She was in a field of brittle grass. The air was cool and smelled of salt. She turned and saw a hut behind her, with a thatched roof and red shutters. A wild wind flung itself at her, blowing her towards the cottage. Poppy ran head-on towards the shack, knowing that just before her was a warm place to rest. But every time her fingers brushed near the doorknob, the wind blew her backwards again. She finally gave up and allowed the wind to push her towards a hole in the ground, where she fell.....and fell.....and fell.....
Poppy landed on the floor with a thump. Daisy laughed and threw a pillow at her, rumpling the sheets. Poppy rose from the floor and flung herself on Daisy's legs. The sisters giggled madly, rolling back and forth and tangling themselves in the sheets. They stopped for a moment to breathe heavily, the remnants of laughter still in their throats. Poppy pulled herself out of the covers and got dressed, splashing her face with musty water from the pitcher and bowl. Daisy unwrapped herself as well, humming as she combed through her hair. Poppy reached into the satchel on the floor and removed the expertly wrapped eronite map. The wrappings fell away, revealing once more the glorious map. It sparkled in the dim candlelight, a beautiful thing in any room. The emerald had moved up to a point on the Tigarlintez border.
"We've not far to go. About half of that journey can be completed today, and then we must find somewhere to sleep for that night."
Poppy stared at the map in her hands. She could have sworn that the tiny, gold-embossed inn on the edge of the map hadn't been there a second ago.
An object whacked Poppy in the back of the head. She turned to see Daisy sniggering, a scuffed black boot lying on the floor. She glared in mock annoyance, chucking a pillow back at her sister. Daisy batted a large wooden bed-knob at Poppy, who pitched it back. They were so engaged in their game of catch-and-throw that it took a moment to register when the bed-knob went sailing onto the eronite map. When they realized, they raced to the pile of shimmering gem and brown paper wrapping on the ground, but it was too late. The map had shattered into hundreds of tiny, unfixable fragments. They still shimmered beautifully, ironic in the tragedy of the moment.
   Poppy crumpled to the ground. She hadn't cried when she had overheard a conversation about the sister she'd never met. She hadn't cried when she'd been taken by bandits, or when she had fallen off of Tarran for the umpteenth time. She hadn't let a single tear fall when Jeorge had run off with her stone, or when he had forgiven her so gently. She hadn't shown emotion when she met Daisy, and she hadn't cried when she had said goodbye to Jeorge, or when he'd kissed her. But now, the map broken, she cried. She cried for Jeorge, and for Daisy, and for herself. She cried for the life she had lost in the caravan, and she cried for the life her sister had never experienced. But mostly, she cried because that map had been something special. It had been hope that she could hold, a hope that she would discover the end of the map, and get the answers to her thousand questions. The tears rolled down her face, staining her robes and making lines in the grime on her cheeks. Daisy knelt and placed a hand on Poppy's back. "Look," she whispered.
Poppy covered her face. "No. I don't want to see." She knew she sounded like a little girl wailing for one more nut cake, but she didn't care.
"No, just look," Daisy persisted. Poppy finally looked up, and then gasped in awe. The sherds of map were lifting into the air, reflecting an odd golden light. The light convoluted around the pieces, melding them together. Poppy shielded her eyes against the radiance. When she looked again, the map was complete. It landed on the pile of brown paper. Poppy jumped over and ran her fingers over it in shock. There were no cracks at all, and the map was once again smooth and perfect, glistening and catching moonlight from the dingy window. It was an amazing thing, truly a feat of magic if there ever was one. Poppy wiped the last tears from her face and then lifted the map like the Holy Grail. The quest was back on!!