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I pull up a clump of berries, twirl them in my hands. "You could help me do it. Then I'd be safe."

Mother takes the berries away. "No, I can't. I can't go back, Gemma."

"You don't want to help Father." It's a hurtful thing to say, and I know it.

She takes a deep breath. "That's unfair."

"You don't trust me. You don't think I'm capable!"

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Gemma." Her eyes flash. "Just yesterday you weren't able to tell the difference between a cloud and an illusion. The dark spirit under Circe's control is much more cunning than that. How do you propose to banish it?"

"Why can't you tell me how?" I snap. "Because I don't know! There is no hard rule, do you understand? It's a matter of knowing the spirit in question, knowing its vulnerability. It's a matter of not allowing it to use your vulnerabilities against you."

"What if I just used a bit of magic, just enough to help Father and my friends with itnothing else?"

She takes me by the shoulders like a child. "Gemma, you must listen to me. Do not take the magic out of the realms. Promise me."

"Yes, fine!" I say, tearing out of her grasp. I can't believe we're fighting again. My eyes are hot with tears. "I'm sorry. Assembly Day is tomorrow. I need sleep."

She nods. "See you tomorrow?"

I'm too angry to answer her. I march off to join my friends. Felicity is poised on the crest of the hill, pulling back on her bow. She looks like the bas-relief of a goddess. With a sharp snap, she lets it fly and it splits a piece of wood cleanly in two. The huntress commends her, and the two of them huddle together in conference. I can't help wondering what it is they talk about on their hunts or why Felicity tells me less and less. Perhaps I've been too engrossed in my own questions to ask any of her.

Pippa is lying in the hammock while her knight regales her with some tale of chivalrous deeds done on her behalf. He gazes at her as if she's the only girl in the world. And she drinks it in like ambrosia. Ann is busy singing, gazing into the river, where she has assembled a make-believe audience of hundreds who clap and sigh and adore her. I'm the only one chafing here, feeling discontented and powerless. The thrill of our adventures has begun to wear off. What good is it to have this supposed power if I can't use it?

Pippa finally strides over, twirling a rose in her hands. "I wish I could stay here forever."

"Well, you can't," I tell her.

"Why not?" Ann asks, coming up behind me. Her hair is loose and wavy across her shoulders.

"Because this is not a place to stay," I answer, defensively. "It's a place of dreams."

"What if I choose the dream instead?" Pippa says. It's such a Pippa thing to sayfoolish and taunting.

"What if I refuse to bring you here the next time?"

Felicity has managed to pierce a small rabbit. It hangs limp and lifeless from her arrow. "What is the matter?"

Pippa pouts. "It's Gemma. She doesn't want to bring us back."

Felicity is still holding the bloody arrow in one hand. "What's all this, Gemma?" Her face is grim and determined and I find myself breaking the staring contest by looking away. "I didn't say that."

"Well, you implied it," Pippa sniffs.

"Can we just forget this whole silly argument?" I snap.

"Gemma." Pippa sticks her bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout. "Don't be cross."

Felicity adopts the same ridiculous face. "Gemma, please stop. It's very hard to talk with my mouth like this."

Ann is on it now. "I won't smile until Gemma does. You can't make me."

"Yes." Felicity is giggling through her bulldog face. "And everywhere people will say, 'They use to be so attractive. Pity about that lip problem.'"

I can't help it. I start to laugh. They roll on the ground with me then, the four of us screaming and making the most asinine faces imaginable till we're exhausted and it's time to go.

The door appears, and we slip one by one through the portal. I'm the last to go. My skin is beginning to tingle with the door's breath-stopping energy when I catch sight of Mother holding the little girl's hand. Beneath the large white pinafore, the girl's dress is colorful and unusual. Not something one would see at an English girls' school. Interesting that I've never noticed it.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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