Jinx On The Divide Read Online Free PDF Page B

a balcony, creaking in the wind like something from a horror movie, although the coral-pink clapboard was pure PlaySkool. A veranda ran around the outside, although it was hard to imagine the weather ever being good enough to sit out on it. A path to the door had been dug through the snow, and once inside, Felix felt a lot better. The room was filled with rough wooden tables and benches, and there was a huge roaring fire at one end. Betony left Nimby rolled up in a corner, and they found themselves a secluded little alcove where they could watch the goings-on without being conspicuous. The clientele consisted almost entirely of japegrins, although the cook was clearly a lickit. He took a long time to come over with the menu.
    "Fish, fish, or fish," mused Betony. "What a decision. I think I'll have fish."
    She ordered the blubber sole with squirtled pondweed. Felix didn't fancy the fluorescent-green sauce, so he had river pudding. It took a long time to arrive.
    "If you summon the brandee, we could buy him a drink," said Betony. "Maybe that'll make him a bit more friendly."
    "Isn't that kind of risky? He doesn't have to obey us any longer, does he?"
    "Remind him you're his only hope of ever finding a real scientist," said Betony. "You see, he can never actually refuse to come out of his lamp or go back into it -- it's in his
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    nature, as automatic as breathing. It's just what he does while he's out of the lamp that's the problem. Even then ... if you had the instruction booklet and knew the right words She trailed off, wishing she'd paid more attention to the subject at school.
    Felix sighed and rubbed the lamp. The brandee streamed out of the spout as usual, looking solemn, and sat down next to them in the alcove. Although no longer murderous, he was clearly sulking. Felix decided to leave the subject of science alone for now.
    "Have some squirtled pondweed," said Betony.
    The brandee's eyes flashed with annoyance. "I can't eat, can I? I'm a magical being, not a real one."
    "How come you say things like 'as disappointing as liver without onions,' then?" asked Felix.
    "You don't have to go to a desert to know it's hot," snapped the brandee. "And you don't have to eat a dessert to know it's sweet. I read a lot. But I can't eat, can't drink, can't do a lot of things. I want to be a human being so that I can really enjoy myself. Immortality's not much fun when you can't even savor a fricassee of fish guts. Rhino thought I was joking when I asked him if he'd tried it. He's no gourmet, is he?"
    Betony took a sip of her drink. "So where is Rhino?"
    "I don't know."
    "Could he have gotten lost inside the lamp somewhere?" asked Felix.
    "It's possible. There are two doors. One leads to my office,
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    another to the greenhouse, which is as mysterious as a sand dune."
    "You didn't try looking in there?"
    "Of course. But some days the greenhouse is like a forest, and other days it's no bigger than a vegetable patch."
    "Suppose," said Felix, "that you took me into your lamp. I could go and look for him."
    Betony sat bolt upright and tried to say so many things at once that she ended up not saying anything and choking on a piece of pondweed instead. Felix thumped her on the back. The japegrins at a neighboring table got to their feet and asked to be moved somewhere else.
    "Why should I do that?" asked the brandee.
    "Because I have to find Rhino and take him back to my world," replied Felix. "For all I know, he's promising the japegrins chain saws and machine guns -- scientific things, which shouldn't be here. / did enough damage, introducing printing. Supposing I trade you a visit inside your lamp for some books from my world?"
    The brandee looked interested, and considered this for a moment. "I'd like some science books," he said eventually. "The stuff about solids and liquids and gases."
    "No problem," said Felix. "We've got loads of those."
    "How are you going to get them from your world to mine?"
    "Betony can bring them," said Felix.