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made it important to me. And maybe, when I was keeper, the pain of losing Gigi could finally start to heal.

The lamp on the desk went out by itself. The gold dimmed to a gentle night-light. I stretched out more comfortably on the cot, not sure what was supposed to happen next.

Balthazar probably expects me to yell for him and tell him I passed the test
, I thought. I hoped he was driving himself crazy wondering what was taking so long.

He can wait till I'm good and ready
, I decided with a yawn.
After everything he's done to me, he deserves to wait all night. Besides, Gigi said lying here is A-OK
.

For the first time since I'd left home, I felt completely safe. It was the oddest thing, but when I shut my eyes, I could hear the gold buzzing, giving off a low faint hum like a distant air conditioner. Except that the inner keep was warm. Surprisingly comfy and warm.

I shouldn't fall asleep
. According to Gigi's letter, I still had two more tests to pass, and I knew my mom must be frantic.
If only I could tell her I'm all right!

But the only way I knew of doing that was to hurry up and become keeper so that I could tell her in person.

I'll just rest five minutes
, I promised myself.
Then I'll totally tackle test two
.

An annoying scraping sound wormed into my sleeping brain. Groaning, I rolled over on my cot.

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Then I remembered where I was.

The gold still gave off the same low glow, lighting the cave just enough to see. I stumbled through coins and nuggets on my way back to the front, wondering how long I'd been snoozing.

A chink of sunlight greeted me at the tiny airhole Balthazar had plugged the evening before. I realized I'd slept the entire night just as another scrape and a shout of "Heave!" forced the sealing boulder aside and flooded the keep with light.

I blinked painfully in the sudden sunshine. And then I heard the roar. The field between the cottage and the keep was packed with happy Greens, all cheering like maniacs.

Mother Sosanna stepped into the cave, followed by her council. Her tiara of emeralds looked even more spectacular in the sun, lit through all of their facets into the full spectrum of greens. "Congratulations, Lilybet," she said. "You have passed the test of blood. Only someone with both human and leprechaun blood can successfully use the key."

I still wasn't buying the lepling thing, but I did share Gigi's blood and she had used the key. Then something else sank in: "Wait, you have to be human to use the key? That makes me the only one here who can get to the gold!" I said gleefully.

Just outside the cave mouth, Bronwyn cleared her throat. I noticed the offended looks on the faces of the council.

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"I mean, um, that's the keeper's job," I covered. "Right?"

Sosanna overlooked my gloating. "Indeed. Opening the inner keep, recording the accounts, and storing and removing what is required are all duties reserved for the keeper."

"You mean ... even once the wall is open, I'm the only one who can take gold out?"

"Out of the
inner
keep, the keep beyond the keyhole. You'll carry what's needed to the outer keep, which is this part of the cave we're standing in now. Our security spells require a leprechaun to carry the gold outside from here. Checks and balances, Lil."

The mountain of treasure behind me gleamed invitingly as beams of sunlight crept toward it. Dashing back on a whim, I helped myself to a nugget the size of a jawbreaker and skipped toward the outer keep with it. An invisible force at the threshold slammed me backward like a bird that had flown into a window, landing my velvet-covered butt up against a pile of coins.

The members of the council strained to keep the smiles off their faces.

Sosanna pointed at my hand. "You're a bit ahead o' yourself, Lilybet. You passed the first test, but you're not keeper yet. You'll need to drop our nugget if you want to join us."

I uncurled my fingers but couldn't let go. I watched the

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gold glimmer, part of me, before I finally forced my hand over and let the nugget fall into the pile.

"Good girl," Sosanna said. "Now come along to breakfast and lock the wall behind you."

I stepped cautiously over the invisible line dividing the inner keep from the outer; then I hesitated, not sure how to lock a wall that wasn't there anymore. But the instant I lifted Gigi's key, the magic stone rematerialized in front of me, sealing off the inner keep with a keyhole at eye level.

Feeling unsure and self-conscious, I slid my key into the lock. Something clicked. The keyhole shrank away from me and blended into a shadow.

"Nicely done," said Sosanna. "Let's eat."

The usual ruckus broke out as we entered Green Field, but this time there were cries of "Well done!" and "Good job!" in addition to the howls of
"Greeeeeeeeen!"

Our long dining table stood ready on the platform, while the tables and chairs in the field below had been replaced by carnival-style stands serving up fruit and doughnuts to the milling crowd. Painted barricades marked off long empty lanes of turf.

Taking my seat at the table, I waited as breakfast was piled on my plate, then turned to Lexie on my right. "What are those runways for?" I asked, pointing down to the grass.

She looked confused. "Do you mean the race course?"

"Race course?" There was scarcely a man in the crowd

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who didn't have an ale belly, and the women were all decked out with ribbons and flowers in their hair. "I don't see any runners."

I'd no sooner spoken than a pack of leprechauns on dogs streaked onto the field. They rode bareback, knees tightly pressed to their dogs' shaggy ribs and hands gripping long ears. The crowd rushed the barricades. I recognized Fizz on a mop of a mutt as a hail of coins hit the grass, all flipped out of leprechaun pockets.

"What are they doing?" I asked.

"Wagering," Bronwyn answered from my other side. "Irresponsible fools. They don't have access to their funds yet."

"Here come the archers!" Lexie cried, pointing.

Dogs and riders took positions at the start of the course as a trio of pipers marched onto the field, followed by two dozen leprechauns with bows and quivers slung over green coats like miniature Robin Hoods. I spotted Balthazar puffing along beside a guy with a mustache that hung past his belt.

"What are they going to shoot?" I asked nervously. Their arrows weren't much longer than pencils, but they had wicked-looking barbed tips.

"Why, whatever you choose, Lilybet!" Sosanna answered from across the table. "They've come to compete for the honor of guiding you on your next test."

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"Really?" It was a huge relief to know I wouldn't be on my own again--just so long as Balthazar wasn't my guide. "What is my next test anyway?"

"It's traditional to announce the second test after breakfast," Sosanna said. "Only a select few know that secret, and the whole clan is eager to hear it."

"Well ... can't I be one of the few?"

Bronwyn scowled, but Sosanna smiled indulgently. "I suppose it does no harm. For your second test, Lilybet, you will catch a spotted pisky and require it to give you a wish of your choice."

Lexie gasped, a long, stunned exhalation. Her small pointed face went as white as whipped cream. For a moment, I didn't get why. Then I remembered Bronwyn's story. Things hadn't worked out well for the wishers in the only pisky encounter I knew of.

"Catching a pisky. Isn't that kind of ... risky?" I asked.

Lexie nodded vehemently.

But Sosanna just smiled. "The test o' cleverness must be a challenge, else nothing has been proven."

Her ladies murmured in gentle agreement, but Lexie looked stupefied. Even Bronwyn could only manage a sickly grin. A knot tied itself in my gut. I'd gotten lucky on my first test, fumbling my way into passing with no clue what I was doing. If I had to prove I was clever ...

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I'm
not
clever! Anyone could tell them that!

I suddenly realized I had no idea what happened if I failed my trial. I got to go home if I passed ...

But what if I never did?

A gun went off, starting the dogs and my heart both racing.

The only way back is forward
. The words flashed into my mind directly from Gigi's letter. They were more than grandmotherly advice--they were a clue! If I wanted to see my mother again, if I wanted my normal life back, I needed to tackle this pisky thing.

And I pretty much had to succeed.

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Chapter 7

"On your marks, get set ... shoot!" I cried, flinging a doughnut hole skyward with all my strength. The tiny pastry sailed out over the racecourse, a doughy blip against blue sky. Eighteen archers, including Balthazar, had already hit five larger targets, and I just wanted the contest to end.

A flurry of tightly grouped arrows raced up from the ground. Before the doughnut hole reached the top of its arc, the lead arrow pierced it dead-center, knocking the target off course a split second before the other barbs arrived.

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"Honor mine!" the mustachioed leprechaun cried. "That's my dart!"

His name turned out to be Cain, and after the arrow was confirmed as his, Sosanna announced my second test--catching a spotty pisky--to the rest of the gathering.

The stunned hush that fell over the crowd made me feel even worse. They started cheering a second later, but my confidence was already shattered.
They know I have no chance
, I thought, slumping dejectedly in my chair.

"Do you want to go back to the cottage?" Lexie asked sympathetically.

"Yes. Let's," Bronwyn urged. "We're done here, unless you're not finished eating, Lil?"

I hadn't touched a bite since I'd heard "spotted pisky." I found it hard to believe I would ever be hungry again. Making our excuses to Sosanna and the council, the three of us set off across Green Field, back to the keeper's hut.

"You guys don't have to come in," I said, dragging my flats up the front path. "If I'm not going on this hunt right away, I wouldn't mind hanging out for a while."

I'd meant hanging out
alone
, but Bronwyn took no notice. "Don't be silly," she said. "I've ordered you a bath, Lexie and I are going to brush up that dress you're wearing, and then we'll all have some nice sandwiches."

"Sandwiches?" I groaned. "I just said I'm not hungry!"

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"You're not setting off on a pisky hunt with, an empty stomach," Bronwyn told me.

I let them into the cottage, too depressed to argue. The bathtub was already full of clove-scented water. I moved toward it, then stopped. "What happens if I fail?" I blurted out. "If I don't make keeper, then what?"

Bronwyn and Lexie exchanged uneasy looks.

"You won't fail," Bronwyn said. "Maureen sailed through her trial, and aren't you her granddaughter?"

"But if I do," I insisted. "You said yourself that piskies are dangerous."

Lexie stared at the floor, avoiding my gaze.

Bronwyn clucked and shook her head. "That they are. Nasty creatures. Trapping them has been off-limits since the changeling tragedy. I'll admit it makes me wonder what the council is about. But Sosanna is wiser than all three o' us--wouldn't be chief if she weren't. Keep your wits together and you'll be fine."

"But what if I can't catch one? Or it tricks me like it did those leprechauns at the dance?"

Bronwyn hesitated, then sighed. "If you fail, the clan will be forced to take back its key and choose a new candidate. Your memory will be wiped o' all things pertaining to the folk. And we will have to send you away. But it would break our hearts to do it, Lil, and there's no good reason it should come to that."

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"Wait, you'll send me away? Where?" Because if they were going to send me home, failing to catch a pisky wasn't just a possibility. It was my new game plan.

Bronwyn shook her head. "No Green has failed her trial in three hundred years, and you mustn't think o' it either. The very shame! Our poor Maureen would never rest in peace again. Not that you'd know how you'd let her down."

"But if ... wait. Why wouldn't I know that?"

"The memory wipe, o' course! Can't send you back knowing Maureen was our keeper or that you have leprechaun blood, or anything else to do with the folk. You might figure out how to come back and steal our gold."

I rubbed my aching temples. "Let me get this straight. You're saying if I fail, you'll send me home, but I won't remember anything about you guys or that Gigi was your keeper?"

"No," Bronwyn corrected. "You won't remember Gigi. Part o' the folk, wasn't she?"

"You can't do that!"

"It doesn't hurt, Lil. You just drink a little clover tea brewed with enchanted gold dust. The gold absorbs the right memories and passes straight out o' your body."

"I don't care if it
hurts
--Gigi was my grandmother! I
have
to remember her!"

"And you will, because you'll succeed. It's bad luck thinking anything else, and you'll be wanting your luck about you