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last thing I wanted was to slow him down by asking about details.
    ‘There are Rules in the Otherworld, however,’ added Cathbad. ‘And they grant the privilege of continuous visits under Protection only to those who have a mission.’ His grey eyes locked onto ours. ‘There is always a chance that mortals may stumble upon powers greater than they understand. The Rules allow such mortals to go and return once, but they can never come again.’
    ‘But if we have a mission,’ asked Colin, ‘what then?’
    ‘Then,’ said Cathbad gravely, ‘you may travel back and forth between worlds as many times as it takes you to fulfil your mission. And, furthermore, the Sidhe and all the lesser faeries of the Otherworld must do all that is in their power to help you accomplish it.’
    Colin looked at me, and his lips said ‘Grandpa.’ I nodded, but when I turned to Cathbad, I realized all over again how grand he was, and how little we were – and I remembered how wicked faeries were about giving changelings back. I shivered again, swallowing over a dry place in my throat. ‘We
do
have a mission,’ I croaked.
    ‘Right,’ said Colin, in a voice as dry as mine. ‘It’s Grandpa. The
real
Grandpa.’ He took my hand and held it hard while he finished. ‘We want him back. So we need you to take us to where he is.’
    ‘Please,’ I added. ‘If you’d be so kind.’
    Mongan whistled.
    ‘Peace,’ said Cathbad. ‘They don’t know what they’re asking.’
    ‘We do, too!’ said Colin. ‘And it’s the only thing we want, right, Sarah?’
    ‘Right,’ I said firmly. ‘No deep secrets, no magical powers – just Grandpa.’
    Mongan raised an eyebrow at Cathbad. ‘Has it ever been done?’
    ‘Not willingly,’ said Cathbad. ‘And never by the young.’
    ‘
Please
don’t say that!’ said Colin. ‘
Everybody
says we’re too young to understand things, and it’s
not true
! If you think we’re too young or too chicken to get Grandpa back, your Protection is just like everybody else’s – it saves you the trouble of taking us seriously!’
    ‘The child has a point,’ said Mongan. ‘And even if he didn’t, the Rules don’t permit us to deny them what they ask.’
    There was a long pause – like, forever – while Cathbad thought it over. Then he sighed and turned to us. ‘Very well,’ he said. ‘We will help you accomplish your mission.’
    ‘Hot diggity dog!’ exploded Colin. ‘That’s so
cool
!’
    ‘
Thank
you!
Thank
you!
Thank
you!’ I said at the same time.
    Mongan stirred uncomfortably on his rock. ‘Surely, you may not be thanking us later, little ones. It’s no holiday trip you’ve asked for.’
    ‘That’s all right,’ I said. ‘So long as Grandpa’s at the end of it.’
    ‘So be it,’ said Cathbad. ‘But because of your youth, we cannot take you to where your grandfather is directly. Instead, we will take you for short journeys along the road he has followed. If you find things on that road which threaten to harm you in mind or spirit, you may stop your mission, and we will help you return to your own world – as safely as we can.’
    I caught Colin’s eye, and I could see we were thinking the same thing: they were planning to take us for little ‘journeys’ into the Otherworld and scare us so much that we’d never want to go back. That way, they could say they’d
offered
to take us to Grandpa, but that we’d called the whole thing off, so they’d taken us home instead.
    ‘Er … if it’s all the same to you,’ I said as politely as I could, ‘we’d like to meet up with Grandpa right away.’
    Cathbad looked at us, and suddenly he seemed taller and darker. ‘You are in a poor position to bargain,’ he said softly. I looked away from the mist that swirled in his grey eyes to the endless green of the Outskirts – beautiful, silent, and miles from Mom, with no way of getting home on our own.
    ‘I’m sorry,’ I whispered.
    ‘We won’t bargain any more,’ whispered