“I don’t understand how this is supposed to help me think!” I yell to the others.

“It builds trust, and it’s fun,” Prue shouts from the crow’s nest, high above the already-high-up tree house. She’s watching the sky for any sign of trouble, but the real trouble is on the plank.

Whoever heard of jumping off a plank into thin air with no safety net?

“You’re not going to fall,” Prue promises. “Trust me!”

I’m not sure I trust anyone on this ship that I haven’t known for more than a few hours. Then again, I don’t think they trust us either. Which is how I wound up out here.

“You’re more tightly wound than a Pegasus flying through a lightning storm,” Tara says. She’s standing on a plank a few feet away from me. “I wouldn’t be out here if I thought it was dangerous.”

I look down again. (Why do I never learn?) “You and I have different ideas of ‘dangerous.’”

“I’ll take Devin’s place,” Heath volunteers.

“No,” Tara and I say at the same time.

“But thank you,” I add.

I’m the one who agreed to think through this Happily Ever After Scrolls plan with Tara, but I didn’t know we’d be doing it on an invisible trampoline. She started talking about an invisible trampoline Prue built off the side of the ship. “It’s invisible to the naked eye, just like the rest of the tree house,” she explained. Which sounded cool…until I got out onto this plank. I left Lily on the ship. I think the bouncing would make her seasick.

What if it’s a trick? What if I fall fifteen feet to the ground and become flatter than a gingerbread man?

“If you want to earn my trust, this is how to do it. Just let go,” Tara says. Then she steps off the deck into thin air.

Raina screams as Tara plummets to certain doom, her braids flying in the air as she falls. She looks completely calm, but I’m not. I frantically try to think of an animal that could save her from death. A Pegasus or a large bird, maybe? But that firebird incident proves my birdcalls are iffy at best.

Just as I fear Tara is about to hit the ground, she shoots straight up into the sky, past my plank with a smug smile on her face. Then she falls and bounces back up again. Just like we did in that cave yesterday.

She’s telling the truth.

“See? Safe!” she yells. “Try it! It’s fun!”

It’s my turn. I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and step off the plank. I feel myself falling, the wind whishing past my face and hands, and then I hit what I think is the ground and bounce straight back up again. Oh. My. Goblin.

I put my legs into it, pushing down and back up again, ride. Until Tara invades my personal space.

“See?” She bounces alongside me. “Told you you’d be fine out here.”