by Tony Abbott
“Really? They are?” she said. “But where?”
More gentle singing filled the air.
“What is it?” asked Julie.
“My parents are nearby,” said the princess. “They have news. Flink, lead the way. Khan, Batamogi, set a course for Rivertangle!”
The light gleamed brightly and flitted off.
Under Batamogi and Khan’s skilled direction, the windwagon followed at top speed, racing over the plains until the deep whacking of drums made them slow down.
“I smell danger!” said Khan, his nose lifted into the air. “Mogi, pull behind that ridge.”
“Aye-aye, cocaptain,” said the Oobja king.
When the wagon stopped, the children scrambled up the rigging to the lookout post. At first, all they saw were clouds of brown dust moving across a distant plain.
“More windwagons?” said Neal.
“I don’t think so,” said Julie. “Oh —”
A black tower moved slowly out of the dusty clouds and glinted in the morning sun. Then another appeared. And another.
“What are those things?” asked Neal.
“Battle towers!” hissed Batamogi, his tall ears shaking. “Seven, eight, ten of them!”
“So far,” said Keeah.
They spied a legion of fierce-looking lion-headed beasts dragging the towers across the earth.
On the summit of each tower stood an armed wingwolf barking orders to the battalions of lion beasts below. “Faster! Faster!”
Keeah looked from the towers to the sky, then over her shoulder.
“They’re making their way to Jaffa City,” she said. She felt her head begin to pound. An image of her home city came into her mind. It was shining pink in the bold sunshine, like a thing newborn. She recalled her little room.
But the thundering earth, the creaking of burdened wheels, the calling of the wingwolves, and the grunting of the lions dissolved the momentary scene, and she found her eyes welling with tears.
“We’ll stop them,” said Neal.
“Hob will do all he can,” said the imp.
“We all will!” promised Khan.
Keeah wiped her eyes. “We will,” she said. “But not right now. The towers won’t arrive at Jaffa City for another day, perhaps two. Let’s hope we have Galen back before then. And Eric, too. Sail on. Sail on!”
And so they sailed on, following Flink’s glittering light, riding the wind across the open plains until they arrived at the bank of a wide river leading into the vast blue Sea of Droon. Bobbing near the riverbank stood the seagoing vessel known as the Jaffa Wind.
Keeah’s parents, King Zello and Queen Relna, paced the ship’s deck, attended by a dozen royal soldiers.
As soon as the wagon rolled to a stop, Keeah and her friends jumped on board the ship. Wasting no time, they told of the battle towers and what Anusa had said to them.
Zello breathed deeply, grasped the handle of his great club, but did not unsheathe it.
“Anusa appeared to us as well,” he said. “I might forbid you to go to Doobesh were it not for Galen. We need him now.”
“You will never guess what new enemy is coming to join Gethwing,” said Queen Relna.
“Uh-oh,” said Neal. “Who?”
“Only the worst, most despicable, and most fearful creatures!” said Zello.
“Father, who?” asked Keeah.
Zello gritted his teeth and pulled out his club. “The Warriors of the Skorth!”
A shudder of fear went through the friends.
The Warriors of the Skorth were ferocious skeleton creatures who were neither dead nor alive. They were beings from the most ancient days of the evil empire of Goll, conjured back from the dead by Lord Sparr. They had roamed Droon ever since.
“I totally remember the moment Sparr brought those bad dudes out of retirement,” said Neal. “I really don’t like them.”
“Who does?” said Batamogi.
“Maybe their mothers?” said Neal. “If they even have mothers. Which I doubt.”
“The Skorth navy, some twenty ships at last count, is even now leaving the dark coasts of Mintar,” Zello said. “Once they pass through the dreaded Horns of Ko, they will be in the Sea of Droon, with nothing to stop them from joining the siege of Jaffa City.”
“Alas, our navy is scattered,” said Relna. “The Jaffa Wind is our only vessel. We’ve sent for help, but the nearest ship is hours away.”
Keeah recalled how the Skorth had summoned their navy from the depths of the sea. It was a fleet of haunted ghost ships with torn rigging and battered hulls.
“We need our friends with us,” she said. “One by one, we must bring them back. Eric with his cure, Galen with his three weapons. Friends, we have to get that wand before anyone else does.”
“We’re with you,” said Neal.
Zello turned to his daughter. “Let us meet tomorrow on the Saladian Plains.”
“In the meantime,” said Relna, “we sail with but our single ship to keep the Skorth from our doors. Now, go. Fly like the wind. Our time will soon run out!”
So with Khan and Batamogi as drivers and Keeah, Julie, and Neal high atop the lookout, the windwagon continued on its way. Below the deck, Max and Hob kept up their bubbly experiments.
It was nearly noon when they arrived at the cliffs near the northern coast of Doobesh.
“Stay here and keep working,” Keeah told Hob, Max, and Batamogi. “Julie, Neal, and I will scale down the cliffs to the jungle below. Signal us with a flare if you spy any danger. I’ll conjure an invisibility fog around the wagon so no one will see you.”
“Thank you,” said Max, bowing to the princess. “May luck be with us all.”
After watching the windwagon vanish in magical fog, the three children trekked to the crest of the cliffs.
Keeah pulled out her spyglass. “Doobesh is a strange country,” she said. “Lawless in places. We must be very —”
Thoom! Thoom!
The friends turned. To the east stood a set of massive rocks, seventy feet tall, carved in the image of Emperor Ko’s bull-shaped head. They separated the dismal Serpent Sea from the sparkling blue waters of the Sea of Droon.
“The Horns of Ko,” whispered Julie.
As the children watched — thoooom! — the giant rocks thundered shut.
When the Horns of Ko crashed together, they shattered any enemy ship that tried to sail between them, thus protecting the Dark Lands from an invasion by sea but allowing enemy ships to enter the Sea of Droon at will.
Keeah gasped. “Look …”
Rising up beyond the horizon were one … two … three tall masts. Ragged black cloth fluttered from the yardarms. Garlands of seaweed clung to the tattered rigging.
“The Skorth are coming!” said Neal.
On the tip of each mast was a blood-red flag emblazoned with a pattern of four jagged dragon wings arched high.
Keeah trembled. “Gethwing’s banner.”
Even from that distance, the kids could see that the ghostly ship’s black hull was cracked and full of holes, yet it sailed magically — and swiftly — over the waves toward the Horns.
“We should call Flink to warn your parents,” said Julie.
But before they could, a series of peculiar sounds coiled up from the rocks below.
Cling! Plong! Blunk! Pling!
Keeah looked at her friends, then spoke silently to them.
Someone’s coming up the path. Hide!
Thunk! Pling!
As the odd sounds grew louder, the children scrambled to hide among the rocks, but found a place big enough for only two, and Julie and Keeah got there first.
Thanks a bunch! Neal scowled silently. Crouching in plain sight, he pulled his turban completely over himself and muttered a spell.
As the turban took on the appearance of a large stone, an old woman dressed in rags strolled slowly up the winding path toward the kids’ hiding place. Her skin was the color of a pistachio, and her nose was so long it
nearly touched the tip of her chin.
“A witch?” whispered Julie.
Keeah nodded. “Without a doubt. Look.”
A stringed instrument similar to a harp hovered in the air next to the woman, and whenever she murmured, the harp sang out as if in answer to her.
“Are you certain?” said the witch. “And it turned up right here in Doobesh? When?”
Plang-a-ling-lang-plonk-plonk-diddle-ding!
“Last week?” said the woman. “Hmmm. And you say a little weasel found it?”
Lang! went the harp.
“Fine, but is the magic gem still in it?”
Bloink!
The woman broke into a laugh. “Excellent! Our long journey is over. We must tell my sister! Come along!” The woman hurried up the path but stopped suddenly.
“What’s this, then?” she said. “A new rock? Right in the middle of the path?” She stared at it for a moment, then gave it a swift kick.
Neal pretended not to feel it, but Keeah saw his face twist in pain beneath the turban.
“I don’t recall this rock,” said the woman. “I think it should go away…. Hebba-zebba!”
At once, the “rock” lifted into the air.
“Don’t throw me!” cried Neal.
“Aha!” snapped the woman. “An imposter! Show yourself at once!”
Neal jumped to the ground and became himself. “Please don’t put a spell on me —”
“Indeed!” The old woman scratched her long nose and pointed a skinny finger at him. “Wait a moment! I know you!”
“You do?” said Neal.
The woman blinked. “Nope. Not a clue.”
“My name is Neal,” he told her.
“Don’t tell me!” said the old woman, closing her eyes and pressing her fingers to her temples. “I’m getting it. You’re … Neal!”
He frowned. “But I just told you that.”
“You told me because I entered your mind and forced you to tell me,” she said. “That’s the kind of power I have!”
Now it was Neal’s turn to blink. “Wow. That is powerful.”
Julie and Keeah popped out of their hiding place, and the harp went blong!
“Oh, I really do know you!” said the witch, bowing to Keeah. “You are the Princess of Droon!”
“I am,” said Keeah. “And we couldn’t help hearing you and your harp. Do you know something about the Ruby Wand?”
The old woman narrowed her eyes first at Keeah, then at Julie and Neal. “I do. My name is Magdy, and I’ve just heard that the wand has turned up nearby. My sister and I have been searching for it for a long time.”
“Oh, really?” said Julie. “Why?”
“Because, long ago, we made it!”
“You did?” said Neal. “For Galen?”
Magdy swooned. “Galen! Lovely boy!”
“He’s no longer a boy,” said Julie. “He’s been kidnapped. We’ve been sent by a genie to find the wand. It can help free him.”
The harp floated very near Magdy and plinked gently in her ear. The old woman’s thin lips lifted into a smile.
“Quite right,” she said. “You must meet my twin sister, Hagdy. Come into our parlor!”
The old woman hustled the kids up the path to her “parlor,” which was no more than a damp little cave overlooking Doobesh.
Before entering, Keeah glanced once more at the distant Serpent Sea. Two more black-sailed ships had appeared on the horizon.
“Father and Mother,” she sighed. “The battle is coming.”
A small fire lit the insides of the cave, and next to the fire sat an old woman who was the spitting image of Magdy.
“Hagdy, I bring strangers,” said Magdy.
“Greetings!” said Hagdy.
“Greetings —” Keeah began.
“Hush!” cried Hagdy. “I hear a voice!”
Everyone froze.
“Never mind. It stopped,” said Hagdy. “So … greetings, again!”
“Greetings —” said Keeah.
“Hush! I hear it again!” said Hagdy.
“You hear it because it’s Princess Keeah trying to speak to you,” explained Magdy.
“Oh,” said Hagdy. “Hello, dear.”
Magdy leaned toward the children. “Please forgive my sister. She is … well … old.”
“But you’re twins,” said Neal.
“I’m younger by a whole minute!” said Magdy. “Sister! These nice children have come because of the wand. They … want it.”
Hagdy raised her eyes from the fire and gave her sister a private look. “They do, do they? But why do you want the Ruby Wand?”
“We need it to help Galen,” said Neal.
“Ooh, Galen!” said Hagdy. “Such a handsome young fellow he was! Clean-shaven. Cute cheeks. Just right for pinching!”
“He liked me best,” said Magdy.
“But I saw him first!” said Hagdy.
Magdy grumbled. “You see everything first. You’re older, don’t forget.”
Peeking out the cave entrance, Keeah saw more dark sails edging over the horizon. That made five Skorth ghost ships so far.
“We need to move this along,” she said. “Can you tell us what the wand does?”
The two sisters exchanged another look and shared a tiny smile.
“That depends whether you’re a good person or not,” said Magdy. “Our harp tells us a weasel named Anga has the wand now —”
Thunggggg! went the harp.
“That is, Duke Anga,” said Hagdy. “He was a common tree weasel until he found our wand. Now he fancies himself a duke!”
“We can show you the best way to Anga’s amazing palace,” said Magdy.
“It’s treacherous otherwise,” added Hagdy.
“Just a moment,” said Julie. She pulled Neal and Keeah out of earshot of the two sisters and lowered her voice. “We could use their help, but what about the looks they’ve been giving each other?”
“I saw,” said Keeah. “Can we trust them?”
“Galen trusted them to make a wand for him,” said Neal. “But if it was before he had a beard, that was a very long time ago.”
They realized that Galen had trusted the twins, even if it was long before. And if the wand was as powerful as Anusa said, they might need the sisters’ help to get it back.
Keeah nodded. “I guess we don’t have much choice, do we? Or much time.”
“Right,” said Julie. “Let’s risk it.”
Keeah turned to the twin sisters. “Please take us to Duke Anga,” she said.
“Absolutely!” said Magdy, stepping outside and looking up the path. “You need us.”
“We’re excellent guides,” said Hagdy, looking past her sister down the path.
“Good,” said Keeah. “Lead on.”
“This way!” the sisters announced together.
And they walked off in opposite directions.
“Stop!” said Julie.
The two sisters froze in their tracks, turned, and stared at each other.
“Silly me!” said Magdy. “Of course, you’re right. It’s completely that way —”
“No, sister, you’re right,” said Hagdy. “It’s that way —”
They walked off in opposite directions again.
“Stop again!” said Keeah. She pointed to a middle path that led straight down the cliff to the jungle. “I’m going this way.”
“That seems fine,” said Magdy.
“We’ll follow you,” said Hagdy.
“Because you need us,” said Magdy.
The children wondered if they needed the witch sisters at all, but they descended the cliff anyway. Hagdy and Magdy followed, cackling to each other, while the floating harp trailed behind them, plinking softly to itself.
The jungle of Doobesh stretched for miles from the cliffs to the Sea of Droon. Its trees formed a lush green world that was home to thousands of birds winging their way from branch to branch.
When the little group finally
reached the foot of the cliff, Keeah could no longer see the Skorth ships, but she knew more of them were closing in at every moment.
“We have to be quick,” she said. “Get in, find Anga, get the wand, get out.”
Magdy nudged her sister, who suddenly went still. They nodded in unison, and the harp jumped. BLANG!
“Poof!” said Hagdy.
“Puff!” said Magdy.
Before the children knew what was happening, the twin sisters and their harp vanished in a cloud of smoke, and the jungle came alive with hundreds of shapes.
“Surround the attackers!” cried a voice.
“Tree weasels!” hissed Neal. “The sisters betrayed us. Run!”
Too late.
Hundreds of small figures, furry from the tips of their noses to the tips of their tails, swung down from the branches and surrounded the children.
The creatures had big cheeks and short, pointed ears and wore puffy green trousers and matching vests. They thrashed stubby, narrow sticks about menacingly.
“Stand back!” said Julie. “We’ll fight!”
“Silence!” snarled one of the weasels, who was a bit taller than the others. He swaggered up to the kids, then narrowed his eyes at Keeah’s crown.
“I am Pinch,” he said. “And you are …”
“Princess Keeah,” said Keeah.
“You didn’t let me finish!” Pinch growled. “I’ll start again. I am Pinch. And you are … captured! We will take you to Duke Anga!”
Neal nudged his friends. Should we fight?
Keeah’s mind leaped from thought to thought. Maybe the witch sisters had betrayed them. Maybe this was a trap. But they still needed Anga’s wand, and the weasels would bring them to Anga.
No. Let’s become their prisoners. For now, Keeah said.
For now, said Julie with a slight nod.
But not for long, right? asked Neal.
I hope not, said Keeah. Don’t use your powers. Let’s play along.
“Pinch, take us to your leader,” she said.
“Oh, I will,” said Pinch, scruffing the furry tuft on his head. “But you won’t enjoy it. Boys, a little marching music, please?”
On cue, the weasels began to hum. “Pah-rum! Pah-rum! Pah-rum-pum-pum!”