Free The Lost Witch by David Tysdale Page A

matter?"
    "Arghthelprragnitleeriall!"
    "Do you feel sick? Are you choking?"
    "What am I saying? Arghthelprragnitleeriall!"
    "I haven't the foggiest."
    "Come on, come on, translate my words. Arghthelprragnitleeriall!"
    "What words?"
    "Translate them telepathically. Arghthelprragnitleeriall!"
    Carole giggled. "I'm sorry," she hastily added, noticing his face darken, "but it sounds
like your clearing your throat."
    "This is the language of the Algeronian steeds from the Tiburian Realm. Really Miss
Sylphwood, do you think everyone speaks English?"
    "Well I--"
    "Ignore the words and translate my thoughts. Many species do not articulate words.
Others have no mouths."
    "Well..."
    "Telepathic translation is the preferred method of communication. Concentrate.
Arghthelprragnitleeriall!"
    "I dunno, some sort of warning, maybe?"
    "Focus on my thoughts not my sound."
    "Wait a minute," Carole said, stalling for time, "you never told me what happened to the
monobrain. Is he still stuck at The Hub, or did he get dumped like me?"
    Philamount suddenly turned his attention to a dirty toenail. "We...ah..." He began
picking at the toe. "...assume the other half of him returned to the Monobrain Realm relatively
safe and sound."
    "The other half... You mean he...? Oh gross! Was he the only one?"
    "Fortunately, yes. Amazing as it seems, the monobrain and you were the only two
casualties, at least on our world."
    "It's not fair! I had nothing to do with this Tiff, yet I'm the one who gets dragged
off."
    Melodious shrugged his shoulders. "Arghthelprragnitleeriall."
    "Time's running out," Carole said without thinking.
    "Correct."
    "It was?"
    "Next, plasticate please."
    "Whaticate?"
    "Plasticate. Alter your features." He demonstrated by flapping his ears until they'd
stretched past his shoulders.
    "Oh." Carole held out her arm and bent it back like a bow.
    "That's it?"
    "I can do this, too," she said, and wrapped one leg around her neck like a scarf.
----

- 11 -
    "Pathetic, Miss Sylphwood. On average, your multitasking skills match those of a
preschooler."
    "Big deal. What difference does it make, if I'm stuck here for the rest of my life?"
    Philamount twanged the tip of his nose with a forefinger and the sound reverberated
through the air. He placed his hands lightly upon Carole's shoulders, "I do not think that needs to
be the case. As I've already remarked, I believe you are quite capable of finding and reconnecting
the dimensional connector yourself."
    "But how do I do that?" She fidgeted under his clammy touch. "You just told me the
connector has to be at The Hub in order to do a transdimensional jump."
    "True enough," He removed his hands and blew upon them as if they'd been burnt. "But
it wasn't always this way. At some point in the very distant past, The Hub was not the center of
all things, and the dimensions were not all neatly connected. Mind you, there are no records of
those ancient times, only meager scraps of fables and legends. Those fragments hint of an age
when we multitaskers explored the dimensions by free-fall. And I believe that is what you have
done.
    "When I met you last night, you had already jumped between two dimensions, and you
did so without being tethered to a connector. You, Miss. Sylphwood, free-fell. An incredible
achievement, totally unheard of for millennia. Unfortunately, it also means that no one else can
tell you how it's done. You'll just have to discover the rules for free-falling on your own."
    "Great! That makes me feel a whole bunch better."
    "Give yourself a little credit. Anyone who can survive the monobrains for nine years
should have no problem completing a transdimensional connection while in free-fall."
    "Of course not. A piece of cake, except I haven't the foggiest what to do, or where the
connector's located or where The Hub is, for that matter."
    "Don't fret, my girl. Think of the adventure. Besides, I'm certain the connector won't
have strayed too far away."
    "That's the best you can do? Pat me on the