After a long flight, Slyder returned to Lydia's cave. "I found her, mistress," he said with a bow.

"Where is she?" Lydia scoffed. "I'm in no mood for games."

Slyder fumbled for the mirror he had collected. "Here, here. She's hiding in the mirror. I saw her singing."

"Oh, really?" She took the mirror and put on a nice facade. "Melody... Auntie Lydia would like to have a word with you. Melody?" All she saw was her increasingly agitated face staring back at her. She turned to Slyder and yelled "Where did you find this?"

"She was singing with two other girls near a cottage," Slyder whimpered. "One with light hair and one with dark hair."

"Take me to them."

.  .  .

Before us stretched a field of flowers, which was ten times bigger than our former garden, and framed with mountains. I inhaled the scent of wildflowers and sighed. "It's beyond
beautiful." The intoxicating flowers reminded me of how tired I was. Hopefully we would run into a town soon.

I pulled out Melody to check how much farther we had to walk. "We made it," she said happily. "The Valley of Flowers! There should also be a village just beyond those hills."

We definitely wouldn't get there until sundown at least. Better keep moving. Just as I started walking again, Alexa grabbed my arm and pointed at a rustling bush. I hid Melody in my
basket.

"Snake!"

I doubted there were snakes way out here. Then again, I didn't exactly know where "here" was. Could it be dangerous?

A Cocker Spaniel puppy anticlimactically fell out of the bush.

"Cutest snake I've ever seen," I laughed, bending down to pick up the puppy.

"Okay, okay, I was only trying to protect you," Alexa grumbled. Her face lit up as she lifted a second dog from the ground, this time a white Terrier. "Aw, look at you? Aren't you the cutest thing?"

Admittedly, it was strange to find two random dogs in the middle of nowhere, but I had a talking mirror in my basket so I was ready to accept anything.

"Where'd they come from?" I asked Alexa. "There's nobody around for miles."

"They must be lost." She shrugged. "Look, they're friends!"

The two dogs had wiggled out of our arms and were now playing.

"We can't leave them here. They'll starve." I bit my lip. Saving the puppies would mean two more mouths to feed.

"Hey, that tickles!" Melody laughed.

The Cocker Spaniel dragged her out of the basket and licked her.

I scooped up the dog and held Melody in my free hand. "What do you think, Melody? She's a keeper, right?"

Melody gave a goofy grin. "Aw, look at her sparkly little eyes. You have to keep her."

"Sparkles, I like that. I hereby name you Sparkles." The Cocker Spaniel looked at me, perking up at her new name.

I glanced over at Alexa, who was letting her new dog lick every inch of her face. "And what should we call this little one?" she put on a baby voice. "Your name is Lily, like the
beautiful flower, yes it is!"

"Can we please keep them?" pleaded Melody.

"I think we have room for two more," I said. No point saying no now that they had names. "Oh, I bet you little guys are hungry though, aren't you?"

Alexa groaned. "Don't even talk about food. My stomach has been rumbling for miles."

"Ah, so that's what I was hearing," Melody said. "I thought it was thunder."

I poked Alexa's stomach. "Or stampeding horses."

"Enough." Her face flushed.

"Or jump roping elephants," Melody added.

"Ugh."

Like I predicted, we arrived in town at sunset. It was rush hour; people flooded the streets, mingling and laughing and eating together. And the smell—

"It smells like roast chicken," Alexa sighed.

"Yeah, I'm starving."

"Go ahead, you haven't eaten all day," said Melody.

That wasn't the issue. "We'd love to, but we don't have any money," I said.

Of course, we had to stop at a restaurant just then. "That's where the smell's coming from."

We gawked at the people eating inside, but we couldn't help it.

"Am I drooling? I think I'm drooling." Alexa pointed at her mouth and frowned. Her bottom lip stuck out slightly with a pout, and she was indeed drooling. I nodded and quickly turned, watching her wipe her mouth in the corner of my eye. Now was not the time.

A short, bearded man stormed out the restaurant door and turned to us. "Have you seen 'em?" he nearly shouted. "Well, have you?"

"Who?" I asked.

"Those good-for nothin' musicians! They were due here an hour ago. I should never have hired 'em." He started to pace. "I told myself, 'Edgar, don't hire those rascals again.' Oh, but did I listen to myself? No!"

From inside, I could hear customers yelling "When are they coming?" One person threw a plate of mashed potatoes at Edgar, who dodged.

"They're getting restless." He turned to shout back, "Hold your horses, they're coming!"

Now was our chance. "Actually, they're here. That is, we're here," I said. "We're the substitute rascals—uh, musicians"

"We are?"

I shot Alexa a look. "We are. We're very good, and we'll only cost you..." I faltered.

"A meal. I mean, two meals," Alexa said, finally catching on. "And two doggie bags?"

"Hmm, how do I know you can play?" Edgar stroked his beard.

A man inside yelled "Where's the music?" and a glass shattered.

Edgar flinched. "You're hired."

The riots were worse inside. Long tables facing a stage were filled with arguing customers, apparently convinced that they would die or kill without music serenading them while they ate. For a humble village, the residents seemed pretty stuck-up.

Somebody threw more mashed potatoes at us, and they hit the wall.

"Think I could get them to throw some gravy this way?" Alexa said wistfully.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on."

Edgar handed us two guitars and ushered us on stage.

I could feel my face becoming hot. We've never performed in front of anyone else before.

"Good evening," I said, trying to get the restless diners' attention.

"Hello," Alexa squeaked.

Nobody looked our way.

I exhaled and started to sing.

As we sang of our journey for the Diamond Castle, the audience settled.

Can't go back so we gotta go on
We'll stick together, staying strong
There's a diamond castle in my mind
And someday soon, we're gonna find it

Not bad for a song made up on the spot. Before I knew it, the song was over and the audience cheered.

"Thank you," said Alexa. "And for our next number... mashed potatoes."

Edgar appeared with two plates of food for our work.

"We're going to take a little break," she finished.

Edgar led us to a table and served us. "You've earned your keep."

"Thank you," Alexa and I said in unison. We dug in, and I noticed two men approaching us.

I thought I was seeing double, but no—they were twins. They both had pushed-back dark hair, cocky grins, and similar outfits, one with a red vest and one with a blue vest. And they had guitars slung over their shoulders. Great, were these the "rascals" Edgar had been talking about?

"Two maidens were stealing a gig from two men," sang the one in blue.

"Whose singing was magic," replied the one in red.

"They both were so handsome."

"How did you get to be so good-looking?"

"Genetics."

"Ah."

They continued to sing about how pretty they were and how Alexa and I belonged with them. I rolled my eyes.

A woman then came from behind the twins and poured a pitcher of water on Red's head.

"That's for leaving without a goodbye," she huffed and stormed off.

"Sorry, that was meant for me," said Blue.

Red shook off some of the water. "I feel for you."

By then, Alexa and I had finished eating. "Far be it from us to spoil a happy reunion," I said, standing. "Come on, Alexa."

"No,no, my apologies," said Blue. "That was ancient history."

"Uh, Ian?" said Red, pointing to another woman about to throw food at them. They ducked, and the plate landed on Edgar instead.

"Smells like mashed potatoes, too," said Alexa. She took my hand and we gladly left the restaurant and its strange regulars.