“I wouldn’t make light of this situation if I were you,” Burdock sneered. “Agent Lurk has already made his first catch. It seems your ward, Gregor, has been found guilty of playing with magic.”
“Kendra is my apprentice, you fool,” Uncle Griffinskitch retorted. “She’s entitled to practice magic.”
Burdock smiled and adjusted the monocle that sat perched on his long nose. “I’m not speaking of the girl. It’s that critter, Ratchet Ringtail. It seems that he somehow managed to get his black paws on some of that dreadful Easy Sneeze powder that he claims to have invented. He spilled a bag in the middle of Faun’s End. The whole town is sneezing and wheezing because of that wretched stuff!”
“Come now, Burdock,” Uncle Griffinskitch uttered. “Are you telling me you arrested him for a sneeze?”
“Not one sneeze, a whole town of sneezes!” roared Burdock, banging his staff against the ground. “And that’s not the point. Today it’s a sneeze, and tomorrow he’s taking down the magic curtain! Surely, Gregor, you don’t want every monster from the four corners of the world descending upon Een!”
“Burdock, your exaggeration wearies me,” Uncle Griffinskitch declared. “Where is Ratchet now?”
“He’s acquainting himself with my dungeon,” Burdock chortled.
“The dungeon!” Kendra cried.
“This is ridiculous,” Uncle Griffinskitch grunted. “Burdock, I demand you release Master Ringtail at once!”
“Don’t worry, you’ll see him soon enough,” Burdock growled. “You’ve been harboring that masked rascal in your home, have you not?”
“Yes. What of it?”
“Then it seems you’re all too guilty,” Burdock proclaimed gleefully. “How did that mischievous critter end up with that powder? As I recall, you bought what was left of that critter’s Easy Sneeze; I know I confiscated the rest.”
“Confiscated?” Uncle Griffinskitch asked. “I think the word you’re looking for is burned.”
“In any case,” Burdock sneered, “Who’s to say you haven’t been giving him magic powders and potions to play with?”
“That’s ridiculous!” Kendra declared. “Uncle Griffinskitch would never—,”
“Quiet, Eenling!” Burdock hissed, waving a fist in her direction. “Unless you want to suffer the same fate as your pesky uncle!”
“And what would that be?” Uncle Griffinskitch demanded sternly.
As if in answer to this question, Captain Rinkle and his men suddenly brandished their weapons before the old wizard.
“You,” snarled Burdock Brown, pointing a gnarled finger at Uncle Griffinskitch, “are under arrest.”
Kendra gasped. All this time, she had been restlessly fiddling with her own wand—but now she was so startled that she dropped it to the ground.
“You will submit yourself to the Council of Elders,” Burdock continued. “Pray, Gregor, that they show you more mercy than they did towards that rascal Ringtail.”
“And by they, you mean you,” Uncle Griffinskitch retorted.
“Choose your words with care,” Burdock warned. “Now is not the time for your blustering.”
“Burdock,” Uncle Griffinskitch spoke, his voice rising, “by the bones that quake beneath my beard, tell your men to step aside. We will pass.”
Burdock’s one eyebrow snarled across his forehead. “Look about you, old man,” he uttered in a threatening tone. “You are outnumbered.”
Kendra watched as her uncle surveyed Burdock and his men. She knew what her uncle was thinking; he was weighing the odds. It was Uncle Griffinskitch against all of them. Kendra had no doubt that her uncle could best Burdock in any duel, but what about Captain Rinkle, the Een Guard, and the strange Leerlin Lurk? Silently, Kendra cursed her own inabilities. How she wished she could use her Eenwood; then together she and her uncle might best Burdock and his troop. But whom was she kidding? She couldn’t even muster enough magic to budge a leaf, let alone fight a battle.
Uncle Griffinskitch and Burdock stared each other down. Then Lurk moved, or at least it seemed as if he must have; for one moment he was standing next to Burdock, and the next he was standing right next to Kendra, casting a long shadow across her face. Kendra felt her heart skip a beat. How had he so suddenly moved from one place to the other? It was as if he had momentarily turned invisible.
Uncle Griffinskitch glanced over, and for just a moment, surprise showed in his stern eyes. Whatever magic Agent Lurk had employed, Kendra knew it had startled the old wizard too. That’s not a good sign, Kendra thought.
Burdock chuckled and said, “The girl, Gregor. Think of her. If you entangle her in this fight, she will share your fate. Come with us now—immediately—and she goes on her way.”
For a moment, Uncle Griffinskitch didn’t say a word. He just leveled a hard and heavy glare at Burdock. Then sternly he said sternly, “Kendra, pick up your wand.”
Kendra did as she was instructed, blindly hunting for her wand with one hand, not daring to take her eyes from Lurk. In a moment her wand was back in her hands. And so it’s a fight, she guessed inside her mind. The tiny glade at the foot of the bridge was now filled with tension; Kendra was clenching her Eenwood so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Burdock shifted uneasily, as did his legion of men; only Lurk did not move. He stood as still as a tower.
“Very well,” Uncle Griffinskitch said finally. “I will go with you, Burdock. I will go before the council.”
“What!” Kendra cried in surprise, but before she could utter another word, her uncle spoke again—but this time it was inside her mind.
Kendra, came his voice. Listen now.
Uncle Griffinskitch’s lips weren’t moving, but Kendra felt a pulse of energy through her Eenwood, and somehow she knew he was communicating with her through the magic of their wands.
She wondered if it would work both ways, and so she said to him in her mind, What are you doing? We should fight.
This is not the time, he responded calmly. You must not go before the council in the Elder Stone. If you do, you won’t return.
But neither will you!
Do as I ask. Today, go home; tomorrow, fetch Winter Woodsong.
I’ll fetch her now, Kendra replied eagerly.
No. They expect it. They will stop you and harm you, if need be. Give them no excuse.
But—
Do as I say, Uncle Griffinskitch interrupted. I need you to be free. I need you to be patient.
There was that word again. Kendra boiled.
Remember: You are my apprentice, came Uncle Griffinskitch’s voice. And I trust you.
And that was all; he severed the link and said no more. The old wizard surrendered his staff to the greedy hands of Leerlin Lurk, and with a parting glance to Kendra, he raised his head high and followed Burdock down the path towards the Elder Stone.
This is my fault, Kendra told herself. If only I could conjure some magic from my wand! Then Uncle Griffinskitch wouldn’t have yielded so easily!
But she could not use her wand, which meant that all Kendra could do was watch Burdock’s men lead her uncle away. When they were out of sight, she turned at once, and bolted through the fading fall afternoon, her heart buzzing like a nest of wasps.
AH, TEMPTATION! It is a difficult master to defy. If you have ever had a fingernail that needed nibbling or a scab that yearned for picking, then you know this all too well. As for Ratchet—well, asking him to refrain from using magic was like telling Kendra to not tug her braids, and this was exactly why the young Een girl wrestled with a jumble of emotions as she headed home. On the one hand, she sympathized with the raccoon; on the other, she bristled with anger at his inability to just follow the rules.
When she arrived home, it was to find Oki staring disconsolately into the fireplace. Jinx was there too, pacing back and forth with a scowl on her face that could peel paint.
“Why are you here?” Kendra asked the grasshopper.
“I’ve been waiting for your uncle,” Jinx s
aid. “We need to do something before anyone else gets tossed in Burdock’s dungeons.”
“I’m afraid it’s a little late for that,” Kendra said.
“Eek!” Oki squeaked. “What does that mean?”
Kendra sighed and proceeded to describe the day’s events, starting with the visit to Winter Woodsong and ending with how Uncle Griffinskitch had been arrested.
“What I really want to know, Oki, is where that powder came from,” Kendra said.
“We found it rummaging around in the wreckage of our old stump,” Oki explained. “It was locked up in a little box and survived the fire.”
“You should have just left it alone,” Kendra admonished. “Is there more powder? What else do you have?”
“Just a little Snore Galore,” Oki answered. “And some Fake Flakes.”
“Fake Flakes?” Jinx said. “What are those?”
“Oh, they help you make a copy of anything you like,” the mouse explained. “You just sprinkle a little on a shoe, or a dinner plate—you name it—and you have an exact copy.”
“You should have sprinkled it on Ratchet’s brain,” Jinx retorted. “But enough is enough. It’s time for us to go rescue some Eens.”
“There’s a terrible Rinkle in that plan,” Oki said.
“What wrinkle is that?” Jinx asked.
“The wrinkle is Captain Rinkle,” Oki said. “It’s a pun.”
“This is hardly a time to joke,” Kendra told the mouse.
“I know it,” Oki said. “But Ratchet said we should start selling puns, now that we’re outlawed from magic. I can’t really help it. All these puns keep coming to mind.”
“What a ridiculous idea,” Jinx said with a scowl. “No one’s going to buy your silly puns.”
“Never mind; Oki is right,” Kendra told the grasshopper. “We can’t just storm the Elder Stone. We need to follow Uncle Griffinskitch’s plan; he said to fetch Winter Woodsong tomorrow morning. She’ll know what to do.”
“I’ll go with you,” Jinx announced. “I don’t trust this Lurky Lurk fellow. He might try something, and I want to be there if he does.”
Kendra happily agreed with this plan and, with it settled, she set to preparing supper for her two friends. On this night, dinner was Squibbles and Pip (an Een specialty), and everyone sat down to partake in the unusually solemn meal.
“Has anyone heard of this Agent Lurk before?” Kendra asked as she pushed her food absentmindedly about her plate.
“Not me,” said Jinx, “but who knows who’s really hiding under that cloak.”
“The cloak’s the thing,” Oki added. “I think it’s enchanted.”
“If you ask me,” Kendra said, “the cloak helps Lurk turn invisible. I’m betting he’s the one who was in the garden today. That’s why we couldn’t find any trace of him.”
Just then there was a loud knock on the door, and Oki nearly jumped out of his seat. “EEK! Do you think it’s Lurk?”
“Relax,” Jinx told the mouse. “Spies with invisible cloaks don’t knock.”
With an anxious yank of a braid, Kendra rose and answered the door. She let out a sigh of relief; it was only Professor Bumblebean. However, the normally jovial scholar seemed in a fluster. His eyes were red and swollen, and he dabbed at them with a handkerchief.
“Are you all right, Professor?” Kendra asked hesitantly.
“My word,” Professor Bumblebean said as he settled himself in the nearest chair. “I don’t even know where to begin. I’ve just come from Faun’s End; Burdock has enacted another decree. And your uncle, Kendra—I’m afraid he’s been taken to the dungeons to join Ratchet. They say that he tried to attack the council with his staff!”
“That’s impossible!” Kendra said, her face flushing red with anger. “I saw Lurk take his wand back at the bridge! How could Uncle Griffinskitch use his staff if he didn’t even have it?”
Professor Bumblebean sighed, “It’s as I suspected, then; it’s just a falsehood, an excuse to imprison our Wizard Griffinskitch.”
“What’s this decree you mentioned?” Jinx asked.
“The council is whipped into a frenzy,” the professor replied. “They’ve called a state of emergency. The use of all magic by anyone in the land of Een has been suspended temporarily—or so they say. That crafty Agent Lurk has been told to collect all wands.”
“Days of Een!” Kendra exclaimed. “Who’s Burdock to be taking wands? Winter Woodsong won’t stand for this; that much I can tell you.”
“Oh, I do say . . .” the professor murmured, dabbing his eyes again with his handkerchief.
“What is it?” Kendra asked anxiously.
“I’m afraid Elder Woodsong is gone,” the professor said quietly.
“Gone?” Oki asked, whiskers twitching. “Where did she go?”
Professor Bumblebean looked up, and the tears began to flood from his eyes. “Late this afternoon, Elder Woodsong was crossing Peddler’s Bridge to Faun’s End when the whole structure collapsed into the river without warning! They searched the banks, but there’s been no sign of her. I’m afraid . . . well, that is to say . . .”
Kendra tugged her braids in confusion. “I don’t understand, Professor. What do you mean?”
“I-I’m trying to tell you,” Professor Bumblebean stammered. “Winter Woodsong is dead.”
For a moment Kendra just stared at him in disbelief. A terrible silence hung in the room—until Jinx broke it with a loud howl.
“No!” the grasshopper bellowed. “You’re lying, Bumble-mean! It’s impossible . . . she must be . . . I mean, she . . .” But Jinx couldn’t finish her words. She bounded out of the house, her large eyes beginning to well with tears.
Kendra wanted to go after her, but Professor Bumblebean stopped her, saying, “Let her be, Kendra. She doesn’t want us to see her cry.”
Kendra turned back to the professor, her face flushing red. “This is Burdock’s doing!” she blurted.
“I can’t say I disagree with you,” Professor Bumblebean said. “Now the land of Een is so stricken with grief and panic that Burdock can pass any law he desires. ‘Who has killed Winter Woodsong?’ I heard him cry. ‘You could be next!’ And all the Eens cower in fear. They allow him to enact his iniquitous plans.”
“It’s nonsense!” Kendra declared.
“Indeed,” the professor agreed. “But what shall we do? Burdock holds all the cards in this wicked game, and soon—,”
Before he could finish, Jinx came charging back through the front door. “Lurk is coming!” she warned.
The professor looked sharply at Kendra. “He comes to seize your wand. We must hide it.”
“What can we do?” Kendra asked desperately.
“The Fake Flakes,” Oki declared, leaping to action. “We can copy your wand and give the fake one to Lurk.”
“Hurry then,” the professor urged.
Oki reached into his pouch and revealed a container of glistening granules. “Give me your wand, Kendra—that’s it, just place it here on the table. Now to try this out.” With his tongue sticking out of one side of his mouth, the mouse carefully sprinkled the powder along the length of Kendra’s wand. After a brief moment, a second identical wand appeared next to the original.
“Will the fake wand perform magic?” Kendra asked.
Oki shook his head. “The flakes can copy the thing, but not its life.”
“Hopefully Lurk won’t be able to tell,” Kendra said. She concealed the true wand inside her cloak just as the door flew open to reveal the tall and looming figure of Agent Lurk. Captain Rinkle and a troop of Een guards crowded around him.
“Eek!” Oki screeched, darting behind Kendra.
“Well, well, well,” Jinx declared boldly. “If it isn’t Agent Jerk, Captain Stinkle, and their band of idiots.”
“Oy! You have a sharp tongue, bug,” Captain Rinkle rasped, unsheathing his sword, “but perhaps you’d like me to sharpen it a bit more.”
“Er . . . that’s hardly ne
cessary,” Kendra said, stepping in front of Jinx. “But you can tell me why you’ve come barging into my house.”
Lurk raised one crooked hand to present a piece of parchment with Burdock’s latest decree. The ink seemed barely dry.
“No need to read it,” Professor Bumblebean said to Kendra. “As I’ve told you, they have come to take possession of your wand.”
“Have it then,” Kendra said, depositing the fake stick of wood into a large sack that Agent Lurk was holding forth.
“Glad to see you aren’t as stubborn as old white beard,” Captain Rinkle said with a snarl that revealed all three of his yellow teeth. “We’ll be off then. But remember this: No magic! Else you’ll be seeing us again!”
Then, with a long finger, the ghostly figure of Leerlin Lurk beckoned the guards, and the motley crew disappeared into the darkness. Quickly, Kendra closed the door and locked it.
“Now what?” Oki asked, coming out from behind Kendra’s cloak.
“I don’t know,” Kendra admitted.
“I do say, this is a terrible affair,” Professor Bumblebean declared, stuffing his crumpled handkerchief into his pocket. “But we shan’t give up hope yet. I shall return at once to the library, for I wish to study the codices of Een law. Perhaps I can discover some ancient document that proves Burdock’s actions to be unlawful.”
“That won’t get us anywhere,” Jinx protested. “We need to fight.”
“And that’s what I intend to do,” the professor replied. “But there are ways to win a battle other than with a sword. In any case, Jinx, I’m going to ask you to remain here tonight with young Kendra and Oki.”
“Sure,” Jinx muttered, ambling over to sit by the fire.
“We’re old enough to look after ourselves,” Kendra told Professor Bumblebean as she escorted him to the door.
“I know it,” the tall Een said, leaning forward to whisper so that Jinx couldn’t hear. “But in truth, I ask you to just pretend that you need her.”
“Why?” Kendra asked.
Kendra Kandlestar and the Shard From Greeve Page 5
