"What do you mean, 'I'd best get moving'? You're coming too, you know."

"I see no reason why I should be forced to traipse along behind you," the cat retorted.

"You are coming along just so we can be sure you're not sending us off on a wild goose chase, which I really wouldn't put past you."

"Whatever you say then. There are toucans in Olmond, and I will have one for dinner."

"Good. Go get in the paperwing then. Sam and I will be there soon."

"You'd better be," Mogget said forlornly.

An hour later, they were flying over the Great Sickle Wood in two paperwings. Nick had finally woken up just as the three were about to leave, and was now riding behind Lirael in the blue and silver vessel. "So," she chimed, happy to be floating on the wind. "Have you come around to paperwings, then? I haven't heard a single complaint out of you."

"I suppose one can get used to anything after a decade of it," he shouted over the wind. Lirael shrugged, and leaned further back in the hammock-seat.

Sam's trip was much less enjoyable. He was distracted by Mogget every few minutes, and once had to look away altogether to quiet Alina. They were less than halfway to Olmond, and he already felt a headache pooling behind his eyes. Sam set a spell to make the paperwing follow Lirael's, then settled back, fully intent on a nap.

When he opened ;his eyes, the craft was swooping down into a clearing in the middle of a forest. The clearing was small, and the only clear land he could see. But there was something different about this place, something he just couildn't put his finger on.

They touched down with a slight bump and skidded to a halt just short of a huge tree. Flashes of color shot into the forest from the tree, almost before he even saw them. At last he discovered what had so puzzled him while he was still airborne. It was the sound of the place. In the space of a minute, he heard at least ten bird calls he'd never so much as imagined hearing in the rest of the Kingdom or Ancelstierre, and that was just the beginning. There was also a strange chittering that he could only assume was the monkeys Mogget had been muttering about. Apparently, they were pesky and unpredictable beasts that liked nothing more than stealing his fish. He felt a tap on his shoulder, and nearly jumped when he saw Lirael standing beside the paperwing. Lying simply didn't suit him. He'd have to tell her soon, lest he give himself a heart attack.

Sam swung one leg over the side and felt the ground squelch beneath his feet. It must have rained recently. He craned his neck back to stare at the sky, feeling remarkably ignorant for not noticing its condition earlier. Instead of the near-black he had anticipated, Sam found only a thiick white haze above him. He mentally smacked himself aggain. Fog had to be the simplest thing to notice, short of one pf Ancelstierre's fabled windstorms.

There was a sound much than the croaking of frogs, and Mogget's ears perked up. "That's a toucan's call. Get your stones ready."

"What stones?"

"Well, how did you think you were goig to catch it?"

''Hm. I didn't think of that," Lirael admitted. "To be honest, I can't really throw worth a penny. Certainly not hard enough to throw anything. What about you, Sam?"

"I expect I could hurl it hard enough, but I've got no sense of aim when I throw." He fell silent for a moment, tapping a finger against his chin while he thought. Hs strolled to the tree, obviously still deep in thought. He stopped a few feet short and bent to pick up a thick branch that had fallen. "No aim with my hands, but with a bat.… Can you bowl?"

"Bowl?"

"Yes, like in cricket."

"I've never heard of that," she replied.

"It's simple. Just throw a rock at me when the bird shows up again. I'll do the rest. Nick, you watch for it."

Sam saw a miniature rainbow flash between the trees just as Nick said, "Throw!" Lirael threw, and Sam angled the bat to send it into the sky. As soon as he could reach it, Sam swung, sending the stone rocketing into the bird. It squawked, and fell to the ground.

"Yum," said Mogget.

"Err... Lirael, I don't really want to take the whole bird home. Do you have any ideas on removing the beak? I didn't bring my pocketknife," Sam asked after a thorough search of his pockets.

Lirael unsheathed her sword. "Nick, you do the honors. You know I can't stand killing things that are still alive, and that stone only broke its bones." She handed him the blade.

"Of course," he replied. He strolled into the forest with Mogget trailing behind. Nick returned a few minutes later, bill in hand. The cat was nowhere in sight. Lirael grimaced. It would take quite a few baths to wash the blood out of his coat. "Looks like we're going to be here for a while," she mused. "So, how are you going to make it?"

"Make what?"

"The bell, of course."

"Oh," he said, and let out a small sigh of relief. He thought she'd been wondering how he'd make it without Firana. In truth, he wondered that himself from time to time. "Well, we have to get the silver first, you know."

"Oh! Didn't I tell you? I have it right here." Lirael pulled a leather pouch from her belt and gently tossed it to him.

"In that case, I'll just need to construct heatproof gloves, melt the silver till it's moldable, and shape the metal around the handle. Quite simple, really." He fell silent, thinking again. "Err, Lirael, there's something I need to tell you..." The way her hair whipped in the wind reminded him so much of Firana on the many trips they had taken to the summit of Starmount that he almost didn't tell her again. But it as too late now, he'd dug himself a hole too deep. Now he'd have to... "I killed her."

"What?! Who?" If there was ever a thing to snap her out of a reverie, that was it. He head popped up like a jack-in-the-box.

"Firana! I'm sorry, I don't know why I told you. There was no reason to... Forgive me."

Lirael doubted he knew any more than she did just what he was asking her to forgive. A solitary tear slipped down his cheek, and she moved to put a comforting arm about his shoulders. Nick looked scandalized. "Oh, do be quiet, Nick. Can't you see he's grieving?" Nonetheless, Sam pushed her away, not wanting to cause a scene. "Sorry, Lirael. It just didn't seem right to not tell you. You as well, Nick."

Mogget chose that time to come trotting back. Surprisingly enough, his fur was spotless.

A/N Sorry folks, but there probably won't be any updates for at least two weeks. I'll be losing a couple friends and on vacation, so anything I write would probably be pretty crappy anyways. You never know though. Maybe if our hotel has really good high-speed.…...