Free Wizards by John Booth Page B

English when he was four. His comment upset Jenny who ran to him to put an arm on his neck.
    "We are certainly not going to turn you in for the reward," she said.
    The newspaper offered a million pounds reward for Fluffy. A lucky reader could get a hundred thousand pounds for his body if capturing him alive proved too difficult. The hills were already swarming with bounty hunters. Even reaching the cave unseen proved difficult, there were so many people walking about.
    "We'll have to move Fluffy from here," I said resignedly. "If he flies out during the night we should be able to avoid the hunters."
    "And take him where?"
    "The Highlands of Scotland. There are plenty of places up there with nobody around. Not to mention there are plenty of sheep and deer. He could live up there for years without being spotted."
    "You're running away from this, Jake," Jenny said angrily. "This is Fluffy's home."
    "Do you have a better idea?" I replied equally angrily.
    "Yes," Jenny said to my considerable surprise. I waited for her to explain, as I refused, on principle, to come out and ask her what she had in mind.
    "Jake, hop back to your bedroom," Jenny commanded.
    I started to walk towards the hopscotch court painted on the cave floor but she got up and stood in my path.
    "Without the court, Jake. Hop straight to your bedroom and then back here without using the court or any of the silly skipping."
    I wanted to tell her to 'get lost' as I couldn't see the point of any of this, but the look on Jenny's face made me take her seriously.
    "Princess Esmeralda may be fat and ugly," Jenny said, "But she isn't stupid. You can do much more than you think you can, provided you allow yourself to believe."
    The embarrassment associated with my earlier lie about how Esmeralda looked spurred me on to create the court in my mind and to mentally recreate my path across it. A second later, I was standing on the carpet in my bedroom. It took me three tries to get back to the Bat Cave, as I was so hyped up by my unexpected success.
    "Now take me with you to your bedroom," Jenny said as she put her arms around my neck and linked her hands together.
    "No sooner said than done," I said as I hopped us both to my room and dropped her onto my bed. I eased myself on top of her as she fell.
    "Get off me, Jake," Jenny said as she laughed. "We don't have time for that. Well, maybe later. Take us back to Fluffy."
    I rolled off my girlfriend and while she was in my arms, hopped us back to the cave. The rock floor was a little hard on my back, but it was worth it to see the look on Jenny's face.
    "Meep, meep, meep," Fluffy said, laughing at the two of us. After a half-hearted attempt to pummel me, Jenny burst out laughing.
    "Now we're ready," Jenny told us.
    "Ready for what?"
    "Ready to take Fluffy back to his mother."
    "Meep?"
    "You think I should fly out of this cave with Fluffy and hop us both back to the planet I stole his egg from?" I may be thick, but I'm not completely stupid.
    "Not quite," Jenny said determinedly. "Fluffy will be carrying both of us when you do the hop."
    "I can't. It's far too risky. Fluffy won't be able to carry the two of us," I prevaricated.
    "You're a wizard," Jenny pointed out. "You can either strengthen Fluffy's flying magic or simply add your own. You'll also need someone to talk with his mother when we get there. She might decide to eat you for what you did to him."
    "Meep, meep, meep."
    "You won't need to protect him, Fluffy," Jenny said quietly. "Leave that to me."
    "This just isn't going to happen," I told Jenny adamantly.
     
    Jenny got on Fluffy so she rode him just in front of me. The smell of Jenny's hair intoxicated me and I wanted to kiss and cuddle, but after the long fight we just had, it probably wasn't a good idea. I was still getting used to the fact that fighting Jenny always resulted in me losing.
    "Are you ready?" I asked.
    The word 'yes' from Jenny and 'meep' from Fluffy merged into a single sound of assent. I imagined