Grandma looked at the both of us with a gaze as comforting as snuggled in a warm blanket. I felt like she didn't even see us as as children, though. She looked, and talked to us like we was grownups. Grandma Chrys smiled and said, "I am always amazed at the workings of the Gardner. The arrival of all of you at this particular time is a Gardner-send. All keepers are efected by your presence. There is a dynamic new energy throughout the Kingdom. I do not believe that you will understand this now, just know that it is so.

"But what I need to talk to you about privately is your future. We want to teach you all that we know and help both of you maximize your natural abilities. In return we would like to have you help us in our task of recording all knowledge."

Freck asked, "Excuse me Gran'ma, did ya say you would like our help?"

"I did, Freck. There will be a time when the human race, keepers, and the travelers from other worlds will all come to know each other as brothers and sisters. Peace will rule as gently as a flower opening to the sun. To prepare for that day we have to begin building our ties with humans by slowly introducing ourselves. That process began with your daddy, Wishes.

"You two are special, very special. Wishes you are half keeper, and Freck you are all human. Your friendship and the love between your parents Wishes, and your new family Freck, are the beginnings of the change toward acceptance.

"I am telling you this first. The adults do not know yet. We will consult with them later if you are interested in my offer. On behalf of the Kingdom and my responsibility as Grand Keeper, I would like to have you spend your summer vacations with us. This would give us the time we need to teach you what we know and help you develop your natural abilities. Because Wishes is half keeper, he has a head start. You have reconnected with Gee and that opened the channel of telepathy. And Freck, you are capable, we believe, of learning to do many, if not all of the things Wishes will be able to do. It will take time and practice, of course, but we see you both as quick learners and promise to do whatever it takes to bring you along as rapidly as possible."

I wasn't sure what to think. Summer school was for kids who couldn't keep up. I wasn't one of those. "Are you saying that ya want us to come here every summer for schooling?" I asked Grandma Chrys. The distaste I have for summer school must have showed on my face.

She smiled even more sweetly at the two of us (if that was even possible). "It is not a school like you have Topside. Much of it will happen mind-to-mind as you go about doing other things. It does not involve memorization or tests. Learning, we believe, can best be accomplished through experience. You will have opportunities to participate in the work of the keepers while absorbing knowledge all at the same time."

She lowered her eyebrows and held up one finger in caution. She said, "Experiential learning is more difficult than you might imagine, and sometimes it is even dangerous. You cannot learn how to climb out of a hole without falling into it first. To learn to do what you call magic, you must get to a place within yourselves where absolute focus is the only way out. That is when you will discover it. Bit by bit, your minds will open to the possible. You will get tired and frustrated, but don't worry those things are part of the process."

Freck said, "What if we decide it's too difficult and wanna go home?"

"I am sure that there will be times when you want to quit. You will need decompression breaks. That is understandable. We expect it. Just know that we are sensitive to those feelings and anticipate when you need a break before you do. Part of our task will be to encourage you every step along the way. Sometimes you might think we have pushed you too far. That is alright. Discouragement and even resentment are natural feelings. I promise you that it will be worth it. You will see and do and understand things that you never thought possible. It is like exercise. You cannot build muscle without pushing yourself beyond the point where you want to stop. That is how every great thing is accomplished. People who achieve what others call impossible do it against all of the odds because they cannot accept the alternative. Their dreams compel them.

"I promise I will monitor every step of your progress. Every keeper is committed to assisting you. Once you believe that you can make the impossible possible, you will be starting out on the path to incredible accomplishments."

"Wow," I said.

"Holy Moley," Freck said.

Grandma Chrys asked, "Well, what do you think?" She already knew what we thought, of course, with the ability to read minds and stuff, but it was polite to ask.

"It sounds," I said, "like you are going to turn us into superheros or something."

"It is a little like that, but everything you will learn is already inside of you. Your scientists believe that people access just a tiny part of the power of their brains. In time you will be able to tap into more. That does not mean that you can fly, leap over buildings, or have bullets bounce off your chest. You will always be human; humans who work magic."

Freck jumped in, "I don't know 'bout Wishes, but I'm so excited I could pee my pants. When do we start?"

Grandma Chrys answered, "It has already begun. Just by being in the Kingdom you have witnessed miraculous things that the people topside know nothing about. By exposing you to new ideas you are seeing things differently than you did before. Am I right?"

A moment of silence went by as we were thinking about all that she told us. I was the next to speak, "You are right Grandma Chrys, I am a bit different than I was before. I've already seen so much my head's busting."

Grandma Chrys laughed as beautifully as crystal wind chimes in a light summer breeze. "Well there is no danger of that. Minds were designed to expand. Brains are finite, but minds have infinite capacity. You will never be in danger of bursting, I promise."

I glanced at Freck. Her eyes were gleaming with excitement. I could tell that she was all in. I knew that I was too, so I said, "I hope you don't mind, Freck, if I speak for both of us, but I'm certain that we cain't wait."

"Good" said Grandma Chrys, "let us go tell the adults what we discussed."

        *        *        *

We followed her back into the living room. I was grinning so wide that I was sure the corners of my mouth were about to touch my ears. Freck was too.

Daddy saw us first, he smiled and exclaimed, "Holy heck you two are grinning so big I bet you could stick a spoon in sideways. Whatever ya talked about surely must be really something."

I felt so elated that even the thought of getting coal for Christmas wouldn't make me sad. My skin was tingling like it was tickled all over by feathers.

Just like yawns, smiling is infectious. When we came in everyone seemed very serious. With one look at us they were all smiling like happy jack 'o lanterns.

Grandma Chrys urged everyone to take a seat. She took our hands again, and we all stood with our backs toward the gigantic window facing the round white sofa. After they were seated, she spoke, "I have had an excellent talk with Freck and Wishes. The reason they look so excited is that I made them an offer. I told them that they both have special talents and abilities that all the keepers would joyfully assist them to develop. They said they would like to spend their summers with us in the Kingdom so they can learn how to use their gifts. The reason I did not come to the adults first is because they are ultimately responsible for their own choices. Of course, since they are not of age yet, they still have to abide by your final decisions."

I hadn't thought about that. What if they said no? My grin shrank a little.

Mrs. Anderton asked, "Would they have to be gone all summer long?"

"Not necessarily," Grandma said, "training will require a fair amount of time, but they will also need downtime to assimilate what they learn. The mind, no matter how facile, can only take in so much information before tiring."

"How can we do this so that the town doesn't get all riled up and go looking for them again?" my daddy asked.

"I have been thinking about that," Grandma answered. "The first hurdle we must jump is bringing Freck's father into it. He will not allow her to just disappear for two or three months every year unless he understands the purpose. We also need his agreement to let Emma be Freck's godmother. I do not see any way that it could be accomplished without secretly bringing him to visit the Kingdom at some point.

"Al, you know him better than anyone here. What do you think about it?"

Daddy said, "It will be tricky. He will have to understand without being scared off. My first visit to the Kingdom blew my mind. I'm sure we cain't just land a floater in his backyard and whisk him away.

"After the panic over us being lost in the woods gets settles down I'm going to have to spend some time talking with Him. I'm sure he will have lots of questions about our experiences. Freck can help too. She can verify what I tell him. It will probably be slow going, but we have a year to bring him up to speed."

Grandma Chrys asked, "Do you think that you will need help from the keepers? You know that whatever you need we will be happy to provide."

Momma spoke, "Although he doesn't know me, I could come at your invitation and demonstrate what a reducer can do. Seeing is believing they say."

That pretty much settled the issue of Freck's daddy. I sure hoped that confiding in him was the right thing to do. I was pretty glad I didn't have to make that decision.

Grandma Chrys said, "We could talk all day about how to put Freck's daddy's mind at ease, but we have more immediate things to discuss. Stuman and Ren are the solvers ready to create the illusion of a UFO?"

Stuman said, "Yes Grand Keeper. We have been practicing the head-to-tail configuration, and we are ready to successfully execute it. Our passengers will all be in the blue floater. When we land the floater it will be positioned at the far side of the circle to make sure they can disembark without being observed. Once they exit they will walk toward the center of the ring. At that point all the floaters will rise in unison and swiftly depart. Ren and the purple team will be hidden in the trees well behind the landing and take off area. They will be operating the floater dark.  It must remain unseen. The purple team will hang back through the whole operation, unless there is a problem the retrievers cannot handle.

"Very good," Grandma said. "Renna are you and your retrievers ready to go?"

Momma told her, "We are, Grand Keeper. There will be three of us in our flutter-bys stationed by the tree line while the group disembarks from the floater. As the group proceeds through the woods we will move forward. One of us will take the point and the other two will flank. We intend to scramble, randomly changing places, flying dangerously low and as close to the ground as possible to avoid detection. This will maximize our surveillance efforts. We are prepared to act as distractions to lead off any would be attackers lair-beasts or others. If there are any signs of trouble beyond our abilities, we will immediately notify Ren and the purple team."

"Now as for our travelers," Grandma Chrys said, "with all our efforts coming together to protect you, we expect the operation will go smoothly, but all of you Al, Emma, Wishes and Freck have to be on high alert as well. Keep your eyes open for the safety zones. Be prepared to run to them if you have to. The High Council has been communicating telepathically with our special trees and bushes to inform them of the plan. They too will be aware of any dangers and alert us so we can inform Ren and the retrievers if they notice anything. Gee will stay in the Kingdom for now. His abilities to see through the eyes of all of you will come in handy in case you miss anything. Stealth is the watchword.

"Once you happen upon searchers, remember the cover story that your memories were wiped by the aliens who abducted you. You can tell them that you saw strange lights in the sky and that is all you remember. They will press you hard for more details over the coming days, weeks, and years, but you have to hold fast to the story. Can you do it?"

All four of us nodded our heads yes. My mouth was so nerve-dry I couldn't speak.

"Please, return to your Palace homes. Have a nice dinner and relax if you can. We will gather at the solver's dock at eleven tonight."