Chapter Twelve: Gone With the Wind

Daphne found herself in the middle of the sky. Quite reasonably, she began to panic. She twisted and turned and began to hyperventilate, taking in deep gasps of air.

"Could you quit that please?" a voice said. "It's gets harder to hold you when you move. You don't want me to drop you, do you?"

Daphne looked towards the sound of the voice and found it to be a very large vulture. The vulture was gripping her with its talons. Daphne stopped her twisting and turning and said, out of habit if nothing else, "Sorry."

"Apology accepted," the vulture said.

"If I may ask," Daphne said, "where are you taking me?"

"You may, but it is impolite to ask a question without first knowing one's name," the vulture said.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Daphne said. "What is your name?"

"I," the vulture said, "am Sir Marylebone, Esteemed Member of the Parliament of Fowls."

"Well," Daphne said, "Sir Marylebone, I'm not going to say that it is a pleasure to meet you, since you have in fact kidnapped me and I do not wish to lie, but I do not wish any offense, so it is interesting to meet you."

The vulture seemed to harrumph, his neck feathers ruffling in the wind.

"And now," Daphne said, "if I may ask my question?"

"You may," Sir Marylebone said.

"Where are you taking me?" Daphne asked.

"Back to the Houses of the Parliament of Fowls," Sir Marylebone said, "on top the Mountains of Rising Action. And there you will meet our Prime Minister, the Lord Westminster."

"And what shall happen to me then?" Daphne asked.

"That I do not know," Sir Marylebone said, "though I suspect he may feed you to our young. They always like eating nice juicy organs."

Daphne closed her eyes and tried to remain calm. She tried to tell herself that the Parliament of Fowls wouldn't simply kill her, that they needed her for something. That if the Parliament had gone to all this trouble of finding her and kidnapping her, she was important for something.

She thought all of this, but none of it helped.

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."

Chapter Ten: In the Court of the King

The next morning, they trekked through the forest of black trees. They had brought no machete nor knives to cut branches with, so they had to duck down many times to avoid low-hanging branches. Daphne once got her jacket caught on one of the long, thin branches and she thought for a moment that the branch was moving on its own, gripping her tightly, but Jenny pulled her away and she dismissed the thought as nonsense.

The two pigeons, Leicester and Trafalgar, flew overhead and occasionally came down to tell them directions or warn them of a particular dense cluster of black trees. It was hard going, but having two birds on their side helped, since they at least knew where the King of Trees' court was.

Finally, they came to a large circular clearing, where the black trees stopped. Instead, they saw that there were white roots, four of them, that converged in the middle of the clearing and became a large white tree, taller than any of the black trees. The color of the tree hurt Daphne's eyes and she closed them for a moment and when she opened them again, the tree wasn't a tree anymore.

It was a man. A man that was as tall as the tree, a man that loomed overhead.

It wore a suit or an approximation of a suit and its arms were long and thin and they curved, like tendrils, and Daphne could see that its skin was made of white bark and its face was white bark, blank and empty, and without eyes it looked at her and she felt tiny.

This was the King of Trees.

She looked at Jenny and Jenny was on one knee, so Daphne lowered herself to one knee as well. Even the pigeons had stopped moving and were bowing to the King of Trees, bowing in terror, Daphne thought.

She didn't know how long she stayed like that, down on one knee, but then she heard a voice say, "You may rise."

It didn't sound like a voice the King of Trees would use, so when Daphne stood up and saw that there was a man who stood by the King (and looked quite small in comparison), she was not surprised.

"Hello," she said. The King looked down at her.

The man said, "I am his mouth. I speak his Words. What is it you want?"

"Thank you for seeing me," Daphne said. She was still scared, but knew enough to stay polite. "I have recently come here through a Door and now I seek a way back home."

The King of Trees stood there like, well, a tree. If it was displeased by her presence, it didn't indicate so, nor did it indicate if it was pleased or bored or any sort of emotion. The man by its side, however, looked somewhat tired.

After a minute, the man said, "He can take you to Home Again. But there is a task you need to complete first."

A thought popped into Daphne's head and she almost said, "The broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West," but she caught herself and instead asked, "What is it?"

"Nothing," the man said. "You must find a piece of Nothing and bring it to him. And then he will guide you through the Black Leaves to Home Again."

"Um, I don't really...I mean..." Daphne was confused. A piece of Nothing? What did that mean? "I don't exactly know where to find..."

"You will find Nothing in the Nowhere City," the man said. "Go now, before he gets impatient."

Daphne thought the man was exaggerating, as the King of Trees didn't look impatient. But then again, it didn't look patient, either, so she and Jenny and the pigeons turned and walked away, back to the shore.

She didn't say anything on their walk back, but she was thinking of their impossible task: to find Nothing in a place that was Nowhere. It almost was easier to just give up, but then she remembered Captain Brown and Jenny's tears and she resolved that they would not be wasted.

She would find Nothing and she would make her story end with meaning.

Chapter Nine: The Land of Black Trees

They soon reached the shore of the Land of Black Trees and Daphne was able to see that it's name was quite fitting. Each tree that she saw was completely and utterly black, with gnarled bark and spindly branches. Daphne had no idea before she saw the trees that there could be different shades of black, but now she saw.

She was still trying to process what had happened with the Hangman's Holiday and Captain Brown. "But won't the Parliament leave them alone when they find I'm not there?" she asked.

"That's not how they work," Trafalgar (or Leicester) said. "The Parliament doesn't like being tricked, certainly not by humans. They may take them away to the Bleak Shore or they may leave them for the Discordant Symphony to play with. I've heard-"

"That's enough," Jenny said. "There's no need to scare the child further, we've already had a long day. Let's rest and then tomorrow we can try finding the King of Tree's court."

They made camp on the beach, not wanting to sleep near the black trees, which seemed eerie and made strange whistling noises whenever the wind passed by.

Daphne tried to get to sleep, but she was filled with questions and regrets. She knew it was her fault that the Parliament went after the Hangman's Holiday, but she also knew that it wasn't. It was a strange feeling, wanting to blame herself and knowing that she shouldn't.

"Jenny," she finally said and she wasn't surprised when the woman turned out to also be awake.

"Yes," Jenny said.

"What did Captain Brown mean? When he said that he had made a vow, too?"

Jenny was quiet for the next few minutes and Daphne wondered if she had perhaps asked the wrong question, but then Jenny said, "I was Doordropped a long time ago. When I was around your age, actually. My name was Jennifer Higgins. I was so scared back then. I had a friend with me, but we were separated and I never found her again. Finally, I found my way to a campsite and there was Captain Brown. He took care of them, tried to help me find my friend and my way to Home Again. He told me that there were many ways to lose yourself in the Storylands, but he vowed that he would not let any of them happen to me. I eventually gave up trying to get to Home Again and joined his crew, forever grateful to him."

Daphne listened to all of this and realized that Jenny was softly crying as she spoke. She didn't know what to say to her, so she stayed silent. Finally, she said, "I'm sorry,"

"No need to apologize," Jenny said. "Everyone has their stories here and all stories end. Even the Storytellers have their stories, all their little secret histories and lives. All we can do is be ourselves and make our endings good and meaningful. Now go to sleep, little one."

Daphne closed her eyes and managed to drift off into a restful dream.

Chapter Eight: The Following Storm

Days passed (or what seemed like days to Daphne, as day and night followed no set pattern -- sometimes they would sail under the stars, under strange constellations that she didn't recognize, and sometimes they sailed under a sun that blazed hot and cold) and the Land of Black Trees grew nearer. She could see it on the horizon, a small shape that steadily grew larger and larger.

Daphne turned and looked out the starboard side into the deep ocean and saw that the Nowhere City was still the same distance away. She didn't know how it was able to float on water or how it was even able to move when she wasn't looking, but it did.

"It's not really there," Long Jenny said one time when she caught Daphne looking. "It's just an illusion that makes it look like it's there."

"So where is it?" Daphne asked.

"Nowhere," Jenny said. "Some say that it's in the center of the Storylands, but the Storylands don't have a center. It's neither Here nor There, so it's Nowhere."

"Who built it?"

"No one," Jenny said, which made sense to Daphne until she thought about it (that happened quite a bit when she was conversing with the Captain, Jenny, or the crew). "Just ignore it," Jenny said. "We have other problems to worry about."

"What do you mean?" Daphne asked.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

"No," Daphne said, "please, tell me."

Jenny frowned and then pointed at a spot in the sky behind them. "See them dark clouds?" Daphne nodded. "They've been following us. And not only that, they've been growing bigger. Becoming a storm. Which means we've got the Parliament of Fowls following us."

"The Parliament," Daphne said. "I've...encountered them before. Well, three of them."

"There are lots more," Jenny said.

"I may have done something that displeased them," Daphne said. She told Jenny of her encounter with Charing Cross and her refusal of his offer.

"You did right," Jenny said. "Becoming one of their Eyries ain't pleasant or so I've heard. But for them to follow you...that is something more."

The next day, Daphne spotted two shapes in the sky coming towards them. As they grew closer, she recognized the pigeons she had met, Leicester and Trafalgar. They landed on the rigging of the ship and that's when Captain Brown came forward with his cutlass, yelling, "Fowl creatures! I'll not have you on this ship, now or ever!"

"No, Captain!" Daphne yelled. "I know them!"

Indeed, Leicester and Trafalgar were yelling her name. "Daphne!" Leicester (or possibly Trafalgar) said. "We've come to warn you."

Captain Brown lowered his cutlass. "Warn her?" he said. "But you're part of the Parliament, are you not?"

"We were," Trafalgar (or possibly Leicester) said, "until the treaty."

"Treaty?" Jenny asked.

"The Parliament made a treaty with the Skin Within and the Discordant Symphony," Leicester (or possibly Trafalgar) said, their voices quick and hushed. "They are conspiring to capture Daphne. We said we would help her when we met and so we have turned into traitors, left the Parliament, and come to warn you."

"Thank you," Daphne said. She didn't know what else to say; no one had become a traitor for her before.

"Our vows demanded it," Trafalgar (or possibly Leicester) said. "And we didn't like the look on the Skin Within's face or the strange notes made by the Discordant Symphony. They want you for something and it's not good."

"Then we need to keep moving," Captain Brown said. "Keep ahead of that storm."

"You can't," Leicester (or Trafalgar) said, "you can't outrun the Parliament."

Captain Brown smiled. "Who said anything about outrunning?"

They loaded one small rowboat with supplies and Jenny lowered Daphne (with Leicester and Trafalgar) on board. "It's not far from here," she said. "Easy to row to."

"You're going, too," Captain Brown said to Jenny.

"But Cap'n," Jenny protested.

"No," Brown said. "I made a vow, too, remember? You and her and those two birds, you find your way to the Land of Black Trees, to the court of the King of Trees. You do all that and you'll never lose your way, Stormalong Jenny. Goodbye."

So Jenny lowered herself into the rowboat as well and Daphne saw she had tears in her eyes. She wiped them away and started to row. Daphne watched as the larger ship moved away and she asked, "Where are they going?"

"In the other direction," Jenny said. "They're leading the Parliament away, giving us a chance."

"But what happens when the Parliament finds them?"

"This is the Storylands," Jenny said, her head lowered. "Not everyone lives."

Chapter Seven: The Hangman's Holiday

"Come on," Captain Brown said, "I'll show you my ship."

So Daphne followed the captain, who had a booming voice and thunderous laugh and made her feel like everything was going to be alright, down the port, down the wooden docks, and onto a ship. It gleamed in the sunlight.

Wait, sunlight? Daphne looked up and realized that the sun was rising. But it had just set a few hours ago!

She told Captain Brown this and he gave one of his reassuring laughs. "Time is weird in the Storylands. It doesn't follow a set pattern. Sometimes the night will stretch for days, maybe weeks. Other times, the night will slip past in moments."

"So when do you go to sleep?" Daphne asked.

"Whenever we want to," Captain Brown said. "Now, let's get on board my ship, shall we?" Together, they walked up the wooden plank onto the ship. Daphne, who had never been on a ship before, was a little bit uneasy at first, but soon got use to the ship's slight rocking motion.

"This here is the best ship in Allusion Oceans," Captain Brown said. "And do you know I call her?"

Daphne, silent in amazement, simply shook her head.

"The Hangman's Holiday," Captain Brown said. "On account of how lucky she is. Because the best time to do a crime is during a hangman's holiday." He smiled. "Now, let's see if we can push off, shall we?" He turned. "Lads! It's time!"

There was a rush of movement and Daphne watched as dozens of men and women moved around the ship, setting things in motion, tying things down, and generally getting the ship ready to sail. And as Captain Brown walked between his crew, he tossed out names, introducing Daphne to the crew, as if this kind of thing happened every day.

"This here's Haulaway Joe," he said, pointing at one musclebound lad. "Paddy Doyle's over there. And here's the Three Johnnies: Hanging Johnny, Whiskey Johnny, and Johnny Bowker. And where's my first mate? Where's Long Jenny?"

"Over here, Cap'n," an annoyed voice said and Daphne turned. And there was a woman in a blue overcoat with a bright, colorful hat.

"Daphne," Captain Brown said, "this is First Mate Stormalong Jenny. Though we just call her Long Jenny, sometimes, when she ain't listening."

"Which I always am," Jenny said. "We got a destination, Cap'n? Or are we just headed out into the lonely seas?"

"Nope," Captain Brown said, "we're heading for the King of Trees' domain."

"The Land of Black Trees?" Jenny asked. "That's a dangerous area, especially for a young girl.

"She needs to get to Home Again and the King of Trees can get her there," Captain Brown said. "Now, less questioning and more pushing off. Let's go!"

Daphne was quiet still as the other sailors finally pushed off the ship from the port and they started sailing. The boat creaked and Daphne felt that she might be seasick, but Jenny came over and grabbed her hand and she felt better.

As she looked out at the sea, Jenny spoke to her. "The Land of Black Trees is a dangerous place," she said, "and the King of Trees is not someone you want to be indebted to."

"Then how am I supposed to get home again?" Daphne asked.

"I don't know," Jenny said. "I was Doordropped a long while ago and I remember how long it took before I gave up trying to get to Home Again. Eventually, I realized it wasn't worth the price. So I joined up with Cap'n Brown and made the best of it."

Daphne looked around and realized that she had been enjoying herself on the Hangman's Holiday, but that she still missed her own home and her own life. "I'm sorry," she said, "I need to get home again."

"Aye then," Jenny said. "I'll help you, we all will. Just be careful. Sometimes Home Again isn't a very good place to be."

Chapter Six: Port of Call

After walking a few hours, Daphne finally stopped to rest her feet. She was tired. Tired and hungry. Tired and hungry and thirsty.

She had thrown away the stalk of wheat that the Skin Within had let her have. She didn't know if it was poisoned in some way, but she didn't want to take her chances. This just meant that she hadn't eaten at all since she had arrived and now, having walked what must have been at least five miles, she was tired.

She decided there was no point in complaining, even if she was only complaining to herself, and set off again. And, to her utter surprise, she found that she was at her destination. There was the sign that stated in plain letters:

PORT OF SOMEWHERE ELSE

CALLS TO ADVENTURE, EXCITEMENT, DANGER

NO REFUSALS

Daphne hurried forward and looked out at the port. It was big, vast, with wooden ships everywhere.

And people. There were lots and lots of people around. Tall, short, fat, skinny, men and women and even some children. Daphne looked at the crowd, both excited and nervous, since it had been so long since she had even seen so many people.

Daphne wondered among the crowd for a little bit, trying to get her bearings. She didn't know where she should go - the pigeons had never agreed on whether she should go to the King of Trees or the Freemason of Forgetfulness and, in any case, she didn't know which ship was going where.

Finally, she saw something that she did know she needed: food. There was a stand that was selling food, what looked like fried seafood of some sort.

Daphne hungrily approached the stand. "Excuse me," she asked, careful to be polite, "how much would some food cost?"

The vendor operating the stand looked down at her. He looked to be middle-aged, with a rough weathered face. "A basketful is five memories, a cup is two," he said.

"Memories?" Daphne asked.

"And no memories of boring stuff," the vendor said. "We get enough trying to fool us like that, as if we would accept the memory of falling asleep or something like that. No, we're not asking for good memories, but it can't be incredibly dull."

"I'm sorry," Daphne said. "How am I supposed to trade my memories?"

"What, are you Doordropped?" the vendor asked. Daphne nodded and the man sighed, then pushed forward a book that was on the counter. "You write your memory in here. Just one line is fine for each."

"But why would you want them?" Daphne asked.

"The Freemason always has need for memories," the vendor said. "We trade them to him for passage, or else we would lose all our own memories. And that's never pleasant, waking up not knowing who you are. You have a hell of a time just figuring things out."

Daphne was at a loss. She was hungry and that fried shrimp looked delicious, but she couldn't think of any memories she wanted to part with. Finally, she opened the book and, beneath a line that said My ex-wife, she wrote: That time I got lost on the way home from the library.


And then it was gone. As she wrote it, she remembered it and then she couldn't remember it any more. She looked up at the vendor.

"Two for a cup," he said and gestured to the book again.

Daphne swallowed and then wrote: Getting the hiccups in class. And then it was gone, too.

The vendor took the book back and then passed on a cup full to the brim of fried seafood that smelled absolutely delicious. Daphne tried to savor each piece, but soon they were gone. She was slightly less hungry, but she felt a sort of emptiness in her head now, as if she was missing something, so she decided not to trade any more memories.

"Does water cost anything?" she asked the vendor.

"No," he said, "we're not that cruel." He began handing over a cup, when a large burly man arrived at the stand.

"Don't drink that, child," he said. "Stan here, well, he's been known to dowse his water with 'lixir water."

"That's a damn lie, Brown," the vendor said.

"Do you know what 'lixir water does to you, child?" the man called Brown asked. "It's said the Enchantress of All Tides makes it herself. It's what she makes her Tidewaiters drink. As soon as you drink it, you become obsessed with something, anything. Say, buying as many shrimp as you can eat."

The vendor looked angry now. "I would never do such a dirty trick," he said.

"But you would take memories from a young girl, would you?" Brown said. "She ain't more than ten."

"She didn't need them," the vendor said.

"You don't know what she needs," Brown said. "But I have the courtesy to ask. What do you need, child?"

Daphne liked the way Brown talked, so she said, "I need to find a way to Home Again. Some pigeons told me that either the King of Trees or the Freemason of Forgetfulness could help me."

"A favor from the Freemason would require giving up all your memories," Brown said. "Are you prepared to do that?"

Daphne could still feel something missing in her mind and it made her feel sick. "No," she said quietly.

"Then to the King of Trees," Brown said, "though I've not heard of him granting that many favors. Still, he is probably your best bet. And it just so happens that I have a ship heading in the direction of his land."

"What's the cost?" Daphne asked.

"No cost," Brown said. "I was Doordropped once. I know how it feels, finding yourself in the Storylands suddenly, confused and alone. I was lucky to find a ship and become captain of that ship. Oh, I've forgotten to introduce myself, haven't I?"

He stuck out his hand and Daphne shook it. "Captain Abel Brown, at your service."