Jinx On The Divide (31 page)

"Abracadabra
and
hocus pocus?"
queried Quillfinger.

"The very same," said Ivorynose. "How did you know?"

"They're some of the powerwords that were stored in the jinx box that was used to collect the Common Language," said Quillfinger. "We were colleagues for a while -- absolutely the most unpleasant receptacle it has ever been my misfortune to encounter. The third command of that particular trio is
open sesame.
It creates unity where once there was division. If
that
gets spoken by a mythical being, we ought to take advantage of the harmony it could bring, while being on our guard for the downside that must, inevitably, accompany it. We should have the biggest conference the world has ever seen. Tangle-folk, nomads, one-eyes -- even the japegrins. Unity from disunity."

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"Sounds like a good idea," said Thornbeak.

"But not as good an idea as having lunch with Flintfeather," said an earthy voice. "Go on, you know you want to."

"Take no notice of him," said Pastern, the wise-hoof. "He's the reason
I
got turned to stone twenty years ago. I had my suspicions, you see."

"Suspicions?"

"That he wasn't really a statue."

"Not only was he not a statue, he's not even Flintfeather," said Ivorynose.

"Spoilsport," said the brazzle. "I was doing really well with the hen, too."

Thornbeak drew herself up to her full height. Her eyes narrowed, and her tail nicked dangerously back and forth. "So who
are
you, exactly?"

The brazzle had the grace to look a bit sheepish. "Topaztoe."

"Go on."

"After Flintfeather died of old age, the chief librarian commissioned a statue of him. The trouble was, Flintfeather wasn't the most beautiful brazzle you've ever seen. He had one leg shorter than the other, a dragging wing, a scar on his beak, and a bald patch on his rump.... By the time the statue was completed -- a good likeness, by all accounts -- the chief librarian had died as well. The new chief hated the statue on sight. He was trying to turn the library into a thing of beauty. He told the sculptor to do another, and use as

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much artistic license as he liked -- but he wouldn't pay the full price for the first statue. The sculptor was so annoyed that he decided to cheat. He hired a sorcerer to develop a freezing spell and find a willing subject who looked like every hen's dream."

"You."

"That's right, golden-eyes. I was short of cash at the time, and it was easy money. It was supposed to wear off after fifty years, but it took more than four hundred. That's cut-rate spells for you."

"But all male brazzles are mathematicians. Didn't you check out the spell?"

"Not my strong point, math. I'm a wow at reverse plummets, though."

"There's something we all ought to be aware of," said Quillfinger. "The third powerword of that trio is the most powerful of the bunch, a level thirteen spell."

Topaztoe moved a little closer to Thornbeak.

Thornbeak moved away a little.

"Science or magic, it doesn't matter which you use, it's
how
you use it that counts," said the brittlehorn. "It's a good thing science is only a legend. Flintfeather calculated that if science really existed, the combination of a scientifically powered object and a level thirteen spell would be catastrophic."

"But science
isn't
a legend," said Thornbeak.

"Are you sure?"

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"Yes."

"Ah," said Ivorynose, closing his eyes. "I'll need to contemplate that for a while."

"We've got a very good lunch," said Rhino, spearing the steaks he'd discovered in the kitchen of the Pink Harpoon, and placing them across a fiery fissure.

"I found some of that peppery bread, and some pickled fish, and some seedcake," added Betony.

"All I used to eat were hamburgers and chips," said Rhino. "Do you know, I actually
prefer
all this stuff now?" He laughed.

"Fuzzy," said Felix, "could I take a look in the crystal ball?"

"Sure," said Fuzzy, passing it over. "It's a little too bright out here, though." The sky was a deep cobalt-blue, and there was a lot of glare from the snow.

"Why don't I turn myself into a tent?" said Nimby. "I've done it before, last summer in the desert, remember?"

"Great idea," said Felix, trying to sound normal. He didn't feel normal. He was dreading the moment when he had to take the jinx box out of his pocket and throw it down the fissure. The sense of foreboding was getting stronger all the time, he could almost hear a clock somewhere, ticking away the last minutes of... of what? His time in this world? His childhood? His
life?

He found himself a nice warm patch near the fissure and draped the carpet over his head. Then he placed his hands on

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the crystal ball, and waited. The ball started to glow with its faintly mauve light, and the usual swirling gray clouds appeared. This time, however, something different happened. The light faded, and intensified, faded and intensified, until it was nicking on and off like a strobe. After twenty seconds or so, it slowed down, then stopped. The scene that gradually came into focus was a place Felix recognized immediately -- the grassy stage outside the palace in Andria, where the dance festivals were held.

It looked like a fine summer evening, and the place was packed. He couldn't hear anything, but he could see that people were clapping and cheering. The queen was standing center-stage, dressed in a gorgeous green velvet gown that was covered with emeralds. She raised her hand for silence, and presumably silence fell. In her other hand, she was holding a many-faceted silver orb, fastened to some sort of stand. Every so often, it glinted with rainbow colors, like a dewdrop caught in the sunlight.

"I know what that is," said Nimby, sounding really excited.

"Can you see what's happening as well, then?" asked Felix.

"Yes, I can. It's the summer dance festival, and the queen's handing out the ... the ..." The carpet suddenly sounded too full of emotion to speak.

"It's the Magical Objects Bravery Award, isn't it?" said Felix. "Are we actually looking into the future this time, Nimby?"

"Yes. I think that's what all the ebbing and flowing of the

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light was about -- the ball was flicking forward through night and day. If we'd counted, we'd know exactly how far into the future we were."

"It didn't go on all that long," said Felix. "I think we're still in the same year."

A wise-hoof trotted across the stage, carrying a crystal ball. Nimby groaned.

"What?" said Felix.

"Don't tell me he's won it again," said the carpet. "I couldn't bear it."

"In my world," said Felix, "the previous year's winner often presents the trophy to the new winner."

"That crystal ball's won it three years in a row."

"Stop being so pessimistic. Just shut up and watch."

They watched as the queen made some sort of speech.

And then a magic carpet flew onto the stage and curtsied by laying itself down on the grass before the queen. Its coloring was unmistakable -- a beautiful cherry-red, with a blue-and-cream design in the middle.

"That's me!"
said Nimby.

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***

18

***

"That's amazing," said Betony, when a hugely excited Nimby told her the news. "You actually got the ball to work right? To show you the future? Let me try.... Nimby, keep
still,
will you? I can't see if I don't have you as a tent."

"I don't think I want to see the future," said Rhino, watching Betony disappear beneath her cherry-red canopy.

Felix turned to him. "Why? Scared you'll lose some of that
respect
that's so precious to you?"

"Felix, can't you just drop it?" said Rhino. "I'm not the same person anymore. I kind of stopped feeling angry. Back at school, I hated anyone who was cleverer than me, richer than me, had halfway decent parents. And then -- like that's not enough? -- I watched you change from a skinny little wimp into someone who was OK. I'm sorry I made your life miserable, all
right?"

Felix knew he'd taken a cheap shot, and suddenly he wanted to make amends. Fear was making him far too

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testy. "I've got a confession as well," he said. "I'm scared. Scared that the jinx box will defend itself by trying to make me say another powerword. And that the bad effect will be
really
bad this time."

"Don't open it."

"I don't intend to."

"Well, then ..."

"I just have this feeling ... I can't explain it."

Rhino looked thoughtful. "Crossing the Divide -- it's like going up in a space rocket, or down in a deep-sea submarine. It's risky. You don't know for sure that you'll ever get back again -- and you've done it of your own free will. You're no coward, Felix, whatever you say about being scared at the moment. I'd be terrified, too."

Felix didn't quite know what to say. A compliment from Rhino was a rare and wonderful thing.

"I'm scared of flying." Rhino was clearly in the mood to reveal all his weaknesses. "I'm not technical. I don't understand how airplanes work, I don't understand how brazzles fly, and I have no idea how the crossover thing works. And neither have you."

"Actually," said Felix, "I do understand it. Well, some of it. It's all to do with the indivisible self. The fact that you can't split yourself in two."

"An amoeba can."

"An amoeba's not self-aware."

"It's alive, though. Why is being self-aware such a big

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deal? And when does it happen? There's a whole range of creatures from amoeba to human. Where's the cutoff point? A worm? A dung beetle? A rat? A chimp?"

"You're getting off the point," said Felix, who didn't have an answer.

"What
is
the point?"

"That if you're equally split into two on a Divide, the gravity tries to pull you apart, can't, and sends you off somewhere else instead."

"Here?"

"Yes."

"That's
scary," said Rhino. "How come throwing a stupid silk box down a hole scares you even more?"

Felix hesitated. He was surprised to find himself having a conversation like this with Rhino. He suddenly realized they'd never actually -- honestly -- talked before. "You remember when the jinx box told us all the things it could give us?"

Rhino nodded. "Yeah ...
'There's something else you want now, above all else. And I'll tell you how to get it if you say hokey cokey for me.'"

Felix smiled at Rhino's neat evasion of the powerword as he quoted the jinx box.

Rhino looked thoughtful. "Did it have something to do with Betony? She has to be the prettiest girl I've ever met, even if she does have slightly odd ears."

Felix nodded, slightly annoyed that Rhino had guessed.

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"It showed me a picture of her, looking really upset, standing ... right here."

"And you think she was upset because -- somehow -- the box had killed you?"

Felix shrugged, trying to look more nonchalant than he felt.

"That's why you wanted the crystal ball, to find out what happens. But it showed you something else instead."

"Yeah. Made Nimby's day."

"What's that?" said the carpet. He was hunched over Betony, who was still looking into the crystal ball.

"Made your day. The Magical Objects Bravery Award."

"Oh. Yes." The carpet lifted off Betony, and landed back on the ground.

Betony stood up and gave the ball back to Fuzzy to stash in her leg pouch. "It just showed me Snakeweed haggling with someone in Vattan's fish market," she said. "Waste of time."

"Felix," Nimby continued, "I've been thinking. You know my theory? The one that Ironclaw said was groundbreaking?"

"The magic and science combination factor?"

"Yes. Well, the thing that gave me the idea was seeing what happened to your flashlight when it was hit by the plummeting hex. It melted."

"So?"

"I think you ought to make absolutely certain you don't

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have anything scientific on your person when you destroy the jinx box. Just in case. It is, after all, a magical object."

"Good point," said Felix. "I don't have the flashlight any longer, but I've got a watch ... and a compass. I'll take them off."

"I don't have my cell phone anymore," said Rhino. "Squill never gave it back."

"It doesn't matter about
you"
said Felix. "You're not the one doing it."

"There's no need to be so rude," said Betony.

Felix clenched his fist and dug his nails into the palm of his hand. He'd snapped at Rhino again, and he really hadn't meant to. "I'm sorry," he said. "I've got a headache." He could feel a pulse beating in his neck, and a tightness in his throat. Something nasty was waiting for him, he was sure of it, nasty enough to make Betony cry -- and Betony hardly ever cried. He took the eyeglass case out of his pocket. Today it was decorated with teeth. A couple of them had cavities, one of them was completely black, and the four canines were bloodstained.

Rhino leaned over the fissure and peered into its depths. "I can see molten lava from here," he said. "The steak's ready, too."

"I brought some platters," said Betony, always the practical one. She passed them around. "Not to mention two whole gourds of the very best fertle juice."

Felix decided to eat first. The food was really good, and he had a horrible feeling that the jinx box would scream or have