Pandora Park by Piers Anthony

Author:Piers Anthony
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Media

Chapter 6:

Wizard

“We will tell you the truth,” Wizard said. “But we can’t do it ourselves. We can only tell you yes or no, for now. You have encountered some of the special ways that exist; this is one that is imposed on us.”

This was a curious challenge! It was as though this were a game, with set rules. But Kelsie had always been good at games. In fact she had won a prize for her age playing the great game of enclosure, Go. She could handle word games too. “Then we’ll ask you questions,” she agreed. She glanced at Mark. “Do you want to start?”

“I just want to know what’s going on,” Mark said. “I don’t know what questions to ask except that, and I don’t think yes or no will work.”

“Then I will try,” Kelsie said. She looked at Witch. “Are you really a unicorn?”

“No, she is not,” Wizard answered.

“Why didn’t Witch answer?” Mark asked.

There was no answer. He had not phrased it correctly.

Kelsie tried. “Can you answer me, Witch?”

“No,” Wizard said.

Kelsie was surprised. “She can’t answer me at all!”

“Yes,” the dragon agreed.

“But she talked to you before,” Mark said.

“Only to tell me to stay away from her,” Kelsie said. “That’s not the same as answering a question about her. Is it?”

“Yes, it is not the same,” Wizard answered.

“You can answer me, Wizard?”

“Yes.”

“And you can’t answer Mark?”

“Yes.”

Then she got an idea. “Does this relate to why I couldn’t have the unicorn?”

“Yes.”

“And Mark couldn’t have the dragon?”

“Yes.”

“So you are not really animals,” Kelsie concluded. “Then you must be human people.”

“Yes.”

She got another idea. “You are children, like us!”

“Yes.”

“A boy and a girl?”

“Yes.”

“And the boy can’t answer the boy, or the girl the girl.”

“Yes.”

“You’re good,” Mark said admiringly. “I never thought of that.”

“I do have a certain feel for it,” Kelsie said, pleased. “But we haven’t come to the tough answers yet.”

“Like what’s going on with the park,” he agreed.

“So you’re children, like us,” Kelsie said to Wizard. “Only with unusual powers. You chose these forms so you could get close to us.”

“Yes.”

“Really good,” Mark said.

“Because we asked for them,” Kelsie said. “I wanted a unicorn, and Mark wanted a dragon.”

“Yes. This gave us a way to be directly with you.”

“Why didn’t they just come to us in their natural forms?” Mark asked. “We thought we were the only children in the park.”

There was no answer. He still wasn’t phrasing it correctly.

“You couldn’t,” Kelsie said.

“Yes,” Wizard agreed.

“Why?” Mark asked. “Are you locked in a cell or something?”

“No,” Witch answered. “We are forbidden.”

So they could add some to it, once the right question had been asked and answered. Still, this was odd. Kelsie knew the dragon had to tell the truth, because of her handshake, but the unicorn didn’t. So she asked Wizard. “Is this true?”

“Yes.”

“So someone has forbidden you?”

“No,” Wizard said.

“It must be complicated.”

“Yes.”

“Something forbids you.”

“Yes.”

“Pandora Park!” Mark explained.

“The park has rules about what you can and can’t do?” Kelsie asked.

“Yes.”

“And the girl can’t help the girl, or the boy the boy?”

“Yes.

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