"That fourth word is 'leave', and I know 'I' and 'D'. That gives me: I_   I_   _ _ _I_ _D.   LEAVE   I_."

Amanda closed one eye and cocked her head sideways to squint at the sign.

"'LEAVE   IT'? Those arrows look kind of like T's. 'IT   I_   _ _ _I_ _D.   LEAVE   IT.' 'IT   IS'? 'IT   IS...'?"

"Magika! Magika! Magika!" called out the tunnel dwellers.

"Magika?" queried Amanda. "Magical? No. That can't be right. I'm sure that character like the upside down V is the L. Magika...? Magika...? Magicked? Is that a real word? 'IT   IS   MAGICKED.   LEAVE   IT.' That kind of makes sense. The Ercinee was conjured by the Winsome Witch. I guess one could say that it was 'magicked'."

The longer Amanda stared at the runes, the more this reading seemed to her to be the correct one. The Ercinee certainly seemed to agree with her translation, and the tunnel dwellers showed their agreement with a chorus of, "Ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya!"

"But ... Okay then. I guess I'll go in alone."

The Ercinee bird settled on a nearby branch, content with this decision, and the Tree Trolls obviously liked it too, for the two hastily positioned signs regarding the bird fell clattering to the ground to reveal, once more, the original sign which hung over the entranceway to the giant tree.

"I bet I can figure out what this says now," said Amanda. "Those symbols there look a lot like R's. Okay then: _ ELK_ M   T_   TREE   TR_LL   GRA_D   _ALA_. Hmmm. That fourth word must be 'TROLL' which means that that character there is an 'O'. That gives me: _ELKOM   TO   TREE   TROLL   GRA_D   _ALA_."

This didn't seem like a good time to ask if she could buy a vowel. Where were Pat and Vanna when you needed them? Oh, well. Nothing for it but to try to sound it out.

"Elkom to Tree Troll Gra... Belkom? Pelkom? Welkom? Welcome?!"

Filling in the blanks wasn't so easy when one letter in the English alphabet didn't necessarily correspond to one character in the Tree Trolls strange script. The tunnel dwellers were chattering noisily in the brush, and Amanda almost fancied that their chirping sounded like the "Wheel of Fortune" theme tune.

"I've got it!" exclaimed Amanda. "WELCOME TO TREE TROLL GRAND PALACE!"

Okay then. Okay. When no voice over came on to announce what Amanda had won for solving the puzzle, she decided that it was time to continue on her journey.