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We arrivedat the pier and found Bailey on the stern deck. He looked up as we walked down the boardwalk and gave us a great big grin. “Well, ain’t this a surprise. Back already, captain?”
“And ready for another voyage,” Ben confirmed as he helped me down the gangplank.
Bailey picked up the washcloths he was using to scrub the deck. “Alright, captain. Just gimme a few minutes to clean up here and I’ll send ya on yer way.”
He was as good as his word, and in a few minutes we were drawn away from the dock and into the open waters of the Bella River. I sat at the stern with Ben at the aft with one arm draped over the rudder steering. A soft breeze wafted over me and a deep sigh escaped me.
“Kind of beats being in an office. . .” I murmured.
“What was that?” Ben called out.
I tilted my head back and grinned at him. “I was just admiring the view.”
He studied the riverbanks and watched the group of lads frolic together in the shallow water. “It is definitely something to admire.”
A pair of witches zoomed overhead on their brooms. That reminded me of my own brief flight the night I had arrived in this strange new world. I slipped the flute out of its ‘holster’ and turned it over in my hands. “There’s gotta be some sort of button or secret incantation for this thing.”
“There are the words Impara read on the handle,” Ben spoke up as he joined me on the deck.
My face fell and my eyes widened. “Aren’t you supposed to be driving?”
He laughed. “This river is gentle enough that one need only lock the rudder and let his vessel sail with the flow.”
I dropped my gaze to the flute I cradled in both my upturned palms, and an idea struck me. A crazy one.
“I. . .I know you said this magic was probably dangerous,” I told him as I lifted my eyes up to Ben’s curious face. “But what if I tried to change it to the broom or the staff? I’ve done that before without being turned into a toad.”
He sighed. “It’s less a concern about toad magic and more a worry that the power instilled within the wood will break your very soul.”
A little bit of color drained from my face, but I stiffened my jaw. “I’ve got to try. Besides, if it wanted to break me then it probably would’ve done it a week ago.”
Ben scooted back and stretched his arm toward the wide part of the bow. “Then I present to you your stage, my lady, and I will be your audience.”
I snorted as I climbed to my feet. The ship rocked to and fro beneath my feet as I grasped the flute in both my hands. My mind was awash with all the ideas movies and books could offer to get a magical item to bend to one’s will. All I could come up with was an old favorite.
“Alright, stick,” I commanded it as I held it aloft. “Abracadabra! Hocus pocus! Obey my words! And, um, bow to my, um, focus!” I didn’t bother to hold my breath. Nothing happened.
Well, almost nothing. I got a guffaw out of Ben. He was laughing so hard he had to wrap his arms around his stomach.
I dropped my arms to my sides and glared at him. “That isn’t encouraging me.”
He managed to mostly get a hold of himself and he shook his head. “My sincerest apologies, Millie, but those words were, well, rather original.”
“Yeah, well, don’t choke on that chuckling,” I retorted as I plopped myself down cross-legged onto the deck.
Ben scooted over to my side and leaned in close to me. “Giving up doesn’t suit you, and I’m eager to see what comes after that part of the incantation.”
I plopped my hands into my lap and snorted. “Probably some mangled words and I unleash a curse upon the world.” He lifted an eyebrow, and I laughed and shook my head. “Inside joke. Anyway, I don’t think I’m doing this right.”
“How so?”
I shrugged. “Every time it’s acted up for me has been when I’ve been in some kind of danger, mortal or otherwise.” I tapped the tip of the flute against my chin. “What I need is to get dangerous.”
There was that familiar mischievous smile on Ben’s lips. “I could oblige and throw you overboard.”
I winced. “Maybe not that dangerous. I’m not the best swimmer.”
“What about dropping you from a great height?”
