Silently he wondered if Mannie really was as sure as he said? “Mannie thinks he knows everything, and Meowlen knows everyone who’s somebody, and Whinniston hears everything. And I know … what do I know? Quality Biscuits? C’mon Woofster snap out of it!” The thought played over in his mind. Woofster believed they were safe in their fortress of trees, but he, too, felt something was wrong. “My hip wouldn’t steer me wrong and it never lies,” he thought, rubbing it.
Mannie heard a rustling in the thickets and called out to his fellow canine, “It’s time to shine Woofster.” Woofster moved closer to the noise, his heart thumping in his chest. He watched the critters scurry past the rock.
“Woofster,” “Mannie said. “Got the scent? Lift your nose higher, dog. That’s about right. Now you’re learning the tricks to being a top patrol dog. Now sniff. Tell me, do you smell danger?”
Woofster went on watch duty, tilted his ears forward and listened with his nose up. “I’m on it, you’re speaking to a pro.”
“Why are you so sure Maximojo is coming back for you?” Mannie asked him.
“He would never dream of abandoning us. We’re the Mojo Team, everyone of us including you now! He would have a lot of explaining to do with our Alliances if he didn’t show. Besides Glitta wouldn’t allow it. She’d probably bonk some sense into him if he forgot us.”
Whinniston listened to the muffled voices of the palace guests in the distance, and it made him even more anxious. “I am sure it is safe to look in on the celebration, right Meowlen? You always enjoy a good party.”
“You convinced me! The stars are out. It’s a romantic evening,” Meowlen said, “and a stroll would be simply dreamy. Whinny, shall we?” She jumped on the horse’s back. “Coming? The coast is clear,” Whinniston said. He stepped out of the protection of the forest. The others shrugged and followed.
***
McFee sat in his study, staring impatiently at the mist taking shape in the middle of the room. In it, he could see everything that was going on in the gardens. “It’s time to speed things up,” he thought. “That rat is taking too long dancing in the courtyard.” He snapped two fingers.
In the courtyard, Rutland Ratkin almost dropped his goblet. “Hey lady! It’s time to move it and get on with the plan!” Rutland repeated involuntarily like a puppet. He looked around, confused by the words that came out of him. He thought he felt the presence of his smuggler from the docks. “Is anyone there?”
Clarenette was surprised at his outburst. “You’re right. We really should go. I really must get back to the Captain. He does worry about me if I’m gone too long.” A huge bird swooped overhead. “It’s only a Kaversen. They feed on the ripe berries of our gushberry bushes in season.” she said.
As Clarenette turned to leave, she heard what sounded like a horse trotting out of the forbidden forest, nearby.
***
The Mojo Team snuck quietly up to a palace window that opened to the main foyer. In his eagerness, Whinniston breathed heavily, fogging up the glass. Meowlen carefully eased the window open and peered in at the crowd that seemed so happy mingling with one another and dancing to the music.
“My Alliance should have requested a formal invitation. I should have been an honored guest,” she said. “Do you like my dress, Whinny-Whinn?” She was now wearing a beautiful midnight-blue silk gown and a glorious diamond tiara. She inserted a decorative hairpin to secure the noble hairstyle she had during an Egyptian era.
Whinniston nodded, but he wasn’t really listening. Instead, his eyes were locked on the Captain. “He looks so familiar. Where have I seen him before?” He thought and thought, and then remembered. He snorted, “He was talking to Lou in the gardens earlier … and he looks somewhat like Madame Kindel around the eyes. I wonder if he is the lost relative that she used to speak about.”
“Interesting guests. Delicious food. And it is the Captain!” Meowlen said. “He is so distinguished looking, isn’t he? And the lady who offered me warm milk must have been Clarenette, but I don’t see her inside.” She heard giggling in the direction from which they had come, and turned to see a shadow of a lady.
“Can you lift me a little higher, Whinny? Everyone inside is so beautifully adorned, but none compares to the lady standing in the garden’s courtyard back there. I can barely take my eyes off her gown. Such an exquisite shade of pink. And those lace gloves are to faint for. I can’t see her face. I just wish she weren’t with that character. He’s ruining my dream romance.”
She pointed her sensitive ears in their direction. “She is giggling the name, ‘Rutland! Rutland! It must be Clarenette! I would never forget a hairpin like that. I spotted it before she picked me up.”
“Did you say Rutland? Rutland Ratkin? Mannie said, now on alert. “You mean that rotten rodent?” He began to growl, finally picking up the rodent’s familiar scent. His jowls quaked as he bared his teeth.
“My twinkling starlets, Mannie,” Meowlen said, aghast. “I didn’t know you had such a temper.”
“He is also a shape shifting, two-timing rat!” Mannie snapped. “How did I miss his stench when we went by before? He reeks of nastiness. I’d remember him anywhere in any disguise!” Mannie was close to losing control. He marched off to check on the rat. When he got to the secluded courtyard, he looked over the hedge with one eye on Rutland and the other watching for stray scorpiolas.
***
“Your face and hairpin are radiant under these stars,” Rutland was saying. “Just one more dance beneath these evening lights before we return.”
The two twirled around under the stars, and Clarenette’s hairpin almost flew off. Rutland whispered in her ear, “Ratisico! Ratisico! My sweet. I am touched by the way you sing so cheerfully in the mornings amongst the blossoms.”
She stopped dancing and looked at him. “How is it possible you are able to hear me sing in our private gardens, Rutland?”
He changed the subject. “Another toast for the charming Clarenette.” For some strange reason, he felt the urge to reach out and touch her hairpin. It gave him a shock, but he still wanted it. Rutland tried to look as though nothing had happened while he poured the potion into her goblet.
“To you, Clarenette,” he said, holding his glass high. Rutland whispered under his breath, “And to our future together.”
Clarenette took a sip of the toxic libation, and collapsed into a flowerbed, as the guards mounted their horses at the palace stables, and awaited a signal from their Ruler.
Rutland heard the commotion in the distance, and lifted Clarenette into his arms to carry her to the secret entrance that led to his underground castle. But before he could take another step, Mannie leaped into the air, growling, and locked eyes with him.
***
High above them, the clouds parted ever so slightly to allow the satellite above to watch the next move. “It appears that everything is falling into place,” the Commander said. “Let’s check on Daltoid.” The rest of the Council agreed.
***
Back in the mineshaft, Maximojo descended onto a protruding ledge, and Glitta flittered above his shoulder.
The Backers clung to the shaft wall beside Maximojo, completely startled by this huge creature and the bright spark-fly next to his head. He extended his hand to them and gestured for them to crawl onto it, but they refused.
“Glitta, dim your beam. They are not used to such a bright smile,” Maximojo said. She frowned.
But they weren’t about to become captives of this curly-top creature. Neither did they want to become snacks for the Mammolias, who were so huge, they couldn’t decide what to do.
Glitta had an idea. She streamed light up to where Kelcius and the others were waiting, and said, “Make yourself known to your friends.” Kelcius jumped and nearly slipped knowing that he could participate in the rescue. He puffed up his face as big as he could, and sent out a boom. The whole shaft shook.
“That was Kelcius!” the Backers exclaimed. Glitta returned, dimmer now,
to Maximojo’s shoulder. “I think it is safe to go with the one with the furry claw,” the eldest said. They loosened their grip, crawled up Maximojo’s extended arm, and sprang into his pack, snuggling into a safety ball. Rainbows splashed on the interior walls in shimmering colors, as Glitta and Maximojo soared upward.
Kelcius hopped onto the steps to greet his arriving comrades, and boom again with joy causing the door to slam, separating him from the Benders on the other side.
Maximojo was thrown into the other side of the shaft, and made a rough landing on a ledge. Rocks loosened from the boom, fell from above, nearly burying him.
Kelcius dangled from a step by one claw, and climbed back up to attach himself to the door.
Maximojo pushed some rocks aside, and watched them drop into the shaft. The Backers in his pack were shaken, but safe. The button bug, groggy from the blast, popped out of his friend’s ear.
Maximojo could barely see through the fallen rocks that had pinned him on the narrow ledge. Glitta blasted them, but they would not shatter. She switched to microwave meltdown. Finally the rocks exploded from the heat, but the explosion blasted the Treptalonians out of Maximojo’s pack and onto the ledge.
The PolyMatrixor’s screen sprang to life. “Maximojo, why aren’t you at the palace with the others? You were to have met up with Captain Swaggelot by now,” it read.
“The palace?” he replied. “The others? My Team? Good for them, my mojo is working!”
But before he could celebrate their independence, the PolyMatrixor flew out of his paw, spiraled up through the shaft, past the staircase and disappeared.
It was gone, and with it, all means of communicating with the outside world.
Chapter 19
The loud crashing noises in the shaft disturbed Widow Wynder. Noise translated into undesirables that must-must be dealt with. “Whatever it is must be destroyed. Fast-fast. Nests to attend to. Weaving classes. Spin-spin. This could be that button-nosed misfit who has no place here. Could he and his friends escaped the dungeon? Must go investigate. Fast-fast.”
She stepped out of a dirt heap that scattered to make way for her, and raised a leg, signaling her other legs to follow. One of them got stuck amongst fallen rocks, and she tripped and fell, nearly crushing her armored shell.
“This ground has been disturbed,” she said. “Intruders it must be!” Her fangs appeared, and she squeezed between crevices, gliding along on her motorized legs. “Very suspicious! It better not be who I think it is. Busy-busy schedule. It never stops. Ever-ever.”
Every leg was in full gear. Even a few she had been holding in reserve sprouted from under her shell. She would never reveal how many legs she had accumulated in her life, and she always kept some hidden as they might have revealed her age. If any spiderette ever dared to ask, she would simply say, “How dare you ask. Lost count. Very-very timeless!”
She signaled her troops. “Girls, get a leg on. Fast-fast,” she said in her raspy voice while sucking back drops of venom. “Safety in clusters. Big black clusters. Very safety-safety. Make sure your nests are well buried, and then go to the upper shaft below the staircase. We will find the culprit there. Shake it loose. Very-very quick. Busy-busy schedule!”
Hearing sounds through a dark hole, she veered off from the path moving quickly towards the new direction. When she emerged into the shaft where Maximojo was busy digging his way out from the fallen rocks, she froze into a statue-like stance. “Be still. Very-very still!” she told the others.
Her many eyes took in the scene. That curly-top outsider was crashing around on a ledge, and a bunch of miners huddled behind a rock. “How did all these intruders get in here?” she clanked quietly. With one of her eyes, she also spotted one of her Master’s figurines, a striped statuette that Wynder recognized as one of Rutty’s gang.
“A trophy of your soon-forgotten journey?” she clanked. “I think not! Never-Never! Stealing from the Master is not sensible. That was sneaky. Only we can be sneaky around these digs. Very-very. Looks like you all are in for some trouble. It will be the first and last outing you will ever have, escapees. Adventurists! Bad move from dungeon. Trouble big-big.” She focused on Maximojo. “I warned the Master to be rid of them at the estate. But Wynder will make things right. I will bring that cosmic duo to him in his chamber.”
Maximojo unwedged himself from the rock pile. Wynder inched closer. The Backers, however began to see the crawlers watching them, and huddled together.
She expanded her body to appear big, and boldly sauntered over to Maximojo’s foot and thought. “You’re where you shouldn’t be, fluff-face! Nice escape. Think you’re smart fur ball?”
“Sorry I was not able to assist on our first encounter. It was awkward, as my little ones were around,” she said tactfully.
Maximojo was busy moving boulders against the wall, and didn’t notice her. Glitta had warned him about leaving a mess when they landed. Wynder scaled up his back, trying not to get caught in his curls. She jumped up to check out his floppy ears, and clanked.
“We’ve heard of your gallivanting in Kavalon. I have good spies. Need to know. Where are the others in your team? Friends? Where are they? Well, where-where? Fast-fast. Spit it out. Spit-spit!”
Maximojo turned to stack the last boulder.
“Clankity-clank. Just a two-eyed willy-wannabe-hero you are. Do I need to hold up your eyelids so you can look at me?” she jabbered, demonstrating how she could make her eyes bulge out. “You are making havoc here where it is off limits to your unwelcome kind. You should have stayed in the dungeon. It would have been over for you by now. You had your chance. I knew all that banging in the dungeon would lead to no good. Bad-bad. What are we to do with you? Speak up. Jabber-Jab. Say it! Spit-spit.”
Wynder jumped onto his nose and stared right into his eyes. “Everyone listens to me when I clank!”
Maximojo was a little surprised at the many-legged spider wildly waving her legs at him. He swatted at her, but she scrambled into his ear so that he might better hear her. “There are rumors up there that a lady had gone missing from the palace. Perhaps she was taken by a big bad rat. Nasty-nasty.
You are in a bit of a mess, and you might need that lady to ensure everything goes smoothly in the Kingdom. The Captain is roaming about looking for her. She may be in a tight corner … and I know just the place. Now move that furry bottom!”
Maximojo finally heard her clanking, and asked, “What lady?” But he still was focused on returning the miners back to their caves and meeting up with his team at the palace. Wynder crawled back out of his ear and onto his face.
Then Glitta flashed her, sending the spider airborne. “We’re busy!” she sparked. Wynder smacked against the wall backside and landed on a miner. She threatened him with a fist. “I’ll be back for you later, stealer,” she clanked. She threw a sticky line and sprung again onto Maximojo’s coat and began the climb, all the while rasping, “You ingrate. It’s a long way up. Making me work to prove how tricky I am. Is that gratitude? Steep. Very-very! I am at your disposal to show you around. Yes, I am Widow Wynder, a keeper of dark secrets. I know every crack in this mountain, above and below any mineshaft. I have some news that may be of interest to your mission. Someone slipped into the vanishing mountain somehow and is trapped. Guess who is in the chamber? Why don’t you listen! Furry bottom. Follow me. Fast-fast.”
Meanwhile, the spiderettes cackled. They hung off the wall and swung by a thread, picked up the figurine of Smelka and hid it in their web. All of this was not overlooked by the button bug, who warily watched these mischievous crawlers from the other side of the shaft. He had seen their gruesome conduct in the caves before. He once saw them strip the feathers off of a scruffy-winged scavenger, who never again flew.
Now that Maximojo was paying attention to Wynder, he exchanged a wordless glance with Glitta. She lit up and spiraled into the shaft, her voice echoing back to Maximojo. “I’ll go see who this lady is, Mojo.”
“Hey, I tho
ught you and your other half were inseparable,” Wynder taunted, “and she is leaving you? A loyal spark-fly wouldn’t desert you in a time like this. Whose mission is it anyway?” She stopped abruptly, and thought. “She must know something. Something must be up. Look at her go. Zoom-zoom! Follow her. Must-must pronto.”
Maximojo watched her disappear down the shaft and decided he needed to follow. “Glitta wait!” he hollered. “The Treptalonians would be safe for the time being.” Kelcius heard and winked. “Glitta’s on to something,” he thought, and jumped into the shaft and followed her sparkling trail. It was a long descent. His coat caught a breeze that swiftly carried him to the rocks below.
“Get a move on, girls. Shake it loose. Every leg counts. Now-now.” Wynder said, waving to the spiderettes. “Follow that sparkler and her tumbling fluff-face who thinks he’s a flying dog. Get your motors revving. Leg-it full speed. Fast-fast.” They gathered their webs and the little statue, cast their threads over the ledge and descended behind her.
Maximojo and the Wand of Light Page 17