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  Because the Good Magician demanded payment for his Answers: a year’s service, or an equivalent mission.

  “Are we sure we want to do this?” Jess asked.

  Myst began to cry. Jess knew why: if they did not proceed, the child would have to try to navigate the challenges alone, to reach the boat.

  “Yes, I think we do,” Magnus said.

  The crying stopped.

  So they were committed after all.

  Jess actually felt relieved. She wasn’t sure why, but suspected it was because she so much wanted to be part of a family, even a pretend family, and this was a family undertaking. The challenges would be no joke. They would face them together. As a family. At this point it hardly mattered to her whether they succeeded or failed; it was the togetherness she craved.

  Magnus took her hand. “Me, too,” he murmured.

  Myst took her other hand. “Me, too.”

  Was it really a game?

  Chapter 2

  Challenges

  In the morning Magnus woke first, and had already harvested assorted pies and milkweed pods for their breakfast by the time Jess and Myst stirred.

  “Dad’s like that, too,” Myst confided as they quickly washed up in the pond before eating.

  The game was still on. Within that framework, maybe they could talk seriously. “You ran away,” Jess said cautiously.

  “Not forever. Only so they could be alone. I’ll come back when they’ve finished with the stork.”

  “Happy couples don’t finish with the stork soon.”

  “Oh, sure. But they slow down after a while.”

  Was there more to be learned here? Jess was not easy about harboring a runaway child. “So you’re not mad at them, really.”

  “No. I just thought they’d be better off without me, for a while.”

  “Won’t they worry about your absence?”

  The child paused. “I didn’t think of that. Maybe they won’t notice.”

  Jess was pretty sure they would notice, and be alarmed. “When you get to the boat, promise me you will send word to your folks that you’re safe, and where you are.”

  Myst laughed. “You’re just like mom!”

  “Thank you.”

  “She worries about every little thing.”

  “I’m sure.”

  They returned to the shelter for breakfast.

  “You said you were adopted,” Magnus said as they ate.

  “Yes, we all were. Merge adopted me. Then she married Hapless.”

  There were two more names: her parents. “You have a problem with Hapless?” Magnus asked.

  “No, I like him. He’s great. He’s a conductor.”

  “A what?”

  “For music. He conjures instruments, but he can’t play any himself. But he can organize others so that they play really well.”

  “That’s an interesting talent. What’s your mother’s talent?”

  “Merge? She’s really five women, sisters. But they’re happier being together, you know, merged, so usually there’s just one of her. Sometimes when she gets mad they separate. It’s funny.”

  “It must be,” Magnus agreed.

  Then there was a sound. “Oooo-oooo!”

  Myst jumped up. “That’s Blue! She’s calling me!”

  “Who?” Jess asked as they ran outside.

  “Blue. Mom’s blue self. The others are Brown, Black, Red, and Yellow. You can tell by their hair.”

  Jess exchanged a quick glance with Magnus, no words needed. Glances were easier to take seriously.

  “Here!” Myst called.

  In little more than a moment, maybe a moment and a quarter, the woman appeared. Sure enough, she wore a blue dress, and her hair was light blue. She also carried a blue urn. She was nymph-like in her beauty.

  “Myst!” she exclaimed, rushing up to hug the girl. “You’re all right!”

  “Sure I’m all right,” Myst said.

  “We were afraid something had happened to you.”

  “Nothing happened to me. I just ran away.”

  “But why?”

  “So you could be alone with dad. For the stork.”

  “You didn’t need to go for that! We can do it in our room.”

  Myst shrugged. “It seemed better.”

  “Myst,” Blue said, exasperated. “We couldn’t do anything while we worried about you!”

  “You wasted your time alone?”

  “Utterly. We’ve been out and around all night searching for you. That’s why we split into components, so we could cover more territory. We couldn’t rest until we found you.”

  Myst began to tear up. “I’m sorry. I thought I was helping.”

  Then Blue became aware of the others. “Hello,” she said awkwardly.

  “These are Magnus and Jess,” Myst explained. “We made a family for the night.”

  “An ad hoc family,” Magnus clarified. “Like the siblings.”

  Blue looked at Myst. “They took care of you?”

  “Yes. We’re going to do the challenges, so we can get to Fibot.”

  “Fibot?”

  “You know. The flying fire boat. My siblings are there.”

  “Oh, yes,” Blue said, remembering. “They joined the crew.”

  “I want to join the crew, too. I know I can help.”

  “And you’d like to be with your siblings again,” Blue said.

  “Yes. While you and dad, you know.”

  Evidently that point scored. “I suppose you would be safe on Fibot. Dell and Nia are good people. They wouldn’t let you get into mischief.”

  “Not much, anyway,” Myst agreed mischievously.

  Two more names. Jess hoped she could remember them all.

  Blue faced them. “Hello. I am Blue, one fifth of Myst’s mother. It’s complicated.”

  “We understand,” Magnus and Jess said almost together.

  “I suppose it would be good experience for Myst to join her siblings on the fire boat. They have a rather special history.”

  “So we understand,” Magnus said. “They’re from the future.”

  “Astrid Basilisk rescued them,” Jess added.

  “Yes. Astrid is wonderful. They’re all adoptive, but they’re very close to each other. We fear that Myst felt a bit left out. If you don’t mind seeing her to the boat . . .”

  They didn’t even need to exchange glances this time. “We don’t mind,” Magnus said.

  “You’re letting me do it!” Myst cried, hugging Blue again.

  “This time. But don’t run away again.”

  “I promise,” Myst said tearfully.

  “Then I will merge with the others and let them know.” And the woman in blue faded out.

  Magnus and Jess stared.

  “It’s okay,” Myst said. “Blue is just part of Merge. She can merge from anywhere. When she does, the others will know everything she knows.”

  “That’s nice,” Jess said weakly. She had thought her talent was strange, but it was apparent that there was plenty of other strangeness.

  “Now that that’s settled,” Magnus said briskly, “Let’s head off to the Good Magician’s Castle.” He paused, “Understand, there’s no guarantee we’ll make it through the challenges. If we don’t, we’ll try to figure out some other way to connect with the boat. We won’t desert you.”

  “I know,” Myst said. “We’re an ado . . . aho . . . a family.”

  “Ad hoc,” Magnus said, smiling. “It means for this purpose.”

  They cleaned up whatever mess they had made, and walked on toward the castle whose turrets were just coming into sight.

  The castle itself was impressive, with a number of high turrets. A moat surrounded it, and they could see a formidable moat monster even fr
om a distance. Beyond the moat was an orchard with a number of trails through it.

  “That doesn’t look too challenging,” Jess said. “Except for the moat monster, but we’d cross on the drawbridge.”

  “I understand the challenges manifest once you get close,” Magnus said. “And they are always tuned to the folk who try to get through.”

  “And there’s always a way,” Myst said. “If you can find it.”

  Sure enough, as they came closer, something appeared. It was a glade in the orchard, with a giant book on the ground, from which a dozen huge pages had been torn. There was print on the pages, but from this angle they couldn’t make it out.

  “I don’t know what to make of this,” Magnus said. “Are we supposed to put the book back together? That would be a chore, considering the size of those pages. They are like bed sheets!”

  Jess bent down to take hold of the edge of a page. She tugged, but it wouldn’t budge. “It seems to be anchored.”

  “Let’s see what it says.” He leaned over the page to make out the enormous print. “UP.”

  Myst went to look at another. “DOWN,” she announced.

  They checked others. Each had a different word printed. LEFT. RIGHT. NEAR. FAR. IN. OUT. FAT. THIN. HAPPY. SAD.

  “I am not getting the point,” Magnus said, frustrated. “In fact I don’t know what use this book would be, even to a giant, if it were in good condition.”

  “Maybe it’s a primer for giants,” Jess suggested. “So they can learn one word at a time.”

  There was a bleat. An angry ram was charging into the glade.

  They hastily ran for the sides, ready to climb trees if necessary. “Looks like a battering ram,” Magnus said. “They’re pretty silly animals.”

  “But we don’t want it to batter us,” Jess said.

  The ram heard their voices and skewed around to orient on them. Then it charged again. They hastily dodged to the sides and hid behind tree trunks.

  “Which seems to be exactly what it means to do,” Jess said.

  “Maybe it won’t take me seriously,” Jess said. She stepped out in front of the FAR page. “Hey, butthead!” she called. “What’s on your mind?”

  The ram changed course to charge her. She held her ground, gambling that her curse would take effect. The animal smelled her and veered at the last moment, running onto the page. It had indeed not been able to take her seriously as a target.

  “Hey neat talent!” Myst called.

  Sometimes it was, if she used it correctly.

  The ram halted on the page, looking at it. Then it snorted and leaped off. “What, wrong page?” she teased it.

  Another bulb flashed over Magnus’s head. He seemed to be good at ideas. “That’s a page. He’s a ram. Rampage!”

  “He needs to get on the right page,” Jess agreed.

  “I’ll do it!” Myst cried. She ran to the page that said RIGHT. “Hey, sheepish! Over here!”

  “Don’t do that!” Jess called. “It won’t avoid you!”

  “I know.” Myst put her spread hands to her ears and wiggled them at the ram. “Bet you can’t get me, wool-for-brains!”

  The ram pawed the ground, then charged her.

  “Get out of there!” Jess cried, horrified.

  But the child remained in place as the animal hurtled at her.

  And through her, as she puffed into vapor at the last second. Jess had forgotten Myst’s talent.

  Now that ram found himself in the RIGHT page. “Bleep!” he bleated.

  Then the ram and all the pages faded out, leaving the glade bare.

  They had solved the riddle, and passed the first challenge, working cooperatively.

  “We make a good team,” Magnus said. “Good work, girls.”

  “Thank you!” Jess and Myst said together, laughing. But it was true: they had worked together to figure it out, and to resolve it. They did make a good team. So far.

  “Still, there’s an oddity.”

  Jess raised an eyebrow at him.

  “It is my understanding that folk who undertake the challenges are deprived of their personal magic talents while doing so, reducing them to basics. We have been using ours. I have been making sense of things, and Jess made the ram dismiss her as a target, and Myst misted out to avoid the charge. Why are we allowed to use our talents?”

  Jess nodded. “We would not have worked nearly so well together without them.”

  “Maybe the Good Magician wants us to be together as a family,” Myst said. “Even if it’s a pretend family.”

  “A pretend family that may last only until we get to the fire boat,” Magnus said. “Then you’ll be with your siblings.”

  “Oh, sure. But I had a family in the future. Then one with Merge and Hapless. All of us siblings have families. But we’re always siblings, too. I’m happy with you two.”

  “And we’re happy with you,” Jess said, experiencing another surge of emotion. “Can you stand it if I hug you again?”

  “Sure. It’s all part of the game. Hug your worst.”

  Jess did so, and the child did not burst out laughing. She was a good enough little actress.

  “Let me in on that,” Magnus said. He put his arms around the two of them.

  “Why are you crying?” Myst asked Jess.

  “I’m not sad. I’m happy. I love being hugged, even if it’s not really serious.”

  “You’re crying because you’re happy? I’m trying to believe that, but it’s awful hard. Your curse is getting to me.”

  “Believe it,” Magnus said. “She longs to be part of a family, even if it’s just a semblance. We have to play the game, to avoid rejecting her, but Jess doesn’t. So she can express her true emotion, and that can make an adult cry.”

  “Weird.”

  “Adults can be weird,” he agreed.

  They walked on, alert for the next challenge. But all they found was a pretty fountain, whose water splashed into a pond. Beside it was a plaque: FOUNTAIN OF SMART.

  “I don’t trust this,” Magnus said. “I have heard of fountains that can be quite potent, such as the Fountain of Youth, that makes anyone who touches its water young. They have to be treated carefully.”

  “Youth elixir,” Jess agreed. “A little can be valuable, but too much is mischief.”

  “I don’t want to be younger,” Myst said. “I’m eight, and that’s young enough.”

  “This, however, seems to be smart elixir,” Magnus said. “How can being smarter hurt a person? There has to be a catch.”

  “The pond extends across our route,” Jess said. “We’ll have to wade in it to get through.”

  “Which suggests that we may not want to wade. Why not?”

  “It’s clearly a challenge of some sort. We need to understand it before we run disastrously afoul of it. For one thing, we don’t know how deep it gets.”

  “We might get smart feet,” Magnus agreed. “Too smart for our heads. And if we tripped and fell in it—”

  “We’d have smart asses,” she finished. They both laughed, and the child giggled.

  “I could mist out and float across it,” Myst said.

  “Two problems there,” Magnus said. “The first is that there’s a breeze, and it’s blowing the wrong way, surely by no coincidence. The second is that wouldn’t get the other two of us across, and we don’t want to separate.”

  Jess liked the way he thought. In fact she liked everything about him, especially his fine understanding of her situation. But this wasn’t getting them anywhere rapidly. “I’ll go touch it. Maybe it will make me smart enough to figure it out.”

  “I still don’t trust this,” Magnus said.

  Jess was not deterred. She walked to the fountain and put out a hand to touch the falling water. There was a flash of pain. “Ooo, that smarts!” s
he exclaimed, shaking her hand.

  “Oh, bleep!” Magnus swore. “We missed the obvious. Smarting can mean painful.”

  “It certainly can.” Jess’s wet hand was turning red.

  “Now we know,” Magnus said ruefully.

  “I’m sorry,” Myst said tearfully.

  “It’s not your fault, dear,” Jess said.

  “Maybe I can help.”

  “Oh, I don’t think—”

  But the child was already misting into a little cloud as she held on to Jess’s fingers. The vapor coalesced around her hand—and cooled and soothed it. Soon the pain was gone.

  The cloud floated off, and the little girl re-formed.

  “Thank you!” Jess said. “I didn’t know you could do that.”

  Myst shrugged. “It’s just part of my talent. It’s not much.”

  “It’s enough.”

  “Sometimes Firenze burns people,” she explained. “So I help.”

  “Who?”

  “Fir-EN-zee,” she said, pronouncing it carefully. “My oldest brother. When he gets mad, his head gets all fiery. Aunt Astrid adopted him. He’s not on the boat.”

  “That may be just as well,” Jess said. The siblings were clearly remarkable children.

  Meanwhile Magnus had been looking around. “I found some suits,” he announced.

  “Women don’t wear suits much,” Jess said.

  “Neither do children,” Myst said.

  “Well, they vary. Some may be swim suits.”

  “We don’t want to swim!” Jess and Myst said almost together.

  “Actually they seem to be general purpose clothes. When I tried on a jacket, it shifted to fit me perfectly, like a second skin. The way some swim suits do, at least on women. They must be here for a reason.”

  “To trick people into trying to swim in the smart pond?” Jess asked disdainfully. “That’s mean.”

  “I wonder. Maybe they’re more like wet-suits.”

  “Well, of course they would get wet in the pond. But that wouldn’t do the swimmers any good.”

  “I wonder,” he repeated. “Maybe I should try it.”

  “Try swimming? Your whole body would be smarting!”

  “Maybe not. Okay, I’ll change. You don’t have to look if you don’t want to, but it’s all in the family.”