I instantly deflate. Frankie’s right.
“Although maybe the witch isn’t that smart,” Robin says. “And what other options do we have?”
A cold blast of air suddenly fills the dungeon. The witch is listening! It’s now or never! I glance around the room. Everyone nods.
Here goes nothing.
“Penny,” I say — loudly. “Your checkered sneakers are so cool!” My voice sounds super fake.
“I was with Penny when she bought them in the magic shop,” Frankie shouts. “The salesclerk said whoever wears them will have the power to read minds!”
“Yup,” Penny adds, cupping her hands around her mouth as if speaking through a megaphone. “And they can turn you invisible if you give your feet a little stomp.”
“They were, um, really expensive,” Robin adds. “But so worth it for all their amazing powers!”
“Too bad the magic powers don’t kick in until whoever has them on has worn them for six hours,” Frankie adds.
Smart! “That’s right,” I say. “Penny’s only had them on for three hours.”
“Because I bought them … this morning,” Penny says.
“So the magic won’t work for a little while,” I add.
Is this starting to sound ridiculous? I think it is.
“I wish I had a pair of magic black-and-white-checkered sneakers,” Dorothy yells with a grin, catching on. Go, Dorothy!
“Do you know that once you’ve been wearing the shoes for six hours, you can turn vegetables into candy?” Robin asks.
“And tissues into dollar bills!” Penny adds.
Now we’re definitely pushing it.
“These are one-of-a-kind shoes,” I say, wanting to wrap it up before my friends go too far. “And the only pair in existence are on Penny’s feet!”
The cold air goes away as suddenly as it came.
Ah.
Which means the witch has stopped listening. Did we do a convincing enough job?
We all wait.
“Out of the way, Munchkin!” shouts a distant voice.
YES! It’s the witch! Her voice is coming from up the stairs.
The door creaks open and we all turn as the witch stomps into the dungeon.
The witch focuses her one eye on Penny. “You. Give me your shoes. Now.”
Penny smiles triumphantly. “Sure. I’ll switch with you.”
Hurrah! My plan worked! I was truly worried the witch wouldn’t be dumb enough to fall for it!
The witch points her gnarled finger in Penny’s face. “Who said anything about switching?” the witch snaps.
Penny puts her hands on her hips. “Well, I can’t go around shoeless! Especially in this dungeon. The floor is concrete.”
“You give me the shoes,” the witch snarls, “or I will zap you into oblivion and take them.”
Yikes.
Penny slips off her shoes.
“Wise,” the witch says, her voice dripping with menace. She snatches up the sneakers and slams the door behind her.
Crumbs.
“I hope they’re too small on her and give her blisters,” Penny mutters, glaring at me. “Great idea, Abby!”
My cheeks heat up. “It almost worked,” I say.
But almost isn’t getting us out of this dungeon.
Now what?
“Okay, I have another idea,” Penny says.
“What?” I ask.
“Let’s ask Orly to steal the witch’s magic shoes for us!” Penny says.
I see Orly’s face pop up into the window.
“Sorry, but I can’t,” Orly says. “The magic spell that enslaves the Munchkins would not allow it.”
“Oh, yeah,” Penny says, her shoulders slumping.
“I’m about to go on my evening snack break,” Orly says. “I’m sorry I can’t help you. I wish I could. All I can say is that it’s a good thing the witch didn’t ask me to lock the door when she left. Because then I would have had to lock the door.”
“Wait. Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” I ask.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Orly calls out.
I turn to my friends. “The door is unlocked!”
“Let’s go!” Dorothy cries.
“You should know the witch will go to sleep at nine P.M. exactly,” Orly adds. “She’ll be sleeping in the new sneakers, I suppose. And the magic slippers will be right by her bed. I’m just mentioning these details in case you’re curious.”
I give Orly a thumbs-up through the glass. “Thank you for letting us know. But you won’t get in trouble?”
“I follow orders. She didn’t tell me to lock the door. I did nothing wrong.”
“Thank you, Orly!” I say.
She winks.
We wait in the dungeon. As soon as the time on Penny’s phone switches to nine P.M., we jump up, ready to go.
“What’s our plan here, exactly?” Frankie asks.
Oh. Good point. We don’t really have a fully formed plan yet.
“Well, we all leave the dungeon,” I say. “You guys hide somewhere safe. Meanwhile, I go into the witch’s room and get the shoes.”
“You?” Penny cries. “I’ll get the shoes.”
“No, I’ll get them,” I say. “I’m the expert.”
“You are not,” she says. “We’ve both been in the same number of books! C’mon! And anyway, she stole my shoes! I’m going.”
“Why do you want to go so badly?” I ask her. “You understand it’s dangerous, right?”
“It’s not that dangerous. It’s exciting!”
“Two people should go,” Frankie says. “One to be the lookout, one to grab the shoes.”
Crumbs. She’s right.
“Fine,” I say. “Penny and I can go. The rest of you go hide somewhere safe. In case we get caught, you’ll have to save us.”
“Can’t I just go straight home?” Dorothy asks.
“You will when we get those silver shoes,” I promise her.
“We need a meeting spot,” Frankie says. “So Abby and Penny can find us after they’re done getting the shoes.”
“How about back where we first landed?” I suggest.
Frankie nods. “Okay. We’ll start walking toward there — maybe you’ll catch up with us along the way.”
“You’ll take Prince?” I ask Robin.
“Of course,” she says, scooping him up and nuzzling his fur.
I give Prince a fast scratch under the chin. “You be a good boy for Robin.”
He licks my hand.
“Ew,” Penny whispers. “Dog slobber.”
I roll my eyes. “Let’s go.”
I carefully open the door, and we all go racing out and up the stairs. Dorothy, Frankie, and Robin wave to me and Penny, and then they slip out the main castle door into the night. I feel a tiny lump in my throat. I hope Prince will be okay! I trust Robin, but still.
Everything is quiet and dark. There’s no one around in the castle. Not a Munchkin in sight. Or the witch.
“We have to find the witch’s bedroom,” I whisper to Penny. I wish we’d asked Orly where it is. Too late.
Penny and I tiptoe around the corner and down the first hall. I see two doors. One says WITCH’S PRIVATE QUARTERS. Um, guessing it’s that one.
Penny and I tiptoe to the door and I open it very, very carefully.
The door opens without a creak.
Whew.
I peer into the witch’s bedroom. There’s a big four-poster gray stone bed in the center of the room. The witch’s head is at the far end, atop three lumpy-looking gray pillows. The rest of her is covered by a scratchy gray blanket.
And her feet are sticking right out of the blanket! And she’s wearing Penny’s sneakers! Just like Orly said she would be.
Penny creeps right over to the witch and reaches out to snatch the shoes off her feet.
You’ll wake her up! I mouth.
But I want my shoes! she mouths back.
I shake my
head no.
She hesitates. “So then I get to wear the ruby slippers?” she whispers.
So annoying. “Silver slippers. But fine. If we find them,” I whisper back. I glance around the room. There’s not much in here. Just a bedside table with a lamp.
But underneath the table? I squint. Could it be? The silver slippers!
Yes!
I tiptoe toward them.
I reach out. I grab. I have them! “Got ’em!” I whisper-shout.
Penny smiles. And then grabs them right out of my hands!
She goes running out of the room, her feet still bare. I follow, taking a peek back at the witch. She hasn’t woken up. Thank goodness.
I gently close the door behind us. Penny puts on the shoes.
“OMG, how cute and sparkly are these?” she asks.
They are cute and sparkly. They have a small heel and glitter like they’re made of diamonds. I wish I was wearing them.
“They fit me perfectly,” Penny adds. “What are the chances?”
“Well, they are magic,” I grumble. “Let’s get out of here before the witch wakes up.”
We retrace our steps and slip out of the stone front door. Then we race as fast as we can away from the witch’s castle, down the gray brick road back toward the yellow brick road.
I see a light on the ground. I glance at it — it’s Penny’s phone. She’s put the flashlight app on. Good thinking.
“Let’s see where we are,” Penny says, and shines the light ahead of us.
Dorothy’s fallen house is right in front of us. With, I’m guessing, Robin’s tree house crunched under it.
“Guys!” I whisper-yell, looking for our friends. “Are you here?”
No answer.
“Guys?” I say again.
I hope nothing happened to them. Where are they?
Suddenly, I feel a lick on my leg. I jump. It’s Prince!
“Hi!” I say, bending down and scratching behind his ears. “You’re okay! Yay! Where’s everyone else?”
“We’re here,” Robin says, stepping forward out of the darkness with Frankie and Dorothy.
“Did you get the shoes?” Frankie asks me and Penny.
“Yes!” Penny says. “And they’re amazing!”
She preens in her fancy footwear so everyone can see. The moonlight over this part of Oz is bright.
“Can we go home now?” Dorothy asks, hugging Toto.
“Yes!” I say. Dorothy and I are one hundred percent on the same page. We’re just two girls with dogs who want to go home! “I think we should leave here as soon as possible. So nobody gets hurt.”
“How are we getting home exactly?” Frankie asks. “We only have one pair of slippers.”
“Maybe if we all hold hands it will work?” I say.
“But what if we get stuck in Kansas?” Penny says. “Or Dorothy gets stuck in Smithville?”
“That would not be ideal,” Frankie says.
“But as long as we have the shoes, we can get anywhere,” I say. “So maybe Dorothy puts them on, like she’s supposed to, and we all hold hands and we fly over to Kansas and drop off Dorothy. And then I put the shoes on and we do the same to get back to Smithville.”
“Or, you know, I could put them back on,” Penny says casually.
“We’ll see,” I say. We will not see.
“But what about the rest of the story?” Penny adds. “What about the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion? If we leave now, Dorothy will never meet them and they’ll never get a brain, a heart, or courage!”
“But they don’t really get them anyway,” Frankie explains. “The Wizard of Oz is a fake. He just pretends to give them a brain, a heart, and courage. Remember? Didn’t you listen when I explained before?”
Penny frowns. “Yeah, but I don’t agree. Anyway, doesn’t Dorothy still set the Scarecrow free? And oil the Tin Man? If she doesn’t help them, they’ll be stuck forever!” She glances at me. “Plus, wouldn’t it be cool to meet them all?”
“Penny, you don’t realize how much danger we’re in,” I say. “In the book, Dorothy had only one witch after her. We have two! Plus Gluck!”
“Who’s Gluck again?” Robin asks, scrunching her face. “I can’t keep this story straight.”
“Gluck isn’t in the real story, he’s in my story,” I say.
“Now I’m even more confused,” Robin says.
“Me too,” says Dorothy.
“Gluck is after me,” I say. “He is trying to trap me here so I don’t help the fairy in my basement. And he’s dangerous.”
Toto starts to whimper again. Prince barks at him.
“I’m in charge,” I say loudly. “And it’s my decision. We’re going home. We can’t risk it. Penny, give Dorothy the shoes.”
“But they fit me perfectly! And I’m already wearing them.”
“Can you just listen to me for once?” I sigh.
“Fine,” Penny grumbles. “You’re so bossy, Abby.”
Dorothy undoes the buckle on her clunky white shoes and passes them to Penny.
“These are pretty ugly,” Penny says, handing over the silver slippers.
“Hey! That’s not very nice,” says Dorothy.
“Well, it’s true. It’s my job to point out fashion mistakes,” Penny says. “And these are two of them.”
Seriously, Penny? I shake my head.
Dorothy puts on the silver slippers. “How do they look?” she asks.
“They look great,” Penny mutters. “Obviously, they look great. Although the color really is boring.”
“So what do I have to do with the shoes again?” Dorothy asks.
“Okay,” I say. “What you have to do is —”
The strangest sound fills the night sky.
WAA-WEE! WAA-WEE!
What. Is. That?
We look all around. I don’t see anything.
WAA-WEE!
Prince’s ears flatten. So do Toto’s. They’re both staring up at the sky.
We all look up.
In the moonlight we see … monkeys?
With wings?
Flying monkeys!
Furry brown monkeys with wings are flying through the sky. There are at least ten of them.
“AHHHHHHH!” Penny cries. “AHHHHHH! The flying monkeys! I forgot about the flying monkeys! Don’t let them get me, don’t let them get me!”
“Run!” I shout. “Hide!”
But before any of us can move, two monkeys swoop down. One grabs Dorothy by the collar of her dress. Toto falls out of her arms and barks up at Dorothy from the ground.
“Totoooooo!” Dorothy cries as the monkey carries her up, up, and away.
They have Dorothy! And the magic shoes!
The other flying monkey lunges for me, but I duck, and the monkey heads straight for Robin.
“What is that?” Robin screams. “None of you mentioned flying monkeys!”
The monkey grabs her by her hoodie and swoops her up and away.
Oh, noooooo.
The monkeys have Dorothy and Robin!
The monkeys are carrying them higher and higher and farther and farther away!
Prince and Toto are barking loudly and spinning in circles.
“HAHAHAHAHA!” a male voice calls down.
What? The monkeys can talk?
I stare up at the flying monkey who’s carrying Robin. Its face suddenly changes before my eyes. It’s becoming … human. Ice-blue eyes. A turned-up nose. Thin lips. And white-blond hair.
I know that face!
It’s Gluck! The evil fairy! I knew he was behind this. And now he stole Robin!
We all stare up at the dark sky. The monkeys are gone. The magic shoes are gone.
And so are our friends.
We have to save Robin and Dorothy!” I cry. They must be terrified. Robin is one of my best friends — the thought of anything bad happening to her is beyond awful. And I feel totally responsible for Dorothy. We messed up her story, and now she’s been kidnapped.
BY FLYING MONKEYS! Oh, and by Gluck, the evil fairy. Not good. Not good at all.
“The monkeys. The monkeys. The monkeys,” Penny keeps repeating. She’s hugging herself and rocking back and forth. “I forgot about the monkeys.”
Toto is wailing.
Prince is barking.
Frankie is just shaking her head. “Where would the Winged Monkeys take them?” she asks. “That’s what they’re called in the books. Winged. Not flying.”
“Who cares what they’re called?” Penny says, still shivering. “They’re horrifying.”
I think. Hard. “Well, since the monkeys work for the Wicked Witch of the West,” I say, “they probably took Robin and Dorothy to the witch’s castle. That’s what happened in the movie. Is that what happened in the book?”
Frankie nods. “So we’ll have to go to the witch’s castle.”
“Back to the castle?” Penny groans. “We just came from there!”
I shake my head. “The castle we just came from belongs to the Wicked Witch of the East. The Wicked Witch of the West is her sister. She’s an entirely different witch.”
Penny sighs. “So many witches. So many directions!”
“I know,” I say.
“But Dorothy is wearing the shoes,” Penny says. “Can’t she just click her heels together and take herself back to Kansas?”
“Let’s hope she doesn’t do that,” I say. “If she leaves with the shoes, we might be stuck here for good. Plus, Dorothy might leave Robin behind, and we still need to save her.” I clap my hands. “Come on. Time to go!”
“Wait. You want to go chase the flying monkeys?” Penny asks. “Are you joking? I am not going near those things!”
“We don’t have much of a choice,” I say.
Penny shudders. “But … but … I had nightmares about those monkeys when I was a kid, after I saw the movie! I … I want to go home!”
“So do I. But first we have to save our friends,” I say.
“I wish we’d never come into this story!” she says.
Toto gives another wail.
Prince sidles up beside him and rubs his nose against Toto’s neck. Aw, cute. He’s trying to cheer him up. What a good dog. I turn back to Penny.
“I told you the stories aren’t all fun and games,” I say. “Now, we have to figure out where this castle is, exactly. Frankie, any ideas?”
Abby in Oz Page 4
