"Tomorrow we will tour the Palace," Ren told us. "But I am certain that you are all very hungry and tired. We'll enter the 'vator and take you to a special place that I think will make you feel right at home."

This place turned out to be an exact replica of the community park across from the Burns town hall. The keepers have an amazing ability to transform the environment to help any visitor feel comfortable. It was kind of like the keepers hospital, but instead of a meadow this area had been recreated specifically for us, their visitors from Burns. Our town hall park was the community gathering place for political events, church gatherings, picnics, band concerts, and fireworks on the 4th. There is a white bandstand gazebo with steps leading up to it. All around the bandstand were park benches, enough for a couple hundred people. Four large covered picnic areas were located on the points of the compass. The North Pavilion was always my favorite because Spenser's Creek was nearby. The clear water flowing over rocks was always soothin', and fun to wade in. Daddy always built a little dam of rocks to chill the watermelon and soft drinks in the cool water.

We were led into the park and over the neatly trimmed grass to the picnic area. They had setup the North Pavilion exactly as I recall it. It even had the blackboard where maintenance people would write in the name of the group reserving it for the day. They didn't miss a detail. The blackboard didn't even look new. It had that milky white color that comes from years of writing and erasing information. This time it said, "Welcome, Emma, Freck, and Wishes." Another tall Keeper, I was beginning to understand that keepers in generally were taller than the people I knew in Burns, was waiting for us by the center serving table. The fresh-scrubbed pine table was heavily loaded with waffles, eggs, grits, cinnamon rolls, donuts, and danish in five different flavors. There was milk, orange juice, hot chocolate for me and Freck, and coffee for the adults. There was ham, bacon, and sausage. I counted at least twenty different fruits. Any kid would love those beautiful pies, cakes, and other desserts. There was even homemade ice-cream in an old-fashioned hand-crank freezer. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

A beautiful black woman with short black hair wearing a spotless daisy print apron was standing just behind the feast. Apparently they have different races here too. She had an inviting smile warm as a blue morning glory opening to receive the rising sun. She held open her arms as she said, "Welcome. You have all been up all night and who knows when you have last had something to eat. We have prepared a meal for you with enough variety that we are certain you can find something to nourish and delight you."

She motioned that we should come in. The adults let us go first. Freck and I nearly tripped over ourselves getting to the table--we were famished. I was hungrier than I had ever been in my life. The two keepers helped us get glasses, plates, and utensils. We circled the table loading up on our favorites.

We had a choice of either sitting at the tables with the grownups or on comfy looking blankets spread out on the lawn. We chose the grass. We sat down. The conversation inside the pavilion was muted by the pleasant gurgle of the creek. The food was incredible. It was the best I ever had. I ate too much. Freck moaned that she did too. The morning was quite warm, birds were singing, and there was a smell of flowers (I think it was gardenias and honeysuckle) in the air. We were too full to sit up anymore so we laid back on the soft blankets and watched the clouds in the perfect blue sky. The adults were at the tables and we could hear them murmuring. It was a soft comforting sound. From somewhere there came the drone of bees gathering pollen. I don't know when it happened, but the conversation got softer, the buzzing less sharp, and the sunlight through my eyelids went from pink to gray, then gray to black, and I was out.

* * *

When I woke up, I wasn't in the park anymore. Startled, I sat straight up in my bed. I couldn't believe what I saw--I rubbed my eyes. It was my own bed, in my own room, in Burns. I shook myself wondering what happened to me after I fell asleep. How did I get here? Did they take me back to Burns? What if I never left at all? Could it be that our adventure was just a dream? Maybe there wasn't any Whistlin' Salamander, Keepers, or Solvers. Did I dream all of it! If so, it was the biggest, clearest dream I ever had. One thing was certain I wouldn't get this mystery solved until I got up.

I overheard a couple of people talking quietly in the kitchen. The warm smells of baking biscuits, simmering grits, and frying bacon were wafting under the door. Didn't I just eat a large breakfast in the park? Did I, or was that part of the dream too? My loud stomach rumble announced that it was hungry anyway, really hungry.

One of the voices belonged to Daddy, but the other was definitely a woman's. Who was she? I stumbled out of my room wiping the sleepy from my eyes, turned the corner into our bright sunflower-colored kitchen and saw them sitting on a chair from the shiny chrome legged dinette set. She was on his lap with her head on his shoulder. My daddy looked up as I shuffled into the room and whispered loud enough for me to hear, "Here he is."

She slid off his lap, rushed over, and hugged me. I found myself being twirled around in an impromptu dance as she said over and over, "Wishes! Wishes! Oh Wishes!"

It dawned on me, that this woman was my mother, my real mother. That's when I started to cry and choked out a strangled, "Momma?"

"Yes, Wishes, yes...I am. I am so very proud of you." We were both cryin' then. She sat down on one of the dinette chairs, held me, and rocked me back and forth. Daddy went over to check on the breakfast. I saw him pull out a tissue to dab at his eyes.

I felt just like a little baby. She hummed and rocked. It was perfect. Momma was finally home, and it was just the way I'd always imagined it would be. I knew I was too big for her to hold me like this for long. This was my momma, my long missing momma. It was too good to be true.

I had so many questions, "Momma?"

"Yes, dear."

"Where have you been?"

"Hush, Wishes, we will get into all that later. Let's just enjoy our time together and this great breakfast your daddy made for us."

That was all right by me. All my questions, worries, and fears could wait. Right now, I had everything I had ever wanted. I didn't want anything to spoil it. My chest was warm and I was sure I could feel my heart beating softly.

Daddy brought some of our old yellowed Mel Mac plates over to the table heaped high with really yummy looking stuff. I got down off her lap and sat in my seat and began to eat. It was delicious. "Daddy," I said, "this is the best breakfast I ever had."

"Well, thank you Wishes, keeper food does have special flavors that you cain't find at home. I'm partial to it too."

"Keeper food?" I was surprised. "Ain't we home? Ain't this our kitchen, in our house, in Burns?"

Daddy spoke, "No Wishes we are in the Palace of the Keepers."

As if answering my next unspoken question, he said, "The keepers have a way of reaching into our memories and re-creating places that make us the most comfortable. You can see that they matched our house right down to the last detail. If you should get up and go outside everything would look the same and be right where it should be. Elm Street with the bent over trees runs in front of here and the Motley's house is just two doors away. Just like in the real Burns. It is all for us. It's the Keepers way of making us feel safe, comfortable, and very welcome."

"Geez, that's what they did at the city park where we stopped to eat just an hour or so ago--huh?"

Daddy and Momma both laughed. She chuckled, "An hour or so ago? Why Wishes, that was yesterday, you've slept for over twenty-four hours."

"I did? But I thought the Keepers wanted to talk to us."

"They do, but you and Freck were so exhausted that they decided the best course was to let you both recover some first. How do you feel now?"

"I feel grrreat!" I mimicked Tony the Tiger like in the frosted flake cereal commercials.

They laughed together and said that they felt, "grrreat too."

When they quit chuckling, I asked, "What about Freck and Mizzus Anderton?"

Daddy said, "They all stayed over at the Motley's house."

"Momma, now that breakfast is over will you tell me what happened to you? Where have you been?"

I could tell that this was difficult for her. Mom's eyes got teary and her voice sunk a little lower. She looked me in the eyes and began, "Before you were born Wishes, I was sent by the Solvers on a mission to find a suitable candidate for in-depth briefings. I had to locate someone who was intelligent and willing to learn high-level observational skills. You see, the Keepers can learn quite a lot from watching and recording what they learn, but to really understand, it is best to have a human being's firsthand perspective."

"You mean like a spy?" I asked.

"No, Wishes, we try very hard to make sure we take into account every aspect of the knowledge we record. Spies collect information to use it against their enemies. People topside are not our enemies, they, you, and all the others are our responsibility.

"We all care very much about the human race and if the whole truth be told, we are more than a little jealous of your wild imaginations and creativity. We are terrific at recording, but we aren't the inventors, you are. For example, the children here really love the sport they call Freck-n-Wishes."

"Huh?"

"When the two of you strapped bars of soap onto your shoes and slid down Hawks Hill, we were watching. No one here could have come up with that idea. It was brilliant--dangerous--but brilliant. All kids get bored on rainy days and because of you two, they now have something really fun to do instead. They strap soap onto their shoes and slide down hills. The first one that makes it all the way to the bottom without falling yells, "Freck-n-Wishes!"

"Cool," I said. "I cain't wait to tell Freck."

"Of course, we've made it much safer. You two almost got killed. If  Ren wasn't there to rescue you, who knows, you might have drowned."

"You mean it was Ren who saved us, and he was the one no one could describe?"

"Yes."

"Why couldn't anyone remember what Ren looked like?"

"Well, people in the Kingdom may not be as creative as Topsiders, but we have other talents. It is important that we travel in your world and not upset the balance. Some of us have mental abilities to protect us and to keep our secrets. Ren is exceptional at casting memory fogs.

"You like Ren, don't you?" she said, her head tilted a little to the side to see my expression. Her long ash-blond hair almost reached the table top. She had a big smile on her face. It kind of reminded me of Ren. I didn't know how old she was but she appeared to be younger than Daddy, maybe early twenties and she smelled awfully nice.

I thought about Ren. I liked the way he showed us the water-vater by putting his arm in and pulling it out dry. He was very patient with me and answered all my questions with that genuine warm smile. "Ren is cool," I said.

"That's good that you like him because Ren is your uncle," She told me.

Wow, that came as a surprise. I never knew any other family except for Daddy, Grampa, and Gramma.

"What about you Momma? You said Uncle Ren was good at memory fogs, what can you do?" 

She explained, "Keepers all have jobs that are just right for them. I was picked to be a retriever because I excelled in reducing when I was in school. I was always the best in my class.

"A top-notch reducer can do this..." She pushed herself back from the table, and stood up. She dropped her arms to her sides, faced forward, and shrunk down until she was no larger than a teeny bug. Then she reversed it and grew back up to be regular size so fast that if I wasn't watching closely I could've missed it.

"Holy Cow!" I couldn't wait to tell Freck what my mother could do.

"To pilot the Flutter-by, that's the gear we wear that makes us seem to be a butterfly," she continued, "you have to shrink way, way down--no one would accept a five foot-ten inch butterfly. A butterfly my real size would require wings spans of 20 or more feet. No that just wouldn't do--not at all--not in this day and age. Maybe cavemen could have accepted it, but not modern man."

A question about the June bug crawlin' up the wall in the publisher's office popped into my head. "Momma, are there other reducers that look like bugs instead of butterflies?"

"We have lots of ways of gathering vital information. That old saying about wishing you were a fly on the wall possibly came from keeper's ability to transform into familiar things, like bugs. The best of what we call shifters can assume any shape they need to do their job."

Just then there was a knock at the door. I answered, still in my favorite cowboy print jammys, and it was Freck, Mrs. Anderton, and Jacob. Freck looked happier than a spotted puppy playing fetch in long grass on a warm summer's day. I swear if she smiled any bigger the corners of her mouth would have split wide open. I haven't seen her this happy since the first time we won the lightning bug catching contest.

"Wishes," Freck gushed, "isn't it great! Jacob has been explaining all sorts of things about the Palace and these homes they built just for us. I loved waking up in my own bed, or what sure seemed like my bed, in my own house. He said that they have people they call makers who do all this stuff. It's not just for topsiders like us neither. They get visitors from other worlds too. 

I decided to tell her later about momma being a reducer. My leg where the lair-beast snagged me was hurting a fair amount. Not so much that it would keep me down but enough that it bothered me. I mentioned it to Freck.

"Can you walk on it?" Freck wanted to know.

"Sure, Freck. It only aches a little." I was trying to under say the pain 'cuz there was so much to do, learn, and experience today at the Palace that I didn't want a sore leg to hold me or the others back.

"Have ya told your momma?"

"No," I said, "should I?"

"Mizzus Arthur," Freck called out. "Wishes got attacked by a lair-beast in the forest and it gouged his leg."

Momma said, "I know about the injury. Wishes, how is it feeling today."

Now everyone turned to look at me. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, but I had to tell the truth. "It's hurting some."

"Well that settles it," Momma declared firmly. "Any tour of the Palace will have to wait until we take you to the hospital to have it checked out. Finish your breakfast Wishes, change out of your pajamas, and we will get going."

Is this how mommas are? I just barely met her and already she's taken charge while Daddy just sat there all quite like. It's not bad and I'm not complaining. It's just not what I'm used to. Daddy always made the decisions. That's the way it has always been. I was confused, so I asked him, "Daddy, is this what we should do?"

He responded, "When it comes to taking care of children momma's always know what's best. Nature provides women with a in-born sense to help them care for their families. If she says we need to go to the hospital, then we need to go to the hospital. No arguments."

That's when I learned that mommas warn't just 'bout holdin', lovin' and snugglin'. Mommas have commonsense 'bout child raisin that men better respect.

I did what she said and finished my breakfast and limped a little into my bedroom to change. When I took off my jammy bottoms I checked out the clear bandage around my leg. 'cuz it was transparent I could clearly see my injury. It looked better yesterday, for sure. Today it was getting some red around the edges and a little weepy in the middle.

* * *

The nearest 'vator was right outside the kitchen door. We all walked in, me, Freck, Momma, Daddy, Mrs. Anderton, and Jacob. In no time we arrived. The hospital was the same as before with the meadow, soothing stream running through the middle, and wildlife. They directed me to a recliner just like before and had me lie back. A white-haired woman who looked remarkably like Gramma came over to examine my injury. When she spoke she even sounded like Gramma. "Don't you worry Wishes. We are going to take good care of you child. Now let's take a proper look at that wound and see what is troublin' you so."

She sat on a padded leather stool that she pulled from the side of the recliner. "Humm..."

(Why do doctors always say hum?)

"It looks like we got some infection going on here. It don't seem too bad. I'll remove the bandages, treat it with a healin' ointment, and put on a new sleeve. It won't hurt a bit."

Gramma took off the old bandages, then used what looked like a Q-tip to get a swab of the infection. "For testing" she said. She applied the ointment, and re-wrapped the wound just like she said she was going to do. Once she was finished the pain was entirely gone. It didn't hurt at all. I could stand up and walk without the slightest limp.

"Here Wishes, give me some sugar and get on your way. You'll feel much better now. I took a sample to run some tests. We want to make sure that we's treating it correctly. If you feel anymore achin', let us know right away, okay? Don't try ta be tough. There's no need to go around hurtin' if'n ya don't have to. Is there?"

I agreed, hugged her, and walked back with the group back to the 'vator. I was more excited than Christmas coming to tour the mysterious Palace.