Somehow they managed to sound impatient.

"Ah, thank you very much," I said, and stepped through.

The hedge closed behind me with a prim swish, and I looked around.

Inside the hedge was a circular clearing full of sunlight and the feel of magic.

A red-haired girl in a brown tunic was lying at one side of the clearing. She sat up as I came in; her face was tearstained.

"Who are you?" she demanded fiercely, as soon as she saw me. "And what do you want?" She looked about my age, but I never have been very good at guessing how old people are, especially people who aren't in disguise or enchanted.

"My name is Daystar," I said. "I heard you, um, crying, and I wanted to see if I could do anything."

She looked at me suspiciously. "You just walked through that hedge? Ha! I've been trying to get out of here all day. It's not that easy. I bet you're a wizard." I noticed some scratches on her arms and some fuzzy places in the tunic where it might have caught on branches or trees.

"I'm not a wizard. Maybe it's easier to get in than it is to get out," I offered.

The red-haired girl sat back. "That could be true," she said a little less belligerently. She eyed me skeptically, and I tried to look trustworthy.

"Well, you don't look like a wizard," she said at last. "Can you get out again?"

"I don't know," I said.

"Well, try!" she said. "No, wait. I'll stand next to you so I can get out, too. Then we'll both be rescued." She jumped to her feet.

"What are you waiting for?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't really think I need to be rescued," I said. "I was looking for a place to spend the night and this seems pretty safe.

I'm not sure I want to leave just yet. Besides, I don't know anything about you.

Maybe I don't want to rescue you."