“I knew you wouldn’t miss out on the action,” Letcho said. ”By the depth of the markings, I’d say they are moving at a fast clip, but they aren’t too far ahead.”
Again, he wondered who the trespassers in the tunnel might be. “The slaves certainly are not courageous enough,” he said. “Traitors in the mines? Impossible! I made sure of it by whipping each one of them into line whenever I could. Could they have changed?” Letcho remembered now, that there was a strong one, quite rebellious, but he had repeatedly showed him who was boss.
“Rutty said anything is possible for a slick rat,” Smelka said, “maybe it’s slick.”
“Could someone from our gang be involved?” Letcho thought. He looked at Smelka, who quickly looked away, and hissed, “Tempted with the right snacks, she could be a traitor.” Letcho had been in this place only once before, when he carried the sack containing Maximojo and his friends to the dungeon. “Could it be them in this tunnel?” he wondered. “Impossible! No one has ever broke out from the dungeon. Maybe it is strangers from above the sewer grate.”
All this uncertainty made Letcho so frustrated that he changed color to mustard-purple. One thought kept coming back to him, and he burst out, “It must have been that Mojo Team lurking around the castle. They tried to attack me and even escaped the snapheads. Is it possible they are more devious than us?”
Smelka timidly squeaked, “Yes, quite possibly so.”
Letcho’s tongue darted out at her. She ducked and it missed her, but it did make him stop and think. “Crusty-pod, we’ll wait here while you go check on the dungeon. Go! What are you waiting for?”
Scrapsie revved up his stinger tail, and bounced on it. “I’ll make sure the trap door is still sealed shut,” and skittered away at top speed. “Crusty-pod?” he thought. “I’m a quality crustacean!” He knew the trap door was locked. He locked it himself. “Rutty would be furious if I messed up and they found a way out.” He cringed with the thought. “Surely the prisoners are already squished but good.”
“Faster, crusty-face. No time to waste!” Letcho’s voice echoed in the tunnel behind him.
Scrapsie scaled along the side of the ledge, backtracking every step that night after they left the McFee estate. When he arrived at the dungeon, the trap door hung open. “They are gone!” He began springing about erratically on his tail. “This can’t be happening! This isn’t how Rutty planned it.” He sank to the ground, his pincers drooping.
He dragged himself up and hurried back to Letcho. “The door was barely hanging on by a hinge,” he reported. “I knew they should have been destroyed at the estate. Smelka must have something to do with it. That orphan is always looking to help others! I certainly had nothing to do with it.”
“I am innocent,” Smelka pleaded.
Letcho flared in the deadliest of colors with ghastly fluorescent undertones. “She couldn’t have done it on her own. It’s that troublemaking, curly-top dog and his flickering stick,” he steamed. Scrapsie and Smelka held on tight as Letcho stormed up the tunnel. “We’ve got to get them and fast. Maybe one of these side passageways is a short cut. Scrapsie, half panicked about what Rutty would do to them when he found out the prisoners had escaped, charged into the nearest entrance. “They’ll regret ever visiting our world!”
Letcho skidded to a stop, “Hey, wait!” But Scrapsie was already far ahead. Letcho, trying to act as though the new route had been his idea all along, turned to Smelka. “Well, what are you waiting for? Grab on! We still may need you.”
They tore off in pursuit of Scrapsie.
***
Rutty hurried off of the docks leaving the smuggler, behind. As he headed toward the secret entrance to the vanishing mountain, he shape-shifted back to his compact ratty size. He ran through the gutters of Main Street, panting.
“What could possibly be happening beneath the city?” Rutty wondered. “Letcho must be attending to matters I’m unaware of. What is this independence anyhow?” He grumbled about the inefficiency of his spyscreen, not being able to rely on the lines of communication these days. Letcho had sent his message long before Rutty had arrived at the docks, but it came late. “What’s a rat to do?”
A local storekeeper spotted him and swatted the rat with an old broom. Ruddy was flipped head over heels, but quickly regained composure. He clenched his fist and squealed at the storekeeper, “Don’t you know who you’re dealing with? The storekeeper didn’t seem to be impressed with the squeaking rat.
“I am moving as fast as I can?” Rutty said. “I have a full life outside of garbage cans. In fact, I even have my own castle and a ruthless gang to do my dirty work. You’ll be sorry you ever touched that broom. I warn you! Lower your weapon!”
But the storekeeper chased him through the streets, his broom swinging. Rutty made a quick turn into an alley.
“Ratisico! I finally lost him. I will have that store shut down for improper pest control at the next general meeting. He’ll be sorry he ever tried to mess with me.”
He hustled straight out of the city center and swung over the wire fence at the outskirts, landing in a manicured garden framed with flowering bushes.
“I am the slickest rodent and the most handsome one that ever ruled.” He reminded himself. Rutty looked around to make sure no one was watching, then plunged through a hatch door under a pile of dirt, and into the vanishing mountain.
Chapter 15
“Now what do we have here?” Clarenette asked gently.
“State your purpose in our garden sir,” the Captain ordered, looking at the pathetic figure covered in berry paste. From a distance, Maximojo observed while blending into the hedge.
“Sir, I am asking you for the last time. What is your purpose in our gardens? You are on private property, and you, sir, are trespassing on my land.”
Barely audible, Lou uttered, “Really not sure. I appreciate your hospitality for letting me rest for a moment, but a warm drink would set me on my way.”
Outraged at this flippant response, the Captain shouted,
“I am Captain Daltoid Swaggelot, the Ruler of Kavalon.
Guards. Guards!”
But just then, a dog, a cat and a horse – all of them covered in volcanic ash and looking a bit bewildered approached, staring at Lou.
“It looks like they are communicating somehow with this wanderer,” Clarenette said. “They seem to be concerned.” She scooped up the cat. “You are shivering, and you don’t even have a collar. Are you frightened? Are you lost? Would you like a warm bowl of delicious milk, cute little one?” Turning to the perplexed Captain, she asked, “Can I keep her?”
Meowlen was insulted. “Cute? Little one? Milk? Champagne perhaps. That does it!” She had her dignity. “Meowsee, meow-meow! It means ‘Later lady!’ ” She sprang out of Clarenette's arms as fast as any gypsy feline with self-respect would.
“A collar? I might wear a necklace, or perhaps earrings, but never a collar! How controlling! Possess me not! Oh, freedom, here I come.” She sprang onto Whinny’s neck and affixed every remaining nail into a straggling braid on his mane.
Lou realizing that he was interfering in the mission, got a burst of energy from the Council’s satellite and promptly vanished.
“Make it an unforgettable departure Whinny. I revel in dramatic escapes!” she commanded. “Now the palace awaits!”
Whinniston galloped away on long strides, Woofster right behind. The trio vanished into the nearby forest. By the time the Captain regained his composure, the disheveled stranger who had been lying at his feet was gone, too. Clarenette locked eyes with him and his curiosity faded.
“Strange things occur before a new moon, my charming Clarenette,” the Captain said, trying as much to convince himself that all was well and normal in his Kingdom. To change the subject, he cleared his throat and said, “Have you finalized all the details for tomorrow evening’s affair?”
***
“We escaped,” Woofster howled. “That was close. I wonder who Lo
u was talking to?”
“It sure wasn’t me, and I, Whinniston, saved the day,” he snorted kicking up some dirt. “But where are Maximojo and Glitta? And Lou?”
“We’re the Mojo Team, they’ll find us. Something is not right about Lou,” Meowlen said, “especially in the way he behaved in the gardens, and then deserted us when we went to get him.” Now that her mood had changed she donned something dressier and combed the dust out of her hair. She waited on a rock with Woofster, holding a tall cool drink she retrieved from her travel sack.
“I going to do a little investigation around here,” Whinniston said. “Ground seems stable so far.”
They heard a familiar woof. “Anyone around?” Mannie appeared from behind some trees. “Yo! There you are. I’ve been searching for you. I should have chased you away from the estate. Look at the trouble it caused me, and what a challenge to even find your tracks! But I being Mannie – Double ‘N’ knew I would eventually find you.” He puffed out his chest.
“I broke loose at the first chance and have come to warn you, but by the looks of it you may have found out that gang was planning your demise. I was also attacked outside, but I put up a good fight on your behalf, as any Mannie should when on patrol,” he said, eyeing Woofster.
“I’ve been thinking hard about this, and think that Master McFee and the rat may be in on this together. Rutty and the gang are known to have a bad reputation in the alleyways outside the city, and do McFee’s dirty work in disguise. Strangely enough, it was the Starrings who rescued me that night. After they went through the TeleMirror, the one who called herself ‘Sparky' came to rescue me, and helped reduce the effect of the scorpiola poison with a flash of light. After that I regained my strength. I’ll never say a bad thing about a solar flare again. Once we saw McFee wandering the grounds, I jumped the fence and planned my escape. The Starrings disappeared back into the skies.”
***
As the Swaggelots continued on their garden stroll, they brushed right by Kelcius, nearly knocking him over. The couple didn’t even see him. Startled, Kelcius raised his claws, but he only came to their ankles.
“Who do they think they are! I am Kelcius-Kol,” he said.
At the sound of his voice, other heads began to appear from between blades of grass. “We finally found you!” The Benders piped, and gathered around the adventurous one, crystal shards still held at their sides. An eager miner said, “The Backers are still in the mountain, maybe trapped by the cave-in.” He began searching for the hole in the tall grass from which they had just exited.
“Kazeees!” Kelcius emitted a boom to let his newfound friend, Maximojo, know of their whereabouts. The signal was intercepted by a cloud of buzzing insects, who descended upon the group.
“Hey, who are you to emit sonic blasts in our airspace? It’s disruptive, and you don’t even look like you belong in these parts.” More insects joined in as they formed a dark cloud.
“Please understand,” Kelcius said. “I am trying to find my friends, Maximojo and his spark-fly. Glitta is her name. You would remember if you saw her. She’ll glare at you. Have you seen them?”
When IT saw the insects, the bug panicked. IT had heard stories of other button bugs being swooped up by flying things and carried away, never to return to the comforts of a warm ear.
“I have an idea,” IT interjected, poking out Kelcius’s ear. The bug puttied up around Kelcius’s face and stretched into a blindfold across his eyes, and tied into a knot behind his head.
“There we are,” IT said. “Now we don’t have to pay attention to their nonsense.”
But Kelcius didn’t seem bothered and pulled the blob off. “Roll back up and relax, but keep in close ear range,” he said. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of things.”
“We spotted your friends not far from here. That swift-talking spark-fly asked about you. We swarmed over here when we heard your ‘Boom!’ ” The insects buzzed off, clearing the airspace so that Kelcius could call Maximojo again.
Maximojo was outside the palace grounds when he picked up Kelcius’s signal. He flipped open his PolyMatrixor. “There you are,” he said, but before he could utter another word,
Kelcius said, “The Backers are trapped inside the mountain. Please help them.”
Glitta lit up. “They followed us into the tunnel looking for Kelcius. We must rescue them, Mojo. We still have time to make it to the palace afterward.”
Maximojo located Meowlen and the others in the nearby forest on the device’s screen. “Wait hidden amongst the trees until I come for you,” he transmitted, “and under no circumstances leave the dark forest. It could affect the outcome of our mission. I must find Kelcius’s friends, the missing Treptalonians. They are trapped somewhere in the mountain.”
“I am sure the Council is going to have a few things to say about this detour,” Glitta said. Maximojo lifted the hatch door at the mountain’s peak.
“Meowlen is sending images of spacecakes over the PolyMatrixor. We must hurry! She heard about the party at the palace. Knowing her, she may not wait for long,” he said, a little worried.
Glitta hooked onto the backpack and revved up. They blasted down the chute with Maximojo leading the way, his paws stretched out in front.
***
At the palace, a general meeting was about to commence. The Advisors were entering through a private door, taking their appointed seats around a polished tabletop, its shiny surface illuminating the portraits on the corridor walls. Clarenette, who occasionally joined these meetings, whispered in the Captain’s ear, “It is an honor to hold the Scepter of a Kingdom, isn’t it Daltoid? You always wanted to, remember, even before you were a Captain.”
The Captain puzzled for a moment over the meaning of her words, but then was distracted when McFee entered, unaccompanied by Mannie. The Council had agreed that McFee should not be allowed to bring Mannie to such meetings, for reasons that Rutland Ratkin did not want to discuss. The encounter had been a great embarrassment for both Rutland and McFee. They could have lost their favored position with the Captain. Fortunately, the Captain still seemed to want them around.
Since Mannie chased Rutland into the streets, he escaped and abandoned his patrol post and all his duties at the estate. “He is not the dog I groomed him to be,” McFee thought. “He used to be so obedient, and he helped by escorting the Mojo Team into my trap. I suppose he is upset after being stung by the scorpiola, but I didn’t expect him to disappear afterward.
“He seems to be exhibiting traits of independence like Smelka. That will never do. I need to find Mannie and dispose of him before he messes things up further. I’ll deal with Smelka, too, but not right now.”
Just then, Rutland hustled into the room clearly irritated. His mustache was tangled and the papers he was carrying almost flew out of his hand. He hurled himself into his chair, and began scraping the dirt from under his nails with his teeth. The Captain noticed.
“Rutland is usually impeccably dressed,” he thought, " His hands are covered in dirt. I've never noticed such a change in him before.” He turned to Clarenette. “I’ve always wondered about Ratkin,” he said quietly, “so illusive and fascinating. And lately there are some odd things going on, like that scruffy wanderer on our property this morning. Who was he? Was he an accounted guest for the new-moon celebrations in the city? Stranger things have happened in Kavalon during festive times,” he said.
After the meeting, Swaggelot took Rutland aside.
“Clarenette would like you to join us at the affair we host in celebration of the moon,” he began. “You would be our honored guest. You are respected throughout the land, and we appreciate the contribution you have made … ,” he paused, and raised his eye. “And ...” In that moment he realized that he didn’t actually remember appointing Rutland. It seemed to him like Rutland had just appeared. Putting this strange thought aside, he continued. “I know you have a busy personal life but you really must join us, Rutland. You wouldn’t want to disapp
oint Clarenette, now, would you? She has baked a gushberry pie with your name on it.”
“Raticulous! How can I refuse?” Rutland said, twisting the tip of his moustache and bowing. “It will be an honor. I would never disappoint the gracious Clarenette. I will bring a special blend of wine concocted from berries and blossoms personally selected from my secret garden, and brewed under the shadow of an eclipse. It was a moment to remember, and I saved one bottle for this special occasion. I will be there when the skies darken.”
Chapter 16
The Backers awoke piled up at the bottom of the staircase surrounded by the shattered remains of their crystal shards. They began to stir, but realized that they had landed on a slick, smooth, round floor, and had to proceed with caution as their claws were made for much rougher surfaces. They noted that the floor’s surface ended before reaching the walls of the shaft, leaving a large gap. A large telescope pointed downward over the edge of the floor into the shaft below the platform.
Maximojo and the Wand of Light Page 14