Peter Carrot-top

by Yolanda Jackson

  Chapter 21

  Meeting the Elders

  Long rugs were made of the finest cotton; a flame

  blazed in the background, awaiting the elders, and there

  were three waterfalls that showed the faces of the elders

  in the water. The walls seemed to grow as one entered the

  room, and the halls had hieroglyphic pictures of every

  beast and creature known in the world of Baja, and beyond.

  The seats where the elders sat were made of pure gold

  with rubies studded all over the arms and legs. Around the

  room were the sarcophagi of twelve people in a glass case;

  they seemed to be so real. As Peter went over and looked at

  the glass casing, the sarcophagi seemed to move! It gave

  Peter a fright, and he quickly jumped back screaming.

  Michael was a little afraid too; he was not that big tough

  guy as he acted as in school.

  The walls of the temple changed colors, and there was

  an opening that led to another room, but Peter remembered

  what his father said, and placed the key in the golden box

  on the side of the largest throne. He quickly put his hands

  over the golden box, and the key melted like butter on hot

  toast! It became nothing more than liquid gold that slid

  down a hole in the golden box and disappeared. But, what

  was really happening was that the key was opening each

  elder's hibernation box. The key Peter had was the eighth

  and final one, making the chain reaction complete. Mr.

  Stewart burst through the window, and Mr. Carrot-Top was

  right behind him.

  "You're too late, he already did it," said Michael to

  Mr. Stewart.

  Mr. Stewart pushed Michael and Peter out of the way.

  "You dumb little brats!" he said as he tried to stop the

  chain reaction of the eight keys.

  But Mr. Stewart could not find where the secret

  opening was. As Peter got Mr. Stewart in his sights, he

  tried to create a hole, but it did not work.

  "Son, no one's powers work in this temple but the

  elders," said Sam Carrot-Top to his son.

  "Yeah, you silly brat," said Mr. Stewart as he

  patiently waited to see if the key really would work.

  Everyone waited patiently; Mr. Stewart paced the room

  back and forth, he bit his nails constantly, waiting for

  something to happen, but nothing did.

  Meanwhile, back outside, the piranha lion plant had

  devoured all the stone army men, and it was time for Jane

  to destroy it. She did not want to; she began thinking of

  Oscar, her beloved cat that died in the forest. But she had

  no other choice; even though she was the lover of plants,

  she had to destroy this one because of its sheer size and

  the destruction it would cause. The plant would eat just

  about anything in sight and never stop eating.

  Jane kissed the flower good-bye, and injected it with

  the poison. Then, just like the plants Jane once cared for,

  this plant became sick and withered away. Slowly it lost

  its strength; Jane could not watch, so she just started to

  walk away. When she did take a sneak peek back, the plant

  was gone, withered and blown away by the wind.

  Samantha comforted Jane in her arms, but there was

  little time for crying. Jane had to go to the temple and

  see if her son and husband were all right. After the

  battle, the people started to come out into the square

  again; they were told that Peter had reached the temple.

  The people sat in the square and waited for word.

  Meanwhile, Peter's friends and Jane headed to the temple.

  Clara's mother tried to stop her, and told her not to go,

  but Clara insisted that her friend might need her. She

  convinced her mother that she would be all right.

  Meanwhile, in the temple, Peter and Michael, along

  with Mr. Carrot-Top and Mr. Stewart all waited.

  "Maybe we are too late," said Peter to his father.

  "No, we are right on time," said Mr. Carrot-Top.

  Soon the lights dimmed, the walls moved, and the stone

  structure rocked. Twelve tombs came out of the ground with

  a loud roaring noise, instead of the eight Peter had

  expected. The tombs were glowing with the codes of Baja.

  One by one the tombs glowed; they were the most beautiful

  coffins anyone could lay their eyes on. Each one was made

  out of some type of antique wood, and the codes on them

  seemed to be hand-carved. There were symbols and drawings

  on each one that were drawn with golden ink of some sort.

  One by one, the coffins flew into the air; they formed

  a circle and danced around. Each coffin stood over a

  throne; then they opened and the elders came out. They were

  like heavenly bodies! Peter's and Ben's eyes grew larger as

  they gazed upon the elders that they had always heard their

  parents talk about. Each elder was different, but they all

  looked alike. They were some sort of Egyptian pharaohs, all

  off a different color, but they all looked alike at the

  same time. They were brown skinned, red, blue, yellow,

  orange, purple, green, white, black, pink, Burgandy, and

  multi colored. All of the elders were adorned with large

  crowns with hieroglyphics and gems. The skins of the elders

  all glowed with the codes of Baja. Their eyes were jet

  black, as if they could see inside someone's soul.

  Peter and Ben were afraid, they did not know what to

  do or what to say as the elders awoke. They opened their

  mouths and looked up to the heavens as some sort of mist

  came floating into their mouths. Then from their mouths

  cockroaches came out and fell dead to the floor. This

  freaked Peter out, and he ran and hid behind his father.

  Sam Carrot-Top knew not to speak without the elders'

  permission, but apparently Patric Stewart did not heed

  this, and he approached the elders. He was struck to the

  floor.

  The head elder, which was the yellow one, held onto a

  glass sphere to see what had happened to Baja in the last

  ten years that they had been hibernating. What the elders

  saw was most pleasing, but when they got to the present,

  they were very disappointed.

  "Come forth, Sam Carrot-Top," said the yellow elder.

  The elder touched Sam Carrot-Top's heart and searched

  it very well; he saw his hurt and his pain. Then the elders

  all joined thoughts to see what the one elder was seeing.

  They saw all of Sam Carrot-Top's pain, they saw how he was

  wrongly accused of betraying Baja, and the elders

  apologized to him, and gave him a disc of honor. It was

  filled with smaller magical symbols, and the elders told

  him that he would know what to do with it when the time

  came. Peter continued to hide behind his father.

  "Come forth, my child," said the yellow elder.

  As Peter came forward, he was still afraid. The elder

  then searched Peter's heart, and saw all the good that he

  had done. The elder gave Peter back the key and glove, and

  told him that he could choose to keep the glove and go on

  saving the galaxy, or he could give it back and pas
s it on.

  Peter loved the adventure, but was afraid to disappoint the

  elders.

  They read Peter's mind and said, "You would not

  disappoint us."

  Peter was a little shocked to know that they knew his

  every thought. The elder acknowledge all of Peter's

  friends, those who started out as his friends and those who

  just became his friends. Peter decided to keep the key and

  glove, which was very pleasing to the elders; it showed

  that he had character, even though he was afraid to mess

  up. He did not take the easy road, which was to give it up;

  he took the road least traveled and very scary.

  "I know a war is coming, and you're afraid," said the

  head elder to Sam Carrot-Top. Sam acknowledged the elder.

  "Don't worry, we will be fine," said the elder.

  Soon Jane and Peter's friends came bursting into the

  temple, ready to fight with Mr. Stewart. When they saw that

  the elders were present, they quickly knelt down to them.

  For the first time, the children were seeing a group of

  mystical creatures that they only used to hear their

  parents talk about. Jamyra and Clara could not stop staring

  at the elders; they were so strange looking, like nothing

  they had ever seen.

  The elders acknowledged the children and their part in

  saving Baja. Each got a medal that was unique to each

  child; soon they would find out what their medals could do.

  Then the elder called Jane up to the throne. He touched her

  heart and saw her pain, and like her husband, she was also

  given an apology and a secret disc. The elders reminded the

  Carrot-Tops that they were chosen for this task, that all

  that happened to them was already written in the codes.

  Jane let out a tear, and from behind the elders walked

  Oscar.

  "Oscar, is it really you?" said Jane.

  "Yes, the one and only," said Oscar.

  Jane forgot all of her problems as she rubbed her

  hands through Oscar's fur. "I missed you so much," she

  cried.

  Oscar just licked Jane on the face and sat next to

  her. The elders let Jane know that they would have brought

  her mother back, but she was more comfortable in another

  world. The elder told Jane that she would see her parents

  one day very soon; just right now, the time was not right.

  Jane accepted the elders' wishes and never mentioned her

  parents again.

  The elders then turned toward Mr. Stewart, lying on

  the floor. They scolded him for betraying their trust. When

  he saw that he would not convince the elders to trust him,

  he opened fire on them with his magic wand. But it did not

  hurt the elders; they were protected by a force field. The

  elders mentally lifted Mr. Stewart into the air and placed

  him inside a huge animal carcass that lay behind the walls.

  Mr. Stewart screamed until he became horse. The bugs inside

  the dead carcass ate him alive; all the powers he had, and

  he could not get out of the animal rib cage.

  "That is his sentence for betraying us," said the head

  elder.

  For the first time, the elders decided to go outside

  and meet the people; it was time to give the people hope.

  It was time they knew who they were fighting for, and who

  they should be loyal to. All twelve elders rose from their

  thrones and floated out the door into the town. The people

  of Baja were in total awe; they pointed and stared at the

  elders, their hands waved in the air, wanting to be touched

  by just their garments. As the elders gazed upon the

  townspeople and saw that they were afraid and fighting for

  the land of Baja, the elders promised them bounty as they

  could never conceive.

  "There will be plenty according to your good deeds,"

  said the elders.

  But first, there was a war coming, and the elders had

  to go and mentally prepare for it. They sought out David

  and Dorothy Carrot-Top, and told them even though one of

  their sons was evil, they would have mercy on him because

  of their good deeds. All Dorothy could do was cry and show

  great appreciation to the elders by bowing to their

  request. As the elders went to prepare for the mental

  challenge ahead, all the people could not believe what they

  had just witnessed. They were afraid, but they were happy

  to see after all these years a face that would save them.

  The people were now filled with hope; they were ready

  to fight and put an end to the war. Then they heard

  marching coming forward and there was also a foul odor in

  the air. This time it was not Sam or Steve, it was a group

  of Bella's beast; they had now entered the outer rings of

  the mainland of Baja. The alarm went off.

  "Now it is time to unveil my newest creation," said

  David.

  Everyone gathered around to see what his new invention

  was. David was the father of invention, he seemed to make

  anything he could dream up, and what he'd made was nothing

  less than spectacular. On the outer rings of Baja, David

  had installed electric rings; they were electrified rings

  that flew from one end to another with the speed of light.

  Once activated by an intruder, the rings shoot off nonstop,

  slicing through anything in their way.

  Bella and her army of beasts were the first to test

  out the new technology. As the alarms sounded on the

  mainland, the electric rings went off. They went flying

  across the outer rings of Baja. The citizens could see the

  bright colors of the rings from where they were standing.

  The rings sliced through Bella's army, decapitating many of

  her men and strange beast. When she saw this, she went into

  warrior mode and instructed her men on what to do. By this

  time, she'd had lost ten thousand of her men and beasts to

  the electric rings. Bella quickly drove her men and beasts

  from harm's way, but on the outer edges of Baja lay

  devastation. The sand was soaked with blood from Bella's

  men and beasts

  Bella ordered her people to keep low and look out for

  any other devices. No matter how much magical spells she

  knew, Bella could not stop the electric rings. So she

  decided to go ahead and plow through. She lost many more

  men and beasts, but they finally got past the rings. As

  Bella came into the town square with her men, millions of

  citizens were waiting for her.

  "Oh, this is going to be fun," said Bella, and then

  she ordered her beasts and men to attack.

  Thousands of skeletons with swords attacked.

  "Oh, not them again," said Jamyra.

  Then there were huge sand octopi that came through the

  crowds, eating and devouring the people. Bella laughed, but

  was quickly approached by Samantha, who wanted to get even

  with Bella for the time they were in the Azul Sea.

  "You can never beat me," said Bella to Samantha.

  Samantha pulled out her sword, and the two women

  warriors fought; jumping and leaping over everyone. Bella

  cut Samantha on the
side of her face; then Samantha took

  out her magical star blades and used them to pin Bella to a

  tree. Jane ordered the tree to hold Bella as long as it

  could, and the tree did just that, wrapping its limb around

  Bella's waist. It squeezed tight until Bella spit up blood.

  Samantha went over and continued to use her martial

  arts skills on Bella; kicking and punching until she was

  out cold. But that was not the end of Bella; she was

  playing dead. Bella broke away from the tree and turned it

  into wood chips. Jane could hear her tree crying. Bella

  then jumped on Samantha's back and fought with her.

  Meanwhile, the other citizens were fighting stone men,

  dark Ryders, skeleton armies, huge elephants, and Bella's

  favorite man-beast with claws that cut people's heads off.

  This was a very bloody war, but where were the elders? They

  were still in their meditation zone. Peter, on the other

  hand, was swallowing monsters with his black holes. Sam

  Carrot-Top was making his fists turn orange so he could

  have super strength. He used that to throw and swing

  monsters every which way.

  Clara used her saliva bug flies to swarm and pester

  Bella and her men. Jamyra was freezing as many things as

  she possibly could; Robert used his watch to make it snow,

  and the animals that could not take it, died on the spot.

  Sam Salmon used his fart balls and let them burst, sending

  the enemy flying into the air. Michael used his powerful

  wings to zip back and forth supplying cures and medicine

  for the sick and injured.

  Steve knocked them out with his toe jams, and Millie

  was disappearing and secretly tying up men with their own

  chains. Bella had huge giant elephants knocking down homes

  and structures. Some elephants were throwing people all

  around with their ten tusks. Dorothy had saved her secret

  potion for the last. She sprinkled a little gray dust on

  the floor, and a cyclone appeared. At first it was small,

  and then it grew larger and larger and swept away half of

  Bella's army.

  Bella then called upon her sand man giant. It was

  huge, made from pure sand of the desert, and nothing seemed

  to be able to penetrate its source of energy. It went round

  the town, sinking people in quicksand from houses, temples,

  schools and stores. Then, from out of the back of the line

  came another sand man. It turned into quicksand, causing

  everyone to be stuck. Peter moved his hands from under the

  thick sand and conjured up a black hole that the sand

  monster sunk into.

  Jane called all of her plants, flowers, and vines to

  come and bury Bella with their roots. The plants and other

  vegetation came from miles away; they hovered around Bella

  like wolves around a piece of meat. Some of the vines had

  sharp tentacles that sliced Bella as they wrapped around

  her. The plants and all the roots of the trees attached

  themselves to Bella and carried her way below the surface,

  where they buried her alive.

  Now that Bella was gone, her pets ran away, back to

  the Ambassador Forest. Then, from the air, Cilus, Larry,

  Horitio, Hoyle and Mirus came flying down on their bat-like

  creatures. David had something in store for them. The air

  space of Baja was covered by a bubble that would bounce the

  enemy off of it.

  Cilus and his team of wizards came in and hit the

  force field, not knowing it was there, and causing most of

  his monsters and men to fall off and injure themselves.

  Cilus was upset and used his magic staff to remove the

  force field and let his team of monsters in. Peter and the

  citizens of Baja had another battle on their hands.

  First down was a team of armadillo men. There were

  thousands of them, their shells were hard and nothing

  seemed to be able to penetrate them. They shot fire arrows

  at the speed of light, hurting thousands of Baja citizens.

  The only solution to this was to have Peter make a great

  many black holes, and so he did. His hair stood up on his

  head and turned even brighter orange, and the orange went

  to his hands where he formed holes to swallow up the

  armadillo men.

  Then there were the cloud giants, and this time they

  were flying on a magic disc. It helped the giants move

  quickly through the air, and it was equipped with laser

  power. The cloud giants came gliding on the disc, shooting

  lasers from every side. The people ran as the lasers cut

  through everything. Some of the citizens hid underground,

  but many remained above.

  Samantha used her armored helmet and breastplate that

  David made for her. With one touch, the armor covered her

  entire body. It glowed with Baja symbols, and could

  withstand anything. Samantha looked like a walking metal

  statue.

  "That is very cool," said Peter to his grandfather

  David.

  Samantha stood in the way of the cloud giants, and

  when they came her way, she used her magic sword to slice

  their disc apart. The cloud monsters were knocked off of

  their special disc and onto the floor. Other than that,

  they had no special talents or powers, and were then blown

  away by Dorothy's tornado creation. The cloud monsters blew

  away like leaves in the wind, never more to be seen.

  Hoyle came down, throwing cards that turned into smoke

  blasts; sending the people flying all over the place.

  Behind Hoyle were the scarecrows that came down and tried

  to grab up all of the children of Baja. The scarecrows had

  heads like pumpkins that were made of glass. The rest of

  their bodies were nothing more than hay, and inside their

  chests beat fake hearts that were made for them by Cilus.

  Peter and his friends fought with the scarecrows as

  the other citizens dealt with Cilus and his other

  creations. As the scarecrows went around snatching up

  children, Peter and his friends were right there to save

  them. Peter made a few of his black holes, while Clara shot

  fire from her golden sword at the scarecrows, causing them

  to burn. Because the scarecrows were made of hay they

  burned very easily.

  Then Peter remembered that he had a gift from the

  school trip. He took the black box out of his bag, opened

  it and let out his army of little fighters. These little

  people were very small, their skin was very black, and the

  codes of Baja were imbedded in their skin. They came ready

  for war with their bows and arrows, hatchets, hammers,

  knives and flying daggers. Peter let them out, and they

  attacked the scarecrows, cutting them into tiny pieces. Hay

  was flying through the air as the little army shredded them

  to pieces.

  Jamyra froze many of the scarecrows with her ice

  touch; Michael and Millie got the children to safety as the

  scarecrows tried to kidnap as many of the children as they

  could. Ben then took his magic cape into the air and caught

  the scarecrows that were trying to tak
e the children.

  Robert hid his pole-like body around a tree, where he snuck

  in and out of sight, causing the scarecrows to bump heads

  as he tied their straw together. It was so funny, as the

  scarecrows bumped heads, that Robert had to laugh.

  Cilus sent his porcupine people down, and Samantha

  quickly put on her full armor. One stick from these quills

  would cause death; so Jane sent her thorn-like razor plants

  to take on the porcupine people. Jane called upon her green

  fingers and summoned her razor plants. They came through

  like a fast moving blade, cutting off the porcupine

  people's quills.

  Then Larry came down with his father, Mirus Stewart,

  and they unleashed the fuzzies on the people. The fuzzies

  were cute, but they were capable of mass destruction; they

  sent down sharp liquid razors that were very strong and

  durable. But Zack had a trick up his sleeve; he roared so

  hard that the fuzzies could not take it. They puffed, and

  once they puffed, they could no longer send down liquid

  razors. So, for a while, it was raining razors that sliced

  through anything: trees, houses, the roadways, and

  structures.

  Cilus was furious, and sent out his mud people, who

  came in groups of thousands upon thousands. They were

  nothing more than a glob of mud, and they were more of a

  nuisance than a threat. Then from the seas came Marcus with

  his group of creatures, but he too was a victim of David's

  electric rings. Many of his men died by the rings, and he

  wanted to take revenge.

  As this was going on, Millie disappeared and

  reappeared beside Larry, who was down on the ground helping

  his father fight. Millie begged Larry not to join his

  father in the destruction of his own land, but Larry was

  upset at Millie. She had powers, and he did not.

  "Children in Baja without powers are considered

  outcast!" said Larry to Millie.

  Millie explained to Larry that it was just a myth that

  his uncle put in his head, and he would spend his life

  regretting all that he had done. But Larry had his mind

  made up; he was treated like a prince by the wizards.

  "Cilus, only wants your body to house his spirit,

  because the one he has is too sickly," said Millie.

  But Larry did not want to hear any of it. He flew off

  on his bat as Millie disappeared. Sam Carrot-Top saw his

  brother Marcus ready to wage war on Baja.

  "You fool!" said Sam Carrot-Top.

  As soon as he said this, Marcus punched him in the

  face. Sam and his brother fought; no one interfered, and

  Sam made his hands turn orange and then grew muscles that

  were so strong, he sent his brother flying into a tree.

  Marcus came out of the tree, shooting fire balls at Sam,

  but they were blocked by Samantha's shield. Even Samantha

  begged Marcus to stop what he was doing, but didn't listen.

  Marcus brought more creatures to fight; the poisonous

  spiked octopus with twenty-four tentacles, and large

  elephants with ten long sharp ivory tusks sticking out of

  their faces. The elephants ran through the town, stabbing

  as many people as they could with their tusks; until little

  bitty Clara reached in her backpack and took out her magic

  sword. She cut the tusks off of the faces of the elephants.

  Then there was a big bang; whatever was coming was

  something huge. As the people looked around, they saw it

  was the twelve elders; they had combined themselves into

  one to form a giant monster. It was twenty feet tall, white

  skinned with red polka dots, and a long trunk sat on the

  face. It had ears that stuck up in the air, huge blue eyes,

  and a tongue that was made of sharp prickly ivory razors.

  Each elder's color was present; the elders went after all

  the animals and creatures of Baja, picking them up and

  throwing them far away from Baja.

  Then the elders came to Cilus as he tried to run. They

  grabbed him and took a bite from his neck, delivering

  poison into his body. Cilus shook, his life was draining

  out of his body, and then he crawled over to Larry and hung

  onto him. Cilus stole his soul and ran off. Mirus was upset

  that Cilus betrayed them, and went after Cilus, but turned

  around to see his dying son in Cilus' old body.

  Then the elders went after Marcus, but Dorothy

  screamed and they remembered their promise to her. They

  took Marcus and placed him in a magic pod, where he would

  remain for many years. Marcus' family got a chance to say

  bye, but he spit on them and closed his eyes as the elders

  took him away.

  Mirus disappeared with Larry into thin air, and the

  elders went back to their temple. The war was finally over;

  Baja was severely damaged and the citizens would have to

  come together to rebuild it. Peter and his friends were

  held up as heroes. The Carrot-Top family was held as

  caretakers of the elders, and the Carrot-Top name was

  restored to good standings. David was now the new

  gatekeeper of Baja, and Samantha became the new principal

  of Waldorf Academy. She gave up fighting and always honored

  her fallen friend Red Fox.

  The elders were awake for another month, and even

  though Baja was badly damaged, the people put on a royal

  parade to honor the elders. It was filled with costumes and

  dancing, fireworks and plenty of food. Peter and his

  friends ran wild through the parade; the elders sat on the

  thrones as they watched their people having the time of

  their lives, and the war was now over.

  Peter and his friends took an oath to remain friends

  no matter what; they had been through so much together.

  From a distance, Peter thought that he saw Mirus, but when

  he looked again, the figure had moved.

  Back in the forest, Mirus was crying over the loss of

  his son Larry. He vowed revenged on Cilus, and his screams

  were so loud they could be heard far away. Mirus went into

  hiding, and no one saw Cilus again; besides, he was now in

  the form of Larry Stewart.

  Back in Baja, everyone was celebrating victory over

  the seven wizards, and everyone watched as the elders were

  put into hibernation again, not to be disturbed for another

  ten years. Whatever came up, the land of Baja would have to

  pull together.

  Peter was now back in school and getting along great

  with his friends. There was no more animosity between

  Jamyra and Peter; there were no more two sides, there was

  only one. Instead of Peter racing seahorses, he brought in

  a new racing sport from earth: soapbox racing for all the

  children to try. His grandfather made the soapbox cars and

  the races were off and running. The school had the new

  racing program, and many sponsors came from miles away.

  Some children got scholarships to exotic worlds, but what

  everyone wanted was the lifetime pass for the Captain

  Johnny show.

  In one of the races, Peter was car #8 and in the lead,

&n
bsp; and out of the blue he was passed by someone. The crowd

  cheered as the winner crossed the line, and it was none

  other than Millie Spoon, who was congratulated by her

  friends.

  Jane went on to open and run her toy shop with her

  mother-in-law Dorothy and her father-in-law David. They

  made the toys and played Santa Claus. That year was the

  best year; Robert made it snow with his watch and Zack used

  his magic pencil to draw and build up the town. Everything

  he drew on paper came to life. Zack was very wise in what

  he drew; he only drew things that would improve Baja and

  keep it safe.

  Jane had something she and Sam had to do, and that was

  go back to earth through the oracle and leave everything to

  Mr. Jones. When Jane and Sam went back to their old home,

  they saw Mr. Jones was having a hard time with the land;

  the government was giving him trouble and sending people to

  cheat him. So Jane and Sam decided to help him; they came

  to Mr. Jones as ghosts and showed him where they'd hidden

  millions of dollars and the magic seed. Jane told Mr. Jones

  to move up north and start over.

  In the meantime, she would not let anything grow on

  this land again. Mr. Jones wanted the Carrot-Tops to come

  back, but they explained to him that they could not, and

  were happy where they were. Mr. Jones took the money and

  seed, and quickly moved his family. Jane used her green

  thumb to poison all the vegetation in the land, making the

  government pay for what they had done to Mr. Jones. Without

  anything else to do, the Carrot-Tops headed back to their

  home in Baja.

  THE END