woods were danger. She had to find a way back. Elric would be waiting for her.

When she lived at home with her mother, she used to wander in the woods. She always placed sticks to show her way home. There were no sticks behind her. She ran from the snake too fast.

A loud and scary howl sounded in the distance.

She couldn’t stay here.

If you are lost, sit down in one place. I will find you.

She heard the voice of her mother in her head. “If you are lost, sit down,” she repeated aloud.

Wynn crossed her legs and sank to the forest floor. The skirt of her pretty white dress billowed around her like a cloud. “Sit down.” She held Mildred tighter.

Elric would know she was lost. He would come to find her.

“We will wait here, Mildred.” Wynn stroked the bird’s neck. Mildred cooed at her in a soothing way. The howl sounded in the woods again. A shiver raced through Wynn. She looked up. The heavy branches of the trees creaked in the cold wind. Something clattered. A bird’s wings flapped frantically.

The light around her dimmed as dark clouds covered the weak light that managed to creep through the branches.

She wished she had fairy magic. She would turn into a bird and fly away from this place. Up high, she could see the way home. But the shield would block her if she tried to go through. Wynn drew herself up into a tight little ball, curling around Mildred. She was scared.

“My queen, my queen . . .” She tried to sing the familiar song to make herself feel braver, but the words stopped coming to her. She wanted to get up, to run, to climb a tree to get away from the dark woods, but there was no way to escape. No. Mother had said that if she was lost, she should sit and wait. Mother always told her the best thing to do. They practiced over and over so Wynn would never forget. She wanted to run so badly. She was so scared.

“Sit and wait,” Wynn whispered. “Elric will find you.”

A dry branch snapped nearby. Something rustled in the bushes.

Wynn’s heart pounded, and she couldn’t swallow. What if something else found her before Elric did?

“We need to hide,” she whispered to Mildred. Looking around the small clearing, she tucked herself behind the twisted trunk of one of the enormous trees. She remembered hiding before. She got down low and reached for her old gray cloak.

Wynn grabbed a handful of her snowy-white dress. She didn’t have her gray cloak. She only had princess things. The dress was pretty, but it seemed to glow in the dark shadows. Wynn took a closer look. It did glow! This was not good for hiding.

Mildred kicked the dried leaves piled near the trunk of the tree. The leaves were dark. Wynn scooped them up and spread them over her skirt, then pressed her body into a nook where the trunk had curved in a gnarled way. “Stay quiet, Mildred. We’re hiding.”

Her hen listened, and tucked her beak into the feathers of her chest. Mildred mistook hiding for napping, but that was all right. It felt good to hold Mildred close. Wynn trembled as she held her pet. She shook so hard, the leaves covering her skirt shivered in the darkness. Something was coming.

Wynn pressed her eyes tight shut, and hugged Mildred.

She heard the rustling. It came closer . . . closer.

“And what is this?” a squeaky little voice called out. Wynn peeked around the trunk of the tree.

There, in the clearing, stood a strange little creature the size of a large cat. He picked up a torn piece of her skirt and turned it over and over in his hands. He had the face of a man, with a long nose, pointy teeth, and large amber eyes that took up most of his face. Fox ears poked up through a mop of black hair, and they twisted this way and that. But the strangest part of the little man was his legs, which were like a rabbit, and covered in dark red fur. Maybe that wasn’t the strangest part. He also had a long rat-like tail that ended in a tuft of black hair.

“This is fairy stuff!” the little creature squealed. He clutched the piece of her skirt close to his chest, and looked around the shadows. His ears twitched. “Soooooo light. So shiny!” He rubbed it against his cheek. Then he swung a small sack off his back, and tucked the piece of fairy cloth inside. “How did fairy things get here?” he said, hopping around the clearing on his springy legs. “There are no fairies in the dark woods.” He found a black feather and picked it up, pulling it under his long nose. “The feathered one?”

Wynn felt a rush of joy. She knew this creature! His name was Hob. He had greeted them when they first came to this land. Elric said he wanted to steal things from them. But Wynn liked him. He was nice, and he had tried to help them.

But what if this wasn’t really Hob? She’d already met a Mildred that wasn’t really Mildred.

Hob hopped around, sniffing suspiciously. “Feathery Otherworldsy cluck, cluck? Are you here, yes?” he asked. Mildred cooed her happy greeting. She stretched her neck out toward Hob. He bounded toward the sound of her clucking.

The little man-beast almost landed in Wynn’s lap before he saw her behind the tree. He screamed, then Wynn screamed. She accidentally dropped Mildred into the leaves.

“You!” Hob shouted. “Wynn Otherworldsy girl, why are you in the woods? You are dressed in fairy things.”

“Hob?” she asked. “Are you a snake?”

Hob looked down and splayed his long fingers over his thin chest. Then he looked up at her and shook his head, his ears flopping from side to side. “I am Hob.”

Wynn grabbed a nearby stick and held it, ready to hit Hob if he changed form. “Mildred was Mildred, then she was not Mildred.”

Hearing her

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