They rose to their feet as the trio approached.

"This is out of bounds to the public," said one of the men. He was over six feet tall, raven-dark hair and would have been the most beautiful man in the world had he not been standing next to a man who could have been his brother.

Ess worked her mouth, but no words came out. She cleared her throat and closed her eyes. This was not professional. She was a witch. She had a boyfriend, damn it. She opened her eyes and stared at the ground.

"This is a public park," she told the perfect feet in front of her. Her voice sounded thin and unsure.

"You need to leave." Mother Gaia, even his voice was beautiful.

To her right Oz said, "My God, Madam, you are gorgeous."

Ess tried to shush him, but when she glanced sideways she was amazed to see the big man crying.

"I have made it my life's passion to study, nay, to worship women, and now I realise all that was a waste of time. They are dust compared to you."

"Oz!" Ess hissed. "Now's not the time." Her words had no effect. She doubted he even remembered she was there. "Oz!" But his eyes were fixed on the woman in front of them.

The woman flowed over to Oz. There was no other word for it. Walking didn't do justice to the fluid movement. She leant close and whispered in Oz's ear, too quietly for Ess to catch the words. Then she placed a porcelain hand on his shoulder and Oz sank to his knees.

"Oz? Oz!" Ess nudged him with her foot. He didn't react. Instead, he stared at the woman in rapt adoration. "What have you done to him?"

The woman shrugged. "Who are you?"

"Take him out of it."

The three strangers merely stared at her. Their silence helped her build up a head of steam.

"I am Ess, daughter of Gaia, sister of the Earth and, and, and a bloody bad idea to get on the wrong side of. Undo whatever you did to him."

The woman smiled. "A witch and a clown. How novel. So now we know how you managed to enter our home. Why you would do such a difficult and dangerous thing is still a mystery."

Was that a slight stress of the word 'dangerous'?

"I've come here to talk to someone about Daisy."

The three turned to each other. They didn't speak, but somehow they seemed to reach a decision.

"Come," said one of the brothers. They turned towards the trees.

"Wait. What about Oz?"

"The clown? Leave him. He will remain unharmed."

Ess looked at her friend. He certainly didn't look in distress, quite the opposite.

"Come or leave." The three turned back to the woods and, full of regret in ever coming here, Ess followed.

There was something wrong with the world. She couldn't put her finger on it, but the dimensions didn't seem right, as though she were viewing it through warped glass. On the edge of her vision she caught movement, which disappeared as soon as she looked to it. The breeze carried hints of voices she couldn't quite hear. She felt a gossamer touch on her arm, and as she looked down a ghost of a hand, small and delicate, snapped out of existence. She unfocussed and sought for the trio's aura.

She caught her breath and nearly stumbled. She was surrounded by scores of auras, gold and silver, interlacing and filling the atmosphere, so that she felt she was walking through a cloud of sunlight. One small focus of light stood beside the path. She examined it as she passed.

"She sees me," giggled the breeze, and the knot of light sped off. Her guides in front had the same auras, but they were much smaller than she would have thought. They can affect people's perceptions, Martin had said. Cameras too. Were they really six feet plus? Did they even look human?

They entered a clearing and Ess focussed on the real world again. Several beautiful people stood in the shadows. Perhaps the game of hide and seek was no longer fun now she could see their auras. Perhaps they felt it didn't matter anymore if she could see them. She decided not to follow that disturbing thought. In the centre a man sat on a chair formed by a living tree. Two of her escorts stopped whilst the man who had challenged her walked up to the throne and held a short silent conversation. The king (surely that's what he was) nodded once and her escort stood aside. He turned his gaze on Ess, and she could have sworn the slender trunks that formed the back of the chair turned as well, focussing his gaze like a wooden radar dish. Gathering as much gravitas as she could muster, Ess approached.

"You're a witch." Any public speaker on Earth would have sold his soul for such a voice. It was rich, deep and carried all the authority in the world. Ess wondered what she would do if he ordered her to stay. How could anyone resist?

"I am Ess, a daughter of Gaia."

"Do you know how many of your kind have trespassed here?"

Ess shook her head.

"Very few, though slightly more than have left."

"I'm sorry, but I didn't know how else to make contact with you."

"You came looking for my daughter."

"Yes. I mean, sort of."

"When she is here, do you not think it is because she does not want to be in your world? With your sort?"

When she is here. She noted his choice of words. She grasped at the hidden meaning.

"But she's not here, is she. In fact, she's not been here for three weeks or more."

"Is she suddenly answerable to you? Am I?"

Ess took a deep breath. This was not going the way she had planned it. She was trying to help these people, after all.

"Daisy has friends in my world. People who care for her. People who are worried that she might be in some sort of trouble. I don't want to intrude. I don't want to interfere. If I had known another way to contact you, I'd have done it. But she may be missing, and that concerns the people who love her."

She immediately regretted her choice of words, but it was too late; the words were out there.

The king rose and towered over her. She couldn't move, couldn't bear to look at his face. She stared at the ground, thinking, 'I am Ess, a daughter of Gaia. I am one with the world.' The mantra normally calmed her. This time it didn't. It was all she could do to stop shaking.

"You think I don't love her? Me, her father? The arrogance of you people. You scurry around like ants, thinking your life is more than just a blink of an eye, thinking your teardrop of an emotion compares with the ocean. You think what you feel competes in the slightest with us? Tell me, daughter of Gaia, if you remained here, who would miss you? In a year would anyone remember your name? A year? We have songs that last longer than that. You dare tell me what I should feel?"

"I didn't mean that." Her voice was hardly a whisper but she wouldn't cry. She would not. "I don't know anything about you. In all honesty, I didn't even know you existed until a few days ago. I didn't mean you don't care. How could I? You're right, I don't know what you feel. And I know Daisy has as different approach to time. But suppose I'm right? Suppose she is missing, or in trouble? That's all I'm trying to find out. If I offended you, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. But suppose she needs finding?"

"She chose to be with your people. She chose it. If she is in trouble, it is of your making. You think I should trust you to find her? To help her? You?"

"We're not all the same. There's bad in the world wherever you look, but there's hope too. Maybe we don't love like you, but we still love, and people lover her. That's why they've asked me to find her. I'm not asking you to trust the world, or even me, but if she is in trouble, then who has a better chance of finding her?"

She finally found the courage to look up. His face was a thundercloud, but the eyes were intelligent and they bore into her own until they seemed to fill the world. Finally he looked over her head and the spell broke. She felt a hand on her arm and she allowed herself to be led away. Several men and women congregated around the throne and the king looked from one to another as though listening to a silent conversation.

"What's going on?" Ess asked. The man holding her arm might have been the one who had met her or not. Whenever she looked at any of them their perfect features blotted out the memory of what their brothers looked like. He remained stoic, staring at the king without acknowledging her presence. Eventually the council broke up and Ess was led back into his presence.

"You will return," said the king. "Seven days or sooner. Seven days, whether you find her or not. Pray to your mother Gaia you find her before then. Do not run. Do not hide. Return here and report to me. Our home is small, but our reach has no end. You will return here, whether you will it or not."

Ess looked up into his face and knew without a shadow of a doubt she would return. Gaia and all her handmaidens, please let it be with Daisy, and a Daisy well and whole.

"I understand."

He stared at her as though still deciding what to do, then he sat back and waved a hand. Dismissed, Ess turned and allowed herself to be escorted out of the royal presence, out of the clearing and through the wooded pathway to the treeline. Oz still knelt there and as they came into view his eyes never left the tall woman's face.

"Go," said one of the men.

"What about my friend?"

"The clown?" The woman smiled, but it wasn't a pleasant sight. "You want to take him? But he would make such a fine court jester. We could have him entertain us, and he would so love to do it too. Perhaps we could teach him to perform tricks. Simple tricks, maybe, like sitting up and begging, and he would be happier than he could ever dream of. Even if we hurt him, it wouldn't be real pain, and he would ask for more, just so I'd look at him. What do you think, clown? Would you like to be my pet?" She held her hand high, then waved it up and down. Oz followed the movement, nodding in time to the hand.

"Okay, I get the point. This is your home and you're in charge here. I get it. But I'm trying to help one of your own, and I can't do it without Oz. I won't do it without him."

She turned to Ess. "A threat? Really? Here?"

"If not here, then let's go back to your king. Let's explain to him why I can't find his daughter."

The woman snarled and Ess braced herself. Then suddenly all three fairies laughed and the confrontation appeared to be over. She waved a hand dismissively. "Take him. He's ugly and even here he would die too soon. I hate it when pets die on me."

"Undo your spell."

"What? The great and powerful daughter of Gaia can't do that? Very well." She glided over to Oz, placed a finger under his chin and raised him to his feet. She leant in close, whispering in his ear, then she walked behind him. As gracefully as any ballet dancer she lifted a foot, placed it in the small of his back and shoved. Oz staggered forward. His face was still vacant and he didn't seem to be aware of anything in his surroundings.

"Undo it, I said. Put him back the way he was."

"He's tired. He needs to sleep. When he awakes, he'll be his old self, though why you want that is mystery too deep for me. Now go, and your dog too, or I will claim him and no king will be able to take him from me."

They turned and then they simply weren't there. If Daisy could do that too how on Earth was Ess going to find an invisible fairy?

"Oz?"

He turned his head slowly at his name and stared somewhere beyond Ess with glazed eyes.

"Come on. Let's get you home."

She took his hand and led him unresisting into the park.