The Wicked Wand by Steve Shilstone

placed the ring in its proper place on the tip of my thumb.
    â€œOh, hah, I see a strange eddy. I see the problem,” said Briny Brook.
    He dropped my right hand and grasped my left, lifting it up to study it closer. I was limp, without resistance. My mind had not yet gathered more than a few shavings of wit.
    â€œWhat problem?” asked Kar, stepping nearer.
    â€œThe old Harick, the Babba Ja, was famously forgetful. That be why the wand so often was free to work its mischief,” said Briny Brook. “She forgot to wear the Golden Shoe. She forgot to turn the control ring under. She ...”
    â€œControl ring? What control ring?” interrupted Kar.
    I retrieved enough sense to be grateful to Kar for asking the questions my fuddled self couldn’t. I looked at my lavender left hand held in Briny Brook’s fiery orange right hand. He tapped with his thumb the ring at the base of my little finger. It was the tiny black pearl on a band of overlapping Dragon scales, gold-leafed with veins. It was the lone ring of my twenty-two whose powers were almost unknown to me.
    â€œThis one. The black pearl. Did the old Harick not tell ye to wear it with the pearl turned under?” Briny Brook asked me.
    Mutely, I shook my head no.
    â€œForgetful. I myself whispered it to her when I brought her the Golden Shoe. Black pearl under, the wand be powerless to move or make magic on its own. Wear this ring always with the pearl turned under. Turn it up only when ye wear the Golden Shoe and desire to use the bolt magic. Be that not the clearest simplicity? Why the old Harick could not remember be shrouded in mist to me. Ye be new and young. Can ye remember?” grumbled Briny Brook, turning the ring on my little finger until the black pearl was under.
    â€œYoss,” I said.
    He stood the wand in the corner near the cauldron. It leaned there motionless, silent. It hadn’t made a wiggle or a hum since I’d blinked back from tar. Kar and I both watched it warily. The waterwizard stepped out of the Golden Shoe and nudged it from under his robe toward me.
    â€œGolden Shoe!” Kar and I gasped in unison.
    â€œSo it be. I found it in the Greenwilla bar years ago and kept it safe from Babba Ja Harick. Too much temptation.
    Now ye have it as ye should. The black pearl be turned as it should. Complete control of the wand, in or out of your grasp, be yours. It will not speak unless ye wear the Golden Shoe and turn the pearl up. It will not move unless ye wear the Golden Shoe and turn the pearl up. It will not spell unless ye wear the Golden Shoe and so command, pearl turned up. I do believe that ye will remember now that ye have suffered a dousing of the wand’s mischief,” said Briny Brook. He turned and addressed the wand, “If not, there always be a fine Vault Island waiting for a companion.”
    Happy content, we all shared windowsill brittle and cookie shingle snacks while we traded our tales until dawn. From time to time, I glanced at the motionless wand. My powers were complete.

Chapter Thirty-Five
    TIME TO REST
    â€œWell, Bek, there he goes. Now we’ve met Briny Brook.”
    â€œYoss, and we ... we have the ... the lost ... story of the Folding Glue! No ... Golden Shoe! Yoss! That’s it!”
    â€œMore than that. You have the Shoe. Are you going to keep it there next to the crystal ball?”
    â€œYoss. I ... bike ... trike ... like! ... to cook at it ... look at it. Kar, are you as fired ... tired as I am?”
    â€œHow tired are you?”
    â€œCreaky tired.”
    â€œMe, too. How long have we been awake?”
    â€œToo wrong ... long. I’ll conjure us cushions to weep on ... sleep on.”
    â€œNot for me. I’ll coil myself as beddysnake under the table. I’ll be the first anything ever to do so such. Show me the black pearl ring again. Good. Leave it that way forever. I still don’t trust the wand.”
    â€œNo need to bust ...