He plays Pan pipes,” Watch said. “Not
a flute.”
“Same difference,” Adam continued. “It’s not like he’s a demon or a troll or something really evil.”
“I don’t like meeting supernatural creatures deep in the woods,” Sally said. “It just isn’t right.”
But Sally’s arguments fell on deaf ears. It was clear to the others that they had nowhere else to go. Finally they continued along the path, with Sally bringing up the rear. As Pan had said, it was not long before they reached him.
He stood in the center of a small clearing beside a stone wall with a brook nearby. He was half goat, half man. From his waist down he was animal-like—he had four legs, ending in cloven hoofs. Above the waist he was a man and an extremely handsome one too. He was about forty with a dark goatlike beard. Atop his head, though, he had two black horns. In one hand he carried his famous Pan pipes, although he didn’t look like he was in the mood for music. He glanced up as they came into the meadow but then hung his head. He appeared to be in deep thought or else was depressed.
“Hello,” he said in his magical way. The word echoed all around them, even though he hadn’t raised his voice.
“Hi,” Adam said. “I’m Adam and these are my friends, Cindy and Watch and Sally.”
“I know who you are,” he said.
“Really?” Adam said. “How?”
“I have watched you since you entered this forest. I do not have to be near you to see you. I know your names, and I know how you feel and how you think.”
“Please don’t judge me by today,” Sally said quickly. “I haven’t been at my best.”
“She’s usually worse,” Cindy muttered.
“Are we disturbing you?” Adam asked, wondering why Pan continued to hang his head and not look at them.
“No,” he said. “It doesn’t matter.”
“What doesn’t matter?” Watch asked.
“Nothing matters,” Pan replied quietly. “Not anymore.”
“Why not?” Adam asked. “What’s happened?”
Pan sighed. “It’s a long story.”
“We like stories,” Sally said brightly. “In fact, I might be an author when I grow up. Maybe we could take down your story and get it published. You can get royalties and advances and all kinds of money these days. You might even get a movie deal, being a supernatural creature and all.”