Disclaimer: According to the copyrights PIERS ANTHONY still OWNS XANTH. I am only a poor Mundane who can barely afford ink for her printer. I do however own Marsha and her family - all of whom you will meet.

Chapter Seven

Marsha

The trees along the path had begun to sprout pies. At least it looked as if the pies were growing directly from the branches. Kassie decided to test this. She chose a delicious smelling blueberry pie. Sure enough it was growing right on the tree. 'I probably shouldn't eat it,' she thought ''oh, but it smells so good! I'll just try one bite.' So she did. And it was. She took another bite, and another, and another until there was no more pie left, so she licked her fingers. She had not indulged herself with a treat like that since she was ten. It was enough to make one want to live off pie. She just had to have another, so she reached for a sweet potato pie. But, just as she was about to pick the pie, another hand reached through the branches and plucked it right out of her own hand.

"Wha..." she gasped as the pie disappeared.

"Oh, I'm sorry," a face appeared through the foliage "I didn't know any one else was picking pies here."

"That's okay;" began Kassie "this is my first..."

"Oh, don't apologize. I shouldn't be climbing trees anyway, now that I've joined the dreaded adult conspiracy."

"The what?" this was the second time she had encountered that weird phrase.

"You know 'The Official Adult Conspiracy to Keep Interesting Things from Children" A young black woman with her arms full of pies jumped down from the tree. But all Kassie could do was stare blankly.

"Huh?" she said

"Storks!" the black woman laughed.

"Storks," Kassie was even more confused than ever "This has something to do with birds?"

"No silly, babies!"

"Stork chicks?" Kassie scratched her head.

"Human babies delivered by storks." the other giggled

"But, babies are born," Kassie protested "not delivered by storks. That's just a story to keep children from asking too many questions."

"You must be a Mundane" she set the pies on a nearby stump

"Why does everyone here keep calling me that?" Kassie protested.

"You're not from Xanth, are you?" asked the girl.

"Well, no," said Kassie "I'm just a guest."

"You're from Earth?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Then you're a Mundane."

"Whatever!" she threw her hands in the air "I'm ripping up that pass in their faces when I leave."

"You have a temporary pass then?" The black girl had continued picking pies while they spoke.

"Yeah," shrugged a Kassie "And a temporary magic talent. But they're insane if they think I'm staying in this insane asylum any longer."

"Insane asylum? the girl looked at Kassie like she belonged in one herself.

"Yeah," said Kassie "You know. Oh never mind!"

"My name's Marsha," the black girl said as if trying to change the subject "my talent is being uglier."

"You don't look ugly."

"That's because you're the only one here to be uglier than, silly."

"Oh, I'm Kassie." she extended her hand to Marsha who just looked at it like she had never seen one before. After a minute Kassie put her hand down

"You said you were given a magic talent," said Marsha

"Oh yeah!" said Kassie, I drew a bowl; if you can believe that. It's," she fished the scrap of paper from her pocket "Making heavy thing, such as rocks, float."

"On water?" asked Marsha.

"On anything."

"Can you float me? On air"

"I probably shouldn't," said Kassie "I haven't had much practice. What if I drop you?"

"Oh," said Marsha "well then, can you float this pie?" she selected the top pie from her stack.

"Sure," Kassie shrugged "put it on the path."

Marsha did so and then stepped back

"Alright," said Kassie as she concentrated on the pie "UP!" she shouted at it, and the pie went rocketing upward like a cork out of a bottle. "Stop!" she cried and the pie screeched to a halt and hovered over them, a barely discernable spot against the heavens. "Down!" ordered Kassie and it began plummeting downward accelerating as it came. "Stop!" she yelled. But it was too late.

"I see what you mean," said Marsha. The two women spent the next few minutes scraping bits of pie off themselves.

"Sorry," said Kassie "I haven't had much practice."

"I can tell." Marsha strained some filling from her hair.

"Let me try again," Kassie picked another pie from the tree and set it on the path. Marsha stepped even further back. "Up," ordered Kassie, less forcefully this time. Slowly the pie began to rise. She waited until it was at about shoulder level before she stopped it.

"Oh!" said Marsha who had been preparing for another splat "I guess you did it this time."

"I'm getting the hang of it." Kassie laughed as she walked around the pie suspended in mid air.

"Why would you want to leave Xanth, when you've got a talent like that?" inquired Marsha as she walked around the floating pie.

"Because, this place is crazy!" protested Kassie "You're the first normal person I've met here! Everyone else is just too weird, especially."

"Especially me."

"Eeeek!" screamed Marsha "A demon!"

Kassie rolled her eye's "Do you ever take a hint?" she shouted at Meanor who had appeared out of thin air.

"No," he said advancing toward her "but I'll take you."

She screamed in frustration. "Chim's right. You are a nasty pest!" She sprayed him in the face again this time.

"What was that about?" gasped Marsha when the demon had gone.

"One of the reasons I'm leaving now," said Kassie as she stuffed the d.R. back into her hip pack.

"But lots of people get bothered by demons." said Marsha "That's no reason to leave."

"It is for me. I'm picking another pie and going home."

"Listen." said Marsha "Why don't you come to my house for dinner? Give Xanth another chance. Meet some more 'normal' people here."

"I don't want to impose," explained Kassie.

"You're not," Marsha picked up the rest of the pile of pies and set it on the floating one "You're my guest I can make decisions like this on my own, now that I'm in the DAC."

"Well, okay then." agreed Kassie.

"Can you make them move?" asked Marsha

"Move?"

"The pies, can you make them move forward?"

"Oh," said Kassie "no sorry I can't, but I met a centaur who can."

"That's okay." Marsha pushed against the bottom pie with her hand and by this means managed to move the pastries along "Come on, I'm hungry."

Authors Notes:

Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do!

You try getting a talent like Kassie's right on the first day!

No I am not copying the character of Anathe Ma, who gets consistently uglier, in Marsha. Marsha's talent is being just little uglier than the ugliest person around her.