Ferry headed towards Matilda's house, thinking that seeing his friend might be a good way to forget about the fright he's been through the night before. It was a sunny day, and the boy thought that playing outside would be good for him. They were to pick up Ben, too and spent the whole day together. But his legs didn't seem to listen. He sped up, but instead of stopping, he passed by Matilda's house. It was as if something was pushing him from behind. After he left behind the last house in town, he was already running. And soon enough, he reached the wall of trees at the foot of the northern hills.

When he passed on the other side, the veiled lady's bright garden greeted him with a soft wind blow. No trace of the lady of the house, as usual. Ferry went round the cottage to the back door. It was open. He pushed it and came in. Deep inside, he wished the veiled lady would be home. Yet, he didn't know what to expect. With her, he could expect anything.

This time, the chamber was somehow lit by the sunlight which was penetrating the old, cracked window shutters. The room was silent, only an old clock ticking above the fireplace. The entire place was an inside garden. The walls were covered with climbing flowers and ivy. He felt his feet sinking in the moss carpet covering the room's floor.

In the middle, he discovered the oak table where Lavender Sky left the feathers for him. It was surrounded by four chairs, a colorful pillow on each one. Ferry touched the table with his gloved hand. The table was engraved; scratched, better yet. On a better look, he saw there were children's drawings all over the table. There were unicorns and fantastic birds and beasts he's never seen before. He studied the drawings more carefully. And to his surprise, he found a raven-man among them. His raven. The scratches seemed old. Who drew them? And why?

He took a step back to have a better look at the drawings. That's when he bumped into something. Or someone. He slowly turned, his heart skipping random beats, and discovered a still silhouette behind him. Someone with a funny hat, decorated with magical feathers, and a grey, long hair falling like a river. He stepped away from the silhouette, his heart racing. But the silhouette didn't move. Ferry dared to make one step closer. He then realized it wasn't the old lady at all. It was a... dummy, like the ones he saw in Mr. Button's tailor shop. The things couldn't get weirder...

He noticed a wooden cupboard covering an entire wall, with the shelves full of boxes and small boxes, cups, mugs, plates and saucers, and teapots. They were all made of the whitest, finest porcelain he had ever seen, adorned with painted bright flowers. No trace of dust, a sign that someone took great care of them. They looked precious to that person, whoever it was. But the jolly porcelain objects were not the ones to capture his attention. Nor the fire burning in the fireplace, spreading warmth and a sweet fir scent. Not even the tin cauldron, hung on a hook over the fire, where a vegetable soup was bubbling. There were actually some photos above the fireplace that caught his eye. Old photos, yellowed by the time, with silver frames just as old.

A man showed up in most of the photos. At first, the man was young, with strong arms and vibrant, sparkling eyes, smiling with confidence. In the next photos, however, the time had left its marks on his face and body because his hair was gray and his face wrinkled. Yet, he looked just as happy and confident. But with each photo, he looked older and sadder His eyes were empty. His smile looked frozen on his lips.

Yet, it was not the man in the photos to intrigue him the most. It was the silhouette appearing in every photo, arm in arm with the man. It was a being of light, its facial features blurry and dim. Only the long hair was hard not to be noticed, floating all the way to the waist, as bright as the light. Another two beings of light, smaller this time, were appearing in the next pictures. In the last one, the man was gone, only the three beings of light. Watching the last photo, Ferry felt his heart heavy and an endless sadness came upon him. He thought about the house as the strangest he had ever seen, about how odd he made him feel. Yet, how home it felt...

Ferry then noticed that even the nails in the walls were made of silver. There was not a single iron object in the house. Yet, he kept his gloves on, thinking he should be careful in a foreign house.

"You can take off your gloves," he heard that gentle voice again, coming from somewhere behind him. "There is no iron in this house."

Ferry turned to the place the voice came from. The veiled lady was there, hidden in a dark corner of the room, protected by the heavy, dark curtain.

For a second, he thought about running. But something made him stay still. He couldn't move, like under a spell. He could barely breathe.

"Please don't be afraid," the voice continued. "I know you wonder why I brought you here. You probably think I'm just a mad old woman looking for company. That's what the people in town think. But they don't know me. Nobody knows me... Anymore..."

Ferry thought about saying something. Anything. "I'm sorry I broke into your house that night," he muttered. "If I could turn back time─"

The veiled lady laughed; a burst of sweet and gentle laughter which made the surrounding air vibrate. "You came to me that night because I wanted you to come. As for the time─ You can't play with time... Someone like you should know that. But that's a different story..."

"Someone like me?" Ferry wondered.

"Yes, someone like you. I'm sure you realized by now how different you are. That you're seeing things other people can't. And even if they do, they can't understand them. Because they are humans..."

The veiled lady took a step closer, still in the shadow of the black corner.

"What I'm going to tell you is going to make you think. Trouble you, maybe. I don't expect you to believe me, you just have to give my sayings a serious thought. And in time, you'll see that I was right."

"What are you talking about?" Ferry asked, now really intrigued.

"You see, Ferry, you are not an ordinary boy. Actually, you're not a boy at all. Not a human boy, anyway," the voice continued from the dark corner. "You're a fairy. In fact, I believe that's what you were trying to tell everyone who called you by your human name. That you were a fairy. But they misunderstood; they thought you wanted them to call you Ferry. And it has remained your name ever since. But that is not your real name."

"I know it is not my real name," Ferry dared to speak. "My real name is Andrew Donovan..."

But the veiled lady was untroubled, "That is your name as a human. But not your fairy name."

Ferry felt a weakness in his legs. He slowly sat in the armchair in front of the fire.

"How do you know that?" he whispered.

"When you came into this world, there were signs," she continued. "I felt something is going to happen. Something big..."

"You felt when I was born?" asked Ferry.

"No, not when you were born. For you were not born here. You were switched. You took the place of the Donovan child."

Ferry was not understanding a word she was saying. "What do you mean switched?"

"You're a changeling, Ferry. A fairy's child who took the place of a human child. And your parents are not actually your parents."

"But if I'm a fairy, why can't I fly? Why don't I have wings? I thought only girls could be fairies. I can't even spread pixie dust."

Lavender Sky laughed, "Fairies are both girls and boys. Both male and female, just like humans. As for the wings... Fairies don't have wings. People imagined they were winged creatures because they saw them flying. Then, people tried to depict their flight. That's why in every fairy tale book you'll see fairies with insect wings. But can you imagine such fragile wings having to lift in the air those heavy bodies? It's ridiculous. As for you flying, you will fly when the time shall come. But only when your powers will be brought out. And that can only happen in fairyland.

"You see, you spent so much time among humans, you're more of a human than a fairy. And the more you live in the world of humans, the more your fairy powers will weaken. Actually, deep inside, you know you can do things humans can't. But there are also dangers for a fairy living in humans' world. I'm sure you know by now that iron can hurt you. I'm sure you know your blood is different; it's white, not red like human blood. Iron objects can even kill a fairy. And if the fairy is wounded in this world, she or he could die. I know you've noticed how pale your skin is and how your hair is shining in the light. And you know you are the fastest runner or the biggest tree climber. Haven't you ever wondered why?"

Ferry shook his head. The veiled lady, even if a stranger, seemed to know him very well.

"But there are other things, strange, disturbing things only you can see. And that is not only your imagination, as Eileen Donovan would like you to think. She doesn't know you're not her real child. Although she sees how different you are, she persists in thinking you are her baby. She even made you believe that. Because that's how people are. Stubborn. They find it hard to believe things they do not know. Hard to accept what is different and strange, the things they cannot understand..."

The veiled lady said the last words wavering and Ferry could swear he felt sadness in her voice. The air in the room was soft and warm, making him feel dizzy. And for a second, Ferry thought he was dreaming. But then a log in the fire cracked, spreading sparkles around and Ferry was wide awake again.

"I don't know who you are and why you're telling me all these things," he said, trying to be polite, "but I don't think I'm a fairy. If I'm a fairy, then why can't I do magic, like Miss Summer said fairies do?"

"Oh, but you can do magic, dear," the veiled lady answered in a soft voice. "It's just that you spent so much time among humans you are close to becoming one. And you try to act like them, so you are denying any trace of magic living inside you. But all the strange creatures you saw, all the weird occurrences you've been through are because of the fairies. All because of the ones your kind."

Ferry raised from the warm armchair. He was now determined to leave. After all, maybe the people in town were right. That woman, whoever she was, was nothing but a lonely old woman. And her madness could have been caused by living alone for so long.

"I have to go," he said. "My mom is waiting for me. It was nice talking to you," he added, slowly moving towards the door. "Your stories are very... interesting."

"Wait!" the voice demanded. It was firm this time and Ferry had the feeling the woman was now much closer, which made him feel uncomfortable. "There are many other things you have to know. And so many dangers waiting for you. You have to be ready."

"NO!" Ferry objected. "I've listened enough. Now I really have to go. And how come you know all those things about me? How come you know so much about fairies? You are nothing but a lonely, old woman..." he almost shouted.

Outside it was dark already and Ferry headed towards the door with a firm pace. But the door closed by itself with a loud noise right in front of him. Ferry shuddered. From somewhere above him, a petal fell. Slowly, like in a dream. A silver petal, like those that were usually accompanying the veiled lady. Ferry turned slowly. Now he was frightened.

"Because I'm a fairy, too," he could hear her voice close.

And Ferry watched in awe how a whirlwind of silver flowers exploded in thousands of petals of light while from the middle of them emerged the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.