The Way of the Wizard by Richard Ashley Hamilton

Author:Richard Ashley Hamilton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon Spotlight

CHAPTER 10

TO BE, OR NOTENRIQUE TO BE

“Oh dear! And then what happened?” asked Nana Domzalski.

She adjusted her incredibly thick glasses before spooning cat food out of a tin can and into a porcelain thimble. Nana pushed the thimble across her kitchen table, and Chompsky took it into his tiny hand before remembering his manners. He turned and gallantly offered the first bite to the Sally-Go-Back action figure beside him. Despite her twenty points of articulation, Sally remained perfectly still. Chompsky shrugged and started chowing down all by himself.

“Neep, neep neep,” he said between nibbles, looking lovingly into Sally’s plastic eyes.

“I just love hearing stories of how couples met,” Nana said while pouring hot tea into two cups. “You know, Toby’s grandpa and I caused quite a stir when we first got together.”

“Neep?” inquired Chompsky.

“Everyone had an opinion about us,” Nana said, her gummy mouth curling into a nostalgic grin. “In the end, our love outlasted all the naysayers . . . even if my Horace didn’t.”

“What drivel,” muttered Dictatious from the corner. “A Gnome and a doll?! My vision may have failed me of late, but even I can see this ‘relationship’ is doomed.”

“Sounds like someone’s a little jealous,” Nana tittered behind her teacup.

Chompsky joined in giggling, gently elbowing Sally-Go-Back to see if she got the joke too. Sally just stared ahead, smiling pleasantly. Ignoring them, Dictatious sniffed the scent of the tea. He fumbled toward the table and grabbed the second teacup with his four hands. The Troll breathed in the aroma deeply . . . before dumping the tea on the floor and biting into the saucer with a satisfying crunch.

Oblivious to the destruction of her fine china, Nana once again pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and said, “This isn’t about seeing with your eyes. It’s about seeing with your heart. And I’ve got a good feeling these two lovebirds are gonna make it!”

Chompsky gave Sally a kiss on her clear helmet, then went bashful at this public display of affection. Everyone was in such good spirits at the moment—everyone except Dictatious, that is—they failed to notice how Nana’s tea started to ripple in her cup. . . .

• • •

“What a disgrace,” said NotEnrique, his two yellow eyes narrowed in disgust. “I mean, lookit ya. Talkin’ nonsense all the time. Stinkin’ up the house. Fallin’ flat on yer face whenever ya take more than two steps. For the love a’ Gorgus, don’t ya have any self-respect?”

The real Enrique gurgled in delight at the small Changeling perched on his crib like a gargoyle. With drool-lacquered hands, the baby reached out and grabbed two fistfuls of NotEnrique’s fur.

“Hey, watch me scruff!” NotEnrique wailed. “I’m not one a yer stuffed animals!”

The green imp shoved away the hands, losing a few tufts of hair in the process. Enrique’s lips quivered in abrupt sadness. Tears started to well in his enormous eyes.

“Aw swell, here come the waterworks,” the Changeling said in exasperation. “Isn’t that rich! I lose the

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