“You must be kidding,” she said.

“Sorry, Triana, I tell you only what I hear,” the messenger said, shrugging. “The Calanti children have definitely gotten lost in the woods. Again.”

“But...but...they’re supposed to help their parents turn the year-spell this time! Kareil and Dominic are getting older, and their power’s fading. They need those kids!”

“Yes, yes, I know, and it’d take too long for them to find their way back home by themselves. You know, we could always help—”

“What?! Are you crazy?” Triana interrupted him. She fluttered her wings. “Nobody knows we’re here! If word got out that there were still pixies living in Eseldine Wood...”

“Well, Triana, you know we have to do something,” the messenger said.

“Yes, I know, I know. I’m thinking,” she snapped at him.

“Maybe if we led their parents to them...?” he offered.

She chewed her lip. “Hmm, yes, but how? That’s the question. Yearend is tomorrow. The spell must be used that night, or else the alignment’s wrong. Oh, I just don’t know...”

“Make a trail for them, like the children might have left?”

“I know,” she cried, snapping her fingers. “We could leave bits of torn cloth, and maybe a toy or two, that lead to the children! Where are they, anyway?”

Zee rolled his eyes. “They’re napping by that old willow tree with the twisted bark.”

“Ooh, good. That’ll make it easier. Let’s go!”

He stared at her for a moment, then shrugged and flew to catch up, grabbing Ren and Grenni on his way.

“What’s going on?” Ren asked.

Zee motioned toward Triana. “The Calanti kids got lost again, and we have to help their parents find them in time for Yearend.”

Grenni sighed. “It figures. Five years is just too long for something not to go wrong. So what is she gonna do about it? Don’t tell me she’s gonna give herself away to humans.”

“No, we’re going to make a trail for Kareil and Dominic to follow. It shouldn’t be that hard, actually.”

“Yeah,” Ren chuckled. “Getting Mom and Dad to follow the trail, now that’s the problem.”

Let me tell you, the Calanti’s are not the most alert people in the world. How do you think their two kids managed to get lost in a forest they’ve played in since they could walk?

By the time the three pixies got to the children, Triana was already busy ripping chunks out of their clothes.

“Oh, there you are,” she said. She handed Grenni a doll. “Here, put this next to that tall rock, by the creek. You know the one.”

“Oomph! Yeah, I know which one you’re talking about. Is that close enough?”

“Hope so. Any closer, I think, and they wouldn’t need a trail to find the kids. They snore louder than a bear!”

Zee laughed. “Here, you want me to take some of that cloth and hang it on some brambles?”

“Yes, put it on the thorns next to that old oak, and—”

He interrupted her. “I think I can figure it out, thanks.”

Triana shrugged and went back to work. Pretty soon, the pixies had made a trail a blind man would trip over. And believe me, the effort was necessary. Kareil and Dom might as well have been blind, for all that they paid attention to what was going on around them. The pixies paid a visit to their house. Sure enough, Dom was napping by the fire, and Kareil was knitting, oblivious, in the living room.

“Great,” Grenni said. “Now how are we supposed to get their attention, without getting their attention, if you get my meaning?”

“I don’t know,” Triana said, shrugging. “I was hoping it would come to me.”

Zee groaned. He exchanged a look with Grenni, then looked at Ren. Except Ren wasn’t there.

“Crap! Ren!” he called, “Where on earth did you go?”

All of a sudden, someone knocked at the door. The three darted behind a chair.

“Lee! Lee!” Kareil called from her seat. “Lee, get the door, would you sweetie? Lee? Hmph!” she grumbled. “Off catching a frog I guess. “Rose! Rose, dear, get the door, please! Rose?”

Annoyed, she finally set down her knitting and went to the door herself. “Huh!” she said, confused. There was no one there. “Must have left,” she muttered to herself. “Got tired of waiting. I’d better go see what those two kids are up to.”

Zee and Grenni looked at each other. “Ren!”

Sure enough, he popped out from behind the door. “Ha ha, that should do it!”

“Nice thinking, Ren!” Zee said. “Let’s go back to the woods and wait for them, to make sure they find the kids.”

The four pixies zipped to the willow where the two children slept. And yes, they were still sleeping. Despite the cold and the fact that Triana had torn quite a few chunks out of their clothing. Oh well, talented folk tended to be a bit absentminded.

“I hear someone coming!” Triana said, and darted behind the tree. And yes, there was Kareil stomping through the woods, making more noise than a herd of treelephants. They watched and listened, hoping that Kareil would stick to the path they had marked. She didn’t.

“Oh, look!” Kareil exclaimed. “Rose’s doll! You know, I bet she went to the stream to play on the ice!”

The pixies looked at each other in alarm.

“That does it!” Triana said. “I’ve had enough of those lumbering humans messing things up!”

“Um, Triana, wait, what are you doing--?” Zee tried to stop her, but he wasn’t quick enough. He put a hand over his face and shook his head in consternation. He was almost afraid to watch...

SNAP!!

The report of a breaking branch rang through the forest. Zee looked around. Triana had used every ounce of strength in her to break one of the smaller willow branches that had fallen to the ground near the children. They woke up.

Zee, Grenni, and Ren froze for an instant, then hid in the branches.

Under the tree, Rose yawned. “Lee, wake up. Where are we?”

Lee sat up and blinked. “I dunno. Sitting under a willow tree. Mom!! Dad!”

Kareil turned around. Zee rolled his eyes upward in thanks and relief.

“Lee, honey, is that you? Where are you?” She hurried over to where the children were sitting underneath the tree. “Didn’t I tell you not to go wandering in the woods in the winter?”

“Yes, mother,” they chimed in chorus.

“Well, we’d better get along home. Yearend’s tomorrow, you know. Now, how do we get back?”

The pixies stared at each other in horror. Not again...