The plan was a wonderful plan with delightfully simple steps. All Zane had to do was convince Webster to get her the figurine then she would be able to fly before her brothers did. However, Webster was her mother's familiar, and he was very loyal. He probably wouldn't help unless Zane had something to offer in return.

Mother liked to take her tea under her favorite willow tree down by the pond. She would often read one of her many books while Webster prowled about hunting the toads and giant dragonflies. The toads would hide in the water, and the dragonflies buzz high overheard. He hardly ever managed to catch one, but they were his favorite treat. So Zane would take up her butterfly net and catch him a dragonfly, then she would offer it in trade for the figurine.

Tildy questioned why they were leaving the house, so Zane explained the plan twice just to be sure. Tildy was a good friend, but she wasn't particularly devious, and this sort of thing called for all sorts of deviousness. Tildy suggested she ask Webster first and then hunt for dragonflies only if he said no, but Zane knew better. Webster might run and tell mother what she was planning, and he would be more willing to listen if she had the dragonfly already.

“You’re going to get in trouble,” Tildy said with a shake of her head. “No more desert for at least a week.”

“Will you stop saying that,” Zane grumbled and swished her net. It was one of the worst punishments Zane could imagine, and hearing it sent chills down her spine. Her mother was so very good at making cakes and pies that missing even one slice was cruelty beyond compare. “I will just fly once around the yard then have Webster put it back.” Or maybe she would fly up just high enough to take a nibble of a cloud. It would be a shame to waste the opportunity after all.

“Even if he does get it for you, you don’t know how it works,” Tildy suggested.

“I do, too,” Zane lied as she realized Tildy was right. For all she knew, it required special components like sugar and spices. She had seen her mother work spells that required all sorts of things that she had stored in jars in a special room. Zane was allowed in this room, but she was forbidden to touch things. “I will figure it out,” she said defiantly as she thought about how often her father had called her clever. Obviously, she would figure it all out long before the boys even managed to get the figurine out of the room.

They walked across the green fields, disturbing the bees who were busy with the summer flowers. She could have taken the path, but this was a shortcut, and the path was visible from the kitchen window. As they crested a gentle hill, the pond and her mother's favorite willow tree came into view. They quickly made their way to the shore and set about the hunt, eager to prove their skill.

Dragonflies were tricky things as they tended to stay over the water where the lilies grew. Even then, they danced and fluttered in dizzying circles or came to sudden stops and darted another way. So the first task would be to drive to the shore where they could be caught in the first place.

Tildy would go into the water because she was a lizard girl after all and could easily swim. Besides, her feet were bare, and the dress she wore was as waterproof as her skin. She didn't even have to worry about her hair getting wet as she had none to speak of. Zane would wait on the shore where the cattails grew to catch the dragonflies as they buzzed overhead. She hoped her little net was big enough and steadied herself as Tildy waded in.

Long moments of tension passed as Zane heard nothing from beyond the wall of cattails. Then suddenly Tidly called out that they were coming. Zane tensed with an arm raised, ready to catch the biggest one and tempt Webster with the prize. Zane knew she could do it because dragons were natural hunters, after all, and she was at least half-dragon. Therefore it only stood to reason that she was at least half as good as her mother, which would be more than enough to catch a bug.

The buzzing grew louder as Zane tightened her grip, a flurry of motion raced over the cattails, and she prepared to swing. Out they came, the giant marsh dragonflies, resplendent in metallic colors of green and blue. They were as large as an ordinary rabbit, with wings as long as her arms. With legs bent, she readied to spring, eager to catch one and begin her next step of the plan. Then they sailed overhead, well out of her reach, leaving her sad as she flapped her tiny wings.

“Did you catch one?” Tildy asked as she appeared through the reeds.

“No,” Zane sniffed and looked to the sky. “I couldn’t reach them.”

“Oh,” Tildy said as she splashed to the shore. “I am sure more will come soon, and we can try again.”

Zane nodded as it was the only option she had. She dreamed of how easy it would be to catch them if only she had bigger wings. An hour went by as they hunted for more, and Tildy chased out over a dozen. Unfortunately, they either went the wrong way or flew above Zane's head just a little too high.

“I am never going to fly,” Zane said dejectedly as she sat against the willow tree. “And my brothers are going to come and peck my head.”

“Well, if they do, you can use that net to catch them,” Tidly said as she picked up the pole and gave it a swing.

“It isn’t fair that he always gets to do things first just because he’s a year older,” Zane protested.

“He can't help that he's older,” Tildy said and sat beside her.

“Yeah, but he can help spoiling the surprise,” Zane insisted. “He knows I want to taste the clouds, and he will fly up and taste them all, then spoil it by bragging about the flavor. He will brag that he's sick of the flavor by the time I have my first taste.”

“Are you sure clouds have a flavor?” Tildy asked as she looked up to see a lumpy one drift by. “I thought they were just clouds.”

“Everything has a flavor,” Zane protested and began to list all the things she had tasted. The list was quite extensive and included things like grass, dandelions, and paper. Tildy wondered why she had tasted paper, and Zane admitted that her brother dared her to. Her mother was upset because paper was expensive, but she didn't punish Zane. Instead, she told a story about how she once owned a bookstore.

“Your mom has a lot of stories,” Tildy laughed. “I like the one about the boat that sailed on glass.”

“I like the one about the pizza adventure where they met aunt Breanne,” Tidly said as she wondered if there was any pizza left. She thought about how the cheese would make long strings that never seemed to break and suddenly had another idea.

“We need a web!” Zane said excitedly and jumped up.

“A web for what?” Tildy asked with a tilted head.

“To catch the dragonflies,” Zane replied and looked at the willow tree with a sour expression. It was a lovely spot for tea and a good book, but its long rope-like branches were unsuited to a web. She would have to use the old oak tree further down as its branches were long and sturdy.

“You want to catch dragonflies with a web?” Tildy asked. “Where are you going to get a web that big?”

“From Webster, of course,” Zane said with a smile.

“But, he's a jumping spider, not a web-building spider,” Tildy accurately pointed out. “He only uses silk when he wants to drop from someplace high.”

“But he also uses it to play games with us,” Zane said as her excitement refused to abate. “I bet we could get him to play with us, then collect the silk and use it to make a web.”

“Wouldn't it be easier to ask him to get you the figurine?” Tildy pointed out again.

Zane was undaunted by Tildy's simple logic and took up her net to go find the spider. They found him in the garden hunting for pests and quickly asked him to play a game. They went out to the magic tree that was growing pears today, and he strung a long silk from a high branch so the girls could swing on it. Next, he spun them a hammock along the outer wall, and they all hid inside, pretending to be guards watching for enemy soldiers.

Of course, Zane pretended to be her mother, guarding her lands and friends from the bad king who wanted to stop her. Tildy pretended to be aunt Quinny and commanded the forest to conceal the roads. After an hour of various games, there was spider webbing hanging from the tree and all along the walls. Zane then made up a pretense that she and Tildy had important business to do and bid the spider goodbye. He scuttled off in search of a meal, and Zane quickly ran to the tree to try and climb up. Tildy laughed at her clumsy efforts and then effortlessly scaled the tree, her lizard hands and feet sticking with ease. She reached the high silk and grabbed hold, yanking and pulling to no avail.

“It won’t come off,” Tildy groaned. “We will need something to cut it.”

Zane put her mind to work as she needed the silk to catch a dragonfly. In a moment of inspiration, she remembered her mother's garden scissors that she used to cut flowers. They were kept in the little shed at the edge of the yard along with all her pretty pots. She hurried to the shed and returned a moment later with the long scissors. Tildy carried them up and, after some careful effort, cut the silk away. Next, they used the scissors to cut the hammock from the wall and a few additional strands to make it work. They hurried back to the pond with their weapon in hand and set about their diligent work.

An hour later and Zane sat back to admire their handiwork. They used the long strands to fashion a frame over which they stretched the hammock, creating a crude but obvious web. Tildy still wasn't sure this would work as the web wasn't sticky, but Zane was determined to try.

Tildy slipped into the water to surprise the dragonflies and chase them out. Zane waited at the trunk of the tree with her little net for the prey to come. She slipped into her imagination, envisioning Tildy as a great lizard woman warrior gone out to lure in the dangerous prey. Zane was a hunter, and together they were hunting the most dangerous of monsters. They stalked the huge and elusive dragonflies that could breathe fire and bite a man in half. She saw herself with a sword in hand as she waited to ambush the dangerous creatures. Their trusty companion Webster, the spider, had woven a net that even a giant couldn't break, and now the trap was set.

Her red eyes narrowed a few minutes later when Tildy called out they were coming. Zane tensed with her net raised high as a swarm of dragonflies raced out. Three of them went around the tree, as two changed directions at the last second. However, a big red one flew right into the silks, stretching the fabric as Zane ran out. The insect bounced right off the barrier, but the momentary disruption gave Zane just enough time to swing.

“I got one!” she cried as the net landed over the insect's head. She laughed as the insect thrashed, then cried out as it beat its wings fiercely and pulled. “Tildy!” she cried as her feet began to slide along the ground. Zane held on for dear life as the insect flew in circles, dragging her along with it. Tildy came splashing out of the pond and ran to help, the two of them colliding in a tangle of arms and tails. They landed on the ground with a thump as the dragonfly flew away. A moment later, a stiff breeze tore the silk web from the tree, and it settled over their heads.

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“Well, you caught something,” Tildy said as she struggled to get out from under the web.

“I almost had it,” Zane pouted as she sat up and looked to the sky sadly. “But it got away.”

“You did your best,” Tildy encouraged as she tried to untangle herself. “It wasn’t your fault you caught the biggest dragonfly at the pond.”

“But I didn’t catch it,” Zane protested with a sniff.

“Maybe Webster would be happy with a bunch of the normal ones,” Tildy offered. “Those are much easier to catch.”

“But they are too small for him,” Zane replied as she considered how big he was.

“What are two doing?” came her mother’s voice causing the two to look up from their silken nest.

“Ummm,” Tildy began as Zane struggled to get up.

“We were just playing,” Zane said quickly but not so quickly as to sound suspicious. “I wanted to catch a dragonfly, but it got away.”

“A dragonfly?” Heather asked with a smile as she came to rescue the girls from their binds. “It looks to me like you are a couple of spiders stuck in your own web.”

“Webster made it for us,” Zane admitted as she was finally pulled free. “I cut it down from the garden and brought it here.”

“So that's why my scissors are covered in silk,” Heather said as she stood her daughter up. “I told you not to play with sharp things, and you left them on the lawn by the tree.”

“I'm sorry,” Zane said and looked down, ashamed that she had done something wrong.

“Well, so long as you're not hurt, I will forgive you this time. Now, I have come out to sit under the willow tree and read. Would you girls like to sit with me? I brought tea and cookies,” her mother said.

“Cookies!” Tildy said excitedly and clapped her hands. “Are they big chocolaty ones?”

“With extra chunks,” Heather added with a smile.

“You make the best cookies,” Tildy exclaimed and hurried to join Zane’s side.

Heather took their hands and led them back to the tree as Zane felt bad about the scissors. They arrived to discover a brightly colored quilt and a basket that carried Heather’s things. She opened it up and set out a teapot followed by a plate of extra chunky cookies. Zane and Tildy sat at her side with cookies in hand as she poured a tea and took up her book.

“This is the story of a little boy who wanted to build a graveyard,” Heather began.

“Why would he want to build a graveyard?” Tildy asked.

“Because it was his dream,” Heather said. “He wanted to build the biggest and best graveyard anybody had ever seen, with a towering pyramid at the center like a pharaoh's tomb.”

“What’s a pharaoh?” Zane asked as the name was unfamiliar.

“It's a type of king,” her mother said and began the story. The girls listened as her mother read aloud the story of a boy who was lonely because people thought he was ugly. He dreamed of building a grand adventure in his graveyard, but nobody ever came until a girl arrived one day.

“Was the girl pretty?” Tildy asked.

“I think she was,” Heather said with a smile. “But she was in distress. A monster was chasing her, you see. She ran into the graveyard for safety and hid in one of the buildings.”

She read the story for another hour, sipping her tea and sharing a cookie. Eventually, she shut the book, and Zane finally noticed the familiar cover. It was the book her mother wrote in, something she called a journal.

“Mother, didn’t you write that book?” Zane questioned as her mother smiled.

“How observant of you to notice. I did write this book, and it is a true story,” Heather said and tussled her daughter's hair. “And one day, you will understand the significance of that. Now run off and find something smaller to hunt. I have some pears to pick and a tart to make.”

“Oh, I wish I lived in your house,” Tildy moaned. “My parents don’t have a magical fruit tree.”

“You are always welcome to take some pears home,” Heather offered as she packed her basket. “I will have Webster knock down a dozen extra.”

“Thank you,” Tildy said excitedly as she got up so Heather could fold the blanket. She gave the girls a final wave and headed off, leaving them under the willow tree as Zane felt sad.

“Your mother is so nice,” Tildy said.

“I know, and now I feel bad that I want to steal her figurine,” Zane replied.

“You just wanted to fly before your brothers did,” Tildy replied and put her arm around Zane. “I don’t blame you for wanting that.”

“But I still want it,” Zane sighed as she wondered if she was a bad girl. “Maybe my mother would understand?”

“Your mother will make a pear tart, and your brothers are going to eat it all while you have none,” Tildy replied.

“But I just can't let them fly before me,” Zane insisted. “I have to try.” She looked to the tangled webs under the distant oak tree and wondered if they should try again. With a sigh, she had to admit that she and her net were just too small. Her brothers would fly up and taste the clouds, then tease her by pecking at her head. She was doomed to walk until she was older, while her brothers spoiled every surprise.

“You want to play at my house?” Tildy asked when she saw the glum expression. “We have big fish you might be able to catch.”

“I don’t think Webster likes fish,” Zane replied as they walked back to the oak tree.

Just as they arrived, a sudden gust of wind rustled the tree and filled the silken hammock. It flapped into the air and floated skyward, wrapping around a startled dragonfly. To their utter amazement, the poor creature plummeted from the sky and practically landed at their feet, wrapped tightly in the trap that had failed so disastrously.

“We caught one!” Tildy exclaimed as she fell on the webbing to pin the thrashing creature.

Zane reacted in an instant, falling over the buzzing insect in an effort to keep it contained. She could hardly believe her luck and smiled to know that her masterful plan had worked. They tied the ends into a bag and worked together to drag the hapless creature away. It took them a long time, but eventually, they got back to the house and hid the beast in the garden shed.

“Now we need to find Webster,” Zane said excitedly as she dreamed of flying again.

“But he could be anywhere,” Tildy said as she looked about the yard.

The comment was true, but Zane remembered that her mother wanted to make a tart and that Webster would be helping her. She suggested they check the magic tree to discover the ground covered with fallen pears and two baskets already packed. Unfortunately, neither Webster nor her mother were to be found, so she dared to call out, hoping he was nearby.

“He isn't here, Zaney,” her brother Lorris said as he stepped out of the house, eating a pear. “Mother was out of sugar, so she took him and flew to town to get more.”

“My name isn’t Zaney,” she protested with a pointed finger.

He shrugged and tossed the half-eaten pear aside before plucking another from the basket. “Gerrin and I gathered the pears, so she is going to bring us a reward,” he teased.

Zane wanted to claim that it wasn’t fair that they got a reward for helping. She would gladly have helped gather the pears if she had been here. Then she remembered the cookies and the time spent listing to the story and decided to bite her tongue. She asked Tildy to come into the house and walked past her brother, who smiled as if he had played a trick on her.

“Father?” she called as the two searched the lower floor. They found Gerrin hunting through the cupboards in the kitchen and asked him what he was doing. He denied that he was doing anything, but after some pressure, he admitted that he smelled cookies and was looking for where they were hidden. Zane wanted to be smug and tell him she and Tildy ate them all, but she kept her secret and let him be.

Father Frank was leaning over a table in the lounge as he studied a map. He looked perplexed as his brow wrinkled and he scratched at the side of his head. Zane walked up to the table and stood on her tiptoes to get a better view as he looked down and smiled warmly.

“How is my little girl today?” he asked.

“I am wonderful,” Zane replied and smiled at her father. “What are you looking at?”

“Just a map of the countryside,” her father said as he tapped a location. “We live right here, and we were thinking of expanding our holdings.”

“What's a holding?” Zane asked as she tried to figure out what he meant. Her father explained it was another way to refer to all the land they owned. The region was intentionally kept sparsely populated so people would have plenty of room, but he wanted to build something special. So they were considering where they would put it so it wouldn't be in the way.”

“Is it going to be a pyramid for a farro?” Zane asked.

“Where did you hear that?” her father asked in surprise.

“Mother was reading from her journal,” Zane replied as she looked into his warm face. “She said the story was true.”

“Everything your mother writes in that journal is true,” he replied and put a hand on her shoulder. “One day, when you are older, you should probably read it yourself.”

“Why do I always have to wait until I am older?” Zane asked with pleading eyes. She never understood why they always said that. It would make life so much easier if they would let her do everything now. Her father nodded thoughtfully at the question and explained that she should never rush into things. Time was precious, even if it went on forever. One day she would look back on her childhood and wish it had lasted much longer.

“Now, you two go run off and have some fun. Your mother will be home soon, and then she will start on dinner,” he said.

Zane gave him a hug, then took Tildy and headed into the red hall. It was another funny feature of their house, the way certain rooms or halls were magical. The red hall was longer than it looked, and from where you started, there were only three doors, one on each side and one at the end. If you avoided looking at the end door and walked down the hall, nothing, in particular, would happen. However, if you stared at the end door, the hall would stretch with every step, growing longer until there were six doors on either side. The blue hall was very different and could be frustrating at times. If you made the mistake of turning the knobs the wrong way, they always opened to the same room. Her mother said it was a way to trap unwanted guests because once you went into the room, the door would disappear until opened from the outside. Her brothers tricked her into it once and left her for hours. Her mother eventually found her and punished them with no cake for a week.

They went to the red hall and started at the far door. Zane fell into her imagination as the hall became a tunnel in some ancient tomb. They had to run to reach the far door before deadly traps went off and killed them both. At once, they sprinted, the two leaping over pits full of monsters as the far door started to move away. They pressed on, refusing to give up as doors appeared on either side, but they got no closer to the end. With a cry of defeat, they came to a halt panting as all six doors lined the hall.

“We never make it,” Tildy groaned. “Are you sure there is a secret room behind the end door if you can reach it before it finishes?”

“I heard Lorris telling Gerrin there was,” Zane admitted and realized that he was hardly a trustworthy source. Still, she had asked her mother and said that Zane should think of better uses for her time. She assumed that getting to the door had something to do with time and kept trying to outrun it. With the hall complete, it was easy to walk to the end and open the door, going into the tower that couldn't be seen from the outside. It was a pretty space with a massive spiral staircase that went up seven floors. Each floor had a different purpose, but the best place was the sixth, where the hidden garden was. Of course, walking up six floors would be tiring, so Mother had the space enchanted.

Zane and Tildy stood in the center of the room and called out that they wanted to go to the sixth floor. Suddenly the tower began to move, twisting around them as the stairs spiraled into the floor and vanished. In moments it slowed until the floor was now level with the landing for the door they wanted, and quickly they entered.

“I love your house,” Tildy laughed as they entered a glasshouse full of exotic plants.

Zane always liked this room because it felt like being outside even though you were in. The walls were glass as clear as clean water, and outside was the sky and bright sunlight. Inside was a smooth stone floor covered in pots and planters where her mother's special plants grew. These were rare and exotic flowers or unusual trees and even a few vines collected in her adventures. It was full of secluded spaces and stone benches where you could sit and enjoy the steamy surroundings. Zane was rather fond of being here while it was raining, and she could listen to the gentle tapping on the glass while staying perfectly dry.

The garden was tended by a dozen magical faeries who cared for and watered the plants. They were barely as tall as Zane’s knee and fluttered about on butterfly wings that left trails of golden sparkles. They were a gift from grandma Gwen, something mother liked from a garden she had in grandma’s city.

The two got lost in the dense forest of strange plants but eventually found their way to the back, where a second wall of glass contained a particular plant. This one had a metal plaque that read orange creeper, and inside was a withered-looking vine on which grew large orange flowers with black spots. It was the one plant mother said was dangerous, and as such, it was behind its own glass.

“It has such pretty flowers,” Tidly said as she pressed her face to the glass. “I wonder why it’s dangerous.”

“Mother said it spreads quickly and can make something called undead,” Zane replied as she, too, stared at the flowers.

“Let's go to the grotto,” Tildy suggested with a bounce, as this was her favorite place in the house.

Zane agreed, and they headed off to where a large fountain splashed into a pool wide enough to swim across. On one side were steps leading down into the water before vanishing to the depths. Zane and Tildy held hands as they went down the steps, the water retreating around them until they stepped beneath it encased in a bubble. Around them were various varieties of aquatic plants that her mother kept for experiments. As they reached the bottom, a well-defined path lit by glowing stones led the way to a tunnel in the back of the pool. Here it opened into more of a cave system, and the bubble suddenly popped as they stepped onto dry land.

“I love this place,” Tildy sighed as they stood in a world of glowing fungus and strange roots that hung from above. The cave ran in a large circle with small areas along the walls for various plants. The two wandered the space lit by the luminescent light of the plants around them. Zane liked the smell of a root that grew here, it was called a honey root, and it dripped with a sweet swap. Tildy, on the other hand, liked to poke the spekelrooms because they changed colors when disturbed.

They played for a little while, pretending to be cave explorers fighting off the fungus men. It was a thrilling game as they fought through dark caves facing dangers at every turn. Eventually, they escaped the dark carven through a flooded passage returning to the glass room just in time to see a shadow fly overhead.

“Mother is home!” Zane said excitedly and ran to the edge to see into the yard. She couldn’t wait to find Webster and show him the dragonfly, but her heart sank as she pressed her face to the glass. Lorris and Gerris were below in the garden at the door to the little shed. She watched helplessly as they dragged the silken bundle out and released her precious dragonfly.

“No!” Zane cried in disappointment to see her hopes fly away.

“Those jerks,” Tildy groaned as she thought of hard it was to catch.

Zane turned around, unable to watch, and slumped to her rear. Once again, her hopes of flying were gone, and she would have to wait a long time to taste the clouds.