Heart of the Staff - Complete Series

by Carol Marrs Phipps

  “We're hungry,” said Rose.

  With the woodsses full of yummy thingsses to fill your belliesses with? What are you? Bessidess, neither of you lookss like you need to eat at all.”

  “How rude!” said Rose. “That's like me calling you a slimy reptile.”

  Spring gave a lunge, making Lukus struggle for a better grip.

  “Look, Ssweetheart,” said the snake, slithering closer. “I jusst tell it azth I ssee it. It issn't my fault if you two are fat. Maybe you sshould try eating pure ssukere sshootsses, athss I do. It givess you an incredible amount of energy.

  “Are we really...fat?” said Rose, practically unable to say the word.

  “Doess the ssun come up in the morning?” said the snake. “Ssorry ssweetheart, but I'm afraid sso. Quite, actually, not to put too fine a point on it. Now, how about letting Sspring go free?”

  Lukus set Spring upon the ground. “I apologize,” he said. “My sister and I are so hungry for anything besides sweets that the thought of a nice plump rabbit was more than we could bear. My teeth give me so much pain when I eat sukere that I don't know if I can stand another sweet. Would either of you know of anything to eat in these woods that's not sweet?”

  Snake and rabbit shared dumbfounded looks. “If you don't like to eat ssweetsses,” said the snake, “why don't you ssimply leave?”

  “We can't with the curse which keeps anyone from leaving, once they enter the forest,” said Rose.

  “Why, that cursse only binds Ugleeuh,” said the snake. “You've been destheived.”

  “She did lie!” cried Lukus. “I was right. Rose! We can go home!”

  “That's wonderful news! Now all we need to do is figure out how to get out of here without getting caught by her. I don't know about you, Lukus, but I'm already lost.”

  “I thought you said you wouldn't return to Ugleeuh's, no matter what.”

  “I guess I haven't thought things through so well, Lukus. This place is enchanted and she controls it. I don't know if we can make it out or not.”

  “You said we had to try. We can't just stay with her. She's lied about everything from us being stuck here to the venomous sparrows. We can't begin to trust her to let us go, once Niarg releases her. And I don't want to go back there, ever.”

  “So where do we go? It's just a matter of time until she gets here, and we'd better have a good hiding place before she does.”

  “I've a nice cozy den,” said Spring. “You could stay with me if you don't kill me and eat me.”

  In spite of what the snake said, Rose and Lukus were astonished by a talking rabbit, particularly one so immediately forgiving.

  “Sspring. How could thesse two ssqueeze into your den? They'll be needing ssomething much larger.”

  “Oh dear,” said Spring. “Shot 'n' Stop, you're right. Say! We can take them to see Fuzz. He has a huge den with a door made for him. Even these two could fit through.”

  “This is wonderful,” said Rose, “but could you not keep calling us fat? It's quite tiresome.”

  “Oh I know what you mean, Ssweetheart,” said Shot 'n' Stop. “'Sslimy reptile' jusst putss me to ssleep.”

  “We're sorry,” said Spring. “We're just trying to solve your problem. I'm fat too.”

  “I take sspells, mysself!” said Shot 'n' Stop. “It'ss jusst grand, lying about after sswallowing a big pink cake.”

  “Pink?” said Lukus. “What kind of flavor is that?”

  “That'ss vulgar!” said Shot 'n' Stop, drawing back with a jerk. “No ssnake truly after ssukere tastes anything. But we're wassting time. If we're to reach the bear'sses den before dark, we musst go now.”

  “Fuzz is a bear?” said Rose, as they set out through the woods.

  “That'ss what I ssaid...”

  “But what kind of name is 'Fuzz' for a bear?”

  “Fuzth iss sso named becausse fuzth iss all he hass,” he said, slithering along like a frantic rubbery whip. “He hass no worthwhile fur, jusst misserable fuzth. Undersstand? And I'm called Sshot 'n' Sstop becausse...well, you can ssurely ssee why.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” said Rose. “So, is it far to this Fuzz-bear's den?”

  “Not too far beyond the nexst dell. If we don't dally, we sshould be there by dussk.”

  Chapter 41

  Rose and Lukus found it hard to talk and keep up with Spring and Shot 'n' Stop through the woods. “What are we going to do at this bear's den, Rose?” said Lukus as he caught his breath. “We can't stay there forever. And I wouldn't trust a bear much more than a witch. Bears do maul people to death, don't you know.”

  “Oh go on Lukus. I'm sure that if this bear were dangerous, Spring and Shot 'n' Stop wouldn't be taking us to him for protection.”

  “Yea? Maybe, but how well do we know those two? We just met them, after all, and we had every intention of eating Spring for supper. This could be their way of getting rid of us. They can't get rid of us by themselves, but the bear sure can. They got us to follow them and they're both staying completely out of reach.”

  “Yea. And just how do we know that these enchanted creatures, who tell us that they are at Ugleeuh's beck and call, aren't actually leading us right to her?”

  Lukus stopped short, wide eyed.

  Rose smacked his shoulder. “You bean brain! These animals are prisoners, just as we are. Didn't you see their eyes when they were talking about her? They're just as terrified of her as the dorchadas were. Now stop inventing problems.”

  “What are those things?” hollered Spring, as he waited for them to catch up, wriggling his nose at a clearing in the woods just ahead.

  “The unicorns!” cried Lukus. “Those are the unicorns, aren't they Rose?”

  “They must be. Oh, just look at what's become of them. They're so fat. And look at their horns! Their hooves and horns have turned to peppermint.”

  “So these, what, 'unicorns' you call them, aren't dangerous?” said Spring. “Couldn't they run you through?”

  “Never,” said Rose as she and Lukus walked carefully up to Mystique.

  Mystique chewed aloofly on the bark of a peppermint tree as Rose lightly patted her withers.

  “What's happened to you, girl? You were the most beautiful unicorn in the kingdom, and look at you now.”

  Mystique broke off a piece of bark with a nod and struggled to focus her eyes upon Rose. “Do I know you?” she said at last.

  “You talk!” gasped Rose. “Why, of course you know me. I'm Princess Rose of Niarg and you're my unicorn. I've fed, groomed and ridden you and told you my secrets ever since I was little.”

  “Ohm,” said Mystique, chewing her bark as she studied Rose from head to toe. “Well, you're certainly too fat for me to recognize.”

  “What an awful thing to say! Why are you making fun of me?”

  “No more than you did me, child,” she said with a stamp of her foot and a quiver of her hide to discourage a huge fly. “Don't you like what I have to say, now that you can hear me? Either way, if you don't mind, I'm in the middle of my meal.”

  “Well I do mind,” said Rose. “That sukere is terrible for you and you must stop eating it at once.”

  “I'm no longer at your command, Princess,” she said with a toss of her mane. “I happen to like what I've found to eat here in this fabulous woods and I intend for to stay here and to go right on eating it for the rest of my days.”

  “Fine! But just remember that if you keep eating this poison, the rest of your days won't amount to much. I guess it's your choice, but remember that I cared enough about you to warn you.”

  “Oh, I'll keep it in mind,” said Mystique around a fresh cud of peppermint bark, “any time I have no choice but to think of you.”

  “Rose,” said Lukus. “Starfire, over here, won't come with me on the grounds that I never fed him any sukere, the whole time I rode him. I guess he'll just have to stay here and rot, don't you reckon?”

  “Don't get me wrong, Prince Lukus,” said Starfire with a snort. “
You've not been half bad, impetuous flank kicker that you be. You simply have no way of offering me anything to equal all this.”

  “Come on, Lukus,” said Rose, looking very crushed. “This makes another good

  reason to upset Ugleeuh's plans.” After a step or two, she suddenly turned back to the unicorns. “What happened to the panniers you each had on your backs when Ugleeuh sent you out here?”

  Mystique looked up from her endless feast with a toss of her head at the far end of the clearing. “Right yonder. We bore them for an interminably long time,” she said.

  Lukus and Rose dashed for their packs. They found their dried provisions all still in good shape in spite of having spent the summer in the leaves. They were champing and chewing before they ever took the time to sit down.

  “You really like that stuff?” said Spring, wide eyed on both sides of his head.

  “Magnificent,” said Lukus, waving a piece of cheese. “Have some.”

  Spring jerked back from a careful sniff. “My word!” he said with a shudder. “No thank you! Ugleeuh's rotten old socks.”

  “Suit yourself, but you're mighty welcome,” said Lukus, as he bit off a great hunk of the cheese.

  Rose looked up from her meal with a wrinkled nose. “What is that awful stench?” she said.

  “Why that rotten stuff you're eating,” said Spring.

  “Oh go on. This stuff's good,” she said. “Up in the air. Can't you smell it?”

  “Oh that. Just a skunk about. Nothing to worry about. It's getting to be evening, you know.”

  Just as Rose was tying shut her bags, the source of the smell waltzed daintily out of the brush, into their midst.

  “Oh please don't run away,” it said in a silky wee voice. “I'm not in the least hurtful to any living thing, and I do crave company so very much. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sweetcheeks, and my spray is pure and sweet, and I promise that I shan't use it in commanding strengths unless called upon to come to the defense of this party.”

  “Well indeed, I'm sure,” said Rose. “It's just that we have very little time, you see. We must reach our destination before nightfall. In fact, our very lives...”

  “Yes,” said Spring. “Prince Lukus and Princess Rose, here, are so pressed that they never really gave me a proper introduction and I'm the very one leading them.”

  “My,” said Rose. “I should say not.”

  “And I quite understand,” said Spring. “We just need to need to be moving. It's dangerous for us be out.”

  “I certainly do see the urgency here,” said Sweetcheeks. “Carry on then, by all means. However if you don't mind, I shall tag along and visit.”

  “There goes Spring,” said Rose, wrinkling her nose for Lukus. “It's going to be hard to keep up.”

  “I understand perfectly,” said Sweetcheeks, scurrying away after Spring at a speedy little trot, tail waving aloft like a black and pink ostrich plume.

  Evening was upon them. The shadows were long and it was cooling off, while away through the timber, a mint owl wailed. Soon Spring recognized that they weren't far from Fuzz's den. “We ought to run,” he said.

  Rose and Lukus were already running, right to the foot of a great steep hogback. Up they went with everything they had, tramping and huffing as their legs and chests burnt like fire. By they time they thought that they could stand no more, they were over the top, running down a long gentle slope, dodging trees in the failing light. Just as they came to another hogback, they found Fuzz sitting outside his den as if he were expecting them.

  “Hello there my friends!” he called out, getting to his feet.

  Rose and Lukus were astonished at the sight of him. He had an apt name, all right, for his skin was indeed covered with a thin, nearly velveteen chestnut fuzz, but that fact didn't prepare them for the shock of his looks. He was scrawny, long necked and huge headed, with stubby limbs and a ponderous melon for a paunch that scarcely cleared the ground when he stood.

  “So,” he said as he grandly ushered them through his open door. “Please introduce me to these two lovely humans and we can all enjoy a long overdue visit.”

  Rose was amazed at the spaciousness of his den, laid out like a house with many rooms. She found his courtly bearing even more curious. She could scarcely take her eyes off him, trying to figure out how he managed to seem so urbanely poised as he waddled about with his huge belly, seating them in his parlour.

  “Ugleeuh is undoubtedly trying to find these two young humans as we speak” said Spring.

  “My word!” said Fuzz.

  “Which they obviously don't want to have happen,” said Spring with a shudder. “This is Princess Rose... And this be Prince Lukus of Niarg. And they happen to be Ugleeuh’s very niece and nephew and hostages for the ransom of her freedom against their parents, the king and queen of Niarg, and if that's not enough, the old witch insists that they owe her for rescuing them from the dorchadas's kettle.”

  “Is that so?” said Fuzz, bobbing up from his bow with a look of keen interest. “Well, I’m not exactly a knight in shining armor here, in case you didn’t notice, so just how could a ragged old bear with no hair be of any service? I certainly am at your service, but frankly, I'm not sure how much an old has-been can do.”

  “Well...” said Rose, “it’s just that we don’t have anywhere else to go at the moment, Mr. Bear, sir. You see...”

  “Just 'Fuzz' would be fine with me, Princess.”

  “Then 'Rose' by all means.”

  “Thank you. As you were saying?”

  “Well, my brother and I left home on a foolish quest and ended up as Ugleeuh’s prisoners,” she said, as she studied the huge scar running down his forehead to his cheek. “At first we didn’t realize how very evil and dangerous she is, even though she held us captives, but as time went by, we knew that we had to escape. She made us think that the spell held everyone prisoners here, so we thought we were truly trapped. But then we met Spring and Shot ’n’ Stop and found out that she'd lied and that it only held her captive...the spell I mean. So we decided never to go back to her cottage, and we needed to hide, but we couldn’t fit into Spring’s den, so he suggested that we come here. And so here we are. But please don’t worry, since we aren’t planning to stay here long because we decided that just as soon as we can figure out how to get out of this forest, we shall. Does that clear up everything?” She felt oddly flustered, very much as she was younger and introduced to some particularly commanding personage in court.

  “My!” said Fuzz, with twinkling eyes. “I suppose if you give me a moment to let my mind catch up with all you've said, I'm quite sure it does.”

  “Oh, I'm sorry Fuzz. I didn’t mean to ramble on that way.”

  “Quite all right, quite all right. Think nothing of it. You're surely weary from your travels. Please have a seat. We'll have some refreshments and get to know each other better, and then we can all get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow will be soon enough to worry about getting the two of you out of the forest.”

  “Yes. My brother and I want nothing more than to go home to Niarg. “But meanwhile, I do want to thank you for your kindness and hospitality, Fuzz. In fact,” she said, turning aside to the others, “Lukus and I are grateful to all of you for your help. We would never have gotten this far without it and we are truly grateful. I only wish there were something we could do to repay each of you.” She looked helplessly at Lukus.

  Lukus shrugged and looked sheepish. For a moment no one knew what to say.

  “I'm sure that I speak for all of us here when I say that you're absolutely welcome,” said Spring, speaking up at last. “It's quite strange for us, living under Ugleeuh's thumb, to be thanked by a human for anything at all. We're so used to jumping when barked at by her, with no thanks at all in return, that it feels right exceptional to be recognized for our efforts by two very nice young people. Believe me, your kind words are reward enough for this humble company,” he said as his oratory began to falte
r. “So Fuzz, am I keeping you from those refreshments?”

  “Not at all,” he said. “I was just listening. I'll have some tasty tidbits right away.” He hurried off to a passageway from his kitchen.

  “I'd be happy to help,” said Rose, following at his heels.

  “Very good of you Rose,” he said, with a kindly but ever so toothy smile. “I'd love your help, but you must be careful to enter this passage quietly so as not to disturb my pets. They're no doubt still sleeping, since I've not heard a peep out of them this evening.”

  “No problem,” she said. “I can be as quiet as any mouse.”

  “Very well then. Let's go.”

  Rose wondered what kind of pets a bear kept, as she followed Fuzz into the dark passage. He paused to light a lantern. “Bats!” she squealed. The bats exploded into a fluttery uproar, dropping from the walls and ceiling into a churning swarm, getting into her hair. She screeched with loathing as she bolted from the passage into the light and sat upon the floor between the kitchen and the parlour. The frightened bats darted wildly around both rooms and the surprised company, before suddenly all turning as one to fly over Fuzz's head, disappearing into the darkness whence they had come.

  “I'm so sorry!” said Fuzz, as he knelt beside her. “I'd forgotten all about humans being frightened by bats. I should have explained about my pets before we went to the pantry. I know they've given you a scare, but please rest assured that they'd never harm you. They just go to pieces when something new happens.” He gently helped her up. “Now, you just sit by your brother and I'll be back quick as a wink with something toothsome to make you feel better.”

  “I think I just need some rest, if you don't mind,” said Rose. “I've had an awful lot of excitement for one day and I've no appetite at all. Would it be too rude of me if I just went to bed?”

  “Why of course.”

  Lukus chose to stay for the sukere refreshments in spite of Rose's glances at him on her way out with Fuzz.

  She had just gotten comfortable in her bed of straw when he entered. “Couldn't say no, aye?” she said.