Good Curses Evil by Stephanie S. Sanders

long pause. Finally, I elbowed Jez. She sighed dramatically.
    â€œNo, Cappy. I’m not mad.”
    â€œThere, see? All is forgiven. Nice girly.” I smiled, patting Jez on the head. She pinched my arm.
    â€œOw!” I said, pulling away. “Okay, Cappy, if you’re going to be my henchman, you need to know one very important rule: henchmen don’t give hugs. Got that? Good. Now, come with us.”
    But he really didn’t have a choice because at that moment, a rainstorm of miniature arrows arced out from behind the trees and stabbed at me and Jez like a hundred stinging needles. Cappy seemed immune. His hard, rocklike skin deflected the barrage. Still, he appeared kind of angry all the same.
    From behind tree trunks and leaves, little black eyes glared at us. The sprites had returned with reinforcements. I guess I hadn’t scared them off after all. Jez turned into a bat and flew away.
    â€œGirly can fly ,” Cappy said in awe.
    â€œYeah, ouch! Super,” I replied, pulling my cloak over my head to deflect the tiny arrows. “Way to stick together, Jez! C’mon Cappy! Let’s—ouch!—get out of here.”
    I ran in the direction Jez had flown.
    Cappy lumbered after me, kicking sprites left and right with his big clawed feet. They sailed through the air, landed hard on their rumps, and chattered angrily, shaking their fists at us. It was a relief to make it back into the protection of the surrounding trees.
    Cappy and I ran on for a few more minutes until we finally caught up with Jezebel. I was glad to see we hadn’t lost her; however, we had lost something. The road. Now I really had no idea which direction it was in.
    â€œJez, why don’t you fly up and have a look around? At least you can be some use to us as a bat.”
    â€œHey! I can’t help it, okay? When I get nervous I just, just …”
    â€œAbandon people?”
    â€œNo!” she shouted. “Oh, forget it!”
    She flew up above the forest, but even from above, the trees crowded in so close that Jezebel couldn’t see the road anywhere.
    The afternoon had turned to evening. The forest deepened to a cool, velvety purple. The second day of my Plot was quickly slipping away, and now I’d lost the road. We decided to stop for a bite to eat before moving on. Cappy found a dead rabbit and was munching it—fur, bones, and all. Jezebel and I ate from the provisions she’d packed. I think she could tell I was a little depressed, because she offered me a bite of her chocolate.
    We got a fire going, then Jez and I took turns pulling out sprite arrows from each other’s skin like splinters.
    â€œAre you still mad?” she asked as she plucked one from my neck.
    â€œOuch! Mad? About what?” I asked.
    â€œI don’t mean to, you know, transform all the time. It just … happens. When I get anxious.”
    â€œOh.”
    Fighting with Jez was fun, but for some reason talking seriously to her made me anxious.
    â€œI’m not mad. I just can’t believe we lost the road. If only we had some way to—wait a minute!”
    I rummaged in my pack and pulled out my dad’s crystal ball. Jez scooted in for a closer look. Our hands touched the glassy surface at the same time. I expected her to shy away, maybe flutter her eyelashes at me, but who was I kidding? This was Jez. After a tiny moment of awkwardness, she slapped my hand and took the crystal ball from me.
    â€œLet me do it this time,” she said, closing her eyes and running her hands over the sleek surface. “Show us the road.”
    A moment later, a familiar red glow lit up the ball. Cappy even stopped munching his rabbit to watch. His eyes got all big like he was being hypnotized.
    â€œOoooh, purdy!”
    An image formed inside the ball of a dark road surrounded by trees.
    â€œWell, that’s really helpful,” I said. “Nice work, Jez. It showed us the road all right.