A Well-Timed Enchantment by Vivian Vande Velde

expansive gesture. "Deanna's watch."
    "What about it?"
    "She entrusted me with the secret meaning behind it."
    "So what?" Leonard said. "She entrusted all of us."
    "Yes, but she told
me
first."
    "Did not"
    "Did too."
    "Did not"
    "Did too."
    With a smirk, Leonard pointed out: "Obviously she told Oliver first."
    "Oh yeah?" Baylen stopped, scowling, while he tried to come up with a better answer. "Oh yeah?"
    Deanna stamped her foot. "Baylen! Leonard!"
    "Anyway," Baylen lied, "she told me what ingredients this alchemy spell needs for the watch to work, and she entrusted me to gather those materials."
    "So how come you came crawling to me for help?" Leonard sneered.
    Deanna could read Baylen's emotional struggle on his face: the conflicting desires to prove his superiority to Leonard or to pacify him so that he would help. "Well," Baylen admitted, "there was one thing I couldn't get, which I knew you could."
    Amazing. What was going on?
    Leonard beamed at her. "See? Helpless without me. Pray tell me, Baylen—" He made a sweeping bow. "—how can I help you?"
    Don't overdo it,
Deanna thought, estimating that Baylen would make him pay later for each squirm he caused now.
    Baylen said, "One thing I couldn't get. Uncle Algernon is waiting at the gallows crossroads for the final ingredient which we're hoping you can get."
    "Which is?"
    "Seawater."
    "
Seawater?
" Leonard said.
    "
Seawater?
" Deanna said.
    "Seawater," Baylen said.
    Oh, good grief. They weren't anywhere near the sea.
    "Now you might be thinking that we aren't anywhere near the sea," Baylen said.
    "No," Leonard proclaimed in sarcastic disbelief that Deanna mentally echoed.
    "But we are closer than you think."
    Oliver looked at Deanna with raised eyebrows.
How did I let myself get talked into this?
she asked herself. Couldn't Baylen have come up with something more sensible?
    "There is an underground stream," Baylen told them, "that leads from the sea to the pond in serf Guillaume's holding."
    "The pond has seawater?" Leonard asked incredulously.
    "You see, that was the problem—"
    "
The pond has seawater?
" Leonard interrupted.
    "—Lady Deanna knew that she needed seawater, but didn't know where to get any near here—"
    "The pond has
seawater
?" Leonard persisted.
    "Will you shut up and let me finish?"
    Between clenched teeth, Leonard said, "There is no such thing as a stream, underground or not, leading from the sea to Guillaume's pond."
    "Uncle Algernon found it," Baylen said smugly.
    "How?"
    "Uncle Algernon has his ways."
    "Hmmm." Apparently that wasn't something Leonard was going to argue with. He looked at Deanna, who looked at Oliver, who looked as though everything they were saying was perfectly reasonable. Leonard snorted. "So we get some water from the pond. So what?"
    "No, no, no, no," Baylen said in that condescending way that set Deanna's teeth on edge. "We don't get some water from the pond. We get some water from the stream."
    "
So,
" Leonard repeated, "
what?
"
    "It's an underground stream. You need to go to the mouth of the stream, at the bottom of the pond."
    "Ah," Leonard said. "That's one deep pond."
    "That's why we need you," Baylen told him. "You're the best swimmer in the family."
    "Yes, I am, though I'm surprised you finally admit it. But how will I know where this seawater comes in?"
    "Uncle Algernon says it's in the middle of the pond. He says the water's warmer there. You'll be able to tell."
    "I don't know," Leonard said thoughtfully.
    "Please, Leonard," Deanna begged, for although she resented getting caught up in Baylen's intrigues, obviously he was set on this. "We can't even start unless you say yes."
    "Well," Leonard said slowly, basking in all the attention. "All right. Yes."

FOURTEEN
Alchemy
    The pond Baylen had chosen was, of course, in the opposite direction from the crossroads he had chosen. It was about the size and shape of a soccer field and, according to the brothers, about five times as deep as a man was tall. It was surrounded