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day mares."
"I don't think so," she said. "We are dealing with reverse psychology here."
"Fracto hates being balked," Grundy said. "And he hates sweetness. It should infuriate him."
"Let's hope so," Chex said. "We shall just have to try it. I thank you gourd folk for your effort, even if it
does not prove effective."
The stallion glanced at Mare Nectans. "Take that dream to Fracto," he said. "We shall watch its effect."
Mare Nectaris touched the dream capsule with her nose. It vanished. Then she leaped through the roof of
the pavilion and galloped through the air toward the monstrous cloud.
The pavilion faded out. It was light on the surface of the moon, but there seemed to be a spell to make
the group of them invisible, so Fracto would not know. Chex was interested to see that moonlight did
not bother the night mares, but she realized that this was logical, as they had always gone abroad at
night, whether the moon was in sight or hiding.
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The mare disappeared into the darkness surrounding the malignant cloud, but Fracto himself remained
visible. He was snoozing, which meant he was just right for delivery of the dream. Chex suffered
increasing doubts: could this wild notion succeed? A sweet dream to a mean cloud?
Fracto flickered. The dream was starting!
Something flickered at the side. Chex looked, and saw the dream playing on the surface of a hard-cheese
rock, as if it were a hypnogourd. She could monitor what Fracto was experiencing. That was nice.
The Princess was meeting the Prince. The weather was nice. Fracto, watching from the vantage of a dark
cloud, was trying desperately to get over there and drench their encounter. They would not find each
other nearly so attractive if her hair were plastered across her face and his suit was shrinking rapidly out
of fit! But Fracto couldn't move; he seemed to be boxed in by adverse winds, unable either to get into
the action or to float away from the scene.
When the Princess made her arduous climb up the mountain to the castle, Fracto strove to get above her
and dump a bucket of water down her d?lletage; that sort of thing really made princesses angry! But his
motion was like molasses, and by the time he got there, she was inside the castle. He was so frustrated
he hurled a thunderbolt at the castle, but it only bounced off harmlessly. Now, close to the castle, he
couldn't get away, and had to listen to the Princess's dumb dialogues with her father and mother. He
rumbled in rage, but no one paid attention, which made him madder than ever.
Then the Princess walked to the escarpment. What an opportunity to soak her down! But somehow he
was able only to follow, his raindrops pattering harmlessly behind her. The Princess got hot, not wet,
and didn't even hear his ominous rumbling.
Then she saw the dragon and warned him away from the ambush. Fracto tried to drown out her cries in
thunder, so that her warning would not be heard, but he was frustratingly muted. The dragon heard her,
and used his fire to scorch the soldiers, which was a fun scene. But what Fracto really wanted to do was
blow the beast out of the sky, and he couldn't. The Princess leaped off the cliff, the dragon caught her,
and the two flew away over the horizon, while Fracto followed helplessly. Even when they landed on
the isle, he couldn't blow them away, because it was protected by enchantment. He was so frustrated that
he was ready to explode.
Then they became two stupid unicorns and lived happily ever after, munching the sweet grass. And he
still couldn't touch them: not with a lightning bolt, not with a frigid blast of air, not even with a stinging
hailstone. It was too much; Fracto detonated. His vapors spattered across the landscape, and he was
nothing but foul mist. Ugh! What an awful dream!
Chex peered into the darkness. All she saw was stars and the lights of houses in Xanth. The evil cloud
had dissipated.
"It worked!" she cried. "The dream broke him up!"
"So it was a bad dream," the Night Stallion said, gratified. "I admit to having been concerned."
Chex was now well rested by her hours on the moon. "I thank you, stallion and mares," she said. "Now I
must be on my way." She spread her wings. Night flying wasn't her favorite mode, but she could not
afford to lose any more time.
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"Many ill returns!" Grundy called as they took off.
The flight was easy enough, because it was mostly gliding. In due course she spied the landing lights of
Mount Rushmost, and called out to the fireflies so that she was given clearance. Grundy, knowing that
no nonmonsters were allowed here, hid himself in her mane and kept his mouth shut. That was a relief in
itself.
It occurred to her, belatedly, that Magician Murphy's curse probably accounted for Che being near the
With-a-Cookee River, instead of in the heart of the goblin camp. Whatever could go wrong with the
goblin effort, was going wrong. Still, several wrongs did not necessarily make a right. She had to get
some positive action!
Soon she was with Cheiron, telling him everything. Then at last she could relax, knowing that he would
know what to do. It had been quite a day!
Chapter 6. Jenny's Jeopardy
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