At dinnertime, the children sat around the table to eat.
Bobby felt happy to be eating a meal again with his siblings.
"How did you know I was at the well?" he asked them.
"Aunt Martha was getting worried," Panther answered.
"We hadn't seen you all day."
"So when we couldn't find you, we decided to look in the woods," finished Cy.
"That's enough, Jane," scolded Panther.
Jane was taking more fried chicken than she could eat.
"Leave those for Bobby."
Panther took the plate away from her.
"That's okay. Jane can have them all," smiled Bobby.
The others stared at him in shock.
"You've been acting strange.
Are you okay?" Cy asked in a concerned voice.
Bobby nodded and carefully asked, "What did you do today?"
Cy yawned and replied, "It was really weird.
I feel like I've been sleeping all day."
"Me, too," said Panther.
"And I don't remember doing anything."
"I didn't have any dreams," Jane said, her mouth full of chicken.
"Aunt Martha says she thinks we went to Mr. Keefer's, but she's not sure," said Panther.
"Wait a minute."
Cy looked at Bobby suspiciously.
"Did you see Huey?
What did you wish for?"
So Bobby told them everything, and everyone listened and didn't say a word.
After Bobby finished, he hung his head in shame.
"I've always wondered what it would be like to be an only child," Panther said after a while.
"It's no fun, I tell you," Bobby said with feeling.
"I hope you appreciate what a great brother I am now,"
said Cy, spreading his arms dramatically.
As he did this, he accidentally knocked over the milk.
It splashed all over Jane, and she screamed loudly.
"Oh, Cy," Panther said in a motherly voice.
Bobby grinned. Everything was back to normal again.
The next morning, Jane was very excited.
She hurried everyone through breakfast.
It was her turn to make a wish.
"Have you thought carefully about your wish?"
Panther asked in a worried voice.
"Of course," Jane said impatiently.
"Maybe you should tell us what your wish is first," suggested Cy.
"No," Jane said, shaking her head.
"It's a surprise."
The other children looked at each other.
After their past experiences, they weren't as eager to make wishes as they had been before.
"Come on," Jane said and headed toward the door.
When they got to the well, Bobby held his breath.
He remembered that the bucket would not move the day before.
But Cy had no trouble as the rope smoothly pulled up the bucket, with Huey's shell inside.
The children called for Huey for a few minutes before he finally stuck his head out.
"Before you say anything," he started, "let me remind you once again."
He lifted two fingers.
"One, whatever you wish for ends at sunset.
Two, after you make a wish you must not bother me."
He stared at Bobby for a long time.
Bobby looked down at his feet.
"I cannot undo your wish," continued Huey, "so you have to think before you wish it."
Everyone except Jane looked worried.
Panther and the others wanted Jane to think before making a wish.
"But it's my wish," Jane said, smiling to herself.
"Can I make my wish now, Huey?" she whispered excitedly.
And it was only fair that she wish for whatever she wanted.
Jane clasped her hands together and, closing her eyes, she said,
"I wish we had wings."