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morning. "Oh-Dawn," he said, relieved. "I hadn't noticed you."
"Because of the blanket of obscurity," her voice breathed in his ear. "I can see you quite clearly."
"And so can I," Eve's voice murmured in his other ear. Then they both nibbled on the tips of his ears.
"Stop that!" he exclaimed.
Imbri looked around. "Did I swish you with my tail? I didn't mean to."
"No. The girls are here."
She squinted. "Why so they are. That obscurity is effective. Now that I know what to look for, I can see
them."
So could Forrest. "Eve, would you check one of those crosses and learn what it's all about? The wind
brought us here, so there must be some reason."
"I'll be glad to." Her vague form kissed his cheek and departed.
"That wind must like you," Dawn said, kissing his other cheek.
"I think it's just doing its job. Maybe it appreciates the way I cooperated with it to send Lady Winter to
Todd. It has been very helpful."
"Eve is signaling. We had better go there."
Forrest looked, but no longer saw Eve. The blanket had covered her.
"I'll lead you," Dawn said. She took his hand in hers, squeezing his fingers in a way that reminded him
exactly how female she was. These girls might be young, but they had learned a good deal already.
In a few steps they approached a gradually clarifying figure holding a cross. As Forrest concentrated,
Eve became recognizable. "These crosses enable folk to cross things," she said. "Eyes, T's, mountains,
rivers, people-anything."
"Then they could be useful," Forrest said, relieved. The function of Pyramid crosses was different from
Ptero crosses.
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"Indeed. They are put out here for anyone to take and use. But when one is used, their maker gains the
benefit of a given favor, and the one who uses them loses mass. So we don't want to take too many."
"Can one cross enable more than one person to cross something?"
"A big one can. A small one is limited both in person and distance. Four small ones would enable four
people to cross one mountain, while one big one might enable all four people to cross a whole range of
mountains. But the big one will exact a greater amount of mass, so we don't want to use any of them
more than we need to."
"Suppose we take several crosses, but don't use them?"
"Then there is no price. It doesn't matter where the crosses are, only how they are used."
"Then we should take a fair collection of them, and not use them unless we have to," he decided.
"How intelligent," Eve said.
"Are you trying to tease me again?"
"No, just to remind you."
He walked among the crosses. That was when he discovered that he was still holding Dawn's hand. She
had not reminded him. He let go, embarrassed, and heard her obscure chuckle. "I think we should each
carry two small ones and one big one. Can we do that? I mean, I have room in my knapsack, but do the
rest of you have a way to carry things?"
"Sure," Dawn said. "In our purses."
"And I have a pack," Imbri said.
Forrest leaned down to take a cross, but now Eve's hand stayed him. "I wouldn't," she murmured.
"Why not?"
"Because that particular one is made of petrified wood."
Forrest froze. Then he moved his hand very slowly down, barely touching the cross. Fear coursed
through him. It was true; this cross made anyone who touched it terrified.
"But I might be able to use this too," he said. "If I got caught by a monster I couldn't escape."
"But how can you take it with you, if it frightens you?" Imbri asked.
"It shouldn't frighten me once I'm not directly touching it." He reached into his knapsack and pulled out
a handkerchief. He wrapped this around the cross so that he could pick it up without touching it. The
handkerchief was thin, so his fright was there, but he was able to handle the cross until it dropped into
his knapsack.
"That was a brave thing to do," Dawn said, taking his hand again."
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"No it wasn't. I was scared, but I knew there was no danger."
"It's not handling danger, but handling fear that makes a person brave, isn't it?"
Forrest hadn't thought of it that way. "Maybe. But it had to be done, if I wanted that cross."
They each took two small crosses, which disappeared into their various packs and purses without
trouble. But the large crosses were too big to fit. Finally Eve found one folding cross, and they fit that
into Imbri's pack, which was larger than the others. That would have to do.
Now the wind, having dallied all this time, amusing itself by whirling up dry blue leaves and grass and
making funnel-shapes of them, resumed its forward progress. They followed. The blanket of obscurity
was fading, so that the girls remained fairly clear.
The path led past several huge blue bee hives. They had been constructed in the shape of wooden boats
with closed tops, and these were arranged in a giant semi-circle. The bees were very large, and they
were flying in with blue books.
Forrest paused to take in this scene. "I never knew that bees collected books," he said, surprised.
Eve went up cautiously to touch one of the fancy hives. It seemed that enough of the blanket of
obscurity remained on her to keep the bees from being disturbed. Then she laughed. "These are Ark-
hives," she explained. "Where the bees store books, so they won't be lost. That must be why these bees
are so large; they are constantly doing good deeds for this region, by saving all these good references."
They went on, hurrying to catch up with the gust. But now they came to a wide blue lake, and the wind
was moving right across it, toward a blue island.
Forrest considered the water. "Do you suppose we could swim?"
Eve touched the surface with a finger. "I think not. This water contains all manner of horrible blue
monsters."
"Then this must be what we have the crosses for. We had better each use one small one, saving the other
for the return trip."
They dug out their small crosses and held them up. "Uh, how do they work?" Forrest asked, belatedly.
"Just describe where you wish to cross, and say 'invoke'," Eve said.
"To that island," Forrest said, looking at it. "Invoke."
Suddenly he was there, and the cross was gone. He felt lighter, though that might have been his
imagination. He turned to look back-and the others arrived. They made streaks as they crossed the water
in half an instant.
"That was fun," Dawn said.
"But we don't want to do it too many times," Eve said.
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The wind was waiting for them. They followed it along a winding path to a blue ridge of mountains. On
the ridge was a house built of blue stone. As they approached it, a woman emerged. "Aunt Ida!"
Dawn cried, going up to hug her.
"You haven't changed at all," Eve said, doing the same.
Ida returned their hugs, then inquired, "You seem like such fine girls. Do I know you?"
Forrest approached. "I must explain. We are from the world of-of Ptero. Do you understand?"
"Oh, my, yes! But I have never had visitors from there before. How nice."
"I am Forrest Faun, and this is Mare Imbrium, and these are Dawn & Eve, the daughters of Prince Dolph
and Electra."
"I am so glad to meet you."
"Do you have nieces here?" Dawn asked.
"I don't think I do. But this is not the same world as Ptero."
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