I drummed my fingers against my arm. ‘Let’s say I’m thinking about it. It’s just…’ I let my voice trail off.

Bob frowned. ‘Just what?’

‘It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to offend you. Go back to sleep.’

‘No, no, no, no! You can’t offend me. Tell Uncle Bob what the problem is.’

I fidgeted. ‘How do I know you’re any good? I mean, I know there’ll be side effects from any wish I make but what if the wish doesn’t work? I get all the nasty stuff to deal with and none of the benefits. I’d like to make a wish but I’m not sure I can trust you to be experienced enough.’

Bob’s jaw dropped. He stared at me as if I were mad. ‘Not experienced enough?’ he shrieked. ‘Not experienced enough?’ His voice rose to an extraordinarily high pitch. Any choir would welcome that sort of soprano.

‘Okay,’ I said hastily, ‘maybe you do have lots of experience. But you could be really rusty too. You said yourself that you lose track of time when you’re stuck in the blade. Who knows how long it’s been since you last did any wish fulfilment? I’m not sure I can take the risk.’

Bob was clearly aghast. ‘I am a wish expert. In the world of wishes, there is none better than me!’

I shrugged. ‘Prove it.’

‘Fine,’ he snapped. ‘Ask for something.’ He waved his little arms in the air. ‘Make it something small, mind. I’m not giving away the big stuff for free.’

I blew air out through pursed lips. ‘So asking you to cure a fatal disease would be a no-no, then?’

‘You bet your cute arse it would be.’

‘Hmm. Okay. How about you find an object? Lost and found has got to be pretty simple, right?’

He scoffed. ‘Yeah, right. You ask for the Hope diamond as a test and then you’re set for life.’ He waggled his finger at me. ‘No chance, sweet cheeks.’

‘Hey, you don’t need to retrieve the object. Just tell me where it is. If you don’t think you can do even that though…’

‘I can do that! Of course I can do that! What shall I search for?’

I tapped the corner of my mouth. ‘There was something in the paper yesterday about a jewel. Some kind of sapphire, I think. Lia Saifire, perhaps?’

He clicked his fingers. ‘Done!’

Placing two fingers on his temples, he closed his eyes and began to murmur. ‘Shamamamamamama.’

‘What on earth is that?’

He opened one eye and frowned. ‘Don’t interrupt me! I’m concentrating.’