The exact moment we leave Manahata the trees turn dense and dark. No more fiery magentas and dazzling teals; these trees are deep hues of green, blue and burgundy. The towering pines don't sing, either; they resonate a soft hum, like an electrical appliance you only hear once it's off. Everything is steadily growing darker and quieter with every step of this excruciatingly long hike.

"Shouldn't we have hit the river by now?" I ask after we've walked for several hours.

"What river?" Jonah asks.

"The Hudson River," I answer with an edge to my voice. My legs hurt and I'm winded. Jonah has been guiding us in circles. We should've seen water by now.

"Agatha, you're not on Earth," he explains. "You'll see similarities between our worlds but they're not the same."

His tone annoys me further. I'm not a child and I'm not stupid. I'm tired and my feet hurt. "Why are we walking? Don't you guys have cars or trains, or even a carriage?

"Yes," Jonah answers.

"Then why don't we have one!" I stop moving. We've been walking for hours with no end in sight. "New Yorkers don't hike, especially in nature. This is crazy. We should get a car."

"We'll go a little further, then we'll stop to eat and you can rest," Jonah says patiently.

I've never yelled at anyone in my life, but his demeanor is making my blood boil. "Why do you always ignore my questions? Or answer my questions with questions? Or tell me to stop asking questions? You asked me to come here. Why don't we have a car!"

"Well, that was impressive," Dathid snorts.

I glare at him. I hate him and I want a car.

Jonah points Dathid to a small clearing in the trees. "Let's stop over there." Then he turns to me. "Sit, and eat, and rest, and then I'll answer your questions. But first, call Lenox," he orders over his shoulder when he leaves to join Dathid.

Lenox is staying close by, but he prefers flying. I search the treetops for him, but he's nowhere in sight. I don't have a clue how to get an animal to come to me. I look to Jonah for help, but he's whispering with Dathid. When Auntie would call the cats, she'd say "Here, Kitty-Kitties" really loud. I open my mouth to try it, but the words get stuck in my throat.

I don't want to call that big animal to me, but I don't want to disobey Jonah either. I always do what I'm told, but I can't make the words come out. I clasp my hands together and feel the sweat on my palms. Just call him like a cat. Just make the attempt. Just do something! my brain screams. Desperate to make any kind of noise, I put my fingers in my mouth and give a loud whistle; both Jonah and Dathid turn to me in surprise.

I'm proud of myself for shocking them. I shrug with a smirk. "All New Yorkers can do that."

My victory is short because Lenox actually comes when called. I need to be brave, keep breathing, and keep my eyes open. But the beating of his wings is so loud my heartbeat matches its rhythm. I lose the battle to keep my eyes open. This animal just needs to stay away from me. When everything is quiet, and just as I'm about to open my eyes, something wet and slimy slides up my cheek.

I jump back, wiping my face and spitting. "That thing licked me! It covered my mouth and went up my nose. Its tongue is so big it coated my whole face! Yuck! I want a shower!"

I lift the edge of my sweater in a lame attempt to clean my face. Jonah and Dathid chuckle at my indignation. I forget my disgust and stand up straight. It's just pegasus spit; it won't kill me.

Lenox is in front of me with his nose inches from my face. I stare at it because it's so close it's taking up most of my field of vision. I'm afraid to take my eyes off it. He doesn't move and neither do I. Jonah said to call the beast here, but he didn't give me instructions on what to do once it arrived. My distress increases with every hefty breath it takes.

Jonah isn't helping. I'm stuck here, staring down a monster with long sharp teeth and terrifying claws. I wish I knew how to keep this thing from biting me or trampling me or just generally killing me. I search my memory for some answers, but the only thing I come up with is a reference to letting a strange dog smell your hand before you pet it. I've never done it, because why would anyone want to pet someone else's dog?

It's all I've got so I might as well try it. I slowly lift my arm, praying he won't bite it off. I'm only halfway to his face when he lowers his head and puts his nose under my fingers. He lifts his head and my hand rises with him. His warm breath blows across my face. I haven't taken a breath since I lifted my arm. I inhale deeply and remove my hand from his nose. I hope Jonah saw me touch it.

As soon as my hand is back at my side, Lenox moves and I freeze. I wish he would fly off already. He smells my fingers, and any second now he'll tear my arm off.

"Okay. Go away," I whisper.

Lenox puts his nose under my palm and lifts it like before. I gaze at my hand and then at him. "Do you want me to pet you?"

He lowers his head so I can scratch his face. I gently pat his nose a few times. He nuzzles it back up.

"Okay, I get it." I pet his face, and he moves his head so I can better reach the areas he wants me to scratch. I end up by his oversized ears that are purple on the outside and pink inside. They're long like a horse's ears but much wider and apparently very itchy. As I pet him, he purrs loudly.

I laugh. "You're a horse that flies like a bat, acts like a dog and purrs like a cat. Yeah, that's normal."

Now that I've made friends with my pegasus, Jonah returns and pulls some biscuits and prickly green fruit out of one of Lenox's packs.

"Agatha, ask Lenox to hunt some dinner for you and Dathid to eat later."

The three of us are standing together, so I don't understand why I need to ask. I motion to Lenox. "He's right here. He just heard you."

"He's yours. You speak the same language. You need to be the one to ask him," Jonah explains.

That's ridiculous. Lenox heard what Jonah said, in English, the same language I'll speak to him in. I don't argue. I just speak loudly and clearly to Lenox as if I'm talking to an old person. "Will you kill something for us to eat later? Make sure you get something for yourself. Oh, and give it to Dathid."

I have no idea if he understands me or not. But with that done, I collapse under the closest tree and examine my blistered feet. There's a particularly large pus-filled lump on the side of my big toe. I'm not sure if I should pop it or not. I poke it a few times and it really hurts, so I decide to leave it alone. It'll probably burst open on its own like the others did.

Jonah sits next to me and hands me a biscuit. He places the fruit on the ground between us and helps himself to one. The biscuit isn't big, but it's delicious. I eat two and get quite full, which makes me happy because I don't want to eat the fruit now that it's been on the ground.

I'm done first so I lean against the tree, waiting for everyone else to finish. I have a list of questions, but Jonah made it clear that I have to wait to get answers. However, he's eating the entire pile of fruit and it's taking forever. When he reaches for a fifth piece, I start the interrogation because I'm tired of waiting. "Why don't we have a car?"

Jonah slowly swallows his bite. "We don't have cars here. Ashra is not industrialized the way Earth is."

"Why?"

"There's no need. Earth is a much harsher environment. Humans needed to industrialize to survive."

"But still...a car? Why not bring a few through the portals?"

"Do you know what physics is?" he asks, out of nowhere.

"You just answered my question with a question!"

"I asked the question so I could better answer yours."

"Your mechanisms don't work here," Dathid answers impatiently.

"What do you mean they don't work?" I ask.

"What do you mean, what do I mean?"

Dathid is just annoying. This conversation is annoying, and not having a car is really annoying. "Is this something with your people? Is it a curra thing to never give a straight answer?"

"Is it a human thing to be so temperamental?" Dathid retorts.

His question shocks me into silence. No one has ever described me as temperamental before. In fact, I make it a point to show no emotion at all. Every one of my teachers has described me as a nice girl, just very quiet. I've been here such a short time, and yet I'm already changing. I hope it's for the better.

"I'm sorry," I say. I don't want anyone to not like me, and getting mad will definitely make them hate me.

Jonah ignores my apology. "Your concept of Earthly physics doesn't apply here. On Earth, you have natural laws that are true and unchanging. Drop something and it will fall. Push something and it will move. We don't have those laws here, and therefore, what's built based on those laws won't work."

He looks at me with sad eyes, but I can't tell if they're sincere or mocking. "Which means no cars or planes. But they do have non-motorized vehicles, like carriages and carts. Unfortunately, pine trees are aggressive and would destroy any road constructed in their territory, so we have to walk. Also, your pegasus would eat anything that pulled a cart."

I turn wide eyes to Lenox. What kind of gift did the King give me?

"However," Jonah continues. "We do have transportation for you. Lenox can take you anywhere you want to go faster than any car or plane."

A picture of me flying through the air with Lenox flashes across my brain. It's so terrifying that my heart skips a beat just thinking about it. I push the thought out of my mind and put my shoes back on my battered feet.

Jonah is next to Lenox. "Agatha, come here."

I vigorously shake my head.

"Just try it. I'll hold you the entire time."

I'm certain that if he holds me, I won't fall, but if he lets go, I'd have no way to stop Lenox if he took off. I might get really hurt. Lenox is too big; maybe if they had a smaller one, a starter pegasus maybe. They shouldn't expect a novice like me to be confident around a beast like that.

Both of them are side-by-side, staring at me. Jonah looks disappointed. I don't want to let him down, but I don't want any part of this pegasus.

Lenox's back is over my head and the thought of being up that high makes me sick. "I only have to try it? I don't need to stay up there?"

"He'll stand here and I'll hold you." Jonah puts his arms out, but waits for me to walk into his grasp.

I nod, but my feet don't move. I take a deep breath. "Okay," I say more to myself than to Jonah before I step into his arms. "As long as we don't move and you hold me."

Jonah agrees, and Lenox lifts his enormous wings out of the way. The extended wings make him look even bigger. I know he's going to take off once I'm on him. However, I don't have time to voice my objection because Jonah is already lifting me onto his back.

As soon as my legs are around Lenox, I reach my hands out to grab hold of something, but there's nothing there, just thick purple neck. I'm not close enough to his mane to grasp it, so I frantically claw at his back, trying to get my balance. My frenzied hands find Jonah's, which are around my waist. He's holding me like he promised. I clutch his wrists in a death grip.

"Gently scoot forward," he says.

Even though Lenox is standing still, the shifting of his weight as he fidgets will definitely make me slide off.

"I have to let go for one moment."

"No! I want to get down," I yell while panic seizes my guts.

"Relax. I just need to get to the other side of his wing. You don't want him to have to keep his wings up the entire time, do you?"

"Okay. But Lenox, you better not move." My threat loses a lot of its edge because of the quiver in my voice.

Jonah steps out of the way, and Lenox closes his wings. With his wings pressing down on my legs, I'm more secure like he's holding on to me. Most of the tension eases out of my body.

Jonah grabs my waist again. "Do you want to try to walk?"

"Will he take off?"

"No. And you needn't worry about flying through the air. It takes a great deal of skill to stay mounted during takeoff. You'd probably just roll down his back."

That's not reassuring. Falling to the ground from this height would surely break a few bones. However, I trust Jonah, so I agree to take a few steps.

Lenox's lengthy strides make me wobbly. It's difficult to keep my balance because I'm a couple of seconds behind his movement. I won't fall, though, because Lenox has a tight grip on my legs.

"You can let go." I'm proud of my bravery. I hope Jonah is too.

I'm so pleased with myself for trying because I never try anything. I wish someone from school could see us, but I can't think of anyone I could share this with. Lenox walks faster and I like it. It feels like I'm racing down the path, until I see that Jonah is easily keeping pace with us.

I ride for a long time and after a few hours pass, Jonah tells me to get down. "Lenox isn't made for walking. It's difficult for him."

As soon as my feet hit the ground, Lenox smells me to make sure I'm okay. I give him some good-boy pats on the head and stroke his body. When he's had enough, he takes off.

"That was fun."

"It's good to see you smile," Jonah says, making me self-conscious.