By midmorning, Pitch had something curious to show to the other group members.
Lucy was the first to notice, but Pitch refused to explain what it was until all were present. And so, Lucy immediately went to force Dreadlilocks and Uriel awake so that condition could be satisfied as soon as possible.
“She’s g-got it in a bucket and she won’t let me see! I’m just d-dying of curiosity!” she exclaimed, pulling Dreadli out of an armchair. “Come on, come on; before I explode!!”
“Why don’t you try asking Mr. Azor…?” Dreadli said, yawning. “I’ll bet he already knows…”
“Oh, I don’t kn-now where he is. The sun’s out already; he’s p-probably in hiding…just get on your feet, please…!”
After 10 minutes of impassioned pleading, Lucy finally succeeded in assembling everyone in the kitchen, except for Azor, who she was still unable to find.
“That’s to be expected,” said Pitch, still holding the bucket close. “Because, you see…he’s in here.”
“In…the bucket??” asked Dreadli.
“Yes, in the bucket,” Pitch answered. Then she made an uncertain face, as if she had just noticed something strange. “…Look, I have to say something,” she said to some unknown person. “I can’t just not explain it at all; they’ll wonder…now, I won’t go into detail; I promise I’ll say as little as I can get away with, alright? Alright, then.”
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“…Are you talking to him? How come we c-can’t hear him anymore??” asked Lucy.
“I don’t think that falls within the purview of things I am allowed to explain…” said Pitch. “Anyway, just quiet down and let me say what I wanted to say.”
“Azor is…in a state of rest, of sorts,” she began. “You could probably tell just by looking before that his body is made of magic, for the most part. But what little there is left that is not magic is very sensitive, and he must work consciously to maintain it. Until now, of course, he had lived all his life in one place, and he was sort of…calibrated for that environment, if you will. So now that he is in a new environment, he must re-calibrate in order to be comfortable, and he will need some time to himself in order to accomplish that.”
“Sounds like an awful lot of trouble…” said Uriel. “You’ll tell him I wish him well, won’tcha?”
“Oh, he can hear you. And I’m sure he appreciates it,” said Pitch. Although, a second later, she made a face that let them all know he had probably expressed the opposite.
“So w-what’s he doing in a bucket? Is he t-tiny now or something??” Lucy asked, giggling.
“No he isn’t, and I’m not allowed to explain any further. And don’t laugh; he’s moody enough as it is,” said Pitch, covering the bucket protectively. “By the way, I am the only one who is allowed to hold this bucket or look at its contents. No one is allowed to touch its contents. Have I made myself clear?”
The other three nodded, still somewhat amused and bewildered.
“…Well, now that that’s outta the way, I s’pose it’s about time we cast off,” said Uriel. “We’ll have to leave before noon at least, if we want to cross the Margins by moonrise.”
“So how are we going to get there?” asked Dreadlilocks.
“Why, in the rowboat, of course.”