After the cleanup, as Henry hurried past his father’s office on the way to wash his hands, he saw a sudden movement from the corner of his eye. He immediately reversed course and caught a brief glimpse of tail feathers leaving through the open window. He dashed into the room, arriving at the window just in time to see a large bird zoom around the corner of the house and out of sight. It had been much bigger than a blue jay, with gray, orange, and white markings.

He turned back to the desk to reach for the letter …

The letter! It was gone!

He rubbed his hand along the stubble of his crew cut, a subconscious habit that flared up whenever he became confused or flustered.

He was sure he had weighed it down. Quickly, he searched the room—over, under, and around the few pieces of furniture—believing a stiff breeze must have dislodged it.

Nothing. The letter had vanished.

Again Henry rubbed his head. Could the bird have taken it?

No, that was his imagination getting the better of him again. It had to be here somewhere …

“Henry!” He jumped as Brianna managed to sneak up on him. “I did it again.” She held a soiled sneaker up, pinching her nose from the stench.

“Come on, Brianna! I just cleaned the whole yard!”

“You missed one,” she said with her devilish grin. “And I found it.”

Chapter Three

Some time later, at a remote castle in the forests of Romania, a woman was shouting at a bear.

“Sophia!” Gretchen yelled sharply.

The large brown bear pulled her nose out of the compost heap too quickly, spraying bits of rotted vegetables into a nearby flower patch. Caught in the act, she pleaded with a series of grunts to be allowed to finish her midday snack.

“Bah!” Gretchen scolded. “You get too fat. Soon you will need a bigger cave to sleep.”

Sophia snorted a reply that was just as insulting (if only Gretchen spoke bear!) before slinking away. She struggled fitfully to squeeze through the hole in the wall.

“Ha! You see? It is not the hole getting smaller. It is your bottom getting wider!” Gretchen laughed.

Sophia popped out the far side, then stood tall on her hind legs and roared—at either the hole or the woman on the other side of it—before ambling off into the surrounding forest.

“Ach, what am I to do with that animal?” Gretchen softly muttered a few curses in her native German before tending to the mess Sophia had left behind.

Gretchen’s garden occupied a relatively small area of the expansive courtyard. Castle Coralis had been built thousands of years ago during an age of enlightenment. Though it was originally conceived as a center for learning, its outer structures had undergone significant change over the millennia, as men waged battle with increasingly sophisticated weaponry.