Bewitched in Oz

by Laura J. Burns

  “Oh, no,” Zerie whispered, her heart slamming against her ribcage in fear. “No, no, no.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  Brink’s voice was so close behind her that Zerie jumped. She spun around to find him only a foot away, his sandy hair sticking out in about ten different directions.

  “Don’t sneak up on me like that!” Zerie snapped.

  “Sorry, I wanted to be quiet.” Brink peered over Zerie’s shoulder at the new airship. “There’s another one?”

  “Yes. And it’s over your house.” Zerie put her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. I got everything I need. No one else in my family has magic. They’ll be all right,” Brink said in a rush.

  Zerie knew he was trying to be brave. She could see the worry on his face.

  “If Vashti doesn’t come soon, I think I might faint,” Zerie said. “The Winged Monkeys must know who we are now, if they’re over your house. We have to leave right away.”

  “They’re not over Vashti’s house,” Brink said. “She can still make it.”

  “Brink, look.” Zerie pointed to a spot in the skyway on the far edge of town, over the Pickles’ farm. “Is that a cloud?”

  He squinted at the dark shape. “No, it’s another airship,” he said, but Zerie already knew that. “That makes three ships. What are they doing?”

  “They can’t need three ships to look for us,” Zerie said. “How many Winged Monkeys are they going to send after a few kids? This is crazy.”

  “I’m here!” Vashti came running up the narrow pathway that led out of the village. “I’m sorry it took so long. There were Monkeys in your family’s orchard, Zerie. I had to circle around through Pa Underhill’s again to get here.”

  “They’re at my house?” Tears sprang to Zerie’s eyes.

  “We have to go,” Brink said. “Right now.” He pointed up. Another ship had appeared straight above them.

  “Monkeys!” Vashti gasped as a door opened in the bottom of the airship. Zerie saw a square patch of light, and three dark figures silhouetted against it. Then they were flying, wings beating the air, bodies dropping quickly toward the ground.

  “Run,” Zerie yelled. She took off as fast as she could—and suddenly remembered that her friends couldn’t move as quickly. Zerie forced herself to slow just as she reached the point where the path met up with the road of yellow brick.

  A Winged Monkey stood in her way.

  Zerie spun around and ran as quickly as she could back in the other direction, until she reached Vashti and Brink. “The way is blocked. There’s a Monkey on the road,” she blurted out. “He saw me!”

  “They’re everywhere.” Brink’s voice was shaking. “Look! They’re surrounding the whole village. Every one of the ships is sending out Monkeys in a big circle around the town.”

  “We can’t get out. We’re inside that circle,” Vashti cried. “We’re trapped.”

  A screech came from the darkness on the other side of the beehive. It was the Winged Monkey Zerie had seen on the road. It had followed her, and now she’d led it right to her friends.

  “I’m sorry,” Zerie said. “I’m so sorry, I should’ve run someplace else so you could get past. I didn’t think it through.”

  “Zerie?” Brink asked suddenly. “Where did you go?”

  “I’m right here,” she replied, backing away from the Monkey. It wasn’t flying. It was walking toward them, a spear in its hands.

  “I hear you, but I can’t see you,” Brink said.

  “Me neither,” Vashti added. Then she vanished.

  “Vash!” Zerie gasped. “You’re gone.”

  “What? No I’m not,” Vashti’s voice said.

  “You’re both gone!” Brink cried. “What’s happening?”

  Zerie looked down at her hands, and saw nothing but the reddish dirt beneath her.

  Her feet, her legs, her entire body—all had vanished.

  “It’s Tabitha!” Zerie said, suddenly understanding. “Tabitha’s making us invisible! She’s been practicing so much, and tonight she made a nightdrop invisible. She’s figured out how to do it. They’ve got her up in one of these ships, but she’s still using her magic. She’s using it more than ever before. Good for her!”

  “But what about Brink?” Vashti cried.

  Zerie’s gaze snapped back to Brink. He was still visible, backing away from the terrifying Monkey. The huge dark creature let out a shriek and raised its spear, speeding up as it closed in on Brink.

  “Brink, run!” Zerie cried. The Monkey immediately swung around, waving his spear in the direction of her voice. Zerie leaped away from the sharp tip, her breath catching in her throat. The Monkey stood still for a moment, its nostrils twitching as if it could smell her. But its brow was furrowed in confusion.

  It can’t see me, she thought, trying to calm her fear. It can’t see me. Still, she didn’t dare to move again until the Monkey finally turned back toward Brink.

  Zerie’s heart sank when she saw that Brink was still visible. He raced toward the road, and the Monkey ran after him, its wings unfurling to take off into the sky. If it flew, it would catch up to Brink in a matter of seconds.

  Zerie rushed after them, not even sure what she would do when she got there.

  “Why isn’t Tabitha making him disappear?” Vashti’s voice cried from somewhere nearby.

  “Maybe she’s not strong enough. I can’t believe she’s even doing this much,” Zerie panted.

  The Monkey’s wings caught the wind, and it rose into the air.

  “No!” Zerie moaned as its huge feet left the ground. “No, no, no!”

  The creature was flying now, overtaking Brink almost instantly. It loomed over him, impossibly big and frightening.

  Zerie watched helplessly as Brink turned to face the Monkey, raising his arm to fend off the spear . . .

  And then he vanished.

  With a shriek of anger, the Monkey plummeted to the ground, pouncing on the spot where Brink had been.

  Zerie held her breath.

  The Monkey hit the dirt and stumbled. It thrashed around violently, trying to connect with its invisible foe, but there was no sound from Brink, and the Monkey’s muscular arms didn’t touch a thing.

  Brink had gotten away.

  Relieved, Zerie sank to her knees and tried to calm down. As long as they were quiet and they all stayed far enough away, the Monkey couldn’t catch them.

  After another minute or two, the Winged Monkey gave an infuriated shriek and took off into the air.

  “He’s going back to the ship for help,” Brink’s voice came from the darkness. “We have to get out of here.”

  “But I can’t see you two,” Vashti’s voice said. “How will we stay together?”

  Zerie squinted into the dark. She thought she saw the grass bending about three feet away, and she reached out in that direction, hoping to find her friend.

  “Is that you, Zerie?” Brink’s voice asked as she felt her arm connect with something. Embarrassed, she snatched her hand away. “Yes, sorry.”

  “If we can’t see one another, we can’t stay together,” Brink said.

  “Then let’s all just go, get to the road of yellow brick. Get outside the circle of soldiers,” Zerie suggested. “We’ll meet up at the first sycamore tree we can find on the left side of the road. There’s got to be one somewhere.”

  “Hurry, before Tabitha gets tired,” Brink’s voice called. “Good luck!”

  I wish I could see Vashti, Zerie thought. I wish Tabitha were with us, like she should be. She held her hand up in front of her, but she couldn’t see it.

  Zerie smiled. Tabitha was with them. She was helping, even when she had no hope left for herself. “Friends are always strongest together,” Zerie whispered.

  Then she ran, fast as magic, to the road of yellow brick.

  .8.

  The sun was low in the sky when Zerie woke up, and the air smelled like bread. Or muffins. Or maybe it was co
okies? Zerie couldn’t quite tell what Grammy was baking, but it was definitely going to be delicious.

  “Grammy,” she cried, sitting up quickly.

  But she wasn’t at home, of course.

  Vashti lay curled up next to her on the grass, and Brink’s satchel was nearby, though Zerie couldn’t see him anywhere. A tall, oddly shaped tree loomed over her, its branches heavy with circular fruit.

  Zerie sighed. That smell wasn’t Grammy’s baking, because Grammy was nowhere near here. In fact, Zerie wasn’t even sure where here was. The events of the night before were lost in a haze of fear and confusion and exhaustion.

  After they’d escaped from the Winged Monkeys, Zerie had met up with Brink and Vashti at the first sycamore she could find along the road of yellow brick. They were all visible again by that time, which had made Vashti sad—it meant that they were too far from Tabitha for her magic to reach them.

  Zerie remembered the way the airships had looked from a distance, hovering over her little village like a bank of terrible storm clouds. She’d never felt so scared. The three of them had left the road and run until they couldn’t run anymore. Then they had huddled under the tree and fallen asleep.

  Vashti yawned, sitting up. “I’m still tired,” she said.

  “We were awake all night,” Zerie pointed out. “Plus, we were running.”

  “But it must be late in the afternoon by now—look how far down in the sky the sun is. Did we sleep the whole day?” Vashti frowned. “That’s not good. The Winged Monkeys will have had time to catch up to us.”

  “I know. Let’s hope they didn’t know which way we went,” Zerie said. “I don’t know where Brink is.”

  “I don’t know where we are,” Vashti said. “What’s that smell? It’s making me hungry.”

  “It’s the town right over that ridge, inside the little forest,” Brink replied, appearing over a little hill. “I went to check. The whole place is made of food.”

  “Food?” Zerie asked. She stood up and went over to examine one of the round fruits on the tree. It had a circle in the middle and white icing on the outside. “It’s a doughnut! This is a doughdera tree!” She pulled the doughnut off and took a bite.

  “I’ve heard of those. Tabitha had a story about them,” Vashti said. “They grow near Bunbury. That must be the town!”

  “The houses are made of crackers,” Brink said. “And the ground looked like flour instead of dirt.”

  “I can’t believe it,” Zerie cried. “Grammy always told me about Bunbury, and now we’re actually there. Did you see any of the people? They’re made of bread, you know.”

  “Tabitha said Bunbury is really well hidden, because the townsfolk are so afraid they’ll get eaten. So how come we could find it?” Vashti asked.

  “Maybe because we were looking for a hiding place, too?” Brink guessed.

  “Oh.” Vashti’s excited smile faltered.

  The doughnut suddenly tasted like sawdust in Zerie’s mouth. “We should probably stay away from Bunbury, huh?” she asked. “We don’t want to lead Ozma’s troops to the town.”

  “The Winged Monkeys aren’t going to bother anyone unless they’re practicing magic. We wouldn’t be a danger to them,” Brink replied.

  “But they might be a danger to us,” Vashti said. “Just because they’re pastries doesn’t mean they’re nice people. If they know we’re running from Ozma, they might turn us in.”

  “I guess that’s true.” Zerie felt a stab of disappointment. “Still, I’d love to see a person made of food.”

  “I think Vashti’s right,” Brink said. “We can’t go to Bunbury. We can’t go anywhere that people might see us and report us . . . not until we get to Glinda’s palace.”

  “It’s not only people who can tell on you.” The Glass Cat casually jumped down from a high branch of the doughdera tree as if she’d been a part of the conversation all along. “Ozma has spies everywhere.”

  “Where did you come from?” Zerie cried. “How did you find us?”

  “I’m a cat,” said the cat. “I’m naturally the greatest hunter in the world. I can find anyone.”

  “What do you mean, there are spies everywhere?” Vashti said.

  “The Winged Monkeys are big and uncouth. Ozma uses other flying creatures whenever she can. They don’t scare people like the monkeys do.” The cat sniffed Zerie’s doughnut and shuddered.

  “You mean like birds?” Brink asked.

  “Birds, butterflies, dragonflies, unicornflies . . . even plain old moths,” the cat replied. “The clockwork kind. You know about those, Brink, don’t you?”

  Brink sank down to sit on the grass next to Zerie. “I never did much clockwork. That was Ned’s thing. My father tried to teach me to fix regular old clocks, but I didn’t even like that.”

  Zerie noticed that he wouldn’t look at her or Vashti when he said his brother’s name. She couldn’t blame him; she didn’t want to meet their eyes, either. “But did Ned make things like that? Flying spies?” she asked.

  “I never heard of him doing any work for Ozma,” Brink said. “But he sure did like to make birds.”

  “He made gorgeous birds,” Vashti put in. “I saw him testing a whole flock of rainbow finches one time. They looked just like the real ones.”

  “The real ones are very stupid. You don’t have to worry about them unless you’re a worm,” the cat said. “It’s the clockwork ones who work for Princess Ozma.”

  Zerie didn’t know whether to laugh or not. In fact, she wasn’t sure what to think of the Glass Cat in general. She certainly wasn’t always nice, even though she sometimes seemed helpful. “And the real butterflies, are they stupid too?” Zerie asked.

  “I never talk to bugs. I only eat them,” the cat replied. “Though not butterflies, of course. They taste bitter.”

  “We should go,” Brink said, interrupting the odd conversation. “We all slept the whole day away, and now we only have an hour or two before it gets dark.”

  “Are we taking the road of yellow brick?” Vashti asked. “Is it safe? Ozma’s soldiers are probably patrolling it. She has mounted soldiers, not just monkeys. At least that’s what Tabitha used to say.”

  “We have to take the road—how else will we find the palace?” Zerie said. “The road goes straight to it.”

  “The road is not safe, and you shouldn’t take it. I will guide you to Glinda’s Palace,” the Glass Cat said. “I was created in that area, and I know the countryside very well.”

  “Great. Thank you,” Brink replied. “Let’s go.”

  “Absolutely not. We won’t leave until dark,” the cat said. She curled herself into a circle and tucked her nose under her spun-glass tail.

  “What are you talking about? We can’t travel at night,” Vashti protested. “We won’t be able to see!”

  “I don’t know,” Zerie said, thinking it through. “She may have a point. During the day, anyone might see us. People are awake, and so are birds and butterflies, and . . . well, we’re easier to spot in the daylight.”

  “Oh, that wasn’t my point,” the cat said, yawning. “I simply don’t do much during the day. I’m nocturnal.”

  “But you’re still right, Zerie. We’ve already lost today. We might as well travel tonight, since we won’t be tired,” Brink said. “You’re being smart, to think about how visible we are in the sun. We all need to start behaving that way—we need to remember that we are wanted people.”

  “I don’t like that idea,” Vashti said quietly.

  “None of us do, but it’s the truth.” Zerie took a deep breath. “We decided to run, not to turn ourselves in. We knew that it meant we were going to be followed by Ozma’s troops.”

  Vashti didn’t answer.

  “So we’ll travel at night and sleep during the day,” Brink said. “We should set a watch when we’re sleeping. One of us will need to stay awake and make sure nobody finds us. We can take turns.”

  “Why can’t the Glass Cat just keep watch? S
he doesn’t need to sleep at all,” Vashti pointed out.

  “I most certainly do,” the cat said, picking up her head.

  “But you’re made of glass,” Brink said.

  “I like to nap.” The cat tucked her nose back under her tail and that was that.

  Nobody said anything after the cat went to sleep. Zerie thought it felt awkward, but she wasn’t sure what to say. She and Vashti had never fought before, and yesterday they’d . . . well, she wasn’t sure what it had been. Sort of a fight. Sort of an embarrassing realization that they both liked the same boy. Whatever it was, it felt as if a hundred years had gone by since then. So much had happened that it seemed silly to worry about who had a crush on whom.

  If Brink wasn’t here, I would just talk to Vashti about it, Zerie thought. But she couldn’t very well discuss Brink’s brother in front of him. She figured Vashti probably felt the same way.

  “How long will it take to reach Glinda?” she asked, just to have something to say.

  “Glinda’s palace is at the far south of Quadling Country, that’s what Tabitha always said,” Vashti replied. “And we’re toward the north. So we have to travel the whole length of Quadling Country.”

  Just thinking about Tabitha made Zerie sad. She could hardly bear to think of what her friend must be going through right this minute. Was she imprisoned in the airship, alone and afraid? Had the Winged Monkeys taken her to the Emerald City yet? Or were they still hovering over the village, looking for Tabitha’s friends?

  Zerie shivered, though it wasn’t very cold. Their only hope to help Tabitha was to get Glinda on their side.

  “I can’t believe we’re going to see Glinda the Good,” Zerie said. “That’s not something normal people do. Will she even let us in? I mean, we’re nobodies.”

  “The Glass Cat thinks she will, and she knows Glinda,” Brink replied. “I guess we have to trust her.”

  “I wish Tabitha was here. She’s the one who would love to meet Glinda,” Vashti said.

  Zerie nodded sadly. “She always wanted to meet all the famous people. I always just wanted to see the Land of Oz.”