“H…Hello sir, my name is Charlie, this is my brother, Michael, and our friend Midnight.”
The old cowboy turned around to address Charlie. His steel blue eyes sparkled with honesty. Taking off his hat, he scratched his head, which was full of long, silvery-white hair. “Yep, been expecting ya. Glad to see you finally made it up to see us. Ol’ Ellie and Maybelle here are juuuust about ready.”
“Ready? Ready for what?” Charlie asked.
“Ready for you to take ‘em on a ride.”
“A ride? To where?” Charlie said, looking around, searching for a place they might go. “I’m sorry sir—”
“No sirs around here, young fella, you can call me Lipkin,” the old man interrupted.
“Oh, OK, Lipkin, so…I’m a little confused.”
“Confused about what, young fella?”
“Well…uh, I…I don’t see anywhere around here to take your horses for a ride.”
The crusty old cowboy stood still and gave the boy a blank stare.
“I think what the young fellow here is trying to say, is that we’re standing on a large, floating rock, with nowhere to go but in circles,” Midnight said.
The cowboy smirked, then chuckled. “Yeaaah, well I guess that is what a stranger would see. But these here horses ain’t your regular kind of horses, they’re more of what you might like to call—”
Alexios and Featherwink zoomed down, landing next to Charlie and the others.
“All clear,” the owl reported to Lipkin.
The cowboy turned to acknowledge the owl and frog by tipping his hat. Then he went back to where he started with Charlie. “As I was say’n, these two horses here is what I like to call Reinhorses.”
“Reinhorses? Never heard of ‘em,” Charlie replied.
“Well, you’ve heard of reindeer, right?”
“Yes.”
“So these here horses have what you might call, the same kind of abilities. You know, like Santa with his flying reindeer and all.”
“You mean they can fly?” Michael asked.
“You betcha. And they’re pretty darn good at it too.”
“But reinhorses? That sounds made up,” Charlie stated.
“Well, we’re not exactly dealing with reality here in WONDER, now are we, young fella?”
“Oh, right. I guess not,”
“How are we doing?” Alexios asked the cowboy.
“Looks like they’re just about ready to go. Now, you young fellas need to get on the left side of Ellie and Maybelle here so they know you are ready to climb aboard.”
Charlie and Michael, with little hesitation, did as they were told.
Lipkin prepared the reigns on the horses.
The horses gracefully kneeled down, making it easy for the boys to climb up onto their bear backs.
“No saddles?” Charlie asked.
“Not necessary with these two beauties,” Lipkin replied. “Go ahead, climb on and grab hold of the reigns.
Charlie mounted the black horse, while Michael climbed onto the grey one.
“And, what about me?” Midnight asked.
“Oh, right. Heh-heh, almost forgot about you kitty,” the cowboy chuckled. “Why don’t you ride with Michael, he’s a little younger, so he could probably use a little help.”
“Yes, brilliant idea,” Midnight replied. “Very well then, make way, Michael, I’m coming aboard.” The large, black cat leaped up behind the boy, then magically extended his tail, wrapping it twice around the boy’s torso to secure his position on the reinhorse.
“All set?” Lipkin asked, signaling the beautiful creatures to rise to their feet. Ready, girls?”
The two reinhorses whinnied and raised their magnificent heads. Their eyes shined bright blue, as they pranced in place—their sparkling coats, glistening from the mysterious lighting.
“So what do you do while we’re gone?” Charlie asked, trying to stay balanced on the reinhorse.
“Don’t worry about me none. I’ll be over there in my shack,” Lipkin said, pointing towards an old outhouse with a half moon rudely cut into the door for a window.
“Where’d that come from?” the boy asked, positive it wasn’t there just a minute ago.
“It’s there when I need it,” the cowboy replied.
“Seems kind of small.”
“There’s actually quite a bit of room once you get inside.”
Charlie gave the old man a quizzical look.
“Any hoot, time to fly. Everybody hang on now. Yah!” Lipkin hollered, as he smacked the reinhorses simultaneously on the hind end, triggering their takeoff.
Twenty, fifteen, ten, five feet, they were off! The reinhorses leaped of the end of the large, floating rock and soared high into the darkness above. Side by side, the two magnificent reinhorses galloped along effortlessly through the air, with Alexios and Featherwink following along just overhead. They continued to climb higher and higher through the endless night sky, all of which, was strangely enough, still inside the giant rock formation.
Similar to what happened when they first began their climb up the stairway, Mickey’s watch hands began to spin out of control, the face became blurry, and a holographic face of Raphael emerged. “Looks like you are headed in the right direction.”
“We are?” Charlie asked.
“Of course you are. I’ll see you when you get there.”
“Get where? I don’t have any idea where we’re going.”
“You’ll know when you see it,” the watchmaker replied.
“See what?”
“Ha-ha, something unusual,” Raphael answered back.
“Can you at least give me a hint?” Charlie asked, as the reinhorses continued to climb.
“I would if I knew. But I know very little, just like you. So keep your eyes and mind open.”
“OK, I’ll do my best,” Charlie replied. He turned and focused on the dark sky ahead.
Seconds later, Alexios spotted something breaking through the darkness. As did Featherwink. Something, rather peculiar. “There appears to be a light up ahead, young squire,” the owl shouted down to Charlie.
As the owl spoke, the magic watch began to work hard. The hands spun rapidly in every direction, just as they had done before. But this time, instead of the face getting blurry, hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny little sparks of multicolored light began to shoot out in random directions, like a miniature fireworks show. The colorful streams of light created by the sparks grew larger and more pronounced as they left the watch face, traveling up, over and around the bodies of Charlie and his faithful steed, like electrons around an atom.
Alexios and the others flew in close, riding alongside the chosen outsider and his reinhorse, who were giving off and almost god-like aura of multiple colors.
“Charlie, can you hear me?” the owl shouted.
The boy calmly turned his head and nodded to confirm he could hear the owl. He moved as if his entire being were a hypnotic spell.
“Just ahead is a miniature sun-like mass of purple flames. Within that mass lies the 2nd Kingdom Crystal. To free the crystal from the flames, you will need to repeat what Midnight tells you. Do you understand?”
Charlie turned and nodded again to confirm his understanding.
“Very well. Good luck, young man,” Alexios said. He broke off his flight pattern and rejoined Featherwink to watch from a distance.
As Charlie and Ellie rapidly approached the small, purple mass of flames, the young boy confidently smirked. It appeared their task at hand would be rather simple. The mass was no larger than a basketball, and there was little to no heat, as far as he could tell.
The reinhorse carrying Michael and Midnight swooped in to join Charlie and Ellie. They circled the mass, side by side.
“Charlie,” Midnight said, “Repeat what I say, then hold on tight.”
The chosen outsider nodded a third time, as they continued to circle the purple ball of fire.
“Ever more, ever lasting, a gift,
not to be told. Sworn by those who shall protect, its past, its present, its future to behold,” the cat recited.
Charlie repeated the words, which echoed through the vast darkness surrounding them.
The grey reinhorse carrying Michael and Midnight broke off to join Alexios and Feathwerwink, who were watching from a safe distance above.
Charlie snapped the reigns of his flying steed, they took off like a shooting star, leaving behind a blurred trail of spectacular light and multi-colored, glittery dust, as they sped round and round the small sun.
The purple mass began to spin, slow at first, then faster and faster, as the chosen outsider and his reinhorse circled round, over and over again. The ball of fire spun so fast its flames were extinguished, leaving a solid, crystal-like orb, which continued to spin round and round. From within its core, shining through the transparent shell in all directions, was an intense green light—almost too bright for Alexios and the others to look at. And though the clear sphere-like shell continued to spin rapidly, the green object within remained still.
Charlie brought his steed to a sudden halt in the air, pausing to observe the magic before him. The outer shell began to hum in a low pitch, which then turned to a high pitch, as its rotational speed increased even more. The green light inside continued to grow, larger and brighter, as if it were trying to push its way out. The crystal-like shell began to crack in multiple places, which traveled the surface, as piercing rays of bright green light shot through the imperfections in all directions.
Michael and the others shielded their eyes.
Without warning, the sphere exploded into thousands of tiny pieces, which vanished into darkness. All that remained, suspended in air and shining brilliant green, was a teardrop-shaped crystal, no larger than a child’s hand. It was the second Kingdom Crystal.
“Hurry boy, grab the crystal before it vanishes!” Alexios called out from a distance.
Charlie swooped in with his black reinhorse, then leaned hard to his left, snagging the crystal with his left hand, while holding onto the reigns with his right. He pulled himself upright as Ellie galloped through the air towards the others. The magic aura surrounding the boy and his steed slowly disappeared. Charlie proudly held the crystal, which had now dimmed, high above his head, signaling to the others that he had it.
CRACK…CRACK-CRACK, THUNDER-CRACK-BOOM! An unexpected display of blue lighting lit up the sky, dancing across the darkness. From it emerged seven ghost-like figures—all electrically charged with bright red eyes. It was Captain Plank, Captain Fibs, and their five crew members—all of whom, had been sent by way of Elontra’s evil, lightning-charged eyes, to steal the crystal away from Charlie.
“Charlie, above you!” Michael shouted, pointing towards the rapidly approaching ghosts.
SWOOSH, SWOOSH-SHOOSH-SHOOSH!
It was too late, the ghosts were on him. Charlie brought the crystal down to his lap, as he pulled on the reigns, banking hard left.
“Coming, Charlie,” Alexios said. The mighty owl shot off towards three of the swarming ghosts trying to fend them off.
“Good thinking,” the winged frog said. Fetherwink transformed to a larger size and headed towards two more of the ghosts.
SWOOSH, SHOOSH, HISS! The ghosts moved quickly, making them nearly impossible to catch. The one resembling Captain Plank zoomed high, paused, then turned and shot bolts of lightning through his fingers toward Featherwink—stunning the giant purple frog, and sending him into a free-fall.
“Featherwink!” Charlie shouted.
“We’ve got ‘em,” Midnight said, as he patted Michael on the shoulder with his paw, “Ok young man, it’s time to take action. Dive boy, dive.”
Michael pulled on the reigns, directing Maybelle to dive after their unconscious friend. The reinhorse turned and banked hard, diving at a ridiculous speed—her head and wings tucked, her front legs pulled in towards her body.
“Hang on young man, this could get rather interesting,” Midnight said, gripping the boy tightly with his tail.
“Interesting? I think it’s going to be far more than interesting,” Michael said. He and Midnight screamed as they hung on for dear life.
“Behind you, Charlie,” Alexios said. He looped around to make another pass at the pestering ghosts.
“Wha…where?” The boy replied, struggling to look back.
Just as he turned back around, the ghost of Captain Fibs popped up from below, right in front of Ellie’s face—startling the reinhorse and causing her to buck wildly.
“Calm down girl,” Charlie said, attempting to get Ellie back under control. But it was too late—the reinhorse’s right shoulder struck Charlie’s leg hard, which bumped his hand and caused him to lose control of his prized possession. The green crystal bounced off his lap and out into the dark expanse. “Noooooooo!” Charlie shouted, as he tried to reach down and grab it, but the crystal was already well out of reach, falling rapidly.
“I’ve got it, don’t worry,” Alexios called out. He dove towards the crystal, his large yellow eyes focused intently on the target.
SWIIIISHHHH! “Not today old fellow,” Duke snagged the crystal before the owl could get to it. “I’ve got it Captain, I’ve got it!”
“Good job Duke,” Fibs replied. “Alright boys, it looks like our job is done here, eh Plank?”
“Aye, that it is,” Captain Plank, replied.
Before another word was said, a series of lightning bolts danced across the darkness, each striking one of the ghosts and taking them away.
Michael and Midnight had managed to save Featherwink by way of the cat’s magic tail, which had shrunk the stunned frog back down to regular size so Michael could catch him in his hand.
Charlie and Alexios flew down to join them, as they all returned to Lipkin’s rock.
“Well, that was rather unfortunate,” the cowboy said.
“What do we do now?” Charlie asked Midnight in a defeated tone.
“I need to meet with Frank as quickly as possible. Not only will the Patron Council need to decide what to do about the crystal, but we still have Ben to worry about as well,” the cat replied.
“Right,” Alexios added. “Featherwink and I will head back to the watchmaker’s realm and see what we can do. We’re going to need all the help we can get.”
“But first, we need to get the boys back to their parents until we figure this out,” Midnight said.
“Absolutely. Charlie, you still have the watch I see?” Alexios said. “Just have Mickey take you back to your parents.”
“Right,” Charlie half-heartedly said, looking down at the watch.
“We’ll be in touch soon,” the cat said.
“Yes, we’ll see you soon,” Alexios added. “And don’t worry young man, I am HIGHLY confident the Patron Council will come up with a brilliant solution for our troubles.”
Charlie gave the owl a somber smile, though deep down inside, he felt there was little chance they would succeed.
“Very well then, off you go,” Midnight said.
Charlie nodded, pushed the button, then spoke to the watch with his brother next to him: “Take us to our parents.” The watch lit up, engulfing the boys in a spectrum of magical light, taking them away.
“I hope for the boys sake, Alexios, what you told them is true,” Midnight said.
“So do I…so do I,” the owl replied.
The cat, owl and frog said their goodbyes to Lipkin.
Then Midnight flicked his tail and vanished. Only a cloud of sparkling dust remained. The magic cat was headed back to Frank’s secret apartment to wait for his return. There, they would have to decide what to do about the crystal and their good friend Ben.
Alexios and Featherwink were next. The frog snapped his fingers, sending them to the watchmaker’s realm, where they would gather up all the help they could find, while waiting for word from Midnight on what to do next.
Buried deep below the Haunted Mansion, in the simulated Magic Kingdom of WONDER
, a series of lightning bolts erupted. The two captains and their men returned with the Kingdom Crystal in hand.
Dark Thorns Elontra and Senkrad were sitting patiently, waiting to greet them. Each, flanking a large, green-flamed fireplace.
“We have it,” Fibs proudly proclaimed. He held up the Kingdom Crystal for the Dark Thorns to see.
“Yes, I can see that,” Senkrad replied with little, to no emotion. “You’ve done…quite well.”
“Tha…thank you sir,” Fibs replied with a bow.
“But this is only the first step,” Elontra said, turning towards Senkrad.
“First step?” Fibs replied.
“Yessss,” Senkrad said. “You see, now that we have the crystal, and Ben as well, you can rest assured the Patrons will make an attempt, however feeble it is, to play the hero and save the day.”
Fibs and Plank gave each other a look, then shook their heads. “I…I’m not quite sure we’re following ya,” Plank replied.
“We are going to CRUSH them,” Elontra said, pounding her pale, boney fist on the arm of her chair.
“Take what is ours,” Senkrad added.
“Leave no hope.”
“And above all, wipe the Patron scum completely from existence,” Senkard added.
“Then the ENTIRE Disney empire, and it’s precious WONDER will be ours to rule forever!” Elontra shouted, as she and Senkrad enjoyed a frightfully evil laugh together.
POOF! Charlie and Michael reentered reality, midway down the big drop of Splash Mountain. “Aghhhhhhhhh!” the boys screamed out.
KERSPLOOSH!
They were soaked to the bone.
It was well into the seventh day of their vacation. At the attraction’s exit point, their parents stood waiting, as if the boys had been with them all along.
“Well boys, what did you think?” their mother asked.
Charlie and Michael glanced at each other, then Charlie replied in an exhausted voice, “It was…unbelievable?”
The Watchmaker's Gift Page 31
