I was starting to go slightly crazy. I had no idea how to "renounce my wish and learn my lesson." The Victorian Era was great and all, but I couldn't stay here forever. I had to go home. At least I had a friend to help me now. It was easier than I thought to explain the whole situation to Christabel. I gave her a confusing, long-winded explanation, and she managed to sum it up in a few sentences.

"So, my understanding is that you are from another time, wished to be in our time, and this wish was granted through magic by those two odd men we met yesterday. Now, you don't want to live here anymore because you want to return to your family. So, you must learn your lesson about why you wanted to come here, and once you do, you can go home."

"Um, yeah," I confirmed, "That was a really great explanation, actually."

"And you need help to do this, correct?"

"Yup," I nodded.

"Alright, I shall help you."

"You will? Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

The next day after breakfast, we discussed ideas for how to start.

"I think we should start in the library and see if we can find something to help us. Maybe a book on the psychology of wishes or something."

"Or perhaps a book on magic?" Christabel suggested. "Your grandfather—I mean, Miss Clara's grandfather—has an interest in books about fairy tales and such."

"That's probably better. Let's go!" We tried again to find the library. Finally, we came to a hallway draped in tapestries.

"Tunnel of thread!" I exclaimed. "This is it! It's one of the clues!" From there, the clues were easy. Soon enough, we opened the door to the most gorgeous room I had ever seen in my life. My. Jaw. Dropped. There were floor to ceiling shelves, and it smelled like old books and happiness. There was a fireplace, comfy furniture in a corner, and one of those movable ladders for reaching books.

"Oh, yes!" I whispered. I immediately fell in love. I ran to the ladder. I was definitely going to reenact the ladder scene from Beauty and the Beast, the one where she glides on the ladder while singing about books.

"Um, Miss Noelle?" Christabel said. "The magic books are over there, and psychology is over there, I believe. It's on the labels."

Sighing, I climbed down the ladder. Reenactments would have to wait. We ended up finding ten books each. Mine were on the psychology of dreams, psychology, and folklore. Christabel had found some on magic and on Santa Claus, which apparently was relevant because "it's a Christmas wish, so he must be involved." I doubted the reliability of the psychology knowledge they had during the Victorian Era (I'd heard about those old insane asylums), but it was my best bet. But first, I read about magic. The boring stuff could wait.

The magic books weren't very useful. Everything I found on wishes warned you to be careful what you wished for, and blah blah blah. I already knew that. I still had one magic book left, but that could wait. I opened The Psychology of Dreams. It was pretty useful. It identified the causes of different kinds of dreams, which was close enough to wishes. Apparently, imagining being somewhere else was a sign of feeling unsure of yourself and having too little confidence. When I really thought about it, I guessed that was partly why I wished for this. Imagining myself in a ballgown with fancy manners at a beautiful castle did help boost my confidence. And I thought it had to do with feeling a bit out of place as well, which also related to confidence. I guessed that meant I had to work on confidence. I wished I had some way to ask if that was right. If I saw the wish granters, I'd ask. But maybe that was part of it too—being confident that I had to work on being confident? It felt right somehow. I just didn't know how I'd work on it.

"Christabel? I think I figured out what I have to do."

"What?"

"I have to be more confident."

Christabel looked confused. "Why?"

"That's what I have to do to return home. Be more confident. It's why I wished for this."

"Alright," she said, still looking puzzled. "How will you do that?"

"I...have no idea," I admitted. "How do you improve your confidence?"

"Well, I am rather bashful, so I don't believe I am the best person to ask that." I looked at Christabel, who had been quite shy when I first met her. She was really nice and fun but so anxious and quiet. I thought she could use some confidence as well. Don't people always say it's better to work towards goals with friends or something?

"Christabel," I said, "we are going to become more confident together."

"Yes, Miss."

"It's Noelle," I reminded her, "and you don't have to be so polite to me. I'm not some fancy rich lady. My mom's a baker. I go to a normal school. We're the same. Besides, you're great! You're better than any stuffy old rich person."

"Yes," she said firmly. "I am great, " she repeated. I was glad I decided to help her. Maybe this wish had to do with me being a bit selfish as well. I hadn't always been the best friend.

We returned to looking through the books when Christabel gasped.

"Look! It's them!" She shoved the book toward me. It was called A Guide to Christmas Traditions and Lore. The page was about elves. Underneath a bunch of explanations and charts was an illustration. An illustration of people who looked exactly like the wish-granting guys. Well, not them exactly, but they had the same clothes and oddly sharp faces. I read the description: "Elves can hide in the human world and grant special wishes. Kris Kringle, commonly known as Santa Claus, directs them to people he knows have special wishes. These wishes can be anything from extreme change in fortune, love, or even time."

I slowly looked up at Christabel's equally shocked face.

"They're elves," I whispered.