Chapter Thirteen

"Have the police called, Anthony?"

"No, Jeannie. Is there anything you can do, or we can do, to search for him."

"I'm afraid not. But maybe we can get my old friend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to help find him. As I was saying to him, when he was writing his book, . . ."

"No Jeannie, I don't think he could help.

"Of course he couldn't help, the old fuddy duddy," said Jeannie's sister, appearing in the Nelson home. "But I can, darling."

"It's you again," said Colonel Nelson. "What do you want now?"

"Oh, I think I can help find my nephew. That is, Tony baby, if you let me."

"Oh sister," said Jeannie. "You have come to help us. I am so glad you have come to help us save Tony."

"I forgot what a square you were, darling. I will help you save Tony Junior. But only if I get Tony Senior in return."

"Ooh, you have not changed at all. You shall not have my master."

"Suit yourself, darling. But it will be centuries before you see your son again. He's trapped in his bottle, and he's not going be out for years and years.

"His bottle!" said Jeannie. "My son is not a genie. We tested him when he was born, We tested him again when he decided he wanted to be an astronaut.

"He has near-normal reflexes, normal strength, pretty normal reaction times, he photographs, there's no chance he had magical powers," added Colonel Nelson.

"That was then, this is now, you fuddy duddies." said Jeannie's sisters. She produced the three Polaroids, and floated them in front of the Nelson's. One with the out of focus Tony smiling beside his invisible aunt, the picture of the stunned, transparent Tony Jr. with the rabbit on his head. The next picture showed part of a Harley Davidson bike, and a watch and a wallet suspended in the air. "He wasn't a genie, until I taught him how to be one, darling," she told Jeannie.

"Where is he sister," said Jeannie.

"You can't do that to him," shouted Colonel Nelson.

"Like I told you, he's in his bottle." Jeannie's sister smiled.

"All young genies must immediately report to their bottles to serve their first master," Jeannie explained.

"So he's someone's slave?" asked Colonel Nelson.

"Not until his bottle is found. That can take two thousand years."

Jeanie's sister laughed. "Don't worry, darling, I'll let him free as soon as he has his full powers."

"Ooh, that will not be for a hundred years. Anthony will never see him again. Tony will be imprisoned for an entire century."

"Like I said darling, that will happen only if Tony does not come with me."

"That will never happen," said Jeannie.

"Over my dead body," said Colonel Nelson.

"That can be arranged, darling," said Jeannie's sister. She blinked in a guillotine. Jeannie blinked it out again.

"When you reconsider, don't call me, I'll call you," Jeannie's sister vanished.

"Jeann-ie! What's going on?" asked Colonel Nelson.

"Do you know how Tony's picture always developed out of focus?"

"Yes, Jeannie."

"It meant he was never completely human."

"Yes he was, Jeannie. That's why I had Tony do those tests. To see how human he was. To make sure he had no advantage in sports. To make sure he could be a real astronaut."

"It meant master, that if he could manage to do a little magic, no matter how small, he'd become a genie. But first, someone would have to of taught him to do it. They would also have to trick him into believing that he had already done it."

"Why couldn't you blink him in?"

"A genie can't summon another genie if the other genie is in their bottle."

"How do we find him?"

"I do not know, Anthony.'

"Wait, maybe Roger's son has him. How else did he suddenly win a trip to Europe? It would be just like that greedy kid, and just like Rog himself, to use Tony to blink in yachts, castles, and billions of dollars."

"It can not be master. If Roger had the bottle, Tony would of been let out by now. And my son would go home. Tony would call home right away. He would not readily commit himself to the duties and privileges of a genie. He would not just stay there and grant wishes."

"If it's not Roger's son, then where's the bottle. Is there anyone besides your sister who can find it."

"Anthony, you are brilliant. Hadji, the chief of all the genies, can find every bottle and every genie in the world, with a blink of the eye.'

"Is he the one's whose son came here to apprentice the night I had dinner with President Nixon? The one who introduced Roger to his wife?"

"He is the one" said Jeannie. She called out "HADJI." There was a small earthquake, a loud gong sounded, and a cloud of smoke appeared as Hadji arrived.