Joy wasn't sure exactly why Alison would have locked her in handcuffs. Not that she couldn't take a few guesses, of course.
But she realized something, and went to the phone to dial Alison's number again.
"Hello?" replied Alison. Her voice was higher than it had been as Alan, but still rather low for a girl.
"Alison," said Joy. "Order me to reach into the air and pull you into this room."
"What?" replied Alison. But of course it was an order, so Alison obeyed it and gave Joy the order. "Reach into the air and pull me into your room."
Joy reached into empty space. Someone's hand was there... Alison's. She grabbed Alison's hand and through a shimmering hole that magically appeared, pulled on it, dragging the heavy girl through, arm first, until she fell out of the hole and onto Joy's bed.
"What's going on?" wondered Alison. "This is bizarre."
"Don't you see, Alison?" replied Joy. "This is almost as good as having a wishing stone! If we can order each other to do something and we do, it's like a wish. All we have to do is instead of using a wish, phrase it as an order. We can get the stone back from Karyn in no time.
"We can't make an order that cancels another order," said Alison.
"And we couldn't make a wish that cancels another wish. But the stone never lets you cancel another wish, while the orders only keep you from cancelling accidental orders. You can still cancel on-purpose orders."
"Hmm," said Alison. "So if I say, oh... Joy..."
"What?" replied Joy.
"So if I say... Argh. I can't say it! I wanted to order you to pull the stone out of thin air like you did me... but I couldn't say it. Tell me, did Karyn make a wish or something?"
"Yes," said Joy, obeying the order and telling her. "After we left, she made a wish that we couldn't give an order which would get the stone."
"Well, so much for that," said Alison. "But we should be able to think of something. Let's figure something out."
