Perda leaned over Mellis, concerned. Then she looked over at Zann.
"She must be shocked by all of this," Perda said. "It was too much for her, especially after hours of hard digging."
"Yeah. Look! The rain is stopping," Zann said.
Perda lowered her umbrella. Zann was right. The pink downpour stopped as quickly as it had started. After a moment Perda and Zann were able to revive Mellis, though she seemed weak and disoriented.
"We'll take you home," Perda told the other girl. "You should probably lie down for a while."
Perda and Zann helped Mellis to her feet.
"Let's leave the tools here," Zann said. "We can come back for them later."
Perda nodded, putting an arm around Mellis. Zann did the same on the girl's other side.
"Lean on us while we walk," Zann told her.
Perda blinked as she realized what Zann had just said. "Walk?" She grinned. "We don't have to do that anymore. We can zap her home!"
Zann laughed. "Now I'm the one who's forgetting we can do magic again!" he said. He grabbed Mellis by the arm. "Got her?"
"Yep." Perda took hold of her other arm. "Ready?"
"Zap!" Zann shouted.
Splash!
The three of them landed in a large pink puddle in front of Mellis' house. Vilkor was standing outside, staring in confusion at the puddle.
"Aah!" he screamed when he saw them. "Where did you kids come from? You shouldn't sneak up on me like that!"
Perda immediately noticed that, aside from the pink rainwater, the magic energy hadn't reached this area. The landscape around the farm buildings was still drab and brown.
"Maybe the magic only works near the well," she said to Zann.
Zann was staring past her. "No, I think it's still coming," he said. "Look!"
Perda turned and saw a wave of green rolling toward them over the scrubby fields. Vilkor saw it, too, and screamed again.
"It's all right, Uncle," Mellis said weakly. "It's just, um, magic. It came out of the new well."
"What are you talking about?" Vilkor narrowed his eyes, seeming to forget about everything else. "We just need water from that well! Didn't you find any yet?"
"Not exactly," Zann said. "Instead of water, we struck magic energy. It's like your friend Zira's potions but better!"
"You won't need a well now," Perda added. "You should be able to create all the water you need through magic."
She hoped that was true. After all, she didn't know exactly how magic worked on Terrica or how good Terricans could be at performing it. Mellis had tried to create a glass of water and wound up creating an entire rainstorm.
Perda thought again about Galvan, the world with magic energy so strong that a simple spell could have unpredictable results.
"I wonder if Terrica will be like Galvan," she thought.
"Don't be ridiculous," Vilkor said. "Zira's potions are one thing. But the sort of thing you're talking about is impossible . . ." His words trailed off as the wave of magic energy reached them. Grasses and other plants sprang up around their feet, and a flower sprouted right under Zing. Surprised, the little dragon jumped and shot flames at it. The flower collapsed in a pile of ash, but dozens more soon grew to replace it.
Perda and the others took a few steps back as the pink puddle expanded into a small pond. The scrawny fruit trees in the orchard leafed out, and a flowering vine crept up the wall. It soon covered the farmhouse with sweet-scented pink blossoms.
Vilkor watched all of it. "How can this be happening?" he cried, smacking his forehead in confusion. He rushed to the little kitchen garden near the house. "My cabbages! I nearly turned them back into the soil yesterday because they were so small and weak. But look! They're now ready to eat!"
Zann scratched his head. "I guess the magic energy is helping everything, not just people," he said. "It doesn't work that way where we're from."
"Where you're from?" Vilkor's eyes went sharp and curious. "Come to think of it, I don't believe you kids ever told me exactly where that is."
Perda traded a glance with Zann. Should they tell the truth? Zann shrugged and opened his mouth as if to do so. But Perda spoke first.
"Just a faraway area, where we have magic," she said. She waved a hand vaguely in the direction of the well.
"Ah. The distant land beyond the mountains, eh?" Vilkor said. "I hear things are strange there indeed." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Zira never would tell anyone where or how she learned to make her potions. Perhaps she traveled to that part of Terrica in her youth."
Zann shot Perda a surprised look. She knew what he was thinking. He was wondering why she didn't just tell Vilkor they were from a different world. But even though Mellis already seemed like a friend, Perda didn't quite trust Vilkor. After all, what kind of man would force his young niece to dig a well all by herself?
Perda noticed that Mellis still looked pale. "Mellis needs to lie down," she told Vilkor. "She was caught in the stream of magic. We think it overcame her."
"It did, did it?" Vilkor shot his niece a slightly sour look. "Or is she trying to get out of finishing that well?"
Perda sighed. The entire world around him had changed. But Vilkor still didn't understand that he didn't need to worry about his silly well anymore. If they didn't do something to convince him, she was afraid he'd order poor Mellis back to digging right now!