Mid-afternoon had come upon them when they reached the compass’s end. It was a large willow tree covered in knots, one of which hid the keyhole. With jittery fingers, Eibhlin slid the key into the lock and turned. The door opened, and she stepped through. Almost at once she arrived on the other side. No pull. No whirling or confusion of the senses, just a step forward as if through any other doorway. She arrived right by a willow much like the one she had just traveled through. All around them stood a forest much like the one before, though noticeably warmer. The day didn’t seem any later, but the smells were a bit different. She knew she had traveled to some other place. However….

“Well, Milady, what shall we do? Explore? Find a settlement? Surely there is someone who—”

“This can’t be happening.”

“Milady?”

Eibhlin’s face, which had been brimming with anticipation only a few footfalls before, paled. “No way. No way, no way! Mel, it’s the same place!”

“What do you mean? I do not recall this place.”

“But I do,” said Eibhlin, pointing to some rocks rising beside the nearby river to form a bank overlooking the water. “Mel, this is the door the fairy used to send me to the elves. I’m right back where I started!”

“Really, Milady?”

“Yes. But… but why? The fairy said this was just an ordinary door, and she did something to connect it to Mealla’s door. Why did I come here?”

“Hmm. Perhaps it is still connected and we fell through it. Or maybe Mealla’s next door really is somewhere here. Milady, since we do not know, I suggest we go to the nearest town and—”

“No!” shouted Eibhlin. “No, we can’t do that. The nearest town is mine, and if I go back without the hammer… Mel, I can’t! Not after everything, not after turning down a chance, even a slim chance, of bring-ing my mother back. Mel, I just can’t. Not without that hammer.”

“Very well, if you insist. I cannot walk anyway, nor can I force your legs. But then, Milady, what do you suggest?” asked Mel.

“Well… oh, the compass! I’ve got all the keys, so now I just need the door. Since these keys open Mealla’s door together, maybe I can use all three of them to... Mel, I have three keys, but there’s only one keyhole in the compass.”

“And the compass will only search for a single key’s door at a time,” said Mel. “A door that needs three keys, the compass was not made for such a case.”

“So what do I do?” cried Eibhlin.

“For a start,” said the instrument, “how about you sit down and have a snack. We can think while you do.”

Eibhlin didn’t feel hungry, but she didn’t know what else to do. She sat by the river, splashing her feet in the water as the sun heated the air beyond what was comfortable. Meanwhile, she and Mel exchanged ideas.

“How about we just look around, Milady? Surely you know the area?”

“Yes, but it’s too risky. I don’t want to meet anyone I know. Besides, searching blindly in an area like this, it’d take too long. Oh! What if I catch a fairy like before and ask her?”

“First of all, Milady, that would be a highly discourteous, ignoble action. I am entirely against it. Second, that is a truly risky business. If you try to catch the wrong sort, well, there are stories of people who have met with quite miserable ends due to that kind of thing. Third, if you want to be out of here before anyone has a chance of running into you, we cannot dillydally trying to find a people who are experts at not being found. Frankly, Milady, you were quite lucky on these points last time, to run into a fairy in the daytime of so mild a nature. She must have been one of those foolish youths who spend so much time in the Mortal Realm they would rather risk humans and wing thieves than their own country.”

“I know!” Eibhlin jumped up and turned toward the tree. “I’ll just go back. I can ask Abbot Callum if he knows anything about the last door and-” She fell back to the ground. “I don’t have a key to this door. I can’t go back!”

“It was a good thought, though,” said the kithara. “Really, I should have considered that before now, as the one more versed in the ways of fairies. Oh, fie to my foolishness. If only I had thought to ask the father abbot, or better yet, the elven lady. Surely at least she knows something of this business. Alas, whatever help she might have given, it is beyond our reach, for we have only before us a lock for which we have no key.”

Eibhlin frowned, and her thoughts churned. Something Mel had said had spurred her mind. What was it? Lock… key… lock but no key… elves… keys… and locks, and locks and keys, and returning….