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“That must be the Pool of Yearning.”

“Yep,” Dewey agreed, leaping into the air and landing on Paige’s shoulder again. “Come on. Let’s get the water and get the heck out of this crazy place.”

Paige nodded and took a step forward before she stopped. “Wait. How are we supposed to collect the water? We don’t have a vial or anything.”

Dewey flexed his jaw, tracing his jawline with a finger as he thought. “We need a container.”

“No kidding. And we don’t have any. We should have asked Prince What’s-his-name for something.”

“Maybe we could politely ask the Fright Fairy for one.”

“Oh, right,” Paige with, pressing her hand against her forehead, “that’s a wonderful idea. We’ll ask the horrible fairy who guards the pond if we can have a vial to steal her water. I was hoping to avoid this Fairy of Fright, if you don’t mind.”

“Well,” Dewey said, launching off Paige’s shoulder, “we need to find a container of some kind, then. Spread out and look around.”

Paige wandered off the path into the grass, searching for a container with which to carry the water. “This is ridiculous! We’re not going to find a vial just lying around in the grass.”

“Here we go,” Dewey shouted, darting up into the air and waving a crystal vial in the air.

Paige stuck her hands on her hips. “Are you kidding me? Why would there be a crystal vial in the grass?”

“This book is filled with all sorts of creatures, small and large,” Dewey said as he rejoined her on the path. “I figured someone must have dropped something somewhere.”

“Seriously? Some elf dropped his crystal vial in the grass?”

“Mmm, probably not an elf, but–“

Paige waved her hands in the air before running them over her hair. “Never mind. Let’s just get this water and get back to the castle.”

“Right,” Dewey said, handing her the vial. “Now, when you go up–“

“Wait,” Paige said, snapping her gaze at him, “what do you mean when I go up? We’re in this together.”

“It makes more sense for only one of us to go. Way better chance of not getting caught. Also, faster.”

Paige thrust the vial back toward Dewey. “All right. You go.”

“Why me? You’ve got a sword!”

“And you’ve got a walking stick with a knife. You’re quieter because you can fly.”

“Oh, no. My wings make an awful racket. Like an annoying buzzing sound that can be heard for miles. They’d hear me coming from a mile away.”

Paige’s features settled into a stony expression. She yanked the vial closer to her. “Fine. If I get killed, you’ll feel terrible.”

“Okay, okay,” Dewey said as she stepped forward. “We’ll go together.”

Paige gave him a tight-lipped smile before they joined hands and inched forward to the pool. They approached the bank. Water gently lapped at the edge.

Dewey raised a finger to his lips, then tapped it toward the water. Paige nodded, slowly uncapping the vial. With the stopper clutched in her left hand, she eased herself down into a low squat and stretched her arm toward the water.

She hesitated for a moment, with the vial hovering over the water. She slid her eyes to Dewey. He gave her a thumbs up. She returned the gesture, then blew out a long breath and dipped the vial into the water.

Air bubbled up to the surface as water forced its way into the vial. Paige lifted it from the water and slid the stopper into place. The light-blue water glowed from within the glass container. She shot a glance at Dewey and grinned, giving him a thumbs-up.

He flashed two thumbs-up back and jabbed a finger back the way they came. Paige pressed her still-smiling lips together and nodded. She turned her back on the pool and took one step when the sound of splashing water met their ears.

“Stop there,” a sweet female voice said.