It turned out the experts we needed lived right here in Dead End. Ollie and a few of his family members showed up soon after he called, and they brought his special kit. A large plastic tub, a hundred pounds of rock salt, and a case filled with special minerals and herbs.
While we watched, fascinated, the goblins filled the tub with Susan’s outdoor garden hose and then prepared the neutralizing bath right there on Susan’s driveway while we explained what had happened. Before Ollie dipped the magical items in the tub, though, he suggested we start with Mr. Butler.
Susan and Lizzie helped him out to the tub, and then we all helped him step into the tub, clothes and all. He abruptly sat down, submerging all the way to his nose, and his entire body relaxed. Sooner that I would have thought possible, Ollie pronounced him cured, and Susan helped him inside and up to bed.
When she came back down, we already had a human conveyor belt in action carrying the objects from the library to the driveway, and all of wore gloves. Ollie dumped each item in, one at a time, muttering the same incantation over and over, and then we put them all out on a large tarp to dry off.
Prism, who’d arrived with Ollie, confided in me she wasn’t going to travel to Iowa after all. “I never liked my brother much, anyway.”
From the way Ollie looked at her, I had a feeling Prism would soon become a permanent resident of Dead End. I was happy for them and even willing to forgive Ollie for the zucchini monster, now that he’d come through for Susan.
“Oh! Iowa! Wait!” I rushed over to my car and opened the trunk. Then I carried the Eeyore crystal ball in its wrappings over to Jack, who was nearest the tub. He unwrapped it to hand to Ollie. And wouldn’t you know the thing had to get in one last negative fortune?
Mist swirled, and the familiar letters formed. Everybody crowded around to look, because how could we resist? We all watched as the ball spelled out:
You
Will
Soon
Wear
Sequins
“What?” Ollie looked at us. “What kind of fortune is that?”
Jack glanced at his watch. “Whoops! I need to go home and get my tuxedo for the dance!”
Before we left, we made sure everything was under control. I hugged Susan and Lizzie, and I thanked Ollie and his brothers and Prism. Just before I ducked into my car, I flashed them all a huge, relieved sigh.
“His tuxedo. It’s sequined.”
And then we drove off, mysteries solved, mayhem managed, and magical objects neutralized. Not bad for a rare Saturday morning off.
I could get used to this.
40
Jack
The school auditorium was decorated to look like a winter wonderland, complete with fake snow. Shelley, who hadn’t let go of my hand for one moment since we’d arrived, was beaming, her face lit up like a super bright tactical flashlight.
Or, you know, something girly that’s also bright. Candles or something.
She had on the most adorable pink dress I’d ever seen, completely covered in sequins. I grinned, thinking of the Eeyore ball’s final prediction.
“Let’s go to the selfie station, Jack,” she urged, pulling me along.
When I caught sight of our reflection in the large mirror, I burst out laughing.
“What’s funny?”
“If my old soldier buddies could see me now …”
Shelley looked me up and down, and then she started to giggle and couldn’t stop. I’d pulled out all the stops for this dance because I’d been unbelievably touched when Shelley had invited me to go with her as a stand-in dad. Not even Tess had seen me in my sparkly finery.
Shelley’s best friend Zane wandered by and then did a double take, staring at me with his mouth open.
