Page 54

At last, the fever broke, and Dorothy returned.

“Auntie Em! Auntie Em? Where am I?”

Emily stirred. For a moment she didn’t know if she was awake or dreaming as she raised her head from the end of the bed.

“Dorothy! You’re awake!” She rushed to her, stroking her face and smoothing the hair from her forehead. “Oh, Dorothy, dear, we’ve been so worried. You’re in the hospital.”

“Am I hurt?”

“You’ve been very sick. After the dust storm—do you remember? We were so afraid. How do you feel?”

Dorothy rubbed her head. “A little strange. I had such a curious dream, and you were all there. You, and Uncle Henry, and Toto and…”

Emily shushed and soothed her. “That’s right, dear. We were all there. Keeping you safe. But you need to rest now, get your strength up.”

“Where’s Toto?” Dorothy tried to sit up. “Oh, Auntie Em. Did Miss West take him away?”

“Toto is fine, dear. He’s with Uncle Henry. Toto stayed with you at the creek until Uncle Henry found you both.”

At this, Dorothy relaxed a little. “Is Miss Adelaide still here? She was in my dream too, except, she wasn’t Miss Adelaide, she was a good witch. And Lion was there, and my tin man, and one of the scarecrows from the fields. And Mommy’s silver shoes really were magical…”

Emily smiled and brushed a curl from Dorothy’s cheek, so pleased to hear her tell her little stories again. “Gosh! What an adventure you had! And, yes, dear. Adelaide is still here. She will be so happy to see you!”

“And Mr.Stregone?”

Emily shook her head. “He had to leave. Remember?”

Dorothy thought for a moment. “My, people come and go so fast around here.” A frown formed across her brow as she looked at Emily. “I’m not sure he was a magic man at all, Auntie Em.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I saw him hiding under the stage that day when Pieter asked him to disappear. He didn’t really disappear at all, did he?”

Emily put her arm around Dorothy’s shoulder. “You know, I think the idea of magic is sometimes more important than the magic itself.” She reached into her purse. “He left something for you. Adelaide found it in the cockpit of the Jenny after the dust storm.”

Dorothy took the package of brown paper and untied the string. Inside was a carnival token, and a note.

“What does it say?” Emily asked, intrigued and a little anxious to know what he’d written.

Dorothy read the words. “?‘Magic is everywhere. Coraggio, Dorothy. Courage, always.’?” The coin was imprinted with the words “Good Luck Will Accompany the Bearer.” “What do you think it means?” Dorothy asked as she studied the coin.

“I think it means exactly what it says. That it’s a lucky coin,” Emily said.

“Then I’ll keep it very safe.” Dorothy leaned back against her pillow, suddenly tired again.

“You rest now,” Emily said as she tucked the blankets around her. “We’ll go home as soon as you’re feeling stronger.”

“In my dream, I wasn’t in Kansas anymore,” she said. “But all the time I was away, I was trying to find my way back home.”

“To Kansas?”

Dorothy looked at Emily. “Yes. All I wanted was to get back to you and Uncle Henry, so we would all be together again. But I don’t think it matters where that is.”