Returning to the Scene Saturday (7 Sep 2001) The Mirari gang revisits the site of the appearance of the unicorn.

Near One-Eye's Hill
A beaten path here runs left and right around One-Eye's Hill, which would eventually end at its peak, a modest and flat area from which one would have a spectacular view of Cadmus's Teeth, the mountain range to the northwest of the town. That view is unfortunately blocked from here by the abundant trees, which cast long shadows across much of the path.

What occasions the stop here is that there seem to be a fair number of tracks here -- cat tracks, if Tom has any experience on the subject -- and the black cat lying draped over his shoulders would seem to be ample opportunity to gain this experience. They are quite distinct from the "Jruuh" tracks he recalls from their sojourning in the caves some time ago, in both size and characteristic shape.

The other kids are following Tom to some degree, deferring to his experience in charting the "untrodden wilderness".

Simon is whistling a merry little tune, something along the line of "Pop! Goes the Weasel", then chants, "Up and down the forest green, in and out of trouble go, that's the way to find--OOF!" He stops, having bumped into Tom's back. "What's the matter?"

Tom holds up his hand in a silencing gesture, then kneels down and looks intently at the ground. "Interesting," he mutters, loud enough for the others to hear. "Look. Something else has been out here. Or someone. Tracks. Feline tracks."

Alice follows along near the back, staying well away from whatever might lurk up towards the front. "Is something wrong?" she asks when the others in front of her stop.

"Bobcat?" Agatha asks as she walks around Tom to get a look for herself. She also watches the cat on his shoulders to see if it takes an interest in the tracks.

The dark-haired Ruritanian girl slips along the edge of the path, frowning at the tracks. She wraps her hands around her upper arms. "That looks like a lot of cats," she says, bending her knees to look.

Tom pets Shadow, who is laying lazily over his neck and shoulders. He then lifts one of Shadow's paws up a bit, comparing the size of that paw with the tracks. "Not sure yet, let me see here," he replies.

The black cat meows at having his paw man-handled, and his claws pop out of their sheathes, though he doesn't try to prick Tom with them.

Simon resumes whistling, looking around a bit.

The little blonde wanders around Elinor and leans over a little to peer at the tracks as well. "I wonder if they'll all want cookies," she considers out loud.

Tom lets the paw go and pats Shadow again. "Poor baby," he mutters, grinning. "Well, it's not really large enough to be a bobcat or anything. Looks just like a regular housecat, or cats, left them," he says, looking up at Agatha again. "What is it with cats lately?"

Tom then looks over to Elinor. "I'm sure they won't hurt you. Besides, they're not around right now, anyway."

"You've noticed other odd cats then, Tom, besides the cross-eyed one?" Agatha asks, standing up.

"Cross-eyed cat?" Simon repeats, breaking off from his whistling.

"Cross-eyed kitty?" asks Alice, almost echoing Simon.

Shadow mews, flipping his whiskers against his cheeks at the petting. He sniffs at the air, and his ears go back against his head, before he hops from Tom's shoulders and walks a few paces away from the spot, his tail erect.

Elinor glances to Tom, smiling a little. "I know," she says. "But it seems odd. I didn't think cats traveled in groups like that."

Tom stands up and dusts his knees off. "Well, no. But it is an interesting coincidence," replies Thomas. "And yeah, a cat came up to me recently, looked at me cross-eyed, and then walked away." He looks as if he's going to say more, but Shadow's odd behavior catches his attention.

"What's gotten into him?" Agatha wonders, and takes a few steps back from Shadow. "Does he smell a rat or something, Tom?"

Alice stands upright and watches Shadow pad off. "Maybe he smells the other kitties and wants to go find them? Maybe kitties have adventures too, when no one is looking. Like when shadows take things that don't belong to them," she offers.

Simon looks over to Alice and then stage-whispers, "Since when don't cats look at people cross-eyed?" and grins lopsidedly.

"They don't. Cats are solitary," Tom says to Elinor, then slowly moves toward Shadow. "Hey Shadow, whatcha find? Something coming? Going?" says Thomas. Tom then sniffs the air, wondering if maybe something like a dead mole is nearby that Shadow smelled.

If the cat has found something, he's not telling Tom. Instead, he sits down, away from the other cat tracks, and starts licking one paw.

Beaming at the joke, Alice nods a little to Simon. "Maybe we should follow Shadow and see where he leads us?" She glances past Simon and to the cat again.

"Well, not all cats are solitary, apparently," Agatha points out, gesturing to the tracks, "unless these tracks were made by single cats coming here at different times. Can you tell, Tom, if these were all made at once or not?"

Tom pets Shadow lightly and says, "You are such a pain, Shadow. Getting us all excited." He then looks back at Agatha. "Hmm? Oh, let me look. I might be able to. It'll depend on how deep each print is, and if some look a lot more shallow than others, or smudged. That'll hint some are newer than others." He heads back over to the prints and kneels down again, moving in close, green eyes peering over the tracks.

While Tom studies the prints, Agatha hunches down next to Alice and whispers to her, "Have you ever seen Tom's cat go along to play with him before, or heard him mention it happening?"

"Well," the little girl says, while looking between Shadow and the boy as if thinking about it, "... no. But I asked Tommy if we could bring Shadow, but Shadow wanted to come on his own anyway."

"I really can't tell," Tom says, getting back up. "They all look about the same, especially in this light. Our luck is they're all sufficiently old enough to kill the details that would help identify older versus newer. After a while, they all just look the same."

Elinor watches the black cat, who sits on his rear and stretches out one hind leg to groom it, claws extended. The Ruritanian looks to Agatha and Alice curiously. "Is Shadow behaving ... oddly?"

Agatha looks to Elinor and just shrugs. "I don't know much about cats."

Simon shrugs. "Cats do things for mysterious reasons. Isn't that right, Shadow?" He reaches down to scratch the black cat under his chin.

Tom dusts his hands off and looks at the raven haired girl. "Shadow is acting like a cat. The only odd thing was him hopping down like that. Although, haven't you ever seen a cat sit in front of a closet door, then suddenly hiss and run off? I think they like messing with us."

Abandoning his grooming, Shadow purrs industriously, tilting his head up and leaning into the scritching.

"I agree," Elinor says, with a certain vehemence. "They do."

"But do you check inside the closet anyway?" Agatha asks.

Alice wraps her arms around herself in a loose hug, and peers in to the forest as if looking for something.

"Well, yeah," Thomas says sheepishly.

Tom looks back down at the tracks, trying to at least judge if they seem to all go in one direction. "You really don't like cats, do you?" Tom asks Elinor.

"Well, unless cats chase unicorns, these tracks are probably just another odd occurrence," Agatha says, although she doesn't sound very convinced of this.

Alice glances down at her over sized (compared to her, anyway) purse and unfolds her hands long enough to rummage through it and take out a black stuffed unicorn. She re-wraps her hands about herself in a hug around the stuffed animal and resumes looking in to the trees.

"No, I don't," Elinor admits.

"Well, the tracks do head in one direction. Shall we follow them?" Thomas asks, turning to look back at the others.

"Okay," answers Alice. She turns around and walks closer to the tracks, moving to stand near the bigger Agatha. "Maybe if we follow them we'll find they have a court too, with princesses and kings and knights, but no one can rule because kitties don't listen to anyone."

Elinor giggles at Alice. "They certainly don't," she agrees. She glances to Tom, waiting for him to lead the way.

Simon laughs. "In the court of the cats, everyone is a king or queen?" He trails after Tom.

"Or no one is," the Ruritanian offers.

"I bet they have one big throne and everyone wants to sit in it, and it's a big chair that's really comfortable and maybe there's an old king who sits in it and maybe his lap is the throne," says the blonde as she follows along after Thomas. For the most part the girl stays well close to the others, especially the knight.

Tom picks up Shadow and drapes him over his shoulders again. "Oh, cats aren't that bad. Shadow's very nice and he does occasionally listen," replies Thomas. He then resumes walking, following the trail of footprints.

Agatha grins at Alice and says, "I bet it'd be a court made of just jesters."

The feline paw prints lead up the hill, cutting through the forest where the trail would wind around, becoming in some places difficult to follow, save for subtle clues like snapped twigs and bent grass, and eventually lead up to a familiar hillside clearing, before the cave that was used so long ago as a dragon's lair. There is a muddle of paw prints around the entrance, some going in, and back out, and then more paw prints leading away from the clearing.

Alice nods approvingly to Agatha. "The Siege of Purr and Meow, where everywhere is comfortable and everyone wants a cookie," the blonde adds.

Tom pets Shadow gently. "There, there. Don't listen to them. They're just being jealous. They don't have a cat, after all," Tom says to Shadow. He then looks around and says, "Oh, look, this place again. Everything leads to this cave, it seems."

"Do you think Shadow's been in there too, then?" Agatha asks, then starts chewing on her lip.

The black cat purrs briefly at the petting, then scrunches his face as Tom investigates the cave entrance. He rolls down from the boy's shoulders again, walking away from the cave with that "I'm just being a cat" nonchalant stride.

"I have a brother," the little girl explains, "and brothers are a lot more trouble, and eat a lot more cookies. And they call you 'squirt'!"

"Well, you are a squirt," replies Tom with a grin. He then shrugs at Agatha. "Don't know. But I'm going back in, I think. This is curious."

Simon eyes the cave distastefully. "If you go in, you're going by yourself, Explorer Thomas. We jesters have a reputation to maintain of not doing any useful work!"

"Am not!" protests the little blonde. She sticks her tongue out at Thomas and then hugs her unicorn again.

"Uhm," Agatha starts. "I thought we were going to look around outside? It takes time to get to the bottom of the cave, and you'll probably just find the same stuff as before, just all more cat-smelling."

The dark-haired girl ducks her head, taking a few steps into the cave. "Did you bring a torch, Thomas?" she asks, her voice soft. Her words have a faint echo to them after she steps inside.

Alice peers over the unicorn and in to the dark cave. "There ... there isn't any ... any jruuh is there? Lord Mel will save me, but ... it's still kinda scary," she asks.

"Will I?" Thomas says to Agatha, not convinced. He then shrugs. "I didn't say I was going that far in, not at this time anyway. I don't have rope or anything with me to make my way down." Tom then points at Simon. "And you're just afraid, since you fell into the stream last time, sheesh."

"Isn't that a good enough reason?" Simon asks with a wry grin.

"No. Face your fears," Thomas declares with a grin.

Agatha relaxes slightly. "Well, if you want to show Elinor the tunnel part, I guess that's okay. But I really think we should stay out of the cave. What if Shadow runs further in? You'll want to go after him then."

"If Shadow ran further in, yeah, I'd try to get him. But, that's my problem, not yours," replies Thomas. "Anyway, I just want to see if the tracks do lead into the hole, or just mill about in the upper level. Anyone brave enough to go that far?"

Giving lie to Agatha's worries about him, Shadow shows no interest whatsoever in the cave. In fact, the feline seems more intrigued by something about one of the bushes, studying a branch of one intently.

Simon holds up his hands. "I reserve the right to be a coward if I want to," he says, making a face. "But go right ahead, if you brought a torch, Explorer."

"I don't need to see if the tracks run all the way in," Agatha says, and looks at the bush that has the cat's interest instead.

"I ... I want to go look at the pool again," answers Alice. She steps forward and peers in to the black cave. "I want to know where Ryland of Avarre went because maybe he and Elinor would have bird-things to talk about, and maybe that would be useful?"

Elinor, who had gone a few yards in, emerges back into the light, blinking. She waits by the cave entrance quietly, until Alice speaks. "Ryland of Avarre? Oh -- this is where you saw him?"

Tom grins at Alice. "Well, I'm not going that far. Not this time, anyway. I just want to look for the tracks. Besides, I can't go far, anyway. I didn't bring a flashlight this time." Tom then walks forward, slipping into the cave up to the edge of the sunlight. He peers in, trying to make out if tracks lead further in.

"With all those cats going in there, Ryland probably left," Agatha says offhandedly, and draws her sword to poke at the bush.

"Ryland," agrees the blonde girl. "Yep, we met him inside on a bunch of stolen jruuh-treasure at the Siege of Stone and Water. he flew away and disappeared. I think maybe Sieges have magic to them that lets people go to different places but we don't know how that works."

The cat flattens his ears back when Agatha pokes the bush, though the girl doesn't see that she's disturbed anything inside it. Shadow sniffs, then wanders further away, sliding underneath the branches of a different plant.

Tom steps past the threshold of sunlight, pausing to look over at Elinor and smile. "I'll show you the place sometime, if you like," he says to her, then heads into the darker parts of the cave, following tracks for as long as he can see.

Elinor makes a soft "oh" at Alice's and Agatha's comments.

"I'd like that," Elinor adds to Tom, following him now that he is investigating the cave's interior, too.

Agatha looks to Alice after the girl talks about the Siege, since she doesn't find anything unusual about the bush. "Don't think about trying more spells in there, okay, Alice?"

"Did you meet Mr. Ryland on Avarre, Elinor? Were there other birds, and did they talk in riddles? Is that why you talk in riddles too sometimes?" asks Alice as she turns away from the cave to address Elinor. She peers up at the taller girl, over Lord Mel's head who is stands watch protectively under her chin.

Simon peers at Agatha's actions. "Beating around the bush?" he teases.

"Aw, okay," agrees Alice reluctantly. "But maybe we could go far away and be at the Siege of ... Candy and Ice Cream or Song and Sunshine if we did."

On this pass through the cave, Tom notices one of the cracks in one of the side walls a few yards in. It's not large enough to be of any use to his explorations, but it's about the right height for a small-to-medium sized dog.

Agatha hmms at Alice. "I don't think you should try any magic in Foxworthy's either."

"Good lord, no more spells at all! No more burning anything!" Thomas shouts from inside the cave. He walks slower, letting his eyes adjust tot he dim light filtering into the passage. When he notices the crack, he heads over to it and peers inside.

The little girl blinks. "Foxworthy's?"

"Why not?" Elinor asks, glancing between Agatha and Thomas. "She hasn't hurt anyone with her spells, has she?"

"I'm not going through another boat-burning incident," explains Thomas.

Alice sticks her tongue out again, at the cave. "Simon tipped over the ritual candle. I thought I was doing really well for my first magicking," she tells the boy inside the cave. "Magic isn't easy!"

The light is too poor for Tom to see anything about the crack, other than the blackness that marks its presence, where otherwise would be rock.

"It was an accident!" Simon protests. "You try lighting candles on a rocking ship."

"You know, the ice-cream and candy shop downtown," Agatha tells Alice. To Elinor, she says, "Maybe it's dangerous anyway. It might attract attention from more things like the jruuh."

Tom then looks to the ground, looking for tracks, cat or otherwise. "Hey, did you guys notice there's a crack in the wall in here about the side of a dog?" Thomas shouts back at the others.

"But it was her magic that made the jruuh go away," Elinor remarks, thoughtful. "Maybe it's dangerous not to practice magic."

"Oh! Yah, the ice cream shop. I always forget what it's called because they put the sign way up and it's hard to see," says Alice. The girl then unfolds her arms again, tucking Lord Mel under her left arm, and searches her purse for the spell book Rebecca left behind. "I like magic."

"A big crack?" Agatha calls back into the cave. "I don't remember one."

The girl shakes her head, a lock of black hair pulling loose from her ribbon, and stops her musing to join Tom in examining the cave wall.

Alice tries to pull out the spell book with one hand, which proves a bit unwieldy for her. She struggles to get it out from its awkward resting place as she answers, "I don't remember any cracks, Tommy."

Simon casts an eye toward Alice. "You're not going to turn Tom's hair green or anything, are you?" Turning toward the cave, he adds, "Yeah, I think there might have been something like that. I didn't pay it much attention ... wouldn't want to get stuck in it."

"It just doesn't like you, Alice," Thomas calls out again, grinning in the darkness. He looks over at Elinor. "Well, this is odd. I don't remember this crack, nor does Agatha. But that means little, I guess."

"It is pretty dark in here," Elinor says, crouching beside Tom. "And this crack isn't big enough for even a child. I do not think I would have seen it, if you did not point it out."

Alice wrinkles her nose at Thomas's remark. "He's not mean, he's really not a monster, really not," she whispers as she glances at Lord Mel. Eventually she wrestles the book form the purse and draws it out, opening it across her left arm and smashing Lord Mel's head a bit. "Sorry," she apologizes to her knight-unicorn.

"Last time, I was just following Tom, not looking for cracks," Agatha explains. "Are the tracks going into the crack, Tom?" she calls in.

Tom nods. "Yeah. I wonder where it goes though. Not that any of us can find out. Secret Jruuh escape hatch, I guess." He then looks back at the ground, reminded by Agatha's comment as to what he was looking for earlier.

"Maybe I should try and shrink Tommy with magic," offers Alice. The giggle she also offers a moment later might suggest she maybe isn't serious about the offer.

"Shrink Simon!" offers Thomas from within the cave.

Simon retorts, "My revenge would be dire and subtle: I'd sneak into your house and mess things up while you weren't looking, and no one would ever find me, because I'd be small."

Amidst the talk of shrinking people, Agatha moves closer to the plant Shadow is hiding in. "Is the crack dangerous?" she whispers to the cat.

"I could put you in a jar!" muses Alice. "A funny jar. Or a box, like a music box but more of a Simon joking box."

"Bingo!" Thomas calls out a few moments later, "We've got cat tracks ... and Jruuh tracks in here, going into the crack in the wall. Interesting. I wonder, are cats aiding those things?" He looks at Elinor. "Just be careful walking. We don't want to smudge anything that might be a clue. We almost got these." He then adds quietly, "Are you doing alright? I don't mean to drag you around like this ..."

After making her aside to the cat, and going to look at the bush he ducked into, Agatha realizes she can't see sign of the black cat's fur between the leaves any more.

Agatha makes a "Hmm" at this, and says out loud, "Anyone see where Shadow's gotten to?"

Alice begins flipping through the spell book, her brow narrowing in what might pass for Alice's version of intent and determination. "Maybe ... hmm ... " She flips a few more pages, as if searching for something.

"He's missing?" comes Tom's voice from within the cave.

Elinor drops her chin, looking at the print Tom pointed out. "I am sorry, Thomas -- I will be more careful," she promises. "I am fine. I like going places and doing things with you." She blinks a few times, frowning at the print. "It really does look ... odd, does it not?"

"He's not in the bush I saw him go into before, Tom," Agatha calls into the cave.

Alice looks up form the spell book, watches Thomas for a moment, then shakes her head vigorously and giggles to herself. "Naaaaaw."

The little blonde resumes flipping pages a moment later, though keeps a finger book-marking whatever she found a moment before.

Simon heads toward Agatha to help look. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty..."

Tom follows Elinor's gaze back down to the print. "Well, they always looked odd before, almost raccoonish," he says slowly.

"I bet we don't want to be mice right? Cats chew on stuffed mice, and I don't want to be chewed on," inquires the little girl. She bookmarks her current page with another finger in a awkward placement of hands and Lord Mels.

Elinor rests one finger over one of the pads from the print. "It does not look raccoonish to me. It looks..." She shakes her head, at a loss for words.

Tom peers in closer. "It looks what? Have you ever seen something like it before?" says Thomas.

"Mice?" Agatha asks, turning to look at the blonde girl and her spell book. "Hey Alice ... do you remember hearing Lord Mel's hoof steps when he chased away the jruuh around here?"

"No," Elinor says. "No, I haven't. I guess that shouldn't be so odd. I am sure there are a lot of animals here in America that we do not have in Ruritania. Silly of me to be surprised by that."

Alice looks up, almost turning the page again. "Yah! I heard him rush through the forest from..," Alice replies, then looks up and peers down the hill, and nods in that direction since her hands are too occupied to point with, "... from the forest at the bottom of the hill here. That way."

Nodding, Agatha asks, "But ... do you remember the sound he made?"

Tom waves a hand and stands up. "I don't know. I don't recognize it, either," says Tom, "And I've lived around here and seen quite a bit of the wildlife. Care to go join the others outside? We now know the racks came in here, and where some went. Plus, I'm worried about Shadow."

Elinor nods her agreement, standing with the boy and brushing off her skirt as she heads with him for the cave's exit.

"It sounded like ... hooves. Really loud hooves. He is very big, or was big then, I mean." Her nose wrinkles again as she tries to explain. "But it was loud, like a big horse!"

"Well, yeah ... that," Agatha says. "Maybe I'll need to take you to the stables and listen to horses walking across different types of ground. Oh, never mind, he wasn't wearing shoes anyway."

Tom exits the cave beside Elinor. "Okay, what did you do with my cat?" he asks, trying not to grin.

Agatha looks to Tom and says, "I took my eyes off of him for a minute is all."

Simon starts to look worried from where he's walking around the bushes. "I'm not sure where he went. Do you think he might have followed the other cats?"

"What were you talking about?" Elinor asks curiously, catching the end of the two girls' conversation.

"The sounds a unicorn makes running through the woods," the tall redhead explains.

"Unicorns don't wear shoes," says Alice, matter-of-factly. She lowers her head and resumes her search of the spell book. "Agatha asked what Lord Mel sounded like, and about being mice. We could be mice if you want. But I don't know if that's a good idea."

Tom looks around for any sign of Shadow. He whistles loudly, then calls out, "Hey, Shadow, get back here. We don't need you getting lost out here." He then heads over toward Simon. "Where was he last seen?"

The raven-haired girl blinks a few times. "Oh," she says. "Why did you want to know what unicorns sound like? I think I would rather be a bird than a mouse, myself."

Agatha points to the bush she saw the cat climb into earlier.

The younger boy stands up to give Tom a funny look. "Did you just whistle to call a cat? They never do what they're told, you know."

The blonde flips a page, stops to read a bit, then flips to another. "I think Agatha wanted to know what Lord Mel sounded like when he came to save me, back when we first saw the jruuh and they came to ... to ... be mean to me." Her voice becomes unsteady as she finishes explaining, and becomes quieter.

"Oh, I just thought the sound would make it clearer where he came from," Agatha says. "Otherwise we'd have to look for trampled branches and stuff. Hooves sound different on different surfaces."

Tom looks at Simon, "He may not do what I ask, but he might at least mew back or something. Loud noises usually get their attention." He then starts to circle the bush, looking for cat-evidence.

The black-haired girl gives Simon an odd look after his last statement, giving an absent nod of understanding to Agatha.

"Have you gotten any letters from back home yet, Elinor?" Agatha suddenly asks.

Simon laughs. "I see you really do live with a cat, Tom." He continues looking for Shadow nearby, trying to find cat-shaped shadows in the forest.

"Do we need to seal anyone in a cave?" asks Alice as she turns pages. "I don't know why we'd want to seal anyone in a cave, but I guess that's important. I read a story where a hero had to fight a great evil that was sealed in a cave so I guess someone had to seal the great evil in the cave in the first place. But you never read about those people ... " She flips more pages.

"You use duct tape. The light side can hold the dark side in, get it?" Thomas calls out, momentarily halting his search for the cat. He then kneels down and peeks through the brush. "Shadow, this isn't funny," he mumbles.

Agatha blinks at Alice's suggestion. "You mean like sealing up the crack so no more cats can get inside it?"

"Merlin was sealed in a cave," Elinor says, absently, to Alice. Tom spies broken twigs and prints where Shadow wormed his way out on the far side of the bush. The grass on that end doesn't hold prints well, however.

"Well," the little girl muses, "I guess so. Like sealing the jruuh in the cave so they don't come through the crack anymore?"

Alice blinks, asking, "Was it a nice cave? I wouldn't want anyone to be sealed in a boring or uncomfortable cave. Being sealed sounds very boring."

Tom heads away from the bush, in a straight line from the breaks in the twigs. He peers around, no longer paying attention to the chattering going on, more concerned with finding his cat.

"I wonder if that crack leads to whatever is behind that rock fall we found before?" Agatha says, looking back into the cave.

Alice squints, and her eyes retrace her current page. "Well. This has birds. I don't think it turns people into birds." She re-reads a line again, and her brow wrinkles in confusion. "What's a spirit emmi ... emmi-sary?"

The boy spots some shed fur caught on a twig of a bush, and as he stands and moves to investigate it, he sees Shadow on the far side of some tall brush. The feline is stretched out on his back against a warm rock, sunning himself.

"A what?" Agatha asks, turning back towards Alice, then going over to look at her book.

Tom promptly trudges through the brush and picks up the cat, interrupting the sun-bathing. "Now look here," he scolds Shadow, "Don't wander off like that. I started to get worried." He carries the cat along, heading back toward the group.

"Emir-sary," repeats Alice, not quite exactly. "I don't know what it means, but it has birds and people and things. I think I could maybe do this, but it's kind of like those older-student math books."

"A spirit emissary?" Elinor repeats, turning from Tom to Alice. She goes to look at the book.

Shadow meows in annoyance at Tom, squirming around in the boy's arms.

"Here, kitty, kitty-- hey, you found him!" Simon says, looking up with a grin.

The Ruritanian stands over Alice's shoulder, investigating the page she's on, carefully standing to avoid blocking the light. "I think it is a spell to put one's mind into the body of a bird," she tells Alice. "Look, you need a bird's nest and feathers to cast it."

When Thomas catches sight of the book in Alice's hands, he groans. Trouble's coming, he can feel it. "Ow! Watch the claws, Shadow," he says to the cat, his train of thought interrupted by a pinprick from the squirming feline.

"Wait ... you said it talks about people too?" Agatha asks, looking at the page. "What would you need to take over a person like that?"

As people begin to gather, Alice tilts the book so they can read the words. Two of her fingers are holding pages as bookmarks, and the book is resting awkwardly enough in her arms when she shows it it would seem easier to walk around her and look from her side than to ask her to move the spell book more. "See?"

Simon looks up. "What's this?"

"I don't think we have a bird's nest though. And no feathers," says Alice.

"Trouble, Simon," Tom comments.

The younger boy grimaces. "I don't need to be grounded for life."

"I do not think the boys like the idea, in any case, Alice," Elinor murmurs.

"Well, according to this, we could just stick your brain in a bird while you're grounded. Want to try it?" Tom grins widely at Simon.

Simon pauses. "Could you get my brain out of it?"

Agatha sighs in exasperation, and says, "Forget about birds! Think of all that stuff collected down in the cave! If you need a feather and a bit of nest to control a bird, couldn't all of that stuff be used to control the people in town the same way?"

"Tommy never likes my ideas," mentions Alice, though she doesn't seem the least bit upset about it -- not like she used to sound. "But well, ... um ... well, let me look and read a bit more, okay? I'll see if it works that way." The girl dips her head again and begins reading again with that same intent expression she wore earlier.

Elinor turns her head from the book, watching Agatha with intent eyes. She creases her forehead, and turns back to the page of the spell book, twisting her head to examine the words. "I do not think the spell is meant to work that way," she says, quietly.

"I wonder if they'd need people-feathers and people-nests," considers Alice out loud as she keeps reading.

"Uh..." Tom looks awkwardly to Agatha. "Well, I hope not." He lets out a sigh, remembering leaving that pen behind. He tries to remind himself magic doesn't exist and it's a silly idea.

Simon reaches over to scratch Shadow behind the ears, and appears to be reminded by so doing. "Are we still following those tracks? If not, what are we doing now?"

Agatha doesn't give Tom a break, saying, "This could explain weird cats and talking birds too, I bet! They only need to send their minds across the Sieges and take control of animals instead of coming over themselves!"

"I can keep looking if you want to try something else maybe," offers Alice, still re-reading.

Tom looks at Simon, "Right, the tracks. Well, some lead into the cave, into the crack even. We should go check the spot where Alice fell and see if there are tracks there as well. This is really odd. Why would cats track all around this area?"

"'They'?" Simon says, looking at Agatha askance.

Shadow calms down at Simon's petting, then squirms in Tom's arms again, as if wanting to jump on the other boy's shoulders instead.

Tom looks at Agatha, "Hey, when did the Winters' nephew come to visit? Before this whole business began?"

The tall girl freezes suddenly, with a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look at Simon's question.

"Puppet-people," murmurs the blonde distractedly.

Tom looks down at Shadow, then drapes him over Simon's shoulders. "Here, you can be cat-custodian for a bit, okay?" he says.

Simon oofs, distracted from questioning Agatha further. "Hey! Now I feel like I'm wearing a fur stole ... a heavy one."

The cat settles in around Simon's neck, purring contentedly and kneading at the boy's right shoulder.

"They didn't come until after Summer break started, Tom," Agatha says, relaxing a bit and acting as if she hadn't frozen up a moment ago.

Tom looks around the clearing. He then says, "We do have some options. We could follow the tracks leading away from the cave. We could go down and see where Alice fell, or we could try and figure out a way to go back into the cave. What do people want to do? I feel like I've been dragging you around and it's not fair."

"I wonder if we put someone in a bird's head and sent them around in circles where Mr. Ryland vanished then maybe they'd go to where ever he did," considers Alice as she reads. The blonde doesn't seem to be able to read quietly.

"I vote for looking at the place Alice had her ... encounter," Agatha says, and whispers to the blonde girl, "That's for sure dangerous magic!"

"I think Alice wants to cast another spell," Elinor says, with a soft laugh. "I thought we needed to get rope if we wanted to go further into the cave?"

"But, I like magic," protests Alice meekly, looking up. "I wouldn't hurt anyone though." The girl straightens up. "Rebecca said to 'not be silly, Alice', and, 'magic is to be used with responsibility and care.'" She deepens her voice slightly when "quoting" Rebecca.

"It's safer with rope. A safety line for the slope down in case we need to get out quick. We could make it without it," explains Thomas, "but, I would be rather be better prepared when going down there. Caves can be dangerous."

"You've only done what, two spells?" Agatha points out to Alice. "That's not enough practice to go ahead and try sticking your mind somewhere else."

"But," the little girl tilts her head, looking around at the others, "we're very good at putting our minds in other places."

Simon, while petting Shadow and trying not to fall over from the shifting weight, says, "I'd as soon avoid going down if we don't have to. Are you sure the cats are in there?" He squirms about a bit to try and keep his balance.

Tom shakes his head. "Not sure at all. Some prints go in, some come out. I suggest we go check out Alice's encounter spot, then follow the rest of the tracks if that doesn't pan out ..." He looks back at Alice. "... before she gets too excited about trying magic again."

"It's dangerous and reckless, Alice," Agatha says. "And we have Tommy for that sort of thing! And ... what do you mean we're very good at sticking our minds somewhere else?"

Tom protests, "Hey!"

Simon brightens up. "That's right! It's his duty as Explorer of the Court."

"Well, I didn't mean to try now. We don't even have a nest and feathers," explains Alice. She turns to look away from the cave opening and then starts walking off. "We're always somewhere else. We put our minds in another place and that place becomes real. Like birds and people minds, I think."

Elinor looks at Alice with growing comprehension, but she doesn't say anything. Instead, after a moment, she turns to follow Tom's lead, heading to the base of the hill.

"Just ... just ... no crows or cats, okay?" Agatha pleads as she follows Alice.

"It was this way, right?" Tom asks, pointing down the hill. He starts to wander in the direction he pointed, trying to break up all the spell talk.

"It's not so different, I don't think," continues the little girl as she makes her way for the edge of the hill where she fell. "Yah, right around here I think. It was a while, and I wasn't really paying attention because I was falling."

It takes a little while, but eventually they manage to make their way down the steeper hillside, to where they think that Alice wound up when she fell long ago after the incident with the dragon's cave. It is covered with grass and undergrowth that may have softened her fall, and there are broken branches and stones out of place to suggest she passed through here, but none below this point.

"Well, the trail of broken branches ends here," says Thomas. "So..." He starts to walk around the spot slowly, peering at the earth and grass, looking for bare spots or torn up ground from hooves.

Alice stands roughly where she remembers falling, book still in hand and Lord Mel still tucked under it. "I think it was here. Lord Mel came from ... " She begins to turn, then stops and points with a finger. "... that way, maybe."

"You were up against a tree, I remember," Agatha says, looking for familiar features.

The little blonde looks around for the tree, and she seems to find what she thinks is it after a moment and heads over that way. "I think I was saying 'Eeeek' and 'Help!' at the time too, if that helps you any," she offers. "Or maybe I was just thinking that. I'm not sure."

"Crud. Looks like the weather beat us to it. If there were any tracks, they're long gone now," says Thomas, making his way back over to the group.

After a bit of examination, Agatha thinks she can tell where Alice ended up, and recognizes the tree. There are still some scrapes in the ground where she came tumbling down, and broken branches. The savior-horse-unicorn-whatever looks like it came from the southeast, by Alice's reckoning.

"This looks right," Agatha says, and looks to where the unicorn should have landed after jumping over Alice. If there are marks, that would be a good spot for them, she figures.

Tom points southeast. "Came from that way, right?" Moments later, he wanders off in that direction, looking for more broken limbs or perhaps a tuft of fur or hair caught in some bark.

Simon looks around. "Are you sure it wasn't a horse from the Danzwyck ranch?"

Though she can distinguish the signs that the tumbling child must have made when she came down the slope, neither Agatha nor the other kids can see any indication of any other creatures having been there at the same time.

"Richard does have a black horse there, I think," Thomas calls back.

Helpfully, Alice walks over and lowers herself to sit under the tree where she had sat before. "Unicorns aren't horsies," explains the girl to Simon. "Unicorns don't live on farms."

"His name is Destre," Agatha says to Tom. "He doesn't have a red mane or tail though, and this one did. But I can't find any marks left by ... anything but us."

Simon points out reasonably, "Why not? Horses get fed, curried, and have a roof over their heads, instead of leaky tree branches. Wouldn't a unicorn like that too?"

Tom makes his way back. "No fur stuck in any branches either, nothing at all," Thomas says. "You saw it too, right, Agatha?"

Agatha nods, and says, "I saw the tail-end of it, and I heard it charging."

Though Tom finds no fur or hoof prints or mane clippings, while he's walking back through the brush to where the others are, he does glimpse a paw print on a patch of ground.

Tom asks, "And did it have a red tail?" He then stops and drops down to one knee, peering at the soil. "Hello, what's this?" he mutters.

Alice shakes her head vehemently. "Unicorns live in magical castles and in ... in ... glades in the forest with clear water and delicious fruits and berries and things all around." She shifts the book to rest across her lap, places Lord Mel on it to read with her, and resumes her reading. "Horsies live on farms with people, but grown-ups don't believe in magic and unicorns are magic, so unicorns don't live on farms. I wouldn't want to live where people didn't believe in me either."

Closer examination suggests ... a cat's paw print.

"Another cat-print," Thomas declares, "Okay, this is weird. Invasion of the purring kind."

"Really?" Simon goes over to look, reaching up to hold Shadow on his shoulders, like a large furry yoke.

Elinor is resting quietly against a tree while the others investigate, a far off look in her eyes. "Yes, I see what you mean," she murmurs to Alice, and then frowns at the boy's declaration. "More cats, Thomas?"

"It had something that flashed red on it," Agatha says. "And I bet unicorns live wherever they want to, Alice."

Tom nods to Elinor, "Yup, more cats." He then gets up and walks over to her. He asks, "Are you afraid of cats, or just do not like them?

The feline member of the group appears quite content to laze on Simon's shoulders, giving the occasional purr, eyes mostly closed.

"Unicorns live where magic is, and where people believe in magic, and where magic believes in people," agrees Alice, in her own way. "I wonder if the jruuh are maybe like ... like ... nightmares. Maybe they change to be what's scary? Elinor doesn't like cats, and now there are lots of cat paw-prints around."

"I only do not like them, Thomas," Elinor answers, with a sidelong glance at Shadow. "They do not frighten me." Something about her words seems less than convincing.

"I get the feeling that the jruuh don't care if anyone believes in them," Agatha says quietly. "Or else prefer not to be believed in."

"Well, Shadow's safe," Tom reassures Elinor. He then looks over toward Alice. "Well, presuming magic exists, that's certainly plausible. Dang, I need to talk to Bragwaine again sometime. This is weird."

Alice frowns a little. "You won't find Lord Mel if you don't believe in him, Tommy," she offers.

"Bragwaine?" Elinor queries.

"Tommy's got a secret admirer," Agatha says to Elinor, and even winks.

"The cross-eyed cat," explains Thomas, fidgeting, "supposedly a Familiar."

Simon's eyes widen. "Ohhh! Tell!"

"You ... uhm ... talked to her? The cat?" Elinor asks, nervously. "Did she say anything to you?"

The littlest of the girls wrinkles her nose, apparently at the idea of a Thomas-admirer. But she brightens when she hears Thomas talked to the cat. "Is a cat like talking to a bird? I only talked to a bird, but I want to talk to a cat and a dog and lots of other things, too."

Tom erks. "Well," begins Thomas, "It wasn't a cat when I talked to her, even though she sure acted like one. She was trying to follow me, but I ended up sneaking up on her."

Elinor looks even more confused. "She was a cat who turned into a person?"

"Wow! Neat!" exclaims Alice, who looks up from her reading with inquisitive eyes.

Simon scritches under a purring Shadow's chin while listening.

"A shape shifter," Agatha says, paying more attention to Elinor's reactions than to Tom's tale.

"Well, something like that. I don't really believe she was a cat, or a Familiar. But when we saw the cat later, wearing the same pendant the girl was," Tom explains, "and giving me a cross-eyed look.... The girl gave me the same look earlier in the day."

"What did she want?" Simon asks. "And of whom was she supposed to be a familiar?"

"And what did she look like? As a person," Elinor clarifies, and then adds, "and as a cat."

"She never told me what she, or her Sorcerer Pelles, wanted," admits Thomas. "They had been leaving quests for me to follow. Really strange."

"I want to be able to turn into a unicorn! Or an angel," says the blonde. And to pursue that line of thought, the little girl resumes flipping through the spell book again.

Simon looks even more curious, neglecting to keep Shadow as well scritched. "What sorts of quests?"

"Little older than Alice, light haired. Wore pretty worn clothing; she must traipse through the woods a lot. She also wore a pendant," Tom describes. "As a cat, light furred, wearing the same pendant, two snakes eating each other's tails. Liked to say 'Meow' a lot, in both shapes."

Agatha wonders why Alice would want to be a unicorn, but doesn't ask. "Yeah, the symbol was used as a seal pressed into the wax used on the treasure notes."

"How ... curious," Elinor says, tilting her head. "And you don't know where she lives, I suppose? Or saw her before this?"

"Same eye color, too," adds Thomas.

Alice giggles. "Meow!" She giggles some more and keeps reading.

Tom shrugs. "Actually, I think it's the sister of the Winters' visiting nephew, Maximillan."

Agatha blinks at something, and mutters, "The Winters."

Tom looks at Agatha. "What?"

"When the spring fades and summer comes to a close, when the year grows old and the leaves fall in amber colors, winter comes to herald the end of the year," whispers Alice. Her eyes trace along the page, and she reaches over to pull Lord Mel closer.

"Huh?" Agatha says, looking up. "Oh ... just ... coincidence, I guess. Winter is the end of the year; the Year's End, get it?"

Simon raises an eyebrow. "So what sorts of quests have you been running for this Pelles, Explorer?"

"As for quests ... one was a bunch of riddles, leading to the formation of a wooden gold painted hawk," says Thomas. He then looks back at Agatha and Alice. "Oh, you don't take that too seriously, do you? You've met Max. You can't think he's some sort of villain."

"But it is ... very strange, isn't it?" Elinor remarks. She turns to regard Alice, her head tilted to one side.

"It just struck me as odd, is all," Agatha says, grinning. "You know, like if someone was named October or something."

Tom laughs lightly. "Okay, so who wants to go to their house and knock, saying, 'Hi! Are you heralds of the end of the world?'"

"Maximillan was nice ... but ... " The little girl looks around the forest and then to the others. "... he felt kind of ... I don't know ... but it was ... it was ... like he had a bigger shadow than everyone else I met before. I think something was bothering him too, but he wouldn't tell me. I heard things in his house too, like ghosts."

The Ruritanian's eyes flick to Agatha for a moment, then she smiles at Tom's joke.

Simon says, "I'd be interested in meeting your Maximillan sometimes." He pauses a bit, considering Alice's words. "Now I really want to meet him." The younger boy grins.

Agatha frowns slightly at Alice's revelation.

"I'm interested in why he seems to find me so interesting and go to such troubles with these quests -- and why his sister is so silly," says Tom.

"He's the one who told me where we put our mind to becomes real, and maybe we should play another game. I don't think he liked the game we are playing now," adds Alice. She pulls Lord Mel closer, and gives him another hug.

Tom waves a hand, saying, "Anyway. Just silly events in my life. I seem to attract silly people. It's probably coincidence with the names and all."

Simon nods. "Like us!"

Agatha argues, "I'm not silly!"

Alice blinks a little, then looks up. "Max ... Maximillan? Oh, is ... he related to Mr. Kuning?" she asks. "I think I mean Mr. Kuning. He had a big shadow behind him, but I don't know if it was a bad shadow."

"Care to tell them about putting your arm around me in the library, then?" Tom says to Agatha.

Simon shakes his head and then resumes scritching Shadow under the chin. "Eww! Did you get cooties?"

"That was just to tease Ginny," Agatha growls.

"Well, I am silly," Elinor volunteers gamely, and then she grins at Agatha after Tom's revelation. "Really?"

"I want to meet Maximillan too. I wonder if he has the same kind of shadow as Mr. Kuning does," mentions the little blonde.

Agatha nods to Elinor. "She kept coming over and bugging us, so I put my arm around Tom and asked her if she was jealous, because she and Tom have some sort of twisted contest going on between ... That is, I did it to tease her."

"Tom and Ginny have some twisted contest going on?" The black-haired girl looks like she's wanting to learn more about this every time they say something.

Simon starts to lose interest in the subject around the word "jealous", and peers down at the ground. "Hey, there are more of these prints." He checks to make sure Shadow hasn't hopped down and started making some of his own.

"Twisted game? I just can't resist tweaking her occasionally because she likes to act all high and mighty. She's only a year older than me, just she's so condescending," explains Tom.

"It sure seemed that way!" Agatha says, grinning. "You could imagine little lightning bolts shooting from their eyes."

"Ahem! What did you find, Simon?" asks Tom, trying to switch topics. The sooner, the better. Yesterday would've been good, in fact.

Shadow has been quite comfortable nestled against Simon's neck, and not in the least inclined to get down and get his paws dirty. Elinor seems disappointed by the turn of conversation. "Lightning bolts? Does this ... Ginny ... like Thomas?"

Agatha shrugs. "It's hard to tell. Maybe she just resents him going out and having fun. What's all this about more prints? Cat prints?"

"She'd like to see me hit by a truck," comments Thomas. He reaches over and pets Shadow gently and kneels down to look at the prints and hopefully find new clues to examine instead of him!

Meanwhile Alice's face has wrinkled well and truly up. "Ew," she says regarding the whole matter of who likes whom. A moment later she hunches over and buries herself in her reading, as if to escape the topic.

Simon hunkers down to examine the prints, making it easier for Tom to reach Shadow. "They're cat prints."

"Maybe Ms. Meow has been here," suggests Alice in a muffled voice.

Tom snorts, laughing. "Ms. Meow," he mutters. He scratches the top of Shadow's head and asks, "Shadow, you haven't been coming out here, have you? Trying to confuse us with your wily cat ways? Hmm. Now, this is interesting. The prints come from the southeast. Same direction as 'Mel'. I wonder, could a cat have been a unicorn illusion?"

Simon looks confused. "What?"

"Let's just follow the path then," Agatha suggests.

Even Elinor gives Tom a strange look for that suggestion.

"Well, we haven't found any torn up ground. So, perhaps something large didn't land. But what if a cat had an illusion cast on it to look like a unicorn?" explains Tom. He then quickly adds, "No weirder than stuffing Simon's brain in a bird!"

"I'll pass on that for now," Simon avers.

Alice peeks up from the book. "That's silly," she says. "But ... if you wanna look, I'll go too."

Tom gets up. "Might as well follow this trail." He then walks over by Elinor and says, "And don't worry about Ginny. She's just a twit." He smiles at her.

"Why should Elinor be concerned about Ginny, Tom?" Agatha asks, and starts following the cat-prints.

Tom says, "I vote we follow it back to where they came from, not where they go to.... What does everyone else think?"

With some amount of fuss, Alice gathers up her things, tucking Lord Mel under her left arm and laying the book across the length of that same arm before she rises to her feet and takes a moment to smooth her dress out and dust herself off. "I want to see where they came from too, Tommy," she says.

Elinor flushes. "I was not worried," she says, voice gentle, as she prepares to follow Tom. "Are we following them back the way they came, or the way they are going?" she asks, glancing curiously at the ground.

Agatha points southeast. "Wherever they come from should be that way."

Tom nods. "Let's go southeast, then." After saying such, he heads off, following the prints southeast. "After all, I want to know where this is coming from right now. Not going to. The destination we can figure out later. We need to know what this is," he explains.

The way southeast isn't as easy as the hike up to One-Eye Hill had been -- there's no convenient trail to follow, at least not for people bigger than, say, a cat. But Thomas does a fair job of trailblazing, and there are a few more cat prints scattered around to encourage them about their direction. After a bit of hiking, the five children emerge from the forest's undergrowth into a large clearing.

Forest Clearing
This is an irregularly shaped area, with three curved lobes bordered by trees and hedges, and along the northern side, a line of rocks. It slopes downward from north to south, and the mostly-grassy earth drops perhaps six inches or more along curving lines, that look familiar somehow. A triangularly shaped pond is attached by the point to the intersection of two lobes, pointing askew from a boulder near the center of the third lobe.

This would be a lovely place for a picnic, as the boulder's large, nearly flat surface would make a handy table, but casting an almost horrific image over the setting is a dark colored humanoid figure ... almost crouched on top of the boulder, as if waiting to pounce.

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This site serves as a chronicle of sessions in an online roleplaying campaign moderated by Conrad "Lynx" Wong and May "Rowan" Wasserman. The contents of this site are (c) 2001, 2002 by Conrad Wong and May Wasserman except where stated otherwise. Despite the "children's fantasy" theme of this campaign, this site is not intended for young readership, due to mild language and violence.