Chicory was screaming. It was a long, on-going scream that didn’t sound like any I had heard from him before.

I rose from the mattress and ran down the stairs as fast as my feet could carry me.

Had it been anything other than Chicory’s screaming I would have made my way down the stairs carefully. I could feel the difference in my weight more because I was moving fast down the winding stairs, my feet impacting with unnatural heaviness on the surface of every short step. I had weighed enough at my normal size and age shortly after being struck by the Dawn Storm that even Hress, with all his stature and muscles, had sweated and grunted on the journey to the tower as he carried me. I dreaded to think what kind of burden my new weight was given I had become taller, and wider, and heavier all over because of my magically increased age.

I was going down the stairs way too fast. It was too late to stop. Air pushed at my face as if a warning to slow down.

Lamp lights whooshed by in a blur.

The bottom-most step hurtled closer.

After a momentary glimpse of the ground floor I crashed chest-first into something.

My cheek slammed into hard wood. I lay among the destruction, breathing sharply, wondering how long it would take before I would feel the pain from my broken bones…

But I was fine, feeling very bruised, but fine.

A shadow loomed over me.

It was Red.

A moment later Suzuki and Bailey and little Chicory joined her side.

“You alright?” said Red.

I tried for an answer but all I could manage was a dazed look.

Red broke into a smile which became a bout of hooting laughter.

Chicory and Suzuki were laughing, though not as much as Red was; Bailey wasn’t laughing at all, and instead looked on with an unamused and tired expression.

Red offered me her hand and I took it and, despite my weight, she lifted me to my feet without much effort.

“What were you doing?” said Red with an amused look on her beautiful face.

“I went down the stairs too fast…” I said, “I thought Chicory was in trouble.”

“Oh no,” said Red, putting a hand on Chicory’s shoulder, “We were playing a game. He was just having fun.”

“Yeah!” said Chicory, happily, “They threw me into the air!”

“You did what?” I said, not liking what I was hearing at all.

“With a sheet,” said Red, “Look.”

She pointed to a large white sheet on the ground in an open space not too far away.

“Can we do it again?” said Chicory.

“Not like there’s anything better to do,” said Red.

She looked to me.

“Want to join us?” she said.

I didn’t know what to say.

“We’ll show you, come on,” said Red.

She waved for me to follow her and the five of us wandered to the large sheet on the ground.

Bailey took one end of the sheet, Red another, and Suzuki another one.

Chicory walked onto the sheet and laid down on it, his face excited and happy giggles escaping him.

“Grab that end,” said Red, pointing to the last remaining sheet corner.

I hesitated.

“I’m sorry about the table,” I said, looking back to the broken debris near the foot of the stairs.

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” said Red, “It’ll fix itself when we’re not looking.”

“How?” I said, sounding almost offended at the idea such a thing was possible.

“Magic, I guess,” said Red, “Are you going to grab that?”

She gestured to the sheet corner again. I forced the offended look off my face and, not wanting to be difficult, I took hold of the sheet corner.

Together the four of us pulled the sheet taut with Chicory atop in the middle.

“Now do this,” said Red.

She and the others lifted the sheet up, and then down again, they did this several times until, finally, Chicory started to bounce.

It looked like a lot of fun. Chicory bounced higher and higher until he could touch the black ceiling for a moment before coming down again.

Red and Suzuki were smiling as they continued to bounce Chicory upwards.

Although Bailey was participating and helping lift Chicory into the air she did so as if she preferred to be doing something else.

Playing with the sheet like we were put a smile on my face too.

It was the first thing resembling a game I had done in a very long time!

I was having fun!

Red vanished.

In the blink of an eye she simply ceased to be.

She had been holding her end of the white sheet and was suddenly gone. The corner she had held dropped.

Chicory bounced and then sprang up and away from the sheet.

I screamed. Chicory’s giggles started to become a scream too as he began to fall in the direction of the nearby tables and chairs.

A sudden gust of air passed me.

Something so fast it was a blur moved through the air and caught Chicory.

The thing landed. It was Bailey, and she was standing atop one of the nearby armchairs with Chicory held safely in her arms.

Chicory wasn’t giggling or screaming anymore, but he didn’t look upset either.

Bailey looked over her shoulder at Suzuki and me.

“He’s fine,” she said.

She then gave a little jump and landed without a sound to the tower floor.

I ran over to Bailey and Chicory and, once I reached them, looked Chicory over to see if he had any bruises, cuts, or any sign of being hurt. Chicory’s smooth brown skin shone back the light from the lanterns and the fireplace, but showed no harm whatsoever.

“Are you okay?” I asked him.

“Yes,” he said, smiling, but then, seeing I wasn’t, his smile disappeared.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“Where did Red go?” I said, looking to Bailey, and then to Suzuki who was walking over, her heeled shoes making loud clopping sounds on the tower floor.

“She disappeared because of Hress’s curse,” said Suzuki, “Forgive us, we did not think she would disappear so soon.”

Bailey set Chicory down in the armchair to her left.

“I don’t understand,” I said, “Why would she just disappear like that?”

“I can explain,” said Suzuki, calmly.

She gestured to the armchairs by the fireplace.

After taking a moment to breathe I told myself that Chicory wasn’t harmed, and that, if Bailey could have leapt into the air and caught him like that at any time, then he wasn’t in any true danger in the first place. Settling my thoughts on that I walked over to one of the armchairs and took a seat, letting myself fall back into the chair.

This was a big mistake.

The armchair, like the table earlier, collapsed under me.

The rear legs of the armchair broke first and with a cry of shock I was sent falling backwards.

Other than the humiliation and discomfort from the chair collapsing beneath me, there wasn’t any pain. Bailey walked casually over to me and offered me a hand, and with strength which matched or was maybe even greater than Red’s, she lifted me to my feet.

“Sorry,” I said, my face hot from the shame of looking so silly in front of them.

“It takes time to learn how to live with being Accursed,” said Bailey, softly, “You’ll get the hang of it.”

She smiled like someone unused to doing so.

I moved over to another one of the armchairs, sitting as carefully as I could, not wanting to break another one. The legs and back of the armchair groaned from my weight, but didn’t collapse like the first had done. I would have to do my utmost to be more careful so it wouldn’t happen again.

“Where did Red go?” said Chicory, who had moved to the armchair to the left of mine and was sat hip-to-hip with Suzuki.

Suzuki and Bailey shared a look.

“It is not easy to explain,” said Suzuki.

“Hress and Red are the same person,” said Bailey, stepping forward a little.

“They’re not,” I said, as politely as I could whilst still objecting, “Chicory and I saw them both when they found us. I’m sure they were both there together.”

“True,” said Suzuki, drawing my attention away from Bailey.

“Do you see your shadow on the floor?” said Suzuki, pointing to my shadow made bold on the floor from the fireplace beyond me.

“Yes,” I said.

“Red is like Hress’s shadow,” said Bailey, drawing my attention away from Suzuki and back to her.

“But,” I said, “She is real, she helped me up when I fell.”

“And she put me on her shoulders!” said Chicory.

“This is true,” said Suzuki, “When she is with us she is flesh and blood, but she is also no more of a person than a shadow is who we are.”

I was struggling to follow what she was saying.

“You’re over-complicating it, Suzuki,” said Bailey.

“Maybe I would tell them better if you were not rudely interrupting,” said Suzuki.

“I wasn’t interrupting,” said Bailey, “I was clarifying.”

Bailey and Suzuki looked at each other the way I had seen Birch, Rowan, and Willow become competitive over Miss Waxwood’s attention.

“Maybe,” I said, “If you worked together to explain it?”

“And how might we do that?” said Bailey, speaking in a low and unemotional voice.

“Play pretend!” said Chicory.

Bailey and Suzuki flinched at the idea.

“I don’t play pretend,” said Bailey.

“I am capable of pretend on my own,” said Suzuki, “Bailey may not do well doing pretend.”

Bailey smirked without mirth, and for a moment I wondered if she might begin to argue in a more heated way with Suzuki.

“Fine,” she said, “We’ll pretend for them and show them how Hress’s curse works. How does that sound to you, Suzuki?”

“I am fine with this,” said Suzuki, standing from her armchair.

Bailey and Suzuki approached each other like distrusting cats.

After a few moments of whispering to each other Suzuki looked to Chicory, then me.

“Will you both sit here?” she said, pointing to a middle armchair that was between Chicory and me.

With a tinge of excitement I rose up and sat, very carefully, in the middle armchair.

Chicory climbed up and joined me, sitting on my lap. The armchair groaned as if begging for us to get off it, but somehow it managed to keep in one piece.

“Sit still,” I said to Chicory quietly, “I don’t want to break another chair.”

“Okay,” said Chicory, contently.

Suzuki stepped forward and gave an exaggerated yawn.

“I am Hress Dunter,” she said, “The most wanted man in all the kingdoms!”

She looked around, using her hand to block sunlight against her eyes that wasn’t there.

“I am on the run and need a safe place to stay! Oh, I know, I will go to Midway Village, on Wish Mountain!”

She marched on the spot.

Bailey stomped with her bare feet pounding loudly on the tower floor.

She held up her arms and made a whooshing sound with her mouth.

“Oh no!” said Suzuki, afraid, “It’s the Dawn Storm! I must run away!”

Suzuki ran on the spot, but Bailey, close behind, gave chase.

Bailey clapped her hands.

“Oh no!” said Suzuki, “I have been struck by the Dawn Storm! I am cursed!”

She fell down, pretending to feint.

Bailey, no longer the Dawn Storm, stepped forward.

She spoke in a gruff voice similar to the one Suzuki had used.

“I am Red!” she said, “I am here because Hress was struck by the Dawn Storm!”

She looked to Suzuki on the floor.

“Oh no!” she said, “That is me on the floor! But how can this be? How can I be on the floor, yet also be me?”

Bailey looked down at herself.

“Oh no!” she said, “I have become a woman! This is the worst thing that could ever happen to me!”

Suzuki sat upright, looking confused.

“Who are you?!” said Suzuki, looking at Bailey.

“I’m you!” said Bailey, “I am Hress Dunter!”

“No you are not!” said Suzuki, standing up, “I am Hress Dunter!”

“You are,” said Bailey, “But so am I!”

“If you’re me,” said Suzuki, “Prove it!”

Bailey gave the question some exaggerated thought, giving a loud hum.

“Oh! I know! Sometimes when we eat too fast we choke!”

“That happens to lots of people!” said Suzuki.

“Oh! I know!” said Bailey, “Bailey, the blood-drinker, she is your friend who you travelled to Wish Mountain with!”

“That is true!” said Suzuki, “But I still don’t know…”

Suzuki lifted her nose and fixed Bailey with a judging look.

Bailey became serious.

“I saved Bailey,” she said, “When she needed me most. If it weren’t for me she would not be free to live how she chooses. She owes me a lot.”

Silence followed.

“Fine!” said Suzuki, pretending again, “I believe you! You are me! But why do you look like a woman?!”

Bailey took a moment to get into the pretending mood again, then said,

“I don’t know! I hate being a woman! I don’t want to be here!”

Suzuki looked to Chicory and me.

“And so,” she said, “Hress and Red travelled together. However…”

Suzuki pretended to pick up a cup.

“When Hress drank hot water…”

Bailey leaped so fast in the blink of an eye it was as if she disappeared. She landed behind the armchair where Chicory and me were sat.

Suzuki looked to where Bailey had been standing and gasped.

“She’s gone! I drank hot water and she disappeared! Yatta!”

Suzuki observed the ceiling.

“It look like it going to rain!” she said.

She held her hand out.

“It is raining! The rain is cold water!”

Bailey leapt back to Suzuki’s side.

“Oh no!” said Bailey, “I am Red again! I am back because you touched cold water!”

“Quick! Quick! Drink hot water so I can go away again!” she pleaded.

“I cannot!” said Suzuki, looking around exaggeratedly, “Because it is raining I cannot make fire! Which mean I cannot make hot water! You are stuck here until I make hot water again!”

“No!” Bailey cried, clenching her fists and dropping to her knees.

And then Bailey and Suzuki stopped pretending, stood together, and bowed. Chicory and me clapped our hands in applause.

“That was so good!” said Chicory.

“It was!” I said, “You are both very good at playing pretend!”

Bailey and Suzuki looked bashful as they accepted our applause.

They walked to empty armchairs and sat down.

Suzuki sat normally.

Bailey perched herself like a cat.

“I have a question,” I said.

“Yes?” said Suzuki and Bailey at the same time.

“You go,” said Bailey.

“No you,” said Suzuki.

It looked for a moment that they might have started arguing again.

“Yes?” said Bailey, tentatively.

Suzuki made a silent show that she wasn’t going to attempt to make a comment.

“You said Hress was the most wanted man in all the kingdoms,” I said, “What do you mean?”

“It’s not that all women want him if that’s what you’re thinking,” said Bailey, with half-lidded eyes, “Hress is a wanted man. Rootwork must have been very isolated for you not to know about Hress Dunter. He’s infamous.”

“Why?” said Chicory, speaking my next question before I could.

Bailey scratched her right temple.

“They say he murdered the prince of Rose Kingdom.”

“Did he?” I said, utterly shocked to hear Hress, who seemed very nice, could murder

anyone, let alone a prince.

“I find it surprising you--” Bailey began to say, but then she was cut off before she could say anymore.

“Suzuki?!” said a voice that was unmistakably Hress’s.

It sounded so close it was as if he were inside the room with us.

Suzuki stood up from her seat and trotted in her heeled shoes over to the stone wall of the tower not too far off.

“Yes?” she said, as if speaking to the wall.

“Let us in! It’s raining buckets out here!” said Hress.

“Is there anyone around?” said Suzuki.

“It’s just the five of us! We’ve checked and double-checked!” said Hress.

“One moment!” said Suzuki.

She trotted over to a nearby table where a satchel lay and reached into it. From the the satchel she retrieved what looked like a large egg that was shiny and black. She hurried back to the wall and put the black orb against it.

With a sudden cracking sound the door opened inwards.

With it came the terrible sound of rain so heavy I could hardly see beyond the doorway because of all the grey wetness.

The smell of water in the air and the cold breeze came as a relief after spending four days inside the tower.

Hress was soaked through, his muddy boots squelching as he strode inside.

He had a crossbow hanging off his left belt, and a quiver – currently logged with rainwater as well as arrows, hanging off the right off his belt.

Red, similarly soaked in her armour, pulled back some of her wet ginger locks of hair as she followed in after Hress.

Guy followed in next and the frog-man, Albie, beside him.

Last of all came Angelica, the beast Chicory and I had been so afraid of that first night on Wish Mountain.

She was bigger than before, standing head and shoulders taller than Hress.

She ducked beneath the doorway, her coat of fur dripping wet.

Suzuki closed the tower door behind them.

“Oh hey!” said Hress, his shiny-slick face grinning handsomely as he looked at me, “How’s it going?”

“I’m okay,” I said.

As I looked at him I tried to see somewhere in his blue eyes the murderer he might be.