"Wake up! Wake up, Garrett! We're here."

Thyme's voice woke him up from the deep sleep he had fallen into. He couldn't remember the last time he slept so well. He opened his eyes and realized he had fallen asleep in Oona's lap. She was now watching him with her big eyes which almost never blinked. Ferry stood up abruptly, trying to put his ruffled hair and clothes in place. There were only the three of them left on the train. She... wasn't there anymore.

"Come on, we have to get out," Thyme rushed them. "The train will leave the station soon."

Ferry helped Oona to get out of the wagon and found Parsley and Rosemary waiting on the platform. No sign of Lord Stephan. No sign of Sage. Or Matilda.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" he asked Oona.

"I wanted to, fairy-boy," she said, trying to sound convincing. "But you were sleeping so deep...You looked so cute as you slept, with your ruffled hair... And drooling..." she chuckled.

Ferry shook his head and headed for a water fountain in the train station. He washed his face with fresh, cold water that invigorated him instantly, sprinkling him with refreshing drops. The gentle morning sun reflected in a small pool by the fountain, and the reflection of the water tickled his eyes. Ferry closed his eyes and drank a mouthful of water that chased his sleep away.

"Are you old?" he suddenly heard a small voice behind him.

Ferry turned and discovered a little girl around six-year-old, with tresses the color of the wheat in the summer and eyes as clear as the sky, that morning. She had a white dress stained with chocolate from the chocolate bar she was eating.

Ferry smiled. "No, I'm not old."

"Then why do you have white hair?" she asked, stepping closer.

Ferry studied her. Although different, the girl reminded him of his first meeting with Matilda, many, many years ago when life was simple and beautiful.

"That's the way I look, I suppose ..." he replied, just as he did back then.

The little girl motioned for him to come closer, and Ferry leaned down to her level. She cupped her hand and whispered in his ear, like a big secret, "Someone's watching you."

Ferry wanted to ask her what she was talking about, but a woman appeared running from around the corner of the station. "Liz, how many times have I told you not to walk away from me? And don't talk to strangers," she scolded her, glancing at Ferry a bit worried.

"But Mum, he has white hair. I've never seen a boy with white hair..."

The woman took the little girl by the hand and hurried back, pulling her after, then disappeared around the corner.

This time, Ferry looked around, all his senses awake. All the strangers passing by were staring at him. Everyone was watching him. Thyme appeared out of nowhere behind him, folded in his long, dark cloak. Maybe the little girl was talking about him...

"Garrett, come," he said, "we have to talk."

Ferry followed him to some secluded benches beyond the platform. Everyone was waiting for him there, eating the salad and cheese sandwiches Lavender had prepared before they left. Rosemary handed him one. Ferry sat down on the bench next to Oona and looked at his sandwich without opening it. Matilda was still missing. So was Sage.

Thyme was the only one who hadn't sat on the bench. He stood in front of them, refusing the sandwich. "Listen, everyone! Lord Stephan had to leave earlier to prepare everything for our arrival. The bridge between the worlds is a day away from this city. We will spend a day here, so we will have to draw as little attention as possible to ourselves. We don't have too much money, so we can't stay in this city for too long. And remember: our powers are limited in places where there are more machines and factories than trees and plants. So try not to get in trouble while we're here," he concluded.

Ferry got up from the bench and took Thyme aside. "Thyme, where's Matt?" he asked.

"She had to leave with Sage ahead of us to look for a place to sleep at night. They're the only ones of us who don't draw attention. Matilda is a human girl and Sage-- Sage can pass as a human man. A very hairy human one," he added in the same serious tone, and Ferry couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "Anyway, we'll meet them in the center square, after we finish eating. You should eat, too," he said.

Ferry nodded and took his seat on the bench again. Suddenly, he lost his appetite. It seemed to him like an eternity until his friends finished eating. They left the station, all eyes of the passengers staring at them. They must have been a curious gathering. Ferry, with his white hair and pale skin, Thyme, wrapped in his black cloak, decorated with feathers. Oona, with her fire-red hair and her long, flowing dress. Rosemary, with her pointed hat on. And Parsley, hiding his scaly face under the hood of a sweatshirt, in the middle of summer. They set off in a line, with Thyme leading the way, followed by Ferry and Oona clinging to his arm, and ending with Parsley and Rosemary walking side by side, laughing and talking about everything and nothing as if only the two of them existed in the entire world.

As they left the station, they were greeted by a roar of voices, car horns, engines, shouts, laughter, all mingling with the dust and heat that was beginning to descend over the city. The asphalt was burning, and Ferry felt the heat waves through his shoes. Even his backpack seemed heavier. Ferry crept among the people hurrying down the sidewalk, trying not to lose sight of Thyme who was walking ahead of everyone with a determined step. Oona was talking to him, but he couldn't hear her. The gray high buildings stole his attention. At home, the tallest building was the church. Or the Pride Mansion, now no longer existing. Ferry stopped a few times to look at the buildings as if they were detached from stories with giants. His neck ached as he looked up at them. In the distance, he could see the two furnaces of a factory, smoke coming out of their large open mouths as if a monster was unleashed from within, its distorted body growing bigger and bigger on the clear sky.

"Garrett, keep up," he could hear Parsley behind him.

Ferry hurried to catch up with Thyme. Then there were the people. They walked in a continuous, dizzying back and forth as if they were always in a hurry to get somewhere. Most wore clothes in the same shades of gray as the city. But the young people were different. They laughed and gestured, and wore clothes as colorful as their laughter. The boys were dressed in white T-shirts, black leather jackets, and blue trousers that Oona said were called jeans. And the girls wore short skirts or tight pants, and Ferry couldn't help but think again of Matilda and wondered if she would fit in this new world.

But Oona didn't seem to agree, "Ugh, look what they're wearing," she said, grimacing at the girls passing by and glancing at Ferry. "How can they walk in those tight, short dresses? The dresses are made to be long and fluid, to caress your body while walking. Not to squeeze you like a strap, so you can't breathe. Do these girls even eat? How could they? That would mean cracking their seams on their bellies," she muttered.

Ferry smiled. "They are human girls, Oona. I think they're a bit different from fairy-girls."

Oona snorted. "A bit? Coming from different planets, more likely. They have the worst taste in attire."

"I think it's called fashion here," Ferry said.

Oona squinted, but then Ferry saw her whole face light up. "Look, Ferry," she said, pointing to an ice cream and refreshments pushcart. It was painted in the colors of the rainbow. Ferry had an idea--maybe ice cream and refreshments for everyone would have sent away the growing sense of alienation he felt. From the little money his father had given him, he bought a green smoothie for Thyme, a fruit smoothie and two straws for Parsley and Rosemary, and strawberry sorbet for Oona. For Matilda, he bought a chocolate ice cream cone, her favorite. He didn't buy anything for Sage—he could buy it for himself, for all he cared.

They arrived in the center square which had the statue of a warrior in the middle. They sat on the once-white marble base, stained with pigeon manure. But Matilda and Sage were late, and the ice cream melted and drained on Ferry's shoes. He thought he saw her a couple of times in the crowd of people lurking in front of them, and this heart began to beat fast each time.

"Why are they late? What if something happened? " he asked Thyme.

"It is probably difficult to find two cheap rooms in this city. But don't worry about Matilda. Sage is with her. "

Ferry signed and returned to his seat. The pigeons around him began to nibble on the cone he had bought for Matilda. He felt hot, thirsty, and tired. And it wasn't even midday.

"Why the long face?" he suddenly heard her voice beside him.

He looked up and found her smiling. Her hair had come off her ponytail, and her shirt and skirt were wrinkled. He stood up and handed her the cone, but he noticed she was already having a cone in her hand. This one was with vanilla ice cream.

"I thought you liked chocolate ice cream," he said, not knowing what to do with the one in his hand.

Sage suddenly appeared behind Matilda. He also held a cone with vanilla ice cream in his hairy hand.

"People change, Garrett," he said, having a large mouthful of his ice cream. But he didn't finish talking, as his eyes bulged and he stood still like struck by lightning. Then he coughed, shaking his head. Ferry barely refrained himself from laughing.

"Brain freeze," Matilda said, laughing.

Sage retreated to the shade of a tree, trying to regain his senses. Finally, they were alone. Or so Ferry thought. Because Oona appeared beside them as if from nowhere.

"Are you going to eat that ice cream?" she asked.

Ferry sighed and handed it to her without saying a word.

"You know what they say—you can never say no to chocolate," Oona continued. "There is no chocolate in the world of fairies. One of the very few things people do well," she added, glancing at Matilda. "Very few."

Matilda wanted to say something, but Thyme's strong voice alerted them all, "Everyone, gather around! We have to get to the place where we will spend the night. Let's not waste any more time. "

Sage, who was no longer coughing, stepped closer to Matilda. "Let's go, Mattie," he said softly, so opposed to his massive stature. Matilda smiled at Ferry, but then she joined Sage and they both started in front of everyone. The others followed them, this time through the side streets behind the tall buildings that led to old, low houses that smelled of damp, urine, and mold. The sun could no longer reach the small, sad houses, sending only a pale ray that illuminated their path, leaving a milky mark on the paving slabs of the street.

People were missing from those streets; from time to time, an old woman's head appeared behind the old sheets spread out on the low balconies. Although he shouldn't have, the sheets on the ropes reminded Ferry of the fresh, white clothes in his yard, and his heart ached again. He stroked the dial of the little wristwatch that belonged to his mother which he always carried in his trouser's pocket, and the pain in his heart loosened a little. Just a little.

Matilda and Sage stopped in front of a blackened brick house with windows covered with wooden shutters, above which hung a "Bed & Breakfast" sign with dry blue paint.

They all went inside the small parlor in front, where they crowded in front of a dirty counter, with fingerprints impregnated in the thick layer of dust mixed with the moisture that reigned everywhere. The room had its shutters down, and the only light source was a dim light bulb that made everything around it look shrouded in fog. A pungent smell of cat urine floated in the air. Ferry saw cats of all sizes and colors lying in every corner of the room: on chairs, carpets, under the low small table at the end, on and under the stairs.

Sage rang the bell on the counter and a slim, mangy man appeared from the small, dark room in the back. He cast suspicious glances on everyone, but his eyes remained on Ferry. His name was Mr. Muff, and he owned the place.

Matilda noticed the man's insistent gaze and stepped in front of him. "We came for the two rooms earlier," she said.

Mr. Muff put on his glasses and searched the register on the desk. "Oh, yes. Just for tonight?" he asked.

"Yes," Matilda replied.

The man wrote something down in the register and asked, without looking up, "And where are you going, miss? You and your friends... "

"We're going to join the circus in the neighboring town," Matilda said confidently, and for a moment, Ferry really thought they'd be heading there the next day.

"Oh, that explains everything," the man laughed, exposing his crooked teeth." These are your keys," he said, handing the keys to Matilda. "Upstairs, the last two rooms at the end of the corridor."

Matilda went up the creaking stairs, followed by Ferry and everyone else. They stumbled on cats walking between their legs as they walked. Sage began to sneeze.

"Allergic to cats?" Parsley asked him, and Sage glanced sideways at him as he continued up the stairs.

When they reached the end of the corridor, Matilda smiled at Ferry and handed him the key. She then rushed to catch up with Rosemary and Oona since they shared the last room. Ferry looked behind them for a moment, wishing he could stay with Matilda a bit longer. They didn't have the time to do anything. Not even talk. He just wanted to stay with her for a moment...

But he could feel Sage's gaze on the back of his head, so he opened the door to their room. As soon as he opened it, the room greeted them with the smell of stale air, smeared with the same odor of cat urine that reigned all over the house. Ferry opened the shutters wide and the air, though warm, entered the room, bringing with it the smell of street dust. In the room, there was only a narrow bed, a chest of drawers, a chair with tilted legs, and an armchair by the window.

Thyme scanned every corner of the room. He then threw his sack in the corner. "We should not unpack. We're only here one night," he said. "But I think we have to choose where we should sleep. I think Garrett should take the bed."

But Ferry shook his head. "I can't have the bed all for myself. Where will you sleep? "

"Don't worry, we can sleep on the floor."

"But Thyme--"

"It's all right, I'm used to sleeping on hard surfaces."

"Well, I'm not," Sage replied. "So if Garrett doesn't want the bed, I'll have it. I'm exhausted," he said, slumping over the rough bedspread from which a cloud of dust came out.

Ferry sighed and placed his bag on the back of the chair, then stared out the window. The view was not great—the dull, crowded backyards of the neighboring houses, the heat that had spread over the city like blight, and the thick layer of dust. So different from what he knew and loved. And he hadn't even left the human world yet.

The room was quiet. Thyme retreated to the darkest corner and bit into a peach, chewing slowly, his forehead slightly frowned. Parsley picked up a newspaper and was studying the news sitting in the broken armchair squeaking at each of his movements. Sage was lying on the bed, his eyes on the ceiling, thinking of something only he knew.

The heat was dissipating, leaving room for the cool air of the dusk. People were leaving their homes, dressed for the evening walks as if for a celebration. This was the first impression the Big City had left on him—that all the people seemed ready for the holiday, wearing their best clothes, laughing, and feeling good at any time of the day.

Sage's voice interrupted his thoughts. "I'm starving. Do they have any food in this house?"

"I doubt it," Thyme replied. "It's a Bed & Breakfast. But we can look around."

"That's great. I'm going to talk to the girls," he said, jumping out of bed and dashing out the door. Ferry, Thyme, and Parsley looked at each other, trying to understand Sage's enthusiasm.

"Well, you wouldn't say he was exhausted a few minutes ago," Parsley muttered.

They all decided to find a place as discreet as possible to have dinner. It was easy for them to find a pub. They were everywhere. They had chosen a more secluded one, with a wooden sign on which pink roses were painted around the name in golden and erased letters. Rosy's Pub. Ferry liked the name and nodded when Thyme asked him if they could go inside.

It was cool and almost dark in there. There were candles on each table, so the faces around looked ghostly and blurry. At the end of the pub, there was a small stage where three men were playing the violin, flute, and accordion. One of them was older, and his long white mustache fluttered every time he was blowing the flute. A group of people was dancing in the middle, jolting and singing along with the band.

Ferry and his friends chose a table in the darkest corner of the pub. He took a random seat, but as if by mistake, Sage sat next to Matilda. Ferry was glad they could at least stand face to face. They had spoken little since they left Goodharts. The girl was framed by Sage and Rosemary. Thyme and Parsley sat down at each end of the table, and Oona took a seat close to Ferry, though there was enough room on the long wooden bench. A young girl, not much older than him, appeared out of nowhere and handed him a menu. Ferry winced and took the menu. The girl stared at him and smiled. She had big, glittering eyes, and dark hair, her eyes outlined in the same shade of deep black. The girl touched his hand as she gave him the menu, then smiled at him again before leaving. Ferry fussed, not knowing what to do.

"Someone has an admirer," said Sage, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Ferry pretended not to hear him and looked at the menu. He was not hungry. All the hustle and bustle of the day had made him tired and lose his appetite. Plus, leaving for Akna the next day made him nervous. He chose a cheese sandwich, anyway, and handed Thyme the menu. The menu circulated from hand to hand around the table.

"I'll have what you're having," Oona said in his ear, trying to cover the music and voices around.

The girl with big eyes returned. "What are you taking?" she asked Ferry, smiling at him again.

Ferry flustered. "Peas sandwich... I mean cheese sandwich."

The girl chuckled, then took everyone's order. Sage had a mutton steak with beer. Matilda ordered fish and chips. Everyone else had sandwiches with cheese and all kinds of green vegetables. For a while, everyone ate in silence. The music stopped. All they could hear was the clatter of cutlery and plates, and sometimes the voices and laughter of the other diners.

"I'm going to miss the food in this world," Sage said after finishing his steak, as he sipped from his beer.

"The food at home isn't that bad, either ..." Thyme said.

"I'm definitely going to miss the sweets," Oona said. "There is no sugar in our world..."

Parsley also joined the discussion, "I'll miss Lavender's garden. It's more beautiful than the one at the Palace, in Akna." Then he turned to Rosemary, who was sitting next to him, "What are you going to miss, Rose?" he asked, and Ferry felt a certain softness in his voice as he spoke her name.

"I'll miss people's music. It's so different from the one of fairies. People can create such beautiful things ... "

"What about you, Ferry? What will you miss the most?" Oona asked.

Ferry felt all eyes on him. He met Matilda's eyes and got lost in her gaze for a moment. But only for a moment, because she then looked away. "I'll miss it as it once was ..." he said.

His friends looked at each other without saying a word. The pub suddenly resounded with clapping, and Ferry got rid of their inquisitive eyes. A young woman stepped on stage, wearing a white dress, which under the spotlight seemed to be made of moonlight. She sat down in front of a harp and her long, thin fingers dripped on the strings. The sound filled the room, taking the place of shouts and laughter. Her warm but resonant voice echoed over the audience that turned quiet as if fallen under a spell. It was a love song. The echo passed through the pub's walls, beyond the streets, buildings, and tumult of the city. And for a moment, Ferry found himself next to the fire on the hills of his home, with Matilda on the other side, trying to understand now, as he tried back then, what was the meaning of this world or the world beyond. The song brought him back to the present, and he watched Matilda, away from him once again. She kept her gaze down, and Ferry tried to guess what she was thinking. He thought her eyes were sad as if she was about to burst into tears. Was she already missing home? Did she already regret coming with them? Was she afraid of what they would meet in Akna? And he realized that those were actually his doubts and that maybe he was as afraid as she was...

https://youtu.be/lm8mhqt_Dag

He didn't have time to think about it because he saw Sage get up from his seat and inviting Matilda to dance, his hand outstretched toward her with his palm up. After a moment of hesitation, she put her hand in Sage's hand who gently squeezed it, making it disappear completely. Ferry felt short of breath at the sight of their touch, so gentle and familiar.

"Come on, fairy-boy," he heard Oona's voice as in a dream. "Let's dance!"

Ferry resisted at first, but Oona took his hand and pulled him to the empty spot in front of the stage where several couples were dancing. Sage and Matilda were there, slowly dancing with some distance between them. Not big enough, in Ferry's opinion. Parsley and Rosemary joined them, hopping and laughing, out of the slow rhythm of the song. Oona wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her cheek to his chest. Her hair, which shone like fire even in the dim light of the pub, smelled of wildflowers and moss. But Ferry couldn't concentrate on dancing and stepped on Oona's feet several times. His eyes kept running to the dancing couple at the edge of the dance floor. Sage was laughing and sometimes leaned over to whisper something in her ear, making Ferry's blood boil. A few times, he met Matilla's gaze over Sage's broad shoulder. The girl was almost lost in his hairy arms. And, although it was dark and he could hardly make out the figures around him, Ferry could see her more clearly than anyone else. He saw her dark eyes in which he detected (or maybe just imagined) a shade of longing. Her lips looked fresh and red like a ripe cherry. She smiled at him and he felt a bit better. But then Ferry saw Sage pull her slowly to his chest, which made him feel out of breath again.

He gently removed Oona's arms from around his neck. "I'm sorry, I have to go out... I need some air ..."

He wanted to get out, to run away from that place where she was in someone else's arms, the first sign that things would never be the way they were. But in his desperate hurry, he almost knocked down a man who appeared in his way.

"Hey, watch where you're going, albino-boy!" the man shouted at him.

Ferry muttered an apology and wanted to leave, but the man would not let him pass. He was a young, squat man with a wide nose that almost covered his entire face. The hair on the top of his head was given so much ointment that it seemed stuck to his head. He wore a white shirt and black pants, with a thin tie, the knot of which was loosened.

"Well, if you want me to accept your apology, how about if you let me dance with the young lady?" he said, pointing to Oona.

Oona came closer to Ferry and clung to his arm, shaking her head no. "I don't want to dance with you, barrel on two legs," she said. Laughter erupted around them.

"Hey, who do you think you're talking to?" the man asked, grabbing Oona by the wrist and pulling her toward him. "I own this place. So if I want to dance with you, I'll dance with you," he added, pulling Oona away from Ferry.

Ferry felt his fingers tickling. He didn't think anymore, and punched the man in the nose, knocking him to the ground.

By now, the music had stopped and the pub crowd had gathered around them. Ferry saw Thyme making his way through the crowd, followed by Sage.

The man got up from the ground and took a boxing position, his elbows clenched to his chest. "Who do you think you're talking to, pale-face? Don't you know who I am? "

Then he rushed to hit Ferry, but suddenly the place got filled with a thick black smoke no one could see through.

"Let's get out of here!" Ferry heard Thyme's thunderous voice and felt Oona's hand gripping his wrist and pulling him out. They were all in front of the pub now. They all had to run to the Bed & Breakfast inn, bumping into random people on the street. Luckily, no one followed them.

They were all catching their breaths as Oona stepped closer to Ferry, stood on tiptoe, and pressed her soft, warm lips to his cheek, her eyelashes blinking like the wings of a butterfly, tickling his cheek. The soft kiss lasted a few seconds. Ferry just stood there, stuck in place.

"My hero," Oona said, finally detaching her lips off his cheek. Ferry flustered in front of everyone, but couldn't help but notice the frown on Matilda's face.

"Which part of not getting into trouble don't you understand?" Thyme's voice thundered, making the night air tremble. "We must be as discreet as possible, stay as hidden as possible, invisible even, for the eyes of the humans!" he shouted. "And what are you doing? You laugh, dance, jump and frolic around as if you don't have a care in the world!" he added, glaring at Ferry.

"What was I going to do, Thyme?" Ferry protested. "Let that man take Oona to the dance by force?"

"You shouldn't have danced in the first place!" Thyme yelled. "Do you realize what we look like among people? We're not in Goodharts anymore. In this world, we draw attention only by the way we look. People don't have to know what we are. We can't put our world in danger in front of people. "

"Sage started it," Ferry said calmly. "He was the first in the dance mood, tonight."

Sage opened his mouth to protest, but Thyme cut him short. "That's not the point, Garrett," he said undisturbed. "If we want to have the slightest chance to succeed in this attempt that will not be easy, rules must be followed. Failure to follow simple rules leads to failure to follow important ones. " Thyme sighed. "Okay, now tell me how you did the charm," he said to Ferry.

"What charm?" he wondered.

"The black smoke that helped us get out of there. That smoke was not made by humans."

Oona stepped in front of them. "It was me. I did it, "she said bluntly.

All eyes were on her.

"How did you do it?" Thyme asked.

"Easy--I just imagined the smoke, I concentrated a little, and the smoke started to flow from my fingers ..."

"Could you do that before? In Tenalach, that is."

Oona shook her head.

Thyme seemed lost in thought for a moment. "Enough for today," he said at last. "Off to bed, everyone. There's a big day ahead of us, tomorrow— we have to get to the other side. I'll take a look around here a bit, to make sure everything is fine."

Ferry sighed and followed the others inside the inn. Sage threw himself on the bed, took off his boots, and began snoring the moment he put his head on the pillow.

Parsley sat down in the old armchair by the window and covered himself with a thin blanket he had found on the bed. In a short time, Ferry heard his light breathing become more regular. He pulled out his mother's patched blanket and lay down on the faded, dusty carpet by the bed, the only place where the moonlight reflected, caressing his face. He wrapped himself completely in the soft blanket that smelled of home, but he still couldn't find peace.

Not long after, he heard the door open. Thyme retreated to the darkest corner and wrapped himself in his black cloak. But Ferry heard neither regular breathing nor snoring coming from him. Maybe his thoughts didn't let him rest, just as they didn't let him.

"Thyme, are you asleep?" he whispered.

It took a few moments before Thyme answered. "No... Why don't you sleep?"

"I can't... I keep thinking about tomorrow..."

Thyme sighed. "You know, it's a little late to change your mind, Garett ..."

"That's not it," Ferry replied, trying to sound as convincing as possible to Thyme, or maybe even to him. "It's just that I'm a bit worried..."

"It's normal," Thyme said, and Ferry felt a shadow of softness in his voice. "It's a foreign place, with people you don't know..."

Ferry sighed. "It's not that. It's just— Everything would be easier if she was still alive...My mum..."

A longer pause followed. "If she was still alive, you wouldn't be here, Garrett," Thyme said in a low voice.

Ferry swallowed the lump in his throat. He felt tears coming to his eyes. Thyme was right, and it hurt to admit it—if his mother was still alive, he would never agree to let him go on such a dangerous mission. And he would have listened to her.

"Go to sleep, Garrett," Thyme said in an almost gentle voice. "There's a big day waiting for us tomorrow. And we have to wake up before sunrise. "

Ferry looked at the dark corner where only Thyme's eyes were glittering. "You're right. I just wish—I wish the people of Akna would like me. What if they won't like me? "

Ferry waited for his answer. He knew he hadn't fallen asleep. He could see his face in half-darkness, barely blinking. He heard his sigh. "What's not to like about you?" Thyme softly said, almost in a whisper.

Ferry tried to guess his features in the dark. He realized then that he knew so little about Thyme. And, although he felt closest to his Fairy Guardian, he was the most mysterious of them all, the one who always kept him at a distance. The one who never allowed him to know who he really was.

And yet, his words brought him some peace. He closed his eyes and felt sleep falling over him, little by little. But just as he was about to fall into the arms of sleep, he heard a faint rustle beyond the open window. Thyme heard it, too, because he jumped to his feet.

"Stay here," he whispered to Ferry. "I'm going outside to check."

Thyme left the room and went downstairs. He was reluctant of using his fairy skills in the world of people.

Ferry waited in the dark, his heart pounding. There was no sound coming from outside. He had to do something, uncertainty was killing him. He feared for Thyme, even though he knew he was best able to protect him. He slowly opened the door and went down the stairs at his toe tips. Two cats saw him and meowed, and Ferry hurried out.

Outside, the moon was bright enough to light up the whole yard, even beyond the row of houses in the neighborhood. The night was warm and quiet, although voices could still be heard in the distance. Ferry looked around. Nothing. And yet, someone was by the window, he knew it.

Ferry decided to go back inside. He startled when he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. It was Thyme.

"Ferry, I thought I told you to stay inside," he tried not to raise his voice.

"Did you find anything?" Ferry asked.

"No... Although--"

"What?"

"Although I had a strange feeling... Like that time when I thought someone was following me from the shadows. When I was trying to reach you, but something or someone was trying to stop me..." Thyme said, frowning.

Ferry shuddered. "Let's just go inside."

They went up the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible, although the stairs creaked at every step. When they opened the door, they both stopped at the entrance, their eyes glued to the thing in the middle—on the floor, under the soft moonlight, there was his mother's patchwork blanket. Ripped to pieces.

Thank you for taking the time to read this book! I hope you'll enjoy Ferry's story and you'll join him and his friends in this magical, new adventure. Please vote and comment, your opinion means a lot.

Disclaimer:

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author.

Text copyright © All rights reserved.

I do not own the photo on the cover of the book or the photos and the videos accompanying the chapters of this book.