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the bottom of the gulf, for the dragon's big feet made for
    swift progress.   They turned the corner and walked across the level
    bottom.   Forrest looked up, and saw the rim of the chasm impossibly far
    above, and a couple of gnat sized specks that might be Sean and Willow.
     
    Then he remembered something.   "Isn't there supposed to be a Gap Dragon
    down here, that eats anyone who get caught?"
     
    "He's not in this section at the moment," Chlorine said.   "Did you want
    to meet him?"
     
    "No!   I want to avoid him."
     
    "His name is Stanley Steamer, and he eats only folk he doesn't know.   I
    could introduce you."
     
    "Thanks all the same.   I'd rather not."
     
    "He has a really cute son named Steven Steamer.   All the girls swoon
    over that baby dragon."
     
    "I'm not a girl."
     
    She laughed again.   "Very well.   No introduction.   But if you should
    ever meet him, just say that Nimby sent you, and he won't eat you."
     
    "Oh-you mean dragons don't eat the friends of dragons?"
     
    "Something like that.   The winged monsters, especially, are very
    honorable.   They protect their own, and the friends of their own.   But
    don't abuse the privilege.   They have to make their living, you know."
     
    By eating most folk they encountered.   "I won't abuse it," Forrest
    promised.   So was this more fantasy on her part, or was it valid?   He
    hoped he never had occasion to find out.
     
    They reached the far wall of the chasm, which wasn't far off, because
    the gulf was narrower at the base than at the top.   Forrest knew that if
    he cared to ponder hard on that, he might conclude that this meant that
    the walls weren't quite vertical.   But that intensity of thought wasn't
    worth the effort, so he didn't reach that conclusion.
     
    The trip up was like the trip down, only now "forward" was toward the
    distant sky.   The dragon seemed to have no trouble walking on the wall,
    and Forrest did not feel any great pull of gravity holding him back.
    Just the supple form of Chlorine's body as he kept his handslinked.
     
    "You must be hungry," she said after a bit.   "Have a dough nut. They're
    very filling." She made a quarter turn, and put a big spongy nut to his
    mouth so he could take it without letting go of her.
     
    He opened his mouth and took it.   It tasted very good, rather like fresh
    pie crust, and was surprisingly filling.   "Thank you."
     
    "You are welcome."
     
    Forrest looked ahead and saw a dark cloud approaching.   "That looks like
    Fracto, the worst of clouds," he said.   "I hope he doesn't decide to wet
    on us."
     
    "He wouldn't dare," Chlorine said.
     
    However, the cloud came floating toward them, growing bigger and uglier
    by the moment.   Until Chlorine tapped Nimby on a scale.   "Mischief at
    two o'clock," she murmured.
     
    The dragon lifted his head and glanced at the cloud.   The cloud
    blanched, and then changed course, scudding swiftly away.
     
    Forrest blinked.   Surely he hadn't seen that.   How could one glance from
    a comically stupid looking dragon dissuade as mean a cloud as Fracto? It
    must be an illusion.   Maybe the woman's craziness was spreading to him.
     
    They reached the top and bent around it.   Things were on the level
    again.
     
    The dragon stopped.   "This is as far as we'll take you," Chlorine said.
    "There is a magic path right ahead.   Follow that, and it will lead you
    safely to the Good Magician's castle."
     
    "Thank you," Forrest said, sliding down to the ground.
     
    "And don't be concerned about the Year's Service," she told him.
     
    "Humfrey won't require it of you.   So you will be back with your tree in
    time."
     
    "I will?" he asked, astonished.
     
    "Yes.   And I think happier than you have ever been." She shrugged.   "But
    of course I don't know the future, so I could be wrong."
     
    She seemed so reasonable in her madness!   "Thank you," he repeated.
    "Thank you for everything."
     
    She smiled, lighting up the local