“Really?” Ridge cried. “You ditched him?”
“Things got kind of ugly after we left Chasm’s cave,” Jathon said. “My dad was not happy that I gave the jar to Tina.”
“Your dad? Not happy?” I mocked.
“Okay, you’ve got a point,” Jathon said. “He’s never happy. But he was determined to find Chasm, so we tried to track them.”
“Did you see Tina?” I gushed. “Is she okay?”
Jathon shook his head. “We never caught up to Chasm. Without a genie of our own, he was impossible to locate.”
“But you got Vale,” I pointed out.
“That didn’t happen until yesterday,” Jathon reminded us. “That’s when I ditched my dad.”
“And a good thing, too,” Vale added. “Last time Jathon had a genie, Thackary demanded that she be kept in her jar unless it was time to wish.”
Vale and Ridge shuddered in unison at the itchy thought.
“So I took off,” Jathon continued. “My dad messed up a lot of things last time. I thought I’d have a better chance at accomplishing my quest alone this week. Besides, I don’t think he’d like my new assignment. Rescuing Tina isn’t high on his priorities.”
“What do you think will happen when your dad notices that you’re gone?” Ridge asked.
“Oh, he already knows,” answered Jathon.
“We weren’t even a block away when he realized it,” Vale added.
“Did he chase you?” Ridge pressed, clearly desperate for the juicy drama.
Jathon sucked in a deep breath. “I didn’t know he could run that fast.” He checked over his shoulder once again.
“Oh, great,” I said. “You think he’s coming after you.”
“I’m sure of it,” Jathon muttered. “He knows I have another genie. My dad will try to use that to his selfish advantage somehow.”
“Why not make a wish against him?” I asked. “You could stop him from finding you.”
Jathon scowled at me. “Vale and I will just stay ahead of him. I’m not going to wish against my dad!”
“Why not?” I said. “He’s a jerk to you. And it’s not like you enjoy him all that much, either.”
“He’s my dad!” Jathon said. “I may not like him, but we’re family. You might not know what it’s like to have a parent, but I do.”
I swallowed half a dozen harsh responses. Jathon had touched on a sensitive subject, and he knew it. I had no parents. No family. Well, I’m sure I did somewhere, but I didn’t know about them.
My past was a black hole, without even an inkling of a memory before I was nine. I’d awakened in a hospital three years ago without so much as a name. My hand strayed into my pocket to flick the tattered edge of the folded playing card.
The Ace of Hearts.
I didn’t know why I kept the useless thing with me. But I couldn’t ever bring myself to throw it away. That card was truly the only link to my mysterious past. Not even a genie could help. Last time, I’d wished to know the truth, but the consequence had been far too severe.
“Are we lost?” Ridge said. “We’ve already been down this street.”
Deep in thought, I might have momentarily wandered in the wrong direction. But I was back on track now. And we were close.
“We’re not lost,” I answered. “I can tell left from right.”
“So can a seven-year-old,” Vale said. “It doesn’t mean you know where you’re going.”
“We’re not . . .” I muttered. “There! See?”
Everyone looked at the house where I was pointing. It was halfway down the block, a cracked sidewalk running up to the porch.
As we turned in that direction, the front door opened and Ms. Gomez appeared, something rectangular clutched in one hand.
“There she is now,” I said. “Maria Gomez, Tina’s mom.”
“Hello there!” Ridge shouted as we crossed the street. His skinny arm went up in a friendly wave.
Ms. Gomez glanced up sharply, her eyes going wide. Then she leaped down the porch steps and made her way across the yard toward us.
“Hello!” I called. “I just wanted to apologize for what happened at the grocery store. I was hoping we could get to know each other a little bit—”
“We’re looking for the Trinketer!” Jathon cut me off. “My friend says it might be you?”
First of all, Jathon and I were not friends. I’d say we were more like archenemies.
Ms. Gomez came to an abrupt halt at the edge of the sidewalk. We were close enough now that I heard her mumble something in Spanish. Then she lifted the item she was holding.
It looked like an ordinary brick. For a moment, I thought Ms. Gomez might hurl it at us. But then she took a cautious step back into the yard and dropped the red brick to the ground.
As soon as it touched the grass, a shimmering blast of magic rippled all the way around the yard. New bricks seemed to form out of thin air, instantly locking together and sealing off the whole property.
At the same time, I saw Maria Gomez duck down and roll forward, setting the top of her head firmly against the grass and rising with surprising agility into a headstand. Her legs stuck straight into the air and she balanced there, face turning red with the exertion of holding herself in such a precarious position.
“The brick’s a trinket!” I surmised. And apparently, the consequence for using it was performing a headstand.
Ms. Gomez came down from her balancing act, flushed and breathing heavily as she retreated toward the house. The rest of us sized up the newly formed wall. It was short—not even to my shoulder. I could totally boost myself over it.
Jathon must have reached the same conclusion. He took two quick steps and jumped, putting both hands down on the top of the wall. The moment he touched it, the bricks glowed with another burst of magic. It was like the existing bricks multiplied, laying down mortar and locking the new bricks immediately into place.
As the wall grew, I barely caught a glimpse of Ms. Gomez. Her retreat to the house had been halted as she performed another awkward headstand. Obviously, the trinket required a consequence from her each time its power was used.
The sudden growth spurt of bricks sent Jathon tumbling back to the sidewalk. The wall, quite insignificant before, now stood a good ten feet tall, blocking our view into the yard.
“The brick’s a trinket,” Jathon repeated, rubbing his bruised hip.
“We got this,” I mused, turning to Ridge. “I wish I could jump over this brick wall.”
“If you want to clear the wall,” said Ridge, “then your teeth will be stuck together for the rest of the day.”
“Will I still be able to talk?” It wasn’t worth it if the consequence took away my ability to speak and wish.
“I dunno,” said Ridge. “Try talking with your teeth clenched.”
I bit down, grinding my teeth together as I said, “Can you understand me?”
“Easy!” he replied. “You might not be able to eat, but at least I can understand you.”
“Wait a minute,” I said. “Why won’t I be able to eat?”
“Think about it,” Ridge replied. “How can you chew if your teeth are stuck together?”
I felt a little panic coming on. I couldn’t go the rest of the day without food. My stomach was already rumbling from missing lunch.
“You’ll survive,” said Jathon. “Anyone can survive just one day without food.”
“I don’t know . . .” I said. “I get kind of mean when I’m hungry.”
“We don’t want a hangry Ace,” Ridge said.
“Hangry?” Jathon repeated.
“You know, when being hungry makes you angry.” Ridge shook his head. “We shouldn’t risk it.”
I watched in silence as the last grains of sand slipped through my hourglass. Jathon and Vale both sighed like they were annoyed with me.
“I don’t see you guys coming up with any creative ways to get over this wall,” I pointed out.
“Oh, yeah?” sai
d Jathon. “I wish to have a ladder that is ten feet tall.”
“If you want a ladder,” Vale explained, “then anytime you walk under a tree, all the leaves will fall off.”
“What about trees that don’t have leaves?” Jathon asked. “Like pine trees?”
“They’ll drop all their needles,” Vale answered.
“Ouch,” I said. “That could be painful.”
“How long will this last?” asked Jathon.
“The rest of the week,” answered the redheaded genie.
Jathon seemed to debate it for a moment. “Bazang,” he finally said.
Well, I guess he wouldn’t be enjoying shade anytime soon.
In the blink of an eye, a metal ladder suddenly appeared, conveniently leaning up against the brick wall and reaching almost to the top. Jathon scampered up, Vale holding the ladder steady.
At the top rung, Jathon carefully reached up and placed his hands on top of the wall. Instantly, the bricks activated, a rush of magic causing them to multiply and stack.
Jathon didn’t let go. The sudden action lifted Jathon from the ladder and pulled him higher and higher, screaming.
“Uh-oh,” Vale muttered. I knew exactly what she was afraid of. There’s an invisible tether that connects every genie to their Wishmaker to make sure they stay together. It’s only forty-two feet long, which meant that Jathon would be out of range in about three seconds!
Their tether snapped, flinging them both painfully back together. Beside me, Vale sounded like she got the wind knocked out of her. She flew upward, her feet leaving the sidewalk as Jathon came hurtling down from the top of the wall. The two collided hard at the halfway point in midair. But they were still twenty-one feet above the sidewalk, and now gravity was doing its thing.
Tiptoeing into position, Ridge and I managed to form some kind of landing pad. We actually tried to catch them, but the falling kids knocked us all into a heap on the sidewalk.
The four of us lay there, moaning in pain, staring up at the ridiculously high brick wall.
Across the street, a neighbor couple walked past, pushing a stroller. “Check it out!” the man said, pointing to the gigantic wall. “Looks like the Gomezes put in a wall around their yard.”
“The brick looks good,” his wife replied. “We should do the same at our place, hon.”
I watched them round a corner and walk out of sight, amazed at the disguise the Universe had draped over their eyes. Couldn’t they see that the brick wall was higher than the trees? The whole town should have been flocking to see what was going on.
I stood up and dusted myself off. “I don’t think we can get over it,” I said, pressing my hand against the wall. “Maybe we can blast our way through.”
“Be my guest,” Jathon said, still doubled over.
“Me?” I said. “You’re the one looking for the Trinketer.”
“Do you want to help Tina or not?” he replied. Clearly, the kid wasn’t in great shape from snapping his tether. I’d have to be the responsible one.
I turned to Ridge. “I wish that I could kick a hole through this brick wall, big enough for us to fit through.”
He grinned. “That’s going to look epic. You’ll be like a superhero!”
“I know, right?” I said. “But what’s the consequence?”
“Oh, yeah. If you want to kick through the wall,” Ridge said, “then every time you step on a rug, it’ll get pulled out from under you.”
“Who’s going to pull it?” I asked.
“The mysterious magic of the Universe,” he answered.
“How long will it go on?”
“Just until the end of the week.”
Well, I was sure I could avoid stepping on rugs for a week. “Bazang,” I said. I turned back to the wall and struck a karate pose on my tiptoes. “Hi-ya!” I kicked the bricks as hard as I could.
A chunk of the wall exploded under my foot, and it didn’t even hurt! Broken bricks and mortar flew into the Gomezes’ yard, and dust rained down over the hole I had just blasted.
“After you,” I said politely, gesturing for Jathon to climb through the hole first. It was his quest, after all. Also, I wasn’t too anxious to be the first one to pop my head into Ms. Gomez’s yard. You know, in case she was waiting with another brick.
Chapter 5
Ms. Gomez was waiting for us in the doorway, a bottle of shampoo in one hand. I assumed it was a trinket, since it didn’t look too threatening otherwise. She raised her arm to throw it when she saw us on the front step.
“Wait!” I cried. “We’re Tina’s friends!”
Slowly, the woman lowered her arm, eyes narrowed suspiciously at us.
“How do you know my daughter?” Ms. Gomez asked.
“That’s a bit of a long story,” I said.
“Tina got a genie in a little jar of lip balm and became a Wishmaker,” Ridge began, talking fast. “She had a quest to save the life of an ex-Wishmaker—she thought that was Thackary Anderthon for a while, and he was after an Undiscovered Genie who could grant one free wish without a consequence, so we teamed up with Tina and chased the Anderthons to a secret cave, but Tina ended up opening the genie’s jar and used the free wish to heal you and save your life, but then it turned out he was a bad guy named Chasm, and he stole her voice and took her away.”
Ms. Gomez’s eyes went wide, panicky. It was Jathon who came to our rescue.
“That’s why we’re here,” he said. “It’s my quest to save your daughter from Chasm. The Universe told me you could help. You are the Trinketer, right?”
“That’s right,” said Ms. Gomez. “And you are Thackary Anderthon’s son?”
Jathon didn’t seem too thrilled to admit it, but he nodded slowly. She stared at him for a long moment. I felt like it got a little awkward. Then Ms. Gomez gestured for us to come inside.
I was almost to the doorway when the ground seemed to shift beneath my tiptoes. I glanced down in time to see the welcome mat getting swept out from under me. I toppled into Ridge and the two of us went down on the front porch.
“Oh, come on!” I griped. “You didn’t tell me that the consequence applied to welcome mats!”
“Sorry,” Ridge said as we got up. “The Universe must not think there’s a difference.”
The welcome mat was now safely on the other side of the porch, so this time I was able to tiptoe inside without any trouble.
The house was a mess. A lot of weird things cluttered the living room: a deflated inner tube, a sprinkler head, one snow boot. And shelves lined every wall, packed with things that a normal person wouldn’t usually display. At a quick glance I saw a ball of rubber bands, a roll of toilet paper, a hair clip, and a walnut.
I was careful to avoid another rug as the four of us kids sat down on a lumpy couch. Tina’s mom slumped down into an armchair across the room. “Tina is a Wishmaker?”
“Twice now,” Vale said.
“You didn’t know? Where did you think she’s been?” Jathon asked.
“When we were at the hospital,” Ms. Gomez explained, “Tina told me that her grandma sent for her. I thought she was in Peru. I’ve been trying to contact them, but they live in the campo. It’s not easy to stay in touch.” She was crying at the news, and I shifted awkwardly in my seat. “Now you tell me she is missing? Surely her time will soon be up and she will be free of this evil genie.”
“Chasm’s different,” Vale said. “He isn’t bound by the same rules as the other genies. For starters, he’s an adult.”
“A super-creepy weird one,” Ridge said. “Huge. Bald. Covered in tattoos. But he does have a pretty good singing voice.”
“Chasm doesn’t assign his Wishmaker a quest,” Vale continued. “He stole Tina’s voice so he could make the wishes and force her to take the consequences. And he said he can stay out of his jar until Tina . . .” Luckily, Vale was sensitive enough not to say “died” in front of Ms. Gomez.
“Then how are we supposed to save her?” Ms. Gomez sobbed,
lifting a hand to her face and muttering, “mi hija.” I thought she was doing a remarkable job of keeping it together, considering.
“My quest is to separate Tina from Chasm,” Jathon said. “The Universe said the Trinketer would know a way to do that. I’m guessing you have something—a trinket—that will help?”
“I have many trinkets.” Ms. Gomez gestured around the cluttered room. “I don’t keep these things around because they look pretty.”
“Wow! Everything here is a trinket?” Ridge asked. “Who created them all?”
“Lots of different Wishmakers,” Ms. Gomez answered, “dating back to the time of the first genies.”
“How did you get them?” I asked.
“That’s my job as the Trinketer,” said Ms. Gomez. “Do you know what happens to old trinkets?”
“Sure,” answered Vale. “They continue to work as long as there is a Wishmaker to pay the consequence.”
“So, Ace could give himself a wedgie at any moment?” Ridge asked.
Why did he have to bring that up? On my last quest, I had wished for a fridge magnet to become a trinket. Anytime someone used it, I had to give myself an embarrassing wedgie.
“That trinket is long gone,” I pointed out. “It got buried when Chasm’s cave collapsed.” Phew. “Besides, my old consequences don’t affect me anymore, right? I thought we decided that the Universe wiped me clean so I could take on a new quest.”
“That is true,” said Ms. Gomez. “But trinkets are an exception. When you make an ordinary wish, you are the conduit for the Universe’s magic. But when you wish for a trinket, the Universe fills that object with magic. The wish and the consequence remain in effect, even if the Universe has given you a restart.”
“Good thing I didn’t make too many trinkets,” I muttered, glancing at Jathon, who I knew had created several for his dad.
“So, you’re a trinket collector?” Jathon asked Ms. Gomez.
“Much more than a simple collector,” she answered. “The Trinketer is an important position that was passed on to me when I was a young Wishmaker. It is my responsibility to gather lost trinkets so that innocent bystanders can’t accidentally use them.”
The Wishbreaker Page 3
