The old man paused and looked around his shop, casting a shifty-eyed glance at the shelves of little clay pots and blown-glass bottles containing his various herbs, potions, balms, salves, and poultices. Curt and Billie could only watch in mild confusion as he came out from behind the counter, turned the little hanging cardboard sign in the shop window from "Open" to "Closed," and then shut the venetian blinds.
"Because?" prompted Curt again.
"Ah . . . never mind," said the old man. "It is not important. I am sure that I can help you. Yes, quite sure . . . " With that, he turned his back on the two transformation-victims and began rummaging through a nearby shelf of potions and medicines, peering closely at each painted Chinese label in the now dimly-lit shop.
Billie and Curt glanced at each other, hopeful. They were both still sitting on the floor of the shop, tailfins flopping on the floor like fish out of water. They weren't really able to do much other than wait on the shopkeeper to finish his task.
"Aha," he said at last, picking out a small, wax-sealed pot. "This is just the thing!"
"That can cure us!?" asked Curt hopefully.
Without looking at them, the old man nodded. "It will be very good for you!"
After a moment's hesitation, Billie asked, " . . . Both transformations? Not just the, you know, the fish thing, but turn me back into a guy again?"
"Very, very good," murmured the old man, as if he hadn't even been listening. Then, with surprising agility, he dashed back across the shop, past the two still-flopping merfolk, and over to his little teapot on the counter near the cash register. He popped open the sealed pot, scooped a few spoonsful of some ominous, bright red powder into the tea, and then gave it the kettle a shake and a swirl. "Yes," he said again, "this will be perfect. Solve the problem right away."
"That's . . . that's good," said Curt, relieved. He let loose a sigh of relaxation. "Whew. I was really getting myself worked up for a while there. Afraid you weren't gonna be able to fix this."
"Yeah," said Billie with a snort, elbowing Curt in the ribs. "Or afraid that the whole shop was going to just up and disappear, like something out of a horror movie."
"Oh? Oh-ho-ho!" chuckled the old man. "Thought my natural medicines were Chinese black magic, did you? Like Lo Pan? Gizmo from Gremlins?" As he spoke, he continued to shake the teapot gently, letting the chemicals mix and steep. Then, after another minute or so, he produced two more small teacups and carefully poured out two doses.
"Uh, yeah," said Billie with a nervous chuckle. "Pretty stupid, huh?"
"Hey!" said Curt, annoyed. "This is still, like, spooky magic stuff, right? Freaking out is the normal, natural response."
"Are you saying that I should have been freaking out more?" asked Billie.
"Yes!" said Curt. "And for the record, I still think the only reason you're so calm about all this is — "
"Is because the stuff whammied my brain when it turned me into a girl, yeah, I got that part," said Billie.
By now, the shopkeeper had finished pouring the tea, and he brought the two teacups over to Billie and Curt. He stooped down, passed them the cups, and commanded, "Drink!"
"And this will fix us?" asked Curt, taking the teacup.
"Both of us?" echoed Billie, doing the same.
"Fix you good," said the old man. "Very good, good medicine."
Without another word, Curt and Billie eagerly took the teacups, gulped down the powder-spiked tea, and promptly lost consciousness.