“Here you are, Mrs. Twinkles, but only one.” Jewel pretended to have a British accent as she dropped a cube of sugar into a porcelain teacup. Hot liquid splashed over the side. The floral tea set looked to be antique, and not something most people would want a child playing with.

Normally, Jewel spoke with the light Southern accent common in Oklahoma.

The girl sat on the formal dining table, her legs crossed as she looked at her three playmates. She wore a sparkly pink princess gown complete with a tiara.

Mrs. Twinkles lifted the cup to his lips to sip. Cora felt terrible for the guy. After he’d found them in the woods, Jewel had forced him to play hide-and-seek with them for hours. Then they were made to act like monkeys at the zoo. Cora’s hands still ached from hanging on the tree limbs.

The child was tireless. Cora had yet to see her sleep for more than a few minutes at a time. In the late morning hours, Jewel insisted they go into the man’s home to play. And as if breaking into the man’s home wasn’t bad enough, Jewel also put him in a ruffled pink dress, complete with bonnet and bright pink blush. Not to mention the hair bow tied around his head.

“Tea and biscuit, Mrs. Little?” Jewel placed a cookie on the plate in front of Cora.

Late afternoon light shone through the window behind Cora. It was the only indication of what time it might be. Without the will to resist, she reached for the cookie and bit into it. The lace around her neckline itched terribly, but she couldn’t bring herself to scratch.

“Mrs. Star over here will take another cookie, lassie.” Mrs. Star was a Scottish-accented gentleman who had walked in on the tea party. The blue silk ballgown hugged his frame, plunging in the front to show his chest. He’d been only too willing to sit down and join them. His actions seemed less forced as if he was there of his own volition. He held up his cup. “And a touch of the hot stuff, if ya don’t mind.”

Jewel giggled. She lifted the small teapot and poured something into the man’s cup.

“There’s the magick.” He lifted a pinkie finger in the air as he brought the tea to his lips.

“Magick, magick,” Jewel pointed at Mrs. Star and Mrs. Twinkles before turning her finger onto herself, “magick, but,” she looked at Cora, “not magick.”

Cora took another bite of the cookie. She never thought she’d be tired of cookies. But after her diet of cookies, candies, cake, and ice cream, she would have given anything for a health shake and a salad.

“Poor Mrs. Little,” Jewel said. “You can have two cookies.”

“Blue is not your color, Uncle Raibeart,” a man said from the other room, his Scottish brogue giving away the fact he was probably yet another occupant of the house. Cora closed her eyes and willed the man away before he fell into Jewel’s trap.

“Iain, join us,” Mrs. Star, aka, Uncle Raibeart invited.

Iain appeared in the doorway. He barely contained his laughter when he saw the nice man in pink ruffles. “Oh, Euann, what are ya wearing? This is priceless.” He fumbled for his phone and lifted it up. “Say cheese, pretty princess.”

Euann grumbled but continued to sip his tea.

Jewel frowned and stood up on the table. She stamped her foot. Iain laughed.

“Girls only,” Jewel pouted, losing the British accent in exchange for her American one. “No boys allowed at the tea party!”

Iain’s smile quickly faded as his kilt puffed out and turned into a green square-dancing dress complete with petticoats and a white apron front. “What the ever-lovin’—”

The words were cut off when a chair dragged on the floor as it pulled out from the table. Iain was compelled to sit down.

“How are you today, Mrs. ah…?” Jewel thought for a moment and pointed around the table in turn. “Twinkle. Little. Star.” And when she got back to Iain, she concluded, “Mrs. Dinosaur because your face looks grumpy.”

Jewel giggled and knelt on the table as a teacup materialized before Iain.

“Nice to meet you, grumpy dinosaur.” Raibeart wiggled his teacup with a grin. “I need a refill.”

“More hot stuff,” Jewel said, walking on her knees to refill the cup for him.

“Euann, what’s happening here?” Iain asked, his eyes focused on Euann.

Euann looked like he wanted to answer but couldn’t.

“Mrs. Twinkle can’t talk,” Jewel said. “She’s in time out.”

Euann’s chair pulled him away from the table, spun him around, and then slid forward to make him sit in the corner of the room like a naughty child.

“Ha! Blessed angels, thank ya for this gift.” Still another man appeared in the dining room doorway. He too tried to pull out his cellphone.

“Rory, get help. She’s—” A large piece of material appeared over Iain’s nose and mouth. It tied around his head, and he was forced to claw at it to breathe.

“Mrs. Grumpy Dinosaur can’t talk.” Jewel again stood and pointed at an empty chair. “Do have a seat, Mrs. Ballerina.”

“What the fuck?” Rory’s hair pulled away from his face and grew into a ballerina bun. He tried to stop it by slapping at his head with his hands, but it was no use. A black leotard and shimmering white tutu replaced his slacks and button-down shirt. He lifted his arms and pirouetted several times before leaping toward the chair. He twirled before sitting down.

Jewel clapped her hands. Iain managed to free his mouth from the gag. He tried to speak, but no words came out.

“Jewel?” Cora tried to divert the girl’s attention. “Don’t you think we’ve kept these lovely ladies long enough? Shouldn’t we get back on the road?”

“I like it here,” Jewel said. “It’s pretty, and it makes my toes tingle when I walk around. This can be our princess house.”

“That would be the ley lines.” Raibeart reached across the table to steal another cookie. He took a bite and continued talking as he chewed. “This whole place is swimming with power. Hey, we got any shortbread cookies around here?”

Jewel waved her plastic princess wand and materialized some on his plate.

“Thank ya, love.”

Cora couldn’t count the number of hours she’d been awake. Her eyes burned. She covered her mouth as she yawned.

Jewel came to her and patted her head. “You should take a nap, Mrs. Little.”

Cora’s arm dropped onto the table, and she laid her head forward. Her eyes closed in sleep before her head rested on her forearm.