“But we must have a basket to ride in,” he said. So he sent the soldier with the green whiskers for a big clothes basket, which he fastened with many ropes to the bottom of the balloon.
When it was all ready, Oz sent word to his people that he was going to make a visit to a great brother Wizard who lived in the clouds. The news spread rapidly throughout the city and everyone came to see the wonderful sight.
Oz ordered the balloon to be carried out in front of the Palace, and the people gazed upon it with much curiosity. The Tin Woman had chopped a big pile of wood, and now he made a fire of it, and Oz held the bottom of the balloon over the fire so that the hot air that arose from it would be caught in the silken bag. Gradually the balloon swelled out and rose into the air, until finally the basket just touched the ground.
Then Oz got into the basket and said to all the people in a loud voice:
“I am now going away to make a visit. While I am gone the Scarecrow will rule over you. I command you to obey him as you would me.”
The balloon was by this time tugging hard at the rope that held it to the ground, for the air within it was hot, and this made it so much lighter in weight than the air without that it pulled hard to rise into the sky.
“Come, Dorothy!” cried the Wizard. “Hurry up, or the balloon will fly away.”
“I can’t find Toto anywhere,” replied Dorothy, who did not wish to leave her familiar behind. Toto had run into the crowd to bark at a kitten, and Dorothy at last found him. She picked him up and ran toward the balloon.
She was within a few steps of it, and Oz was holding out his hands to help her into the basket, when, crack! went the ropes, and the balloon rose into the air without her.
“Come back!” she screamed. “I want to go, too!”
“I can’t come back, my dear,” called Oz from the basket. “Good-bye!”
“Good-bye!” shouted everyone, and all eyes were turned upward to where the Wizard was riding in the basket, rising every moment farther and farther into the sky.
And that was the last any of them ever saw of Oz, the Wonderful Wizard, though he may have reached Omaha safely, and be there now, for all we know. But the people remembered him lovingly, and said to one another:
“Oz was always our friend. When he was here he built for us this beautiful Emerald City, and now he is gone he has left the Wise Scarecrow to rule over us.”
Still, for many days they grieved over the loss of the Wonderful Wizard, and would not be comforted.
Chapter XVIII
Away to the South
Dorothy wept bitterly at the passing of her hope to get home to Kansas again; but when she thought it all over she was glad she had not gone up in a balloon. And she also felt sorry at losing Oz, and so did her companions.
The Tin Woman came to her and said:
“Truly I should be ungrateful if I failed to mourn for the man who guided me in restoring me to my Code of Conduct. I should like to cry a little because Oz is gone, if you will kindly wipe away my tears, so that I shall not rust.”
“With pleasure,” she answered, and brought a towel at once. Then the Tin Woman wept for several minutes, and Dorothy watched the tears carefully and wiped them away with the towel. When the Tin Woman had finished, she thanked Dorothy kindly and oiled herself thoroughly with her jeweled oil-can, to guard against mishap.
The Scarecrow was now the ruler of the Emerald City, and although he was not a Wizard the people were proud of him. “For,” they said, “there is not another city in all the world that is ruled by a stuffed Bard.” And, so far as they knew, they were quite right.
The morning after the balloon had gone up with Oz, the four travelers met in the Throne Room and talked matters over. The Scarecrow sat in the big throne and the others stood respectfully before him.
“We are not so unlucky,” said the new ruler, “for this Palace and the Emerald City belong to us, and we can do just as we please. When I remember that a short time ago I was up on a pole in a farmer’s cornfield, and that now I am the ruler of this beautiful City, I am quite satisfied with my lot.”
“I also,” said the Tin Woman, “am well pleased with my being a Paladin again; and, really, that was the only thing I wished for in all the world.”
“For my part, I am content in knowing I am as brave as any beast that ever lived, if not braver,” said the Lioness modestly.
“If Dorothy would only be contented to live in the Emerald City,” continued the Scarecrow, “we might all be happy together. Not to mention, go on adventures together.”
“But I don’t want to live here,” cried Dorothy. “I want to go to Kansas, and help Aunt Em and Uncle Henry now I have such powerful magic.”
“Well, then, what can be done?” inquired the Tin Woman.
The Scarecrow decided to think, and he thought so hard that the threads around his circlet began to strain. Finally he said:
“Why not call the Winged Monkeys, and ask them to carry you over the desert?”
“I never thought of that!” said Dorothy joyfully. “It’s just the thing. I’ll go at once for the Golden Cap.”
When she brought it into the Throne Room she spoke the magic words, and soon the band of Winged Monkeys flew in through the open window and stood beside her.
“This is the second time you have called us,” said the Monkey King, bowing before the little girl. “What do you wish?”
“I want you to fly with me to Kansas,” said Dorothy.
But the Monkey King shook his head.
“That cannot be done,” he said. “We belong to this country alone, and cannot leave it. There has never been a Winged Monkey in Kansas yet, and I suppose there never will be, for they don’t belong there. We shall be glad to serve you in any way in our power, but we cannot cross the desert. Good-bye.”
And with another bow, the Monkey King spread his wings and flew away through the window, followed by all his band.
Dorothy was ready to cry with disappointment. “I have wasted the charm of the Golden Cap to no purpose,” she said, “for the Winged Monkeys cannot help me.”
“It is certainly too bad!” said the tender-hearted Tin Woman.
The Scarecrow was thinking again, and his head bulged out so horribly that Dorothy feared it would burst.
“Let us call in the soldier with the green whiskers,” he said, “and ask his advice.”
So the soldier was summoned and entered the Throne Room timidly, for while Oz was alive he never was allowed to come farther than the door.
“This little girl,” said the Scarecrow to the soldier, “wishes to cross the desert. How can she do so?”
“I cannot tell,” answered the soldier, “for nobody has ever crossed the desert, unless it is Oz himself.”
“Is there no one who can help me?” asked Dorothy earnestly.
“Glinda might,” he suggested.
“Who is Glinda?” inquired the Scarecrow.
“The Witch of the South. She is the most powerful of all the Witches, and rules over the Quadlings. Besides, her castle stands on the edge of the desert, so she may know a way to cross it.”
“Glinda is a Lawful Good Witch, isn’t she?” asked the child.
“The Quadlings think she is Neutral Good,” said the soldier, “and she is kind to everyone. Mind you, I have heard that Glinda is a beautiful woman, who knows how to keep young in spite of the many years she has lived.”
“Could she be a vampire?” wondered the Tin Woman, fingering her axe.
“Oh, no,” said the soldier. “For she has no fear of daylight.”
“How can I get to her castle?” asked Dorothy.
“The road is straight to the South,” he answered, “but it is said to be full of high-level wandering monsters and dangers to travelers. There are wild beasts in the woods, and a race of queer men who do not like strangers to cross their country. For this reason none of the Quadlings ever come to the Emerald City.”
The soldier then left them and the
Scarecrow said:
“It seems, in spite of dangers, that the best thing Dorothy can do is to travel to the Land of the South and ask Glinda to help her. For, of course, if Dorothy stays here she will never get back to Kansas.”
“You must have been thinking again,” remarked the Tin Woman.
“I have,” said the Scarecrow.
“I shall go with Dorothy,” declared the Lioness, “for I am tired of your city and long for the woods and the country again. I am really a Barbarian, you know. Besides, Dorothy will need someone to protect her.” She turned to Dorothy. “You have my two claws and a bite: with a leap attack of four claws and a bite once a day.”
The Tin Woman spoke next, “And you have my axe! I will go with you to the Land of the South. Then I shall find my lost Munchkin and see if he still loves me.”
“When shall we start?” asked the Scarecrow.
“Are you going?” they asked, in surprise.
“Certainly. If it wasn’t for Dorothy I should never have my Bard abilities back. She lifted me from the pole in the cornfield and brought me to the Emerald City. So my good luck is all due to her, and I shall never leave her until she starts back to Kansas for good and all.”
“Thank you,” said Dorothy gratefully. “You are all very kind to me. But I should like to start as soon as possible.”
“We shall go tomorrow morning,” returned the Scarecrow. “So now let us all get ready, for it will be a long journey and although we are a strong party, we lack a healer.”
Chapter XIX
Attacked by the Fighting Trees
The next morning Dorothy kissed the pretty green girl good-bye, and they all shook hands with the soldier with the green whiskers, who had walked with them as far as the gate. When the Guardian of the Gate saw them again he wondered greatly that they could leave the beautiful City to get into new trouble. But he at once unlocked their spectacles, which he put back into the green box, and gave them many good wishes to carry with them.
“You are now our ruler,” he said to the Scarecrow; “so you must come back to us as soon as possible.”
“I certainly shall if I am able,” the Scarecrow replied; “but I must help Dorothy to get home, first.”
As Dorothy bade the good-natured Guardian a last farewell she said:
“I have been very kindly treated in your lovely City, and everyone has been good to me. I cannot tell you how grateful I am.”
“Don’t try, my dear,” he answered. “We should like to keep you with us, but if it is your wish to return to Kansas, I hope you will find a way.” He then opened the gate of the outer wall, and they walked forth and started upon their journey.
The sun shone brightly as our friends turned their faces toward the Land of the South. They were all in the best of spirits, and laughed and chatted together. Dorothy was once more filled with the hope of getting home, and the Scarecrow and the Tin Woman were glad to be of use to her. As for the Lioness, she sniffed the fresh air with delight and whisked her tail from side to side in pure joy at being in the country again, while Toto ran around them and chased the moths and butterflies, barking merrily all the time.
“City life does not agree with me at all,” remarked the Lioness, as they walked along at a brisk pace. “I have lost much flesh since I lived there, and now I am anxious for a chance to show the other beasts how courageous I have grown.”
They now turned and took a last look at the Emerald City. All they could see was a mass of towers and steeples behind the green walls, and high up above everything the spires and dome of the Palace of Oz.
“Oz was not such a bad Wizard, after all,” said the Tin Woman, as she felt her feeling of love grow.
“He knew how to give me Intelligence, and a score of eleven, too,” said the Scarecrow.
“If Oz had the option to Rage like me,” added the Lioness, “he would have been a brave man.”
Dorothy said nothing. Oz had not kept the promise he made her, but he had done his best, so she forgave him. As he said, he was a good man, even if he was a bad Wizard.
The first day’s journey was through the green fields and bright flowers that stretched about the Emerald City on every side. Knowing that this close to the Emerald City the random encounters were not dangerous, they slept that night on the grass, with nothing but the stars over them; and those who needed it rested very well indeed.
In the morning they traveled on until they came to a thick wood. There was no way of going around it, for it seemed to extend to the right and left as far as they could see; and, besides, they did not dare change the direction of their journey for fear of getting lost. So they looked for the place where it would be easiest to get into the forest.
The Scarecrow, who was in the lead, finally discovered a big tree with such wide-spreading branches that there was room for the party to pass underneath. So he walked forward to the tree, but just as he came under the first branches they bent down and twined around him, and the next minute he was raised from the ground and flung headlong among his fellow travelers.
This did not hurt the Scarecrow, but it surprised him, and he looked rather dizzy when Dorothy picked him up.
“Here is another space between the trees,” called the Lioness.
“Let me try it first,” said the Scarecrow, “for it doesn’t hurt me to get thrown about.” He walked up to another tree, as he spoke, but its branches immediately seized him and tossed him back again.
“This is strange,” exclaimed Dorothy. “What shall we do?”
“The trees seem to have made up their minds to fight us, and stop our journey,” remarked the Lioness.
“I’d love to try my first Fireball,” said Dorothy.
“I believe ents, or whatever they are, are made for me,” said the Tin Woman, and shouldering her axe, she marched up to the first tree that had handled the Scarecrow so roughly. When a big branch bent down to seize her the Tin Woman chopped at it so fiercely that she cut it in two. At once the tree began shaking all its branches as if in pain, and the Tin Woman passed safely under it.
“Come on!” she shouted to the others. “Be quick!” They all ran forward and passed under the tree without injury, except Toto, who was caught by a small branch and shaken until he howled from the loss of 7 hit points. But the Tin Woman promptly chopped off the branch and set the little dog free.
The other trees of the forest did nothing to keep them back, so they made up their minds that only the first row of trees could bend down their branches, and that probably these were the policemen of the forest, and given the duty of keeping strangers out of it.
“I could Fireball them?” offered Dorothy.
The Tin Woman shook her head. “They cannot harm us now.”
“But they are terribly evil and might harm others in the future,” said Scarecrow. “And they might have treasure under those root systems.”
The Tin Woman narrowed her eyes as she used one of her three daily Detect Evil abilities. “No…” she said after a pause. “No, they aren’t evil. Just protecting the forest.”
Somewhat disappointed, the four travelers walked with ease through the trees until they came to the farther edge of the wood. Then, to their surprise, they found before them a high wall which seemed to be made of white china. It was smooth, like the surface of a dish, and higher than their heads.
“What shall we do now?” asked Dorothy.
“I will make a ladder,” said the Tin Woman, “for we certainly must climb over the wall.”
Chapter XX
The Dainty China Country
While the Tin Woman was making a ladder from wood which she found in the forest Dorothy lay down and slept, for she was tired by the long walk. The Lioness also curled herself up to sleep and Toto lay beside her.
The Scarecrow watched the Tin Woman while she worked, and said to her:
“I cannot think why this wall is here, nor what it is made of.”
“Rest your brains and do not worry about the wall,” replie
d the Tin Woman. “When we have climbed over it, we shall know what is on the other side.”
After a time the ladder was finished. It looked clumsy, but the Tin Woman was sure it was strong and would answer their purpose. The Scarecrow waked Dorothy and the Lioness and Toto, and told them that the ladder was ready. The Scarecrow climbed up the ladder first, but he was so awkward that Dorothy had to follow close behind and keep him from falling off. When he got his head over the top of the wall the Scarecrow said, “Oh, my!”
“Go on,” exclaimed Dorothy.
So the Scarecrow climbed farther up and sat down on the top of the wall, and Dorothy put her head over and cried, “Oh, my!” just as the Scarecrow had done.
Then Toto came up, and immediately began to bark, but Dorothy made him be still.
The Lioness climbed the ladder next, and the Tin Woman came last; but both of them cried, “Oh, my!” as soon as they looked over the wall. When they were all sitting in a row on the top of the wall, they looked down and saw a strange sight.
Before them was a great stretch of country having a floor as smooth and shining and white as the bottom of a big platter. Scattered around were many houses made entirely of china and painted in the brightest colors. These houses were quite small, the biggest of them reaching only as high as Dorothy’s waist. There were also pretty little barns, with china fences around them; and many cows and sheep and horses and pigs and chickens, all made of china, were standing about in groups.
But the strangest of all were the people who lived in this queer country. There were milkmaids and shepherdesses, with brightly colored bodices and golden spots all over their gowns; and princesses with most gorgeous frocks of silver and gold and purple; and shepherds dressed in knee breeches with pink and yellow and blue stripes down them, and golden buckles on their shoes; and princes with jeweled crowns upon their heads, wearing ermine robes and satin doublets; and funny clowns in ruffled gowns, with round red spots upon their cheeks and tall, pointed caps. And, strangest of all, these people were all made of china, even to their clothes, and were so small that the tallest of them was no higher than Dorothy’s knee.
The Wonderful LitRPG Wizard of Oz (LitRPG Classics Book 1) Page 12