Schaeffer wanted to ask if she would be welcome, but refrained. It made no difference. Welcome or not, she was going, and Mitch was not, which reminded her…

  “The flight attendants need to access the plane.” Another thought struck her. “If there were some way the passengers could return inside, it would solve the problem of shelter for the night…and the need for toilets.”

  “I thought your emergency services were coming.”

  “It will take time,” Schaeffer said, “and some of the passengers will want to…to relieve themselves, before then.”

  “Iriel!” Sereila called, and one of the elves who had been standing by the plane strode quickly over. “The humans need to be able to get inside the…” She glanced at Schaeffer.

  “Aircraft.”

  “…aircraft. Make it accessible for the night.”

  “Yes, my lady.”

  Schaeffer watched as he sketched a quick bow to Sereila, before hurrying off to inspect the plane. He was as slender as most of the elves, but there was a wiry musculature that warned of hidden strength. He wore his dark hair long, but that wasn’t what drew her eye. Schaeffer stared at him a moment longer—too long, because Sereila noticed.

  “That is my brother,” Sereila said. “You find him attractive.”

  “No…” Schaeffer blushed. “Yes, but not in the way you mean. He…reminds me of something, but I can’t think what.”

  “Or who?” Sereila pressed, and Schaeffer glanced at her.

  Who? That felt right.

  “It could be who,” she admitted, “but I can’t connect it.”

  “He has a half-sister, who left us when she was in her teens. She swore vengeance for the loss of a friend. Her name was Veyala. Perhaps you have seen her?”

  “No, but how was she lost?” Schaeffer asked.

  “The friend?”

  Schaeffer nodded.

  “She was human. Veyala met her when she attended high school in the town. She didn’t like our way of life, so we tried to make her ready for a more human life. She was going to leave us, anyway. We told her not to bring her friend into the forest, that it wasn’t safe, that the unicorns did not approve.”

  “The unicorns?”

  Sereila shrugged.

  “The unicorns have a way of telling if someone will be their friend or foe. They did not trust the girl Veyala liked, and we would not allow her onto our lands. It could be the unicorns could smell pixie dust on the child’s clothes, because we later learned her family was tied up in the trade. We did not know Veyala shared her secrets, had not thought she would be so foolish.”

  “Spiteful.” Iriel had returned. “I have no illusions about my sister. She was angry because she was not fully one of us, or fully human. She thought it unfair to be caught between two worlds, and not part of both. She blamed us for being what she was.”

  Schaeffer didn’t know what to say, and was grateful when Sereila replied.

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  “I am sorry, Iriel.”

  “I can have the passengers back in the plane within the hour. Who do I speak to?”

  “The sergeant, and that hostess.” Schaeffer pointed. “Tell him I suggested we use the plane as shelter for the night, and see what the hostess says about the toilets on board. It would also mean the passengers have access to their luggage and other electrical devices.”

  She paused.

  “Although I’m not sure that’s a good idea. If someone else brought the plane down, then letting them know it’s still in one piece might not be the best of plans.”

  “Too late.” Vestrian had returned. “I’ve radioed emergency services. They’re very happy to know the aircraft is in one piece. I asked them not to disclose the location, so we’re not inundated by worried relatives—or the press.”

  Sereila was silent.

  Absorbing the information, Schaeffer thought, watching the she-elf’s face. Beautiful.

  She was jolted from her admiration when Sereila spoke.

  “Vestrian, coordinate with the sergeant and Emergency Services. Iriel, go with him and see how they want to use the aircraft. We need to have them secured by nightfall, in case of trolls. You,” she continued, looking at Schaeffer, “come with me.”

  She did not wait for them to obey her orders, but turned toward the elves waiting beneath the snow gums.

  “We do not have much time, and I do not think your sergeant will approve.”

  Schaeffer was almost certain Mitch would not approve, but they were partners. With him handling the passengers and emergency services, one of them had to be with the team searching for Winsome, which reminded her.

  “What happened to Veyala’s friend?”

  Again, it was Iriel that answered.

  “She arrived on dusk. One of her brothers dropped her off at the truck stop, and she crossed the fence and walked straight into the forest. Veyala was waiting to lead her to the dryads’ grove so they could join in the dancing there, but the unicorns scented them.”

  They were almost at the snow gums, so Sereila paused. She looked at Schaeffer, and took a deep breath, taking up the story where Iriel had stopped.

  “They chased the girls to the river, and then along it. It was early spring, so the water was up, as it is now, and the two of them went in. Veyala said she thought the unicorns were going to kill them. When we later found her, she was clinging to a log trapped against the bank, but there was no sign of her friend.”

  Sereila started walking again.

  “We searched for days, and Veyala for weeks, but we found no sign. Veyala never forgave us, and left for human society before the end of the year. I don’t know where she went.”

  Sereila took the last few strides to the waiting elves.

  “This is Schaeffer,” she said, indicating the officer with a wave of her hand. “She’ll be joining us.”

  She glared at a brown-haired individual who opened his mouth in protest. He closed his mouth quickly, but his light brown eyes still held doubt.

  “Felen, any sign?” Sereila asked, continuing past the snow gums and weaving her way through tufty grass clumps and thick white-flowered acacia.

  Schaeffer followed. Mitch was less likely to try to stop them, if she was out of sight—and perhaps that was what Sereila had in mind, for the she-elf led them swiftly through the forest until she reached a space where the acacia and wattle gave way to an open patch of native grass and wild flowers. Felen, the elf she had summoned in passing kept pace all the way.

  “She went out over a wing. Probably followed someone through the door, and then slipped over the side, using the wing as cover until she reached the trees. Went straight through the acacia. She was heading in the right direction for the grove.”

  “She knows where it is?”

  “I don’t think so. It’s like she knows it’s there, but not its exact location.”

  “You think she’s been here before?”

  Sereila turned to Schaeffer.

  “This person you’re after. What’s her name?”

  “Winsome Galing.”

  Sereila frowned, then glanced at Felen.

  “No idea. You heard of her?”

  “No…” but Felen was frowning, as though something was ringing bells.

  “And she’s human?” Sereila asked.

  “As human as I am,” Schaeffer replied, and Felen breathed a sigh of relief.

  “You thought it might be Veyala?” Sereila asked, stopping at the edge of the clearing, and taking a seat on one of a cluster of boulders. The elves gathered around them as Felen nodded.

  “For a moment, I was afraid it might be.” He glanced apologetically at Iriel. “I’m sorry.”

  Iriel shrugged, and Sereila took over.

  “Regardless of who it is, the officers have told me she is involved in the pixie dust trade, which means we have to find her before the unicorns do.” She turned to Felen. “We need to get ahead of her. Can you predict an intersection?”

  “That way. If we jog it, we should meet her on full dusk.”

  Full dusk…when both unicorns and trolls were said to be most active. Schaeffer shivered at the thought. Sereila glanced toward her, but said nothing. Instead, the she-elf gestured toward Felen.

  “Lead the way,” she ordered, and Felen took them across the clearing, and into the trees on the other side.