“Well, he didn’t,” I said. “He went to the night garden. I mean, actually into the night garden, and then he disappeared.”

Winifred and I raced into Wilfred’s room, where I repeated all this to him.

“What do you mean?” asked Wilfred. “Do you mean he then took off for the woods?”

“No, he never left the night garden. I mean, one second he was there and the next he was gone. I saw it all out my bedroom window.”

“Nonsense,” said Wilfred. “He must have ducked behind a statue or something.”

“No,” I said. “I’m telling you. I saw it. He vanished into thin air.”

“That’s impossible,” said Wilfred.

He was irritated and I knew how he felt. Magic is all right when you’re bored and want to pretend something more interesting. But when you’re in crisis and your resources are stretched to the breaking point, you really don’t want to be bothered with such nonsense. You want the security of a solid, familiar reality and the grounded earthbound things you know. But facts are facts. And sometimes you have to deal with what is in front of you whether you want to or not.

“I think he wished,” I said. “I think he wished and his wish took him somewhere.”

“Ridiculous,” said Wilfred.

But Winifred looked stunned and terrified as the realization hit her.

“If he wished,” she whispered to herself, “what would he wish for?”

Then, before we could stop her, she screamed, “Zebediah!” and went tearing out of the room and down the stairs.

“What bunk,” said Wilfred, but still chased after her while I raced after Wilfred.

“Winifred!” cried Wilfred.

By the time Wilfred and I got outside, Winifred was already over the fence and then, to our horror, she disappeared, too. Wilfred had to believe me now.

He gave me a look of despair and said lamely, “She wished, too.”

“Oh no!” I said. “Where have they gone? What did they wish for?”

But, of course, I could guess.

“They’ve gone to the Argot. They’ve gone to help,” Wilfred said.

“But how?” I asked. “They don’t know anything about planes, do they?”

“Zebediah’s gone to join Father, and Winifred has gone to try to rescue them both. Zebediah will just egg Father on. He wants to be a pilot, too. He doesn’t understand what has happened. Neither Father nor Zebediah has any sense. And Winifred will never convince them of the seriousness of the situation. I have to go. I can explain to Father what has happened and that he must turn the plane around before the three of them are shot down.”

And saying so, Wilfred scrambled up and over the fence just as Sina caught sight of us and came racing out of the house. She joined me just as Wilfred disappeared.