I destroyed most of the lightbulbs in our room at the Big Pillow Motel. I didn’t mean to, but I had completely forgotten about that consequence when I went strolling into the room. Now there were bits of broken glass all over the carpet and bathroom, so we had to wear our shoes at all times.
Luckily, one small lamp on the desk escaped my destruction, because, well, it’s hard to walk directly under a desk lamp.
At first, I think Tina was upset that we weren’t pressing on to find Thackary, but after a hot shower and a moment of relaxation on the couch, she was seeing things my way.
We had been much too tired to go on after our ordeal in Lake Michigan. We’d ended up using some rope we found on the red boat to tie on to Ridge’s shark tail so he could tow us to shore. There, Tina had proposed that we find out what was on the final ripped-out page of the notebook and continue our quests. I had proposed wishing our way into a motel room and actually getting a decent night’s sleep before chasing down Thackary and Jathon.
I came out of the bathroom after my shower, damp clothes back on, complete with backward pants and overgrown shirtsleeves. Attached to the bottom of my foot was a fourteen-inch-long piece of toilet paper that I knew wouldn’t fall off for an hour.
“This place is great!” Ridge said, thumbing through a binder on the desk. “They serve free breakfast in the morning.”
“See?” I said. “Not only do we get a decent place to sleep, we also get a meal that isn’t peanut butter sandwiches.” I was getting very tired of eating those. I glanced at Tina on the couch. I’d heard her scream when she sat down. “I told you it would be worth it.”
Vale, sitting cross-legged on one of the queen beds, answered. “Worth the mosquito bites?”
“Yes,” I said, scratching at one on my arm. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have accepted the consequence.”
I had wished to find a key to a vacant motel room. In exchange, every time I saw a yellow flower, a mosquito would bite me. A year of potential mosquito bites actually seemed like a fair disadvantage for the comforts of the motel room.
I sat down on the couch beside Tina. The moment I touched the cushion, I felt a force propel me sideways, landing me squarely in her lap.
“What are you doing?” she shouted, pushing me to the floor.
I thought back to the beginning of the week. I had forgotten about the consequence that forced me to bounce across couch cushions. In fact, I couldn’t even remember what wish I had made to get it!
“Sorry,” I muttered. “Consequence.”
“I can’t believe Thackary got away again,” Ridge said, shutting the binder of motel amenities and leaning back in his desk chair.
“I didn’t have a chance against that stupid trinket,” I said. I turned to Tina. “If you knew about those, why haven’t you wished for any?”
“Trinkets are risky because anyone can use them,” she answered. “You saw what happened to Jathon on the motorboat.”
I couldn’t forget if I wanted to. The entire time his dad stood on that magic nickel, Jathon was forced to slap himself in the face. It was a horrible consequence.
“I see,” I said. “So if you wished for a trinket and it fell into the wrong hands, someone could use it to affect you.”
“Not worth the risk, in my opinion,” Tina said.
“What is worth it?” I asked. “I’ve noticed that you don’t make a lot of wishes.”
“Not unless I absolutely have to,” she said.
“Well, you’re going to have to make a big one in a minute,” I said. She gave me a puzzled look. “The fourth page of the notebook,” I explained. “I think it’s your turn to wish for the information on it.”
Tina pursed her lips. “I think we should settle this the same way we settled all the others,” she answered, putting her hand out for a rock, paper, scissors challenge.
“No thanks,” I said. “You’re way better than me.”
“It’s not really a game of skill,” Vale pointed out. “How can Tina be better at it?”
Tina clapped at the mention of her name, and my shoelace came untied at the sound of her clap. Then her hands returned to the challenging position. “This is the last time,” she said. “I promise.”
Conveniently, it was also the last page in Thackary’s notebook. I sighed and put out my hand to play.
I lost. Again.
Tina used paper to cover my rock. She folded her arms, though she didn’t look as victorious as I thought she might. “You should make the wish now,” she said.
I nodded. It might be helpful to know where we needed to go tomorrow so we could make some sort of plan tonight. I turned to Ridge.
“I wish to know what was on that fourth ripped-out page of Thackary Anderthon’s notebook.”
He swiveled around in his chair. “If you want to know page four,” he said, “then every time someone asks you a question, you will have to answer with another question.”
“I’ll have to what?” I cried.
“Exactly,” said Ridge. “Just like that.”
“What if I can’t answer their question with a question?” I asked.
“It doesn’t have to make sense. You just have to reply with a short question of your own. Then you’ll be able to go on and say anything else you want. You can also choose not to respond at all. But that seems kind of impolite, if someone asks you a question.”
“And this will last . . .”
“One year,” said Ridge.
“I don’t think I can,” I muttered.
Tina cut in with an attempt to encourage me. “Come on, Ace! We’re so close. This is the last thing we need to know.”
I shot her an icy glare. It was easy for her to say. She wasn’t the one that would have to bear the consequence. “Maybe we can find out another way,” I said.
“How?” said Tina. “Thackary and Jathon are probably long gone. If there is any chance of catching up to them, we have to know where they’re headed.”
Ridge tapped his wrist, gesturing for me to take note of my hourglass. The white sands had almost expired from the top chamber. I needed to accept the consequence or let it slip away.
“Do it, Ace,” said Tina.
“I can’t,” I muttered. “I have too many. I don’t think I can manage another.”
“Accept the consequence and I’ll tell you a secret.”
“What secret?” I asked. Why would Tina be hiding something from me?
“It’s a secret that will even things out between us,” Tina said, then promptly bit her lip as if she regretted saying it.
“Ace!” Ridge said, pointing to the hourglass.
“Bazang!” I squeaked out my answer just before the final grains of sand fell. Instantly, knowledge flooded my mind. I knew what was on that final page, and the answer both frightened me and gave me hope.
“This is it,” I said. “We’ve completed the tasks.”
“Then what was on the fourth page?” asked Tina.
“Do you want me to tell you?” Without even meaning to, I found myself answering her question with another question. “It’s the cave,” I added.
“You know the location?” Ridge asked.
“Would you stop asking me questions?” I answered. “The entrance to the Cave of the Undiscovered Genie is in San Antonio, Texas.” I involuntarily sprang to my feet and jumped at the mention of the state. “I have an address,” I said.
“The cave has an address?” Ridge asked.
“Why not?” I answered. “It’s right downtown. Someone will be waiting for us at the entrance. We’re supposed to ask him a question.”
“What question?” Tina asked.
“‘When is a door not a door?’” I said.
Tina, Ridge, and Vale exchanged puzzled glances. “That’s the question we have to ask,” I explained. “If we’ve correctly completed the tasks, then we’ll be given a key and allowed to enter the cave.” I sat down on the edge of the bed. “That’s all I got.”
“Hmm,” Tina mused. “Texas is a long way from here.” I jumped again. “If we hope to get there tomorrow, we’ll need a faster way to travel than the truck.”
“What about an airplane?” Ridge asked. “We could wish to catch a flight and be there in a couple of hours.”
The thought of making another wish and accepting a new consequence made my head spin. I hoped I’d feel a little more optimistic about things in the morning. I lay back on the bed, stretching out just below Vale’s feet, and closed my eyes. For a moment, I tried to forget my quest to save the world from zombie pets, and enjoy the softness of the motel bed.
“Hey, Tina,” Ridge said, the sound of her name causing the girl to clap, which made my shoelaces untie. “Didn’t you have a secret you were supposed to tell Ace?”
My eyes snapped open and I sat up sharply. I’d almost forgotten about that.
She waved us off and slouched into the couch cushions. “It was nothing. Nothing important.”
“You said it would even things out between us,” I added, remembering the words she’d seemed to regret. “What was it?”
“You’re not going to like it,” she answered. “It’s just something I did to make the week pass a little smoother.”
“Actually, I’m very interested,” I said. “I could use a little tip to help me out.”
“It won’t help you,” she muttered. “I’m afraid it’s too late for that.”
“Would you just tell me the secret already?” I cried. Vale sighed and lay back on the fluffy pillows, like she knew what her Wishmaker was about to reveal.
Tina swallowed hard, her gaze fixed on a jellybean-shaped stain on the motel carpet. “I’m not really that good at rock, paper, scissors,” she finally said.
“That’s your secret?” I was thoroughly disappointed.
“I mean . . .” Tina stammered. “I win every time.” Was she gloating now?
“Not every time,” I corrected. “I beat you the first time, just before we changed Thackary Anderthon’s spare tire.”
“I know,” Tina said. “But I made sure you never won again.” She took a deep breath. “I made a wish so that I would always win rock, paper, scissors.”
I went numb, a feeling of gullibility spreading up from my toes. “You did . . . what?”
“I wished to win that stupid game,” Tina said. “That’s why I kept challenging you. I knew I couldn’t lose, so you would have to bear all the consequences.”
I didn’t know what to say. Tina stood up, sat down, screamed, and then stood up again. Ridge had returned to the binder of amenities, pretending to read in order to remove himself from the awkward situation.
Tina had tricked me! I didn’t care what consequence she had accepted to win rock, paper, scissors. I was sure it was something minuscule in comparison to what I had been dealing with.
“Wow,” I muttered. “I’m having a hard time knowing who the bad guy is anymore.” She didn’t say anything, but slowly moved toward the door.
Tina pulled open the door and stepped out into the cool night, forcefully muttering “alley-oop” as she passed through the doorway. Vale jumped off the bed and hurried after her Wishmaker, mumbling something about needing to take a walk.
As the door swung shut, I fell back into the big pillows of the Big Pillow Motel. Now that Tina had explained the truth, I felt every bit a loser.
And not just at rock, paper, scissors.