The Warble

by Victoria Simcox

  Kristina slid to the right side of Taysha. “Hey, don’t take off so suddenly! You didn’t give me a chance to hold on.”

  Taysha came to an abrupt stop, and Kristina fell to the ground. Then Taysha turned to face her. “I’m sorry, but it could be a zelbock in the graveyard. I told you before, when it starts to get dark, that’s the time you’ll most likely see one of them. They are always out at night, trying to find anything that they think looks suspicious.”

  A sly look appeared in Kristina’s eyes. “It sounds like someone I know back at home.” She thought of Davina, who was always suspicious of her.

  “We’d better get out of here—and fast.”

  “No! Let’s wait until its dark. That way we’ll have a better chance of not being seen.” Kristina jumped to her feet. No sooner had she done so, and the rain began to fall again.

  “Look, over to your right—there’s a large tree over there. We can take cover under it,” Taysha said and began heading toward it.

  Kristina tailed behind the mare as the rain began to pour down and thunder roared in the sky again. They took cover under the tree and Kristina waited for the lightning to follow. When it struck, she poked her head around the tree, checking if anything was lurking in the graveyard. When another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, the suspicious character ran from behind one tombstone to another, just like it had before.

  “It’s an old dwarf, and he was limping,” Kristina said excitedly.

  Raymond poked his head out of her vest. “I must say, I think the horse had a good idea when she said we should get out of here.”

  “I think he’s trying to hide from us.”

  “I say we leave now, while it’s running in the other direction,” Taysha suggested. “It could be going to tell someone of our whereabouts.”

  “But what if it is a dwarf, and what if he’s hurt, and it thinks that we’re Queen Sentiz’s spies?”

  “We can’t take any chances.”

  Kristina paused for a moment and then replied, “I want to help him.”

  “What can you do to help him? We can’t take him with us. He would only slow us down, and then we’d most likely be captured by the zelbocks.”

  “We won’t have to take him.”

  “Then you can’t help whoever it is, and besides, without fairy blossom―”

  “I have some fairy blossom.”

  “How can that be? We haven’t come across any growing.”

  “I never told Werrien or you but Leacha gave some to me, before we left on our journey.”

  “Why would she give you her fairy blossom when she needs it herself?”

  “She wanted me to have it in case one of us was injured on our journey. We haven’t used any so far, so if it is an injured dwarf behind that tombstone, I’m sure that I could spare a little.” Kristina reached into her pocket to get the fairy blossom.

  “Well, do what you feel is best.”

  “Wait here, then. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

  She was just about to run over to the graveyard when Raymond poked his head out of her vest and said, “I’m really not one for graveyards.”

  Kristina smiled at Raymond. “You mean you’d rather stay with Taysha? All right.” She took Raymond out of her vest and placed him on Taysha’s back. Then without looking back, she ran off toward the graveyard.

  “Wait! Wait! Please don’t leave me here on top of this large, unpredictable beast!”

  Kristina didn’t respond; she figured it was about time that Raymond got out of his comfort zone.

  Taysha was annoyed at Raymond for calling her an unpredictable beast, so she shook vigorously. Raymond, half out of his wits, held on for dear life.

  The rain poured down on Kristina. She opened the rusty gate that led to the graveyard. It reminded her of the gate in front of her own house, except that it made a creepy creak when it opened. Just as she walked through the gate, a loud thunder clap startled her, and she drew out the knife that Werrien had given her. When she arrived at the tombstone, lightning flashed across the sky again, revealing the suspicious character. “Rumalock!” Kristina said.

  “Kristina!” Rumalock said. “If I’d known it was you, I wouldn’t have hidden behind this tombstone.”

  “And If I’d known it was you, I wouldn’t have drawn out this knife.”

  Rumalock looked surprised. “Where did you get that?”

  “It was given to me by a boy named Werrien.”

  “So you did meet up with him,” Rumalock said softly.

  “Remember you told me that I might get help along my journey? Well, you were right, because I met up with Werrien. Anyhow, it’s so good to see you, Rumalock. I have so much to tell you.” She was going to explain all that had happened to her, but then she noticed that Rumalock looked unwell. He leaned his head against the tombstone, seeming to not have much energy. She frowned. “What happened to you?”

  “I was returning home from collecting fairy blossoms when a band of zelbocks caught sight of me. They arrested me and took all the blossoms that I had collected. Then they tied my hands together behind my back, and tied me with another rope to the back of one of their horses. They led me to where my house used to stand.” He paused for a few seconds as tears welled up in his old eyes.

  “What do you mean, ‘used to stand’?”

  “It’s no longer there. They burned it to the ground, along with all my belongings, including the only prophecy book in Bernovem. They dumped out the sack of blossoms that I had worked so hard to collect and told me that it was a crime to collect the blossoms in such large quantities. Then they burned them. After that, they led me away, and I had to walk and walk, sometimes being dragged when I was too exhausted to move as quickly as they wanted. They took me to the city of Salas, and as we entered it, all the dwarfs and gnomes, who were going about their usual business, stopped and watched in awe as I was led by the zelbocks through the main street. The zelbocks brought me to the city prison, where they threw me in a cell. I was there for two days, and was told I would be leaving for Treachery Island on the third morning. There was no way of escaping—a zelbock posted in front of my cell made sure of that. I fell asleep on the hard concrete floor and started dreaming of the horrible place—Treachery Island. It was a terrible dream, in which the wicked Queen Sentiz was dragging me by my beard to a damp, cold cell. I could see that there was no floor in it, just bars, and beneath the bars, vicious sharks were snapping their jaws at anything that dangled even an inch below the bars. The queen was just about to throw me into the cell, but then I woke up, and to my surprise, fluttering above me and tugging on my beard, was Clover—bless her heart. She said she thought I’d never wake up—I was so glad to see her.” A glitter of hope sparkled in his watery eyes.

  “How did she get past the zelbock on guard?”

  “He had fallen asleep, and so she managed to pull the key out of his hand. After that, she dragged the key as close to my cell as possible, but because it was the same size as Clover, she couldn’t lift the key off the ground, so she flew through the bars and woke me. Then I stuck my arm through the bars and grabbed the key.”

  “Did the zelbock wake up?”

  “No, thank goodness. He was snoring so loudly that he didn’t hear as I reached my arm through the bars and tried to put the key in the lock.”

  “So you unlocked the cell door?”

  “I almost had it, but then I dropped the key, and the zelbock flinched, but he didn’t wake up. I tried once more, and that time, I was successful. I pushed the large barred door open and made my escape.”

  “What happened to Clover?”

  “She led me out of the prison. Then she said she had some business to take care of, and that is when we parted.”

  More lightning flashed across the sky, revealing Rumalock’s wrists. They were wrapped in cloths that were soaked in blood.

  “What happened to your wrists?”

  “The ropes that were tied around them cut into them
as I was being dragged behind the zelbock’s horse.”

  “Mind if I take a look? Maybe I can help.”

  “That’s very kind of you, but I have already lost too much blood. Without the fairy blossom, there’s really nothing you can do.” Rumalock sat down and leaned against the tombstone. His strength was fading fast. “I’m just glad that I escaped the prison and a most assured horrible existence or even death at Treachery Island. At least now I have peace in my heart, knowing that the Warble has returned. After it is delivered to its final resting place, Bernovem will be restored back to its original way.” His eyes began to close.

  “Wait! Hold on!” Kristina took his left hand and gently removed the cloth that was tied around his wrist. Then she removed the other cloth from his other wrist. She could see that the ropes had cut deep into them. “Hold out your wrists out into the rain.”

  With the little strength he had left, Rumalock held his cut wrists up to the rain and the blood rinsed away. With trembling hands, Kristina took fairy blossom from the small pouch. She pinched about a third of it between her fingers and dropped it onto her other palm. Holding her open palm up to the rain, she let it fill with rainwater and squished the soaked fairy blossom onto Rumalock’s wrists—they healed instantly.

  Rumalock’s eyes suddenly opened and had a vibrant glow. He glanced down at his healed wrists. “Bless you, child. You have saved my life.” He stood up with renewed strength. “I wish that I had some way to repay you, but I’m sorry, everything was taken from me.”

  “There is one thing you could do for me.”

  “Name it, and I will do it for you.”

  Kristina opened the little pouch and took about half of what was left of the fairy blossom and wrapped it in a napkin. She handed the napkin to Rumalock. “Could you please take this to an elderly gnome lady? I’m sorry that I don’t have much information about her, other than that her name is Leacha and she lives in the bottom of a large tree in the forest.”

  Rumalock tried to recall who she was.

  “She is Werrien’s guardian, if that helps any.”

  “You mean Prince Werrien, Queen Lafinia’s son, the true prince of Bernovem?” Rumalock seemed surprised.

  “Yes, don’t you remember my mentioning him to you a few minutes ago?”

  “I’m sorry; I guess the intense pain made me forget. Anyhow, however did you meet him? Did the fairies introduce you?”

  “Yes, you could say that.”

  “I certainly do know Leacha and the boy as well. It will be nice to see her.”

  “That will be great if you could deliver the fairy blossom and pay her a visit at the same time.”

  “Yes, that would be wonderful.” His rosy cheeks protruded as he smiled happily.

  “There’s something else that I need to tell you.”

  “What is it, child?”

  “Werrien was captured by the zelbocks two days ago and brought to a prison in the city of Salas. Do you think it could be the same place that you were in?”

  “There is only one prison in the city of Salas, so it must be the same place.”

  “How much farther is it from here?”

  “If you leave now, you should be able to make it before sunrise.”

  “Then I’d best be going.”

  “One more little thing—may I look at the Warble one more time? It will lift my spirit and give me more strength.”

  “Oh, sorry, Rumalock; I gave it to Werrien. I know that I probably shouldn’t have but—”

  Rumalock interrupted her saying, “Then you really need to hurry to him.”

  Kristina ran back toward the tree where Taysha and Raymond were taking cover and Rumalock called out to her, “Hurry, child! Werrien will most assuredly be on his way to Treachery Island at the crack of dawn tomorrow.”

  20

  While Ugan rowed the boat, Queen Sentiz sat on her purple, velvet pillow and looked through her telescope. She panned the land they had left, looking for any sign of Kristina. The problem was, she could only see along the cliff’s edge and the lower shoreline. Kristina and Taysha were much farther inland at this time. The wind started picking up and a large raindrop hit the lens of her telescope. “Can’t you row any faster?” she blurted out to Ugan.

  Even though it was very hard for him, Ugan managed a fake smile as he tried to row faster in the dark choppy water.

  Hester, the beaver; Davina, the bullfrog; and Graham, the weasel, were in their cages, sliding from one side of the boat to the other. Ugan felt sorry for them, and so he stopped rowing for a brief moment to place a heavy rope beside their cages to stop them from sliding. Queen Sentiz rolled her eyes at him and then looked back into her telescope at the dark, dancing waters ahead of her. “Aha!” she yelled suddenly, startling Ugan so that he momentarily dropped the oars. “There it is that wonderful place, Treachery Island. Oh, how I love visiting it.” She collapsed her telescope once more and rubbed her long, bony hands together. “Not much longer, and you’ll be in your new home.” She grinned at the animals. Davina croaked at her remark, and Hester beat her big, flat tail on the bottom of the cage.

  The queen noticed the weasel’s head was changing back into Graham’s head. Soon after, the weasel’s whole body changed back into Graham’s body, and it burst through the cage, breaking it. Graham was back to normal and lying on the wet bottom of the boat. He was unconscious but starting to come to. He rubbed his eyes and then stared up at the hazy figure of Queen Sentiz. Even though her image was distorted, she looked very beautiful to him. He mumbled something about the cream puffs.

  “The potion in the cream puffs was supposed to last longer than this,” the queen said angrily.

  Graham shut one eye to try to focus, but it didn’t help. The swaying of the boat was making his stomach sick, so he sat up. “I think that I’m going to get sick.” His freckled face was as white as a sheet.

  “Now, now, dear, I have just the thing for you,” the queen said soothingly. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small box made of abalone shell. She clicked opened its latch with her fingernail. As the lid sprang up, a puff of pink, green, and purple smoke swirled out. Graham shook his head again, trying to comprehend what was going on. “I have a lovely candy that will settle your stomach.” She took out a pink, green, and purple swirled candy. “Now open your mouth.”

  Even though he felt sick, Graham was mesmerized by the queen. He closed his eyes and opened his mouth. She dropped the candy onto his tongue. Its flavor was so intense and delicious, bursting with lime, grape, and strawberry flavors, all combined together. It sizzled and popped as it began to dissolve on his tongue. He finished it and said, “That was so good! I want anoth—” And that was when he changed back into a weasel. The candy had been laced with the same potion that had been in the cream puffs.

  “Didn’t your mother ever tell you, ‘never accept candy from a stranger’?” the queen said slyly. She picked him up by the scruff of his neck and put him in the cage with the beaver.

  As they continued along the dancing sea, the wind grew stronger, coming toward them from the south. This made it even harder for Ugan to row, and to make matters worse, the weather was getting stormier by the minute. A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, followed by the usual roar of thunder. The swelling waves made it feel more like a carnival ride than a boat ride.

  “Put the canopy up, you idiot!” the queen yelled to Ugan, while trying to smooth her tangled, windblown hair.

  Ugan struggled with the canopy, and the rain plunged down at full force. The fierce wind blew steadily at him, and the queen sat with the Book of Prophecy clenched tightly to her bosom. Up, down, and side to side, the boat bobbed in the wild sea.

  Ugan was back at the oars, rowing toward the small island, and the place where he sat was not covered by the canopy. The drenching rain poured down on him, soaking his clothes and chilling him to the bone. Luckily the animals were covered, nevertheless, the rain had now accumulated about two inches on the bottom o
f the boat.

  “My feet are wet. Start scooping the water out, you lazy fool,” the queen shouted at him.

  Ugan stopped rowing and picked up a bucket that was near him. He stood up in the ankle-deep water and began scooping it up and dumping it overboard. As he scooped, the boat tottered back and forth. This made it very hard for him to stand, and after every time that he dumped water over the side, he would have to grab the side of the boat to steady himself. The winds blew even harder, and the rain came in just as fast as he was able to dump it out of the boat.

  “Work faster, dwarf!” the queen commanded from her plush pillow.

  Ugan worked as fast as he could to dump the water overboard, and when he looked over the edge, he could see many sharks swarming around the perimeter of the boat. The rain began to taper off, and he decided that scooping up the water one more time would be sufficient. Then he’d get back to rowing and try to get away from the sharks. Every bone and muscle in his body ached from being in the icy wind and rain, and his fingers were numb. He scooped the last bit of rainwater and was about to throw it into the sea, when his foot got caught in the rope on the bottom of the boat. The boat swayed to one side and then to the other, and he fell forward over its right side. With his foot caught in the rope, he dangled, just inches above the dark, twisting sea. “Help!” he yelled franticly as a shark’s fin brushed against his face.

  Queen Sentiz got up off her pillow and glared down at Ugan over the side of the boat. She seemed to enjoy watching him dangle in fear. Two sharks jumped up, angrily snapping at each other, no more than a foot away from his head.

  The queen laughed wickedly. “Do you want to come up?”

  “Please, my most gracious queen, don’t let me die,” Ugan begged.

  “Well, I could row myself.” She looked toward the sky. “But I don’t think I will. I don’t want to break a nail.” She grabbed the rope and pulled Ugan back into the boat. “Now get back to the oars, and don’t let it happen again, or you’ll be making some shark a tasty feast.” She tugged one more time on his beard.