“Yes.” Well, she hoped so.
“All right. I’ll let you do that,” said Roland, relaxing.
“Oh, you’ll let me, will you?” said Tiffany.
“Look, I didn’t know what you were, all right?” said Roland. “There’s always weird things in the forest. Lost people, bits of dreams that’re still lying around…you have to be careful. But if you really know the way, then I ought to get back before my father worries too much.”
Tiffany felt the Second Thoughts starting. They said: Don’t change your expression. Just…check.
“How long have you been here?” she asked carefully. “Exactly?”
“Well, the light doesn’t really change much,” said the boy. “It feels like I’ve been here…oh, hours. Maybe a day.”
Tiffany tried hard not to let her face give anything away, but it didn’t work. Roland’s eyes narrowed.
“I have, haven’t I?” he said.
“Er…why do you ask?” said Tiffany, desperately.
“Because in a way it…feels like…longer. I’ve only been hungry two or three times, and been to the…you know…twice, so it can’t be very long. But I’ve done all kinds of things…it’s been a busy day….” His voice trailed off.
“Um. You’re right,” said Tiffany. “Time goes slowly here. It’s been…a bit longer.”
“A hundred years? Don’t tell me it’s a hundred years! Something magical has happened and it’s a hundred years, yes?”
“What? No! Um…nearly a year.”
The boy’s reaction was surprising. This time he looked really frightened. “Oh, no! That’s worse than a hundred years!”
“How?” said Tiffany, bewildered.
“If it was a hundred years, I wouldn’t get a thrashing when I got home!”
Hmm, thought Tiffany. “I don’t think that’s going to happen,” she said aloud. “Your father has been very miserable. Besides, it’s not your fault you were stolen by the Queen—” She hesitated, because this time it was his expression that gave it all away. “Was it?”
“Well, there was this fine lady on a horse with bells all over its harness, and she galloped past me when I was out hunting and she was laughing, so of course I spurred my horse and chased after her, and…” He fell silent.
“That probably wasn’t a good decision,” said Tiffany.
“It’s not…bad here,” said Roland. “It just keeps changing. There’s…doorways everywhere. I mean, entrances into other places…” His voice tailed off.
“You’d better start at the beginning,” said Tiffany.
“It was great at first,” said Roland. “I thought it was, you know, an adventure? She fed me sweetmeats—”
“What are they, exactly?” said Tiffany. Her dictionary hadn’t included that one. “Are they like sweetbreads?”
“I don’t know. What are sweetbreads?”
“The pancreas or thymus gland of a cow,” said Tiffany. “Not a very good name, I think.”
Roland’s face went red with the effort of thought. “These were more like nougat.”
“Right. Go on,” said Tiffany.
“And then she told me to sing and dance and skip and play,” said Roland. “She said that’s what children were supposed to do.”
“Did you?”