After setting up a solar panel and an inverter, Uncle Anthony said, “Looks like we have power. It may take a bit to get all the stuff we need, but this is going to work. How do we hire a crew here?”

I asked, “Will they have to handle iron or steel?”

Uncle Anthony winced. “That’s going to be rough.”

Mr. Hebert said, “We are going to need a crew to make forms and pour cement anyway. We have a spring that could fill the fish tanks. The roof is solid, so it will be easy to put a framework up and mount solar panels on it. A few solar panels over half the fish tanks might be nice.”

I thought about the massive weight of all the cement and considered making a stone fish tank. Either way, tanks were going to be heavy.

I asked, “How about large stainless-steel fish tanks? You know, like the galvanized cattle troughs they sell, only bigger. A lot of folks keep fish in cattle troughs. We just need them a bit larger.”

Mr. Hebert showed me the sketches of the tanks he’d planned. I looked them over. He was planning big, and a lot of the large stonework party area below the garden and spring were going to be taken over by tanks. We’d be raising a lot of fish. I nodded, looked at the area, and walked down. I made illusions of all the tanks and equipment. It would need a few pumps, so I left room for them and would make the final pipe connections when we had the pumps.

“Mr. Hebert, what do you think?”

Mr. Hebert asked, “Of what?”

I shrugged. “Sorry, I forgot that you don’t see illusion.”

I adjusted the illusion and made ladders to climb out of the tanks and walkways. I put in drains and extra places for fittings, just in case. I made all the tanks for fish and the tanks for the filtration media. I still couldn’t tell that I had used any of the Fairyland’s reserved mass.

Uncle Anthony asked, “Do you know how much that would be worth if you had made gold?”

I shrugged. “I don’t think money is an issue anymore. I’d like some for my trip to the Goblin Music Festival, and I’d like to give some to my family. How much do you need to do what you want to do?”

Uncle Anthony said, “We live pretty well, and Mr. Hebert and I have more than enough money for now. What has always concerned us is the future. Things change and being poor sucks. It’s hard to make it back from poverty.”

I said, “Well, as long as I have this job, anytime you need a few hundred pounds of gold, I can probably spare it.”

Mr. Hebert said, “We’ll just keep it in the Bank of Phil and consider it another backup investment. Anthony, how long before we can get all the solar equipment?”

Uncle Anthony said, “I really don’t know yet. We need inverters, batteries, all sorts of cables, and, of course, the solar panels. Then we need to bring in water heaters, ovens, washers, dryers, and any other tools we want. It will be a work in progress for a while. With Phil able to make fittings and structures for it, we can do it all without too much help, but now I have to spend a while reading and researching. It wouldn’t hurt for you to learn all of this, Roland.”

Stolen novel; please report.

Mr. Hebert nodded. “Phil, can you put in another row of tanks? There is still room if you go all the way to the wall here. Make them even deeper so they are level at the top with the other tanks.”

#

I summoned Monroe.

“Phil, I heard that you could do magic. This is pretty amazing. Are you going to fade to Fairy?”

I said, “Probably, at least for a few years. Can I visit?”

Monroe said, “You’re family. Of course, you can.”

I looked around. They were living in a Quonset hut that had vines growing over the corrugated steel arch. There was a locked gate, and the gravel drive had a small tree growing up in the center, clearly, no car had driven here for a long time.

We walked down to the stream and sat at a bench. I took off the backpack I had gotten just for this purpose and put it down beside me.

Monroe asked, “Can you do any other magic?”

I nodded. “In Fairy I can. Here in Real, I’m pretty much the same old Phil. I can let you visit sometime if you want.”

He shook his head. “Don’t want to fade away. What all can you do?”

I shrugged and handed him a heavy handful of gold rings. “I can make gold.”

He asked, “Fairy gold?”

I said, “This is real, but I can make that too. Hide the backpack. Use what you want or need, but don’t let Dennis know about it.”

He opened the backpack and took out a bundle of twenties. “This is a lot of money.”

I said, “I didn’t work hard for it, but it’s still honest money. I’ll summon you from time to time. If you need more, let me know. It’s no hardship to me.”

Monroe asked, “You need anything?”

I shook my head. “I miss music time with the family. I got mostly anything else I want and then some. Seriously, if you want to live somewhere nice, I can provide.”

Monroe said, “We do okay. I never noticed that you pulled way more than your share of work when you were with us. Still, it’s probably good that some of the bums in the family have to pull their weight now. It’s not the same without you beating on the crate, though. We never really noticed how important the sound was ‘til it wasn’t there.”

I felt shadows shift and Jordan sat beside us. “Good to see you, Phil. Are you still fading to Fairy?”

I nodded. “At least for a few years.”

Jordan asked, “Can you take Dennis with you?”

I laughed. “No. My Fairyland seems safe enough, but I don’t want to feel responsible if he got himself killed.”

Jordan asked, “Do you think about Dennis getting himself killed very often?”

Monroe said, “Doesn’t everyone? I always figured the funeral would be awkward. No one wanting to say what a jerk he was, and everyone scared that someone would start snickering and set them off, too.”

I nodded. “That would be one hard to resist snicker. I would probably be crying too, but I’m pretty sure the snicker would get to me.”

Jordan said, “You two are awful. I thought we had raised you better. The thing to do is to get all your laughter out of the way before the funeral.”

We all nodded.

Monroe said, “He brought us a bag of money.”

Jordan said, “Oh, no. There is no telling where Dennis got it. We should plan to move again.”

Monroe said, “No, Phil did. He can make gold in Fairy.”

Jordan said, “Phil, you can’t go around buying friends. Fortunately, we’re family and easily bought.”

Monroe got up and went to hide the money. He came back and we sat for a while watching the stream.

I said, “I’ll check on the family from time to time, but I may disappear for a few years.”

Jordan said, “I understand but I don’t understand, and you probably shouldn’t bother explaining. Just know we’re thinking of you and take care.”

Monroe said, “I can’t help but think that fading to Fairy’s kind of like dying. The result’s the same. Take care, Phil.”