Chapter 10: A Familiar Face

Meggie was standing in a clearing with huge, dark trees rising up all around. She beckoned with one hand. "Come on, we can't stop now."

Resa looked at her in confusion. "Why? Where are we going?"

"Don't you know?" said Meggie.

"We're looking for someone," said Resa. "Who are we looking for?"

"Mo," Meggie answered. "We must find Mo quickly. The fire elves have taken him."

Resa looked around at the dark trees. There were many fire elves, small red figures flitting about the shadows. One settled on her cheek, but she brushed it away before it could burn her skin. "Mo," she said, "where have they taken him?"

Meggie seemed further away. She beckoned again, this time more urgently. "They've taken him away," she repeated. "They've taken him far away and they will never let him come back ever again. He must live with them forever, until the end of time."

Another fire elf settled on Resa. This time she felt the tiny creature's heat before she swatted it away. Meggie's words sounded strangely familiar, but there was something wrong about them. "No," she called to Meggie, "that's not right. It wasn't fire elves; it was the White Women. And it was Dustfinger, not Mo, whom they took. But he did come back."

"They've taken Mo this time," Meggie answered sadly. She had almost disappeared in the trees. "And he won't come back."

The elves flew about Resa, and she felt their burning bodies on her skin, unpleasant pin points of heat on her face. Meggie was gone, disappeared amidst the trees, and she was left alone again. The heat in her face was unbearable. She struck out madly at the fire elves and hit something far too solid and large for one of the minute creatures.

She opened her eyes to see Dustfinger leaning over her. Heat radiated from the hand that was laid against her cheek. Moaning, she pushed his hand away.

"Rise and shine," he said, prodding her. "We have a long day ahead of us."

She wriggled deeper into the comfortable bed and groaned. "Just a little longer."

"All right," he complied. "Five minutes. But if you're not up by then, I'll burn a hole right through you." The door squeaked loudly as he shut it behind him.

There was a clock on the wall, but it had stopped long ago. Resa guessed when five minutes had just about passed, then swung her legs out of bed before Dustfinger could return to make good his threat. She very much doubted that he would really burn her, but she decided to save herself to indignity of being dragged out of bed, which was something she suspected he would do. Sure enough, her feet had barely touched the floor when she heard his voice at the door. "Are you up yet?"

"Yes," she groaned back.

"Well, hurry up. I have breakfast out here for you."

The only things she had discarded the previous night were her shoes, which she now slipped on. Heavy curtains hung across the window, keeping the room dark, but she could see the faint glow through the drapery that meant the sun was already up.

Pushing open the door, she stumbled sleepily out into the hallway. It was indeed in a worse state than Elinor's house, even though it had only been abandoned a year longer, and this lead Resa to suspect that it had not been in the best condition even before its owner had been whisked away to another world. Fenoglio had never been the most organized person she knew.

She entered the kitchen to find Dustfinger working at the counter, chopping up some potatoes and carrots, which she hoped were not all there was for breakfast. However, Dustfinger indicated the table as she came in. "I went to one of those food vendors down by the beach. I didn't know what you like, so I just got you a sandwich and some fries. There are water bottles in the cabinet over there, not cold, but they'll do."

Resa unwrapped the sandwich. It had a large slab of meat on it that smelled delicious and she suddenly remembered that she hadn't eaten since noon yesterday. "What about you?" she asked as she ate a handful of fries. The once familiar salty taste seemed strange now, but good.

"Oh, I'm not hungry," Dustfinger said quickly, unwrapping another package. Resa saw that it was hamburger meat. He cut a slice off and wrapped it up in a piece of tinfoil along with several pieces of potato and carrot before depositing it in his backpack.

Resa looked skeptical. "When's the last time you ate? I know you haven't eaten since we got to this world."

"Do you?" Dustfinger answered her in his usual cryptic tone. "Actually, I haven't eaten since the evening before we left."

"That long!" Resa looked shocked. "For goodness sake, sit down and eat something this minute. We don't know how long it might be before we can get another good meal and all we need is for you to collapse from hunger."

The tinfoil crinkled loudly as the fire-eater put another bundle in his pack. "I'll be fine. I don't have to eat very often anymore, remember," he said.

Resa folded her arms and glared at him. "Oh yes, I'd forgotten I was traveling with a magical being who can do all sorts of things that I can only dream of. Sorry I mentioned it."

Dustfinger stopped working and came over to the table where he sat gingerly on the edge of her chair. Reaching across her, he took a handful of fries which he ate slowly and deliberately. "There, I've eaten. Are you satisfied?" he asked when his mouth was empty.

Resa held the sandwich out to him. "No," she said, "even if you do have special powers, you still need to keep your strength up. You're not immortal."

Dustfinger took a large bite out of the sandwich then pushed it back towards her. "All right, I'll buy myself something when we go out. And, for your sake, I'll try to act more human for the rest of the trip, okay?"

Resa gently touched his cheek. "You are human," she murmured.

"Hmm," Dustfinger answered, "I thought I was paper and ink."

She slapped him, though not hard. "If you start that kind of nonsense up again, I'll go crazy."

"And I don't suppose I want that," he replied. "I have enough problems as it is."

They left the house and locked it, then went down to the village square. Dustfinger looked around at the statue in the center of the square, the building surrounding it, and the many people crossing the paving. "It's grown since I was last here," he said, "but that was thirteen years ago and this world grows fast."

Resa had to admit that she was surprised by the amount of activity around them. Fenoglio and Meggie had both told her of the small, seaside village, but what she saw before her was a busy, tourist town. They walked down towards the beach where most of the tourist attractions, including the cafés and a large hotel, were situated. True to his word, Dustfinger bought himself a sandwich, but insisted on eating it while walking.

"Where do you think we should start?" Resa asked above the shouts of children on the beach and the rumble of various vehicles.

"They didn't stay the night at Fenoglio's, but they were probably here around evening. I'm guessing they didn't spend the night on the street, so let's try the hotel."

It was a long, two-story structure with balconies overlooking the beach. They went in at the main entrance and found themselves in a luxurious lobby with potted palm trees around the perimeter. To their left was a desk behind which was a woman of perhaps thirty with blond hair in a ponytail and a bored expression on her face.

"Hmm, this makes the castle of Ombra look like a hovel, doesn't it? What a grand place," Dustfinger murmured. "Personally, I'd rather sleep in a moss-covered clearing with the forest as walls and the sky as my roof." Resa couldn't help smiling; Dustfinger would always be the same strolling player at heart.

"I suppose we should ask her if they stayed here," Resa said, nodding towards the woman behind the desk.

"Yes, I suppose so," he answered. "Well, come on then."

The woman had been watching them surreptitiously, but now as they approached she stood up straight and brushed a few loose strands of hair back into her ponytail. Resa guessed that most of the hotel customers were rich, and two travel-worn strangers were probably not a common sight, but the woman didn't seem bothered by their shabby appearance. She glanced over both of them, but it did not escape Resa's notice that her gaze rested a good deal longer on Dustfinger than on herself.

"Can I help you?" she asked the fire-eater.

Dustfinger tapped his fingers on the desk slowly, trying to decide how to phrase his question. The woman raised an eyebrow as she inspected Resa. "Would you and your… wife like a room?"

Dustfinger looked at Resa, clearly deciding whether or not to correct the woman of her mistake, and Resa colored slightly when he decided not to. He smiled at the woman. "No, actually we were wondering if any rooms have been recently taken under the name of Folchart or Loredan."

"Just a minute." The woman flashed him a charming smile and disappeared into another room.

"Wife!" Resa hissed at him.

"Well, we are together. It was a legitimate mistake."

"You might have corrected her."

"Why bother?" He pulled a mournful face. "And it hurts my feelings to discover that you find that idea so offensive."

Resa shook her head and smiled, remembering the times he had teased her in similar fashion back at Capricorn's village. Only then, she had not been able to answer him back. An end was put to their banter as the woman returned. "There were two rooms taken under the name Loredan," she told Dustfinger in a business-like tone.

Resa heard Dustfinger's sharp intake of breath as he inadvertently leaned forward, back to his serious self in an instant. "When was that? Are they still here?"

"No," the woman answered, "they were here for one night five nights ago." She paused, waiting for Dustfinger to make a comment, but when he remained silent, she smiled politely and asked, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, that's fine, thank you," Dustfinger answered before nodding to her and going back towards the entrance with Resa.

Resa glanced back over her shoulder at the woman as they exited the building, frowning. "Maybe it's a good thing you let her think I was with you. If not, she might have asked you out right there. I wonder what she'd say if she found out that you're a good twenty years older than she is."

"Well, you must admit that I look good for my age, seeing as I haven't aged in the last twelve years," Dustfinger replied with a wry smile. But then his face was grave again. "So, only one night five nights ago. That was the day they arrived in this world. The question is: where did they go from here if they didn't go back to Elinor's house?"

Resa had no idea. After the brief excitement of some clues, she felt depressed that the trail seemed to have gone cold again. She was jerked from her reveries by Dustfinger prodding her arm. "We can think it through over a cup of tea. What do you say?"

There was a small café off to the side of the hotel with a deck overlooking the sea. They both sat down at one of the small, round tables protected from the sun by an umbrella, and Dustfinger pulled out the wallet. Resa eyed it. "That looks like Mo's."

"That's because it is," Dustfinger answered, pulling out some money, "but he's not ever going to use it, now is he? I found it in his room when I was searching Elinor's house yesterday and I figured that we would probably need it. Tea?" he asked her.

"With honey," she replied, playing absentmindedly with a long strand of hair. Dustfinger nodded and went over to the café window, and Resa glanced around. There were several tourist families enjoying a late breakfast, and a young couple was sitting in the corner sharing a cup of ice cream. Resa thought of her own family and tried to force back the sadness that these thoughts brought with them.

"Resa! Resa, is that you? Oh, thank heavens!"

Surprised at hearing her name, Resa's head shot up, and relief surged through her at the sight of a familiar face. Darius was hurrying towards her, a look of delight spread across his features. She leapt up and embraced him, laughing. "Darius! You're here. You have no idea how happy I am to see you."

"Same here," he replied. "Oh, I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't found you."

"Darius?"

Resa and Darius turned to see Dustfinger standing beside them with a cup of steaming tea in each hand. What looked like fear crossed the reader's face and his already owlish eyes got even larger. "D…D…Dustfinger?" he stammered. "So, it did work."

"What worked?" Dustfinger asked, setting the drinks down and pulling over another chair from a nearby table. "Where are the others? Are they close by?"

Darius fiddled awkwardly with the table cloth. "W..well, no," he said finally. "I don't actually know exactly where they are. But now that you two are here, I'm sure you'll be able to help. It's a long story."

Resa felt the new hope slipping out of her grasp, and Dustfinger was frowning. "Darius, I think you need to tell us what's going on," he said solemnly. "Start from the beginning and tell us everything you know."