Terry:
This whole place was giving me the creeps. We had found Penelope, so I didn’t understand why we didn’t just reverse the magic that had gotten us here, and take off before any of this: forced to go to the queen’s court business.
I respected my boss. He’d never steer us wrong. I just didn’t understand the Fae babble about it all.
But, when Timothy told us to head outside, change our shape, and run alongside him, I resigned myself to future days stuck in Faeryland. Too bad because the cruise ship had better food, a swimming pool, and quality beds. Plus, we got to see a real cool show. I wouldn’t mind seeing several more of those. I’d read that there was a magic show scheduled. Not the real magic stuff like the Fae practiced, which was scary bad, but the fake kind where little, white rabbits hid inside stove-pipe hats.
But Bob and I didn’t call the shots. We waited until all the soldiers and the two queens came outside. Penelope was in Timothy’s arms, where she should be. Daniel had already turned into some kind of bird, a falcon, I think, although it was bigger than most of its kind.
I had no idea what Ben would do. He didn’t have a second shape. Ah. I head the queen inviting/commanding him to sit inside the royal carriage. That solved one problem. I glanced at Bob. He was still munching on something, doing his chipmunk imitation, which, of course, wasn’t his real animal. He was a wolf, like me.
The two of us eyed the royals and Ben, then watched the soldiers with their four captives. Apparently, those guys would be footing it. Tough luck on them, but maybe jogging for miles was part of their training.
I was just wondering if Timothy was going to tell Bob and me to change our shape when I saw Timothy gently push his wife to the side, then right in front of us, he rippled into a huge black monster of a horse. If a person had an eye for horseflesh, I bet they’d salivate over Timothy. He made a very fine-looking horse, I mean, pooka.
I was wondering how Penelope was supposed to climb up onto the pooka’s back, but Bob went rushing over. “Let me help,” Bob called out. I wasn’t sure Timothy would go for that, but since the pooka was in his horse form, I guess he couldn’t protest. Anyway. Bob lifted up Penelope, placed her on her husband’s back, and that was that.
Last of all were the two of us. Seeing as how everyone was waiting then for us, a minute later, Bob and I did our thing. With my wolfy tongue dangling down in eagerness, we set out at a full run, Bob and I, not minding a quick jaunt through the forest, we started our journey toward the queen’s court.