“Just one problem,” said Jay, glancing around the dashboard of the elegant boat. “We don’t have the keys to this thing.”
“Again, not a problem,” said Mal, consulting her spell book once more. “Hmmm, what kind of spell do you think would work? Key-making spell? Boat spell?” She flipped through the pages. “Oh! How about this one? My mom’s notes said she used it all the time before she came to the Isle to turn on the microwave when it didn’t work.”
Mal held her hand up and pointed to the boat. “Lizard’s tongue and demon’s spawn, make this blasted thing turn on!”
The boat’s engine purred to life. Jay grinned and gave her a thumbs-up.
“Just one problem,” said Carlos. “None of us actually know how to drive a boat. And I’m not sure there’s a spell for that.”
“Hmm, maybe not,” said Mal. “But let me check.”
“I think that’s probably enough spells for the day,” said Evie delicately.
“But we’ll need the spell book to get through the barrier, and then to call up the trident,” Mal reminded her.
“Need what to do what?” a voice called, ju
st as a bright light shone upon them on the shadowy dock, temporarily blinding all of them.
Mal frantically motioned to Jay to cut the engine, and the four of them froze in place, barely daring to breathe.
“Who’s there?” called the increasingly familiar voice. “Show yourselves!”
Mal shielded her eyes and looked up past the light to the person holding the spark. She knew that wand.
“Oh no! It’s Fairy Godmother!”
Uma had worked at the Fish and Chips Shoppe her entire life, from when she was so little she could barely see above the counter, until she was old enough to wear an apron, carry a tray, and take an order. She recognized most of their regulars, and when new customers walked in, Uma always paid attention. So when the Sorcerer’s Intern entered on Gil’s arm, Uma spotted her right away.
She and Harry were whispering by the counter when they arrived. Uma nodded to Gil, who waved back and signaled for Uma to come over. She shook her head. She wanted Gil to talk to Sophie for a little bit, soften her up before Uma went in for the kill.
Harry slunk away and Uma went back to work, slamming down trays and yelling at patrons who dared not to tip, pointing to the sign—TIP OR ELSE!—that hung by the exit. After an hour, Gil sidled up to the counter that Harry was leaning on and Uma was wiping with a rag. “Are you ready to talk to her yet?” he asked Uma, a desperate tone in his voice.
“Why, are you out of conversation?” Uma asked.
“Almost! We’ve been sitting over there forever. I did what you said. She thinks we’re on a date. Keeps asking me about my hobbies and whether I enjoy long walks on the beach. I’ve seen a lot of pictures of her cats,” he groaned. “I told her you wanted to chat now.”
“Fine. Harry, stay close in case I need you.” Uma squared her hat on her head and walked over to the table, to where a young woman in a red wizard’s robe was seated, sipping bilge and snacking on a side of fried clams. “Hi, Sophie?”
“Hey, Uma,” said Sophie. “These are great! What do you guys put on them?” she said, motioning to the plate of clams and wiping her mouth with a napkin.
“You don’t want to know,” said Uma frankly. “I mean…Cook has a fabulous recipe.” She realized that buttering up the clams, so to speak, was the way to get what she wanted from this girl. “Did you guys have a nice dinner?”
“We did,” said Sophie. “I’ve never been here before.”
“Come back again,” said Uma. “On Fridays we have the weekend special.” The weekend special was everything that didn’t sell over the week, but Uma didn’t say that.
“Okay, I will,” said Sophie. “I don’t really get to go out too much.”
“The sorcerer keeps you busy?”
“Yeah, there’s always papers to grade and research on his experiments. But I have nights and weekends off. It’s just a bit far from where we live.”
“I see,” said Uma. “I heard you’re not from here, like we are.”
“Yeah, I’m not. My family’s from Eden, actually,” said Sophie. “We live in the middle of the forest.”
“Do you miss it?”