Broom Racing 2 -- Words for Wednesday 12 February

 The prompts for February are provided by River at Drifting through Life.
 
1. Pizza
2. Vase 
3. Racing 
4. Chainsaw
5. Derelict 
6. Buttery

and/or:

Hand over the ham!

I continue the Broom Racing story where I left off last Wednesday.


  Some days later Astrid was out of the hospital room and the usual suspects met in the tiny room on the second floor. They were bursting with curiosity. Tage had been as good as invisible those last days, but today he too entered the small room.
  "I can't stay for long, he told them. Listen to me. I had to bribe David and his cronies with pizza and tell a high tale to get anywhere, but Astrid's suspicion is sound. They're up to nothing good. Listen well. I've got to leave. We're meeting down by the old, derelict shed in the meadow in five minutes. See you." And Tage left in a hurry.
  "Now why did he tell us where and when they were going to meet," Lis asked. "It's not as if we could go down there and listen in. That would sure be nice, though."
  "Yes ... going there .. Heidi said. Being invisible maybe, or just having very long ears.  I've got it!" Heidi jumped up. "I'm sure he has the old walkie-talkie still in his pocket. Do you also  still have the other one, Lis?"
  "Yes," Lis said smiling, "I do. And I bet you're right. You can sure use that brain of yours, Heidi. Here it is. Don't touch. You know you've got to press that button for speaking, so if we do not touch it, we can listen without danger of detection. Lis placed the walkie-talkie on the table among half eaten buttery cookies an old vase and notebooks. The other apprentices hurriedly cleaned all the stuff out of the way. Lis switched on the walkie-talkie and they waited. After only a short wait they heard Tage's voice: "Hi all, Here's the pizzas I promised you."
  "Wonderful," David answered. "Hand over the ham, and sit down over there."
  A lot of noise from pizzas being unpacked, cut up and distributed streamed out of the small loudspeaker.
  Then David spoke again:  "We can't let the yellow team win the race. I want to win. I deserve to win, I'm older than the lot of them, and more than half of them had never sat on a broomstick until last month."
  "What about Sif and Elvin, the two older Icelandic ones?" a small voice said. The apprentices in the room looked questioning at one another.
  "Well," David said. "Those two are old, true, but they are very supercilious. They think that they fly better, not because they are older, but because they somehow deserve it for coming from long line of wizards. I'm sure Thora somehow protects them from Martine's wrath when they do something wrong. Everybody does something wrong now and again, Have a slice of pizza, little boy. Did you not complain that they always come first and then smirk at you for not being in their class?"
  "Yes, I did," the small boys voice said, "but"
  "No more but, David said sternly. "Are you in or not?"
  "Of course I'm in!" was the answer.
  "Well, then. Let's plan." David said. "Tage, you and Bjørn keep a look out while we other do the broomsticks in."
  "Yes, David," came Tage's voice, loud and clear through the mic. Bjørn's was only a murmur in the background. 
  "Josh, you and Lukas use the chainsaw to cut into some of the brooms just above the twigs. Then they'll break some time when people is turning sharply."
  "Won't it be too noisy?"  a third boy's voice asked.
  "Nope," David answered. "It's not as if we're going to stay down there for ever. And small bursts of a chainsaw will not be noticed. While you do that, I'll hex the lot of them with a Vinstri-hex. That'll make the brooms switch right for left and opposite too. I could also do a Rugla-hex. That should make them absolutely unsteerable. But I'll make it so that the hexes are activated by the word 'byrjið' only. That way they'll seem fine in the beginning, only to act up once the racing opens. Well. That's a deal then, we meet down here Monday after  the flying lessons are over. OK?"
  "Yes, David," a chorus of voices said.

  Veronika looked incredulously at the walkie-talkie. Then she spoke: "Can he really do this?"
  "If he really can pull this off," Astrid said, "then he's a very good wizard indeed. Rugla - chaos that is - is a second level hex, and my parents always warned be against those time or word gated hexes, they're prone to backfiring, and are quite easy to detect for anyone looking for them."
  "Yes, but will anyone be looking?" Fiona asked. The brooms are checked after each lesson, never before. This means that all the brooms will be thoroughly checked Monday after our lessons. not Tuesday before the race." 
  "There must be a way ... we have some days yet. Let's meet again tomorrow. And meanwhile let's think!"