The ball was barreling down toward him.

Winnie grunted, her tongue stuck between her teeth. “If I could just—”

The fish’s slippery body slid through her grip once again.

Ahmad kicked out wildly, hoping that his heel would manage to connect in time.

He didn’t want to die here, not like this.

And then, he felt something give under his heel.

The walls eased back, and he tumbled through, and kept sliding forward on the slippery tiles.

“Winnie!” he hollered. “Look out!”

At the same time, Winnie leapt to her feet, a golden glimmer caught between her cupped hands.

“Got it!” she crowed, only to be cut off with a gasp as Ahmad collided right into her. They tumbled into the center of the crushed tiles, feeling artificial wet and cold seep into their pants, and hugged each other as they turned to see the marble bearing down on them.

And then, the next thing Ahmad knew, they were falling through the floor.

CHAPTER TWENTY

AHMAD AND WINNIE SCREAMED as they tumbled and tossed down a watery slide.

“Where are we going?” Winnie called out, somewhere near Ahmad’s ear. They were tangled up together, the precious fish slapping its tail against Ahmad’s stomach and not at all helping with his queasiness.

“I don’t know!” Ahmad hollered back.

Moments later, though, they rolled out onto hard cobblestones. Ahmad glanced up, recognizing the flying car parked near them.

“We’re back out,” he murmured, awestruck.

“And we still have our prize!” Winnie, looking a little wild-eyed and windblown, still managed to grin as she reached for the fish. Moments later, though, her face fell. “Huh? What happened to it?”

There was nothing resting against Ahmad’s shirt but a shimmering jewel. Ahmad reached for it and held it up to the light. It glistened, first blue and then red, catching the light from the neon doorway. No key. And no lock.

He was disappointed but couldn’t take his eyes off of the stone in his palm. “It’s beautiful,” he said in a hushed voice. “Do you think this is part of the monkey’s eye?”

“Wait, you think this is part of the puzzle?” Winnie looked troubled. “Why would they give us some little extra piece instead of another carving?”

“I’m sure it fits in there somewhere,” Ahmad reasoned. He reached for his pocket, but Winnie reached out and grabbed his wrist.

“Not here!”

“Oh, right. Sorry,” Ahmad said, embarrassed. “So what do we do now, then?”

“What else?” Winnie stood and held out a hand to help him up. “We go back to Madame Nasirah’s shop and see if we can figure this out.”

Moments later, Ahmad was holding on to his seat rest for dear life as Winnie gleefully steered the flying car through the pink sky of Paheli.