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need a fence, like we had before,” Alida’s father said one night as they were all eating their supper of flowers and berries.
    â€œIf we build fences, some human will think this meadow is a new farm and come to meet the new neighbors,” her mother said.
    Her father was shaking his head. “But we’ll need sheds, too. We have to store cheese for next winterand the weavers need a place to keep the yarn they spin.”
    Aldous stood up. “We might have to keep using magic. We could make it so that rain, snow, and hail couldn’t fall in a small area. Then we could make it so it never got too cold there either. And to keep the mice out—”
    â€œA wooden shed is better for all those things than magic is,” Aunt Lily interrupted.
    â€œI wish we had caves here,” Alida’s mother sighed. “That’s the only thing I miss about the other place.”
    â€œCould you make wooden fences and planked sheds that stayed invisible?” Alida asked.
    â€œMaybe,” her mother said. “But William is right. Complicated magic is always dangerous.”
    â€œI wonder why we came back here sometimes,” William muttered. “All this hiding! It’s all we think about now. Our queen is making
hiding
magic!”
    â€œBefore Lord Dunraven made his law,” Aunt Lily said quietly, “we hired human carpenters to build awooden bridge over the creek once. We paid them with good suppers and simple magic.”
    â€œI remember that old bridge,” Alida’s mother said. “I never knew who built it.” There was so much sadness in her voice that no one said anything more.
    Alida lay awake all night thinking. And just before dawn she got an idea. She slipped out of the nest and glided to the ground.
    Her mother was walking around the clearing, eating dandelions for breakfast.
    Alida ran to catch up. “We could grow small trees and tall bushes in wide circles around the sheds and the pastures,” she said. “Blueberries and serviceberries and crab apples and wild mulberries, all planted in a jumble to look like they’re part of the woods and—”
    Alida’s mother suddenly scooped her up and flew low in a zigzag pattern away from the nest-trees so that their giggles wouldn’t wake anyone.
    Then she glided downward. “Thank you so much,Alida!” she said. “Simple and clever and no magic involved at all.”
    â€œYou used to carry me like that when I was little,” Alida whispered, breathless and laughing as her mother landed. “I had forgotten it.”
    Her mother nodded and set her down. “When you were a baby, you loved it.” She looked around. “I just hope no one saw me break my own rule.”
    Alida meant to laugh. But all the sadness of the years she had been away from her family, all the laughter and love she had missed flooded her heart and she started to cry.
    Her mother held her close. “I should never have let Lord Dunraven take you away.”
    â€œI know you had to,” Alida said, wiping her eyes. “You’re the queen. You couldn’t think just about me. Or yourself.”
    Her mother touched her hand. “I only hope you can forgive me. It was the hardest decision I have ever had to make.”
    Alida kissed her mother’s cheek. “That scares me.”
    â€œThe idea of being queen?” her mother whispered. “Making hard decisions?”
    Alida nodded. “Terra and I talked about it. We’re both scared.”
    Her mother held her closer. “You both have a lot of time to grow up and …”
    She stopped midsentence and turned to face the woods.
    Alida heard hoofbeats far away.
    Without another word they ran in separate directions to wake everyone.
    Before long the faeries were all under the oak tree, invisible. Alida was holding her breath, listening to the plodding hoofbeats, glad the cattle and the goats were tethered at the