AN: Whew. Yeah, yeah, I know what I said last chapter. But I've hit such a writer's block… ahem. Next chapter…)

By the time Guadalupe was hurled back into the cell, all the fairies were awake.

"If it weren't for your bratty godson, I would not even be here," Juandissimo snapped to Cosmo.

"Don't you dare call Teedie bratty," said Wanda, shooting a warning glance at Juandissimo.

"Are you alright, Lupe?" asked Luden. "What did they ask you?"

"I do not understand it," said Lupe, rubbing her face where her head hit the floor. "They wanted to know where my boss's hidden treasure was. I know nothing of such a treasure. But now I wonder if he indeed has one."

"What do they want with us?" asked Juandissimo.

"As far as I know, nothing," said Guadalupe with a shrug. "You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time—with me."

"Yeah, well, I think you're ugly!" cried Cosmo to Lupe suddenly.

Wanda blinked. "Cosmo… I already forgave you."

"Oh." Cosmo paused. "Well… you're okay looking, I guess…"

Luden looked up, out of the bars. "Uh… can I help you, sir?"

The other fairies turned around and saw a huge, bulk of a man standing at the door. "You're free to go," he said in the deepest voice any of them had ever heard. He unlocked the cell door, opened it, and walked away without another word.

"This has to be a trap," said Guadalupe.

"But I need to find Teedie," said Wanda. "I'm going. And if it is a trap, I'll just use my fairy magic." She stood up and walked towards the stairs.

"Wait for me, angel!" cried Cosmo, leaping to his feet and following Wanda.

Wanda turned and looked at the other three. "You three had better come too. I don't' trust any of you without me."

"Aunt Wanda…" moaned Luden.

The five fairies climbed the stairs and very quietly opened the door to the outside world, expecting surly men to come forward at any time to apprehend them. None did.

"Something's not right about this," muttered Wanda. "Why would they just let us go?"

"Look!" cried Juandissimo suddenly. "An incredibly sexy woman with gigantic boobs over there is weeping! I must comfort her!" He dashed off.

"Oh great," mumbled Wanda, Lupe, and Luden simultaneously.

"It is great!" cried Cosmo. "Now he's leaving you alone, Wanda!"

Wanda looked at this "incredibly sexy woman with gigantic boobs". "Wow, she certainly does have gigantic boobs. How does she stand up?" She motioned for the others to follow her, and walked up to the woman (who was, as I'm sure you all figured out by now, Commander).

"Cry not, my darling, for Juandissimo Magnifico is here!" Juandissimo was saying to Commander.

Commander stopped sobbing for a moment to glare at him. "I don't care who's here! Just leave me alone, you annoying fairy!"

Juandissimo jumped back. "How do you know that I am a fairy?" he asked in shock. Cosmo, Wanda, Guadalupe, and Luden looked flabbergasted as well.

"I'm the author of this story. I know everything. About this story, anyway." Commander pulled out a handkerchief and blew her nose. "At least, I'm supposed to!"

"What's the matter?" asked Wanda, trying to be sympathetic to the strange woman.

Commander looked at Wanda helplessly. "You won't like to hear it."

"What?" cried Wanda.

"I lost them."

"Lost who?" asked Wanda, puzzled.

"Teedie and Edith, that's who!" Commander suddenly exploded. "Who else would I lose?"

"Oh my God, Teedie really is lost, isn't he? And Edith? Edith Carow, you mean? What's she doing here?"

"I brought her here," said Commander sadly, blowing her nose again. "I went into the general store because I knew that TR was in there, and I wanted to meet him… he's my hero, or at least one of them, you know. But some big surly guy captured him! And when I ran out to catch him, he was gone! And then I realized that Edith hadn't followed me in the store, and I can't find her, either!" Her large, heavy sobs returned, and Commander turned her head, unable to speak anymore.

Wanda was livid with rage. "Why, you… irresponsible…"

"I know," gasped Commander. "I'm a terrible person. The story wasn't supposed to go this way, and even though I'm the author, I don't know where they are!"

"Well, come on" cried Cosmo suddenly. "We won't find them by just sitting here. Let's do what we did when we looked for Luden and just run around the town screaming!"

Luden found himself pulled into the drama. "Do you have any idea of where they might be?" he asked Commander.

Commander slowly shook her head. "No," she whispered.

Guadalupe looked at Commander. "I do."

…………

"We've got one," said a big surly guy, handing off Teedie to another big surly guy. "A kid small enough to fit through this tunnel."

"The prostitute didn't tell you anything?" asked the second big surly guy, who obviously seemed to be the leader.

"No," said the first big surly guy. "I don't think she knew anything about it. But if you ask me, her boss probably stashed the loot in this tunnel."

"Hey, keep me out of your treasure hunt!" cried Teedie. "I'm going to sue!"

"Highly unlikely." The boss big surly guy pushed Teedie by a small door in the wall of Guadalupe's boss's office. When he opened the door, a narrow tunnel appeared before Teedie's eyes.

"You don't actually expect me to crawl through this, do you?" cried Teedie. "I have asthma!"

"Don't argue, brat," snapped the boss big surly guy. "You're going to crawl all the way through this tunnel and find the treasure, and you're going to like it. Do you understand?"

"Come on, try to be reasonable," said Teedie, furiously trying to bargain with the big surly guys. "How could he fit treasure in here? I'm going to have trouble getting through this!"

"But there could be a secret entrance on the other side that only he knew about," snapped the boss big surly guy. "Get in."

Teedie took a deep breath—as deep as he could, anyway—and prepared to climb in the long, narrow, unforgiving-looking tunnel—and was interrupted by the door slamming open by a second big surly guy.

"I gots a little kid for yas, boss," said the second big surly guy, holding a terrified girl with dark blue eyes and dark red hair by the collar of her dress.

"Edith?" asked Teedie, thunderstruck.

"Teedie!" gasped Edith, not quite as thunderstruck but still surprised. She looked up at the big surly guy holding her. "Please don't hurt him, please! I'll do anything!"

"How sweet," said the boss big surly guy, his lip curling up in a contemptuous smile. "But I do like her offer. She's smaller than the boy. Send her in instead."

"You can't do that!" cried Teedie. The first big surly guy, however, only roughly pushed Teedie away from the mouth of the tunnel. The second big surly guy deposited Edith at the hole.

"You can't do that," Teedie repeated. "She's hardly even seven years old…"

"What are you making me do," whispered Edith, hardly a question.

The boss big surly guy pointed down the tunnel. "I want you to go down that tunnel and find me some pretty treasure," he said in a voice that was probably supposed to sound sweet. Edith shuddered. "Can you do that for me, girly?"

Edith gulped, about to protest, but an image of Teedie stuck in that tunnel, coughing and unable to breathe or even move, cut short her argument. "Yes."

Teedie struggled madly against the two big surly guys who were holding him down. "You lily-livered bastards!"

Edith gasped.

"Sticking any child in a tunnel like that is unsafe, and there are laws against… wait, there aren't, are they? Well, there should be! And rest assured, if I ever actually do become president like that weird redhead lady said I would, then passing anti-child labor laws will be the first thing I do! And another thing! I know it's illegal to kidnap children! Oh boy, are you guys in for it when I get outta here!"

"That's why you're not getting outta here," the boss big surly guy said. He pushed Edith closer to the cave entrance. "Go find me some pretty treasure, girly."

Edith gulped and nodded. She moved to crawl in, but suddenly turned around. "Teedie—"

"Get in there!" snapped the boss etc etc.

"I will!" shrieked Edith angrily. She looked back at Teedie. "Teedie…"

"You're crazy, Edie," said Teedie. "I should be the one going in there! Why did you say…"

"Because…" Edith hesitated for just a moment, but the truth has a way of flying out without warning. "Because my love for you burns with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns!"

The big surly guys blinked. "What did she say?" one of them finally asked. "Those words are two big for me to understand."

"You're kidding!" cried Teedie. "You actually… I mean, all this time, when you came over to play with Conie and Ellie and me, you actually…"

Edith seemed to know what Teedie meant by that. "Yes," she said with a nod, smiling at him.

"I don't believe it!" cried Teedie.

"And I don't care!" Boss etc etc pushed Edith into the cave. Edith screamed in fright at his sudden movement.

"Wait!" cried Teedie. "Don't send her in there! Let me go instead!"

"No!" shrieked Edith.

"Have to agree with your little lover here, buster," said boss you know you know. "She's smaller than you are."

"But she can't go in there all alone…" Teedie's eyes lit up. "Let me go with her!"

"Hmm." The boss thought for a few anxious moments. Finally he started to chuckle. "Why not? Two heads are better than one. Besides, it saves us the trouble of what to do with you. Bring him over here."

The two big surly guys holding Teedie held him up by the arms and dropped him next to Edith.

Teedie looked down the tunnel and felt like he had to throw up. But the he looked at Edith, and the thought of a little girl like her going in all alone—especially a little girl like her who, shockingly, was madly in love with him—gave him enough courage to crawl in.

"Grab my foot, Edie," he instructed. He felt her trembling hands grab his ankle. "Now hold on tight, and don't let go."

And the two children crawled silently into the treacherous tunnel.