Chapter Four

It was late morning across the land, and a figure in red was walking to the boatyard. She whistled as she walked, and occasionally kicked a pebble or scratched an itch. Totally innocent.

Wrong.

As soon as she reached the boatyard, she looked around for her Uncle Nicko. But looking didn't do much good, so she tried a second option.

"UNCLE NICKO!!!"

A man with his ears covered and a grimace on his face walked out of a shed. "Mmm? Oh, hi Sarah."

Sarah pulled a length of parchment out of a pocket, looked at it, and then said, "Yes, yes, hi, skip the chit-chat, I need to borrow a boat."

Nicko sat down on a bench and rested his chin on his hand. "Why, exactly, do you need a boat? Oh no—not a remake of the squid incident." Sarah shook her head. "No, I need to go to Great-Aunt Zelda's."

"Why?" Nicko asked. Sarah thought for a moment, and then said, "It's part of the Test." Nicko shook his head. "That poor kid. What did he ever do to you?" "Hey, it's the rules, buddy." "That you just so happened to have created yourself." "Expect to be glued to your bed tomorrow morning."

Nicko shook his head again. "No, I'm not going to let you borrow a boat. You don't even know how to work one!" Sarah pointed somewhere behind him. "He does."

"Hi, Sarah!" A kid her age was untangling himself from some rope as he tried to make his way over to uncle and niece. He had a stocky build and short dusty brown hair, and his eyes were a brilliant gold. He had a lopsided grin that showed on his face whenever he was pleased, and a black armband.

"'Lo, Rack" Sarah greeted him. Her face got serious. "Hey, Rack, do ya think you could take me and a few friends to the Marram Marshes tomorrow?" "Sure thing, Sarah" he said with that crooked grin. She turned her head to smirk at Nicko and said, "Thanks, I owe you one."

Before Nicko could tell her anything, she darted off along the way, turning off at a corner.

Rack stared after her. Nicko slapped him on the shoulder. "Get to work, kid. If you wanna have this week's pay, seeing as you'll be gone tomorrow, you need to get a lot of work done." Rack shook his head and jumped at his orders. "Yes, sir, I'll get right to it."

Sarah met her brother and cousins at the Palace. "Well?" asked Marcus, jumping out from a bush. "And you were wrong. That plant makes me itch." He scratched his leg for effect.

Nora slapped herself in the forehead. "That's because it's poison ivy, oh smart one." Silas snorted and Milo stifled a chuckle. Marcus frowned.

"Anyway, yes, we're going tomorrow." "Good" said Milo. "So who's taking us?" "Rack, the boatyard apprentice" Sarah replied. "How come Dad's not taking us?" asked Silas. Sarah shrugged. "Dunno."

"How come Rack agreed to take us, then?" wondered Marcus, scratching his arm. Silas snorted again. "Dude, haven't you noticed? He's heads over heels for Sarah." Milo and Nora started laughing and Sarah raised her eyebrows. "Huh. Well, you better start packing, cause it's early winter and we might get snowed in."

Silas did a salute and he rushed to his room. The others did so as well.

Sarah looked through her closet. She tossed about five identical tunics into her suitcase and then her notebook, a whoopee cushion, some fake barf, a length of rope, and a whole lot of money.

Nora packed everything Sarah brought, but with different pranks.

Silas brought the same. So did Marcus. So did Milo.

Watch out, Great-Aunt Zelda. Poor person.

Milo was sent to the Wizard Tower with a message. He went up the stairs and knocked on Septimus' door. He heard something explode and someone swore. "Well, there goes that one."

Septimus opened the door. He looked at Milo. "Come for Koran?" he asked. "I thought you had to go to Aunt Zelda's." "We do" replied Milo, "and he needs to come with us."

Koran walked up beside his mentor. His hair was smoking, his eyes were wide, and his face was covered in soot. "I need to do what now?" Septimus hesitated; "I guess I could let him off" he decided. He turned to Koran. "Get packed, you're leaving soon." Koran promptly fainted. Milo swiveled on his feet and left.

Meanwhile, Sarah was plotting. So far, she had written down:

Prank One: Before the Mott Closes

Step One: Tie one end of rope into circle big enough for leg. Loop it over a tree near the Mott, and have Marcus, Silas, and Milo hold the other end.

Step Two: Nora lures Koran outside, by the tree, and makes sure he steps in the rope. Ma, Si, and Mi pull until he's high up. Make sure that the Python is by the tree.

Step Three: Sarah grabs a plank of wood and gets joined by Nora. Silas grabs some scissors, and Sarah and Nora slam Koran into Mott immediately after Silas cuts rope. Python attacks. We all laugh hysterically.

Poor Koran.

Milo passed a message to her by means of their wall openings. "Dragon to Flower, do you read me?" "I read you, Dragon. Well?" "Uncle Sep agreed. Do you know when we're going to leave?" "I don't know, I guess I'll send somebody down to ask Rack."

Sarah went to her other wall opening and said, "Flower to River, do you read me?" There was a pause, and then: "I read you, Flower. What do ya need?" "Can you go down to the Boatyard and ask Rack when we're leaving tomorrow?" "Sure—hang on, Marcus wants to talk to me."

Nora was quiet, and then came back and said, "Marcus says that you should go down again. He wants to see Rack faint." Sarah rolled her eyes. "Hardy har har. Let's glue him to his bed tomorrow too." "Yeah. Wait, who else are you going to glue to their bed?"

Sarah didn't answer, and so Nora left. She walked down to the Boatyard and saw her father hammering away at something. "Hi, dad!" she called. Nicko looked up and grinned at Nora. "Heya, kid. Whatcha need?" "I need to talk to Rack." "Rack? Oh, he's just in the shed." "Okay."

But then Rack walked out of the shed, his golden eyes flashing in the sun, and tripped over a bucket. "Who?" he asked, looking up. "Just me" said Nora. "Sarah sent me to ask you when we were leaving tomorrow." "Oh, I think we're leaving at seven. But if that's a problem…" "No, that's fine. We usually wake up at five or 5:30 anyway, and we're all packed. See ya tomorrow."

Nora darted off across the Boatyard and shot along the Way as Rack scratched his head. "She looks like you. She's got your face" he said to Nicko. He nodded. "She's my daughter." "Oh."

Nora brought the message back for Sarah. And then the Princess had an idea.

A terrible, sneaky, down-right rotten idea.

An idea so horrible, so terrifying, that just a mere mention of it would chill all your hearts.

But did she listen to us? Noooo.

"I think we should have a going-away party." Nora blinked, and then shouted, "Sarah, it's 2:00 in the afternoon! We wouldn't have all the invitations out by 6:00! And where are we going to get the money to rent a stage, a karaoke machine, a whole lot of food, and tables in four hours?!"

Sarah grinned and fingered a $1000 bill. "Oh, I'm sure we'll find a way…."

Hoo boy.

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, this is just a follow-up to the shopping (Chap 5) and the party (Chap 6) and finally going to Great-Aunt Zelda's (Chap 7).