Jinx On The Divide by Elizabeth Kay

accordingly.
    Optional Extras:
    Musical ability (lute, crumhorn, and bangithard)
    Additional spells
    Games and riddles
    Sense of humor (anecdotes, banter, irony, and/or satire)
    Ping-Pong proficiency
    93
    WARNING!
    Because your brandee is a magical being, he can be infected by a powerword from another dimension, if he shows any signs of developing free will, return the lamp to our Service Department immediately for fumigation.
    If you do not use your brandee for an extended period of time, your registration will lapse and your ownership will be revoked. This is to enable the brandee to take action himself if the lamp is in any danger. You may, of course, reregister at any time.
    K'Faddle & offspring is not responsible for any murder or mayhem perpetrated by the brandee m this or any ether world. The owner is responsible for being m control at all times, and therefore legally answerable for the brandee's behavior.
    "We're going to have to be careful," said Betony. "No wish may ever be repeated. You get one crack at it, and that's it."
    "Abra ... you know, that word, the one Rhino said as a joke -- it must have been a powerword."
    "Must have been." Betony shivered. "Dangerous stuff." She took a deep breath. "All right. Are you ready?"
    94
    Felix nodded. They left the greenhouse and went back to the main chamber. The brandee had come out of his bottle and was reading again -- a detective story about copper beating. He looked up. "No luck, then?" he said.
    Felix shook his head no.
    "I'd like my three wishes now," said Betony. "I want Felix to get out of the lamp first."
    Felix's last thought as he turned into a cloud of gas was, I'm the one carrying the owner's guide. I hope Betony remembers everything....
    Felix had expected to find himself back in the Pink Harpoon, but to his horror he was somewhere else entirely. It looked like a general store. He glanced around. A couple of diggelucks were examining some spades stacked against the wall. He pulled his hood over his head to hide his ears and pretended to be very interested in the merchandise. That was when he spotted the picture. It was a pretty good painting of a volcano, shaped sort of like a two-pronged Mount Fuji -- and the title said it was a view of the Yergud spitfire mountains, as seen from the Yergud town center. There was no doubt about it -- it was the same volcano that Felix had seen behind Rhino in the jinx box. So that's where Rhino was. Yergud. He absently continued looking at some curios sitting on a shelf to his right -- and there, among the glass paperweights and the candlesticks, was the brandee's lamp, complete with price tag.
    95
    Felix had expected Betony to appear beside him almost immediately, but it was a few minutes before she did, and he was beginning to get worried.
    "There's been a snag," she reported, tucking her flaxen hair into her hood. "I have to make the brandee materialize again in order to get the third wish. By rubbing the lamp. Wherever it is." She glanced around.
    Felix pointed to it, sitting on the shelf.
    "Oh." She peered at the price tag. "What a rip-off! Someone must have found it in the Pink Harpoon and sold it." She pulled out her purse and started to count the silver coins in it. "I haven't got enough," she said. "It's really expensive."
    "Well, just pick it up and rub it, then," said Felix.
    Betony glanced around. No one was watching. She took the lamp down from the shelf and rubbed it. The brandee appeared immediately -- but before Betony could order him to do anything in the name of K'Faddle, he snatched the lamp from her, turned on his heel, and raced out of the store.
    The shopkeeper's mouth dropped open. The diggelucks picked up a shovel each, dashed outside, and gave chase.
    "They didn't pay for those, either," said the shopkeeper. "Oh, well. At least it was a bit of excitement."
    "I think they'll bring them back," said the ragamucky. "Diggelucks aren't thieves." Everyone nodded in agreement.
    Felix ran to the door, but the