"All right let's see what you kids got for me this time." A voice that almost cackled jarred Iago out of his pain-filled sleep. He looked up and saw a grey-haired crone whose hair at its most charitable could be described as frizzy. She had a bent nose with a wart on the end of it which showed signs that it had been rubbed often. She was missing several teeth and was dressed in a grey shirt with assorted stains and a black skirt.
"And you are?" He asked her.
"So, you children didn't pull Aunty's leg. You really have an intelligent parrot." She lifted up one wing and shook her head. "With those burns you may not have her for long."
"Madam." He informed her. "I'm a him."
"A he is more like it. Hee. Hee." She began poking him in various parts of his anatomy, eliciting grunts of pain.
She drew back and considered him while she rubbed her nose wart with one finger. "I see no broken bones. Possible fractures. The burns worry me though." She leaned forward and whispered to him. "Can you pay for my medicines? They do not come cheap and your rescuers certainly cannot pay my fees." She gestured at Sarah who held Rachel close to her while Jacob stared from a seat at the table.
Iago sighed. He held up one foot and showed her half the scarab. "Only I know where the other half is, madam. Can we come to an agreement?"
"The key to the Cave of Wonders." She said softly. She stared greedily at the half scarab. "Little birdy, we have a deal."
"I thought we might." He dropped the half scarab in her wrinkled hand.
"Mine. All mine. Power without end." She cackled as she clutched the half scarab in her fist.
'Oh great.' Iago thought. 'Another power-mad nut like Jafar. Why do I keep falling in with warped people like this? Isn't there anybody normal?'
The old lady laid him gently back down on the table. "He's badly hurt." She told Sarah and her family. "I have salves and ointments that will help, but he needs more than that."
"Stand back." She declared as she rolled up her sleeves. "I'm going to have to get drastic here."
"Drastic? What do you mean drastic?" Iago protested feebly. And abruptly he got his answer.
She cast her hands forward and a blue beam of magic streaked out from her fingers to strike Iago in the chest. His body rose into the air as a blue glow spread around it. To his horror she began to sing horribly off key. "The thingamabob that does the job is,"
"Not bibbidty bobbity boo!" He gasped. "I'm a bird, not a pumpkin. Anything but that."
"Bibbity bobbity boo!" She shouted and there was a flash of light out of which a bandaged Iago fell. However he was beyond protesting as he was unconscious.
She smiled as she put her equipment back in her bag. "I'll be back to check on my patient tomorrow. Keep him comfortable." She grinned evilly. "We wouldn't want anything to happen to such a valuable little birdy, would we?" She then left singing the song Iago couldn't stand.