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“Jefferson Knapp captures the adventurous nature of a child, as well as the wonder of the animal kingdom. The book will keep readers turning pages to find out what awaits Benjamin and his animal friends as they strive to protect their kingdom. The Rightful Heir is a wonderful follow-up to The Brave Journey. A great story for readers of any age.”
Julie Clements, Editor, The El Dorado Times
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“Jefferson Knapp has created a riveting continuation of the story of Benjamin Biggs and the animal kingdom with a wit and believability that will capture the mind of kids and adults alike. His ability to bring the story to life makes the thought of understanding the animals seem not so out of the realm of possibilities. I found myself not wanting to put the story down and can’t wait for the next adventure in the series.”
Phil Douglas, BS, Aircraft Executive
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“Change will come again in THE KINGDOM AT THE END OF THE DRIVEWAY. Many new voices will be added to the familiar ones we met in The Brave Journey. Page by page my interest is captivated as Mr. Knapp weaves a second tale of intrigue and adventure all just down the driveway. Even reluctant readers will pay rapt attention as they follow the story of THE KINGDOM AT THE END OF THE DRIVEWAY.”
Lori Branine, Library Teacher,
Belle Plaine Elementary School
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“This story has everything from suspenseful fear to being hysterically funny. I was on the edge of my seat and can’t wait for more!”
Toni Harryman, Program Consultant
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The Rightful Heir
THE KINGDOM AT THE END OF THE DRIVEWAY
B O O K T W O
The Rightful Heir
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BY JEFFERSON KNAPP
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Kraken Books Limited.
© 2011 Kraken Books Limited Text © 2011 Jefferson Knapp Illustrations © 2011 Tim Ladwig
Published and produced by Kraken Books Ltd. 11175 SW Walnut Valley Rd Augusta, Kansas 67010 www.krakenbooks.com For more information on this book, please check out www.benjaminbiggs.com
ISBN 978-0-9843771-1-4
Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Joanne Bolton, printing broker www.boltonprinting.com
Tim Ladwig, illustrator www.timladwig.com
Karen S. Davis, editor www.karensdavis.com
Jim Hellman, designer [email protected]
In loving memory of Mrs. Dyer…I’ll always be your kindergartner.
Summary: Benjamin Biggs must find the first-born son of King Pugsly to help rescue a large group of animals being terrorized by a monster in Persly’s Woods before it’s too late. The only problem is-who is the rightful heir?
THE RIGHTFUL HEIR
Contents
Introduction
CHAPTER ONE Another Ho-Hum Day
CHAPTER TWO The Changing of the Guard
CHAPTER THREE A Surprise From Above
CHAPTER FOUR Buzzards
CHAPTER FIVE Meet King Benjamin
CHAPTER SIX Old, Stiff Mrs. Crane
CHAPTER SEVEN The Coroner’s Grave Report
CHAPTER EIGHT A Stressful Request
CHAPTER NINE The Pug with One Black Foot
CHAPTER TEN A Bunch of Snakes and an Ugly, Wet Dog
CHAPTER ELEVEN Siloam’s Fork-Tongued Tip-Off
CHAPTER TWELVE The Hero in the Black Mask
CHAPTER THIRTEEN A Sight for Slit Eyes
CHAPTER FOURTEEN Forrest of the Forest
CHAPTER FIFTEEN A Kingly Introduction
CHAPTER SIXTEEN A Strange Stranger in the Stall
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN An Unfriendly Departure
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Brotherly Love
CHAPTER NINETEEN The Snapper
CHAPTER TWENTY A Cry for Help
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Mrs. Dyer’s Homework Assignment
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO A Fright in the Forest
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE The Great Roscoe
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR A Long, Anticipated Meeting
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE The Exodus
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX Saturdays with Jessica
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN The Homecoming
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT A Simple Trip to the Tire Shop
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE Making Plans
CHAPTER THIRTY ‘Coons will be ‘Coons
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE Cousin Jon’s Paper Sack
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO The Harvest Home Festival
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE The Boss on the Branch
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR Haverhill in Hysteria
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE The Singing Spring
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX Hail to the King
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN A Hopeless Attempt
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT The Walkie-Talkie on the Desk
Acknowledgements
Prologue-The Ending Feud
INTRODUCTION
THE CRESCENT MOON climbed higher in the black, late-August sky, casting its pale light eerily across pastures of bluestem grass. A light, cool breeze rocked the tall heads back and forth.
Out of the stalks a dark object jumped, then fell back to earth. A few moments later it jumped again, returned, then froze. It smelled something close by. Sniff, sniff. The pug looked to one side but saw no movement in the thick vegetation. On the other side, downwind and unseen, a line lengthened in the grass, quickly approaching.
“Son?” King Pugsly called out urgently, a silver-blue tag on his collar sparkling in the moonlight. “Is that you?”
A field mouse, on his way to a small puddle, faintly heard his king’s voice. His heart beat rapidly in his chest. He stopped to catch his breath beside the water. Without warning he was knocked onto his back and loud rattling thundered in his ears.
“Well, Edward. Hisssssss. Where issss he?” a rattlesnake whispered as another poked his head above the grass like a periscope, searching all directions.
“H-h-he’s back there a ways,” the small creature pointed behind him. “I moved downwind. I don’t think he n-n-noticed me.”
The snake’s laugh sizzled. “Gooood, little moussse. We’ll be ssseeing you sssoon. Come back here tomorrow night. The buzzard will be waiting.” The two snakes slithered off behind the mouse, their long, scaly bodies rustling the grass.
“Wait! W-what about my family?” Edward’s frantic whisper vanished in the field. He curled up into a ball and sobbed from the overwhelming weight on his heart.
King Pugsly walked toward the sound of movement. He inhaled deeply but his small black nose couldn’t pick up any familiar scents. “Son?”
In the split second he recognized the sounds of snakes in the grass, they lifted their diamond heads right in front of him and he jumped to avoid the attack. But he landed on one of their dark, muscled backs. Instinctively he bit and scratched, the snake shrieking as he savagely tore its scaly skin.
The bite that penetrated the dog’s chest came quickly, causing him to fall off the injured snake while the other hissed in excitement, “There, that’sss it. Let the poissson sssoar through the veinsss of your weakened body. One little bite and your entire kingdom is finished!”
The dog lay still, looking up at them. “My—my kingdom?” he asked, feeling the effects of the poison as it pulsed through his aching body. “I’m only one member.…There are…hundreds more.” He coughed, then breathed deeply.
“They’ll all be eaten by our massster,” the mauled rattlesnake hissed.
“Ben…Benjamin…” King P
ugsly could no longer speak and stared straight ahead.
The snakes hissed happily, their long trails moving through the grass away from the dying pug. Soon a small grass trail, that of the pitiful mouse, approached the site of the attack.
An owl awoke in his nest as the sun fell behind the faded gold treetops. Hoo! Hoo! He launched himself and flew into Persly’s Woods. That dream—the murder he’d witnessed a month ago, while flying over the pastures—continued to haunt his sleep.
Trapped in darkness,
too tired to fight,
keep calm,
keep breathing,
and speak to the light.
CHAPTER ONE
Another Ho-Hum Day
OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM WINDOW the leaves took on their autumn colors, signaling the end of September in the town of Leon. It had scarcely been three weeks and Benjamin Biggs was already very bored with seventh grade.
Benjamin certainly wasn’t one of the most popular kids in school. That place was reserved for students who went out for sports. He did manage to have a few friends—Trevor and a new kid named Chad—but he was usually too busy to spend any time with them outside of class.
The bell signaled his last class, social studies. Like every other day Benjamin sat at his desk daydreaming…about animals that talked, lived in a cave, and looked to him as their king. Daydreaming always seemed to make time pass more quickly. It was true again today for Mrs. Dyer’s lesson on Greek mythology.
The ending bell rang. Students sprang from their seats to race for the brown metal door that trapped them in the cold classroom an hour each day. Benjamin threw his books in his dented locker (minus one book for homework) and slammed it shut. Then he speed-walked to the front doors of Leon Middle School where his bus, or chariot, as Mrs. Dyer liked to call it, awaited him in the parking lot.
“Stay out of trouble, Benjamin!”
The boy turned around. The new principal, Mrs. Webster, gave him a quick wink and a grin. She had been his first grade teacher and had just been promoted. Benjamin noticed the few strands of gray popping out of her black head of hair and felt slightly responsible for them. Although he remembered with crystal clarity, she’d somehow forgotten that on his first day she sent him to the principal’s office after he threw up on her new blouse. Nonetheless, she had been his favorite teacher and was now principal. The two took turns teasing each other whenever they could.
The early autumn breeze felt good on Benjamin’s face as he walked out of the stuffy school. The old, squeaky bus door folded open and he hopped up the steps. Riding home was his third favorite part of the day. Second was riding to school. His favorite, of course, was visiting the kingdom across the road.
He had to admit that watching Jessica Howell board and leave the bus was always a thrill. But he spent as much time thinking about her pug, and that black paw, as he did about her. How was he supposed to meet the dog? Benjamin never wore King Pugsly’s collar to school. The kids were sure to make fun of him if he did. And he couldn’t yell out the window at it. Imagine what the kids (not to mention the bus driver) would say about that! He definitely couldn’t explain the situation to Jessica Howell—the Summer Jubilee’s Watermelon Queen! What would he say?
“Hi. My name is Benjamin Biggs and I believe your dog is the heir to a kingdom of talking animals across from my mailbox.”
No, he had to come up with a good plan. The animals were growing quite anxious to meet King pugsly’s possible son ever since Benjamin had brought it up weeks ago that he may have found him.
Benjamin stared at the back of Jessica’s head all the way home. Her wavy, light-brown hair bounced up and down over every pothole, shooting out a burst of shampoo scent toward his nose and overtaking the looming smell of dust the bus always seemed to have. Think, Ben, think! He tried to focus on a plan. Okay, tonight I’m going to ride my bike to her house and wait outside the fence for that pug to— BUMP! The bus hit another pothole, tossing him in his seat. Shoot! What was I going to do?
The bus slowed down at Jessica’s driveway. Benjamin did his routine of leaning out to the middle of the aisle to watch the Watermelon Queen walk to the front and disappear down the steps.
“Maybe it’d help if you talked to her,” Al, the bus driver, yelled out.
Al’s smirking face under his greasy, black comb over reflected in the dusty rear view mirror. Ignoring two snickering kids in front, Benjamin brushed off the snide remark and scooted over to the window in time to see Jessica pick up her little tan pug, laughing as it licked her face. Benjamin smiled as the bus pulled away, watching her fade from view through the smudged glass. She was his first real crush, and although talking to her was nearly impossible, it wasn’t going to be any easier talking to her dog.
The bus drove a mile farther down the road before it stopped at Benjamin’s driveway. He made his way down the aisle. As he passed Al, the man produced a goofy laugh like he was sucking in air and said, “Let me know when the wedding is.”
“Bye, Al,” Benjamin replied with sarcasm. His feet touched the gravelly road, the bus door squeaked shut behind him, and the engine groaned. He looked at the fox den. It was unusually quiet, with no animals in sight. Typically a squirrel or a mouse would be waiting for him, but not today. Benjamin felt anxious. He wanted to tell them his plan to finally talk to the pug he believed was heir to the throne. Now what’s that plan again?
Walking toward his house Benjamin couldn’t help thinking he no longer saw his pug’s face staring at him through the front window. Pugsly had always stood on his hind legs, balancing against the ledge, to watch his best friend come up the driveway. I miss you so much, boy. He looked at the empty window and sighed, feeling a loss in his heart he so badly wanted to fill.
Inside he heard the sound of chairs being moved across the kitchen floor. He found his mom, Carol, mopping the shiny linoleum. “Hi—”
“Oh, hey, don’t walk on the floor. It’s still wet.” Carol pushed the wooden chairs back under the round dining table. “Do you need a drink or something, sweetie?”
“No, I’m just gonna go play outside for a little bit.” Benjamin started downstairs but turned when he heard his mom come to the top of the staircase. She looked guilty.
“Honey,” she said. “Look, I hope you don’t mind but—where are you going?”
“Oh, I was just gonna grab my collar…um, bracelet.” He felt embarrassed.
She sighed. “Benjamin…” The boy knew his mom was serious anytime she called him Benjamin. “Sweetie, I gave it away.”
It took him a split second to realize what she’d said. “What?!” He was stunned, angry, and confused.
“Now, Ben, listen to me,” she said sharply, her arms folded, looking down at her son. “You need to let it go. It’s not healthy for you to be wearing that thing.”
“Mom!”
“Son, I don’t know if you think wearing that collar will bring him back—”
“Where is it?!” the boy yelled up angrily. He didn’t like hearing that Pugsly was never coming back, even if he knew it was true.
“I gave it to an old lady from church. We met in line at the grocery store today and she told me about her little dog.” She spoke softly, trying to be patient with him.
“So what does that have to do with anything?” He was still angry.
“Ben, I don’t like that tone you’re using. Why don’t you go to your room and not come out until you’re ready to talk to me with respect.” Her eyebrows rose. “Or we can wait until your father comes home from work.” She watched him disappear around the corner of the staircase and head to his room.
Benjamin lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. He was angry, yet he knew how silly it must look when he wore his dead dog’s collar around his wrist every waking minute he was out of school. He wished people thought he was normal, but nobody could ever understand his hidden secret. Nobody except.…
“Grandpa!” Benjamin shot up in his bed, wishing he could somehow blink his eyes and
be right in front of Grandpa Gus. Why didn’t I think of this sooner? Surely he knew that collar was magic, didn’t he? He so badly wanted to see him, to find out the story behind that amazing, mysterious collar. He frowned when he remembered his grandpa left last Tuesday to go on vacation. Shoot!
How was he going to get that collar back? Not only did he need it to rule the kingdom, but he couldn’t wait any longer to talk to Jessica Howell’s pug. He lay in the quiet of his bedroom all afternoon, racking his brain for a good idea.
CHAPTER TWO
The Changing of the Guard
THE RETREATING RAYS OF THE SUN shone equally on the surrounding red and orange trees and the dark-green ivy covering the old, eerie barn. It was quiet inside. A light breeze swept through the entrance, blowing a few straws of hay onto the half-decayed carcass of a twenty-five-foot python. The headless, once gray, shriveling body was now blue. The smell of rotting flesh and muscle turned the buzzards outside wildly hungry. They wanted to eat their former master’s nearly skeletal carcass, yet the fear he’d instilled in them made them stay away. Nearly a month had passed since Farangis was destroyed and the kingdom was saved, a month of quiet in the ivy-covered barn. The quiet was shattered as rattles from all around made their way into the dark room.
“Sssoooo, Sssiloam. What isss the reassson for thisss meeting?”
Siloam rattled softly. “Friendsss, time hasss passsed since we disgracccefully fled from our massster.” Several snakes hissed angrily at the accusation.
“Remember, Sssiloam. You fled, too!” one said.
“Ssso I did! And now we are all here to fulfill our ssservice to our dead massster.”
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