Chapter Six (part b)

"It works!" exclaimed Jennifer. "It really does!"

"Of course it does!" said Moffat. "It's magic, all new-moon stones are!"

"I want one!" whispered Jennifer.

"So do I!" cried Moffat and he sounded excited too.

"How can I get one of my own?" asked Jennifer.

"All you have to do is find one and pick it up!"

"Do you think I can?" asked Jennifer.

"Of course!" said Moffat. "That's why the sprite let me borrow his pendulum, so we can find our way to the secret place where the new-moon stones appear. The pendulum tells which way to go: this way yes, that way no.

"Are all the new-moon stones as good as this one?"

"I don't know. The sprite was quite lucky to find one with so much power. But all new-moon stones have some kind of magic, each has its own certain speciality, and the one that you find is the one that you need."

"How did you ever find out about this?" asked Jennifer.

"The wood sprite told me, he said it was a secret," said Moffat and he put his finger to his lips.
"Why is it such a secret?" asked Jennifer.

"It's not really a secret in the usual way, anyone can go to the place where the new- moon stones appear if they want," said Moffat. "But you can't ever find it if you don't know it's there."

"Do we really need the pendulum?" asked Jennifer. "Maybe we could look for it the regular way."

"We could, but I don't think we'd find it," said Moffat.

"Why not?"

"Sometimes the most important things are the hardest to see," said Moffat. "You need a few hints to help you believe that there's, really something there to see at all. Look for yourself, look out the window."

Jennifer looked. The scene below seemed normal enough. The trees looked like trees, the rocks like rocks.

"See anything unusual?" asked Moffat.

"It looks kind of ordinary," admitted Jennifer.

"Exactly! We're all so used to seeing things in the usual way. But that's not necessarily how they are. If you take your time and change how you look, if you try to notice how things really are you sometimes begin to see them differently."

"What do you see?" asked Jennifer.

"Wonderful things, impossible things, the core of the story, the theme of your dreams. It's all been right there in front of us all along, not locked away in our imagination or in some far away make-believe land. There's a whole other world inside what we see and it's real, it's alive, you can feel it!"

There was a short pause. Jennifer took a reflective bite on her stick-apple. It made her giggle again.

"Will you go with me to find the place where the new-moon stones appear?" Moffat asked her.

"Yes!" said Jennifer. "I hope we can find it."

"So do I," said Moffat. "Why, if each of us had our own new-moon stone just think of the things we might do!"

"I know!" said Jennifer and she thought about how nice it felt when she held one tight. "That boy from next door, Jamie he's called, he's coming too, is that all right?"

"Absolutely, the more the merrier," said Moffat. "We'll make it an expedition. just be sure to tell your mother."

"I'll tell her right now," agreed Jennifer and she said goodbye and went downstairs.