“Sir,” I say, “I’m so sorry, but I think we’ve had a tiny misunderstanding …”
He doesn’t seem to hear. He is too busy doing his happy dance. Now he’s shaking his bum, plus waving his arms above his head.
“Sir? Genie, sir?” Jonah says. “My sister didn’t mean to uncurse you. She meant to uncurse Maryrose. The fairy living in the mirror in our basement. She just said the wrong word.”
The genie freezes and turns to us. “You wished for me to be uncursed. Which means good-bye, lamp; good-bye, you!”
“But it was a mistake! I made a mistake!” I cried. “I meant to say fairy! I’m just tired! It’s very late in Smithville! I had a stressful day!”
“Tough cookies!” he says. “I’m done. Out of here. Good-bye! Au revoir! Adios! Ma’a salama! Later, gators!”
“But — but — but!” I stammer.
Before I can say another word, the genie snaps his fingers and disappears.
This is a problem,” I say.
“It really is,” agrees Jonah.
We’re still standing in the cave and I’m still holding the lamp. The now empty lamp.
“I guess this means no flying carpet,” Jonah says.
“It means more than that,” I say. “It means we have no magic genie! If we have no genie, then we can’t uncurse our genie.”
“Fairy,” my brother corrects. “Not genie.”
Ugh. Drat. I did it again. I kick at the ground. “Right. Sorry. We can’t uncurse our fairy Maryrose. And we have bigger problems than that. Without the genie of the lamp, the entire Aladdin story isn’t going to happen. How is Aladdin supposed to get the princess to marry him if he’s just a duckball-playing village guy? He can’t! He’s supposed to have all kinds of riches to win over her and the sultan.” My heart starts beating really fast. “And without our genie, how are we supposed to get home?”
“On our flying carpet?” Jonah suggests.
“There is no flying carpet, Jonah! There is no magic at all! We are in serious trouble!”
“We can’t really blame the genie, though, can we? You granted him his freedom. He took it.”
Humph. I cross my arms over my chest. “I guess.”
“And he was stuck in that lamp for over a thousand years,” Jonah reminds me. “I’m sure he was pretty cramped.”
“But what about us?” I ask. “What do we do now? We’re stuck here in this cave!”
Jonah’s face lights up. “Wait. But that’s not true. There’s the other genie, right?”
“What other genie?” I ask.
“You said there was another genie. The genie of the ring!”
Oh. Right! There IS another genie. The ring genie! “You’re right!” I was so mad at myself for messing up the wish that I forgot all about the other genie.
“And you got the ring from the evil magician, right?” Jonah asks.
Is it hot here? The back of my neck is getting sweaty. “Not exactly,” I admit.
“But that’s how it happens in the story! The magician gives Aladdin the ring before he goes into the cave to get the lamp. You were supposed to have the ring, Abby.”
My day isn’t going so well. “I tried, but he seemed to be getting suspicious and I didn’t want to set off any alarm bells, so I didn’t push it.”
I kneel down on the rocky ground next to Prince. Crumbs! First I messed up my chance of uncursing Maryrose by not reading enough books in the read-a-thon. Then I messed up by hitting Aladdin in the nose. Then I messed up by wishing the genie free. Plus, I have no magic ring. No other magic genie is about to pop out and help us.
This is bad.
Jonah sits down next to me. Prince rests his furry chin on my knee.
“Aladdin did look like he was having fun playing duckball,” Jonah points out. “At least he has that, even if he doesn’t get his happily-ever-after. And I’m sure his nose stopped bleeding by now.”
It’s sweet of Jonah to try to make me feel better. But there’s no way I’m keeping Aladdin from marrying the princess. And there’s also no way I’m giving up on freeing Maryrose. I messed up and I’m going to unmess up. I just don’t know how … yet.
“Let’s go get the ring,” Jonah says, standing up. He dusts off his pants. “Come on!”
I stand up, too. “How are we supposed to get it? Dracul isn’t going to just hand over the magic ring to us.”
Jonah smiles. “What if we trade it?” he asks.
“For what? All we have is an empty lamp,” I say.
“But he doesn’t know that!” Jonah says. “He sent us here to get the lamp, right? So we tell him that he can have the lamp if he gives us the ring!”
For a little brother, Jonah can be pretty smart. I nod and take a big breath. “Okay. Let’s give it a try.” I touch my elbow again. It still burns.
Which reminds me that the only way back to the mouth of the cave is back through the other rooms. I’m not looking forward to stepping, bending, and arching through those white-hot laser stars again.
“Let’s go,” I say. “Very, very carefully.”
* * *
Unfortunately, I burn myself again. It’s not on the same star, but in the exact same spot on my elbow. Ouch. We make it back to the stone steps leading to the mouth of the cave. I see Dracul. His copper cape shimmers in the late afternoon sun.
I clutch the lamp and climb up the stairs about three-quarters of the way. Jonah and Prince are right behind me.
“Hi there!” I call out. “We’re back. I have good news!”
“You have the lamp?” Dracul asks, his gray eyes lighting up.
“I do! Isn’t that great? We got it!”
His thin lips curve into a smile. “Good. Let me hold it for you, and then I’ll help you out.”
What a liar. That’s what he promised to Aladdin when he was totally planning on leaving him to die down here. I don’t feel at all bad that I’m about to trick him.
“Um … sure,” I say. “I’ll pass it over. But what are you going to give us in return?”
“Excuse me?” he asks, his tone turning cold.
I shiver. He’s an evil magician and the one with the magic ring. I have to be very careful with what I say so that he doesn’t trap us in the cave.
“It’s an exchange, right?” I say. “You said there was treasure for us down here. But all we found was the boring old lamp you wanted. So we give you the lamp and you give us something.”
“I told you about the cave!” he snaps. “That should be enough. You are ungrateful children!”
“No. We got the lamp for you. We risked our lives — our elbows! — to get the lamp. We want something in return.”
“You can have another granola bar,” Dracul says, pulling another one from his shirt pocket.
How many does he have in there exactly?
“We don’t want more granola bars. We want” — I stare at the ring — “that,” I say, pointing. “Your ring.”
He backs up a bit, his gray eyes narrowing. “My ring?”
I nod and clutch the lamp against my stomach. “Yes. You give us the ring and we’ll give you the lamp.”
He leans his face closer to the opening of the hatch. “Why are you so obsessed with my ring?”
“Why are you so obsessed with the lamp?” Got you there, Mr. Evil Magician.
We stare at each other. I smile. “Final offer,” I say. My heart races. If he says no, then we’re really in trouble.
“Fine,” he says with a sniff. “You can have the ring. It’s worthless, though. Just a worthless old ring I’ve had forever.” He stops, waiting for me to lose interest.
Sure, it is.
“Hand over the lamp first and then I’ll give you the ring,” he says, stretching out his long, thin, pale arm.
Is he kidding me? That’s the same thing he tried with Aladdin. “I don’t think so,” I say. “Pass down the ring and then I’ll hand up the lamp.”
He hesitates.
“You want the lamp, don
’t you?” I call up.
“We’ll hand them off at the same time,” he says. “Deal?”
“Deal.”
I reach my left hand up for the ring and hold the lamp with my right one. His left hand goes for the lamp while he shoves his right hand with the ring in my face.
“One. Two. Switch!” he says.
I take the ring. He takes the lamp.
Wahoo! “Got it!” I say, and very quickly march back down the stairs.
“Yes!” he cries. “Genie of the desert, you are now in my possession!”
“Should we run out now?” Jonah asks me.
“I don’t know,” I say. “He’s going to be pretty angry any minute. Maybe better to hide out in here? He’s claustrophobic. He won’t come in.”
I am standing at the bottom of the stairs when I hear Dracul yell:
“Hello, genie! I can’t wait to meet you! Come out, come out wherever you are!”
We wait.
“Genie? What’s wrong? Are you shy? Don’t be. This is going to be great.”
Still nothing.
“Do you want a granola bar?”
We snicker.
“Come on!” he yells. I can see him shaking the lamp. “Enough already! Get out! You have to listen to me! I’m your master!”
Now he’s shaking the lamp upside down. “Wait a second … is this empty?”
Oh, it is. It definitely is.
“You miserable children! You ruined the lamp!” He throws more of his powder on the hatch and yells, “The lamp that you brought is useless; I will leave you here to rot!”
Right in front of us, the hatch closes shut.
At first the cave feels really dark, but then my eyes adjust and I see little flickers of light.
“Abby!” Jonah says. “We’re stuck! I told you we should have made a run for it!”
“It’s okay,” I say. I open my hand. A silver signet ring glistens in my palm. “I have the ring. Aladdin got out of here with this ring, and so will we.”
Be careful this time, ’kay?” Jonah says.
“I will,” I promise.
“Remember: Uncurse Maryrose, make Aladdin worthy of the princess, and get us home. Got it?”
“Shhh, you’re distracting me.”
Very, very carefully, I rub the side of the ring.
Poof! From the center of the ring, out comes a puff of sparkly purple haze, then I see the thin, smoky, dental-floss-like puppet strings again. The strings are attached to the ring … and to another genie.
A girl genie.
“Oh!” I say. “You’re a girl!”
She stretches her arms above her head. “I am!”
“And you’re young!” Not young like us, but like my mom when she was in college. Her pink hair is tied into a long braid down her back. She’s wearing a silver one-piece jumpsuit and white sneakers.
“I’m a hundred and sixty,” she says. “Not that young. But I am new at this. I’ve only been a genie for a hundred years or so. Before that, I was a kindergarten teacher.”
“You can still grant wishes, though, right?” I ask hopefully.
She nods slowly. “Yes.”
I clear my throat. I will be specific this time. And I will choose my words carefully. Very, very carefully. “We would like you to free Maryrose, the fairy who’s trapped in our basement mirror in Smithville. Please uncurse her and set her free. Maryrose. Not you. Can you repeat what I just said to make sure that it’s all clear? So we know we’re on the same page.”
The genie nods. “You want me to uncurse the fairy who lives in your basement mirror. So that she can be free.”
“Yes,” I say, relieved. “You got it.” This is going to work! This is really going to work! We’re going to free Maryrose! Yay us!
“Um … I can’t do that,” she says. The genie glances at Jonah and Prince. “Uh, hi.”
“Hi,” Jonah says. Prince sniffs her sneaker.
“What do you mean?” I ask. “Why not?”
She shrugs. “I’m just a baby genie. My magic isn’t that strong yet. I can’t reverse someone else’s spell. Maybe in a hundred years or so …”
“We don’t have a hundred years!” I look at my watch. It’s 12:15 A.M. at home. Who knows what time it is here? “We have until six forty-five A.M!”
She tilts her head. “What? It’s only six P.M. right now.”
Oh! Since we arrived three hours ago, at 3 P.M. here, that means every five minutes at home is one hour here. So we have some time. Not a hundred years, but still good!
“Can you get the other genie, the genie of the lamp, to come back?” Jonah asks.
The girl genie’s bright yellow eyes widen. “Where did he go?”
I sigh. “We freed him. It was an accident.”
“I can’t make a powerful genie do what I bid!” she tells me. “You have to have tons of power for that.”
I glance up the steps where a square little door used to be. “Okay. Can you open the hatch to the cave?” I ask.
The genie looks relieved. “Yes!” she says. “Probably. Is that your wish? To open the hatch?”
“Yes,” I tell her. “That’s my wish.”
“Okay,” she says. “Here goes nothing.” She rubs her hands together and chants, “Let the magic flow; it’s time for us to go!”
There’s a burst of light from her finger. I feel a swirl of air around us that gets stronger and stronger and then — pop! The hatch bursts open.
“Wahoo!” I cry. “You did it.”
She smiles, pleased. “I did!”
We all climb out of the cave. Ah, fresh air. I glance around to make sure the evil magician isn’t lurking anywhere. I don’t see him. Whew.
The genie’s pink hair looks even pinker in the sunset.
“What’s your name, anyway?” I ask her. “Are we just supposed to call you genie?”
“It’s Karimah,” she says.
“Hi, Karimah,” I say. “Nice to meet you. I’m Abby and this is my brother, Jonah. That’s our dog, Prince,” I add. Prince is wriggling around the ground with his belly in the air.
Karimah smiles at Prince. “Pleasure to meet you all,” she says.
Ow! My elbow has started to sting again.
Should I ask Karimah if she could make it stop hurting? I mean, she is a genie. And isn’t her job to grant wishes?
“Karimah?” I say. “My elbow is really hurting. Can you help me?”
“I can try,” she says. She scrunches her lips together and says, “Magic that would, let your elbow feel good!”
My elbow starts to tingle and then — presto! It stops burning.
“Hurrah!” I cry. “You did it.”
Karimah beams.
“What else can you do?” I ask. “We have a whole list of stuff.”
Her yellow eyes widen. “Can I see it?”
Oh. I laugh. “It’s not an actual list. It’s just in my head.”
“Like, a magic carpet!” Jonah cries. “I wish for a magic carpet!”
“You’re not holding the ring,” Karimah tells him. “I can only grant the wishes of the person who has the ring!”
Jonah turns to me, his eyes all lit up. “Can I have the ring, can I have the ring?” he begs.
“I’m keeping the ring,” I say. “I don’t want you to lose it.”
He frowns. “No fair! I haven’t messed up anything all day!”
I flush. “True. I’m the one who messed up. And now it’s my responsibility to make things right. The ring is our only way to save Aladdin’s whole future AND free Maryrose AND get ourselves home. I can’t take any chances with it.”
Jonah makes his face all cute. “Then can you at least wish for a flying carpet? Pretty please?”
“Deal.” I turn back to Karimah. “I wish my brother had a flying carpet.”
Jonah jumps up and down. “Thanks, Abby! You’re the best!”
Awww. It is pretty sweet that he still thinks I’m the best after all my mistakes today.
A beautiful woven carpet appears right above the hatch. It has an intricate lilac-and-purple border with a gold medallion in the center. And it’s hovering two feet off the ground. It reminds me of something, but I can’t think of what.
“Hurrah!” Jonah cries. “A flying carpet! How cool is that?”
I have to admit it’s pretty cool. But we need to focus here.
“We have to get back to Aladdin now,” I tell Jonah. “We need to give him the ring.” I glance at Karimah. “The genie of the lamp was supposed to do all kinds of magic spells for Aladdin. Like zap up a huge palace. Are you able to do that?”
“I’m not sure,” she says with a shrug. “But I can try.”
Great. She’s much nicer than that lamp genie. “So my next wish is for you to take us to Aladdin’s house!”
She frowns. “Oh, um. Well … I can’t do that.”
“What do you mean? Why not?”
“You already made three wishes,” she says. “Three wishes is my limit.”
“I thought that was just in the movie! I only get three wishes?”
“Yes. Three wishes. Per day.”
Oh! That’s not that bad. Have I already made three wishes? I wished for her to open the hatch. That was number one. I wished for my burning elbow to stop hurting. That was number two. I wished for … the flying carpet for Jonah! Grrr. Now what?
“So I can make another three wishes tomorrow?” I ask.
“Yup. No problem. And three more the day after that.”
I’m not sure how many days we’re going to be here exactly, but good to know.
“What if I take the ring? Can I get three wishes today, too?” Jonah asks.
“Nope. I can only do three in one day. Sorry. That’s the way my magic works.”
“Bummer,” Jonah says. “But hey! Maybe we can take the flying carpet to Aladdin’s!”
“We don’t know where he lives,” I point out.
“We know the way back to the place where he was playing duckball,” he says. “We’ll head there and try to find him.”
I put the magic ring back on my finger. Karimah disappears.
Hey! “Where did she go?” I ask, looking around.
Genie in a Bottle Page 4
