Jinx On The Divide by Elizabeth Kay Read Free Book Online Page A

Betony. "They were created centuries ago, to store information, but they changed things. They were incredibly malicious, so they were all destroyed. Then -- quite recently -- K'Faddle found a way of removing the malice. They made their inconsistency and contrariness the selling
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    points, and sold thousands of them. Thornbeak called it a triumph of marketing."
    "Oh, hang on a minute," said Felix, opening his backpack. "That owner's guide ... there were advertisements for other K'Faddle products in the back. Here." He spread the book out on a shelf, and he and Betony read the following:
    Special offer!
    ***
    The K'FADDLE JINX BOX is a must! Amaze your friends, entertain your offspring, humiliate your teachers.... The K'FADDLE JINX BOX comes in three different designs -- invisible, Subtle, and Lurid. It has been manufactured to the very highest standards, and bewitched by a certified sorcerer.
    The invisible design comes with its own Here-I-Am case, so that you can find it. A favorite with japegrins, because it can be used as the basis for innumerable practical jokes!!!
    The subtle design suits the discerning buyer who is looking for a sound investment, we expect this
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    model of the K'FADDLE JINX BOX to become a collector's item.
    The Lurid design is for fashion freaks who want to be one flap ahead. It'll get you loved, get you hated, get you barred from Squeak & Squawk clubs.
    You can store an kinds of information in a K'FADDLE JINX BOX - but what comes out won't always be quite the same as what went mil! Read what some of our clients, past and present, have to say:
    "After we'd played Hunt the Haunch -- it was my birthday--I got everyone to throw an equation into my K'FADDLE JINX BOX drew something called Pythagoras' Theorem Never looked back after that."
    Bronzepipion, mathematician
    "I used my K'FADDLE JINX BOX to collect recipes, and every so often, it would change one of them. That was how I get my Rotten Toadstool Soufflé, it made my name as a chef."
    --Flourface, chief lickit in the palace kitchen
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    Order your K'FADDLE JINX BOX today, and be the entry of the roost!
    K'FADDLE & OFFSPRING, ZIGGURAT THREE, KAFLABAD
    ***
    "That one must be the Subtle design," said Betony, glancing at the box sitting on the shelf. "The collector's item. You only see the colors and designs you like best. Unless ... No. Surely not."
    "What?"
    "Well ... if it's been here for ages ..."
    "It might be one of the old ones?"
    "No," said Betony. "No, they were all destroyed. I'm sure they were."
    Hmm, thought Felix. Once something bad's been created, it's very hard to make sure it gets destroyed. Unexploded bombs and land mines are always turning up in my world. But all he said was, "I wonder what's stored in it?"
    "I'm not sure I want to know."
    "Whatever it is, it's only words," said Felix, thinking, At least it won't be nuclear waste or toxic chemicals.
    "What do you mean, only words?" said Betony. "Words are the most powerful magic of all. They create pictures inside your head -- how amazing is that?"
    "You know what I mean. It'll just be words that come out
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    of the box, not a sinistrom or a vamprey or a mad japegrin with an ax. We could take it with us."
    "You're joking," said Betony. "I wouldn't touch that thing for all the emeralds in Andria."
    They ate a few fertle fruits. Then they went back to the main chamber, where the brandee was curled up on his cushion, reading a whodunit about brass rubbing. They sorted out some cushions for themselves, said good night, and went to sleep.
    Despite the stone-throwing incident and the ragamucky's curious preference for carrionwings over brazzles, Fuzzy was still really excited about spending a few days in Yergud. She'd heard about the view of the double mountain from the main square, and she knew about Yergud's world-famous bookshop. There was a reference book on squawk music she particularly wanted, which laid out the mathematical structure behind the work of the most experimental bands --