With an electric snap, the soft, rolling grass of the clearing was whipped away like a table cloth in a magic act and instantly replaced by Mystic Lake. The sky above the lake split open with a thunderous roar, and Astrid, Millie, and the egg fell through. And just as quickly, the sky flashed and was whole again.

Astrid fell in the standing position and hit the rock outcropping, her ankle snapping under the force. She screamed in pain as Millie tumbled past her. Her nose grazing the edge of the great green stone as the lapping waves of the lake jumped to meet her. Millie hit the water. Terror ceased her as the frigid liquid engulfed her. Her mouth filled with murky lake water, stifling her scream. Heart hammering in her chest, Millie kicked hard for the surface. Her sodden tennis shoes pulled her downward, and she frantically kicked them off, shooting to the surface.
Millie's head burst out of the choppy lake, and she sputtered, trying to take a breath as waves smacked her in the face.

"Astrid? Astrid!" Millie called between gasps of breath.

"I'm here," Astrid called from above. Her voice was breathy as if she were having trouble breathing.

Millie blinked away water and glanced up. The outcropping loomed above her. She positioned herself toward the shore and swam hard against the turbulent water, her clothes weighing her down.

She trudged out of the lake and dashed up the outcropping to Astrid.

"I think my ankle's broken," Astrid said as Millie approached.

Millie went down on one knee and examined Astrid's ankle. The skin wasn't broken, but Astrid's leg was already swelling. A black bruise crept up her calf, and her foot lay at an unnatural angle.

"Can you wiggle your toes?" Millie asked. She pulled off her wet tank-top and gently wrapped it around Astrid's ankle.

Astrid winced. "A little, but it hurts, a lot."

"Sorry." Millie's stomach turned. She swallowed down her panic.

"What in the hell was that?" Astrid said. She lay back on the rock, breathing hard, her face a mask of pain.

Millie stood and did a slow turn, taking in the view from the outcropping. Ladybug Glen's meadow was gone. A thick forest surrounded the lake. In the near distance, a wide dirt road wound its way through a valley. At the valleys' center stood a massive, green stone wall not unlike Mystic Lake's outcropping. The road near the wall bustled with wagons and riders on horseback.

"I have no idea," Millie said, her mind reeling at what lay before her. "I don't think we're on the ranch anymore. We may not even be in Oregon."

"What?" Astrid's pushed herself up onto her elbows and winced as her ankle shifted. "I don't understand."

Millie turned back to Astrid, and they both opened their mouths. "The egg."

Millie scrambled off the rock and began to jog the perimeter of the lake. She found Astrid's backpack lying on the lake's shore. Its contents strewn across the green sand. She grabbed Astrid's just-in-case sleep-over shirt and pulled it over her wet head, and shoved the rest of her clothes back into the pack, and yanked the zipper closed. She swung the straps over her shoulders and searched for the egg.

She made it halfway around the lake when something scurried out of the nearby underbrush, now encircling the lake. Millie jumped back and swore, expecting a rabid wild animal. Instead, the iridescent egg wobbled into her path and stopped at her bare feet, like a pet coming to greet its owner.

"You've got to be kidding?" Millie said. She crouched slowly and studied the egg, but it didn't move again. With a tentative finger, Millie poked the egg before snatching her hand back. The stone-like quality had changed. It was softer, like wood covered with leather. Millie shivered. This whole egg thing just kept getting weirder and weirder. She stood and took a few steps backward, but the egg remained where it lay.

"Did you find it?" Astrid called from the outcropping.

Millie frowned at the egg. She debated whether they would be better off if she threw it into the lake and forgot the troublesome thing ever existed.

"Millie?" Astrid called again. Her voice edged with fear and pain.

"Got it," Millie called over her shoulder. With a sigh, she picked up the egg and started back toward Astrid.

~~~~~~~~~~

"What in the Gods?" Pyke whispered. He and Mayna crouched behind a tree at the edge of what, only minutes before, had been a clearing. A lake now frothed before them. Tendrils of blue sparks crawled over the green sand surrounding the choppy water.

"Good news, we found the lake," Mayna whispered.

"I guess the map wasn't wrong after all," Pyke said. He got to his feet and took a step toward the lake and the strange girl who walked their way. Mayna grabbed his hand and motioned for him to stay put.

Pyke gave his head a small shake and stepped out to meet the girl.

~~~~~~~~~~

Millie held the egg with a tinge of irritation. She didn't know exactly how the egg was responsible for all of, whatever this was, but she knew it was the key. Her mind ran through possible next steps in getting Astrid medical attention and getting them home. She could try to make it to the strange walled city and bring back help. A pit turned in her stomach at the thought of leaving Astrid exposed and injured. What if a wild animal attacked her? Astrid wouldn't be able to get away or properly defend herself.

As she approached the foot of the outcropping, movement at the edge of the woods stopped Millie in her tracks. She jumped and held up the egg in front of her as if it would take the brunt of whatever attack might come.

A tall boy, about Millie's age, stepped out from behind a tree. Deep worry lines carved furrows between his eyebrows. His clothes were simple and rough-hewn. Millie had spent enough time working with raw wool to know handmade cloth when she saw it.

The boy raised his hand, and Millie flinched. He stopped, an apologetic expression replaced his frown, and his hand went to his deep brown hair and tugged at a section in the back.

Millie breathed a sigh of relief at the boy's uncontrollable nervous habit and lowered the heavy egg. He turned murmured to something behind the tree, and a girl mineralized from the other side.

Her outfit was much the same as the boy's. Her flaming red curls were wrangled into a messy braid, and a mass of brown freckles splatter her pale skin. A rosy glow colored her cheeks.

"Hey, Millie, buddy," Astrid said. "What's going on?"

"Um, there are people. Well, kids actually," Millie said, tilting her head towards Astrid but not taking her eyes off the strange boy and girl.

"They wouldn't happen to know of a hospital around here?" Millie heard Astrid fumble onto her elbows and swear as her ankle shifted. "Oh, wow," she said, taking the teen's dress. "Maybe a Renn Fair with a medical tent. I'll take either. I seem to have broken my ankle."

~~~~~~~~~~

The boy and girl spoke in strained tones in a language Millie didn't understand. After a brief debate, the boy turned to Millie, placed his hand on his chest, and said, "Pyke." He then pointed to the red-haired girl. "Mayna"

"You're names are Pyke and Mayna?" Millie said, pointing to them as she repeated their names.The boy nodded, hope raising the corners of his lips in a slight smile.

"Millie," Millie said, mimicking Pyke's gesture. She pointed to the rock. "Astrid." She grabbed her ankle, then picked up a stick and snapped it in half, and grabbed her ankle again.

Pyke nodded and started up the outcropping, his jaw set in a determined clench.

Millie and Mayna stared at Pyke, their mouth agape, then glanced at each other before hurrying up the outcropping after him.

Pyke knelt next to Astrid and gently removed Millie's wet t-shirt. Astrid cried out as Pyke cradled her ankled in his lap. He smiled apologetically, hovered his hands over her badly swollen and bruised leg, closed his eyes, and became very still.

Millie had forgotten that she'd taken off her shirt to wrap Astrid's ankle. Did that mean that this odd boy and girl had seen her running around in her bra? She blushed at the thought.

Astrid's dark complexion was waxy and pale. Her breath was ragged, and she looked like she might pass out, or throw up, or both.

Millie sat crossed-legged, placed the egg in the backpack, and took Astrid's hand. "It's going to be OK. I don't know how, but it will. I'll make sure of it," she reassured her friend.

"He's forward. Didn't even introduce himself before getting my foot naked." Astrid gave a wain smile and coughed, wincing again.

"His name is Pyke, and that's Mayna," Millie said.

At the sound of her name, Mayna glanced away from Pyke and smiled shyly at Astrid. She raised her hand, holding them together as if they cradled something, then touched her wrists to her forehead.

Millie gave Mayna an unsure smile and copied the gesture, making Mayan's shoulder lower a fraction of an inch.

Astrid lay on the cool, green rock and closed her eyes against the bright afternoon sun. Whatever that Pyke person was doing to her ankle, it felt great. The sharp, nauseating pain had dulled into an angry throb.

"The best feeling in the world," Astrid mumbled.

"What is?" Millie asked.

"That feeling when the pain stops." Astrid's voice was thick and slurred. "How is he doing that?"  She turned her head and lifted heavy lids, "How are you doing that?"

A wet snap cut off Astrid's words, and she screamed.

"What? What's wrong?" Millie said, alarm coloring her tone.

"I think he just set my ankle." Astrid gulped like a fish out of water. "Oh. My. Gosh. Worst pain ever."

Pyke lowered his hand and rested them gently on Astrid's ankle. A delightful tingling warmth enveloped her leg, easing the pain.

Astrid relaxed again. "I think he may be a magician. The pain is going away again."

~~~~~~~~~~

 Millie watched Pyke run his fingertips up along Astrid's swollen and bruised calf. Before her eyes, the bruises faded and her puffy leg deflated like a balloon with a slow leak.

"I think you're right about the magic. There's no way to explain what's happening to your leg," Millie said, staring in disbelief as Astrid's leg healed before her eyes.

"Mmm," Astrid mumbled, a relaxed grin on her face.

Suddenly, Mayna jumped to her feet and gazed in the direction of the walled city.

"Do you hear horses?" Astrid said, her left eye opened, followed by the right, reminding Millie of how she looked coming out of anesthesia after having her wisdom teeth removed last year. She and Winona Killdeer had window shopped while Astrid received the procedure. A couple hours later, they retrieved a groggy and incredibly goofy Astrid from the oral surgeon.

Mayna said something to Pyke, and tugged at his shoulder. Her eyes wild and frantic."I do, and it's making her nervous," Millie said to Astrid.

Pyke exhaled a long slow breath, lifted Astrid's leg from his lap, and lowered it to the rock before jumping to his feet.

He and Mayna motioned for Millie to help get Astrid standing.

"But her ankle is broken," Millie said, pointing to Astrid's leg and miming the broken stick from earlier.

Pyke shook his head, and he and Mayna moved Astrid into the sitting position.

"Wait," Millie jumped to her feet. She swung Astrid's backpack onto her shoulder, the egg slammed hard into her hip in her haste.

Mayna and Pyke got their shoulders under Astrid's arm, and hoisted her to her feet. To Millie and Astrid's surprise, Astrid didn't scream in pain.

"Hey, Millie, look. I can stand." Astrid dissolved into intoxicated giggles and Pyke and Mayna help shimmy her down the outcropping and into the trees.

Millie trotted after them and they disappeared into the forest as the pounding of the unseen riders closed in on them.