Pan's Realm, Page 3

  But Pan just shook his head. “This is a sad story. No one will want to read it.”

  “You’re wrong there,” Sally said. “Half the adult population in this country suffers from depression. They love sad stories, particularly when they have unexpected endings.”

  But Pan wasn’t interested. “You don’t understand. No one understands.”

  Adam stepped forward so that he was not more than ten feet from Pan. It was only as he got closer that he realized the king of the elementals was really much larger than a normal person. Yet not for a moment did Adam feel afraid. Obviously Pan was too absorbed in what was happening in his own life to harm four kids.

  “We would like to understand,” Adam said. “Please tell us your story. We’re good listeners. And who knows, we might be able to help you.”

  Pan sighed again. “Very well, I will tell you. Sit here on the grass beside me. That way if you get bored, you can lie down and take a nap.”

  “Why do you think we’ll get bored?” Cindy asked as she sat down beside Adam.

  “Other people’s problems are always boring,” Pan said.

  “Not to me,” Sally said. “I thrive on them.”

  Pan looked up and smiled faintly. He had a nice smile. “I have watched you the closest since you entered these woods,” he said. “You always have something smart to say.”

  “Better smart than stupid,” Sally replied.

  “I’m afraid I’ve been more of the latter lately,” Pan said.

  And taking a deep breath, he started his tale.

  6

  As you have already guessed, all my elementals have moved into your world. We came through an interdimensional portal not far from here. It opens and closes at my command. But what you don’t know is that none of us wants to be here. We have come only because we have lost our homes.”

  “How?” Adam asked.

  Pan hung his head again and spoke softly. “In my realm there is a powerful wizard named Klandor, who has been bothering me for centuries. I haven’t been able to force him out of my kingdom because he knows many spells, and besides, I don’t like to shove people around, even if they are wizards. He has been trying to take over my position since I can remember. Even though he is a wizard, nobody would do what he commanded unless he threatened to harm them. In my realm I was king. When I gave an order it was obeyed. That drove ­Klandor crazy with envy.”

  “It would bug me,” Sally remarked.

  Pan continued. “About a month ago I decided to hold a huge feast. It was my birthday, and, anyway, I like to hold feasts and eat a lot and play my pipes. Every musician loves an audience. I did not invite Klandor, but he arrived anyway. I did not ask him to leave, not in front of my guests. As I said, I’m polite and don’t lose my temper unless pushed to the limit. Klandor walked in as if he owned the place and sat down and immediately insulted a couple of my dwarfs, who had never liked him. I told the dwarfs to ignore him and maybe he would go away.”

  “You aren’t as forceful as you’re portrayed in the books,” Watch interrupted, “and why do you have four legs? In all the paintings I’ve seen, you’ve had only two legs.”

  “Those paintings are more modern. I’ve always had four legs.” A note of pride entered Pan’s voice. “And I can be forceful when it suits me. But let me get back to what happened that night.”

  “Please do,” Adam said.

  “Toward the end of the party, when we were stuffed with food and getting drowsy, Klandor brought out an old gold coin. He suggested we enjoy a harmless game, where we wagered small things. He even said I could flip the coin in the air and call heads or tails, which sounded fair to me. I mean, I didn’t see how he could cheat me if I was tossing the coin.”

  “But he’s a wizard,” Adam said. “It might have been a magical coin.”

  Pan shrugged. “It sounded harmless to me. We were going to wager only small items: a silver plate from my table, a copper ring from his treasury, a silk robe from my closet, a crystal necklace from his study. He had brought his items with him so when I won something, he gave it to me right away. And I did the same—I have always paid my debts promptly.”

  “What did you win?” Cindy asked.

  Pan brightened. “Lots of things at first. I won most of what he brought. But then my luck turned. I would call heads, and it would be tails. I would say tails, and it would be heads. Really, I had an extraordinary run of bad luck. I think I lost twenty bets in a row. In fact, I lost back to him almost everything I had won. My servants were kept busy bringing goods from my rooms to meet my debts. I eventually emptied my house, and I have a big castle.”

  “Wait a second,” Watch interrupted. “You said you were only betting small things?”

  Pan looked more depressed. “At first we were, but then Klandor kept betting me double or nothing. I had to match everything he had already won from me, each time I tossed the coin. One of two things could happen. If I could win just once, I would be even. But every time I lost, I lost a great deal.”

  “And with each bet, the stakes went way up,” Adam said.

  “Exactly,” Pan answered. “But I kept thinking I had to win at least once, and then everything would be all right. But I never did. The coin always landed opposite from what I called.”

  “But you didn’t bet your kingdom away?” Sally asked. “That would have been completely stupid.”

  Pan looked as miserable as a half-goat, half-man creature could. “Well,” he said sadly, “yes, I did. I lost it all.”

  Adam tried to sound cheerful. “We all make mistakes.”

  “But not all of us make such big mistakes,” Watch added.

  “But how can you lose a kingdom with a toss of a coin?” Cindy asked. “I don’t understand.”

  “Everyone was watching the game,” Pan explained. “I couldn’t refuse to hand over my kingdom. I had lost it fair and square.” He sighed. “My poor elves, dwarfs, gnomes, leprechauns, fairies—as soon as Klandor took over he ordered us out. I guess he wanted to get back at all the elementals for ignoring him while I was king.”

  “Why did you come here?” Watch asked.

  Pan shrugged. “We didn’t know where else to go. This seemed as good a place as any.”

  “But your elementals can’t stay here,” Sally said. “They cause too much trouble. Your leprechauns stole our bikes and our picnic stuff. And one of your fairies made us invisible. Even in Spooksville, you can’t get away with stuff like that and not suffer repercussions.”

  “I can get your bikes back for you,” Pan said quickly.

  “I’m missing a watch as well,” Watch said.

  “Leprechauns have a thing for watches,” Pan admitted. “But I will do everything in my power to make sure yours is returned.” He glanced at Cindy. “But they have probably eaten your chocolate cake by now.”

  Cindy smiled. “That’s OK. I lost my appetite when the fairy turned us invisible.”

  “Yes, but that was a simple spell to break.” Pan hung his head again. “Your troubles are easily solved.”

  “But there must be some way to win your kingdom back,” Adam said.

  Pan shook his head. “It’s gone. I have to learn to accept that.”

  “You say you lost your kingdom fair and square,” Adam continued, ignoring his defeatist attitude. “How do you know Klandor didn’t cheat you?”

  “How could he cheat?” Pan asked. “I was the one tossing the coin.”

  “But the odds against losing twenty coin tosses in a row is thousands to one,” Watch said. “He must have cheated. Also, the fact that he brought stuff to wager means that he’d planned to play the game.”

  Pan was interested. “Those are good points. I have, of course, thought of them myself. But unless I can prove that Klandor cheated, there is no way to get my kingdom back. I can’t simply accuse him, he’d just laugh in m
y face.” Pan turned his head away. “He laughed at me as he ordered me to leave my castle.”

  “That’s so sad,” Cindy said sympathetically.

  “I would never gamble away my entire kingdom,” Sally muttered.

  “You’ll never have a kingdom,” Cindy told her. “You’ll be lucky if you can afford your own apartment when you get older.”

  “You’ll probably be a homeless wretch,” Sally snapped back. “You’ll be like Bum, hanging out at the beach and feeding the birds.”

  “Whatever happens to me, I’ll be happy,” Cindy retorted. “Not like you. You’re going to end up in a mental hospital for people who think they’re important when they’re as insignificant as rocks.”

  “They always carry on like this,” Watch explained to Pan. But Pan was too lost in his own problems to take much notice.

  “Gambling has always been a weakness with me,” he admitted.

  “I am confused by a remark you made,” Adam said to Pan. “You said, ‘In fact, I lost back to him almost everything I had won.’” Adam paused. “Did he let you keep anything you’d won?”

  Pan paused. “He let me keep his crystal necklace.”

  “Why?” Watch asked.

  Pan shrugged. “Maybe he felt sorry for me.”

  “Klandor doesn’t sound like a ‘feel sorry for’ kind of guy,” Sally remarked.

  “Did you wear this necklace while you were making your bets?” Adam asked.

  Pan nodded. “I had it around my neck. I won it near the beginning, when I was winning things.”

  Adam and Watch gave each other knowing looks. “Did Klandor suggest you put it on?” Watch asked.

  Pan had to strain to remember. “Now that you mention it, I think he encouraged me. Yes, I remember now he said how nice the crystal went with my two horns.” He paused. “But what does the necklace have to do with losing my kingdom?”

  “Did you start to lose after you put on the necklace?” Adam asked.

  “Yes,” Pan said reluctantly. “But I lost before I put it on as well.”

  “What Adam is asking,” Watch said, “is if you lost a lot before you put on the necklace? Naturally you’d lose some with or without the necklace.”

  Pan was troubled. “It’s hard to remember everything that happened that night because it was so upsetting. But it does seem that after I put on the necklace, I lost a lot more.”

  “Did you win any bets after you put it on?” Adam asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Pan said. “But I don’t think so.”

  “Why can’t you be sure?” Sally insisted.

  Pan was puzzled. “It is strange. Usually my memory is very good. For example, I can remember all my human friends from thousands of years ago. When you’re immortal, you don’t forget things easily.”

  “It’s possible the necklace made you forget,” Watch said.

  “It’s possible it did much more than that,” Adam said. “I’m sure Watch is thinking the same thing I am. The necklace might have changed what you thought you were seeing.”

  “Is this possible?” Cindy asked.

  “We’re dealing with an evil wizard here,” Sally told her. “Those guys can and will do anything.”

  “Let me ask you another question,” Adam said. “Could any of your elemental friends see the coin when it landed?”

  “They were gathered around us,” Pan said. “The party was in the main hall of my castle. But my friends were not that close.” He paused. “Only Klandor and I could actually see if the coin landed tails or heads.”

  “Did Klandor want it this way?” Watch asked.

  Pan hesitated. “Yes.”

  “He arranged it this way before you started betting?” Adam asked.

  “Yes. The coin landed on a deep cushion placed between us, and it was his cushion that we used.”

  “Do you have your crystal necklace with you?” Adam asked.

  “Somewhere,” Pan answered. “But I don’t know exactly where. I tossed it away after I lost my kingdom. I didn’t want to wear anything that reminded me of Klandor.”

  “Understandable,” Cindy said.

  “Why do you want the necklace?” Sally asked Adam.

  “I want to try it on,” Adam said. “I want to see if it makes me see the opposite of what I want to see.”

  “I don’t understand,” Pan said.

  “Every time you tossed the coin,” Adam explained, “you wanted it to land either heads or tails. Like you said, you called out your choice while the coin was in the air. But what if the crystal necklace made your eyes or your mind work so that no matter what way the coin landed, you saw it opposite from what you had called?”

  Pan was thoughtful. “Are you saying I was tricked out of my kingdom?”

  “We’ve been saying that all along,” Sally replied.

  “It was more than a trick,” Adam said. “He used a magical device against you. What we have to do now is find that necklace, and test it.”

  “I left it in my old kingdom,” Pan said. “I tossed it somewhere along the road.”

  “Can we get back into your kingdom?” Watch asked.

  Pan nodded. “There is a portal located not far from here.”

  “But it doesn’t sound like we’ll be able to find this necklace,” Cindy said. “Unless you know exactly where you tossed it.”

  Pan scratched his head. “I have an idea. If we search together, we should be able to find it. And we can always bring a few leprechauns with us. Those guys can find anything.”

  “We would rather leave the leprechauns behind, if you don’t mind,” Sally said.

  “But even if we do find the necklace and prove that it makes you see things opposite from the way you want them to be, that proof is not necessarily going to win Pan back his kingdom,” Watch said. “Klandor can always refuse to give it back.”

  Pan nodded grimly. “Klandor is not the fairest wizard in the world.”

  “Let’s worry about that when the time comes,” Adam suggested. “The first thing is to find the necklace and see if our theory is right. Once we prove that, we can make plans to get the kingdom back.”

  Pan was touched. “You would do all this for me? And I have done nothing for you?”

  “Well, I am hoping to get my watch back,” Watch said.

  Adam stood and brushed off his pants. “We’re used to helping strange creatures. We run into them all the time.”

  Sally also stood. “Yeah, as long as the creature isn’t trying to kill us, we help him.”

  7

  Pan led them to an incredibly huge pine tree that stood by itself in a meadow in the woods. The pine was surrounded by grass but nothing else, not a bush, not another small tree. The circular meadow was two hundred feet across. It almost looked as if it were regularly attended to. The lawn was manicured. Maybe the leprechauns mowed it every week—that was Sally’s opinion, even though Pan did not confirm it. The king of the elementals gestured to the area as they walked up to the tree.

  “Are you familiar with interdimensional portals?” he asked.

  “Oh yeah,” Adam said. “There’s one in our town ­cemetery. We’ve been to a couple of different dimensions.”

  “Neither of which was very pleasant,” Sally added.

  “This portal opens only into the realm of the elementals,” Pan explained. “It’s a beautiful place, or at least it was when I was king. But now that Klandor is in charge I have no idea how things have changed. Anyway, we enter my old kingdom by starting at the edge of the circular meadow and walking backward around the tree seven times. With each revolution, we move a few feet closer to the tree. The last circle will be the shortest. Do you understand?”

  Sally waved her hand. “Piece of cake.” She turned to Cindy. “I suppose you’ll have some excuse to stay behind. A sudden attack of the flu
perhaps? Or else a nose bleed coming on?”

  Cindy scowled. “I feel fine, thank you, and I’m looking forward to seeing this other dimension. But if you want to stay behind and keep looking for your baby blanket, I won’t judge you.”

  “Do leprechauns ever fight like this?” Watch asked Pan.

  “Only when their treasures are stolen,” Pan replied.

  Together, with Pan leading, they began to walk backward around the tree. Despite having four legs, which he had to use in reverse, Pan was a smooth mover. But Adam found it hard to keep his legs moving backward. Seven revolutions around the tree were a lot. By the time they neared the tree, he was feeling tired and sore. He wasn’t even sure which was the seventh turn. For that reason the switch into the other dimension caught him completely by surprise.

  They were in the meadow and then they were in deep space.

  There were burning stars, shimmering nebulas, spinning planets. All these seemed to be turning on some giant invisible axis. In black outline he could see his friends and Pan nearby. It was almost as if they stood, for a moment, at the center of the universe. Then there was a flash of white light and Adam found himself falling.

  But he didn’t fall far and landed on a soft carpet of grass in a new dimension lit by a soft blue light. As Adam rolled he realized that Pan’s realm did not mirror the forest outside Spooksville as the other dimensions he had entered had mirrored Spooksville.

  Pan’s kingdom was much grander. They were still in a meadow, true, but the surrounding trees were ten times taller than ordinary trees. Not far away were thundering waterfalls and mountain peaks that seemed to reach the sky. Even the flowers in the bushes were more spectacular, large and radiant with colors squeezed from rainbows. Yet over all a soft blue glow shone. The light seemed to come out of the matter itself, from the blades of grass, even from the dirt. Pan smiled as he looked around, perhaps it was good to be home. He gestured with a wide sweep of his arm.

  “All this was mine,” he said.