Fairy Tale

Charlie packs up some food and Mr. Bowditch’s and Polley’s guns. He calls his neighborhood friend Andy Chen and asks him to lock the shed at 1 Sycamore, then enters the well of the worlds for a second time with Radar in tow.

Upon emerging in Empis, Radar runs to Dora and they have a joyful reunion. Dora feeds Charlie and Radar and then directs Charlie to go find the “googir.” Charlie leaves Radar with Dora and follows her directions to a sprawling ranch. A young woman named Leah is outside feeding a flock of geese – she is the “googir,” the “goose girl.” Leah is extraordinarily beautiful but has a scar where her mouth should be. She communicates with Charlie through ventriloquism, throwing her voice so that it seems to come from her horse, Falada.

Charlie is instantly smitten with Leah. Enquiring after her history, he learns that she was once a princess who lived in the palace near the magic sundial. She had six older siblings, all of whom were killed when her family was ousted from the throne. Leah’s missing mouth is the result of a curse whose origin is not revealed.

Through Falada, Leah explains that she befriended Mr. Bowditch and Radar when Mr. Bowditch was still young. She advises Charlie never to go to the city at night to avoid the “night soldiers.” She also cautions him against uttering the name “Gogmagog,” because saying the monster’s name may awaken it from its sleep below the city.

Leah advises Charlie to wait until the next morning before venturing to her uncle’s house in the town of Seafront. As he contemplates his circumstances, Charlie worries about his father’s sobriety and feels homesick. He almost resolves to leave Empis on the spot when he’s stopped by Leah’s maidservant, who suffers from the same gray condition as Dora. The girl pleads, “help her.” Charlie returns to Dora’s feeling torn.

The following morning, Charlie sets out for Seafront with a pack full of food and supplies. Dora gives him a cart, which he uses to pull Radar along. Along the road to Seafront, he encounters several gray-afflicted people fleeing from the town. At midday, he encounters a dwarf named Peterkin who is stabbing a red cricket for entertainment. Charlie threatens him with Mr. Bowditch’s .45 revolver to make him stop. Peterkin, who looks and speaks like Christopher Polley, swears revenge on Charlie.

Charlie arrives in Seafront and meets Leah’s blind uncle, Woody. Woody tells Charlie more of the family’s history: They are called the Galliens, and they were once royals but were toppled from the throne and driven out of the city of Lilimar by someone named “Flight Killer.” As they fled the city, they were chased by a giant named Hana who killed Leah’s siblings including her favorite brother, Elden. The Galliens who were not killed are immune to the graying curse due to their royal blood, but a different curse was cast upon them: Each family member lost one of their senses (speech for Leah, sight for Woody). Woody reassures Charlie that he, too, is a “whole person,” making him immune to the gray. He advises Charlie to go on to his cousin Claudia’s cottage. 

Charlie makes the journey to Claudia’s cottage, a ramshackle structure surrounded by the corpses of the wolves she shot. Claudia is a formidably strong woman who lost her ears to the Gallien curse. Claudia, too, knows Mr. Bowditch. She shows Charlie a noisemaker made out of an old car battery that Mr. Bowditch gave her, which she uses to scare off the wolves outside.

In the morning, Claudia advises Charlie of his next steps: He is to go to Lilimar, which is encircled by a high wall and a gate that opens at the mention of Leah’s full name. Within the city, near the sundial, is a yellow house with brown shutters where the giantess Hana lives. The house is divided into two parts, and a passage runs through the center. At two bells, Hana will cross the passage to take her lunch. Charlie must cross the passage immediately afterward to avoid Hana and find the sundial.

Charlie swaps out his cart for a bike and continues toward the city with Radar in the basket. As he pedals, he feels foreboding looking at the twisted, glass castle spires of the “emerald city,” which call to mind H.P. Lovecraft’s “ancient evil.” At dawn, a giant flock of monarch butterflies rises over the palace and flies northward, dispelling Charlie’s fears.

Charlie enters the gate to Lilimar. He finds Mr. Bowditch’s initials etched on various structures and follows them to Hana’s house. Along the way, he experiences strange shifts at the edges of his vision and hears whispering, ghostly voices. When he arrives at Hana’s house, the giant is already outside.