“Aren’t you coming with us?” Grodork asked.
“What on earth for?” snapped Saturna. “You don’t need me to help you find your way back, do you?”
“N-N-N-No,” quavered Neptuna. “We can manage.”
“Well, I hope you can also manage to get the next bewitchment right and not botch one of the best ones I have. I’m fed up with the two of you,” snarled Saturna.
This was all looking pretty bad to me. One of Saturna’s best bewitchments, and we had no idea what it was. But to my surprise there was a thin smile materializing on Miss Switch’s face.
“Perfect!” she muttered to herself. “She’s not going with them. Just what I’d hoped. My golden opportunity!”
I could see from her wide eyes that Spook had heard this, too. But we just exchanged glances and shrugged. Miss Switch had a plan, and we could only hope it worked. After all, we knew that even witches made boo-boo’s. This had better not be one of Miss Switch’s finest!
“Quick!” Miss Switch hissed at us. “Back to the broomstick!”
We crept hurriedly back to the place behind the rock where the broomstick was parked. Peering over the rock, we saw Grodork and Neptuna take off on their broomsticks. But Miss Switch waited a few more moments.
“I want to be sure Saturna isn’t standing there doing anything cozy like waving them off,” she informed us. Then she said that she wanted me sitting directly behind her on the ride back. No explanations. We all climbed on the broomstick. She put it in full throttle, and we zoomed off behind Grodork and Neptuna.
Now, this is something everyone probably knows, but I feel I should remind you that a broomstick in flight makes absolutely no sound at all. And, of course, broomsticks don’t come equipped with rearview mirrors. So as neither Grodork nor Neptuna had any reason to suspect someone was pursuing them, they weren’t bothering to look behind themselves.
“And Grodork is flying behind Neptuna … perfect!” said Miss Switch. “It’s just as I thought it would be. She has to lead him, otherwise he’d probably get lost. But now, Rupert, I’m going to have to give all my attention to maneuvering the broomstick, so I’ll need your help.”
“I … I’ll do whatever I can,” I said. “Give it to me, Miss Switch.”
“All right, then,” she replied. “What I’m going to do now is circle around and cross right over close behind Grodork’s back. Very close. His brain is so overworked following Neptuna, he’ll never notice.”
“Where do I fit in?” I asked nervously. Was Miss Switch going to have me climb on Grodork’s broomstick and wrestle him off it? Was Miss Switch forgetting I was just a skinny, eleven-year-old kid?
But Miss Switch had something else in mind. “Where you fit in, Rupert, has to do with this little bottle,” she replied, pulling it from her pocket. “As soon as I approach Grodork, I’ll pull out the stopper and hand you the bottle. When his back is right next to you, you’re to reach out and pour the contents of the bottle on him. Do you think you can manage that?”
“I … I guess so,” I said.
“But one thing I must warn you about, Rupert,” she replied. “Don’t get a single drop on yourself or Amelia. Be very careful!”
“What could happen if I did?” I asked.
“You don’t want to know, Rupert. Just do it!” Miss Switch ordered.
I have to say that this reply was not too calming on the nerves. Was it too late to get out of it?
But Miss Switch had already begun to describe a wide circle, and was pulling the stopper from the bottle and heading right for Grodork. I felt the bottle being thrust into my hand, and then there we were, right next to Grodork’s back! Grodork the warlock, mind you … not Mr. Dorking, Pepperdine’s beloved principal! My hand was shaking, but I managed to reach out and empty the whole bottle on him. Miss Switch was right, as usual. He never even turned his head as we streaked away. Furthermore, I didn’t get a drop on Spook or me, which was a very good thing, as I came to find out. Poison might have been preferable to what could have happened to us.
“What shall I do with the bottle, Miss Switch?” I asked as we circled around again and came up behind Grodork. I certainly didn’t want to hang on to it if a remaining drop might spill on Spook or me.
“Toss it, Rupert,” Miss Switch replied. “And watch, look, and listen. Something should be happening right about … now!”
The words had no sooner blown past our ears and into the night air, than we heard Grodork calling out.
“Neptuna! Neptuna!”
“You called?” Neptuna shouted back.
“I did! Oh, you dearest, darling, beautiful creature!” cried Grodork.
“Were you … you weren’t by any chance referring to me, were you?” shouted Neptuna.
“I was! I am!” moaned Grodork.
Neptuna did such an immediate about-turn that if she’d been in a car you would have heard the tires squeal. It’s a wonder she didn’t see us hovering in the background, but her eyes were too glued on Grodork to see anything else. She did another turn and ended up flying right beside him.
“When did all this happen?” she asked breathlessly.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “I was just zipping along behind you when all of a sudden it struck me that I can’t live without you.”
“M-M-Me? Really?” Neptuna asked. Her broomstick was wobbling so badly, I was certain she was going to fall off.
“Yes, you, my precious!” groaned Grodork. “You must come away with me now to my place. There, my pet, we will live happily forever and ever and ever and—”
“But … but what about Pepperdine?” Neptuna interrupted. “And what about Saturna?”
“Oh, poop on Pepperdine!” said Grodork. “And poop on Saturna! She can find someone else to do her
