Maguire briefly looked at me like I had lost mine, but when I showed him the marbles, his eyes widened.

  “Oh, I had forgotten about those,” he said. “We have some up at the Pole, but I never used them. Never had a reason to.”

  “I got these from the same place your bosses got theirs. They react to different magics in different ways and are great for tracking down things that don't quite fit. Mine don't really work up north because they aren't used to that particular environment. They work great here, though.”

  “And what are they telling you?”

  “That something not of this world has been happening somewhat frequently in the general direction of the trail. And before you panic, not of this world just means there is a person doing a thing. It's not something happening naturally.”

  “Thank you for clarifying because I was absolutely about to panic.”

  We continued up the trail, Maguire taking in the scenery while I kept my eye on the marbles. Every once in a while there was a hint of a color change that I took care to show him. Even the most mundane woods had their own magic, and the marbles reflected that.

  Every time we reached a fork in the path, I cupped my hands around them and did a slow circle, waiting for the glow to brighten. Every time, without fail, it led us further down the trail. And every so often along the trail, I would spot a brightly colored, plastic egg, hidden in the grass.

  “Oh yeah, that is earlier this year,” Maguire commented.

  “It is, but not this early. Guess our picnickers decided it was best to celebrate before the actual holiday as opposed to after.” I crouched down to get a closer look at one of the eggs. The marbles didn't react when I held them over the egg, and it wasn't hard to confirm it was just an ordinary plastic egg. I picked it up and tucked it in my pocket.

  “I take it that one's not cursed?”

  “Nope. I'll keep checking just in case, but we should pick them up anyway. Littering is bad.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Noted. I am starting to pick up…something. I can't quite put my finger on it. Feels natural, though. Feels right.”

  “Yeah, you'll find that a lot in wooded areas, especially those that don't see a lot of foot traffic. There's a reason people sometimes get lost hiking in the wilderness. Lots of old things out in the woods, but more often than not they leave people alone.”

  “Do you think that's what we're dealing with here?”

  “Not that specific kind of old thing but what's going on does have a certain flare to it. We are looking for something that's more different than old, though it may be both. It is possible that it’s at the very least having an effect on what’s going on, if not being the direct cause.”

  “Sounds like we need to keep going, then. And keep collecting the eggs.”

  “Yep.”

  We continued on the path more slowly now, stopping to search for and collect eggs along the way. It reminded me of my childhood, so as we went I shared some of my stories with Maguire. They were simple tales, but they came from a time before I joined the Jacks, which wasn’t something I had shared much of yet. I stumbled upon the society as a teenager, when some of their members helped me out of a messy situation. Not many people knew the full story and Maguire must have sensed that I didn’t want to get into it, because he didn’t pry.

  “I’ll answer your questions, just not here. Not now,” I said.

  “No worries and no rush. You can tell me whenever you are ready.” He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender and from the look in his eyes, I knew he meant what he said. He had a sense of honesty baked into his core, along with a loyalty that didn’t exist without question, but once earned, was unwavering.

  I couldn’t even pretend to feel bad about taking him from the North Pole. I needed him, and he thrived as a Jack. Plus, he knew very well that he could visit at any time and he had regular contact with his family back home. He chose this, and I would make sure he had no regrets.

  “Hey Claudia, I found another egg,” Maguire called. I walked over to check it out and immediately the marbles started to glow. The second he saw it, he stepped back to allow me closer, watching me intently. The glow brightened as I crouched down by the egg, and the marbles started to rattle.

  “What do we have here?” I muttered, examining the area more closely. On a hunch I grabbed a stick with my free hand and poked the egg. It made the normal sound of wood tapping on hollow plastic, and the egg rolled away from the thing it was resting on.

  That thing being an egg-shaped, colorful stone.

  The marbles glowed a brighter, almost pastel green.

  “What’s going on?” Maguire asked. “What did you find?”

  “I found proof that we managed to wander our way into the middle of the Fool’s Hunt.”