Carolinecould feel a tug at the necklace. The last thing she rememberedwas a sudden light, heat, and force that pushed her to the ground.Unwilling to lose the necklace, she clutched it as hard as she couldbefore she blacked out.
Now,Caroline could feel the air and hear the sounds of a late summernight. She could tell she was in someone's arms and she couldfeel the rise and fall of their chest as whoever it was breathed.
Carolineopened her eyes and immediately saw who was carrying her. Shegrew excited when she recognized the same white hair from justearlier that night. Because they were in the moonlight,Caroline could see everything clearly.
Sothis was the wizard? Caroline was surprised to see that he wasreally rather young. After seeing his white hair, she thoughthe must've been old. His hair was wavy and slightly longish,but it didn't touch his shoulders. His skin was tan and hiseyes were dark blue. For whatever reason, he seemed unhappy. Was it because Caroline had finally seen him?
Carolinelooked to her left and realized they were nearing the farm. Thetrees were thinning, and near the last of the trees, the wizardcarefully set Caroline down. Standing in front of him, Carolinecould now see what he was wearing. He had a knee-length darkpurple robe that had a hood, silver shirt, and white pants. Forfootwear he wore a pair of sandals with straps that laced around hisfeet to his ankles.
Henodded towards the farm, "Run along now."
Notonly was Caroline surprised at his appearance, but she was surprisedat his voice. He hadn't spoken before, so she had assumed hisvoice was unpleasant. On the contrary, his voice matched hisappearance well, and Caroline liked the sound.
"Whydidn't you come meet me before?" Caroline asked.
Thewizard's face grew red and he simply reiterated, "Runalong."
Carolinewas confused, "Why won't you answer my questions?"
Hewas quiet for some time. Finally, he sighed, "Please, just goback home now. Trust me, there's nothing you need to knowabout me. Just go home before someone notices you'regone."
Carolinewasn't sure how to take what he said. She turned around andmade her way to the fence. Before climbing over she took onelast glance back at the wizard. He had his arm around the treeand was watching. Caroline proceeded over the fence and wentback to her house, aware of the wizard watching her the whole way.
Thenext morning Caroline wasn't sure whether to tell her mother or notabout the wizard. She decided not to, but was so excited thatshe felt she had to tell someone. As soon as her chores weredone, Caroline rode to town. She was looking for her friends,although Eva had sent her to meet Jake and Derek.
AsCaroline neared the school, she saw the teachers. One was themayor's son. He was in his late twenties or early thirties. He had brilliant green eyes and blonde hair that almost seemedsilver. He always had a serious look. He wore a greenargyle shirt and darker green pants, as well as a pair of shiny blackshoes. The adults called him Geo, and the students called himMr. Geo. Everyone assumed it was short for Geoffrey, but no onewas sure because he was never called Geoffrey.
The otherteacher was a little younger, nineteen at youngest. Compared to mostof the other townsfolk she had dark skin, although her skin wasn'tvery dark. As Caroline looked at her teacher now, she realizedher skin was only a bit darker than the wizard's. The femaleteacher had curly black hair with one white lock, and dark browneyes. She was wearing a blue dress and a pair of white shoesthat went with the dress. Her name was Luna, and the studentscalled her Miss Luna.
"What'son your mind?" Luna asked, noticing Caroline's excitement.
"Lastnight I met the wizard!" Caroline exclaimed. Luna and Geowere the ones who told the children of the wizard, so Caroline feltit was okay to tell them.
"Thewizard?" Geo replied as he approached, "Really?"
Carolineexcitedly nodded, "Yeah; he has white hair and tan skin and darkblue eyes and he wears a dark purple robe and white pants andsandals, and looks about your age!"
Geoand Luna exchanged a surprised look.
"Whatdid he say about your necklace?" Geo asked.
Carolinelooked down at the necklace she was now wearing, "He didn't sayanything about it. He just told me to go home before anyonenoticed I was gone and that there's nothing I need to know abouthim."
Geomumbled something.
"Whatexactly happened last night?" Luna asked.
"Well,"Caroline started, "I went into the forest as usual and said thatstar-rhyme-thing. I followed the path of starlight and I heldup my necklace to show the wizard, and I told him about it. Inever see him, but I always talk to him, so this was pretty normal. Then, I saw some of his hair, and I went around the tree to seehim, but he was moving around it just as fast as I was. When Iwas back on the path he wouldn't cooperate with me at all! Ifinally decided to turn around if he really didn't want to be seen,and wanted a better look at my necklace. For whatever reason hegasped, and I turned around to see him, but he was back in thedarkness of the trees before I could."
She paused for a breath, "Then I saw this lightfrom farther in the forest and went to it. It was amazing! Inthe mountain were tons of little balls of light. I don't knowwhat happened though, because out of nowhere everything got reallybright and hot, and there was this force-type-thing that knocked meto the ground. I held on really tightly to my necklace andeverything went black. The next thing I knew, I was in theforest and the wizard was carrying me back to the fence that marksthe edge of the farm."
Geoshook his head and Luna seemed surprised.
"Interesting,"Geo commented.
"Thankyou for sharing that with us," Luna added.
"Whyis he so rude?" Caroline asked.
Lunashook her head, "Why, dear, he's not rude. He's just shyis all. Sometimes someone is so shy they seem rude, but reallyaren't."
"Oh,"Caroline replied.
Geoand Luna then went into the school together, but Caroline wasn'tsure why, seeing as there was no one else there.
"Caroline!"
Carolinelooked down the road to see her father, brother, and a horse. Thehorse wasn't being ridden, and didn't even have any tack on it. The horse was grey and white with a dark grey and white maneand tail, and light blue eyes. For whatever reason, Derekdidn't seem happy.
"Dadsaid I can't ride her around yet!" Derek explained. He andCaroline were sitting in the grass and watching the family'shorses, including Derek's new one.
"Whynot?" Caroline asked, "isn't she broken?"
Dereknodded, "Just about; I'm sure of it. Dad said that it won'tbe the same being on her as it was in Whisper Hollow because inWhisper Hollow I got on her in a creek. I'm sure she trustsme enough now, but Dad thinks I'm rushing, and that breaking ahorse takes more time."
"Haveyou decided on a name for her yet?" Caroline asked.
"Nah,"Derek replied.
"Let'sname her," Caroline declared.
"I'mtoo mad to name her now." Derek replied, "I wish I was an adult. Then I could make the rules and ride her all around."
Carolinesighed, "Well, if you want to ride her so bad, then take her intothe forest where no one'll see."
Derekshook his head, "She won't be able to get over the fence."
"Thengo to where the Osiani family lives and go into the forest fromthere," Caroline said.
Dereksmiled, "Alright, an' you can come with me!"
Carolinenodded. Derek quickly grabbed the rope that the horse was tiedto. He and Caroline then told their parents they were going toshow off Derek's new horse, and they were off.
Thesiblings walked through town with the horse. They passed theschool, and then they could see the dock. They kept going andcame to an inn and a general store, as well as a tailor, a postoffice, and the restaurant that Candace's father owned. Therewere few people to see Derek's new horse here. There wasCandace, her little blonde haired and brown-eyed sister, Melody, andTomi- a shy teenager with dark red hair and deep blue eyes who workedat her grandmother's tailor shop.
Afterthat, Derek and Caroline went to the county. In the countythere were some houses, a pond, and at the center was an area for theresidents to keep horses for getting around. Here they sawHeath and Finny, as well as a boy that most people called "Mustard". Mustard's real name was Mathieu, and he was a green-eyed,dirty-blonde who was about five years old. He was thecarpenter's youngest son. It wasn't long before Carolineand her brother made it to where the carpenter lived.
Thecarpenter was a big man with black hair and hazel eyes named Stefan. He and his wife, a green-eyed blonde named Kirsten, were intheir house. Their children were outside. Mustard was inthe county, but he had two older siblings who never strayed far fromhome. The oldest was a teenager named Lucas. Luc lookedjust like his father, but wasn't as big and didn't have amustache. The middle child was a twelve-year-old named Amber. She had dark red hair and hazel eyes. She was very wild,and was always dressed like a pirate with a red bandana on her head. Amber had suggested to name the horse Seadog, and Derek decidedto do so.
Oncein the forest, Derek took the lead rope and made it into reins. Hethen climbed onto his horse and helped Caroline get up onto the mare. Almost as soon as Caroline was on, Seadog began charging away.
Caroline was terrified, and she held on tight to her brother.
Thehorse finally slowed and came to a stop. Derek and Caroline gotoff the horse and sat on the ground for several minutes. Derekfinally got up and helped his sister up.
"Doyou know where we are?" Derek asked with awe in his voice.
Carolineshook her head, "No."
Derektold her, "We're at the Moon Pool."
Carolineremembered hearing Geo and Luna tell them about the Moon Pool. Itwas a place where if you threw something that you valued extremelymuch into the pool, and made a wish, the next time the full moon wouldshine on the pool, your wish would come true. As far as Carolineknew, no one had been to the Moon Pool, but if the wizard reallyexisted, why shouldn't the Moon Pool?
Derekwent up to the pool. He then looked back at Caroline.
"What?"Caroline asked as she came up to her brother.
"Youtreasure that necklace?" Derek asked.
Carolinenodded, "Yes."
"D'Youtreasure it," Derek questioned, "a whole lot?"
Carolinenodded.
"Takeit off," Derek commanded.
"Why?"Caroline asked.
"'CauseI said so!" Derek replied, "Now take it off!"
"Makeme!" Caroline cried out.
Derekthen wrestled his sister to the ground, and fought with her until hehad the necklace. When it was in his hands, Derek threw it intothe pool and yelled, "I wish things happened differently, so thatthe farm was mine, and I made the rules, and I was an adult!"
Carolinewatched her necklace fall into the pool and cause ripples to go tothe edge of the pond.
"Derek!"Caroline screeched, "Why did you do that?"
"'CauseI had a chance to change things and I took it!" Derek said, "Nowlet's go."
Carolineangrily followed her brother as he grabbed Seadog's lead rope, andled his horse and sister away. While they weren't too faraway, the siblings and horse heard a splash behind them. Theystopped and ran back to the pool.
~~~
Heand Toad had been walking up here when the children came riding overto the pool. Toad was in the pool, and he was in the forest,where he watched the children. As soon as they left he hadjumped into the pool to find the necklace.
Heheard the children coming back, so he grabbed onto Toad, who was atthe bottom of the pool, and held his breath. He felt the urgeto breathe, like his lungs needed air. In an effort not to trybreathing, he pressed his mouth to Toad's shell. It felt likeforever before he could hear a new voice, a voice he recognized,telling the children to leave.
"Alright,Quasar, you can come out now." The voice said after severalminutes.
Helet go of Toad and thrashed to the surface, where he then made hisway to the shore. As soon as he reached dry land, he fell tohis hands and knees and began coughing up water.
"Wasit really that bad?" Geo asked, "After all, you can't die. Notfrom drowning anyway."
Helooked up at Geo for a moment and said, "That doesn't make itpleasant," then he began coughing again.
Geofolded his arms and shook his head, "Are you really thatdesperate?"
Therewas no answer but coughing. Geo looked down at him beforeturning and leaving. Toad slowly made his way to his owner.