The girls tiptoed up the stony pathway, not wanting to alarm the inhabitant of the house with the appearance of late-night intruders, then paused outside the front door. Tara swiped her hand across the rough brick exterior, then rubbed her fingers together in the moonlight.
"It looks rusty-colored to me," she said. "This is as good a possibility as any."
She stepped forward and rapped the steel door knocker, and they heard some heavy footsteps approaching from inside. Someone pulled the curtains aside, then the door opened slowly.
"Are you the warlock, Aramiss?" Tara said, peering up at a tall bearded man wearing heavy robes.
"Maybe," he said. "Who wants to know?"
"My friend and I need some assistance, and we were hoping you could help. May we come in?"
The man peered at the young girls in their revealing costumes, then he opened the door a little further, motioning for them to come inside. In one corner of the lower level sat a small kitchen with a wooden table, but most of the room was filled with floor-to-ceiling bookcases lined with leather tomes and bottles filled with mysterious ingredients. The man motioned for the girls to take a seat in two upholstered chairs around the fireplace, then he went to the kitchen to fetch some tea. When he returned, he placed the cups on the table in front of them and sat down on a large rocking chair next to the fire.
"
What can I do for you ladies?" he said, tilting his teacup up to his lips.
"So you're Aramiss, the warlock?" Tara said, making sure they'd found the right place.
"In the flesh," the man nodded, peering at them over the rim of his cup.
"My friend seems to have lost her way," Tara said. "We think she fell through some kind of portal while hiking in the woods. She comes from a different world."
"Does your friend have a name?"
"Sorry, my name's Tara and this is Clover."
"How did you two find each other?" the warlock said, glancing at Tara's pointy ears sticking out of her silken hair. "You don't look like the usual travel companions."
"Like I said, she's from a different place."
"How did you happen upon one another?"
"The portal was in a waterfall not far from my treehouse. I saw her while I was foraging for food."
"Have you gone back to this waterfall?"
"Yes, but the portal is no longer there."
"I see," the warlock nodded, turning his attention toward Clover.
"Was there anything distinctive about this waterfall?"
"No," Clover said. "It was just a normal waterfall, like you'd find anywhere in the forest."
The warlock squinted his eyes at Clover's tight sheepskin suit, running his eyes up and down her long, creamy legs.
"And were you wearing those clothes when you entered from the other side?"
"No, I wasn't wearing anything at all."
"Do you make a habit of traipsing through the forest completely naked?"
"I...just stopped to take a refreshing shower," Clover stammered, feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the warlock's line of questioning and his leering body language.
"Um-hmm," the warlock nodded with a slight curl forming on one side of his mouth. "Is there anything else you can tell me about the features of this waterfall or what you were doing before you fell through the portal?"
"Um..." Clover paused, peering at Tara unsteadily.