Free Wizard at Work by Vivian Vande Velde

transporting spell to the lake he'd described.
    "It's a lovely place to spend a few more cycles before I'm ready to move on," the moat monster said, splashing its head into the water then out again quickly, so that the wizard could momentarily glimpse its smallish head atop its long neck. "And I will remember how to make my body visible if I want to play tricks, once in a while, on those of your kind who may come here. Thank you, Wizard."
    "You're welcome, Guardian," the wizard said. He interrupted the spell to transport himself back home only long enough to say, "Enjoy the lake. By the way, it's called Ness."

The Princess and the Quest for the Golden Cucumbers
    When the king and queen of his own land invited the wizard for tea at their castle, he knew he should probably make some sort of excuse. "School will be starting next week," he could say. "So much to do," he could say. After all, he knew they had a daughter and he'd had more than enough problems with princesses this summer.
    Still, it wouldn't do to get them angry. So he packed a huge box of broccoli to give the queen
as a hostess present and showed up exactly on time.
    The princess was late.
    Waiting for her, the wizard made the teapot rise up from the table and float to a position directly above the king's cup.
    The king and queen had invited him here to ask a favor, he was sure of it, and no doubt the smart thing to do was to downplay his magical abilities, but it was hard to resist the temptation to show off, especially since his wise old wizard disguise wouldn't work with them—they knew his true age. In any case, they were looking beyond him, out the big French windows that opened onto the flower garden. He had barely glimpsed the young woman riding the large horse when the king tapped him on the knee.
    "A lovely girl, the princess," the king said. "Lovely, in her own way. But not quite what one could call ... ahm, exactly, er..."
    "Marriageable," the queen suggested.
    The king winced. "Marriageable," he agreed. "The thing is, she has no suitors. That is, none
that we've found suitable, that was ... ahm, as it were, ah..."
    "Willing to ask for her hand," the queen finished.
    The king shrugged apologetically. "We're hoping you can do something about it," he said in a hurried whisper as the princess slid off the horse and jumped over a low hedge to enter by the window. She was tall, that was the wizard's first impression, and had long frizzy hair of a rather mousy brown. "Hello," she said before the wizard could notice much else about her. "Sorry I'm late, but Farmer Seymour's cart was stuck—"
    "Yes, yes, my dear." The queen looked disapprovingly at her daughter's pants and brushed at her dusty sleeve. "You should have let Farmer Seymour get his cart out from wherever it was stuck by himself. Say hello to the wizard."
    The wizard, who was not short, stood up and found himself at eye level with the princess's chin.
    "Pleased to meet you," the princess said, and shook his hand before he could kiss hers. "Kind of young for a wizard, aren't you?"
    The queen made a
tut
sound. "Theodora, don't be rude." She turned back to the wizard. "I know that Theodora—"
    "Teddy," the princess interrupted.
    "Theodora," the queen continued, "has prepared some sort of special treat for us. Perhaps you'd like to get it, my dear, before we start?"
    The wizard watched Princess Teddy leave the room with the slightly bowlegged walk of someone who'd spent the day in the saddle.
    The king shook his head and looked out the window.
    "We've tried. Heaven knows, we've tried," the queen said. "But she does not look like a princess, she does not act like a princess..."
    "Well...," said the wizard only to fill the silence, but he found himself the object of two expectant stares. He cleared his throat and tapped his fingers on his knees. He looked out the window. "It's not that she's unattractive—"
    "Princesses are supposed to be exquisite," the king said. "They're supposed to have