We slept in a barn. A ray of sunlight pierced through the slats in the wall and woke me up. I sat forward abruptly, confused about where I was and what I was doing. Then it all came flooding back to me.
I had a genie. I was on a quest to save mankind.
I looked around for Ridge. He was still asleep in the corner of the barn, curled up around a barrel. It seemed odd that genies needed sleep the same way we did. More and more, I was realizing that Ridge seemed like an ordinary kid. He didn’t know everything; he got blisters; and as I learned the night before when we crept into the stranger’s barn, he was sort of afraid of the dark.
I spotted Tina sitting on an overturned bucket, her face toward the open door. I wondered when she had finally drifted off to sleep the previous night and how long she had been awake that morning. She seemed troubled.
There was something about Tina that I couldn’t grasp. I had a lot of questions for her, starting with the woman in the hospital bed. But so far, Tina didn’t seem interested in answering them. I’d have to get to know her, break down her defensive barrier. After all, if you were going on an impromptu road trip with someone to save the world, wouldn’t you want to know them better?
I approached her in time to see her tinkering with the watch on her wrist. It looked nearly identical to mine. My approach must have startled her, because Tina quickly lowered her hand as though trying to hide what she’d been doing.
Her behavior caused me to turn to my own hourglass watch. I ran my thumb around the leather band, but there was no clasp. How was I supposed to take the thing off? Using my fingers, I tried to slide it over my hand.
“You can’t take it off,” Tina said, watching me. “That’s what I was just trying.”
“I guess the Universe wants us to have a fair amount of time to think about each consequence,” I said, giving up on the watch.
Tina raised her eyebrows. “Not much of what the Universe does seems fair.”
I thought about stepping outside and catching some fresh air, but I didn’t know how far that would put me from Ridge. I glanced back at him. Snapping the tether would be a very rude awakening.
“Have you snapped your tether yet?” I asked. Tina shook her head. “It’s painful. I’d recommend staying close to Vale for the next six days.”
“Six days,” Tina repeated. I hoped that was enough time to complete our quests.
“How do you think it will happen?” I asked. “When our time runs out, all the pets instantly start devouring people? One minute we’re walking along, and the next minute we’re over our heads in lemonade?”
“The consequence might not happen immediately,” Vale said, causing me to turn. I hadn’t realized she was listening to our conversation. “It’s not like the Universe wants it to happen. It’ll be a result of someone’s choice.”
“My choice?” I asked. I didn’t see how failing to stop Thackary would result in zombie pets.
“Think of the bigger picture,” Vale continued. “If this Thackary person opens the Undiscovered Genie jar, he’ll have wishes. Maybe one of those wishes will be to transform all pets into zombies.”
I stood up, sighing. It didn’t seem fair that my big consequence could happen as a result of someone else’s choice. But then, I agreed with Tina that nothing about the Universe’s methods seemed fair.
Tina glanced over at Vale. “Time’s ticking. We should get moving.”
I awakened Ridge, and the four of us ate a breakfast of peanut butter sandwiches from the backpacks. I could tell the day was going to be a hot one, and I was already thirsty. I was just about to wish for something to drink when Tina unzipped a backpack and handed me a bottle of cold water.
“Where’d you get the backpack?” I was pretty sure she hadn’t had one yesterday.
“Wished for it this morning,” Tina replied. “Full of water bottles, but it doesn’t get too heavy.”
She was a smart one. I probably wouldn’t have thought about the weight of carrying water bottles around. I twisted off the lid and took a long drink.
“That’s why we’re a team, right?” Tina continued. “To share the load. I figured, you’ve got the sandwiches, so we should get the drinks.”
“What was your consequence?” I asked.
Tina grunted. “Next time I touch someone’s hand, our fingers will lock together for five minutes.”
I quickly tucked my hands into my pockets. Magically holding hands with Tina would be plenty awkward.
“How are we going to get to Mount Rushmore?” Ridge asked.
I still hadn’t told anyone about what Thackary was planning to do once he arrived there. His notebook had given me details, but I didn’t want to share them with Tina. If she was going to keep secrets about the woman in the hospital, then I’d keep my own secrets.
“We could fly,” Tina suggested.
Ridge and I both groaned.
“I tried that already,” I explained. “Flying is a lot harder than it sounds.”
“And may I suggest a method of transportation that doesn’t require Vale and me to get stuffed into our jars?” added Ridge.
“That’s a good point,” said Tina. “There are two of us Wishmakers now.” She looked at me. “If we take turns wishing for transportation that can accommodate all four of us, then we’ll only need to make half as many wishes.”
“And that means half as many consequences,” I said, feeling enthusiastic about Tina’s approach.
The four of us stood in awkward silence until Tina finally said, “You go first, Ace.”
I took a step back. “No way! I got us sandwiches.”
“And I got us water,” Tina rebutted. “And technically, you wished for the sandwiches before we even met, so that doesn’t count. Either way, it’s your turn.”
“I don’t like the idea of taking turns,” I replied. “Wishing for a supply of water had nothing to do with our quests. Wishing for transportation to catch Thackary will probably have a more serious consequence.”
“Then I don’t see how we’re supposed to work together,” Tina said. “If you won’t wish, then we’ll have to get to Mount Rushmore the old-fashioned way.” She turned abruptly, moving out of the barn with Vale behind her.
I gave Ridge a puzzled look. “What’s the old-fashioned way?”