"Are you telling us you're the Amelia Earhart?" I asked.

"Yes," she looked slightly confused. "Is there another one I should know about?"

"Amelia Earhart," I repeated again. "As in the famous aviation pioneer and first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean?"

"That would be me," she said with a little salute.

"Wait a minute," Antony said. "Does this mean Amelia Earhart hates me? I can't believe it! What did I ever do to you, Amelia Earhart?"

"Hate you?" Amelia Earhart wrinkled her brow. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I don't even know you."

"Did you just call me ma'am?" Antony asked. "Listen, lady. I'll have you know I'm one of the most beloved and lusted after men on the entire planet. I've bedded more beautiful women than you've probably met in your entire life and I can assure you each and every one of them was well acquainted with my manhood."

"Um, gross," I said.

"I'm sorry, son," Amelia Earhart said. "I saw the long hair and makeup and colorful outfit and I assumed you were a lass. Tell me, are you on your way to some sort of costume ball?"

"No," Antony snorted. "This is how I dress all the time and I can assure you it is the height of masculine fashion circa 1987."

"1987?" Amelia Earhart looked shocked. "Goodness gracious me. Is that where I've ended up? Or should I say when?"

"Actually it's 1994," I piped up.

"You'd have been lucky to have gone to 1987," Antony said. "Those were the glory days."

"I think I'll stick with 1937, thank you very much," Amelia Earhart said.

"Awk! Happy New Year!" Chaucer squawked. "Who's a pretty bird?"

"Something tells me she's not familiar with the 1980's rock scene," I said. "For that matter she's probably never heard of rock music at all."

"Goodness, what is 'rock' music?" she asked. "Do you play it with boulders? Never mind, for me it's all about swing music and dancing the Lindy Hop."

"Well, all I can say is you don't know what you're missing out on, lady," Antony shrugged. "So if you don't hate me or consider me an enemy, what the heck are you doing here?"

"I'd venture to guess this is one of those time vortex side effects," Magic Al spoke up. "Remember the affinity for lost things? Amelia Earhart was famously lost."

"I was?" she asked. "Well, it's true I haven't been able to figure out where or when I've been for the past two months and there wasn't exactly anyone around to help me out until you fellows showed up. What in tarnation is going on anyways? Do you have an inkling?"

"Our friend Antony here took a shortcut to fame and fortune and made a deal with an evil and powerful witch who is planning to exact her toll this very night," Magic Al explained. "She has made every living creature vanish, although in doing so she has also summoned some objects both animate and inanimate from other times and spaces. I believe that's where you enter into the picture, Ms. Earhart."

"Please, call me Amelia," she waved her hand dismissively. "I suppose that would explain a bit of what happened. The last thing I remember, Fred and I were flying across the Pacific on our way to Howland Island. Fred is my navigator, by the way. We were getting near our destination when all of a sudden a giant bright blue swirl appeared in front of us. I thought it was some sort of strange storm cloud and I attempted to alter our course to circumvent it. But alas, it started to pull us towards it at an alarming velocity. I recall it getting bigger and bigger and then I blacked out. The next thing I knew I found myself alone in this strange place with nobody around. I haven't seen Fred nor the plane since I got here. Honestly, I assumed I had perished and wound up in some sort of limbo."

"Awk! Limbo!" Chaucer squawked. "How low can you go?"

"Well, you're not in limbo," I said. "At least, I don't think we're in limbo. Heck, maybe we are in limbo. It's as good of a description of this mess as anything. The only thing we know is we have to stop this witch from casting her spell tonight or we'll be stuck here like this forever and nearly every living creature on Earth will be gone."

"Then it seems like we'd better put a stop to this witch, hadn't we?" Amelia said. "All right, let's get to it, then. Where is she?"

"Uh," I paused to scratch my head. "I don't know. That's a good question. Where is this witch? How do we find her?"

"I'm certain she's somewhere nearby," Magic Al said. "We are in the nexus of the spell's effects meaning it will be cast somewhere in this vicinity. Probably in a wooded area given her moniker involves Misty Woods."

"It seems like there are a lot of woods around here," Amelia said. "It could be difficult to find her. Unless... do you suppose it would be possible to get a bird's eye view?"

"I could maybe cobble up some sort of levitation spell," Magic Al stroked his beard.

"I was thinking something more along the lines of an airplane. I don't know what happened to mine, but maybe there's one around here I could borrow since it doesn't seem like there's anyone around to object if I use it?"

"There is a little airport just outside of town," Magic Al said. "I've seen numerous small planes hangared there. I'm sure nobody could have a problem with the great Amelia Earhart using one. Especially given the circumstances."

"But wouldn't a modern plane utilize technology she wouldn't know how to use?" I asked.

"Pshaw," Amelia said. "If it's got wings, I can fly it."

"They've got an old crop duster there," Antony said. "I doubt that thing was built much after the 1930's."

I felt it was my duty to be the voice of reason here. "Assuming she can fly that thing and locate the witch, what do we do then?"

"We stop her obviously," Amelia said.

"But how do we do that?"

"By any means necessary," she said with a stern look on her face.

"No offense, but I'd like something a little more concrete than that."

"I think I have an inkling of a plan," Magic Al said. "It will be a long shot, but it may be all we've got on such short notice."

"Yeah?" Antony asked. "I'm glad someone around here is thinking proactively. What do you have in mind, magic man?"

"We can only work with the skills we possess, such as they are," Magic Al said. "But I believe I can magically enhance all of them. Give them a little more potency, so to speak. I don't know if it'll be enough to defeat a witch, but at the end of the day we don't really have to overpower her or kill her. We just have to disrupt her spell casting. I'm going to show Amelia where the airfield is and then I'll return to my shop to prepare my magic. What I need the two of you to do is retrieve an artifact or two that you believe is most representative of your individual skills. Meet me at the shop in no less than an hour. We must hurry! The sun will be setting soon! And that, as they say, will be the witching hour."

"Awk!" Chaucer squawked. "Double double toil and trouble!"

I gulped involuntarily, even as I proudly approved of Chaucer's literary reference.