“Hey, look at this!” Jonah said, indicating an old, square metal sign leaning against a tree in the moonlight
“Let’s take a break, guys.” Malcolm carelessly dropped his end and they all stretched their backs and legs.
“What do you suppose it is?”
None of them were able to read “The J.Q. Lazarus Traveling Carnival.” It was the sign Benjamin and his group had encountered the last time they journeyed there.
“I honestly have no clue,” Malcolm replied, looking it over. “It’s definitely another one of those human things.”
They rested a couple of minutes and walked on.
“SHOULD BE A GOOD TIME TONIGHT!” Tom Biggs noted with pleasure as they drove through the small, yet buzzing, town of Leon. They arrived at the main street downtown and found a parking spot in front of an old burned-out grocery store. Cars were lining up quickly along the narrow street as people from every surrounding community made their way to the town square, or intersection, to be precise. “Oh, shoot! Looks like we’ve already missed the pumpkin weigh-in.” Tom quickened his pace, Carol and Benjamin following. They passed business shops and buildings that had been there long before anyone in town was born…well, except for Ol’ Mr. Jones.
Benjamin noticed yellow papered flyers hanging on every wooden light pole. He stopped to read one. “Missing Pug. Male/Tan colored with one black hind left paw. If found, please contact Jessica Howell at.…” He stopped reading. He felt guilty for keeping the truth from her.
“Ben, hurry up!” His mom waved him along. Circled around a familiar face, the crowd was booing and arguing. “That’s Reverend Landreth up there!”
“Where did you hide the bricks this time, Rev?” an angry farmer shouted.
Reverend Landreth pushed his square, black-rimmed glasses up on his big nose and wiped sweat from his bald head. He held the blue first-place ribbon tightly in his hand and the protestors were giving him a piece of their mind. Then he hunched over and hugged his stomach. The crowd went silent. He began to hiccup loudly and strangely.
“Oh (hiccup) no (hiccup)! My hiccups (hiccup) are (hiccup) back! (hiccup)”
A microphone squealed over the loud speakers next to a large stage made of hay in the middle of the intersection. “Can I have everybody’s attention please?”
Benjamin recognized the voice. He looked up and stood on tip-toe to see Jessica Howell over the tops of the heads in front of him. That was Reverend Landreth’s chance to act. He sneaked through the star-struck crowd and once again avoided being caught and relieved of his blue ribbon.
Benjamin ran around the crowd to get a better view of the Watermelon Queen. Wow! She wore a red dress that fit her perfectly. Her hair was specially done, and on top of her head was an extravagant crown made of a watermelon rind with a little of the watermelon still on it, seeds and all. The mothers ooh-ed and aah-ed over her dress, necklace, and crown, while their sons ooh-ed and aah-ed over her dress, neck, and.…
Jessica pulled the microphone away as she cleared her throat. “Before I start off this year’s annual Harvest Home Festival, I want to take a moment to say.…” Benjamin looked at the growing crowd, which had doubled as more and more people streamed in. “…My pug, Mac, is missing.” A few laughs came from the crowd, followed by a few loud slaps and some “Ows!” “He’s tan colored and has one black paw. I have fliers hanging up all around town, so if you happen to see him, please grab him and call me.”
“Can I call you even if I don’t find him?” a man yelled out.
Jessica spotted the toothless old man with a bushy, dirty beard and goofy grin. “Um…no!” Everyone laughed, including the embarrassed town drunk. “Okay, please have a safe and fun time. We’ll be handing out more awards after the festivities.”
“Hey, where did Reverend Landreth sneak off to?” someone shouted, diverting everyone’s attention. Jessica turned off the microphone and stepped off the hay bales. And that was Benjamin’s chance to act. She walked over to her parents, hugged them, and stood there talking. He hoped her mom wouldn’t remember him. Fearlessly he ran up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and smiled. “Hey, Ben!”
The boy smiled back. “Hey! You did a great job up there!”
She blushed and grabbed her watermelon crown nervously. “Oh, thanks. Mom, Dad, this is my friend Ben.”
They greeted him with handshakes and smiles. “Did you make it home okay with that box on your knees?” Jessica’s mom smiled deviously at him.
“He’s actually our neighbor!” Jessica said happily.
“Oh, really?” Her dad was curious.
“Well, I live a mile south of you, but I guess that’s close out here.” He was relieved to see her parents laugh. But then the last two people he wanted to see showed up to embarrass him.
“There’s my little Casanova!” his mom said loudly.
Benjamin’s face turned blood red. His parents brushed up beside him.
“You must be Jessica!” Tom said in a juvenile, excited voice.
“Yes—” She smiled with embarrassment at Benjamin’s dad.
“We think Benjamin’s a really cool kid,” Carol declared.
Jessica’s parents laughed. Tom and Carol introduced themselves, and Jessica and Benjamin walked away to talk privately.
“Oh…I-I’m still on the lookout for your dog.” He felt so dumb, after his mom’s remark.
Jessica sighed, feeling just as embarrassed by her parents. “I really appreciate it!” They stood on the sidewalk. Next to her was a flyer on a light pole. Benjamin noticed her face turn sad when she saw it.
“M-maybe tomorrow we could go looking for him after sch—”
“Good evening, My Queen!” An arm reached around Jessica and turned her. It belonged to a guy with wavy black hair. Jessica jumped in excitement.
“Derek!” she screamed happily. “I didn’t think you’d make it!”
The tall, muscular jock wore a Leon High School blue and gold letter jacket. “I’d never miss the chance to see you.”
“Awwww!” she cooed and Benjamin rolled his eyes. She turned to him as she held Derek’s hand. “Ben, this is Derek. He’s a senior!”
“Nice to meet you, Benny.” He offered a large hand and Benjamin reluctantly grabbed it, followed by an over-gripping shake. “Wow, Ben. That’s a strong handshake there! You keep working out and you’ll be able to play on the football team!”
Oh boy. The Losing Lions…
Jessica stood on the toes of her high-heeled shoes.
“Well…we’re gonna go and play some games, Ben. But it was nice seeing you! You staying for the concert?”
“Uh, yeah, definitely…” Benjamin hid his pain. “And it was nice meeting you, too, uh…”
“Derek!” All of his perfectly straight white teeth jeered at Benjamin.
The happy couple turned and skipped away, swinging their arms, laughing. Benjamin felt like a school bus had hit him, and Al was right there in the driver’s seat laughing at him. He was devastated. For a minute he watched them in the distance, having the time of their lives, then turned to see his parents still chatting with Jessica’s.
He butted in, tapping his dad on the shoulder. “Yes, Ben?”
“Can we go home now…please?” He gave his dad a puppy dog face.
“What’s wrong? Don’tcha wanna see Moonlight Drive? They’re playing in a couple hours.”
“I don’t feel good.” I feel miserable!
“Okay, son.” Tom excused them and they walked through the crowd.
“Benjamin, do you have a fever?” his mom asked.
“I feel like throwing up!” They walked down the sidewalk, passing all the wooden light poles with Jessica’s flyers. He went to grab one but noticed someone had already taken it. He yanked the last one from a pole and read it again. “Why doesn’t she just have Derek go and find her little pug?” he mumbled sarcastically.
“What was that, dear?”
“Nothing…just…oh, y
ou wouldn’t understand.” He shut the car door and lightly banged the back seat with his head. They drove off. As far as Benjamin was concerned, he never wanted to go back to the Harvest Home Festival.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
The Boss on the Branch
THE RACCOONS MOVED QUICKLY through the forest, Jonah by their side. Malcolm and his friends were now in familiar territory. The full autumn moon rose through a few long clouds, but visibility was better than usual from the extraordinary light.
“Hey, guys! We’re not far from home!” Zeke noted. “Should we stop and tell the boss where we’re going?”
Malcolm hesitated, then thought it best, since they were nearby. “Sure. Yeah, let’s see him real quick. But don’t plan on hanging around long. We need to get this thing to the spring, pronto!”
They traveled over a dried-up creek, making several attempts to get the barrel across, then moved on through the eerie woods. A slight mist was forming as the cicadas whined in the trees. Finally, they came into a familiar grove. Walking up to the tree in the middle, they saw two skinny legs and a long, fat, black-and-gray striped tail hanging down from a large branch. Jonah looked up and tilted his head at the loud snores bellowing from the fat raccoon’s nose and mouth.
“Boss!” Zeke called, but there was no reply. “Hey, boss!”
A few snorts came from Marlon, then he mumbled, “Mmm, you want fifty walnuts for your…mmm…stupid bullfrog.”
Jonah had no idea what he was talking about.
“Boss!” Malcolm yelled.
Marlon lazily moved his legs and rolled over his fat belly. A chubby head with beady eyes behind a black mask peered down. “Boys, good to see you,” he softly wheezed. He spotted the pug. “Did you bring me a slave? Or is he just the entertainment? I can only pay you in snail shells, brother, so let’s make it happen, capiche?”
Jonah was confused. “Uh…hi?”
“Boss, the dog’s with me. I need to borrow the boys for just a little while longer, then they’ll come back,” Malcolm said to the yawning raccoon in the tree.
“Hmm, how’d the operation go the other night, boys?” Marlon asked.
“Uhhh…” Zeke couldn’t look him in the eye. “We kinda got a little held up, boss.”
“Held up? Was it Fat Tony?” Marlon chewed a nail and spit it out. “It couldn’t have been Don Diego…”
“It was that monster, boss,” Zeke said carefully.
Marlon wheezed a soft laugh. “Boys, look…if you wanna go out and play cowboys and Indians that’s fine with me. But don’t go making up stories about monsters and using that for an excuse to not get the job done.”
“The monster is a giant snake,” Malcolm said matter-of-factly.
“What? Giant snake?” Marlon squinted.
“Yeah, boss,” another raccoon said. “The other night we saw it eat an armadillo. We hid in a tree until the coast was clear.”
“I thought that ugly Farangis was dead.” Marlon shuffled around on the branch. “You tellin’ me that that weasel I gave thirty walnuts to was wrong?”
“It’s his mother,” Malcolm replied. “Farangis has a mother out there…and she’s a lot bigger than him!”
“Mother?” Marlon smacked his little hand against his forehead. “Oh, geez! Now we got the whole family involved!”
“Not for long, boss,” Malcolm assured him. “I’ll send the boys back soon.”
The raccoons picked up the Trojan Pig and started to leave.
“What in a frog’s fat fanny is that?” Marlon asked. His beady eyes tried to focus on the foreign object.
“I’m gonna kill that snake with it,” Malcolm replied as they disappeared into the bushes.
Stunned, the fat raccoon fell out of his tree and hit the ground, rubbing his hurt head tenderly. “Oh, geez. I gotta stop feeding those boys bad mushrooms.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Haverhill in Hysteria
TOM AND CAROL KNEW SOMETHING other than an upset stomach was troubling Benjamin, but they decided not to bring it up. They went to the drive-in to get ice cream, hoping that would cheer him. It didn’t. Benjamin sat in the car the whole time and stared at the soft serve as it slowly fell off his spoon and back into the cup.
Tom finished his cone quickly. “Wow! That was some ice cream, huh, Ben?”
He sounded so phony even his wife gave him a look. Benjamin didn’t answer. They drove home in silence.
In the driveway Benjamin had one thing on his mind, besides the horrible vision of Jessica and Derek holding hands and laughing. He needed to go to the kingdom and hand over the crown. He grew more miserable by the minute. First Jessica doesn’t want me, now the kingdom won’t need me anymore. He was alone and didn’t like it one bit.
THE RACCOONS HURRIED as fast as their little legs would carry them through the eastern half of the forest. Jonah trailed them. They were now far from the spot where they had stopped to talk to Marlon.
“Okay, Malcolm. My arms are about to fall off!” Zeke said, exhausted.
“Mine too!” another raccoon added.
“Keep your ears open, guys. The forest’s edge can’t be much farther.” They grunted and heaved as they continued on.
BENJAMIN STAYED UPSTAIRS and watched TV with his parents. Unlike his dad, he really wasn’t interested in the show about fishing hooks. He just sat on the couch by his mom trying to stall before the inevitable would happen and he’d no longer be King Benjamin. The show finally ended and he stood up. Whoosh! A cool breeze blew up the stairs and into the living room.
Tom looked at his wife and son. “Did you feel that?”
“Yeah, Ben, why did you have the window down this morning?” Carol asked.
“I didn’t,” he said in his defense.
“Hmm, maybe it fell down again. Sweetie, would you go check?”
“Sure.” He walked down the cool, drafty stairs. A thought tried to intrude as he touched the bottom step, but he brushed it off. He walked around the corner and flipped on the light. He gasped! Thousands of shards of glass were scattered all over the brown carpet. Whoosh! Another breeze blew in his stunned face.
“Oh, my gosh!” He slowly walked to the window, glass crunching under his shoe, and looked out the open sill at the harvest moon, almost completely over the hedge row across the road. His heart beat rapidly. Our house was broken into! He stood for a second trying to take it all in, unable to say anything. My room! He ran into his bedroom and turned on the light. Everything looked normal, except—the Trojan Pig was gone!
“Who would take that?!” It hit him like a ton of bricks. “…Malcolm!” He gritted his teeth in anger. It all made sense to him, yet it didn’t. He stomped out of his room and up the stairs. The phone upstairs in the kitchen rang. His mom answered.
“Hi, Mrs. Howell, how are you? …You can’t find her? …Well, I don’t know. Let me ask Tom.” She covered the speaker. “Tom? Did you see Jessica anywhere before we left?” He shook his head. “No, Mrs. Howell, we didn’t see her. Let me ask Ben.”
Benjamin stood at the top of the stairs, his attention now on the phone call.
Carol handed him the phone. “Here, sweetie, you need to talk to Mrs. Howell.”
“Hello?”
“Ben, honey, this is Jessica’s mom. Did you see her anywhere when you were leaving with your parents?” A crowd of people talked loudly in the background.
“Uh, no, Mrs. Howell, I didn’t. The last I saw of her was when she went to play games with that Derek guy.” He started to feel lightheaded.
Mrs. Howell started to hyperventilate. “Oh, no! She was supposed to meet us two hours ago!”
Benjamin heard Mr. Howell yell in the background, “They found her watermelon crown but nothing else!”
Mrs. Howell started to panic. She took a deep breath. “Okay…well, we’ll keep looking and calling people.”
“I’ll keep my eyes open for her, Mrs. Howell.” Benjamin knew that didn’t sound very reassuring, but she appreciated it
.
“Okay. Thank you.” She hung up the phone and Benjamin stood there in a daze. His mind was trying not to think about the worst thing possible. The possibilities were endless, though most involved that jerk Derek.
“What’s going on?” Tom walked up to them. “Jessica is missing?”
“Yes, hon. Her mom said they’ve been looking for her for over two hours.”
“Oh, boy!” Tom ran his fingers through his sandy-blonde hair.
“Benjamin, sweetie, don’t worry. She’ll come home. It’s only been a couple hours.” Carol wrapped her arm around him. “Her watermelon crown was found, but that’s it.” Then Benjamin remembered the other horrible thing that happened. “Uh…our house was broken into.”
“What?!” Tom exclaimed.
“Yeah…the basement window is shattered all over the floor.” Tom ran downstairs.
“Was anything stolen??” his mom asked.
“Yeah… my pig!” Benjamin grew angry at the double-crossing raccoon he’d put his trust in, even after the debacle at Farangis’s barn.
Tom came back upstairs, shaking his head in anger and frustration. “There’s glass all over the floor, but I don’t think they took anything.”
“They took Ben’s pig.” Carol said, wiping the tears in her eyes.
“They what? His pig?” Tom couldn’t make any sense of that.
“What should we do, Tom?”
“Call the police. We got broken into!”
Carol called to report the break-in. She had to repeat to the dispatcher that the lone item stolen was a pig made out of a barrel. The dispatcher said they’d send an officer in the morning to investigate. Carol thought she heard laughing in the background as the dispatcher hung up. “They said a police officer will be coming by in the morning.”
Tom sighed. “Okay, well…I’ll put some plastic wrap over it for now.”
Benjamin had had enough. I might as well end this horrible night now. He headed downstairs to his closet, grabbed the collar from behind a shoebox, and left the bedroom. Not once did he notice the red “on” light glowing brightly from the walkie-talkie laying on his desk.
The Rightful Heir Page 18