There was lots of life here in the desert, more than Ben would have imagined—meadowlarks and sparrows leaping about in the brush, and other kinds of birds, too, like scarlet-chested wrens. Ben saw a cottontail rabbit disappear into a thicket under a cactus. The desert was quiet and beautiful.
Ben would never have admitted it, but he decided that he liked being on another adventure. He liked being out in the wild with Amber.
But this was even more fun, because now he had his mom and dad with him. He felt safe with them.
Amber sat next to him, and she pointed out a little mouse hole in the grass, just beneath a cactus. A pair of fine red rocks rose up to either side of it.
“What do you think lives there?” Amber wondered aloud. “A mouse or a vole?”
“In the desert,” Ben said, “I’ve heard that there are lots of kangaroo mice. They can jump like me.”
“Wouldn’t it be fun to meet them?” Amber asked.
Ben had to admit that it would.
“If you could have a burrow anywhere in the world,” Amber asked, “where would it be?”
That was a big question. Ben hadn’t thought much about it. The world was such a big place. “I guess in Hawaii,” Ben suggested. “They say that it’s real pretty there.”
Ben’s mom and dad had passed the little burrow now, so Amber said, “I think I’d live back there—with a cactus for my roof, and nice big rocks on each side of my burrow. You would never have to worry about cats or coyotes trying to dig out your burrow.”
Ben had to admit that it did look like a nice little burrow, but he wondered if Amber was hinting at something. He knew that she had a crush on him, and she wanted him to stay a mouse. But sometimes he worried that she wanted him to be her boyfriend. Was she hinting that she wanted to live in that little hole in the ground with him?
“That cactus might keep out the coyotes,” he admitted, “but you’d still have to worry about rattlesnakes.”
That made Amber fall silent, and she gave him a nervous glance.
As the day wore on, Ben’s mom began to tire. Her breathing deepened, and so much sweat soaked through her blouse that Ben felt as if he were in a sauna instead of her pocket. They’d been gone for hours and hadn’t found any water.
Suddenly, Butch pulled the money out of his pants pocket and tossed it on the ground.
“What are you doing?” Mona asked. She stooped to pick up the money. “Are you so tired that you don’t feel like you can carry a few extra hundred-dollar bills?”
“I’m littering,” Butch said. “I like to litter. Uh, I mean, at least I’ve always wanted to do it!”
Ben’s mom gave him a curious look and then shoved the money into her own pocket. “Maybe we should rest,” she said. “I think that the sun is getting to you.”
A fly buzzed overhead, circled Mona once, and buzzed off.
Butch turned to walk away, but Mona jumped forward and stepped on the heel of his shoe, so that it came off. “Ha!” she cried in glee. “Gotcha!”
Ben had never seen his mother play such a childish prank before. Yet he suddenly had his own strange compulsion.
If I were at school right now, I’d run down the hall! he thought. He imagined how free he would feel, running as fast as he could then stopping and sliding over the polished floor. Nothing in the world sounded as fun as running down the halls.
Butch turned and glared at Mona as if he might hit her for taking off his shoe. He crouched for an instant, trying to get his shoe back on, and he scowled up at her.
“Don’t you dare lunge at me!” Mona shouted. “I . . . I . . . I’ve wanted to tell you this for years: your mom is such a turkey that when she comes for Thanksgiving next year, I’m gonna baste her!”
A wild fierceness blazed in Butch’s eyes. They gleamed with insanity. Suddenly Ben noticed a fly buzzing around his dad’s head, and Butch leapt forward. He grabbed the money from Mona’s pocket and held the bills up. Then he savagely tore them into little pieces, right in front of Mona’s eyes.
“Litter!” he shouted gleefully, throwing the shredded bills into the air. “Litter, litter, litter! I’m a litterer!” The scraps of hundred-dollar bills floated down like confetti.
“What in the world are you doing?” Mona shrieked. “That’s all the cash we have!”
“Don’t worry,” Butch said. “I’ll just rob a pizza parlor and get some more! Or . . . or maybe I’ll make Ben write a book. Or maybe I’ll sell these stupid mice into slavery! How much do you think we could get for a magic mouse?”
Butch leered, the crazed expression on his face deepening. Mona lunged forward, startling him so that he tried to leap away. But she stepped on the heel of his left shoe again, pulling it off.
Butch growled like a wounded bear and whirled, trying to escape from Mona. She latched onto the back of his shirt, and the two of them became locked in a dance, Butch trying to get away while Ben’s mom tried to stomp on the heel of his right shoe.
“Let’s get out of here!” Amber screamed, and she leapt from Mona’s pocket.
Ben and Lady Blackpool did the same, and Ben thumped to the ground. He took shelter beneath a cactus and sat trembling while his mom and dad circled each other.
Butch stuck his tongue out at Mona and waggled it like a dog. He rolled his eyes back in his head so that they turned white then used his fingers to flare his nostrils out. He made grunting noises like a pig.
“Hogs! Hogs! You’re all a bunch of hogs!” he shouted. “And I’m not going to do anything you say!”
Ben’s mom gave a bloodcurdling scream and leapt in the air, and then karate-kicked Butch right in the gut.
“You crazy creep!” Butch screamed, doubled over in pain. He bent over to pick up a handful of sand and throw it in her face, but just as he scooped it up, Ben’s mom shoved him into a patch of cactus.
Butch yelped in outrage. “I’m gonna . . . I’m gonna poke you in the eye!”
He leapt up and grabbed Mona. He tried to poke her in the eye, but she dropped her head a little and bit his finger.
Butch screamed as Mona kicked him in the shins. He fell, pulling her down on top of him into a pile of cactus. They were both yelling and growling. Ben had never seen such a great fight in his life!
“Stop!” Serena screamed. The blue butterfly dipped in from above and fluttered between the two grown-ups. “Stop fighting! Don’t you see what’s happening? It’s the flies. The flies are telling you to do this!”
Immediately Ben glanced up and saw that, indeed, a pair of flies circled above his parents.
Now they buzzed toward Serena and grabbed her by the wings. Serena shrieked and tried to escape.
The flies shouted, “Traitor, we’ll show you!” as they caught her from behind. The flies grabbed her back and clung on for a second.
Serena struggled to climb back into the air, but the evil flies snapped her wings off. Serena dropped, her wings fluttering to the ground like leaves.
The two evil flies laughed maniacally and leapt into the air.
It happened so fast that Ben was helpless to stop it.
His mom and dad began circling each other, ready to brawl.
Ben still wanted to run in the halls at school, but now an even deeper compulsion struck. Next time he went to the school, he was going to chew gum in class then leave a big, juicy wad under the teacher’s desk!
Ben glanced up; the flies were circling overhead, just above him.
“Cover your ears!” Lady Blackpool shouted. “Everyone cover your ears! The flies are putting some kind of curse on you all!”
“Your ears, Mom—cover your ears!” Ben shouted.
He put his little paws over his own ears, drowning out the sound of the flies somewhat, and almost immediately the strange compulsions began to fade.
Lady Blackpool stood beneath the blade of cactus and raised a paw in the air. She muttered an incantation.
Birds that dart, birds that glide
Come and eat these evil flie
s!
Instantly, birds came careening through the mesquite brush, shooting between the branches like arrows.
They weren’t fancy birds—just little brown sparrowlike creatures, some with a bit of red or yellow on their chests. But did they fly fast!
They raced into the glade and darted around Ben’s mom and dad almost like hummingbirds, stopping and flapping motionless in the air, then plunging off in some new directions. In seconds, they had each gobbled down a couple flies.
The buzzing ceased, and Ben took his paws off of his ears.
But the birds remained. In a few seconds, more of them appeared, and then more, landing in mesquite bushes, perching on the spines of a large cactus. Dozens of them fluttered near, then hundreds.
Ben’s mom and dad stopped fighting. They both crouched warily, eyeing one another for a long moment, as if afraid that the other would attack.
Mona’s face softened, and she fought back a tear.
“Oh, cuddle-pumpkin,” Butch said. “I love you. I’m so sorry.”
“And I love you, my kissy-lips,” Mona replied.
Suddenly the two lunged at the same time. But instead of fighting, they just stood hugging.
While Ben’s parents traded apologies and kisses, Ben looked about. Birds kept coming. A great flock had begun to gather from across the desert.
“What’s going on?” Amber asked. “What kind of birds are these?”
“They’re called flycatchers,” Lady Blackpool said. “Most of them. Others are bee-eaters. They’re excellent fliers, and all of them eat flies.”
“But . . .” Amber said, “there are so many birds. Where are they coming from?”
“They’re scattered throughout this desert,” Lady Blackpool said. “They’re plain enough in color that you don’t notice them until you are looking for them. But we will need their help. We’ll need an army of them if we are to confront Belle Z. Bug!”
Lady Blackpool gave Amber a sidelong gaze and added, “Remember, Amber—never waste your powers by fighting if you don’t have to. You can often enlist the aid of others.”
Amber looked solemn as she considered the lesson.
As the flycatchers gathered, a mournful young Serena came crawling up to Ben. “Oh,” she lamented, “my wings, my beautiful wings!”
Ben’s heart nearly broke. He reached down and picked up the wounded butterfly, holding her under his arms as if she were a wiener dog. He stroked the fine blue-gray hairs on her antennas. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m sure that we can find a vet who can sew those wings back on.”
“Just—just carry me to a flower patch and leave me,” the butterfly said mournfully. “I can crawl from flower to flower. It will be a joyless existence, but I suppose that it will be my lot from now on.”
“Nonsense,” Lady Blackpool said. “You’re our friend, and we’ll care for you.”
Lady Blackpool and Amber hopped off through the grass and cactuses; they returned moments later, each gingerly carrying one of Serena’s wings.
Chapter 15
OUT OF THE DESERT
Good things come to those who wait.
Better things come to those who go out and get them.
—LADY BLACKPOOL
Amber scurried through the wilderness, weaving her way past cactuses, plunging through the grass, leaping over stones. The brush grew so thick here that she couldn’t see a hundred yards in any direction. Butch led the way, with Mona right behind.
Amber just hoped that they had a better view than she did of where the group was heading.
Ben and Amber had decided to walk for a while, in the hopes that they would be able to gather more mage dust closer to the ground.
As the group made their way through the desert, a great flock of birds swarmed around them, flitting from tree to tree. It felt spooky having them so near. Time and again, Amber would feel a bird’s shadow flit overhead, and each time she cringed a little and found herself freezing in place.
Mice have an inherent fear of hawks, especially when a bird’s shadow passes over them.
Amber grew very nervous and miserable indeed.
Yet she was grateful to have the bee-eaters and flycatchers darting about, snapping up every housefly and horsefly in sight.
The wicked insects had given the group no more trouble. Considering the size of the vast flock of birds, Amber wasn’t surprised.
But the birds made poor Serena even more nervous than they did Amber.
The wingless butterfly just hid in Mona’s pocket, muttering over and over again, “I don’t want to be eaten! I don’t want to be eaten!” At last Serena settled down at the very bottom of the pocket and said, “I think I’ll just hide in here until this whole darned war is over!”
Twice that afternoon, the group heard helicopters buzzing nearby, but the mesquite grew so tall that even though Ben’s mom and dad waved, the helicopters didn’t stop.
“They’re searching for us, I think,” Butch said. “They must know by now that our plane went down. Our flight plan called for us to be in Los Angeles hours ago.”
“Maybe,” Ben’s mom said hopefully. “But how will they know where to look if they can’t find any wreckage? Our plane got carried off by those flies.”
And who knows where they took it, Amber thought.
For long hours they walked, until Amber felt parched from lack of water. The sun began to slant toward the horizon, and the sky took on a reddish glow.
Ben seemed fretful, worried.
At last they stopped for a rest, and Ben sat beneath the shade of a yucca bush and preened, using his paws to comb through his whiskers, and then he brushed the hair around his face. Amber used her teeth to dig a burr from the fur on her belly.
Ben told Amber what was on his mind. “I’m glad we have these birds to protect us,” he said. “But can you imagine what must be happening in the cities right now? You saw how my mom and dad started fighting, and they’re in love. What must be going on around the rest of the world? People have no protection from this plague of evil that the flies have brought.”
Amber couldn’t really imagine what might be happening. Back in the pet shop, she’d known an evil mouse that used to bite her tail. She tried to envision humans biting each other but couldn’t quite picture it.
“It makes me wonder,” Ben said thoughtfully, “what will happen when the Ever Shade comes . . .”
Amber peered at him, and she wondered too. If Belle Z. Bug was just one of the Ever Shade’s minions, what would the others do? And what would their master be like?
Lady Blackpool had been sitting nearby, and now she crept closer. “This war that has begun,” she told Ben, “isn’t like the little skirmishes you fought with that bat and worm. The Ever Shade will not be satisfied until the entire world is under his control—including mankind.”
Ben grew sober at the thought. “You said that the Ever Shade came a long time ago,” Ben told her. “But the world has changed. We have guns and bombs—”
“And they will avail you nothing,” Lady Blackpool said. “You saw how effective bombs were against Amber’s magic just yesterday. The Ever Shade will wrest mankind’s weapons away from them, and use them against the humans.”
Ben had no answer to that, and the thought of a magical creature taking control of human technology truly frightened Amber.
I have to keep Ben, Amber told herself. I’ll have to make him my pet human. It’s not just for me—it’s for both of us. It’s for the good of the whole world.
Yet Amber had to wonder. Is that the kind of mouse that I am—the kind who would steal the freedom of a friend?
She didn’t want to be that kind of mouse. She didn’t want to hold Ben captive. She wanted Ben to stay with her willingly.
But she thought of the flies and got an idea.
Maybe I could pretend that they buzzed in my ear, she considered. I could take Ben captive just as long as I needed and pretend that the flies made me do it.
It wouldn’t
really be wrong, she told herself. I wouldn’t be keeping him for selfish reasons. The world needs him. In fact, I wouldn’t really be keeping him at all—just borrowing him.
“Ben,” Amber said, hoping to bring the subject up gracefully. “I don’t think any of us can imagine how much evil these flies are doing. If what happened with your mom and dad gives us any clue, then things must be bad indeed.” She waited a moment for Ben to nod his agreement and then pressed on. “If one little fly is giving us so much trouble, I wonder what will happen with the Ever Shade. I wonder . . . how I’ll fight him without you.”
Ben gave her a sharp look, and Amber’s heart began to pound from fear. He knew what she was leading up to.
“You’re turning me back into a human,” Ben told her. “You promised!”
But Amber suddenly recalled a promise that Ben had once made to her. “And you promised to help free the mice of the world first, didn’t you?”
Ben’s eyes flashed in outrage. “I did what you asked. I helped you free the pet shop mice. That’s all that you were asking for—when you forced me to make that promise!”
“Yet you promised,” Amber said, “and that is all that counts!”
Lady Blackpool asked, “What? Are you trying to back out on a bargain?” Outrage and alarm sounded in the shrew’s voice.
“If I did,” Amber said, “it wouldn’t be for me—but for all of us. The world needs Ben, just as it needs me! The world needs him to be my familiar!”
“You cannot force Ben to remain with you,” Lady Blackpool said. “That would be a great evil that would canker your soul. In time you would rot from the inside—from the heart.
“To force another into service is a violation of the good wizard’s code,” Lady Blackpool warned. “The masters of S.W.A.R.M. would never give you entrance to their school if you brought Ben as your slave—if you made him your puppet! The very fact that you are entertaining the notion makes me wonder if I have been wrong about you. This casts matters into a whole different light!”
“But Ben promised to help me,” Amber said.
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