Back at the World Tree, the pair noticed the entrances to the roller coaster and the water flume that both wound among the huge branches. Again, they took a step in that direction before stopping themselves.
Jimox sighed. “We’ll have plenty of time for that.”
Teina nodded, and they turned to look at the entrance to Castleland.
If Machineland was devoted to the creations of the mind, Castleland was especially for the heart. The entrance walkway mimicked tunnels under bushes that a child might creep through to discover the enchanted world within. The doors and windows of Gnome houses appeared under every rock and tree, at first very small, then larger and larger as the visitors moved forward, giving them the illusion they were shrinking. The little houses once boasted lights and sounds, Jimox explained, but were now completely silent, except that sometimes the sun angled in and illuminated tiny furniture, even pretend food on little tables.
Fairy houses dangled from tree limbs, like bird houses, and in a few, real birds had pecked through the doors and built nests.
The real trees were soon intermixed with artificial ones, which began to have faces, arms, hands, and sometimes feet. They once had voices, Jimox remembered, and parts of them moved.
Teina giggled with delight.
Three castles surrounded the Castleland Plaza — one realistic, one bright and fanciful, one dark and evil. Each could be explored on foot or in the cars of a slow-moving ride, and they all offered snack bars and gift shops.
NEBADOR Book Eight: Witness 96
Teina pointed to the Castle Kitchen, in its own timber building with thatched roof. “An actual restaurant! Could be good scrounging.”
“I think my family ate there — closest thing to real food in all of Similand.”
Just outside the Castle Kitchen, tables and benches surrounded a large stone fountain, now completely dry. The pair of explorers looked up as they slowly walked around it. “Every kind of goblin that ever was!” Teina remarked.
Several more rides filled the spaces between the castles, all small and slow for young children.
Teina quickly spotted the many walk-through or crawl-through attractions, some just a short detour into the house of a fairy-tale character, others long, winding mazes.
“This feels better,” she declared. “Not everything needs electricity.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” Jimox agreed. “And part of every castle was fixed up with real furniture, just like a fancy house.”
Teina took on a mischievous grin. “I get Fairy Castle, and you get the plain one!” Then she frowned in thought. “Or maybe I want the Witch’s Castle . . .”
Jimox howled with laughter.
Teina sighed and became serious. “No, I could never sleep without you nearby.”
Jimox smiled shyly.
Flashlights in hand, they took the walk-through path for each castle.
In the realistic Knight’s Castle, the lord and his lady had massive wooden furniture, thick wall hangings, and a table brimming with plastic food, while prisoners in the dungeon made do with bread and water.
NEBADOR Book Eight: Witness 97
The Potion Room in the Witch’s Castle had more cauldrons and twisted glassware than any laboratory, and stuffed animals in cages looked on with frightened eyes. In the Witch’s Chamber, the huge crystal ball once flashed with images of people and events, Jimox explained, but was now dark and silent.
Although boys might prefer the Knight’s Castle, Fairy Castle was every little girl’s dream. The Party Room boasted crystal dishes of every color on delicate furniture with curving legs. Jars of fairy dust and racks of wands adorned the Magic Room, where the tables and chairs all had arms and smiling faces. Finally, the Fairy King and Queen’s Chamber was covered with silk and lace, with thick furs on the floor, and cut crystal windows letting in sparkling light.
Teina sighed with longing.
