Eric drove the silver chariot into the stormy streets of Parthnoop, swooping low whenever anyone spotted a flying urn.

“Look there, a stable!” said Max, pointing through the flakes. “Perhaps we can hide the chariot there?”

“Good eye, Max,” said Keeah. “Eric?”

“I see it.” Eric dipped the chariot into an alley, landed gently, and drove up to a building with stone arches in front and a long row of stalls inside. Trotting into a stall, the silver horse stilled, as if asleep.

“Until we need you again,” said Keeah, petting the horse. She and the others draped blankets over the chariot and horse until they were both completely hidden.

“And now … Parthnoop,” said Hoja. He peeked out into the street. “Since the Sultan moved the city to the dark side, tourism has gone way down. That will make it more difficult to move through the streets unseen. But we must stay clear of the urn riders. Don’t use your powers unless you have to, or we’ll risk being seen and captured, just like Galen.”

“Got it,” said Keeah. “Use our brains, not our powers.”

“Or our stomachs,” murmured Neal. “Kem, no munching, or we won’t understand each other.” The puppy grumbled, but nodded both his heads.

Hoja led the children out of the stable and into the alley. “Our first order of business is to find Anusa. She remained free and has been trying to rescue Galen since his capture.”

Darting to the end of the alley, the little band slipped down a narrow, snowy street and scrambled quickly to its end.

“Anusa is the Second Genie of the Dove,” Julie said, turning to Hoja. “Fefforello is the Fifth. And you’re the Seventh. So are you the youngest?”

“Oh, no. It doesn’t work quite like that,” said Hoja as they entered the cross street, careful to keep the tall palace tower in sight at all times. “As I told you, genies roam freely through time, so we haven’t come about in any particular order. Of the seven of us, Anusa is called the second. The third and fourth are the twin babies, River and Stream. Fefforello is the fifth. And the sixth lives in the far east. She is a very old water genie named Jyme.”

“But who’s the first?” asked Neal.

Hoja paused at the end of the next street and looked out on a large white courtyard that was piled from end to end with black snow. The palace was on the far side.

“The First Genie?” said Hoja. “The last time I saw him was long ago, and he was very old. But he may not be so old now. Hard to tell.”

The children looked silently at one another.

Hoja chuckled. “It is said that only he passed the ancient genie test of the Four Wonders in a single day. Not just that, but he performed a Fifth Wonder also!”

“What are the Wonders?” asked Max.

“I’m glad you asked,” said Hoja. He cleared his throat and said, “To give to another, and yet receive. To follow another, and yet lead. To find another, and yet be found. And, perhaps the greatest of them all, to die for another, and yet live.”

Neal nodded as he listened. Then he frowned. “A genie has to solve riddles, too.”

“He does!” said Hoja. “In fact —”

“Roooo!” Kem yelped suddenly and raced into a side alley where a storm of black flakes whirled swiftly between the buildings.

“Hey!” said Neal, jumping after him. “Kem, get back here. We have to stay together —”

All at once — whoosh! whoosh! — there was a sound in the street behind them.

“Oh, no,” said Max, spinning on his heels. “Is that what I think it is?”

In seconds, the street was filled with flying urns. On the urns sat dozens of impish creatures with turbans, flowing robes, shiny slippers, and tiny whips. The creatures were humming.

“Da-da-la-dum! Da-da-la-dum-dummm!”

“Urn riders!” hissed Hoja. “Hide!”

The urn riders raced up the alley just as everyone slipped around the corner. Everyone, that is, except Neal and Kem. They stood together, entranced by the whirling black flakes.

Whoosh! The urns zipped closer.

Neal! Eric called him silently with his powers, wanting to blast the riders but not daring to. Get down!

“They’re going right for him!” hissed Julie.

All of a sudden, the black flakes swarmed over Neal and — whoosh! — the urn riders flashed by to the end of the alley, swerved around the corner, and disappeared without seeing either the boy or the dog.

Eric jumped to his feet. “I can’t believe it!”

Just then, the snowstorm dissolved, and there in the street, not three paces away from Neal and Kem, stood a woman in white. A woman they had all seen before.

Keeah gasped. “Anusa!”

It was Anusa, the Second Genie of the Dove. She was dressed in flowing white robes, and she moved along the street toward them as if she were floating over the ground.

Her black hair glistened under a small white turban. It was braided with tiny bells that jangled softly when she moved.

Neal couldn’t take his eyes off of her. “Uh, thanks, Anusa. I guess you saved me!”

Anusa smiled, speaking in a soft voice. “Because you saw me, the riders didn’t see you.”

“Anusa!” said Hoja, bowing to her.

“Hoja, it’s good to see you,” she said. “I’ve been expecting you all. Every attempt to free poor Galen has failed. But come, all of you. Time is passing quickly, even for us genies. Come.”

While everyone followed, Anusa wove through the streets around the courtyard like a quick, gentle wind.

“The Sultan is clever,” she told them. “I don’t know what turned him suddenly evil, but clever and evil are a bad combination.”

“Like it being lunchtime and not being able to eat,” murmured Neal, scruffing Kem on the head.

“Indeed,” said Anusa. “But unlike lunch, what the Sultan is planning is terrible — and it’s going to happen soon.”

“Which makes it even more important for us to get into the palace,” said Julie.

“And look!” said Max, pointing to the front of the palace. Four large urns were being rolled up to the gates by a dozen riders. They lifted a big black knocker on the gate, let it fall — boom! — and waited.

“It looks to me like urns are being delivered to the palace,” the spider troll continued. Then he smiled. “Urns without passengers …”

Hoja nearly burst into laughter. “Well said, Max! With our little band of wizards, genies, a two-headed puppy, and a spider troll —”

“And me!” said Neal.

“And Neal,” said Hoja, “we should be able to get into the palace in style — by urn!”

Helped by Anusa’s whirling mass of black flakes, the little band of wizards, genies, a two-headed puppy, a spider troll, and Neal moved very close to the front steps.

Then, under the cover of a gust of snow, the kids hopped into the urns — Eric, Max, Neal, and Kem into one, Julie and Keeah in a second, and Anusa and Hoja in each of the last two.

When the gates finally opened — errr! — the urns were tipped on their sides — thud! — and the friends were rolled straight into the palace.

“Oh, my lunch!” groaned Neal as he dropped onto Eric, Max, and Kem.

“What lunch?” whispered Eric.

“The one I wish I was eating now instead of being rolled in an urn!” groaned Neal.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! went the urns as the little men rolled them one by one into the Sultan’s giant palace.