saw him coming through the field toward her, looking more like a gnome than ever, his wizened face sharp in the waning light.
“Well,” he said, sinking down into the grass beside her. “I suppose they were meant for you. But not yet, child, not yet.”
“The box wanted to be opened,” she said.
“There were other things that wanted you—why this one?”
She met his eyes then, so dangerously bright and blue, and said, “Because I wanted to.”
“You were fortunate, child. If I had not come for you, you would have been lost here, forever; do you understand?”
She shook her head, defiant. “I would have walked somewhere. I would have telephoned for help. Somebody would have found me.”
“Now you are being foolish. This is an entire reality—you must understand that. There is nobody else in this world but you and me.”
Nobody else. The words rang true. She held up the marble in her hand, studying the tiny tree, the swing. A tricksy wish, like all storybook magic turned out to be. Fairy wishes always turned into a curse of some kind, no matter how hard someone tried to get it right.
“I see you believe me. So I will also tell you this. The globes can take you to many wonderful places, but many dark and dangerous places as well. You were lucky.”
She was fascinated now. “What kind of places?”
“All are within the Dreamworld. Each of those globes contains somebody’s dream.”
Confused, and remembering some of her own dreams, she felt her stomach clench with sudden fear. “But I’m awake. How can we be in a dream if I’m awake?”
“Because you are who you are.”
“And I can be awake in someone else’s dream?”
“Yes. And some of them are beautiful and peaceful, like this one. But some are full of monsters and evil things.”
“Dragons,” she whispered.
“Yes, dragons.”
She squeezed her hands together until the bones hurt, pressed them between her knees.
A warm arm wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her against him so that her cheek rested on his chest. A steady heartbeat, even breath. His lack of fear comforted her, and in a moment she was able to whisper, “The dragons. I think they’re looking for me.”
A moment of silence, long enough for her to wonder whether he was going to lie to her. She’d learned that grown-ups often lied. The social worker, the aunt and uncle, her teacher at school. She pulled away and looked for the this-is-for-your-own-good expression on his face. Instead, his blue eyes looked straight into hers, and he half smiled.
“I imagine they are.”
She hadn’t expected that.
“They scare me.”
“As they should.”
He fell silent and stared at the sinking sun. The look on his face reminded her of Isobel’s when she was in one of her moods, and she shook his arm to bring him back to her.
“So what do I do? About the dragons?”
“Oh, that’s easy, for now. Stay out of the Between. Later—well, there’s time enough to talk about later.”
“What’s Between?” She waited, her lip caught between her teeth, scarcely daring to breathe.
“Listen carefully. This is important.”
She nodded. If he was going to tell her how to be safe from the dragons, she didn’t plan to miss a word.
“There’s Dreamworld, right? Your dreams and everybody else’s. This, for example, is somebody else’s dream, but it’s still a dream.”
“Okay.” This was good. Confirmation of what she’d already known.
“And there’s Wakeworld. Where all the stuff the idiots call reality happens. Like school, and chores, and spinach for dinner.”
“And Isobel.”
A deep sigh at that. “Well—your mother kind of breaks the rules. Part of her is in Wakeworld. But mostly she’s stuck in the Between.” He brushed his fingers across the back of her hand. “You know when you’re not really awake and not really asleep? That place?”
She did. Everything was all mixed up there—you couldn’t tell what was Dreamworld and what was Wakeworld.
“Well, that’s where the dragons lurk. And other things, too. Stay out of the Between and you’ll be all right.”
“But I can’t—I have to go through it when I go to sleep.”
“Yes, and when you wake up.”
“So, what then?”
“Be quick about falling asleep and waking.”
“Are we stuck here then, in this dream place?”
“No. You’re never stuck anywhere unless you want to be.”
“That doesn’t make sense!”
“True, nonetheless. Look—if you wish it strongly enough, there will always be a door to take you home. This doesn’t work for everybody, mind. You have certain—gifts.”
Vivian sat still and thought about things. About Dreamworld and Wakeworld and the hunting dragons. About her mother and that lost look in