Giles wrestled with the story as he stood before the crowd. When Doree passed out and brought the two storylines so neatly together, that seemed like the perfect place to stop.

But the story would not let go. Doree’s voice kept speaking through his…

I was only passed out for a few minutes. When I opened my eyes, I was inside the conference center. Byll sat with me but I heard voices from the next room.

So I sat up. Wasn’t any blood on me so I don’t know what that warm runny stuff was I’d felt. Cheese, I hoped my stranger wasn’t all smashed up! No, I remembered looking at him and he looked different but not all gory.

“Honey, maybe you better lie still a minute longer,” Byll said in that soothey quiet voice like he’s trying to sing a baby to sleep. I just ignored him and walked into the other room.

They had my stranger standing in front of them like he was in big trouble. I stomped right in and said, “You better let him go, what do you think, he crashed us into the ground?” I held out my arms and shot gold bolts out.

We’ve all got gold but I’m the only one can use it to look in people’s brains. I think. Nobody for sure knows what Tanya Honey can do when she gets mean.

I knocked off her feet and grinned. But she made big gold feet and stomped me into the ground, whomp.

I got up and brushed myself off. The stranger gawked like his eyes were going to bug out. Oh yeah, he didn’t know about the gold, I never explained it to him after he ate the fruit. He’s got some in him too now. I flexed my muscles at him and grinned to show him the gold can’t kill you.

Ser Brunetto helped Tanya Honey up. She looked like she just found a bug in her underpants. “Doree,” Ser told me, all gruff, “act your age.” I flamed gold out my hair for just a second and he was, you know how grownups get, trying to act mad when they want to laugh.

I walked across the old floor and the rickety floorboards went creak creak creak. Just one floor down there’s nothing but Chaos and it really felt like the floor could fly apart into boards. I must’ve been spooked, I don’t usually think about that stuff.

The ring of grown-ups opened. I walked right up to the stranger. “How come you look different?” I demanded, crossing my arms. I can glare really mean, and I let a little gold flash out of my eyes too.

Funny thing, he didn’t have a different face or anything. He still looked like an old creaky guy but he felt like a big brother now.

He shook his head. “It must be your imagination, um, Dorothy?”

“Not ‘Dorothy,’ ‘Doree,’ but it’s short for Dorothea which means gift of God and —”

“And you certainly act like you think so, Doree.” Tanya Honey snapped.

The stranger was trying to tell me something without saying it; you know, like when a Mom says it’s time for bed but a Dad signals that he’ll let you stay up later?

I wanted to look in his head and find out but, did I tell you, none of the other grownups and I don’t think none of the other kids know I can do that. I think Terri Lynn guessed I was doing it once but I wasn’t going to take a chance here. Tanya Honey hates me already and she’d just love an excuse to send me Sleepy Dark.

Tanya Honey used golden arms to turn me and face her. Really really sweet, like she knows I hate, she said, “Now Doree, you adorable little gift of the gods, we have important work to do and you’re still dazed. What happened would knock even a grown Mom off her feet. Go sleep now, little love.”

And I felt my head going dark and sparkly like gold coins on black velvet. Right after I’d thought she’d like to send me Sleepy Dark? That was scary!

I ran out of the room and down the stairway, holding tight to the rough banister as it got darker and darker. I still felt like I would fall asleep any second. Not good, not with what’s at the bottom. I stopped and waited until the sleepy passed off and I was awake again.

The stairs must’ve once gone someplace, maybe a basement or underground storage. But now they just end, cut off by whatever cut Cloud Rock out of the ground and put it in the air. I sat on the bottom stair and dangled my feet over the edge like I didn’t care, but I held on with white knuckles.

I was pretty sure if I fell off I could float myself back up, long as I didn’t go too far, but looking at all that crazy Chaos right between your toes? Scary.

It was dim light at the bottom of the stairs; the Chaos doesn’t get light into anything. You’re not really supposed to come down here. I used a little gold to zip the think into any head I could hear: oh, Doree? She stomped off in a snit and she’s up on top of the hill now.

Then I huddled up in the dark and moped for serious.

When someone came and sat by me a long time later, I was real happy cause I knew it was the stranger without having to check. I don’t know why, I just knew he was my friend and wanted to tell me his real secret but couldn’t. He put his arm around my shoulder and that felt nice.

“You really are dif…” I whispered, but he shook his head and I stopped talking. I tried to look at his face but there was just a little light from the bulb at the top of the stairs.

So I took the chance and looked in his head. He was smiling and waiting for me. “Good, you got me,” he said, clear and loud, but without moving a nose hair.

I just about jumped out of his head again before I caught me. I thought of making flaming lions come at him for payback, but that would call somebody down here.

“I’m really sorry,” he thought at me, “I wasn’t trying to one up you, Doree, I thought you picked up that I was telling you to talk like this. I think it’s important that none of the others hear us.”

He looked like he was thinking something out. “Most especially,” he said, carefully, “there are a few certain people who mustn’t hear this. If you and I were characters in a story and those people were listening, they’d hear… I’m not sure. A long poetic description of the top of the hill where you said you were going, and rambling thoughts from you sitting in midnight dark under that bright crazy sky.”

Giles Hammond, channeling the story, hoped with all his heart that what the character had said was true. He sensed that some important explanations were coming and Killington was out there somewhere…