Chapter Eleven: A Plan Is Made

They sat upon the beach of the Land of Black Trees, Daphne and Jenny and Leicester and Trafalgar, each with their own thoughts. The waves lapped at the shore as they tried to figure out their next move.

"We could try the Freemason," Trafalgar said. "He would know how to enter the Nowhere City."

"You dunce," Leicester said, "the Freemason isn't in the habit of giving away his knowledge. He only takes, never gives."

"Well, why don't you give us an idea then?" Trafalgar asked tetchily. "Show us how smart you are."

"Alright then," Leicester said, "the Matron of Mirrors. There must be mirrors in the Nowhere City, so she could get us in easily."

"Now look who's the dunce," Trafalgar said. "The Matron of Mirrors would never let us use her Garden, ever. Daphne would have to sign away her soul, which would eliminate the whole point of going to the Nowhere City in the first place, now wouldn't it?"

"It was better than your idea," Leicester said.

"Stop," Jenny said.

Both pigeons looked at Jenny sheepishly and muttered, "Sorry."

"I know where we must go," Jenny said, "and I know who we must ask for help: the Enchantress of All Tides."

"The Enchantress?" Leicester said. "Yeah, she'll probably know, but, I mean...what about her elixir? Won't she make you drink it in exchange? Then you'll be turned into one of her Tidewaiters. I've seen them around, all creepy with their watery eyes."

"That may happen," Jenny said.

Daphne, who had so far contributed nothing to this conversation, stood up and said, "Then it's a chance I have to take. We have to find a way in. You don't have to come along if you don't want to, although I wish you would, since I really have no idea where I would find the Enchantress of All Tides."

Jenny smiled. "I do and I am not leaving."

"Neither are we," Trafalgar and Leicester said. "We made a vow, didn't we?"

Daphne smiled. "Then what are we waiting for? We should get moving before it gets dark."

Somehow, the universe must have taken this for a challenge, since clouds then proceeded to obscure the sun and thunder could be heard to rumble in the distance. "That," Trafalgar said, "does not sound good."

"The Parliament's found us," Leicester said. "We need to go!"

But the Parliament is as fast as the wind and the rain and they were upon the four of them before they knew it, a mass of different birds, herons and seagulls and beefeaters and hawks and eagles and buzzards. They surrounded the four of them en masse, scratching them with their talons and their beaks, until finally the mass flew back up into the sky.

"Why did they leave?" Jenny asked. "Why did they not kill us?"

"Because," Trafalgar said. "They got what they were coming for." He lowered his beak as Leicester said, "Daphne's gone."