Chapter 3: The Donkey

We were eating chocolate chip pancakes (an Addison breakfast specialty) when the goat brayed again at seven o’clock the next morning.

“Bet it’s him,” I said.

I put down my fork and followed Addison to his office.

“Stay out here, Coralie.”

“La la la, you know I’m not going to listen,” I sang, fingers in my ears.

“Please!” he said. “You can’t interfere with this.”

“Can’t I just loiter in the doorway?”

He sighed. “Fine. Don’t try to worm your way into the conversation.”

I made the “zipped lip” motion and sat on an upturned milk bottle crate in the doorway.

Addison dragged his brown plaid armchair chair over to the Chimbrelis. “Hello, go ahead.”

“What kind of wizards can jump higher than a mountain?” asked the Chimbrelis.

“All of them,” answered Addison, “because mountains don’t jump.”

I groaned and covered my face. I used to wonder where Addison came up with his awful jokes until I found a dusty old copy of Magical Laughs: Sorcerer Jokes & Riddles for All Occasions while I was organizing his bookcases one day. He doesn’t know I kept it. They’re the only way I can use the Chimbrelis if I needed to.

Rufus swirled into view. His black hair was messy and he looked pale and exhausted, like he hadn’t slept all night. He would’ve been handsome in a scruffy way if he didn’t look like he had a terrible hangover.

“Good morning, Rufus,” Addison said cheerfully.

Addison took a swig of coffee from his favorite mug. It was purple and said #1 Wizard on it. The “i” in Wizard was a wand dotted with a star. I got it for him as a joke but he was still using it, even though now it had a chipped rim and a re-glued on handle.

“Maybe good for you,” Rufus grumbled, “but not for me.”

“What’s wrong?” Addison asked. “You look tired.”

“Where’s the pendant?” Rufus said.

Addison took another slow, thoughtful sip. “How about a ‘please’?”

“I don’t have time for your games,” Rufus said, glancing behind him. “I need the pendant!”

Addison raised his eyebrows. He had the look of a very disappointed adult about to lecture a misbehaving child. “You haven’t described it to me yet. That was the agreement.”

Rufus scowled. “I told you yesterday it’s a black rectangle and that it’s very powerful. What else do you need to know?”

“Yes, but specifically what are its powers?”

Addison had deduced by the note that came with it what the pendant was capable of. He just wanted Rufus to give him more insight.

“It can mess with a person’s head, but you probably knew that already.” Rufus said. “Kind of like what you’re doing to me right now.” He glanced over his shoulder again.

“C’mon Rufus, I need more details than that.”

Rufus crossed his arms. “Aren’t you supposed to be the genius-level expert on this type of thing? That’s why I contacted you in the first place-- so you could help me.”

“I am trying to help you,” Addison said. “But you’re acting evasive.”

“Evasive?” huffed Rufus. Another backwards glance. “I’ve answered all your questions.”

“I think it’s time for you to tell me what’s going on. What do you keep looking at?”

I know I saw a freaked out look on Rufus’s face from where I was standing.

“What? Nothing!”

Addison tapped his fingers on the mug. “Then what’s the problem?”

“Why would you think there’s a problem? You know, I can figure out a way to get the pendant myself, if that’s what it comes to.”

An amused smile crept over Addison’s face. It was the same one he’d give me when I made ridiculous threats to him as a younger kid. “No, you won’t.”

Of course, I snickered.

“Who’s that?” Rufus said.

“That’s my daughter, who was just leaving,” Addison said.

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I gawked at Addison in dismay but made no move to go.

Rufus stared in my direction. “Is she one of us?”

Addison stared over the rim of his mug. “What do you mean by that?”

"One of us,” Rufus said. “You know, a magic user?”

Addison frowned. “What’s it to you?”

“This is none of her business, and I don’t understand why you’re allowing her to listen in on private conversations,” said Rufus.

“Rude jerk!” I mouthed to Addison.

He waved me away. I scooted the milk crate back a bit. Technically I left the room.

Addison rolled his eyes and turned the chair away from me. “I don’t appreciate your tone, Rufus.”

Rufus balled his hands into fists. “Let’s get down to business. You can’t wait to get rid of me and I want my pendant. Why don’t you just let me see it now, if it’s not too much trouble for you.”

“You make a fair point,” Addison said. “Just a moment please.”

He unlocked one of his desk drawers, carefully drew out the necklace, held it up for a moment, and slid it in his shirt pocket.

“Hey, let me see it!” shouted Rufus.

“Not until you tell me exactly what is going on and why you need it so badly.”

Rufus sputtered and raked his fingers through his hair so that it stood up in wild tufts. His blue eyes glinted.

Suddenly, he caught sight of me. “I thought you made her leave.”

Addison pointed at the door. “Go.”

“Okay,” I said in the sulkiest voice possible.

“Don’t grump at me, Coralie,” Addison said. “I don’t need it from you, too.”

“You know what I’d do if that were my kid?” Rufus said. “I’d see to it that she--”

“I don’t care to hear what kind of a parent you’d be,” interrupted Addison. “And I don’t think you’re ready to see the pendant yet.”

He waved his hand over the Chimbrelis with a flourish and broke the connection. Then he re-set the alarm to a braying donkey just for Rufus, so that we’d know it was him calling.

We discussed it more over dinner that evening. “Wow, I can’t believe the nerve of that guy,” I said, shoveling roast beef and gravy into my mouth.

It was my most favorite meal out of Addison’s magicked up repertoire. I liked helping him cook, but it was always fun seeing a fully-prepared meal appear on the kitchen table, ready to eat.

Addison pressed fork-tine crisscrosses into his mashed potatoes. His eyes had a faraway look. He’d been moping around all day since his exchange with Rufus that morning.

“What’s wrong? Your food’s gonna get cold.”

He pushed some peas into the flattened potatoes. “The Rufus situation. I should’ve been more patient with him.”

“Yeah, but the guy’s an ass,” I said through a mouthful of roll. “He expects you to just hand the pendant over. What a dummy.”

Addison sighed. “I should have drawn out of him what his story is, instead of jumping to the conclusion that he wants it for nefarious purposes.”

“Well, he should’ve used his manners.”

“Like you do, when you talk when your mouth is full and burp at the dinner table?”

I smirked. “What do you think is going on with him?”

He stared up at the enchanted coluire globe hanging from the ceiling, which cast its soft, moonlike glow over the cozy kitchen. “I don’t know, my dear. I’m afraid he might be involved in something serious.”

“Like what?”

His fork made clanging noises as he tapped it on his plate. “I’m not sure. He’s seeking ownership over a dangerous artifact. That’s enough cause for worry as it is.”

“How much longer ’til he interrupts another meal?” I asked, but the donkey alarm didn’t sound for the rest of the evening.

That night, I dreamed that our city was surrounded by a bottomless moat filled with black water. The water rose and washed people standing around it away. It got higher and higher until it reached the tops of the tallest marsh pines in the woods outside the city.

Everything turned impenetrably black. I woke up as I tried to escape the flood, jumping rooftop to rooftop, until there was nowhere to left to go but into the darkness.

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