Prologue

When Virginia and Wolf returned to the 10th Kingdom, settling back in wasn't easy, even though the Murrays were still suffering from the effects of Tony's wishes. Virginia's apartment had been fixed up, and to her surprise, her wallet was there, with her identification in it, for the trolls had dropped it in their excitement over her shoes. But it was a headache for her to call the companies and report her credit cards stolen and to sort through the bills accumulated in her mailbox.

Virginia gave Wolf strict orders to stay away from her grandmother, and always to let the answering machine pick up the phone, but she knew she'd have to go face her grandmother, and decided to get it over with quickly. She received the expected scolding, with plenty of snide remarks about her father the bank robber. She bore with them as patiently as she could, but things deteriorated rapidly when she informed her grandmother of her mother's death. When she left her grandmother, they were no longer on speaking terms.

Virginia felt guilty about taking advantage of the Murrays, so over Wolf's objections she begged her old boss to let her have her job back at the Grill on the Green. Wolf's tail was pretty bent out of shape over that. He thought he ought to be taking care of her, since she was expecting, and he wasn't happy when she pointed out that he had no social security card, no identification of any kind, and could be considered an illegal immigrant.

"Cripes, it's even worse than the Second Kingdom!" was his indignant response.

Still, in spite of all the hassles, it was fun showing Wolf around New York. His enthusiasm and delight were infectious. Naturally, one of the first things they did was to go shopping, since he had nothing but the clothes on his back. The police had confiscated Tony's million dollars, and Virginia refused Mr. Murray's offer of his credit card, so they had to stick to a tight budget. Virginia regretted that. Wolf had expensive tastes, and it's always a shame to see a wolf in cheap clothing.

Soon they settled into a routine, and every day when Virginia came home from work, Wolf would tell her about his adventures in the city--the Park, the Library, the museums, the shops, all the tourist traps, Times Square, the works. When they'd been there for about a week, Tony came back for a visit. Wendell wanted to throw them a huge wedding at his castle. After some discussion, they decided on a date, and arranged to return to the Fourth Kingdom in about three weeks, with the wedding being a few days after their arrival. Tony carried their decision back to Wendell. Everything seemed to be going relatively smoothly.