“Whoa Hubba Hubba,” said Razzorten, as he shared raised eyebrows with Hebraun and Minuet. “There was talk of dropping her protections?”
“Talk. Yea.”
“Where's this scrying crystal Ugleeuh gave you?”
“Right here, actually,” he said, looking down at his breast. “The crystal is the brooch fixed on my flight harness. But what difference does that make if it's useless?”
Razzmorten was already unbuckling the harness, shaking his head to be silent while he slipped it off him. The king and queen anxiously crowded around. Hubba Hubba peered at the stone from Razzmorten's shoulder, and nearly lost his balance when the old man whooped with glee. “It works! I see the forest. And look at this. There's Ugleeuh flying above the trees on a broom. That's a right novel talent. She certainly never did that before her exile. I suppose it's no surprise that she'd develop her powers to while away the time there.”
“I despise the idea of her having any powers,” said Minuet. “Where do you suppose Rose and Lukus are?”
“I'd bet in her cottage,” said Hubba Hubba. “They haven't been much for going outdoors, all summer. Mostly they stayed around the house and you know, ate, slept, those kinds o' things...” He trailed off uncomfortably, seeing everyone looking straight at him. “Well when I was there, they joked around with me and we talked and stuff, don't you know,” he stammered, glancing from one person to the next as he resumed. “Sometimes they did go outside and take me for my exercise flights. And once Lukus and I even went for a hike. Now that was really fun, except when the log rolled over on me and broke my toe, of course.” He fluffed up and ran his beak along several flight feathers, letting each go with a snap before he continued. “Anyway, try the cottage.”
Razzmorten was scarcely listening as he brought his concentration to bear upon scrying with the crystal. At last, Rose and Lukus appeared, wearing their stripped cloaks, hurrying to keep up with Fuzz.
“Wow!” said Hubba Hubba. “Ugleeuh and Fuzz are definitely not on friendly terms. I can't imagine her letting them talk to him, let alone run off with him somewhere.”
“Looks like those stripped cloaks are camouflage,” said Razzmorten with a grave nod, “at least I'd say so from the appearance of the surrounding trees. They certainly don't appear to be out for a hunt, and if they've gone to this kind of trouble to hide, they very likely are attempting to flee, rather than waiting for us to respond to her extortion demands. So this bear 'Fuzz,' Ugleeuh doesn't like him, you say?”
“Not much...”
“Speaks well of him.”
“Oh Hebraun!” said Minuet. “Their faces are so pale and pasty. They don't look well. What has she done to them?”
“Remember that I can't scry,” said Hebraun, as he shared a look with Razzmorten, “but it sounds like they've been eating your sister's food. They'll surely snap out of it as soon as we get them home.”
“And remember that they're young and strong, Minuet,” said Razzmorten. “Neither one has ever been sick. They're going to be just fine.”
“But how are we going to get them home, now?” said Minuet. “And what if Ugleeuh catches them? They've defied her and escaped. I can't imagine her fury. No one who thwarts her is ever safe. You can count on her saying that they owe her for having been at her cottage, even though they were her prisoners. She'd make them pay mercilessly for that. But stand in the way of her freedom? I can't picture her controlling herself.”
Razzmorten sucked in a deep breath between his teeth. “I'm sure Ugleeuh is mortally angry,” he said, “but it still behooves her to handle Rose and Lukus with care. I can't imagine her forgetting that they are her only chance to leave the forest, short of dying. I'd say that if she does catch them, it's this Fuzz, whoever he is, who won't survive her vengeance.”
“You got it.” said Hubba Hubba. “She wants out and Fuzz is a goner. Oh, absolutely.” He hesitated, seeing that he was being taken very seriously by everyone. “She threatened to slaughter and eat me, just because I told her I wouldn't deliver her ransom note. And she claims she loves me. She doesn't even like Fuzz.”
“Pray that they're not caught,” said Minuet, looking pale and drawn, as she sat down on her throne. “I grew up struggling with her getting even with everyone under the sun.”
“How do you suppose this Fuzz plans to help Rose and Lukus escape?” said Hebraun.
“Until some clue turns up,” said Razzmorten, rubbing his temples gingerly before gazing back into the crystal, “I have utterly no idea at all, except that they most likely are indeed attempting some sort of escape, right now.”
“What happens if Ugleeuh intercepts them, Father?” said Minuet. “What then?”
“Then I shall have to face her myself.” said Razzmorten calmly enough to cause Hubba Hubba to gape in astonishment. “Please don't be afraid, Minuet. I swear that no harm shall come to my grandchildren. I swear it on my life.”
Minuet's eyes met his for a long moment. “I truly hope it doesn't come to that. Of course I accept your word, Father.” she said with a confident tone, though her face remained troubled. “Now then. What are we going to do about Hubba Hubba?”
“Minuet is Ugleeuh's sister!” thought Hubba Hubba, suddenly going as skinny as is possible for an obese bird, as his heart began to pound. “Why, whatever do you mean, Your Majesty?” he stammered.
“My dear pet! You've no reason at all to be afraid,” said Minuet, as she studied him carefully. “You're home where you belong. That is, if you so choose. Do you choose to return to Ugleeuh?” She paused, looking pointedly at him.
Hubba Hubba went wide eyed and speechless, shaking his head vehemently.
“Well then,” she said, with her first smile since the delivery of Ugleeuh's letter, “I hope that you're not offended by this, but you're a crow, if you get my meaning. Nothing against crows, mind you. It's just that you were a beautiful parrot and I feel that you'd be better off if we could return you to your former state. Would you like that?”
“You know,” said Hubba Hubba, with a fluff and a shake, “I've been thinking that very thing.”
“Good,” said Minuet with a hopeful look at Razzmorten.
“I'm sorry, Minuet,” he said, sadly shaking his head. “I'd gladly change Hubba Hubba back to his old self if I could. I think you may be forgetting for a moment how Ugleeuh was inclined to fix her spells. You remember her spells on spells. You and I were forever undoing her mischief, and she began rigging her sorceries to trip us up when we tried to put things to rights. She got so that she rigged nearly everything she did. Anything could happen to Hubba Hubba if I tried to undo her enchantment upon him. It might even kill him. I'm afraid that as long as she lives, her spell will remain on him. I'm sorry. Who knows, though? Maybe before this is all over, she can be persuaded to remove it herself.”
Hubba Hubba stood still as a stone. Minuet wrinkled her brow. “Yes Father, I see,” she sighed.
Razzmorten and Hebraun knew at once by her tone that she was dangerously out of patience with Ugleeuh. Growing up, she had appeared to take even the cruelest of Ugleeuh's tricks serenely in her stride, but her childhood had actually been so tarnished by her perpetual struggle to cope with Ugleeuh's hateful magic, that by the time she became queen she had sworn off the use of her own powers, altogether. She was determined to give the realm a wholesome sovereign instead of a sorceress. She abstained from even the tiniest of parlour tricks from her wedding day on. When Ugleeuh tried to kill Hebraun and her, she responded by leaving her powers utterly dormant, choosing instead to watch justice be served out by the hands of others. Ugleeuh's willful dangerousness to the children, however, had brought her to the brink of unleashing her powers with conclusive fury.
“Don't forget that since Ugleeuh's protections on the forest are down we can monitor the situation by scrying crystal, and I will do so diligently. If Ugleeuh should recapture Rose and Lukus, I'll know at once, and we can examine our options then.”
“As you say, Father,
” she said, meeting his eyes with a pale determined expression. “Mark me though, if any harm comes to either Rose or Lukus, this time it is Ugleeuh who will pay.”
“I've no doubt, dear,” said Razzmorten, sharing a look with Hebraun who returned a barely perceptible nod. Hubba Hubba looked on minutely, furiously preening a wing. Razzmorten took Hubba Hubba onto his shoulder and started to go.
“Wait, Father,” said Minuet. “Perhaps we should introduce Hubba Hubba to Pebbles before you take him to your tower. It may take her some time to accept his presence and she may as well start getting used to him.”
“You're right,” he said, following her to a corner of the room by a great window where a beautiful green parrot with a brilliant red forehead sat sunning herself on an elegantly carved wooden perch.
Hubba Hubba was instantly and hopelessly smitten. Here was the bird of his dreams. A vision of her in a cozy nest in a hollow tree danced through his head. “Hey, hey, gorgeous!” he said, standing up broad shouldered straight to throw out his chest as he made every feather on his neck stand on end. “You're the bird I've been waiting for all my life.”
Poor Hubba Hubba. Pebbles puffed up as big as possible and showed off the red irises of her eyes by shrinking her pupils. “Here kitty, kitty, kitty!” she shrieked, holding her head low as she walked back and forth along her perch.
Jamali, who had been dozing in Rose's room, shot up her ears and flew off the bed, racing down the long hallway at top speed, down the staircase like a cascade of furious tinkling piano keys, toppling a chamber maid with her fresh stack of linen and didn't pause until she skidded 'round the last corner charging into the throne room. She halted abruptly before Pebbles, her huge orange eyes alight as she flicked her fluffy tail from side to side. Hubba Hubba looked at the huge cat and froze. Jamali was delighted, smiling at him, with a mouthful of viciously sharp teeth.
“All right Mali! You go right back to Rose's room,” said Minuet. “And you, my dear, can go to your cage and think about improving your manners.” she said, turning to pick up Pebbles, as Razzmorten left for his tower, trying his best to calm poor Hubba Hubba.
***
“No way,” growled Ugleeuh, soaring aloft over the Peppermint Forest. “No way should it be this difficult to find a mangy overstuffed bear and two spoilt royal brats. If they're on their way to the coast, why have I seen no signs of them, yet? That polecat hadn't the wits to lie to me, particularly not with his revolting chummy-chum kicking and squeaking. Guess it wouldn't hurt to widen my search. When I do find them, Fuzz won't be fuzzy any more. He owes me more than his rotten life. I should have bursted and fried his fetid eyeballs in their self-righteous sockets. I should have ripped his tongue into strips and run 'em up 'is nose. Mangle his cursed nose for shoving it in where it didn't belong. Stupid of me to let him live after his having the very nerve o' thinking ol' idiot Gastro would hear him out about me! Gastro is...
“Hey!” she shouted, suddenly jerking upright on her broom. “Someone other than Hubba Hubba is scrying on me with his crystal, this instant. Good thing I hexed it to let me know.” At once she made signs, casting a spell that returned her scrying barrier around the forest. “So what has my dearest stumbled into? If anything has happened to him...” With a furious fling of her arm, she incinerated a peppermint tree full of leadbeater cockatoos. “Wheeoo! That sure feels good!” she cackled with a gleeful bounce on her broom handle. “Now to find Fuzzy and his royal bratlings and fix him up with something 'way better.” She wheeled and shot away for Gastro's haunts on the coast.
***
Once again Fuzz was in motion while it was pitch dark, jostling Rose and Lukus into action. Occasional mint owls could be heard near the cave and far away through the timber, but nothing like the day before. Rose shivered as she stumbled, trying to feed a foot through her clothes. It seemed that they had scarcely enough time to gather up their things before Fuzz had them underway, loping down a long talus slope. The slope was thickly wooded, making them stay especially close to him for fear of running into trees.
The ground had leveled into gentle swells and swags by the time it had grown light enough to reliably make out the silhouettes of trunks and limbs. The calls of the owls were soon replaced with the ringing screeches of sukere jays. Rose trod doggedly through the crunching leaves, keeping pace with Lukus and Fuzz. No one spoke.
By mid-morning the leafy forest canopy had opened up to admit the crystal blue sky all around, as the peppermint trees changed from tall and crowded to short, thick-trunked and spreading, standing in a sea of tall brown grass. Here and there sparrows called, punctuating the endless sounds of insects. Rose noticed that the ground was starting to be soft and spongy in the low places where the grass was still green. While she was relieved to be out of the dark woods and welcomed the warm sun, she felt increasingly vulnerable as the trees became more far flung. With no leaves overhead, they could be spotted at once from the air. Most of what surrounded them was grass, so she removed her peppermint cloak. She shuddered at the thought of Ugleeuh flying over and suddenly realized that she had been so preoccupied with this that she had completely halted in the path and that Lukus and Fuzz were 'way ahead. At the thought of Fuzz's warning to stay close, she broke into a plodding run. Before she caught up, she heard Lukus cry out. She frantically charged ahead with everything she had to find him sitting on the ground with a pained look, rocking back and forth as he held his ankle. Fuzz was circling nearby, warily peering into the surrounding peppermint trees, sniffing the air.
“What happened? Ugleeuh?” cried Rose as she struggled to catch her breath.
“Shhh!” went Lukus and Fuzz at the same time, giving her warning looks. Fuzz disappeared into the weeds.
Rose frowned. She disliked being put off, but she knew that there must be a good reason. She knelt by Lukus, studying his ankle. A huge bluish white knot was swelling, even as she watched. There was no broken skin, but it was going to leave him limping for a good while.
“The nasty little varmints seem to be gone now,” said Fuzz as he stepped into sight from a dense stand of canary grass. “Couldn't have been more than a small scouting party, but we'll have to move right quick if we don't want to get caught. And they will be back in much greater number, you can count on it. Can you walk, Lukus, or shall I carry you?”
“Can either one of you please tell me what's going on?” said Rose.
“There's no time,” said Fuzz. “We've got to go now. I'll explain as we go.”
“Mercy! Man, that hurts,” said Lukus, stumbling into his first steps. “But I can make it. Come on, I'm ready. Let's go. Quick! I don't want to be around when they come back.”
Without a word, Fuzz tramped on at full speed with Lukus limping after, right at his heels. Rose was afraid, but she had no idea how afraid to be. She could see that they were going to be difficult to keep up with. The ground was becoming much wetter and the grass was noticeably taller, with rushes and cattails appearing in the soggier places. She had to take care not to lose track of them as they wended their way between the taller tussocks. The throbbing buzzes of cicadas gave a syncopation to everything. Marsh wrens gave their rattling calls. “Drat!” she said, flailing for her balance, as her shoe came off in the muck.
“Koonk, koonk, roo-oompa koonk!” said something in the nearby rushes, with a gulping like a piston being drawn through a deep tube.
“Fuzz! Lukus!” she called out, as she caught her balance by planting her stocking in the mud, squirting dirty water up the front of her dress.
“Koonk, koonk, roo-oompa koonk!” went the something.
“What is that?” she wailed, as they hurriedly tramped back to see.
“Oh that,” said Fuzz, catching his breath. “Just a shitepoke...”
“Shitepoke?”
“Yea. Or chocolate bittern is another name,” he said, studying the rushes from under the flat of his paw. “There! See that dead stick? He's got yellow eyes. He's just a bird. Eats frogs and makes tha
t noise, is all he does. They're all through here.”
“Chocolate bittern. So this is still Ugleeuh's domain?” she said, stooping to pull out her shoe.
“You bet. And we've got to hurry,” he said, turning to go on before she had time to tug at her shoe's laces.
“Fuzz! Lukus! Could you wait?”
“Sorry,” said Fuzz, turning aside. “I know this is rude, but it's also urgent. Just pull on your shoe, muddy though it be. We must go. Gobblers.”
“But Fuzz,” said Rose, “you still haven't told me what is going on. What's a Gobbler?”
“Got it?” said Fuzz, helping her stand up. He kept hold of her hand long enough to guide her into a brisk walk. “Well Gobblers are mean little curses who got Lukus with a sling and a piece of rock candy. We really must hurry, especially since we're going the wrong direction as far as they're concerned.
“So how are you doing, Lukus?” he said.
“I'm making it. Hurt's like thunder, but I'm doing fine.”
“Good. Because it behooves us to be through the marsh before sunset, even without the Goblers. We need to set up camp in the swamp.”
“Swamp?” said Rose and Lukus together.
“Don't worry,” said Fuzz. “I know of a cozy little cave there along the river bank, where we'll be quite safe.” He paused, sniffing the air. “I think the two of you should stay closer to me than you have been until we're out of here. That way I can keep my eye out for danger without having to watch for you at the same time.”
Rose and Lukus drew close to his heels, tramping earnestly. “What did these Gobblers look like, Lukus?” said Rose.
“The ones that got me were maybe three feet tall with dark, filthy beards and hair,” he said as he dug through his pack for his peppermint walking stick without breaking stride. He heaved his pack back to the center of his back and carefully parked the insect on his shoulder. “They had beady little eyes under their bushy eyebrows and stubby hands and feet, but their arms were long like an ape's. All they had on were loincloths, with their bellies hanging over. Ugly. Their fat ol' bellies jiggled when they ran, too.”
Heart of the Staff - Complete Series Page 49
