I returned to work the next day and was called into the chief’s office. “Where have you been?” He wanted to know. “Underhill. I wasn’t supposed to come in until today. Was there a problem?” “You’re supposed to tell Colonel Gillman when you’re leaving town and give him a phone number.” “I don’t have a phone Underhill. He said if I was only going to be gone overnight, I didn’t need to tell him. I had only meant to stay one night.” “What happened? More health problems?” “I don’t know. I fell asleep and slept for three days. I didn’t even realize it until I got back.” “Getting up several times to use the restroom or gnawing hunger didn’t clue you in?” “I didn’t wake to go. Either I walked in my sleep, or I never needed it. And I wasn’t unusually hungry. Underhill can be strange that way.” “Does time move differently there?” “No. That’s just in the stories. Some people have tried to make it, but it never worked. At best, they had a distortion that affected a few feet for a few hours. It wasn’t worth the effort. “Maybe next time, take someone with you.” “That’s too dangerous. Humans aren’t trained to control their thoughts. They could conjure anything.” “Didn’t elves used to steal children and leave changelings? Didn’t the children grow up Underhill?” “That was the Unseelie. We tried to protect them and get them back home. But children’s minds can be trained to control their thoughts better. Even the Unseelie trained them before bringing them. And King Oberon kept constructs to a minimum. His protection is gone now.” “So, are you feeling better?” “I feel great.” “And you ate today?” That didn’t sound good. “Yes. Why?” “There might be another body, and they might need your help.” “Might?” “Someone called something in. They thought it might be a body. I saw this sort of thing in the city when we had a serial killer. People will see any pile of debris and assume it’s another body.” “Better that, than assuming a body is a pile of garbage and ignoring it,” I pointed out. “Yeah.” “And isn’t it better if they don’t touch it to find out?” “It is.” “I have my Powerade and Almond Joys. And I still have the vitamins Doctor Knox gave me. I’ll be okay if I cast the spell.” “Good. No more passing out. There’s more data for you for that last scene. It’s on your desk.” “Thanks. I’ll get it done.” I passed Marcus on the way out. “Hey, Sean, did you have fun in Ireland?” “Why? You need more gold?” “Knock it off, you two,” the chief warned. Marcus didn’t like me. He knew nothing of elves or any other kind of fae, except what he saw on a cereal box. He thought I was Irish and had me confused with a leprechaun. And amidst his jokes, he’d asked me about my pot of gold. I got tired of it and went Underhill for some elven gold and tossed it into one of the “pots” in the men’s room. I then cast a spell on him, so anywhere he went, he’d see a rainbow path leading to that toilet until he fished out every piece of gold. “You know that was two months of my pay when I lived Underhill, and it’s worth something here.” “Sean,” the chief warned. I nodded and returned to my desk. “Sean, all kidding aside, are you okay now?” Marcus asked. “I am. Thanks.”