I can do this,” said Puck. He snatched up the ball and bounced it off of Peter’s head.
He ducked away. “Hey! What are you doing?”
“I am bouncing an idea off you!” Puck held it up. It read: “What am I doing here?”
Peter gaped. “What?”
“Some ideas can be specific to the individual,” said Puck. He moved to bounce the ball again.
“Give me that!” Peter grabbed the ball and bounced it off Rosemary’s head.
The ball swirled, and a line of text took shape. “What if I can’t get Theo back? What if we get stuck here? What if we get hurt? What if we can’t —” The line wound around and around until it was like a ball of string.
Puck pulled the ball away. “You are indeed wise, Sage Rosemary. Your mind is full of many thoughts.”
Rosemary gaped. “Wait —”
But Puck tossed the ball high into the air. It arced over the beach and landed in the sea. It bobbed on the surface for a few seconds before sinking beneath the waves. “We’ve had our fun,” he said, waving them forward, “but now our ride has come. Move along, my children, along!”
Peter and Rosemary saw movement on the black sea. A boat was gliding across the surface, and a shrouded figure was standing on the prow.
The boat pulled up to the jetty and stopped. The figure floated off. Covered from head to toe in a black cloak, he advanced on the party as though he were gliding on air, though they heard the boards creak beneath him over the slap of oily waves. Peter and Rosemary backed into Puck.
The Ferryman stopped. “Who asks for passage across the Sea?” The voice boomed from the dark space under his hood.
Puck nudged Rosemary forward. She swallowed hard and tried her best to curtsy. Her jeans made it feel silly. “I do.”
“And who are you?”
“Rosemary Ella Watson.”
“And who are your companions?”
“Robin Goodfellow, her guide,” said Puck.
There was a moment’s silence, then Puck nudged Peter. He started. “Peter Calvin McAllister.”
“The lady’s champion,” Puck finished.
“What?” squawked Peter.
“And why do you seek to cross?”
Rosemary looked to Puck. He nodded. She turned back to the Ferryman. “To rescue my brother from the Land of Fiction.”
“That is worthy,” said the Ferryman. “You may now pay the fare.”
“The fare?” said Rosemary. “I didn’t bring much money —”
“The fare is not money. You must each submit a verse of your own. If I find the three verses good, then all three may cross. If not, another fare is required.”
“Oh!” said Puck. “I’ll start.”
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber’d here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
if you pardon, we will mend:
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to ’scape the serpent’s tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call;
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.
“Hey!” said Peter. “You didn’t make that up — William Shakespeare did!”
Puck smiled. “Yes, but those few words first did come from my lips.”
The Ferryman bowed. “I accept your verse. Who goes next?”
“I guess I will,” said Peter. He took a deep breath.
There once was a bright boy from Clarksbury
w-who was confronted with much sound and fury ...
He did his best ...
To keep up with the ... rest?
Cause he wanted to go home in a hurry.
The Ferryman considered for a moment, then said, “I accept your verse. And now you, girl.”
Rosemary stood, wide-eyed. She opened her mouth, but no words came.
“Rosemary?” said Peter.
She shot him a look of desperation.
Peter stepped towards the Ferryman. “I can do another one.”
“No!” The Ferryman pushed Peter back. “It has to come from her.”
Rosemary swallowed hard. “One proton, two proton, three proton, four ... hydrogen, helium, lithium ... more?”
The Ferryman looked at her with thundering silence.
Rosemary drooped. Then she looked up. “You said there was another fare?”
“Failing the first fare, instead of three tasks between you, you now have six.”
Rosemary went white. “Six poems?”
“No. You must show me that you believe in six impossible things before you may cross.”
“Like Alice in Wonderland,” Peter muttered.
“The White Queen, actually,” said Puck. “I’ll start. I live within a house the size of a thimble, and I believe that all that I say is a lie.”
“Hey!” said Peter. “If everything you say is a lie, then how —”
“Shh,” said Puck. “Your turn.”
Before Peter could say anything, Rosemary jumped in. “Well, I’m standing right here, and that’s impossible.”
“Go ahead, take the easy one!” Peter looked as if smoke was going to rise from his head. He turned away
