While Leicester and Trafalgar were busy arguing over whether Daphne should seek out the "King of Trees" or the "Freemason of Forgetfulness," Daphne herself decided to have a look around. So far, all she could see was the patch of dirt that she had landed on and the dark blue sky that the two pigeons had come from.
Daphne stretched her legs and then walked up the small hill next to her (which was probably the "Here Hill" that the two pigeons had told her about). She looked across the landscape and gasped.
It was beautiful. It was near dark, so the sun was just setting and it cast everything in a purple-red hue. Daphne could see the long fields of strange wheat (unlike any she had seen before) and beyond that she could see a large city rising from the ground, a gleaming city, a city that refracted the sunlight into a rainbow of strange colors, colors Daphne couldn't even attempt to describe.
"What is that?" she asked.
The two pigeons finally noticed that she wasn't paying attention to what she was saying, so they followed her and saw what she saw. "Ah, yes," Leicester (or possibly Trafalgar) said, "that's Tabula Rasa, the Nowhere City. You can't go there."
"Why not?" Daphne asked. "Surely it's not that far away."
"Oh, no," Trafalgar (or Leicester) said, "you're right, it's not that far away. But it doesn't get any farther nor any nearer. It's always the same distance away, no matter where you are."
"That's not possible," Daphne said.
"Look at you, thinking you know what's possible or not," Leicester (or Trafalgar) said. "You didn't think we could talk, you did. I mean, it's not impossible for you to be in the Nowhere City, but you can't walk there or fly there or anything. You have to find other ways."
"Oh," Daphne said. At this point, further conversation with the two pigeons was interrupted by the appearance of another bird, a rook. It flew in, it's plumage dusky and dark.
"What's taking you two so long?" it said.
"Ah, Charing Cross," Leicester (or Trafalgar) said, a bit sheepishly. "We met this, ah, human child and were just trying to help her on her way."
"Her way where?" Charing Cross asked suspiciously.
"She wants to go Home Again," Trafalgar (or Leicester) said. "We were saying that she might have some luck with the King of Trees, or maybe the Freemason of Forgetfulness."
"And why not the Parliament of Fowls?" Charing Cross said. "Are they not one of the Day and Night Terrors, too? Can they not bring her back to Home Again?" The rook flew forward until it was only inches away from Daphne's nose. She was becoming nervous in its presence - unlike the pigeons, the rook didn't seem friendly at all.
"Little girl," Charing Cross said, "how would you like to be a friend to all birds? How would you like to live among us and experience the wind and the storm?"
"That sounds..." Daphne tried thinking of the appropriate word and settled for, "...interesting."
"Yes, it would be," Charing Cross said. "We can make you into one of the Eyrie for the Parliament of Fowls. You can come and go as you please. Would you like that?"
Daphne got the feeling that the rook was using a big word in order to trick her, but she was well read and even though she couldn't translate Latin, she knew what the word "eyrie" meant: a nest.
"Thank you," Daphne said, trying so hard to be polite, "but I must decline."
Charing Cross looked at her with its beady eyes. "It isn't nice to decline someone's offer," it said finally.
"I don't mean to be rude," Daphne said.
"She doesn't mean to be rude," Trafalgar (or Leicester) repeated. "I mean, she's got a mouth on her, I know, but she doesn't know anything at all. She was just Doordropped today! She thought we couldn't talk!"
Charing Cross made a sound with its throat and Trafalgar (or Leicester) went silent. "Very well," Charing Cross said. "You have made your choice, good or bad. I doubt the King of Trees would give you such an offer, but you are free to ask him. You may go on your journey now. Leicester and Trafalgar, however, are staying here. They have work to do."
"Alright," Daphne said. She didn't like Charing Cross and she knew the two pigeons were going to be punished in some way for trying to help her, but there was nothing she could do.
She walked down the hill and began her journey across the field of wheat. When she looked back, she could see two pigeons and a rook looking at her and then they flew away, leaving her quite alone.
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