Fairy Tale

Hiding behind the fountain with Radar, Charlie observes the “nightmarishly ugly” Hana, who is at least 20 feet tall, as she crosses the passageway between the two halves of her house. As she enters the second building, Charlie and Radar dart across the passageway. They emerge into a plaza shaped like a pinwheel, with branching, multicolored paths going off in eight directions. Charlie follows another set of Mr. Bowditch’s initials, which leads him to an alcove with a small pool. The pool contains the desiccated corpse of a once-beautiful mermaid.

Deeper into the alcove, Charlie finally finds the sundial. He hefts Radar onto it and spins it counterclockwise. Each spin makes Radar visibly younger and healthier. After five rotations, she jumps off, “back in the prime of life” (358).

Charlie pedals back toward the city’s gate with a now-spry Radar at his side. They narrowly avoid Hana a second time, but as they navigate Lilimar, Charlie can’t find Mr. Bowditch’s initials. The city seems to shift and change around them, sprouting dead ends and extra buildings at random. Peterkin suddenly appears around a corner and gloats that he scrubbed off Mr. Bowditch’s initials with lye, dooming Charlie and Radar to wander the city until the night soldiers emerge.