“What’s the matter?” Kristina asked it.
“There’s a trap here, and I’m contemplating how to go around it,” the cat said to her impatiently. Finally the cat decided to go to the right of it, and Taysha carefully followed. Soon after, they came to a tall fence topped with swirling barbed wire. The back of the prison was just beyond the fence.
“Stop!” Kristina said to the cat. The cat turned to look back at her. “I was told not to go to the back of the prison, because there’s zelbocks waiting for me there. Instead, I should go to the east side, where Werrien’s cell is.”
The cat gave Kristina an annoyed look. “I will run on ahead and check to see if this is true,” it said.
While the cat ran toward the prison, Taysha stood very still, trying not to make any noise. The woods were spooky and they could hear all kinds of strange noises. Kristina tried to keep calm by closing her eyes and imagining herself somewhere else, and even though it was only a few minutes, it felt like an eternity before the cat finally returned.
“I checked the backside of the prison, and there was nobody there, so I went to the east side. There seemed to be no one there either, however as I turned to leave, I heard some rustling in the nearby bushes. I turned around and approached the bushes, pretending to be a pesky cat, looking for food. That is when I heard the voices―many of them. They are in hiding, waiting for someone.”
“I knew we shouldn’t have trusted Retzel,” Taysha, said.
They stood wondering what to do. Kristina looked toward the prison, and saw the sun was rising up over the rooftop. “What do you suggest we do?” she asked the cat, but there was no response—the cat was gone.
23
Hester screamed as the zelbocks lifted the crate onto a horse drawn wagon. Her scream was so loud that it instantly woke up Graham and Davina, who were very groggy from the potion. The zelbocks paid no attention to them but went about their business.
“What’s the matter with you two? Can’t you see that something horrible is happening to us?” Hester said, snapping her fingers in front of Graham’s and Davina’s faces.
Graham shook his head, trying to get his wits back. “I guess this is special treatment that the weird little guy was talking about?” he said sleepily.
“It may be special treatment to you, but it’s definitely not up to my standards,” Hester said.
“I have a crushing headache,” Davina moaned, rubbing her temples to ease the pain.
“That’s the least of your worries. Take a look around you,” Hester said.
Davina looked through her Coke-bottle glasses and noticed the bars that surrounded them. Then she noticed the dark, damp stone walls with dimly lit torches aligning them.
“It feels like we’re back in the Dark Ages,” Graham said.
“Where do you think they’re taking us?” Davina asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m getting really ticked off,” Hester said, looking through the bars toward the zelbocks. “Hey, you up there! Where are you taking us? And why did you put us in this crate?”
One of the zelbocks turned around and looked straight at her, but because of the darkness, it was hard to see its hideous face, other than its glowing red eyes.
“Well? Where are you taking us?” Hester demanded.
The zelbock sniggered and then turned back around.
“Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with?” Hester yelled again, this time rattling the bars that held them captive.
“I’m really cold,” Davina said, looking down at her damp nightgown. “How’d we get wet?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll tell you something really weird,” Graham said. He scratched his head and wrinkled his freckled brow as he thought. Then he said, “I was dreaming that I was on a boat, and this beautiful woman gave me a candy. It was the best candy that I’d ever tasted. Then I lay down in a pool of water.” He smiled dreamily.
Hester looked annoyed at him. “Yeah, and then what?” she said, flatly.
“I don’t know, but maybe it’s got something to do with how we got wet.”
Davina looked smugly at Graham. “Oh, sure, we all got wet because of your stupid dream.”
“Why don’t you grow up, Graham? This isn’t a time for your make-believe stories,” Hester said.
The wagon turned a corner and continued down another tunnel with prison cells aligning both sides of it. The three children sat up on their knees and stared out at the cells as they passed by them. At one point, a bony hand reached through one of the cell bars. “Fairy blossom,” a parched voice called out.
As they continued past more cells, they heard groaning, moaning, and even insane laughter.
“I demand you stop at once and let us out!” Hester shouted to the zelbocks. But there was no response. “You won’t get away with this, once my parents hear about how you’re treating us!”
Graham pulled at Hester’s nightgown. “Hester, your parents can do nothing for you here.”
“You keep your mouth shut, Graham Kepler!” Hester pushed him away. Just as she was about to yell again, the wagon suddenly stopped. “See? They did listen to me.” She smirked at Graham.
The two zelbocks approached the crate, but it was still too dark to see their gruesome faces. Hester smoothed her hair back as she got ready to discuss matters with them. The zelbocks hopped up, one on each side of the wagon. One of them unlocked the barred crate. They lifted its lid off and stared down into it. Graham and Davina were crouched inside, with their knees held tightly to their chests, but Hester stood up confidently and held out her hand, as if she wanted to be helped out of the crate. Her face suddenly shriveled. “Disgusting!” she said, waving her other hand in front of her nose. “You need to use mouthwash.” Once again the zelbocks didn’t pay attention to her. “Well, aren’t you going to help me out of this crate?” She glared at the zelbock.
The zelbock closest to her grabbed her around her waist and threw her over its shoulder.
“Hey, the only one who’s ever carried me like that was my father, and that was only once, when I was four. Now put me down!” She kicked her feet on the zelbocks back.
The zelbock didn’t respond but jumped down off the wagon and began carrying her down the tunnel. The other zelbock stood on guard, watching over Davina and Graham, who were afraid to move a muscle. As it gawked down at them, breathing heavily, the two sat staring up at its large belly falling and rising. They as well, could smell its foul breath―so putrid; Graham slowly brought his hand to his nose to plug it; Davina plugged her nose as well. Finally, the other zelbock hopped back up on the wagon.
“Where’s my cousin?” Graham asked it in a small voice.
“Don’t you worry. You’ll soon be joining her,” the zelbock answered in a deep guttural voice. Then a grin stretched across its face, revealing its rotten teeth.
The two zelbocks grabbed Davina and Graham and threw them over their shoulders. They hopped down off the cart and carried them deep into the tunnel. Davina and Graham kicked and punched at the sickening beings while they were carried past the insane prisoners, staring out of their cells. After a short walk, the zelbocks finally stopped in front of a cell, where another zelbock stood on guard in front of it. It opened the cell door, and the two other zelbocks walked inside, with Davina and Graham still kicking and punching. Hester was already in the cell, sitting in the corner, shivering, with her knees drawn up tightly to her chest, the same way the other two had sat inside the crate. The zelbocks dumped Graham and Davina onto the cold concrete floor. Then they exited the cell and locked the barred door behind them.
Graham and Davina got up and quickly went to the bars to watch the zelbocks disappear down the dark tunnel. Davina fell to her knees and began to cry bitterly, pounding her fists on the floor. She looked up at Graham and Hester, and with her face all red and covered in blotchy patches, she said, “Why did I listen to you brats? We were perfectly fine in that little cottage.” Then her frustration turned to anger. “But no,
it wasn’t good enough for you!” She stood up, clenched her fists tightly by her side, and walked over to Hester. Her long, black braids hung like two swing ropes at the sides of her head. “Now look at the mess you got me into!”
“Please don’t spit on me,” Hester replied in a calm, ill-tempered tone.
That seemed to enrage Davina even more, but Graham interrupted. “Uh, Davina,” he said calmly, “it was actually me who didn’t want to go with the weird little guy. You and Hester were all for it.” Then in a higher, mocking voice, he went on, “‘Oh, come on, Graham, you’d better not ruin this for us.’” He sighed. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s to never leave the decision making up to a female.”
With a blank look on her face, Davina turned to face Graham. Then, like an angry lioness, she pounced on him and began hitting him and pulling his hair. Graham kicked and screamed in a muffled voice, until Hester interrupted. “Stop fighting!” she hollered. “I hear something.” Davina didn’t stop. “I mean it!” She got up and tugged at Davina’s nightgown. “Listen, do you hear it?”
Davina stood up. Her glasses were steamed up and sitting crooked on her nose. Graham stood up as well. His hair was sticking out—resembling a hedgehog—from Davina’s pulling it. He went and stood under a small barred window, about five feet above his head. He jumped up to try to grab the bars, but he couldn’t reach them.
“Get out of my way.” Davina pushed him to the side. She tried to jump up herself, but she could only jump half as high as Graham.
“Davina, I don’t think it’s going to happen,” Graham said.
Davina stopped jumping and turned around to face Graham. She placed her hands on her hips, and her eyes were squinted into two very small black-eyed peas. “What’s not going to happen?”
“You, reaching that window.” Graham glared at her, implying the obvious. “You’re just too darn fat to jump that high.”
“You must be a sucker for punishment.” Davina lunged forward to grab him by his nightshirt. This time, she didn’t succeed because Hester stepped in between them. With her face pursed she pushed the two of them apart.
“Would you two stop fighting and grow up!” Hester yelled.
Graham and Davina stopped fighting and looked dumbfounded at her.
“And what do you suppose we do?” Davina crossed her arms, breathing heavily.
“Well, why don’t you give Graham a boost up, so he can look out the window?”
Davina looked at Graham suspiciously.
“You are the strongest of us all,” Hester added.
Davina finally cracked a slight smile and said, “That’s for sure.” Then she walked over to the wall and stood under the window. “Well, hurry up. We don’t have all day,” she said to Graham.
Graham shook his head. Women! It’s just so weird how they can switch moods so suddenly.
Davina lifted Graham just high enough so that his eyes could see out the window.
“Well, what do you see?” Hester asked impatiently.
“Not much, just a bunch of waves.”
Davina was just about to let him down when he said, “No, wait! I see something else.”
“Well, what is it?” Hester asked.
“Spit it out. I can’t hold you up all day,” Davina’s voice strained.
“Hold on—it went behind a wave.”
The two girls rolled their eyes intolerantly.
“There it is!” Graham said eagerly. “It’s that same boat and lady that were in my dream!”
Davina unclasped her hands, causing Graham to fall to the ground. Then the two girls stood over him, staring down at him.
“We told you, Graham—we don’t want to hear about your stupid fantasy dream,” Davina said. Suddenly, she croaked like a bullfrog.
24
The lantern swung from side to side, making it hard for Queen Sentiz to read the prophecy book.
“Speed it up, you numbskull! Do you think I want to be out here all day?” she shouted from beneath her dry canopy. She sat huddled under a thick bear stole, sipping on a steaming-hot cup of fairy-blossom tea.
Ugan’s arms ached as he strained to keep the large rowboat on course in the pouring rain. Oh, how I wish I could change places with the queen, if even for a brief moment in my meager life.
The queen took another sip of her tea, and then, almost spilling it, shrieked excitedly, “They’ve arrived at the prison!”
Ugan didn’t respond to her sudden glee.
“Did you not hear me, stupid dwarf?”
“I’m sorry, my lady, but the rain is so heavy that I can neither hear you well nor see you well,” Ugan hollered back to her.
“You are just getting too old and feeble. I’ll have to get a replacement for you as soon as possible.” The queen got off her plush pillow and walked toward the front of the boat. It swayed to and fro, over a large swelling wave, and she suddenly lost her balance and fell headfirst over the side of the boat and into the cold, dark sea. Ugan dropped the oars and jumped up. He looked all around at the waters surrounding the boat, but Queen Sentiz was nowhere to be found. Could she have drowned so quickly? A lump came into his throat, and he actually felt somewhat scared without her. Then he thought of how she had said that he was old and feeble, and that she would replace him. He tried to push that thought out of his mind and instead think of a fond memory of her, but he just couldn’t recall any. Soon his fear began to fade and it was as if a large load had been lifted off his shoulders. He looked one more time into the dark waves surrounding the boat, but there was no sign of her queen-ship, not even a piece of her clothing floating about.
Convinced that she must have drowned; Ugan went to the rear of the boat and quickly guzzled the remainder of the fairy-blossom tea she had left in her cup. Instantly, he felt a surge of warm energy flow through his veins. He glanced down and noticed the Book of Prophecy was on the bottom of the boat. It was open, with its pages blowing in the wind. He picked it up and quickly turned to the last written page. He ran his finger down the words, until he came to the name Clover. “Clover? Where have I heard that name before?” He continued reading: “Clover, the fairy princess, was captured at the Salas Prison.” He tapped his cold fingers on his bearded chin. Why does that name seem so familiar?
A memory suddenly popped into his mind of a visit to Rumalock’s house on a beautiful sunny day. His brother was busy taking his laundry off the clothes line while a spunky little fairy buzzed around his head, teasing him. Rumalock laughed as she poked at him and tickled his ears. Rumalock later told Ugan that this was his special little friend, Clover. Yes, this must be the fairy that the book indicated was captured. He noticed more writing popping onto the page, which read: “At Salas Prison, zelbocks wait in hiding, for the child Kristina to fall into their trap.”
Ugan closed the book and tucked it under the queen’s pillow. He went back to the oars and began to row as fast as he could, and even though it was cold and windy and the rain poured down on him, it was not nearly as bad as having Queen Sentiz ridicule him and dictate orders to him. No, the weather didn’t bother him one bit now that he had a chance to change his destiny. Oh, yes, he would be known throughout history as Ugan the Brave, instead of Ugan the Traitor. This was the happiest moment in his life.
Now that the queen has drowned, I must go quickly to Salas Prison and find that imbecile Ramon. I will tell him that he is needed at the palace, at once—“Mommy’s orders!” Then I will inform him that I am to relieve him of the burden of escorting the boy Werrien to Treachery Island. He’s so lazy, he’ll be glad to let me take the boy, but of course, I will release Werrien, so he and the girl can deliver the Warble to its resting place. Oh, I hope the legend of the Warble is true. The next thing I will do is release Clover, so she can tell Rumalock the great deed I have done. Yes I shall be known throughout history as Ugan the Brave, the Great Deliverer. Oh, what joyous thoughts these were to entertain
But if Ugan had looked behind the boat, his thoughts w
ould have been very different—because he would have seen that Queen Sentiz hadn’t drowned after all. Tired, cold, and madder than a nest of angry hornets, she bobbed up and down in the rolling sea, swimming along behind him. Wait until I get my hands on that wretched dwarf. Why, I’ll boil him alive and feed him to the zelbocks!
Ugan finally reached the rocky shore of Bernovem, and as he hurried to tie the boat to the dock, he noticed a raven flying above him in the rainy sky. It was Roage.
“Miserable creature,” Ugan grumbled as he nervously secured the boat to the dock. He tucked the prophecy book under his coat and then ran up the path that led to the palace. Like a hawk tracking its prey, Roage glided in the sky above him. Ugan’s heart began to pound as he noticed that the raven was following him. All had been going so well, but now, he was afraid that he might be attacked by the vicious ravens again. He ran faster to try and get away from Roage, but Roage flew faster and kept right up with him. Then, Roage flew ahead of Ugan and disappeared into the forest. Phew! That was a close call. Ugan stopped to catch his breath.
Then, Roage flew back out of the forest and landed on the ground right in front of Ugan. Clutching the prophecy book to his chest, Ugan began to take steps backwards. He recognized Roage from the time the raven had stolen his lunch bag.
“It’s you, the horrible raven who viciously attacked me.” Ugan tripped on a rock and fell flat on his bottom. Roage hopped toward him and Ugan shuffled backwards on his bottom. “No, no, please don’t hurt me again.”
“How could I possibly hurt you? You’re much bigger and stronger than one raven,” Roage said.
Ugan looked up at the sky to see if there were more ravens flying above him, but there were none. He rose to his feet and felt around his belt for his slingshot.
“I don’t think you’ll want to do that,” Roage said, “for I have important information for you.”
“Oh, really?” Ugan grimaced at the raven. “Do you think I’m going to believe you, after what you did to me?” He assembled a stone in his slingshot. Then he aimed it right between Roage’s eyes, but then just as he was about to shoot, Roage interrupted his concentration, saying, “Queen Sentiz is alive.”
The Warble Page 12