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pigeon feathers.
    â€œWhy not?”
    The kazna peri swallowed. “Drink it now, you won’t have it when you want it. And why I’m telling you this instead of letting you waste it, I don’t know. I must be getting soft in my old age. New York’s not what it used to be, either. In the old days,” it went on wistfully, “my treasure was molten gold, distilled from sunbeams. But you can’t get decent sunbeams any more: too much soot.” It sighed and spat out a wing bone. “You can go away now.”
    It chomped into the pigeon again, getting feathers and blood and stuff all over its beard.
    â€œThank you,” I said respectfully, and ran.

CHAPTER 4

    TO MAKE A BIG OMELET, YOU HAVE TO BREAK A BIG EGG.
    Neef’s Rules for Changelings
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I hid the kazna peri’s stone flask among the magazines in the window seat. At first, I kept taking it out and shaking it so I could hear the keep-awake sloshing inside, then unstoppering it and sniffing. After a few days, the potion didn’t smell as good as it had at first—not bad, exactly, but kind of metallic. There wasn’t anybody I could ask whether it could go rotten except the kazna peri, and I wasn’t about to do that. So I tried not to think about it.
    Instead, I thought about the Solstice Dance, and I thought about how the other mortal changelings got to attend it and I didn’t. I thought about how when I’d complained to Astris about how hard it was to be the only mortal around, all she’d said was that I should be glad I was special. And I thought about the “special” Park changelings who had come before me, the ones she’d had such bad luck with.
    With all these questions buzzing around in my head, I hardly dared to talk to Astris for fear I’d blurt out the wrong thing. I spent more and more time away from the Castle, hanging out at the Dairy and sitting for hours in Willow Bay with my feet in the Lake. My daily lessons in Folk lore were not as much fun as they used to be.
    â€œNeef, what’s wrong?” Astris asked me one morning when things had gone worse than usual.
    â€œWrong?” I asked, my heart thudding uncomfortably. “I can only remember two ways of outwitting a piskie, that’s all. Why do I need to learn three ways anyway? Isn’t one enough?”
    Astris’s whiskers were severe. “Not if the moon’s full. And it’s not just that. You left three of the most important storm spirits off this list of destructive nature spirits. I haven’t seen you this distracted since you were very small.” She fixed me with her ruby eyes, her whiskers quivering with worry. “Whatever’s on your mind, pet, you can tell me.”
    When I was little, I learned that when I cried, it made the Folk fall over laughing, even Astris. Needless to say, I didn’t cry much. Lately, however, I’d been choking up over nothing. Mortified, I got up and went to the kitchen window so I could dry my tears and come up with a story that would answer Astris’s question and get me out of the Castle.
    â€œI’ve got a date with Puck and Ariel,” I said. “They’re going to race around the earth. I’m supposed to judge who gets back to the mulberry tree first. They’re waiting for me. That’s why I’m distracted.”
    I didn’t really expect Astris to fall for this. Maybe she didn’t. Maybe her whiskers were suspicious, but I didn’t look at them. I just stood there with my back to her until she said, “Very well, Neef. Go ahead and meet your friends. But I’ll expect you to spend the evening on your piskie lore and reviewing the storm spirits as well as the six signs of a demon and the short list of traditional bogeymen. You need to know these things.”
    â€œI know, Astris,” I said. “Thanks.” And I pelted out of the kitchen and across the courtyard as if the Wild