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the man who attacked me and she tried to keep me from going to the Valley of the King."
    Pat scoffed. "So she makes herself out to be a guardian while helping as little as possible," she commented.
    Fred furrowed his brow. "That's just it. I think she's been helping me since Galaron. There was an old woman there who I don't think was an old woman, and she gave me the key to the trapdoor to lead us through Ruth's home and outside, and there was an old woman at Tramadore after the battle who gave me the comb for Fluffy."
    Ned stroked his beard. "Most mysterious. I wonder if you, Fred and Pat, recall that we were assisted on our way at the very beginning by an old woman in a cart?"
    Pat frowned. "The one who drove us into the first town after we found Fred?" she wondered.
    "The very one," Ned agreed.
    "But how could she know about Fred before he arrived at Galaron?" she pointed out.
    "That is a question only she can answer. We will have to keep a sharp eye out for our follower and see if we are able to converse with her on the subject," Ned suggested.
    "And Fred should be kept to his room," Pat added.
    Fred frowned. "I'll be fine," he argued.
    Pat scowled back at him. "We don't know what her intentions are toward you, so the safest place would be the castle and your room," she insisted.
    "She doesn't mean to hurt me. If she did she would have done so a half dozen times already," he protested.
    Ned held up a hand and smiled at the pair. "I agree with Pat that Fred should be on his guard, but Fred would be safest with us. I will keep him by my side at all times outside the castle," he promised. Pat frowned, but didn't protest the arrangement.
    Fred was none too pleased. "I can handle myself," he argued.
    "Against a common foe I believe that, but we are dealing with an uncommon foe and measures must be taken," Ned insisted. Fred opened his mouth to continue his protest, but Ned shook his head. "No more arguments, my apprentice. Let us all return to our beds and sleep away what little of this night remains."
    The companions returned to their rooms, but Fred entered his and forsook the bed for the window. He leaned against the sill and looked out on the city. The guards wandered from street to street, but he knew they wouldn't find her, not when she was capable of transforming into whatever disguise she needed.
    "Who are you really?" he wondered. The air didn't answer, so he turned back to his bed and slept fitfully the rest of the night.
     
     
    A knock on his door awoke Fred from his sleep. He creaked open his eyes and saw the sun had risen, but the light was the weak brilliance of a half hour after sunrise. The knocking insisted he rise, so Fred tossed aside the covers and shuffled over to the door. He opened it to find Ned on the threshold of his room with a bright smile on his face.
    Ned swept into the room and over to the bed where he turned to Fred who still stood by the door. Fred slowly shifted so he partially faced his energetic master. "Good morning, my apprentice. I trust you slept well after that little surprise last night," he commented.
    "Ugh," Fred replied.
    "Excellent! I hope you don't mind the early rising, but we have a long and interesting day ahead of us. Telana has promised to take us for a tour, and the city is so large and has so much worth seeing that it takes a full day to appreciate its beauty," Ned told him.
    "Ugh," Fred answered.
    "Good, then I and the others will meet you in the dining hall in a few minutes. We hope to gather enough provisions to satisfy our appetites, but nothing is guaranteed unless you hurry." With that friendly warning of starvation Ned hurried out of the room and shut the door behind himself.
    Fred stumbled through clothing himself and in a few minutes was downstairs with his friends. A banquet table full of breakfast foods sat against one of the feasting hall walls, and Ned had produced a basket from his cloak into which Canto and Percy were stuffing the food. The servants watched