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Suddenly all the peices of the riddle came together. Shane's heart sank a little bit, looking at the obviousely distraught Mishap. He felt sorry for him, really. He sighed and shook his head and told the kid the truth.

"I...hate to break it to you kid. But a few sticks won't get you anywhere. You could get a pile of them as big as you are, and the second you'd step on them, they'd break and you'd get all wet. I'd know, I tried it once when I was your age before. Took me weeks too, collecting all those sticks." Shane looked out on the lake with a sigh again at the white figure that was simply floating there, so carefree, but so hopelessly out of reach. Shane shrugged his shoulders.

"If I had the wood of a full tree or something, then maybe I'd be able cut it down for you or something to make a propper raft. But as far as I know, the only trees that are around here are in that Forbidden Forest, and from what I hear, chopping one of those things down may be more of a hassle than it's worth."Shane shrugged his shoulders and posed the boy with a question,
"Why don't you just go out and buy a new one? There's gotta be a ton of other stuffed animals that look just like that one somewhere in the world aren't there?"

Shane laughed out loud happily. He was proud that the boy had such a strong attatchment to his toy and at least showed that he was capeable of love. That was good.

"Excelent!" he exclaimed, leaping up from where he was sitting "Well, let's get started on cutting down that tree now shall we?" Shane turned and winked to Sabri. "I'm very sorry for tricking you like that. I just wanted to make sure that you really did love Prince. I wasn't going to go and cut down a tree for a boy that thought that it was 'just a stuffed animal'. That'd be a waste of my time." Shane pulled out a map and pointed to the forest just on the outskirts of the property, right around Treehouse island.

"There's more than one forest in this place, and I've been meaning to check this one out. What better way to do it than with some company, and on a mission of such importance eh?" Shane was being honest, and his tone reflected that. He felt sorry for Sabri, and wanted to help him out. "Making a stupid raft won't be too hard, but only if we work together okay?"

Then, as a gesture of goodwill, Shane held out his hand to the menacing looking cat Mishap. He wasn't afraid of getting lashed, and he needed to make sure that they had each other's trust with this. Accidents could happen when it came to cutting down a tree, and if they didn't have trust, things could get even worse. His gut turned thinking about what would happen to Pyren if he wasn't around, or what he'd have to live with if something happend to this little one who was off on his own.

"I'm Shane. What's you're name?"

Shane shook Sabriel's hand professionally, like he'd just met a new work partner.

"Okay Sabriel, now first I need to get some tools from the shed by the barn," he told him, "Wait here and keep an eye on Prince and make sure he doesn't go anywhere until I get back. I'll be there and back as fast as I can." using his hands as he spoke to emphasise the need for Sabri to stay where he was. It was a big beach around the lake, and Shane was not in the mood to be following paw prints in the sand. Quickly, he bolted from sight in the direction of the barn.

Shane reached the shed in a matter of minutes. He was extremely athletic for his build and he was only a little out of breath after sprinting all the way across the grounds. Moving into the tool shed, he pulled the cord hanging from the light and looked about. The place was a little dusty, but he eventually found what he was looking for. A good sized hand ax, a large two person saw, a battery powered eletric sander, a roll of duct tape, and a very large coil of strong rope, which he strung over his left shoulder.

He placed what he could into a toolbox which he latched up tight, and in his left hand, he carried the electric sander. Quickly turning off the light and closing the door, Shane then began to sprint back down to the beach where he had left Sabri.

Shane gave a quick nod to Sabri as he pointed with the toolbox towards the forest.

"Okay, quickly into the forest and don't loose sight of me." his speach was quick and urgent, but his voice was calm so as not to make Sabri panic any more than he already was "We're on the lookout for a Teak tree. I think I spotted one not to far from shore. Come on." Shane then sprinted towards and into the forest, checking every once in a while behind him to make sure that Sabri hadn't fallen behind, or was hurt.

Once inside the forest, he was unable to be certain of the trees by their canopy anymore, so he began to look for the right type of wood and leaves around where he thought he had spotted the tree.

Shane stopped abruptly and put down the burdening tools next to a tree and pointed up to it.

"This is a teak tree," Shane answered, knocking it to make sure it wasn't hollow; it wasn't. "It's the best type for making boats and furniture. Only problem is that it's pretty heavy by itself. We gotta cut it down and sand it in order to make it a proper raft. If we do this right, you'll have an almost completely waterproof trip." Almost all of this was said as Shane was bending over the toolbox and pulling out the tools he had packed away.

First he pulled out the ax, "Stand back," he ordered Sabri as he took a few good chops at the tree. Only a few woodchips went flying about as Shane made a small, jagged hole in the tree. It was enough of a hole to fit the large two person saw, he found to his delight as he inserted it into the groove.

"Teak trees are also especially easy to cut down, so if we work together we shouldn't have any trouble in sawing through this quickly. Just grab that end of the saw, and when you push I'll pull, and when you pull, I'll push. Got it? This is going to take alot of strength, so brace yourself." Shane said and placed his hands on his end of the saw.

"Okay, good. You can move the saw. Now stop thinking about doing it yourself and work with me here," Shane semi-praised Sabri. He honestly didn't think that the boy had it in him to take a full, solo saw at the tree.

"The steadyer we keep this, the faster and smoother the wood will turn out. Think about your heart beat, and move the saw in steady time with that. That way, there's less tension in the wood. Be careful though, we don't want to cut too deep either. I want to give the tree a good shove in the direction of the lake so that falls that way and it's easier for us to build the raft closer to the launch point. Ready...PULL!" Then, like a rowing instructor, Shane began to cue his and Sabri's every movement of the saw.