As Daphne walked through the strange wheat field, she noticed that no matter how far she walked, she never got any nearer to the Nowhere City, just as Leicester and Trafalgar had explained. It was as if her perspective was off in some way and any time she tried judging the distance to the City, she was wrong.
So she decided to go in a different direction. The pigeons had said she was "windward" of the There River and the Somewhere Else Port, so she judged where the wind was going and set off. She wasn't hungry, but she realized that she would probably become hungry as the night wore on, so broke off some stalks of wheat that she could chew.
"Excuse me," a voice said and coughed. "Are you going to eat that?"
Daphne looked around and found herself facing a man, tall and thin, with gray, mottled skin. He coughed again. "Because," the man said, "it's really not nice to eat someone else's wheat."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Daphne said, "I didn't realize it belonged to someone else."
"Everything belongs to someone else," the man said and smiled. His teeth were a shade of yellow. "This whole field, in fact, belongs to me. But don't worry, I'll let you have some wheat. I don't want you to starve, after all."
"That's very nice," Daphne said warily. "My name is Daphne. What's yours?"
"Oh, I've had so many," the man said. "And there are so many of me, I just can't keep count. But here, in this place, they call me the Skin Within."
"Okay," Daphne said. She was confused again, but knew enough to know that she shouldn't reveal the gaps in her knowledge, especially to someone like the Skin Within. "I'm looking to get to Somewhere Else Port. Do you think you could point me in the right direction?"
"Of course," the Skin Within said. "I can even accompany you."
"Oh, I don't want to cause too much trouble," Daphne said.
"No trouble," the Skin Within said. "I was thinking of leaving this place anyway - it just gets so dull, day after day, tending the wheat. And don't even get me started on reaping."
"Then why do you do it?" Daphne asked.
"Oh, I haven't done it that long," the Skin Within said. "You could say that my position here has just been temporary. And now I have to move on."
"Alright," Daphne said. "I guess we better go."
"Yes," the Skin Within said. "Let us go. And we must be careful, too, for there are dreadful creatures that roam the lands between Here and There. So take my hand, young Daphne. Take my hand and I will protect you."
He offered forth his hand, ashen-gray, with its skin hanging loosing off the bones, and Daphne had an unspeakable urge to just run, run away from the Skin Within and his open hand.
"Well, hello, Skin," another voice said, this one melodious and sweet. Daphne turned and there was a woman, a beautiful woman in a dark-red dress and a crimson cap. "Up to your old tricks again, I see. And with a little girl this time."
"This is none of your business, Cutty-sark," the Skin Within growled. "Begone."
"Now, is that any way to treat your kin?" The woman in red winked at Daphne. "My name is Nan, young Daphne. Red Nan, they call me. Skin here, well, he's not to be trusted, certainly not with such a young girl like you. He has a way to stealing your most precious possession."
Daphne backed away as far as she could from the Skin Within while he made more growling (and eventually coughing) noises at Red Nan.
"Thank you for the warning," Daphne said. "I'm very grateful."
Red Nan smiled and it was a warm smile, but also predatory, like a tiger's. "I'm a thief, too," she said, "but you're a bit too young for the things I steal away. Off with you now, keep going along this direction and you will find yourself at Somewhere Else."
Daphne was polite, so she thanked Red Nan again and sprinted away from the wheat field. As she ran, however, she heard Nan call out: "Be wary, though, of those like Skin who would steal you away. Stay yourself, Daphne. Stay yourself, though you may find that you can't go Home Again."
Daphne didn't hear those last words, however, as they were lost to the rushing wind.
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