“Where are you going?”
“Out.” I kicked the door open and stomped from the room, the Stardust bumblebee close behind.
“Wherearewe going?” she asked.
I ignored Mother’s frantic shouts and Stardust’s prodding as I ran, glancing back only once. Mother slumped in the front doorway, her look defeated, but it couldn’t wash away the hot anger pounding through me. I fumbled with the garden gate and didn’t stop running until I reached my tree. There I collapsed and leaned against the trunk, where all the years of emotions—the loneliness from never fitting in and the pain of Mother’s betrayal—tumbled out.
Stardust snuggled against me. “Don’t cry.”
It was only then that I realized my tears had spilled over, all the events and emotions from the past forty-eight hours suddenly too much to bear. I buried my face in her frothy body. “I don’t know who I am.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
I shook my head and Stardust curled up beside me. We sat in silence for several hours until the night slipped away and the sky brightened with dawn. From beyond the village wall came low murmurs extending sleepy good mornings and the clambering of the market being set up.
The fight, still fresh and festering, lingered even now, hours later. Mother was a Dreamer. How could she have lied to me? I traced the hourglass pendant I’d taken from her study, where the magic it contained glistened in the early light. “How could she hide so much from me?”
Stardust stirred beside me. “Weavers aren’t allowed to share themselves with Mortals.”
“But I’m not Mortal; they don’t have magic, but there’s a part of me that allows me to see others’ dreams.” I sighed. “I don’t know who or what I am.” Though a possibility niggled at my thoughts—could I behalfMortal? But I dismissed the possibility almost the moment it occurred to me. Mortals couldn’t see Weavers, which would make it impossible for such a union between Mother and a Mortal to have taken place.
“I’m not entirely sure how your mother ended up on Earth—though I do have a suspicion—but if she’s a Dreamer then that would make you one, too.” Stardust’s rainbow eyes brightened. “I have a great idea: how about I take you to the Dream World? You’ll love it up there; it’s better than anything here on Earth. And perhaps there we’ll be able to uncover more about you and your unique powers.”
I straightened, enchanted by the suggestion. “Would I really be able to go?”
“Of course,” she said. “Only beings with magical abilities can see it, and you have magic. You’ll fit right in. We’ll go to all of my favorite places and eat loads of delicious treats.”
It was all so alluring. I imagined myself within the fantastic world of clouds, sunbeams, and rainbows, filled with other magical beings like me, a place where no one would give me weird stares or whisper rumors when I passed. Perhaps in that mystical world I’d finally discover where I truly belonged.
But my fight with Mother still simmered in my thoughts and chased away my fantasies. The responsible thing to do would be to apologize or at least tell her where I was going, but I couldn’t face her so soon. Maybe if I was only gone for a little while…
The clamors from beyond the wall grew louder as more of the village awakened. Stardust glanced longingly towards the gate. “I’ve always wanted to examine a Mortal village. I’ve only ever seen them from a distance.”
“You can explore after we visit the Dream World,” I said impatiently, for the more I fantasized about the place, the more eager I was to leave.
But Stardust had already drifted over to peer through the latticed bars. “Ooh, it looks fascinating. I’m getting a closer look.” And she was gone.
“Stardust!” I chased after her, my mind swirling with all sorts of possibilities of the horrible trouble an unsupervised, hyperactive cloud could get into. Luckily, she still hovered in the entrance, doe-eyed as she hungrily took in all the sights. I heaved a reluctant sigh. “Fine, we’ll take a quick look around.” Not that I had any choice in the matter. “At least have the decency not to speak to me; I don’t want any of the villagers thinking I talk to myself.”
The market was a bustle of activity as vendors arranged their stalls, their dreams hovering over their heads, but for once they didn’t tempt me to try and capture them—not only did Stardust’s warning still ring in my ears, but I had my hands full trying to keep an eye on her.
I wove through the crowds and stalls with my head held high, ignoring the heated and suspicious stares of the villagers I passed.
The market was already set up in the village square. We wove around the cramped wooden stalls, weighed down with fresh produce, hanks of smoked meat, crates of chickens and rabbits, and healing elixirs. The yeasty scent of bread drifted from the bakery on the brisk breeze and foreign spices tickled my nose. Around us, villagers haggled and gossiped, not even sparing me a glance as we pushed our way through the jostling crowds; Stardust giggled as she flew right through several people.
“What a fascinating place.” She wandered over to a merchant selling jewelry and bolts of silk and nuzzled her nose against the cloth. “Ooh, it’s so slippery. Will you buy it for me?”
I half expected the merchant to notice Stardust floating a mere few inches away, but he stared straight ahead, completely unaware. I sauntered over and subtly tugged Stardust away. “We’re only here so you can have a quick look around, not to buy souvenirs,” I murmured from the side of my mouth. “Besides, I could never afford something so expensive.”
She was undeterred, and soon her greedy attention was caught by something else. “Yummy, those look like stretched-out moonbits.” She drooled over a steaming tray of pastries outside the baker’s, which was being attended by Alice. No way would I buy anything from one of the villagers most suspicious of me.
Quietly, I attempted to guide Stardust away, but she pressed her face against a platter of chocolate pastries and took a deep sniff. “Mmm, it almost smells like a moonbit, too. I haven’t eaten in hours. Buy one for me.”
I tried to walk away, but before I could take more than a few steps Stardust dragged me back over, far too close to the other villagers for my liking; the last thing I needed was for them to notice me talking to myself.
“Just one little snack?” Stardust pleaded.
Alice finished selling a loaf of bread to a young mother and noticed my hovering. Her eyes narrowed.