OMTAR SHUDDERED as he approached the McCormacks’ house. It looked exposed and vulnerable at the end of the muddy field, its windows dark at this hour, its shingles streaked with dew. Fragile saplings in the yard were skeletal things, bare of leaves. Like the other houses lined up in a row, the McCormacks’ house looked to Tomtar like a thing without a Soul. Only a smear of crimson on the horizon indicated that dawn was approaching. The whistle of the wind was sharp, and hurt Tomtar’s ears. If he had had both hands free he would have pulled his cap down, but one hand was gripped firmly by the Human girl they called Liqua. Tomtar felt uneasy holding the Human’s hand. He knew that the girl clung to a twisted fragment of life only because of the power of an Elfin curse. For thirty years he had been her sole companion; he had told her all of his secrets, shared all of his thoughts, but he never really thought that she might be listening. And he certainly never imagined that one day he would be walking through a field beside her, their fingers entwined. Since he discovered the Alfheim Clan Jewels hidden in a trunk in the McCormacks’ basement, Tomtar’s feelings about Humans had changed. He hated them. More than that, he hated himself for having believed that Matt and Becky McCormack were his friends.

The girl groaned and squeezed Tomtar’s hand as she stumbled over the bulldozer tracks. In her other arm she clutched the tattered doll she had found during her previous trip to the McCormacks’ house. The sound of liquid sloshing inside her crystal helmet muffled her cry, but it was not enough to squelch the note of distress. Her hand seemed to fade, then reappear, then fade away again in Tomtar’s grasp. Tomtar felt ill. “Why couldn’t we have stayed for the weddin’, Nebiros? What’s so important about gettin’ Becky out of the house?”

“Keep your voice down,” the Elf hissed. “’Twas Jardaine’s orders. As soon as the wedding’s over, she wants to talk to the girl about the Alfheim Jewels, and she thinks the little one might be more willing than the others to tell the story. The sooner we get her back to Alfheim, the better ’twill be for us all. But you can’t let on that we know the truth about the Jewels. Tell the girl that she’s comin’ to see a real Elfin wedding!”

Nebiros, protected by the magick Jardaine had provided, took a knife from his pack and used it to sever the bundles of wires that entered the Humans’ home. Then he went to the vehicles in the driveway, opened the hoods over the engines, and did the same. He had learned a valuable lesson in mechanics when he watched Tuava-Li pull wires from an engine with her bare hands. Now he disabled the vehicles safely and effortlessly. Slipping the blade into his pack, Nebiros grinned. He gestured for the others to follow him, and the trio climbed the porch steps. Tomtar remembered the day when Matt saved him from falling from the second-floor window. Then his mouth watered as he thought about the food Matt brought to feed him. Now those days seemed like a long time ago. He forced the memories away, hardening his heart against the sudden pang he felt there, and brought his focus to the task at hand. The porch creaked slightly as Liqua went to take the key from beneath the mat. “Now remember,” whispered Nebiros, staring up into the girl’s face and exaggerating the motions of his mouth, “you must open the door, invite us in, and then Tomtar will go up the stairs. We’ll wait together down here, but you mustn’t make a sound. We can’t let the Humans know we’re here.”

“What about the rest of the Alfheim Jewels?” Tomtar whispered, as Liqua turned the key in the door. “Should we go into the basement and get ’em from that trunk?”

Nebiros shook his head. “The girl wouldn’t come with us if she realized we knew her family had stolen the Jewels. ’Twill be our secret. Jardaine can come back for the treasure later, when this is all over. Now get up the stairs!”

The air in the house was still. The walls, the furniture, the pictures on the mantel, everything was hidden in shadows, everything felt heavy, and dark. Five Humans lay close by, sleeping in their beds, unaware that someone was creeping up the stairs. Tomtar walked past Matt’s room. Then he paused in Becky’s doorway and looked at the sleeping girl, with the blankets pulled up under her chin. He took a piece of bark from his pouch. It was stained red, inscribed with the emblem of the Mage. He placed it on the dresser just like Nebiros had told him to. Then he went to Becky’s bed. He touched her shoulder and saw her stir. “Becky,” he whispered, “wake up. There’s somethin’ in the woods I want you to see. The Princess is gettin’ married, and she’s wearin’ the diamond shoe that Matt found. Do you want to go?”

Becky pushed up on one elbow and rubbed her eyes. “Tomtar? You’re back!”

The girl threw her arms around the Troll and squeezed him so hard that he thought he would lose his balance. “The Elves called me to Alfheim,” the Troll said quietly, “but I came back for you. If you want to see a real Elfin wedding, we’ve got to hurry!”

“But what about Matt?”

“Oh,” Tomtar answered, “you know Matt. He wouldn’t want to sit through a wedding. I’ll come for him later, for the party!”

A minute later they slipped out the front door and headed out across the construction site. Nebiros and Liqua lingered behind the porch until the Troll and the girl had disappeared into the forest. Then they followed. Halfway to the line of trees, the Elf fumbled in his pack. He took out a small, tightly wrapped package and laid it on the ground. “Come with me, Liqua,” he said. “Our job here is done.”

When the package exploded in the field, sending a spray of soil and rocks fifty feet into the air, Tomtar and Becky were making their way along a trail in the dark forest, halfway to Alfheim. Nebiros and Liqua were not far behind. The explosion rattled the windows of the McCormack house. Matt sat bolt upright in his bed, his heart pounding, his eyes alert. He peered through his bedroom window and saw the black cloud of smoke already fading above the tree line. There was a pit in the ground at the center of the construction site. The portable toilet at the far end of the field lay on its side. Closer to the house the swing set lay toppled over in the grass. “Matt!” He heard his father at the foot of the stairs. “Becky! Did you hear that? It was some kind of explosion!”

Matt tossed his blankets aside and stumbled across the floor. He flicked on the light switch. Nothing. “The power must have gone out. Dad, I’m—”

From the doorway he saw his father standing in Becky’s room, looking oddly tall, out of place amid the dollhouse and pink child-sized furniture. He was staring at the empty bed. “Becky?” he called. “Becky? Matt, where’s your sister?”

“Dad, I don’t know. I saw something out in the field; from my window, it looked like smoke. And there’s a crater, or something. You’ve got to come and see!” Matt backed out of the way as his father barged past him. “Charlie, is everything okay?” called Jill from the foot of the stairs.

“Becky?” Charlie yelled.

Emily, already in her mother’s arms, began to wail. “Becky?” Charlie bellowed. “Jill, check the bathrooms. Check the basement. The power’s out, so you’ll need a flashlight. I think there’s one in the drawer next to the stove. Matt, come on, show me where you saw the smoke.”

Down the front steps and across the yard they went, moving like the world had switched over to slow motion. Matt was still in his pajamas. His father had pulled on some jeans and jammed his feet into a pair of boots. Matt saw the laces trailing in the dried mud. His own bare feet stung with every step. Matt followed his father across the field, and the cold air made their breath billow in puffs of white. “Wait up, Dad!”

“Is this some kind of prank?” Charlie grunted as he hurried across the field. “Was it the kids that’ve been screwing around with our construction equipment that did this?”

“Dad,” said Matt, “I don’t know any more than you do!”

They came to the edge of the smoldering pit in the ground. “Well, there’s nothing here,” Charlie said. “Nothing’s damaged, nobody’s hurt.” He glanced up, scanning the horizon. “It was more than some Fourth of July fireworks that did this. It had to be dynamite. But why—”

“Charlie,” Jill cried out from the front yard. “I can’t find Becky!”

“Okay, that’s it,” Matt’s father said, wheeling around. “It’s time to call the police.”

In the living room, Jill stood next to the couch, Emily in her arms, trying to get the toddler to drink from her bottle. The front door was ajar, and chilly air crept along the floor. Charlie pounded on the telephone and cursed. “It’s not working. Jill, where’s my cell?”

“I don’t know,” she answered, nearly hysterical. “Did you plug it into the charger? Did you leave it in the pants you wore yesterday?”

Charlie raced to the clothes hamper and found the cell phone in his pocket. He flipped open the lid; the screen was dark, the phone decharged. He hurried outdoors, the keys to his pickup truck clutched in his fist.

Matt got dressed and went back into Becky’s bedroom. There was no sign of a struggle, or anything out of the ordinary. He was about to leave when he saw the piece of painted bark lying on the dresser. He held his breath and picked it up. In the dim light, Matt recognized the strange calligraphy on the surface. Becky was gone, and it had something to do with the Elves. The bark with the Mage’s sign had obviously been left behind for Matt to find. This whole thing was his fault, and he had to tell his father now, before it was too late. If it wasn’t already too late. Matt raced past his mother, who was pacing back and forth in the kitchen, punching numbers into the dead telephone, Emily stumbling behind her, begging to be picked up, sobbing pitifully. Matt ran down the front steps toward the driveway, where he found his father in the seat of the pickup truck. He was bent over the steering wheel, using both hands to force the key. “Dad!” Matt cried. “The hood’s not shut.”

Charlie cursed and leapt out of the cab. He flung open the hood and saw the cables and wires inside, neatly snipped. “It’s a kidnapping, it’s got to be! The whole time, it’s been leading to this. Somebody’s taken Becky. How are we going to get help? How are they going to call us, to ask for the ransom, if they cut the phone lines?”

“Dad,” Matt interrupted, holding out the piece of red painted bark in the palm of his hand. “Dad, I found this in Becky’s room. I know who did this. There are some … some people out in the woods; they live there, they’re hiding out there, and … I know why they did this. They don’t want you to cut down the trees and build houses, Dad. I think that’s what this is all about.”

Matt winced as his dad grabbed him by the shoulders. “Who?” Charlie demanded. “What people? I thought you met Tom in the woods. Is that who you mean?”

Matt squirmed out of his father’s grasp. “I think maybe … Tom is involved, somehow.”

“How!” Charlie’s voice was a choked scream. “Who did this? His parents? His family? Why would they set off an explosion, unless they wanted us to know they took Becky? Unless they wanted us to find them? Matt, you’ve got to tell me what’s going on! You’ve got to show me where they live!”

“Okay,” said Matt, peering into the darkness of the woods. He pointed a trembling finger. “I think it’s that way.”

Matt ran behind his father. He was breathless when they reached the row of pines that bordered the construction site, and Charlie saw what looked to him like people crouching in the darkness. “Hey!” he shouted. “Hey!”

But the figures in the darkness didn’t move, and when Charlie reached them, he saw that there was nothing there but dirty, discarded clothing: plaid shirts, T-shirts and jeans, shoes and socks and boxer shorts, hanging from low branches where Jardaine and Nebiros had left them to be seen. A desperate cry rose up from inside him. “Whose clothes are these? What in God’s name is happening?”

Matt lifted the hem of a dirty shirt, and a powerful chemical stench burned his nostrils. The shirt was damp, and sticky. Matt pulled his hand away, and there was red on his fingers.

Charlie sniffed the noxious odor, and grabbed his son by the arm. “Come on. We’re going to have to take care of this, just you and me. We’re on our own, here. No neighbors, no police, nothing. Let’s go back to the house and get Grandpa’s guns out of the case in the hall. I know you’ve never fired a gun before; you’re about to get a crash course. Mom and Emily will go into the basement to hide, and we’ll make sure all the doors are locked. Then we’re heading into the woods, Matt, and we’re going to get your sister back!”