The Witch and the Bottle of Djinn (The Seaforth Chronicles Book 4)

by B. J. Smash

  Ladriant actually smiled. It was only a half-smile but I still considered it a smile.

  “Good job. Whatever you did,” he said.

  “It was the djinn. She made it back into her bottle,” I explained.

  He furrowed his brow in confusion. “She wasn’t in her bottle?”

  Before I could explain further, lightning struck in the distance and thunder rumbled for a good ten seconds.

  “We better get back to the queen and see what’s going on. The djinn told me that the veil is thinning soon and we have to get out of here.” I pulled the purple flower from my pocket and Ladriant handed me the queen’s ring. When I placed it on my finger, I felt a zing whip through my body.

  I noticed that Ladriant was observing my inner wrist where the djinn had placed the sapphire. It hadn’t moved and I don’t think it ever would. It would be stuck to my arm, permanently.

  “Focus, Ladriant. We need to get back.” I grabbed his arm and he closed his eyes. That was when I noticed a gentleness about him. With his eyes closed, he looked almost innocent.

  “Before we go. Tell me one thing,” I said as I held the flower up to my lips.

  He opened his eyes, and said, “What?”

  “Why have you been helping me? This entire race, you’ve done nothing but aid me. I need to know why.”

  I pointed the queen’s ring in front of us. A spiral tunnel formed, just like a beam from a flashlight. At the end of the tunnel the crowd could be seen.

  “I told you. I have a great respect for your mother,” he frowned.

  “Yes, you did tell me that. But why would you help me? Just because you respect my mother?” I asked.

  He swallowed hard and what he said next sent chills throughout my entire body. “Yes, and she’s the one who sent me here to help you.”

  My mouth fell open but there was no time left for questions. A loud pulsating thud like heart beats filled my ears. For a moment I thought it was my own heart, but then I remembered it was the tunnel causing the thuds. I turned to the purple flower and blew on it with all the air in my lungs. All the tiny, shimmering seeds went forth into the tunnel and we were carried along with them.

  Like a bullet we shot through the corridor of light. My stomach felt funny in a good way, like it was being tickled with feathers on the inside. This was the only way to travel as far as I was concerned. Fast, easy and fun.

  However, exiting wasn’t as much “fun.” This time we came to an abrupt halt causing my neck to snap back and I knew I’d probably be getting whiplash later on. We glided slowly to the end of the tunnel, but it felt like we were being pushed through a marshmallow. This I knew to be a common feeling when entering and exiting fairyland. And so it was no great surprise when it felt like we were momentarily stuck.

  I began to feel nauseous and I looked to Ladriant to find that his face had turned a funny shade of green. But soon enough, we were being pushed again and it reminded me of crawling out of someone’s throat; kind of like being vomited out. And then…whoosh! We were thrown out of the tunnel and landed flat on our faces.

  The first thing I heard was clapping and cheering, and then the queen saying, “Oh my! You must have blown on the flower with too much force. The harder you blow, the faster you go and then exiting is a pain.”

  I sat up, took her ring off, and handed it to her. “Thank you,” she said softly.

  I didn’t have time to answer her. She turned and screeched in a high pitch squeal, and clapped her hands, “We’re going home! We’re going home!”

  Ladriant stood and held out his hand. I accepted it and he pulled me up. We exchanged a look of confusion and then watched the crowd. They were beyond elation. They were ecstatic to the point of lunacy. Some of the ladies were holding their skirts and jumping up and down. Their feet were actually leaving the ground about six inches each time they jumped. Some of the men were banging their chests like Tarzan. They were all hooting and hollering like a bunch of crazies.

  Ladriant and I walked the length of the crowd and that’s when I noticed a familiar face. She was waving at me and I thought her arm might come out of the socket. Her long pony tails wavered back and forth with her body.

  “Minnie?” My eyes opened wide in surprise, “What are you doing here?” Her beautiful sister stood next to her. She was all dressed up in her finery and her hair appeared to be freshly curled with rollers. In front of them sat their grandmother in an old fashioned wheelchair. I think parts of it were made out of wood. Her face lit up with joy and her toothless grin made me happy.

  “Ivy! Gran saw a vision. We had to come! Look behind you, Ivy! The town is returning back to the way it was. We are going home!”

  The sister screeched, “The train! The train! Richard is coming home!”

  My heart leapt to my throat when I heard the “Choo-Choo” of an old steam train. Ladriant and I looked to one another and then stiffly turned to the scene behind us. Sure enough, there was a red and black train rolling around a bend and getting ready to pull up to an old wooden platform. Steam escaped its pistons as it slowed and the people continued to cheer.

  The scenery had totally changed. There wasn’t a valley filled with rocks and the hill was now covered with trees, and the sky a magnificent blue. The whole scene had a dreamy quality to it.

  That’s when I noticed Snake Man. He waved when he saw me. Apparently he was waiting for the veil to lift. I was glad to see him. His whole existence remained a mystery to me and I found him to be quite interesting. I wanted to know how the snake kept his head on his shoulders!

  “Mama is coming home!” Minnie yelled, and I whipped my head around to watch as the train drew closer.

  I gulped and held back the tears that threatened to form in my eyes. I wasn’t about to let Ladriant see me cry. But when I looked to him, he had a full smile spread out over his face.

  I couldn’t help but feel joy for these people; even if they had been trying to beat me up earlier. Yeah, they’d been a bunch of jerks, but I suppose that I would have been uptight, too, if I’d been trapped in a disappearing town for ninety-eight years. When it boiled down to it, I suppose I could forgive them all for trying to kill Izadora too. I wasn’t one to hold a grudge for too long and at least now she was pulling the strings back in Merribay again. I hope.

  Before I could finish my last thought, the ground shook and I had to steady myself by holding on to Ladriant. He didn’t budge; he was like a rock.

  “Ivy! Ivy!” Minnie pulled on my shirt.

  “Huh?” I said.

  “Run!” she screamed so loudly that the high pitch hurt my ears. She pointed to the edge of the forest which was now turning into a field. It spread out like a knife buttering a slice of toast. Soon the grassy field lay before us in full view and the outer edge of the wood line glowed in golden light like the morning sun.

  Snake Man wasted no time at all and he ran for the magical veil that held Helsberg and Hunter’s Hollow together.

  “The veil!” I smacked Ladriant on the arm to gain his attention, but he was watching the queen throw a fit from hades.

  “Get out of here brother! I never want to see you again!” the queen yelled.

  Darvon, who was now clothed in his finery, jumped up on his horse but the whole time he was pleading with her. “But sister! She’s out there somewhere! What if she finds me?”

  “I hope that djinn does find you! And I hope she throttles you to oblivion!” The queen slapped the horse on the hind quarters and it took off, carrying Darvon with it toward the edge of the field.

  “Run!” Minnie screamed again. “Don’t you realize that we are going back in time? You have to get out of here!”

  There was no more time to waste. Everything had happened so fast, that only seconds had passed, but those were seconds that I could have been using to run to the veil.

  Ladriant took off running toward the edge of the field and I followed him. He was much faster than me and it finally occurred to me why this was happening. A funny s
ensation covered my ears and when I reached up…they were no longer pointed. I was already going back to a time before my ears were fixed. A time when I didn’t even know I was part elven.

  To make matters worse, my pants started to fit funny. They were too long! My legs had shortened. I was becoming the Ivy that I had been a year and a half ago. The Ivy that knew nothing about the elven and who my mother was.

  I was forced to slow down and fold my pants up so that I could continue running. By the time I looked up, Ladriant was almost to the edge of the field and Darvon and his horse were just galloping through the veil. Snake Man was soon to follow. Now it was just me and Ladriant.

  “Oh no! I can’t be left in Helsberg. I’d rather die!” I ran as fast as I could, digging my bare feet into the ground and overexerting my leg muscles to the point of exhaustion.

  Ladriant had reached the veil. He looked around for me, expecting me to be right behind him. When he saw me in the middle of the field, he yelled for me to hurry.

  The veil was already beginning to fade, closing in on itself. It waved like a flag in the wind. Ladriant noticed this and thrust his body inside. He left one foot in this world and had one foot in the other. He held the veil with his back, reminding me of a statue I’d once seen at a museum. It had been a statue of Atlas – the titan from Greek mythology. And he had been holding the world on his shoulders. This is what Ladriant looked like now, as he pushed back on the veil, trying to keep it open for me. The only problem…his skin was smoking like it was about to be burned. He roared like a beast and continued to keep the gap open. I felt so sorry for him.

  I pushed myself past my breaking point. I would not be left behind. My lungs burned and my legs were on the brink of failure, but I would not go back in time with the town of Helsberg! I forced my tongue to the side of my mouth so that I could force more air into my lungs, and I persevered.

  Ladriant extended his hand. I focused on that hand as I ground my foot into the earth one last time and jumped with all my might. He caught my hand and he pulled me with great strength through the small opening. I just made it as my arms scraped the sides of the veil, causing my skin to sizzle.

  As soon as we were through, I felt an itching sensation in my ears, and voila! They were back to normal. This time I could feel my legs stretch and grow as I returned to my elven self, and the bones hurt something wicked. But that was neither here nor there…

  What lay before us was not the grounds of Hunter’s Hollow. Not even close!

  I screamed so loud that my lungs were strained.

  Ladriant was torn from me as we fell from the edge of a cliff – the highest cliff I had ever seen. Way down below us flowed a rough frothing river with giant pointy rocks protruding up from the water. There was nothing we could do…but fall. And there is nothing worse than the helpless feeling of falling. My arms flailed around and I tried to grab anything…anything! But there was nothing to grab. My hair flew out behind me and my eyes stung as the wind whipped them. My ears were filled with a constant howling and I knew my life could end any second now.

  Ladriant fell at a faster rate and his body turned to face me. His eyes were filled with sorrow. There was nothing he could do. We had failed. I tried to cast a spell, but when you’re falling at such great speeds, it’s hard to think of a good one. I couldn’t focus.

  But I tried and tried to come up with something as my stomach clenched in fear. I recited a few words but it was pointless.

  Below us, Snake Man flailed about like a madman. He seemed to be trying to get something from his jacket pocket but he couldn’t do it. His snake curled around his neck so tightly that I thought he’d choke Snake Man before they hit the water. Maybe that was the snakes plan.

  Darvon and his horse hit the rocks first. It was a gut-wrenching scene. Snake Man screamed and it echoed throughout the valley. Blue blood filled the water at a fast rate and I knew then that there was no hope for any of us. The rush of water came closer and closer.

  As I realized we were doomed, a loud rumble of thunder echoed from the cliffside. A familiar voice sounded in my ear, “Ivy.”

  I thought I imagined it, but no…

  It was Izadora’s voice. She sounded like she was speaking through a megaphone. Out of nowhere, it felt like a hand grabbed the back of my shirt and I abruptly came to halt, right in midair. My body jolted back with such force that my neck nearly snapped.

  I still trembled with fear and for a moment I thought I had died. Had I already hit the rocks? Was I gone from this world or did I still linger here? It would be a so lonely to haunt a river.

  But no…I was being hauled back up by some magical force.

  All I could think of: Izadora was now in charge of the djinn bottle.

  I watched as Ladriant and Snake Man continued to fall. I couldn’t leave them behind! They would smash on the rocks just as Darvon had. I knew what I had to do, but could I actually pull it off?

  I was not going to let them die. I remembered the old spell that Izadora had tried to teach me. The retrieving spell. I said the words and with every ounce of willpower that I could muster, I sent forth the energy out of my right hand. I concentrated and told it to part in two ways. The weird part about it all…I could see the light that escaped my palm. I could see that it forked in the end and went two ways. I could also see the sapphire light up on my wrist.

  The djinn. She knew. She knew we’d be falling to our doom.

  Suddenly, the river and rocks began to fade out. Snake Man and Ladriant were beginning to blur as something pulled me back toward the cliff. But right before they faded out completely, I could have sworn that my light had smacked Ladriant in the right side of his chest, and the other light-cord slammed into Snake Man’s ankle just before he smashed into the rocks.

  I fell through a hole in the sky and landed in front of Ian’s wheelchair. The look on his face was priceless and he clapped his hands once.

  We were in his garden and I knew this spot well. We were on the end of cherry tree lane and the beginning of apple blossom passageway. Pinkish red buds lingered in the air like snow flurries and it smelled heavenly. A stone fountain sat to the left in and amongst several overgrown azalea bushes. Beautiful pink flowers and rubbery green leaves cascaded over the fountain and practically encompassed the whole thing. About a dozen hummingbirds zipped back and forth between the flowers and the fancy sugar water containers that hung from the trees.

  “You never seize to amaze me, Izadora,” Ian said.

  I still couldn’t fathom how I’d just left one existence for another, but I turned to see Izadora sitting in a tree on a wide limb and her brown singing bowl hovered in front of her. The bowl made a super loud zinging noise as it sung and echoed throughout the gardens. The stones that she used to cast into the bowl were floating high above the center. She held one between her forefinger and thumb. I believe this stone represented me; for when she let it go and uttered some words, I felt a release on my shirt.

  She had prominent lines around her eyes and dark bags from lack of rest. She’d definitely been worried about the outcome of Helsberg. She commanded the bowl to stop and it went silent. The rocks dropped to the center and the bowl floated to a place on the branch next to her.

  After the noise ceased, I gazed around to find that several people were present. Zinnia stood next to an apple tree with her husband Eadgar. There was a fold out table, and on it sat a bucket of ice, a tea set and a pot of tea. Eadgar picked up the pot of steaming hot tea and Zinnia held out a pink tea cup for him to pour the tea into. After it was poured into the cup, she plopped two ice-cubes in. My sister looked ridiculous and I figured she must have recently been under Ella’s control. She wore a French maid costume and I didn’t even have to ask why she wore this. I already knew. I remembered Ella mentioning that she would make Zinnia her servant and that’s exactly what she’d done. The costume was short, and Eadgar had taken his shirt off and tied it around her waist.

  Beside Zinnia, Ella was strapped tightl
y to a chair with chains and three large padlocks. I knew she wasn’t about to get out of that mess. Her nose was black and blue for some unknown reason. Who knows what had happened with this bunch in charge? Uncle Royal stood on the other side of Ella and I could tell he was rip-roaring mad. His cheeks were rosy red and his eyes were bloodshot.

  It was a wondrous moment when I realized that Ella had already been taken down and that Izadora already had her under control. I let out a long sigh of relief.

  “Hi Ivy!” Zinnia said. “I’d give you a hug but we’re about to give Ella the forgetting tea.”

  “Ah…I see!” I said. My sister knew all about the forgetting tea. And the fact that she wasn’t the one was being forced to drink it made her almost giddy as pranced up to Ella and held the tea cup to her lips. Ella tried to move her head, but Uncle Royal held her head tightly. Zinnia tilted the cup and got some liquid in Ella’s mouth, but she spit it back out and it dribbled down the front of Zinnia’s costume. Uncle Royal tried to clamp her mouth shut, but she bit him.

  “Ouch!” Uncle Royal yelled at Ella. “You are grounded!”

  “I am nineteen father! You cannot ground me,” Ella spat. She had crazy eyes and she was absolutely livid.

  “Oh you better believe I can!” he growled.

  “Drink the tea!” Izadora raised her voice – something she didn’t do very often. But she was wound up tighter than a drum. She turned to me and said in a milder manner, “She must drink the forgetting tea. She knows too much.”

  “She knows all of your spells!” I said.

  “Ha! She couldn’t handle everything that I know. It’d blow her mind out of her skull. There is always a loophole to those that wish to gain the knowledge of “everything I know.” They only get what’s in the front of my mind; believe me, there is a whole other level of spells in the back of my mind,” Izadora said.