[The Jack of Diamonds and The Diamond Path] My name is Aphra—and I am the Two of Hearts. I have a middle and last name too, but there isn't much point in telling you what they are, you won't remember my first name once this story is over. You might even forget during the story. Nobody ever remembers my name, and they almost never remember that I exist. The only thing anyone ever remembers, when they do remember, is that I am the Two of Hearts. I wake up to the sound of bleating and try to cover my head with a pillow. The little white spotted fawn lying across me on my bed gives up on that tactic and tries to lick my face. Sometimes it's a fawn, and sometimes a brown bear cub, and sometimes a baby badger, but today it's a fawn. "I'm awake, stop it," I say. I wiggle out from under the fawn and hop across the floor, shivering in the cold morning air. The animals don't like fire very much, so my father doesn't light the fireplace often. I have to step across a big white wolf lying in the middle of the floor. She watches me with those golden eyes of hers; following me around my room as I get ready for school. The wolf stands, stretches, and walks over to inspect the clothes I am picking out for the day. I pick a nice blue-knit shirt, but the wolf grabs the shirt and tosses it aside. "Oh, come on, that's my favorite shirt," I say. The wolf noses around in my shirt drawer and selects a thick wool sweater and pushes it at me. "I don't like this sweater," I complain and slip it over my head. I know there is no use arguing about it; she won't take no for an answer. Being the Two of Hearts is very lonely. I'm the Dream Card, being that my magic comes from the God of Dreams. The very nature of my Card is to be forgotten, just the way a dream is forgotten when you wake. The worst part is that people often don't even know when I'm in the room, or anywhere. My only friends are my father's animals. Father is the Ace of Hearts, and his magic comes from the God of Animals. A badger drags my shoes out from under the bed and deposits them next to me, and I shove my feet into the slightly chewed shoes and head for the kitchen. You are probably wondering what this story is all about, and if you were to say dreams or loneliness, you would only be partially right; this story is about why I hate Jack Tumbleweed Wrackleday. A bowl of berries and fruit is waiting on the table for me, and I offer the big white wolf an orange; she wrinkles her nose at me and walks over to the door to wait impatiently. "I'm not going to be late," I tell the wolf. "Not like anyone would miss me if I were late." I'm not the only one that hates Jack Tumbleweed Wrackleday. Penelope Cornapeous Hornpickle and Ms. Boxnip hate him too, and so do several other girls and much for the same reason, and that reason is—Lilly Palor Tiptus. Ms. Boxnip's reason is a little different than ours, but not by much. You probably already know that 'Jack', when referring to Cards, means boy. All the Kings start out as Jacks, and all the Ace's start out as the Deuce Cards, but that's not important. Ms. Boxnip hates Jack because she was in love with Jack's father, Nathanial Tumblespoon Wrackleday. He was the Jack of Diamonds before Jack, but Mr. Wrackleday picked Cassia Heyday Gardyloo from Ms. Boxnip's basket and became Mrs. Cassia Heyday Wrackleday, and in time became Jack Tumbleweed Wrackleday's mother. Are you following? I'm still sleepy, so I don't know if I'm making any sense. So why would the Ace of Clubs want to be in love with the Jack of Diamonds instead of the Jack of Clubs? Well, when the Jack of Clubs becomes the King of Clubs, he forgets everything and everybody he ever knew and wanders off to live a life as a hobo. That left Mrs. Boxnip to become Ms. Boxnip—not a Miss. or Mrs., but somewhere in-between. She wanted to spare herself that life, but it didn't work out. And now Jack has made it even worse. Jack exiled the King of Clubs to an alien world without magic, and Ms. Boxnip can't even take him the meals she would make and leave for Mr. Boxnip at his hobo camp. Jack has made a dangerous enemy out of Ms. Boxnip. You might be asking how I know all this? Well, have you ever been doing something and felt like you were being watched, and then you turn around, and a cat or dog, or bird is staring at you? You can bet whatever you are doing is going to get back to my father. My father knows what everyone in town is doing. The big white wolf obviously feels that I am taking too long with breakfast and pushes the door open. A black bear and three cubs wander into the kitchen and I give the rest of my bowl of berries to the cubs; they would just bug me until I did anyway. I slip my long warm coat on and follow the white wolf out into the snow, and six more big wolves join us. I don't even try to walk on my own; they won't let me. I get the wolf pack escort anywhere I try to go. I guess it's better than walking to school alone every day. So anyway, where does that bring Penelope Cornapeous Hornpickle into this story? Penelope's magic comes from the God of Jealousy, and I don't think I need to say any more about that. Penelope just wants Jack because it's something she can't have. She doesn't care about Jack—but I do. I've watched Jack Tumbleweed Wrackleday almost every night in his dreams since I could do my dream magic. I always made sure he had good dreams, and then I made a deal with Ms. Boxnip. The deal was that I would pull Ms. Boxnip and Mr. Boxnip together into a dream once a month. You see, in a dream anything is possible. I made it so Mr. Boxnip would remember everything in the dream, and then I would put them on a beach or a forest so they could walk together and talk. Then when it came time for Jack to pick his socks, Ms. Boxnip would put mine on top of the pile. One sock is the boy's sock; the other is the girl's sock. The boy has to pick his sock first, if he can't find his own sock; he isn't ready to pick a matching sock for himself yet. Penelope pulled rank and out of spite got her sock put next to mine, but it didn't do her any good. Jack pulled his sock out first, and it was a fine sock, strong and well-knit, with two little red stripes at the top. But then, he plunged his hand all the way to the bottom of the basket and pulled out a sock that didn't even match. Mine matched perfectly; I spent my whole life knitting a sock that would match perfectly—but Jack pulled Lilly Palor Tiptus' sock from the very bottom of the basket. I hate Lilly Palor Tiptus so much! A boy did finally draw my sock from Ms. Boxnip's basket—Neal Larimstraum Soupstone II picked me. You would think I should be happy for that, and I am, but I can't stop thinking about Jack. And Neal—well, he forgets I exist as soon as we are apart from each other. He remembers when he sees me next, but what kind of life is that. I sometimes wonder if Ms. Boxnip arranged it for Neil to pick me. He's a Diamond, and I'm a Heart, not really a perfect match. I think Ms. Boxnip did it to try and recruit Neil to our side. You are probably thinking that I am a creepy magical stalker and that I am going to draw a hand against Lilly and Jack. I already did that, and Penelope ruined the hand. My father won't help because he doesn't play The Great Game. Which means the King of Hearts should be in charge, but he is only six-years-old, and that means Penelope is in charge of the Hearts. So, now you see my problem. I leave the wolves at the edge of the woods and walk the rest of the way to school on my own; they never go past the edge of the woods. The day is typical, and we start with math, that's the only class Jack ever pays attention to, he is good at math. But it's the next class that I know I'll be able to talk to Jack; history, he hates history class. I watch Jack from across the room. He is looking out the window; I can see his eyes because I am between the window and him. Jack is day-dreaming, and that counts as a dream, in a moment I will be able to enter his day-dream. Jack's eyes finally reach that point where they are no longer focused on the world, and he only sees the world he is imagining. I stand up and walk over to him, and he looks at me, this is a dream, and I'm making him see me. "What do you want?" Jack says. His eyes narrow dangerously. "I haven't drawn a hand," I say. "I need your help." "Why would I ever help you?" Jack says. "Get out of my head." "Please, help me," I say. "I wish the bell would ring," Jack says. The fire bell starts ringing and pulls Jack out of his day-dream, I can't hold a person in a dream when something like that is blaring. "Oh, looks like we have our monthly fire drill early, come now children," the teacher says. "Let's go, everyone line up, no pushing, Neil, lead the class to our assigned fire exit." I follow at the end of the line, and nobody even notices me. I could have just waited in the classroom for everyone to get back from the drill and never been missed. I also have to admit that Jack is getting very good at using his magic. I know he can beat me in a hand anytime now, but I'm not going to draw a hand against him. Everyone gathers outside and Jack is surrounded by his friends, and I don't get a chance to talk with him again. The rest of the day Jack stays alert, and I'm surprised he doesn't forget me and start daydreaming again. I follow him after school but keep my distance. I think he is expecting me to draw a hand against him because he stops at five of the little carvings of the diamonds on buildings that will give him extra luck cards. Jack is strong with just one luck card a day, but with six, he could turn Waddlebrooke into a smoking pile of rubble. The only way to beat a Lucky Jack is to catch them without any luck cards. Jack turns down a side street, and I hurry to catch up, and I almost run him over when I turn down the side street. He ambushed me. "Why are you following me?" Jack says. I take a step back; a little frightened, Jack has his hand on another carved diamond and now he has seven luck cards. "I need your help," I say. "After what you did to me?" Jack says. "I'll never help you." "I promise I won't draw a hand," I say. "I don't ever want to draw another hand; I'm quitting The Great Game." "So, quit," Jack says. "I can't without your help," I say. "I need your magic to lift Penelope's magic off me and put a protection spell on me so she can't ever use magic on me again. Then I can just be a normal person." "Not my problem," Jack says. I know Jack too well, he is acting tough but he has a kind heart and I can see he is thinking about it. All the Lucky Jack's have had a kind heart, and a good thing too, they could easily make themselves into Emperors if they wanted. The Lucky Jack's can even beat the Death Ace, I know, I tried using the Death Ace on him and even a full embrace from the Death Ace did nothing. Ms. Boxnip says we should attack Jack every chance we get, on account there was a break in the Lucky Jacks. This Jack didn't have a previous Lucky Jack to learn from, but even then Jack keeps winning. I'll show everyone they shouldn't have ignored me. "You know what Penelope's magic is," I say. "Do you know what it's like living with her magic on you? No, of course, you don't, you're immune to her magic." I start to cry to add effect, it usually works on boys when a girl cries, but I don't think my wonderful Jack is falling for it. "Stop the fake crying and I'll help you," Jack says. Jack is good. We could have been so good together, and played The Great Game together and lived in a big yellow house on a hill. Now I'm going to destroy him, and Lilly Palor Tiptus will know she should never have messed with me. "Okay, come on, we need to collect some more of your carved diamonds, and then you can do the spell in the woods," I say. ""Woah, hold on, I said I would help you, not go into the woods with you," Jack says. "You can't do the magic in town," I say. "The spell will require at least fourteen of your luck cards, and I only know where twelve carved diamonds are at in town unless you know where more are?" I'm pretty sure Jack doesn't even know where twelve are at, I've seen him searching but without the previous Jack of Diamonds to show him, he probably won't ever find them all. Jack is thinking, I know, I've watched him since we were little, but my plan is a good one. "Okay," Jack says. "Let's go." "Just like that?" I say. Jack is up to something to agree that fast. "You said 'in town' which means you know where some diamonds are at outside of town, and I want to know where they are," Jack says. Jack follows me to the edge of town, and we walk down the road until we reach the path that leads towards my house in the woods. I step off the road, but Jack just stops and waits; he has an amused expression. I know he suspects a trick, and he is right to, but I expected this and I'm still a step ahead of him. I flip my wrist, and my Two of Hearts card appears in my hand. I walk up to him and hand the card to him; I did plan on giving up my card, but it will be worth it. Jack looks at the card for a moment and then takes the card and slips it into the fold of his hat. "Now I'm just a normal person," I say. "I can't take the card back and I can't protect myself from you now." Jack follows me along the path, and I stop at a rock and point at it. "Turn it over." Jack turns the rock over, and there's a diamond carved on the bottom of the rock, and he touches it. Now he has eight luck cards. "Why hasn't anyone stolen these rocks?" Jack says. "Not even normal people can touch them," I say. "They are protected by your magic." We walk along the path, and I point out four more rocks that have diamonds carved in them. Jack collects each of the daily luck card magic in the rocks until he has a total of twelve luck cards saved. "You going to tell me why all these rocks are here?" Jack says. I don't want to tell him, but it doesn't matter, he won't be able to use them to get out of the woods. I'm going to make sure he uses all twelve of his luck cards to perform the magic I need, and each carved diamond is only good for one time a day. "It's called the Diamond Path," I say. "You're ancestors built it a long time ago so they could safely go into the woods. You would know about it, but... you know." "My father died before he could teach me," Jack says. "I get it." There are a lot more rocks and the path winds all through the woods, but the snow is covering them, and I'm not going to show Jack where any more of them are. His ancestors spent over a thousand years building the Diamond Path. I do feel a little bad for Jack, when there is a break in the succession of a Card like what happened to the Wrackleday family, so much knowledge is lost. Jack will never know just how powerful his ancestors made the Jack of Diamonds card. But, it doesn't matter; I'm about to win. Everyone will know I'm the one that won against the Jack of Diamonds, and made him pay for humiliating me and picking Lilly Palor Tiptus instead of me. I lead Jack to a clearing in the woods; this is the place. Nobody can help him here. "This is it, Jack," I say. "There is no extra magic in this clearing that can interfere with the spell." "What do you want me to do?" Jack says. "I need Penelope's magic lifted and the protection spell so she can't hurt me now that I'm just a normal mortal," I say. "Sounds easy enough," Jack says. Jack makes the two wishes I need. Those two wishes will use all his luck cards because that magic forever will take more than any one card would normally have. Jack's extra luck cards will give him the extra magic needed; I've calculated it very carefully. "Well?" Jack says. "That's it, I'm free of The Great Game," I say. "For now." "What?" Jack says. "Oh Jack, you shouldn't have picked Lilly Palor Tiptus over me," I say. "So that's what this was all about," Jack says. "Okay, get on with it then, I know there was a trick in here somewhere." "I haven't really lost anything. I'll still inherit the Ace of Hearts, and then I'll be the most powerful Card," I say, and then I lift my fingers to my mouth and whistle. The wolf pack emerges from the woods and run to surround Jack, their teeth bared and growling at Jack, and nobody can help him, and he has no more luck cards to escape. I cover my face with my hands and cry. "He stole my card," I yell and point at Jack. I don't want to see what happens next and turn and run back along the path. The wolf pack will tear Jack apart, and there is nothing he can do to stop it. I don't stop running until I get back to the road, and... my father is waiting on the road for me. "Father?" I say. "My foolish daughter," he growls. "Did you really think it would be that easy to beat the Jack of Diamonds?" "He doesn't have any more luck cards," I say. "I won." "Did you?" he says. "Jack cast the magic to lift Penelope's magic, but she never used her magic on you, she didn't need to, the jealousy you carry is all of your own doing. Jack still has five luck cards left. You gave up your card for nothing." I hear footsteps and spin around to see Jack walking along the path towards us, his hand on top of the big white wolf as if they have been best of friends for years. Jack stops in front of my father. "You're the Ace of Hearts?" Jack says. "I am," father says. "Are you going to draw a hand against me?" Jack says. "I don't play The Great Game, boy," father says. "But, what do you plan to do with my daughter's card?" "Oh that," Jack hands my card to father. "I didn't want her card; I just wanted to know where more carved diamonds were." "We should talk," my father says, "but not now. You hold your anger well, but I can see on your face you are. Use the Diamond Path and come see me soon." "I will, Sir," Jack says and walks on towards town. I hate Jack Tumbleweed Wrackleday so much; I hate him, I hate him, I hate him. I watch him walk away and then look up at my father. He is scowling at me. "My card?" I say. "I haven't decided if I will give it back to you," he says. "Come now, you are grounded for at least a month for trying to use my wolves like that." I drop my head and follow father, but I do look back at Jack walking away one more time. I hope he comes to visit soon. I miss him already. Well, that is the end of my story, for now. Can you remember what my name is?