Polar Distress

by Sheila Grau

  “Another . . . raven?” I felt my jaw drop. “You sent the sudithium to Dr. Critchlore?”

  “Um . . . yeah. Who did you think sent it?”

  “Mistress Moira,” I said. “It was her raven.”

  “True. I think Mistress Moira sent him to find me.” She looked at Kumi. “Let’s go,” she said.

  She turned to me. “I got you a clean shirt in Nostopako,” she said, handing me her backpack. “I know you don’t think you need to change your shirt, but for everyone else’s sake, try to do it at least once a day from now on.”

  She climbed up to Kumi’s shoulder and they left.

  I opened Syke’s backpack and found a clean shirt—ha ha ha—and the map she’d shown me and all of the sudithium that Irma had given her.

  I looked back at her. She’d turned around and was waving goodbye, smiling wide. I smiled back, so happy I felt like I could fly. She didn’t hate me. She’d been working undercover all along. A giant weight fell off me, taking all the hurt and anger with it. I’d been so scared that I’d lost her friendship, but it had been an act. A very good act. Wow, she was a great spy.

  I put the backpack on and walked through the gates of my home.

  I couldn’t help but feel on edge. Over the past few weeks school hadn’t been as safe as it usually was, what with all of Vodum’s monsters roaming around—the leech-men, the matango, and those freaky skeletons. Even though I knew they were gone, I walked down the tree-lined drive feeling like something was hiding in the shadows.

  And something was.

  Rufus.

  He sauntered toward me from the dorm road. Behind him was a large group of minions. The whole blue team, including my toddler trees, I was happy to see. They were heading from the dorms to the boulderball field for the presentation of the floats.

  “You made it back,” Rufus said. “I had money on you croaking.”

  “I guess you lose this time,” I said, turning my back on him and continuing up the road.

  He grabbed me and spun me around, stripping the backpack off my back. “I really, really hate you, Runt. Don’t mess with me. I will shred you like cheese.” He looked confused for a second. “Why is your bag so heavy?” I slumped. He was going to steal the sudithium. Again.

  He opened the bag. “How did you—” he began. Then he laughed. “Doesn’t matter. It’s mine now.”

  I shook my head.

  He snapped his jaw at me. “You’re such a loser. You’re not even going to try and get it back, are you?”

  “I don’t have to.” I looked him in the eye, and then I walked away, heading toward the castle. After a few steps, I turned my head and shouted, “Trees! Rufus is a cheater!”

  “Cheater! Nooooooo!” they said, surrounding him and grabbing the backpack. They wrapped their branches around his arms and legs so tightly that he couldn’t move. He thrashed and screamed.

  “Mummies!” he yelled. “Where are my mummies! I want my mummies!”

  I laughed, the trees laughed, the other onlookers laughed.

  “You know what I mean,” Rufus said. “SHUT UP!”

  The mummies didn’t move. Rufus screamed at them. “Get these trees off me!”

  The mummies watched Rufus struggle, but didn’t come any closer. One mummy tapped another on the shoulder, then tilted his head toward the boulderball field. They walked away, ignoring Rufus.

  “Mummies! I will unwrap you! Get back here!”

  I followed them, listening to the sweet sound of Rufus being ignored. Googa caught up and handed me the backpack.

  Most of the kids were in the float parade, but I was too tired to take another step, so I headed to the stands. I waved to Professor Zaida, sitting next to a very happy Uncle Ludwig, who gave me a thumbs-up. Cook sat with Tootles and Riga, and I hugged each one on my way up to see Professor Murphy.

  I sat down next to him, and he smiled and patted me on the back. I was surprised to see Janet on the other side of him.

  “I’m glad you’re okay, Runt,” she said, leaning forward. She stood up and came to sit on my other side.

  Music blared from the loudspeakers. The stands were filled with kids and teachers and castle workers. I smiled at Janet but then noticed the freaky skeletons heading toward us.

  Janet turned around to see what had caused my obvious panic. She stood up, raising both hands. “Guys, I’ve got this now.”

  The short one made some motions with his hands.

  “Fine, you can watch the parade, but then you have to return to . . . you know.”

  What was going on? The skeletons sat down next to Janet.

  “Janet, you know these guys?” I whispered.

  She sat down and nodded. “My . . . associate sent the skeletons to keep you safe while I was gone on a secret . . . visit to my family.”

  “Keep me safe? They kept coming after me!”

  The skeletons used sign language to tell her something.

  “Yes. They were protecting you.” She looked at the smallest one, who signed something more. Janet translated for me. “They stopped Rufus from attacking you.” She looked back at him again. “And they saved you from a stampede of giants.” She turned back to the skeletons. “And they scared off the Night Prowl that had been mocking you.”

  “Janet . . . who are you?”

  She smiled. “A friend. Never forget that, Runt.” She looked over at the teams congregating by the road with the floats. I followed her gaze to Rufus, who looked very disheveled and angry. “I need to go break up with someone. See you around, Runt.” And she left.

  This was turning into a really bad day for Rufus.

  Professor Murphy tapped me on the shoulder. “I’m glad you made it back safely, Runt.”

  “Thanks, Professor Murphy,” I said.

  “You are quite resilient, I must say,” he continued. “I’ve spent most of this term telling you that you are unfit for my program, but you didn’t let that stop you. That’s an important trait for a leader.”

  “It is?”

  “Yes. A leader has to face constant questioning of his or her abilities—both from others and from himself or herself. I’m glad you passed that test.”

  “That was a test? Your hating me was an act?”

  “I never hated you, Runt. I did resent that you were placed in my class. But I could see after the business with Miss Merrybench that you might have something. It was Professor Zaida’s idea to test your resilience, and I’m glad it worked. I was starting to feel a little bad about how I was treating you.”

  “I was too.”

  “In Upper Worb, I knew it was a long shot, but I thought if anyone could win the support of the locals, it would be you with your guileless vulnerability.” He laughed. “You have a knack for befriending monsters, Runt.”

  “Thanks.” I wasn’t sure what he meant by “guileless vulnerability,” but I decided to take it as a compliment.

  We watched Janet argue with Rufus on the far side of the field.

  “You know what else makes a great leader?” he went on. “Someone who brings out the best in his or her followers. Rufus hasn’t learned this lesson, but you have. Your friend Darthin was a completely different kid on our second trip to Upper Worb. When I asked him about the change, he told me that you kept getting monsters to ask him for help. And you somehow convinced Frankie to join a search team. And Meztli defeated his apathy, thanks to your example. That’s leadership, Runt.”

  “I don’t think I taught Meztli anything,” I said. “It was the other way around, really. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have thought about breaking a rule.”

  “Another excellent trait in a leader,” Professor Murphy went on, “is knowing you have much to learn from others. All in all, I think it’s been a successful term for you.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “You know, of all my grades, I’m going to be proudest of the A that I’m getting in your class.”

  He frowned. “Runt,” he said. “The promise of an A was for—”

>   I handed him the backpack. “—whoever brought you the sudithium.”

  He opened the backpack. His jaw dropped as he looked from me to the bag and back again.

  I smiled and spread my arms wide for that congratulatory hug, but Dr. Critchlore was approaching, and Professor Murphy stood up to show him the backpack.

  “Dr. Frankenhammer is in his lab,” Dr. Critchlore said.

  Professor Murphy left before giving me my hug. Foiled again!

  “Be sure to tell him what Frankie did!” I yelled after him. “He took out the entire Pravus team and got the sudithium back from them. He was amazing.”

  “Everyone knows what he did to the Pravus team,” Professor Murphy replied, pointing to the field. I turned and saw Frankie atop the green team’s float, lifting heavy objects and throwing them. The crowd cheered his name. The purple team’s float followed, and I stood up to see who was playing Dark Victor. Oh, it was Frieda!

  Dr. Critchlore took Professor Murphy’s seat next to me. He was dressed a little casually, for him. Gone was the military-style suit, and in its place he wore a white open-collar shirt under a camel-colored blazer with a blue gryphon crest on the pocket.

  “Well done,” he said.

  I sat down and smiled at him. “It was Syke. I told Irma who she was, and Irma told her everything. She gave Syke the sudithium as a way to say sorry.”

  “So . . . Syke knows about her father?”

  I nodded. “She already knew. From the hamadryads in the forest. I’m so sorry, I know you wanted to keep that from her.”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “You won’t believe what she’s been up to,” I said. “She was the one who sent the sudithium by raven, not Mistress Moira. She sent Kumi here, when Pravus destroyed the gorilla enclosure. She rode a dragon! And parachuted into some mountains. Oh, and she told me to give you this.”

  I handed him the map that Syke had put in my backpack. There were marks and numbers and scribbles all over it. Dr. Critchlore studied it for a few minutes. Then he looked off into the distance, lost in thought.

  “Where did she get this?” he asked.

  “She stole it from Dr. Pravus’s office. What does it mean?”

  “At first glance, it appears to be a map of Lower Worb. I wonder if these marks in red, GG—124, RT—115, are tallies of the minions he’s placed with Wexmir Smarvy. And the other colors? Those might represent minions from other minion schools. I placed seventeen flying monkeys with him just last year, which matches this mark here.”

  He looked up again, thinking.

  “Now, why would Dr. Pravus keep that kind of information?”

  “I think your mother knows,” I said. Dr. Critchlore scowled. “She told me that she wants to reconcile with you.”

  Before he could say anything, another voice interrupted us.

  “Any chance I can squeeze in with you two?”

  We looked up and saw Mistress Moira heading up the aisle holding two bags of popcorn. A huge smile burst out on Dr. Critchlore’s face as he stood. She smiled back at him.

  I jumped up, edged past Dr. Critchlore, and hugged her. “Welcome back,” I said. “We missed you.”

  “You could have died, Runt,” she said, taking a seat next to me. I sat down between the two of them. “You wore your underwear during the chant, didn’t you? That’s why it didn’t work.”

  “Um . . . yes.”

  I avoided her disappointed look by turning my attention to the parade. My blue team’s float looked great, with Jud taking Rufus’s place as Fraze Coldheart. The red team’s float followed—a seventh-year human dressed as Wexmir Smarvy was pushing minions off the float in a fit of rage. The crowd cheered.

  “Have you found out who cursed me?” I asked her.

  “I believe so. She’s hiding in Skelterdam. Nobody knows exactly where, and nobody can find out because—”

  “Because no human can survive in Skelterdam,” I finished for her.

  “Which is why I brought back an old friend.” She nodded to the top of the stands, where a familiar-looking zombie with a hair bun and a flowery shirt swayed on hesitant feet. She was standing next to Barry Merrybench.

  “Is that—?”

  “Yes, it is,” she answered. “Karen Merrybench. Recently undead and ready to make up for her past transgressions against you. It’s part of her Twelve-Step After-Life Redemption Program.”

  “She’s going to find the witch who cursed me?”

  Mistress Moira smiled and nodded. “Yes, she is.”

  The yellow team’s float was last. Bianca looked fierce, dressed as the powerful Maya Tupo. Darthin sat regally on the throne next to hers on a float covered with monsters. All the floats circled the field now in a terrifying display of Evil Overlord power.

  “You know, none of those overlords are as scary as Dr. Pravus,” I said. “We have to get Syke away from him.”

  Dr. Critchlore nodded. His gaze met Mistress Moira’s, and she nodded and stood up, her robe swishing in a wind that hadn’t been there a second ago. Her face was dark with concentration as she turned toward the west and raised her arms. She chanted something I couldn’t hear, and then a dozen ravens flew over my head in the direction of the Pravus Academy.

  “We’ll get her back,” she said.

  “And we’ll stop Dr. Pravus,” Dr. Critchlore added.

  I smiled, relieved that everything was now in capable hands. I could relax and get back to being a normal student, taking my normal classes.

  Dr. Critchlore patted me on the shoulder. “And you, Prince Auberon, can return to your home country and lead it out of disaster.”

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