The Warble

by Victoria Simcox

  “Well, not a dumb little girl, but a…”

  “I get the point. Let’s just drop it. I guess I wouldn’t mind having you come along.”

  “Well, then, it’s settled. What are we waiting for?” Looper said.

  They started to leave, but then Kristina stopped and said, “Wait! What about that dead creature? Are we just going to leave it out here in the open?”

  “Don’t worry about it. Zelbocks don’t last very long after they die,” Werrien said.

  Kristina turned to look at the zelbock, but it was gone. “Where did it go?”

  “It disintegrated; even Bernovem’s soil can’t stand zelbocks,” Werrien replied. “Though I must say, that was pretty good thinking, to try to cover our tracks. I mean, for a girl, that is.”

  “What do you mean, ‘for a girl’?” Kristina retorted. He’s very handsome but sure doesn’t have the personality to match it, she thought.

  ~ ~ ~

  The sun had totally disappeared, and the woods were covered in a blanket of darkness. Looper and Clover flew a little ahead of the two children, lighting the way with a soft glow, like fireflies. Looper seemed to hear something, and he suddenly stopped in midair. “Listen! Can you here it?” he asked.

  They all stopped to listen.

  “Yes, I can. What is it?” Kristina asked.

  “It’s the Indra River,” Werrien said.

  “Not much longer and we’ll be there,” Looper said.

  Clover shivered a little. “I feel a storm coming,” she said.

  No sooner had she said it than a swift wind came at them and picked up Looper and her and took them for a twirl in the air. Lightning flashed across the sky, and then thunder pounded the atmosphere. Kristina looked up, and a rain drop hit her nose. A few seconds later, the rain began to fall with such heavy force that it felt like buckets were being dumped on their heads.

  “I think you’ll have to carry on from here without us!” Clover yelled. “We can’t fly in this downpour.”

  “Come on, Clover! We can try to make it,” Looper tried to coax her.

  “You listen to me, little brother. The road stops here for you and me, so don’t get any big ideas,” Clover said sternly.

  “I guess that means you two are on your own from here on,” Looper said sadly, trying to steady himself in the rain.

  The four said their good-byes. Then Clover and Looper took cover under a large leaf to wait out the storm.

  Werrien continued to lead the way through the brush and pouring rain. “Lucky I met up with you guys, for if I hadn’t, you’d have to find your own way to the river,” he said as he tried to cut through a thick mass of tangled thorn bushes blocking their way.

  Kristina frowned at Werrien through her sopping wet hair. “Hey! I came here to your land, which I’d never heard of before, to deliver this thing called a Warble, which I didn’t ask to do, and believe me, at this moment I’d rather be home in my comfy, dry house than trudging through this wet forest with a conceited boy like you,” she said.

  Werrien was going to reply but an arrow hit a tree just behind his head, and before Kristina could even blink, he grabbed hold of her and pulled her to the other side of the tree. As the two of them sat crouched on the ground in the darkness, they could hear what sounded like a horse trotting toward them.

  “Wait here,” Werrien said. He crawled to another nearby tree, stood up, and cautiously peered around it. He could see a black-cloaked figure upon a jet-black horse. He motioned to Kristina with a twitch of his head to come over to where he was. She crawled as quickly as she could over to the other tree. “Can you see that little clearing through those trees?”

  “Yes.” Kristina had to squint to keep the pouring rain out of her eyes.

  “When I say go, we must run—and I mean faster than you’ve ever run before.”

  Kristina felt butterflies in her stomach.

  “Okay, one, two, three, go!” Werrien whispered. He took off running very fast, but Kristina could run fast, too, and she kept right up with him. “There’s no stopping from this point on!”

  The black-cloaked figure caught sight of them and began charging after them. It quickly gained on them. Werrien and Kristina kept running as fast as they could. “I don’t know if I can run any farther. I’m getting a sharp pain in my side!” Kristina said.

  “It’s not much farther. You have to keep going!”

  Kristina’s foot suddenly hit a rock and she went flying, face first, to the ground. The black-cloaked figure was about a hundred yards behind them. Werrien helped her up. They started running again, but the black-cloaked figure shot an arrow at them and it skimmed Kristina’s shoulder, causing a burning sensation. The sound of the horse’s hooves pounding the ground got louder and louder, and she could hear its heavy breathing behind her.

  “I hope you’re not afraid of heights!” Werrien yelled.

  “What do you mean?” Kristina yelled back.

  “Take my hand!”

  Kristina grabbed his hand—and suddenly there was no ground beneath them. They had jumped off a high cliff and were about to land in the Indra River.

  8

  When Kristina entered into the land of Bernovem, the time there had no correlation to the time in her own world. All the while that Kristina had been in Bernovem to this point; Davina, Hester, and Graham were still sleeping soundly in their beds on the same night that Kristina had been awakened by the annoying buzzing noise.

  Davina, Hester, and Graham all woke up at the same time, approximately the same moment that Kristina entered into Bernovem. Raymond, who was already awake, stood staring at the open laundry chute. The same thing had woken all of them as it had Kristina—the continuous buzzing noise. The annoying sound went deep in their ears, like a noisy creature had crawled inside them. Davina, Hester, and Graham tossed, turned, and shoved their heads underneath their pillows, until finally they all woke at the same time. They even sat up at the same time, except for Raymond, who was trying to bury himself in his shavings. Then, while all of them looked around their rooms to try and figure out where the annoying sound was coming from, it happened. Poof! They all disappeared into thin air, and as quick as a flash, they were mysteriously transported to the world of Bernovem.

  Davina found herself falling at a high speed from the sky, clutching her bed sheet, which the wind caught hold of and turned into a parachute. She slowly drifted down, and then, with quite a bump, she landed on the soft green grass very near the pile of leaves where Kristina had been dumped out of the sack. Feeling a little stunned, she glanced about the beautifully manicured lawn and, just like Kristina had, thought that she must be dreaming. As she sat there, she suddenly heard noises coming from a nearby bush. It sounded like some wild animal had been caught in a trap. She got up and walked toward the bush, passing the rake that Rumalock had left on top of the wheelbarrow. She stopped for a moment and glanced around at her surroundings to make sure no one was around, watching her. Then she ran over to the wheelbarrow, grabbed the rake from it, and held it over her head. She then tiptoed toward the bush. If the wild animal tries to lunge at me, I’ll just whack it a good one over the head with the rake.

  A few feet away from the bush, she heard the noises again, coming from inside it. “Whoever you are, you’d better come out now, or you’ll regret you were ever born!” she taunted angrily. No one responded, so she proceeded toward the bush. Then, when she was close enough, she cautiously stuck her foot into it and wiggled it around to see if she might feel something. When she didn’t feel anything, she took one step inside the bush.

  “Ouch! Get off my foot!” an annoyed voice yelled.

  Davina jumped back, but still kept the rake over her head, ready to slam it down. More rustling came from within the bush, and then, suddenly, a girl in a nightgown came crawling out of it. It was none other than Hester Crumeful.

  Hester stood up and placed her hands on her hips. “If you even try to hit me with that rake, my mother will call the police,
and you’ll be hauled away and thrown into jail faster than you could hit yourself over the head. And believe me, you’ll wish you would have, once you know who you’re dealing with!” she said, breathing heavily.

  Davina dropped the rake. “Who are you?” she said, looking inquisitively at Hester.

  “Who are you?” Hester’s tone was snooty.

  “I think I might recognize you, however I’m surprised you don’t recognize me. My name’s Davina Pavey. I was president of the book club, as well as Library Assistant of the Year at Webster Elementary last year. You should have known that—you go there, too!”

  “Oh, really?” Hester asked in a doubtful tone. “So how come I haven’t seen you there this year?”

  “Well, duh!” Davina rolled her eyes. “I now attend Wallendon High. Isn’t it obvious that I’m much older than you?”

  “As a matter of fact, I’m twelve and a half, and you don’t look more than a year or two older than me, and I don’t recall seeing or hearing of you at all, though I’m sure that you must know my family.”

  Davina shrugged her shoulders. “No, I…”

  “Does the name Crumeful ring a bell?”

  Davina suddenly looked like she had swallowed a frog. “You mean the Crumefuls who live in the mansion in Eastwood Manor?”

  “Yes, I certainly do mean the Crumefuls who live in the mansion in Eastwood Manor.” Hester’s brown eyes looked Davina up and down. “I suggest that the next time you have an inkling to kill somebody with a rake, you first better find out who you’re dealing with.”

  Embarrassed, Davina dropped the rake and walked over to Hester. Then she bent down and started brushing the dirt and leaves off of her nightgown. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “What did you say your name was?”

  “Hester Crumeful.”

  “Oh, yes! How could I forget, Hester? That is such a beautiful name. Were you named after anyone special in your family?” Davina asked smoothly.

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, I was named after my great-aunt, the late Hester Crumeful II. I am the III.”

  “Well, isn’t that special?” Davina went on, oozing with false compliments.

  Suddenly, they heard noises coming from the nearby forest, so they stopped talking to listen.

  “What do you think that could be?” Hester asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  The two of them started walking toward the forest.

  “Aren’t you going to grab the rake?” Hester asked.

  Davina smiled. “Oh, yeah! Good thinking.”

  As they got closer, the sound—a moaning noise—got louder and clearer. They entered the forest and once again, Davina put the rake above her head. There was a fallen tree up ahead of them, and the sound was coming from just beyond it.

  Scared, Hester hid behind Davina. “Get ready to bash it a good one,” Hester said.

  Davina gripped the rake tight and jumped on top of the fallen tree, ready to let whatever was moaning have it, but a voice spoke suddenly. “Ah! Please don’t! I’ll do anything you say!” it said, coming from a person that was covered in mud.

  “Wait! Stop! I know that voice!” Hester said surprised. “That’s my dorky cousin, Graham Kepler! Besides, only he would moan like a baby over something as little as sitting in the mud.”

  Graham jumped up. “Give me that rake!” He lunged at Davina and grabbed hold of the rake and tried to pry it out of her hands. “I’ll show you who’s the baby!” Graham, being smaller than Davina, was no match in the struggle over the rake.

  “Oh, yeah? You think you can mess with me, do ya?” Davina clenched her teeth and turned purple in the face. She gave Graham a kick with her foot, and he fell back in the mud with a big splash! Once again, Graham sat up, covered from head to toe in fresh mud. Davina and Hester started laughing.

  “Okay, I give up,” Graham said. “But can anyone tell me where I am and how I got here?” As he was speaking, he felt something crawl out of his nightshirt and then onto his shoulder. It crawled on top of his head, and he jumped up, screaming.

  “Stop jumping around like a scared chimp!” Hester said to him.

  Graham stopped and peered up to try to see what was sitting on top of his head.

  “It’s that pesky little critter belonging to Kristina Kingsly,” Davina said and grabbed hold of Raymond.

  “Hey, watch where you’re squeezing me. I just finished my midnight snack, and I’m still quite full,” Raymond said.

  Startled to hear Raymond speak, Davina dropped him.

  “Clumsy girl,” Raymond said, just before scampering off into the woods.

  “This is too weird, being in this strange place, and to top it all off, talking rodents! I must be dreaming,” Hester said, nervously.

  “Well, then why don’t I splash some mud in your face? That should wake you up,” Graham said, while trying to rub some of the mud off his freckled face.

  “I must admit, it is kind of freaky,” Davina said. Then she turned to Graham. “Hey, aren’t you the kid who put that stinky Limburger cheese in the classroom heater last year?”

  “Yeah, how did you know?” Graham asked.

  “What do you mean, how did I know? Everyone heard about it. My brother Marvin told me that it stunk up the hallway for over a month.”

  “Yeah, wasn’t it great?” Graham laughed.

  “Hello? Aren’t you guys forgetting something?” Hester said impatiently. “We’re standing here in some weird forest, in our p.j.’s, and to top it off, we heard a rat talk!”

  “Yeah, and aren’t you a fine sight to see,” Graham teased. Hester did look kind of funny, with her hair all messed up. “I can’t believe it. This is the first time ever that I’ve seen you without one of your stupid scarves around your neck, Hester.”

  Hester grimaced at Graham. “I wouldn’t be surprised if all of this is just another one of your ridiculous pranks.”

  “Thanks for the compliment, but I’m in enough trouble. I’m practically grounded for the entire Christmas break. I certainly don’t need anything else to add to my list. Besides, do you think I would have gone to this much trouble to prank you guys, being that I’m the one covered in mud and all?”

  “Good point, but then how did we all get here?” Davina asked.

  “Do you think I look that smart?”

  “Definitely not!”

  Hester looked around the moss-laden forest. “I’m feeling kind of scared,” she said.

  “Stop being such a baby,” Graham said coldly.

  Davina looked about and noticed a trail leading back to the finely manicured lawn. Then she noticed Rumalock’s cottage. “Hey, look! There’s a little house. Let’s go see if there’s anyone home.”

  “Yeah, maybe there’ll be some food we can eat. I’m starving,” Graham chimed in.

  “I could go for that,” Davina said.

  The three of them tromped over to Rumalock’s house, stomped down the little steps, and knocked on the old wooden door. Nobody came to answer; Rumalock was still out. Graham pounded a second time on the door. Then he put his ear up against it to see if he could hear anyone walking around inside. “Doesn’t look like anyone’s home,” he said.

  “Let’s check to see if any windows are open,” Davina said eagerly.

  “What do you mean, like break in?” Hester asked.

  “Well, we are hungry, aren’t we?” Graham responded with a big grin on his face.

  “Starving,” Davina said.

  The three of them walked around the cottage.

  “This place is really weird. Everything is so small,” Graham said. They came to a window. “It looks like I’ll have to crawl in, seeing that there’s no way either of you will fit through it.”

  “Hey, you watch your tongue, Graham Kepler. You’d better remember it’s my family who lets you spend summer vacations at our horse ranch, and I could change those arrangements real fast,” Hester said.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Graham replied, brushing off her comment.

&
nbsp; Suddenly lightning flashed across the sky, and a few seconds later, they heard a loud clap of thunder. The rainstorm had finally hit Rumalock’s neck of the woods.

  9

  Queen Sentiz was nervously pacing the floor when the large ornate door cracked open. Her head servant, a dwarf named Ugan, dressed like a court jester, sheepishly poked his head into the elaborate meeting room. “Your son has arrived, Your Majesty. Do you wish for me to send for him now?” Ugan said.

  The queen walked briskly toward the door, grabbed the doorknob, and flung the door wide open. Ugan scurried backwards like a dog cowering with its tail between its legs.

  “Send him here at once!” the queen barked.

  “Right away, my lady.” Ugan headed down a long winding staircase, almost tripping over his own feet.

  Queen Sentiz slammed the door shut and started to pace the floor again. Not long after, the sound of a horse’s hooves on the cobblestones below the window caught her attention so she went to look outside. As she approached the window, a brisk wind blew her long black hair about her sharp-featured face. One of her zelbocks was leading her son’s horse away to its stable and steam was coming off the exhausted animal’s body.

  The rainstorm had arrived and a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a loud clap of thunder. It frightened the horse, causing it to rear up on its hind legs. The zelbock took its whip and snapped it on the tired animal’s back. This brought a smile to the queen’s face. While she was still glaring out the window, a knock came at the door. “Enter!” she yelled, irritated.

  Her son Ramon, a big, awkward young man with a large nose and squinty eyes, walked into the room. His jet-black hair hung like a wet mop over his face, and it dripped all over his already rain-soaked clothing.

  “Well, don’t just stand there like an idiot. Give me the Warble,” the queen commanded.

  “I…I didn’t get it, Mama,” the prince stammered, looking worried.

  “What?” The queen’s thin lips almost disappeared around her clenched teeth. “You’re an imbecile, just like your father. I tell you, if you weren’t from my blood, I would have already imprisoned you as well.”