Anna considered for a moment.
“The Mirror of Shadows,” she finally said. “Lili was building it then. She told me that if a piece of the mirror got inside someone, that person would forget everything she experienced in Sisterland and start to grow cold inside. We fought about the mirror too, because I thought building it was wrong. I imagine that when you broke the mirror, Lili made one of the shards fly into Marissa. If she couldn’t have a friend, she didn’t want the two of you being friends anymore either.”
As Anna spoke, all the pieces clicked into place for Alice. She understood perfectly. The glint of the shard of mirror glass was what she’d seen in Marissa’s eyes and what cut Alice so painfully.
“How do I get it out?” Alice asked.
“There’s one thing that can melt the pieces of the mirror. Lili’s tears,” Anna answered.
“So I have to go back to Sisterland?” Alice said.
“If you can. And if you do, will you take Lili a letter from me? She deserves to know that I’ve never forgotten her.”
“Of course,” Alice said.
Anna wrote a message on a thin piece of paper, rolled it tightly, and placed it in a small glass bottle. Then she sealed the bottle with a cork, fastened a leather string on the bottle, and tied the string around Alice’s neck. Alice slipped the bottle under her shirt, where it would be safe. Anna placed her hand on Alice’s shoulder and looked at her with tear-filled eyes.
“Thank you for coming, little Alice. I thought I’d imagined it all. I never dared to say anything about what I experienced, in case people would think I was crazy. Eventually I found the courage to start painting what I remembered, but that was all. Hopefully you’ll get your friend back. Bring her to say hello sometime.”
“Of course, we’ll visit you!”
Anna gave Alice a long hug, and Alice felt as if it filled her with strength. She knew what she had to do now, and her fear was gone.
Only shapeshifters can travel between the worlds. Alice considered these words that night as the darkness moved from one corner of her room to the next, with her thoughts hiding from her and each other. Shapeshifters come when called.
“Shapeshifter, shift your shape; shapeshifter, shift your shape; shapeshifter, shift your shape; shapeshifter, shift your shape,” she said at the ceiling over and over again.
This was her spell, her mantra, her prayer, her wish, her hope. She repeated it so long that the letters in her mind turned to colors and shining points of light that rose through the ceiling into the night sky and flew to that world where she could not go. Did it even exist anymore? What if breaking the Mirror of Shadows had destroyed Sisterland? Were there any shapeshifters anymore? Alice didn’t know. She only hoped with every fiber of her being that someone or something would hear her call. In her hand, she squeezed the glass bottle she had received from Anna.
Alice drifted into a gray dream. The grayness surrounded her like a dense fog, with a soggy scent and a feeling that mixed cold and sorrow. All she could see around her was fog. Then she heard a familiar delicate, tremulous voice. Out of the grayness flew the shapeshifter in his dragonfly form. He was so beautiful in all his brilliant colors that Alice began to cry. The dragonfly transformed into a wolf, and Alice pressed her face against his fur. She felt warmth and the deep forest, and as her tears bathed him, she found relief.
Alice didn’t know precisely why she was crying. Presumably she was crying for Marissa and their lost friendship. And Anna and Lili’s lost friendship.
The shapeshifter made a deep, calming, throaty sound, somewhere between a purr and a growl. Gradually Alice stopped crying, and she wiped her tears on the fur. Then she looked into the wolf’s golden eyes. The time had come to ask the question she feared to utter out loud.
“How do I get back to Sisterland?”
If the shapeshifter replied that it was impossible, all would be lost.
This time, I can’t take you, because my wings are too weak now. I can’t fly that far. And Sisterland has changed. There is less magic. I can’t promise that you will be able to return to your own world. If you go, you take the risk of never getting back. Your task is difficult, and it is possible you will not succeed. Alice heard the shapeshifter’s words and understood their seriousness. He spoke the truth. But she was not afraid.
She knew what she wanted.
“Tell me what I must do,” she said.
The shapeshifter’s golden eyes flashed. He bent close to Alice and whispered instructions in her ear, and they were etched on Alice’s mind as if in gold lettering.
Then the shapeshifter disappeared into the grayness, which wasn’t a dream anymore but the gray light of morning, which had found its way through the window into her room.
* * *
—
The next day, Alice stood at the base of the diving tower at the swimming pool, shaking with cold and fear. Determined, she had come straight there from school. She knew what she had to do. But she wasn’t entirely sure she dared anymore.
Climb up and down the stairs three times, then up once more.
That had been the shapeshifter’s first instruction. Alice began to climb up the stairs to the five-meter platform. When she reached the top, she made the mistake of looking down. She was higher than she had been able to imagine. Quickly she started back down. This was the easiest part of the instructions. After arriving at the bottom, Alice caught her breath and then started back up the stairs. And then down again. By the time she started climbing the third time, people had noticed her strange activity. She saw the lifeguard, a skinny young man, leave his post and start toward the diving platform.
When Alice reached the bottom again, the lifeguard gave her a stern look.
“What are you up to? These stairs aren’t a place for fooling around.”
“I want to jump, but I keep getting too afraid at the top,” Alice replied, hiding the glass bottle behind her back.
She wasn’t even lying, at least not very much.
“How about you come back and try jumping when you’re a little older. Then you won’t be so afraid,” the lifeguard said.
His voice was surprisingly understanding and encouraging.
“But I want to do it now,” Alice said.
The lifeguard sighed.
“You can’t keep slogging up and down the stairs all day,” he said.
“I promise that when I go up this time, I’ll jump,” Alice said, and tried to sound as convincing as she could.
The lifeguard gave her a dubious look. Then he relented.
“Okay. But no more dawdling!”
Alice gave a sweet smile and nodded.
Then she started back up the stairs for the fourth time. Now her legs shook, because she knew that she really had to jump. Alice had never jumped from so high. After she reached the top, she looked at the water glistening below. It was so far away. It was a turquoise blue like the Ocular Sea, but it looked hard and unfriendly, while the Ocular Sea had always been playful and inviting.
Alice had to hold on to the railing since her legs threatened to give out. They were suddenly limp, as if they were made of marshmallow. She felt she would never dare to jump.
Then she thought of Marissa. Alice had decided that she would do anything to get her friend to remember. Did she really mean that? She watched as a group of upper-school boys started climbing the diving tower, laughing, yelling, and pushing each other. Alice had to jump soon, before they reached the top. She took a deep breath. She forced her legs to turn from marshmallow to at least licorice so she could walk on them without clutching the railing.
Turn around counterclockwise five times.
That was the shapeshifter’s next instruction.
Alice had to think about which direction was counterclockwise, and then she started spinning. She heard the boys’ voices and st
eps approaching. She heard the lifeguard yelling from below, “Hey!”
He thought spinning was definitely fooling around. He didn’t know this was serious business.
After five turns, Alice was dizzy, but she couldn’t wait. The boys were almost to the top platform.
Jump facing backward, eyes closed. And as you do, say “To other waters, to other lands.”
Alice stepped to the edge of the platform. Her stomach lurched. She turned so her back faced the water. Just then, the boys reached the platform. Alice closed her eyes and thought of Marissa’s smile when Marissa still knew her and they were friends. The lifeguard yelled something from below. Alice didn’t listen. She knew that jumping backward was against the rules. It was forbidden. But sometimes you must do forbidden things.
Clasping the glass bottle, she jumped and said aloud, “To other waters, to other lands.”
For a moment, she fell through the air, and then her toes broke the surface and she was underwater. In Alice’s mind, a doubt flickered that this might not work after all. What if she was just here in her own world, in the swimming pool, and would have to surface and listen to the lifeguard yell at her?
But soon she realized that she wasn’t sinking into the water anymore—she was falling through it. That was different. The resistance of the water had disappeared completely, and Alice fell at a wild pace. When she opened her eyes, water rushed past her on either side, blue and green.
She fell. And fell.
Alice began to wonder if the falling would ever end. Then her speed slowed, and finally she stopped altogether, now surrounded by warm seawater. The pressure in her lungs said that she had to get to the surface soon if she wanted to survive.
Alice looked up and saw the surface of the water, with daylight filtering through. She started swimming toward it. As fast as she could, she kicked with her legs and pulled with her arms. Finally, her head broke the surface, and she greedily sucked air into her lungs. Alice had to cough for a moment and be careful not to swallow any of the salt water.
Yes, the water was salty. This was not chlorinated swimming pool water. And when she looked around, she saw instantly that she was not in her own world anymore.
Alice was surrounded by boats. Or, in fact, there were only a few real boats, and the rest were strange homemade rafts and logs and large branches and pots. Anything that could float. Everything on the surface of the water had been tied together with string and twine and ropes woven from plants, to form a sort of floating village. On the boats and rafts sat all the familiar residents of Sisterland. They seemed to be holding a meeting.
“Hey!” Alice called.
When no one reacted at first, she shouted more loudly. Then Raven, who balanced on the mast of one of the rafts, finally noticed her.
“Behold. It is that small human.”
“Alice,” she said.
“The small human. Just as I said.”
“What’s going on here?” Alice asked. “And could someone help me out of the water?”
A dream weaver sitting in a rowboat nearby extended a hand, and Alice was able to climb up. She checked to make sure the glass bottle was safe and that the cork hadn’t allowed any water in. It hadn’t. Anna’s letter was safe. Ship’s fox Lox sat in the same boat. He barked a happy greeting and licked Alice’s cheek.
“Water rabbit! I thought I’d never see you again.”
“Me too,” Alice said, and scratched Lox behind the ears before looking around. “Where is the Glimmer?”
“She is out fishing for stories. There are more of them on the bottom of the sea now, since the Great Flood,” Lox replied. “And the oculars are keeping watch a little farther out, in case of sea monsters. There have been sightings lately. Not all creatures are benevolent. In the depths lurk strange beasts that wish us ill.”
“Why aren’t you with the Glimmer?” Alice asked.
“A member of the crew takes turns participating in the monthly meeting of the Floating Village. This time was my turn.”
Alice listened in astonishment. So much had changed.
“Where did this water come from?” she asked.
“The Great Flood, as I said,” Lox replied.
Now Raven flew over to them.
“To other waters, to other lands,” Raven hooted. “Water moves between the worlds.”
Alice thought of all the snow that had melted in her own world. There was sense to Raven’s words. The meltwater had to go somewhere. On the way, it had just changed to salty seawater. That felt logical too. Some change always happened between the worlds.
“This has become a world of islands,” Raven said. “Mostly good, but getting proper coffee is difficult.”
“Now the residents of the Garden of Secrets all have their own islands,” Lox said. “The garden itself is an underwater paradise, perfect for diving expeditions. The dragons fly between the islands and move people from place to place, but once a month we hold these Floating Village meetings. Then everyone comes together on boats or however they can. Now we’re considering whether we should build permanent bridges between the islands to make moving around easier.”
“It would require everyone’s cooperation and a little magic,” the dream weaver said. “We would need Queen Lili.”
“She isn’t here, is she?” Alice asked in alarm.
Lox shook his head.
“The White Palace fell from the sky, and no one has seen the queen since.”
A chill went through Alice. What if the queen was dead?
“Can’t the dragons find her?”
“No. And they aren’t completely convinced that Queen Lili is even worth finding. For the dragons, she’s still their cruel captor, who is responsible for Ai-La’s death.”
Alice thought. She needed Queen Lili’s tears. But how could she get them without endangering the other residents of Sisterland?
Raven seemed as if he’d fallen asleep, but then his eyes snapped wide open.
“Only a message from a true friend can reach her,” he said.
A message from a true friend. Anna’s letter. Alice had it with her.
She would have to search for the queen, and she would have to do it alone.
Placing two fingers in her mouth, Alice whistled loudly to get everyone else’s attention. When they turned to look at her, she cleared her throat.
“Hello, everyone!” she said loudly. “My name is Alice, and most of you probably already know me. My friend Marissa and I returned to our own world, but now I’ve come back here to save her. And at the same time, I may be able to help you. If you give me part of your village to use as a boat, I will go in search of Queen Lili and attempt to bring her to you. That is, if you still hope for her to use her magic and join in your building a new Sisterland.”
Silence fell over the residents of Sisterland.
“How will you find her when we haven’t found her? How? Where? Why? When?”
This was a question flower, who had been brought to the meeting in a flowerpot.
“Because I have something I think she wants,” Alice said, and squeezed the glass bottle.
“And what if the queen is dangerous?” one of the wind fairies asked.
“If she still seems dangerous, I won’t lead her to you. But she was once your queen, after all. And remember, there are a lot of you. If she started making trouble again, you would be able to oppose her,” Alice said.
“I believe the human child has a point. A good point,” Raven said.
So everyone decided to trust Raven. A log from the outer edge of the Floating Village was untied and given to Alice as a boat. She recognized it as a branch of the great oak that had grown at the center of the Garden of Secrets. Ship’s fox Lox rested his muzzle on Alice’s shoulder for a moment.
“Come back. We will wait for you.”
> “I promise,” Alice said.
Then she set off rowing, with a smaller branch as a paddle, toward the open, rolling blue-gray sea. It looked endless. Alice hoped that Raven was right and Anna’s message would help her find the queen.
Alice didn’t know how long she rowed. She may have nodded off occasionally. The grayness of the day turned to night several times. She was cold and hungry and thirsty. Her arms hurt, and she was tired. But Alice never considered giving up. She wasn’t doing this for herself; she was doing it for Marissa. And not just because she wanted her friend back, but so Marissa could recover her memory and her warmth.
But finally, Alice was spent. She feared that if she closed her eyes, she might never open them again. Or she would fall asleep and slip into the water, and even drowning wouldn’t wake her.
Then Alice heard a familiar buzzing of wings at the base of her ear. A shapeshifter had flown to her. With it was a wind fairy. Into her hands, they set a water pouch, which they had carried who knew how far. Alice drank greedily. Nothing had ever tasted as good as that lukewarm, slightly stale-tasting water.
“Thank you,” she gasped.
Don’t give up, the shapeshifter said. Look toward the northern star that burns close to the fifth moon. You will find her if you continue toward that.
“Can’t you come with me?” Alice asked. She suddenly felt so terribly lonely.
“Unfortunately, we cannot,” the wind fairy replied. “You must find her alone. This is your journey, and your task.”
“Are the shapeshifters and wind fairies friends now?” Alice asked.
The dragonfly and the wind fairy exchanged a glance.
I imagine we are.
“As long as those beasts control their stupid appetites,” the wind fairy said.
Watch your worrrrrds or…
“You couldn’t even catch me, you clumsy oaf!”
Then the shapeshifter and the wind fairy flew away.
Alice looked for the fifth moon, which was small and red. It had just risen in the darkening sky. To the left of the moon shone a bright evening star. She set course for it and continued paddling. Her tired, aching arms received strength from the faith that she would find what she was looking for.
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