Jinx On The Divide by Elizabeth Kay Page A
Authors: Elizabeth Kay
Tags: Fiction, Humorous stories, Children's Books, Fantasy, Juvenile Fiction, Action & Adventure - General, Magic, Fantasy & Magic, Ages 9-12 Fiction, Science Fiction; Fantasy; & Magic, Children: Grades 4-6
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even know where Rhino was. He needed to figure that one out, and fast. "Where are you, exactly?" he asked.
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Rhino laughed. "That would be telling. Listen, wimp, I'm not going back to England, do you copy? I'm staying here."
Betony elbowed Felix out of the way and took over the conversation. "Your world is full of bombs and battles," she said evenly. "You must think it's better here, or you wouldn't want to stay. But if you keep doing what you're doing, you'll turn my world into yours."
"Good," said Rhino. "You could use a few hamburger joints. I think you should run on back home, Felix. Your parents will be worried sick -- so awful for them after all the worrying they did in the past, when you were at death's door...."
This was the last straw. Forgetting that Rhino was just a magical image on the side of a jinx box, Felix lunged at him. Instantly, the picture vanished. He thumped his fist on the box in a rage, jolting the lid shut and pinching his finger.
"I have an idea," said Betony, suddenly looking pleased with herself. "We'll use my first two wishes to get us out of the lamp. Then, when we're back in the Pink Harpoon, we'll use the third wish to get Rhino. The brandee has to cooperate, once he's granted the first wish of the trio."
"It's too risky," said Felix, sucking his injured finger.
"We're not achieving anything by staying here," Betony pointed out.
"OK. But this time, we're taking the jinx box with us. If your idea doesn't work, we'll try to get it to tell us where Rhino is."
68
"That's stealing."
"It's probably stolen property already. Remember what the brandee said about picking things up on his travels?"
Betony's expression wavered slightly.
Felix looked at his finger. A blood blister had started to appear. "It could have important historical information in it as well," he said. He felt that the brandee had caused him quite enough trouble, and the jinx box was a small price for him to pay. Besides, the box was something new, a magical object he'd never encountered before. He was intrigued. "Thornbeak would be fascinated," he added craftily. "She'd open it safely."
"True," said Betony.
Felix picked up the jinx box. To his astonishment, it was now small enough to fit into the palm of his hand. He put it in his backpack. His finger was throbbing badly, and he made a face.
"Oh, come here," said Betony, picking a leaf from a nearby plant and crushing it between her fingers. Then she recited the standard healing incantation, and the blood blister shrank to a tiny dot, then disappeared.
They left the greenhouse and went back to the lamp's main room. The brandee was oblivious to their presence -- he had bottled himself, and his vapor was swirling gently behind some blue glass as he spent his day as a gas.
"I'm going to get Ironclaw's pen," said Felix, "while I've got the chance. Keep a lookout."
69
"OK," said Betony, stationing herself at the door of the study.
Felix slipped back inside and picked up the pen. He was about to put it in his backpack when he had an idea -- he wrote Jinx Box on one of the brandee's creamy sheets of paper. After a moment, his hand started to move -- and however hard he concentrated, he couldn't figure out whether he was operating the pen or it was some outside agency. It directed him to an encyclopedia of magic, so he took it from the shelf and looked up the definition. After a straightforward description, similar to the one in the K'Faddle advertisement, he read:
Jinx boxes cannot be trusted to store information without corrupting it. In the past, it was assumed they were totally accurate. This was why a jinx box was used to store the Common language, which was collected several centuries ago from another world by a sorcerer -- although, at the time, everyone assumed he had traveled into the future. Nowadays, of course, we know that time travel is impossible.
The crossover from one world to another had some odd effects. Words that, in the other world, were merely
67
Rhino laughed. "That would be telling. Listen, wimp, I'm not going back to England, do you copy? I'm staying here."
Betony elbowed Felix out of the way and took over the conversation. "Your world is full of bombs and battles," she said evenly. "You must think it's better here, or you wouldn't want to stay. But if you keep doing what you're doing, you'll turn my world into yours."
"Good," said Rhino. "You could use a few hamburger joints. I think you should run on back home, Felix. Your parents will be worried sick -- so awful for them after all the worrying they did in the past, when you were at death's door...."
This was the last straw. Forgetting that Rhino was just a magical image on the side of a jinx box, Felix lunged at him. Instantly, the picture vanished. He thumped his fist on the box in a rage, jolting the lid shut and pinching his finger.
"I have an idea," said Betony, suddenly looking pleased with herself. "We'll use my first two wishes to get us out of the lamp. Then, when we're back in the Pink Harpoon, we'll use the third wish to get Rhino. The brandee has to cooperate, once he's granted the first wish of the trio."
"It's too risky," said Felix, sucking his injured finger.
"We're not achieving anything by staying here," Betony pointed out.
"OK. But this time, we're taking the jinx box with us. If your idea doesn't work, we'll try to get it to tell us where Rhino is."
68
"That's stealing."
"It's probably stolen property already. Remember what the brandee said about picking things up on his travels?"
Betony's expression wavered slightly.
Felix looked at his finger. A blood blister had started to appear. "It could have important historical information in it as well," he said. He felt that the brandee had caused him quite enough trouble, and the jinx box was a small price for him to pay. Besides, the box was something new, a magical object he'd never encountered before. He was intrigued. "Thornbeak would be fascinated," he added craftily. "She'd open it safely."
"True," said Betony.
Felix picked up the jinx box. To his astonishment, it was now small enough to fit into the palm of his hand. He put it in his backpack. His finger was throbbing badly, and he made a face.
"Oh, come here," said Betony, picking a leaf from a nearby plant and crushing it between her fingers. Then she recited the standard healing incantation, and the blood blister shrank to a tiny dot, then disappeared.
They left the greenhouse and went back to the lamp's main room. The brandee was oblivious to their presence -- he had bottled himself, and his vapor was swirling gently behind some blue glass as he spent his day as a gas.
"I'm going to get Ironclaw's pen," said Felix, "while I've got the chance. Keep a lookout."
69
"OK," said Betony, stationing herself at the door of the study.
Felix slipped back inside and picked up the pen. He was about to put it in his backpack when he had an idea -- he wrote Jinx Box on one of the brandee's creamy sheets of paper. After a moment, his hand started to move -- and however hard he concentrated, he couldn't figure out whether he was operating the pen or it was some outside agency. It directed him to an encyclopedia of magic, so he took it from the shelf and looked up the definition. After a straightforward description, similar to the one in the K'Faddle advertisement, he read:
Jinx boxes cannot be trusted to store information without corrupting it. In the past, it was assumed they were totally accurate. This was why a jinx box was used to store the Common language, which was collected several centuries ago from another world by a sorcerer -- although, at the time, everyone assumed he had traveled into the future. Nowadays, of course, we know that time travel is impossible.
The crossover from one world to another had some odd effects. Words that, in the other world, were merely
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