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melodramatic when I say it like that) had made off with his wife, but now he had to shove his daughter into
harm s way also.
 Just how do we get to the Other Realm anyway? I asked Leanne once Josh had left the room.
She put her arms about my neck and kissed me sweetly for a moment, then smiled up at me.  We take
the Jeep, of course.
 Of course. Dopey me.
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The sun would be up in a little more than half an hour. It was a good thing for Leanne that the
windows on the Jeep were tinted. They were dark, almost black, the way the cops hated, and she assured me
they would protect her from the sun s harmful rays. Still, just to be sure, she slipped on a pair of supple, black
leather gloves, and smeared SPF 45 sunblock over her face and neck. The stuff had the consistency of
Lepage's glue--the white stuff--as if she wasn't white enough all ready. She kept a black balaclava and some
dark, wraparound sunglasses by her side just in case.
Josh carried Alex out and laid her down on the back seat with a pillow and comforter. She fell back to
sleep almost immediately. He opened up the back gate and tossed in a cooler of food and some travel packs,
and an old beat-up hockey bag with the oddest assortment of bumps and bulges I'd ever seen. Josh glanced up
and shrugged. "Small arms and ammo," he confided. "Always be prepared."
The three of us fit in the front without much problem. Josh drove, I sat next to the passenger door, and
Leanne sat between us. She was the smallest, after all. Josh started the engine just as something big and
shadowy alighted on the hood of the Jeep. The front end dipped slightly, then something pink washed my half
of the windshield in slobber, and the shadow was gone again.
Josh hit the wipers and wiper fluid. "Dopey mutt," he mumbled.
A smile touched my lips as Bear vanished as quickly as he had appeared. I'd really missed the dumb
hound.
"So, how do we get to Tae Con Ra?" I asked. "Just head out off the county road until we hit the
Highway to Hell?
"Actually, we head through the city," Leanne said seriously.  There s a shortcut through the alley just
behind the McDonald s on Princess Street.
The drive was rather uneventful. A faint rose blush had already begun to tinge the eastern horizon as
we left the manor. By the time we reached the city, proper dawn was full upon us. There wasn t much in the
way of traffic at this time of the morning, human or otherwise. Even creepy crawlies need their sleep. Those
that couldn t stand the full effects of sunlight were long gone, and the others were no doubt resting up
someplace, or off to their mundane jobs in human guise.
Josh parked the Jeep in the small McDonald s parking lot and went to the back of the truck to retrieve
our gear while Leanne awakened Alex. He tossed me the pack with the food and kept the one with the
weapons for himself. Leanne donned the balaclava and dark glasses, and Alex daubed at what little skin still
showed with the sunscreen.
 Is everybody set? Leanne asked, and when one no one objected, added,  Then we re off. She
retrieved her parcel, the one wrapped in blue, and led us to the dumpster at the back of the alley.  All right,
you first, Josh. Then me and Alex. James can bring up the rear.
 This is the entrance to the Other Realm? I scoffed.
Josh opened the lid to the Dumpster and leapt nimbly up to the ledge. He perched there a moment,
grinning at me and rearranging his pack.  Hey, it s no Fairy Mound, but it ll do. With that he dropped down
into the trash, and in a bright flash of white light, vanished.
I wrinkled my nose in disgust.  Does everything about the Other Realm have to smell bad?
Leanne just shook her head, grasped the side of the Dumpster, and vaulted into the garbage,
disappearing in a flash. Alex covered a yawn with the back of her hand. I was about to ask her if she needed a
hand up when she pulled off this nice little scissor-kick and was up, over, and gone before I got the words out.
Not one to be undone, I vaulted over the side and came down butt-first onto a pile of spaghetti and rotting
lettuce. I stuck my hand into some brown, rancid oranges just seconds before the light flared, and I found
myself seated on the grass on the side of a well-worn trail.
I looked up to see Josh trying to stifle his laughter, and I knew that if I could have seen beneath
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Leanne s balaclava, the same battle would have been going on there, too. Alex, showing the sensitivity that
young teens are so famous for nowadays, was rolling on the ground laughing her fool head off.
 I guess someone should have told the new guy there s a five-second reset before you can use the
portal again, Leanne announced from behind the safety of the balaclava.
I climbed to my feet and tried to brush off as much of the mess as I could.  Yeah, well the joke's on
you, I told them, trying to muster what little dignity I had left.  I m taking point, which puts you folks
downwind from me.
 Do you know where we re going? Josh asked.
 No, I admitted.  Just point me in the right direction.
Josh pointed northwards, where the trail led off into deep forest. I took point, with Alex next--
suddenly she didn t think the way I smelled was so funny anymore--and Leanne and Josh bringing up the rear.
The trail wound its way among some of the biggest trees I d ever seen. I doubt that all of us arm in
arm could have reached around the bole of a single one of them. They were deciduous, and their leafy canopy
blotted out what little sun there was and colored the land in eerie twilight enough so that Leanne could safely
remove her headdress. The forest floor to either side of the trail was covered in layer upon layer of dead
leaves. Occasionally, a tangled root would snake its way along the surface for a while only to dive back
beneath the moldy vegetation and lose itself once again. Flowers blossomed intermittently among the trees,
some climbing the massive trunks, while others draped across fallen stumps and over crumbling rock
formations. There wasn t an insect whine or bird cry to be heard.
I glanced back at the rest of my party, especially to the young girl that we escorted.  I get to be the Tin
Man, I said.
Josh smiled.  I guess that makes me the Cowardly Lion.
Leanne scowled.  Don t even think it--Scarecrow indeed!
Just then I caught a glimpse of shadow to our right, and Bear skidded to a halt a few yards away. I
guess he didn t like the way I smelled either, because he vanished as quickly as he appeared.
 Nice to see you too, Toto, I mumbled.
After about an hour's march we finally came upon a stream, and I took the opportunity to wash--to
much cheering and applauding, I might add. I scooped up a few handfuls of sand from the stream bottom and
used it to grind away at the grunge on my pants as the rushing water burbled about my knees.
Suddenly, I was assaulted by the sound of whispers on the wind, a choral of breathless voices, insistent
in barely audible harmonies. Or was it simply a light breeze that rattled the trees, a sudden gust that rippled
the water and low-lying grasses along the banks? I looked toward my little group and saw Josh arming himself
from the bag he still carried. Leanne shook the blue velvet covering she had toted to reveal a couple of ornate
rapiers, and tossed me one. I took the hint and got out of the water.
"Now what?" I grumbled.
"Faeries," Josh said.
"What, like Tinkerbell?" Somehow the thought of swatting at three-inch high winged bimbos seemed
ludicrous to me.
"Not quite."
The whispering raged against the wind now. Water crashed upon the rocks in waves that sent spray
arching into the air and settled in a fine mist about our group. Trees bowed before the onslaught as if paying
their respects. Blossoms caught up in the maelstrom flitted about like multihued insects before they lightly
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