Chapter Fourteen (part b)

"The source stone's the very best new-moon stone of all," said the sprite. "And it's not very easy to see. You found it the very first time, what a wonderful thing to do!"

"So I got one of those, well what do you know," said Rachael proudly. "Are you sure they're that hard to find?"

"Very," said the sprite.

"Very very?"

"Extremely very," explained the sprite. "Only one source stone appears at each new- moon and it's not always found. It takes a certain way of looking to see it."

"Well, I wouldn't say it was all that very," said Rachael. "So what's a source stone good for exactly?"

"Everything," whispered the sprite. "Each new-moon stone has its own special power, but the source stone is the one that connects them all. It can use all their power and all their magic and it knows all the secrets they know. Look into a source stone and you can look right through to anywhere."

"Anywhere..." echoed Jennifer and she felt an odd falling feeling in the pit of her stomach again.

"All the powers of all the new-moon stones fall through to the source stone," said the sprite.

"And I'm the one that 's got it!" cried Rachael.

"Shh!" said the sprite. "Don't say that, not so loud!" But his warning was much too late. Rachael was already shouting it out as loudly as she possibly could.

"Hey everybody, look at me!" she cried. "Come over and seel It's the source stone, I've got it!"

Everyone soon wished she'd heeded the sprite. The two dwarves suddenly arrived in the clearing with the wolf leading the way. And when they discovered they were too late to find any stones, they came over to Rachael, just the way she had asked them to.

"Yours?" yelled the fat dwarf and he swung his hammer around in the air near to Rachael's right ear.

"Who says so?" shouted the one with the warts and he swung his hammer around in the air by Rachael's left ear.

'Well, no-one exactly says so," said Rachael nervously when she saw who it was. Then she turned to Jennifer and Jamie. "Did you guys say so?"

"No way," said Jamie.

"Not me," said Jennifer.

"You see?" said Rachael. "Nobody here says anything."

"Yeah? Well, we say something!" yelled the fat dwarf.

"You do?" asked Rachael a little weakly as she tried to watch both hammers at the same time.
"Yeah!" yelled the dwarf with the warts.

Whack! He smacked his hammer into the ground next to Rachael's right shoe. Whump! The fat dwarf thumped his hammer into the ground by her left. Both hammers missed, but not by much.

"Give us the source stone," shouted the fat dwarf.

"Now!" shouted the one with the warts and he grabbed at it.

"No," shouted Rachael, but it was too late.