The Rightful Heir

by Jefferson Knapp

  Benjamin decided to let them sleep. As he started to leave he saw Squeak about to call out to him. He put his finger to his mouth and waved Squeak over to the tunnel. His little feet pattered across the floor. “Good morning, King Benjamin!” he whispered.

  “Good morning, Squeak. Any word from the others yet?”

  “No, Sire. Nothing.”

  “Is everybody safe in here?” Benjamin looked at the many sleeping bodies.

  “Yes, we’re all safe. Is anything wrong?”

  “My mom just told me she heard coyotes in the pastures all throughout the night.”

  Squeak gasped, “Yes, yes! We all heard them, too. They sure were excited about something! Most of us tried to get to sleep early in case the others came back in the night, but we couldn’t.”

  “I sure hope everything went okay. I’ll come back later to check on everybody.” The morning light started to shine through the hole in the ceiling.

  “Okay, Sire. I’ll come and get you if they come back.”

  Benjamin chuckled at the thought of a bobtailed field mouse coming into the house to meet him, and how his mother would react. He looked serious. “No, Squeak. You’d better stay here. The kingdom needs you!”

  Squeak puffed out his chest. “Oh…right, Sire! I’ll stay here and keep watch!”

  “Very good.”

  Benjamin grabbed the newspaper on the way back to the house, noticing that the deliveryman had missed the box altogether. Could the coyotes be working with the snakes? Or would Farangis’s mother just eat them all?

  Benjamin had a good breakfast, always aware of the bracelet in his pocket.

  “Well, thanks for breakfast, Mom. I’m going to do my homework now.”

  His parents were amazed. “You are?” Tom asked. “On a Saturday morning?”

  “Yeah, sure!” He put his plate in the dishwasher. “What time’s the reunion tomorrow?”

  “An hour after church,” Carol said. “We’ll probably stay in town until it’s time to go to the park.”

  “Oh, I can’t wait to see everybody again!” Especially Cousin Jon.

  “Where is Ben and what have you done with him?” his dad asked with an arched eyebrow. Benjamin laughed and went downstairs to his room. The barrel he’d worked on the night before was on his desk. He’d painted it some, but in all honesty it looked worse than Mrs. Dyer’s goofy Trojan Horse.

  ROSCOE AND CLEMENTINE LED THE CROWD through the cold, wet pasture. “Ya know,” Clementine remarked, “this walk gets shorter and shorter.”

  Roscoe smiled. “Yeah, but something new happens every time. Whoop!”

  Clementine’s head tilted. “What’s the matter? You got the hiccups or something?”

  “What do you mean? I’m perfectly fine. Whoop!”

  The pig stopped in his tracks, stopping everyone behind him as well. “Did you…did you just whoop?”

  “Uh…I dunno. Maybe. What’d it sound like?”

  The pig snickered in disbelief. “Are you serious? I know I heard you do that!”

  Roscoe squeezed his lips together and puffed out his cheeks. “Hmmm.… Nope. I don’t think you heard anything. Whoop! Hey, what’s that up there?”

  “What’s what?” Clementine looked but saw nothing.

  “Hang on!” The goat raced through the pasture whooping madly, jumping up and down and kicking the air with his hind hooves.

  Clementine and the others eventually reached him. “What was all that about?”

  “Sorry,” the fainting goat was embarrassed. “I just needed to get that out of my system. It’s such a rush being a wild goat! And their leader, too!… Whoop!

  Clementine was dumbfounded. “Their leader?!” Roscoe flashed a goofy grin and trotted off.

  Two HOURS HAD PASSED and Benjamin’s Trojan Pig was fully covered in a coat of pink and white paint. He tried to reassure himself about his choice of colors, then remembered fat Francis in the cave. Yeah, I’m actually the king of a pink and white pig. He had his dad screw in some feet from the legs of an old recliner in the tool shop and painted them black. Now if I can just put a decent face on this thing.…

  He coated the rim of a plastic cup with super glue and stuck it to one end of the barrel. Not bad! Next he painted the cup pink, painted eyes above it, and stood back to admire his handiwork. Hmmm, what’s missing? Oh! A tail! In the storage room next to his bedroom he found a dusty old phone nobody had used since he was a baby. And it’s white! He nailed its hardened, curled cord to the back end of the barrel. Perfect! “Even Clementine would think it looks good!” The cup popped off the face and clattered across his desk, leaving the pig snoutless. Then again, maybe not.

  The doorbell rang. Benjamin glanced up. His mom’s muffled voice sounded unusually excited. Her heels clacked across the floor. “Ben, someone’s here to see you!”

  Who now?! Climbing the stairs he wondered if Officer Hunter could be back. But what could she want? I told her the truth! Well, except for the part about talking to the old lady’s dog, but.…

  His mom had a sly smile when they passed in the hallway. “She’s waiting.…”

  Oh no! It is Officer Hunter! He rounded the corner of the front room and gasped. “Huh-huh-hi!” He could barely get the simple word out of his mouth.

  “Hello.” Jessica stood with her arms crossed, biting her lip.

  “Hi.” You already said that, stupid!

  She hesitated. “Um…what were you doing at my house the other night?”

  Benjamin’s blood froze. “Uh…uh…I-I was just looking at, uh…y-your dog.” He glanced behind him to see if his mom was listening. Carol’s head quickly vanished behind the wall.

  “My dog is missing.”

  Benjamin didn’t know how to reply. “He…he is?”

  “Yes, he is!” She stared into his eyes. “And do you know where he could be?”

  “Gosh…I don’t know where he is.” He honestly didn’t know exactly where Mac was, at that moment. “But I’d help you find him, if you’d like.”

  That eased the tension out of her face. “Yes…I could definitely use the help.”

  “Okay then. Let me just tell my mom I’m going with you to look for Ma—your dog.” He hoped she hadn’t caught his slip. How would he know her pug’s name?

  “I’ll be outside with my bike.” Jessica opened the front door. Benjamin watched her through the large window as she left the porch.

  Oh, man! Jessica Howell was in my house! Benjamin shook his head so he could think clearly. He peeked around the corner of the kitchen. His mom was at the table. “I’m going bike riding with Jessica.”

  She looked up. “You are?”

  “Yeah, her dog’s missing so I’m gonna help her find it.”

  “Oh. What kind of dog does she have?”

  “A pug!” he quickly answered, then ran to the front door and out on the porch. Jessica sat on her bike next to Carol’s car. She looked as beautiful as ever.

  She stared at him impatiently. “Ready?”

  “Yep.” He leaped on his bike and they pedaled down his driveway.

  “Let’s see if anything is down that way,” Jessica said, heading south.

  It was a cool autumn morning. Orange and yellow leaves fell around them softly from the tall hedges on both sides of the dirt road. Benjamin pretended to look for Mac, but he knew the direction he’d be coming from and it wasn’t this one. Then Jessica put him on the spot. “So why did you want to see my dog—at eleven o’clock at night?”

  He nearly crashed into her. “Sorry…ummm…well, I was out riding my bike—”

  “You ride your bike late at night?” She looked skeptical.

  “Uh, oh yeah.” He tried to sound macho. “Sometimes I do. You know, if I can’t sleep or something.”

  Jessica shrugged. “I just read if I can’t sleep.” Benjamin laughed nervously. “So you just saw my dog and decided to get a closer look?”

  “Okay…” Benjamin tried to open up to her. “I’ve seen him a lot
from the school bus—”

  “Yeah, he’s always waiting for me to get home.”

  That hit too close to home. “To tell you the truth, I used to have a pug that looked just like him.”

  Jessica turned in surprise and stopped her bike. “You did?”

  “Uh huh, one little black foot and all.” He smiled as he slowed to a halt.

  “Wow! I wonder if they’re related?”

  “Ummm…I wouldn’t be surprised.”

  They rode on through the never-ending hedgerows, a light breeze cooling them.

  “I remember the day we got him. There were three or four other puppies—”

  Benjamin crashed his bike into the ditch.

  “Are you okay?” Jessica got off her bike to help him.

  He was embarrassed and had a blood-stained rip in one knee of his jeans. “Yeah, I’m fine.” A sensation went through him as she touched his shoulder.

  “Oh! Sorry!” She snatched her hand away and clasped her other one.

  No! Put it back on! He got back on his bike. “So your dog had brothers and sisters?”

  “Yeah. They were all so cute!”

  “How long ago did you get him?”

  “Oh, I think we got Mac four years ago.”

  “Mac, huh? That’s a good name.”

  “And he’s such a good dog.” She was silent for a moment. “What happened to your dog, Ben?”

  He felt off balance, hearing her say his name. “Uh…he died.” But how? Hearing her sad and caring “Awwww,” he decided to tell her. “Yeah, about a month ago. It was really sad.”

  “What happened?” Her face looked so concerned.

  “Well, my parents think he died of old age. He was already nine. But Pugsly—”

  “Ha! Pugsly? I like that name!”

  “Yeah, Pugsly was a good ol’ dog.”

  “Anyway, go on.…”

  “I, uh…I think Pugsly was killed by a snake.”

  Jessica almost crashed her bike.

  “Whoa! Be careful!”

  “Oh, man! A snake? Are you serious?”

  “Well, yeah, I have a hunch that’s what happened.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “Just…a hunch, that’s all.” He wanted more information about Mac and his brothers and sisters. “Where did your family get Mac from?”

  “Hmm…I think at Pickrell Corner. There’s a tire shop there and the owner was selling pug puppies.”

  “The tire shop by Bonnie’s Bait Shop?” Benjamin asked.

  “Yeah, right across from it. So your dog was nine years old when he died?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then he couldn’t have been Mac’s brother. But what if…he was Mac’s dad?”

  “Yeah, I guess that’s possible.” Benjamin felt a warm sensation of joy. But how many puppies did Pugsly have? Were any born before Mac or Jonah? We’ve still got to find out who was born first.

  They rode for miles. Benjamin tried his best to look like he was searching, but it was hard to take his eyes off the girl of his dreams, only a few feet away from him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  The Homecoming

  BY EARLY AFTERNOON Carol Biggs was wondering when Ben and his little friend would come back from their bike ride. She looked out the large front room window and saw them riding up the driveway, laughing.

  “You know, if you stare at them too long you’ll start worrying like your mother did,” Tom said behind her.

  She returned a fake smile. “He’s only a seventh grader, Tom.”

  Tom raised his eyebrows. “Ah, but you do know who that girl is, don’t you?” Carol’s curiosity made her face squint. “The Leon Summer Jubilee’s Watermelon Queen!” He raised his arms up and stretched his fingers out, then wrapped his arms around her and gave her a great big hug. “Bwoohahahaha!”

  “Tom, get away from the window!” Carol was annoyed but laughed.

  Benjamin stopped his bike by the side of the garage. “Well, don’t give up hope. I’m sure Mac will show up.”

  His remark brought Jessica back to the reality. Her little dog was still missing. “I…I think I’m gonna start posting missing dog flyers around the area.”

  “Yeah, you should do that!”

  “Maybe I’ll mention it tomorrow night in Leon, too.”

  “Huh?” He feigned a puzzled look.

  “The Harvest Home Festival’s tomorrow night. I’m supposed to welcome everybody and kick it off. The Watermelon Queen does that every year.”

  “Oh.” Benjamin nodded dumbly, trying to act like he didn’t know she was the prestigious Watermelon Queen, ogled by every guy in his class.

  “Well, if I see anybody today I’ll mention Mac’s being lost.” Perhaps I’ll tell Mac himself!

  “That’d be great, Ben! Thanks for all your help.” Her smile made him forget everything else. She was just within arm’s reach.…

  “I…uh…guess I should get inside.”

  Then it happened! The impossible of the impossible! Jessica leaned over and gave him a small, quick kiss on the cheek. The autumn sun beat down on a face that, at that moment, was the reddest red imaginable.

  Jessica hopped on her bike and fled. He was too stunned to notice the Watermelon Queen’s face was also red. He didn’t care. It was love!

  ROSCOE AND CLEMENTINE SAW THE TINY HEDGEROW along the road, off in the distance. “Almost there everyone! We’ll be eating soon!” They cheered. The pig and goat smiled.

  Mac walked beside a family of gophers. In a couple of hours everyone would welcome him as their new king. On the other side of the crowd his brother Jonah was thinking the same thing.

  BACK IN THE KINGDOM everybody was preparing for the new residents. The old badger oversaw the operations. “Let’s get more food on that pile!” The animals scurried in and out of tunnels with vegetables and fruits they’d gathered. They even emptied the surplus they had stored away in one of the smaller caverns to feed this large gathering. A squirrel ran into the hall.

  “Can you see them yet, Dawson?” The badger looked stressed.

  “I climbed to the tallest branch, but still no sign of them.”

  “Keep checking. They can’t be much longer.” The animals in the cave had stopped working to listen. “Back to work everyone!”

  BENJAMIN ATE HIS LEFTOVERS for lunch while trying to avoid a barrage of questions from his mom about Jessica. He went to his room to see if the paint on the Trojan Pig had dried. He noted how surprisingly good it had turned out. He smiled with satisfaction as he ran his hand along the top of the barrel. “Now all I need is those fireworks.”

  Then other thoughts crept in. What if this is too phony for the snake? What would make the snake want to eat it? It looks okay, but it doesn’t smell like a pig or sound—”Aha!” He grabbed a shoebox in his closet and opened it. They were still there…his old longrange walkie-talkies. “Perfect!”

  He opened the pig. It was pretty spacious inside. More than enough room for Jon’s fireworks. Maybe even Clementine could fit in here. He laughed. Naaah! He turned on the walkie-talkies to see if they still worked. A high-pitched squeal battered his ears and he turned one off. “Okay, good.” He stretched out some duct tape and placed it over the top of the live walkie-talkie, then taped it to the inside wall of the barrel. “Oh, Clementine will really like this!” He closed the barrel and latched it tight. “Alright, let’s give this a test run.” He smiled mischievously and picked up the pig.

  Carol was in the living room reading a magazine. Benjamin sneaked into the kitchen and gently laid the Trojan Pig on the linoleum floor. He retreated back down the stairs and stood at the bottom, peeking around the corner. He turned on his walkie-talkie. “Mom!” he shouted. He heard her drop the magazine in her lap as she looked around.

  “Yeah?” She waited to see what her son wanted.

  “Help me! I’m stuck!”

  Carol heard his muted yell coming from the kitchen.

  “Hurry, please! I can’t
get out of this thing!”

  She looked behind her through the kitchen opening but didn’t see him anywhere. “Where are you?”

  “I’m in the kitchen! Hurry!”

  She jumped up and ran into the kitchen but saw only the pig barrel in the middle of the floor. She hesitated. “Uh… Ben?”

  “Get me out of this thing!” the pig yelled.

  “What’s going on!?” Carol had started to panic when Ben yelled for help and she hadn’t recovered. Benjamin covered his mouth with his hand so he wouldn’t laugh as he crept up the stairs. She knelt beside the Trojan Pig in some confusion and grabbed hold. “What—how did you get yourself in this thing, anyway?!”

  Benjamin quietly walked up behind her. “What are you doing, Mom?”

  “Agghhh!” She screamed at his clear voice behind her and jumped. “Very funny, Ben.” She walked away with a red face.

  Benjamin picked up the pig and patted it. “Yep, this thing will work just fine!”

  AS TIME PASSED, the animals in the cave grew more restless.

  “Where are they?” Squeak said in frustration. Everyone shared his anxiety.

  “Dawson, go check again,” the old badger said.

  “Yes, sir!” The squirrel ran into the tunnel. Everyone heard a loud “Whoa!” and its echo. The stunned squirrel walked backward into the hall, looking at the black pot-bellied pig before him. Clementine emerged, followed by Roscoe, looking exhausted!

  “Clementine! Roscoe!” the animals shouted, and raced to greet them. But soon they made way for the throng of animals that followed the two leaders.

  “Oh, wow!” Squeak got on top of a sheep and watched the parade. The newcomers entered the hall of gawking animals, some of them feeling rather weak in the knees, and gathered around the beautiful pool dappled with sunlight. More and more animals filled the cavern. When the last of the wild goats made their way into the cave, Jonah and Mac walked in, accompanied by their personal sidekicks.

  The animals had left a pathway to the throne. Clementine and Roscoe stood on either side of it. Jonah glanced over at Mac, who stared at the throne with determination. Mac made a move and Jonah reacted. He raced past Mac, who saw him out of the corner of his eye and took off running as well. The pig and goat watched the two pugs, each with one black foot, race to the throne. Jonah reached it first. He leaped for the seat and yank! Mac’s teeth grabbed his tail from behind. “Ouch!” The onlookers watched the pugs growling and wrestling across the floor.