“If only I had taken that troll’s club when I took his uniform,” he thought with dismay. “Why didn’t we think of that?” Then Mr. Smithers stopped fast in his tracks and smiled. He recalled how Artemas had instructed Christopher to prepare the potion that put the troll guards to sleep. “If the boy could whip up a sleeping mixture, then why not me?” With that bit of hope, Mr. Smithers ran off to find the sorcerer’s chamber once again.
Because he remembered where the kitchen was located, it didn’t take Mr. Smithers much longer to find Malaban’s chamber. He entered cautiously. The two trolls that had nearly discovered them in the curtained alcoves were fresh in his mind. Luckily the chamber was now empty and dimly lit. Mr. Smithers went to the table with all of the vials of colorful liquids and searched through them. He grabbed a blue one.
“Now if I could only remember which color Artemas told Christopher to mix it with,” he wondered. “Was it red or green? With all the commotion from the trolls in the stairway, I seem to have forgotten.” Mr. Smithers frantically considered his possibilities. Blue and red, or blue and green? He desperately wished he could remember. But time was running out, so he grabbed a vial of glowing green liquid and rushed out of the sorcerer’s chamber.
Now that Mr. Smithers had some type of defense, his confidence grew. He felt ready to face a whole army of trolls and goblins as he scurried through the deserted castle corridors. Let Belthasar and his men try to stop him. He’d show them a thing or two! But when Mr. Smithers found the door leading to the prison, his courage dwindled at an alarming rate. Once again he considered the possibility that he might make a mess of the situation, or worse yet, get caught. “Enough stalling!” he told himself. “It’s do-or-die time, Smithers. You’ve made a shambles out of everything else in your life. Do something right for a change! Get on your horse and go!”
So he opened the door and cautiously descended the spiral staircase to the prison. He held his breath as he neared the bottom, listening for any sign of the guards. To his dismay, he heard two voices, the very same goblin and troll that Molly, King Rupert and Ulric had tricked earlier. As he peeked around the curve in the steps, Mr. Smithers saw the pair seated at the table in the guardroom, each munching on a turkey leg and drinking a pint of ale. A ring of keys lay on the edge of the table. He would need those to release his friends.
“Much quieter tonight,” the goblin said, smacking his lips.
“Course it is!” the troll replied. “All of the prisoners are locked in the vault. No way they’ll bother us now. And we’ve got more ale!” He grinned wickedly, picking at a piece of turkey stuck between his teeth. “I’m glad they tossed the princess in with the rest of them. Now I don’t have to stand guard over her up in that cold tower.”
“Much warmer down here,” the goblin said, stretching out his chubby legs. “And good food!” He took a gulp of ale. “No, I don’t think there’ll be any trouble tonight.”
“That’s what you think,” Mr. Smithers thought when hearing the goblin. The thirst for a daring rescue again welled up inside him, so he carefully mixed the blue and green liquids together in one vial. He took a few deep breaths, preparing to spring into action. “Now or never!” he whispered to himself. Then Mr. Smithers ran down the few remaining steps, snarling like a madman. He jumped out of the shadows right into the center of the guardroom. “So you boys don’t want any trouble, eh? Well I’ve got a boatload of it for you! What do your ugly turkey-stuffed faces think of that?”
The two guards nearly fell out of their chairs. “Another one!” the goblin cried. “I thought the boys upstairs caught them all. After him!”
The guards pushed aside their food and jumped up, lunging at Mr. Smithers. But he was a split second faster and threw the glass vial on the floor in front of them, shattering it to pieces. “That’ll fix you!” he said, preparing to run back up the stairs so he wouldn’t feel the effects of the sleeping potion.
To his horror, huge billows of white smoke erupted where the vial had landed, quickly filling the room so that neither Mr. Smithers nor the guards could see a thing. They stumbled every which way, trying to escape.
“What’s happening!” the goblin squealed. “I can’t see a thing!”
“No kidding!” the troll snapped back. “And stop running into me, you clumsy oaf! Catch the intruder before he wrecks the whole castle!”
Mr. Smithers ignored the complaints of the guards as the smoke continued to billow and grow, now filling up the pantry and slowly drifting through the archway to the cell area. He dropped to his knees and crawled to the table, feeling for the keys on top. He found them. Grabbing the key ring, Mr. Smithers ran in the direction where he thought the archway stood, knocking into one of the guards along the way, though he couldn’t see which one through the smoke.
“What a mess I’ve made,” he muttered. “It was blue and red, you fool! Not green!”
But there was little Mr. Smithers could do now to change the situation, so he ran all the way down the corridor of cells to the very end. The smoke was less dense here, though it was drifting this way and would soon fill the entire prison. He could still hear the curses and shouts from the goblin and troll, neither yet able to find their way out. Mr. Smithers ignored them when he spotted the iron door. He attempted to open it, trying nearly every key. Finally the right one fitted, and click!–the door unlocked. Leaving the key in the keyhole, Mr. Smithers grabbed a torch on the wall and rushed down the stairs to the vault below.
“I’ll have you free in no time!” he shouted, hoping his friends were still alive, yet knowing they couldn’t possibly hear him. The stairs ended and he stood face to face with the vault. Mr. Smithers set his torch against the wall and grabbed the locking wheel in the center of the door. He took a deep breath, preparing to turn the wheel. He could still hear the shouts from the two guards upstairs, fearing that he wouldn’t have much more time.
Summoning all his strength, Mr. Smithers tried to turn the wheel, groaning and clenching his teeth when it wouldn’t budge. He thought the vault door had a mind of its own, as if it didn’t want to be opened. But Mr. Smithers persisted, and slowly the wheel turned. Little by little the bolt inside the door began to release. He could hear the sound of metal grinding against metal. Just a bit more and he would have it! Finally the wheel stopped moving and the door unlocked. Mr. Smithers tugged and tugged at the handle with all his might until the heavy door slowly inched open. He grabbed the torch and stepped inside, the pale light faintly illuminating the vault. Mr. Smithers gasped. Not a soul was inside.
“That’s the most fantastic disappearing trick I ever saw,” he thought, stepping farther into the vault. He scratched his head. Suddenly Mr. Smithers was tackled to the floor by two dark figures.
“We’ve got him!” one shouted.
“Let’s get out of here!” cried the other. “Hurry, before it’s too late!”
“Hold your horses!” Mr. Smithers yelled. “And get off me! It’s Smithers, your rescuer!”
The two figures released him and helped him to his feet. “It is you!” Christopher said when seeing his face clearly in the torchlight. He and Ulric had tackled him.
“My stars! So it is,” King Rupert said gratefully.
Ulric chuckled. “We thought you were a guard when we heard the door opening. We all hid along the side of the entrance in hopes of surprising you.”
“Well, you certainly did that!” he said as he rubbed the stone dust off his pant legs.
“I’m so glad you followed us from Endora,” Artemas added. “You saved our lives.”
“I’m just glad you’re all right and that everything’s peaches and roses, but you can thank me later. Right now we have to get out of here!” He looked over the group as they exited the vault and saw that all were in fine spirits, including Princess Rosalind, who had been held captive much longer than the others. Mr. Smithers was honored to finally meet her.
Ulric glanced up the stairs. “I think I hear soldiers above. But what’
s that?” White smoke drifted down the steps.
“You do hear soldiers. Two, but there may be more,” Mr. Smithers said. “And regarding that smoke, well... Let’s just say that my plans for a flawless rescue were kind of botched up.”
“What went wrong?” Princess Rosalind asked.
“No time to explain, your highness. If we don’t leave at once, you might all end up in that vault again. And me along with you!”
Without further hesitation, the seven ran up the stairs into the white smoke. By this time the entire prison level was filled with the billowing clouds.
“Keep together,” Ulric said. “If we separate, we’ll never regroup in time to escape.”
“We might not escape at all!” Christopher said with growing apprehension. “I think I hear a column of guards heading our way!”
His guess proved alarmingly correct. The goblin and troll had eventually found their way upstairs and assembled a group of soldiers to stop the breakout. At this moment they were heading under the archway through the blinding smoke, preparing to crush the prisoners in their tracks. There seemed no hope of escape.
“Hide inside the prison cells!” Molly whispered to the others. “Hide inside the cells and let the guards pass by.”
All heard the simple yet brilliant suggestion and rushed into the empty cells. And not a moment too soon, for in the next instant a troop of snarling trolls and goblins stampeded by and raced down the stairs into the vault room.
“Now out of the cells and run for it!” King Rupert ordered.
Everyone bolted from the cells and dashed to the guardroom at the end of the smoky archway. Christopher had an idea at the last moment and spun around to follow the guards to the vault room. He stopped at the iron door and could hear the soldiers at the bottom of the stairs near the empty vault. Christopher called to them.“Hey, you ignoramuses!” he shouted, immediately getting their attention. “It was nice visiting, but the service here is awful. We’re going to vacation someplace else next year!”
The soldiers below were stunned to see the young boy standing in the smoke at the top of the stairs. But before they could rush even a few steps up the staircase to get him, Christopher slammed the iron door shut, turning the key that Mr. Smithers had left in the keyhole and locking them securely inside.
“That ought to hold those bums!” he shouted in triumph as he ran to catch up with his fleeing friends.
Good luck remained with them as they passed through the silent castle corridors, arriving swiftly and safely back to their hiding place without another guard in sight. All were delighted to see that Mr. Smithers had a sack of apples and bread scraps to greet them.
“I’m starving,” Molly said.
“Just wait a little longer until we’re safely away from here,” Ulric said. “We’ll leave at once while it’s still dark.”
Christopher opened the door and everyone piled out of the castle as fast as rats leaving a sinking ship. The cool night air felt wonderfully refreshing. Artemas untied the raft on shore and he and Christopher pushed it into the icy waters of the moat.
“On board!” the King whispered. “Make haste! Make haste!”
In a short time, all were safely on the raft–along with the sack of apples and bread–and Ulric swiftly paddled them to the other side of the moat. They had a bit of trouble climbing back up the steep grassy bank, resulting in a few bruised and dirty limbs. But nobody minded.
When everybody reached level ground, Ulric hurried them across the tall brittle grass to the nearby woods. The stars twirled above as they ran like the wind itself. When they entered the forest, inhaling the sweet smell of pine in winter, their fear and urgency transformed into sheer joy. Molly and Christopher cheered at their escape, and King Rupert cried in happiness that Rosalind stood safely at his side. All were free at last.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The Journey Back
Ulric advised everyone to stay deep inside the woods on their first mile back, just in case a scouting party should come after them. “Even though we’re free, we are still in danger so close to the castle. Besides, the security of the forest will allow us to travel at a slower pace. We can use the extra time to recover our strength.”
After marching that long mile through the dark tangle of trees and underbrush, the party was well on the road to recovery from their ordeal. They were in high spirits when Molly suddenly motioned for everyone to keep still. “I hear something moving,” she whispered. “Just outside the edge of the trees. Maybe we were followed.”
Mr. Smithers wiped his brow. “I hope not. I’ve had enough of trolls and goblins to last a lifetime.”
Ulric scouted ahead, hiding behind a tree now and then as he neared the edge of the woods. The starlight shone down on a small grassy opening, and there Ulric saw what had startled Molly. “There’s nothing to fear,” he called out. “Look what I’ve found.”
Molly and Christopher raced out of the woods first as the others followed. There to greet them was a horse. “My steed!” the King shouted. “So he hasn’t abandoned me after all.”
“He has stayed loyal to you, as have the other horses. Look over there by those large bushes. I see four others grazing near the stream. I guess they were certain we would come back for them.”
“This is the spot where we hid our tents and supplies,” Christopher reminded them. “It seems like a week has gone by since we were last here.” In reality, their entire adventure inside Malaban’s castle had taken only a single day.
Everyone retrieved their belongings, happy to be riding the rest of the way back to Endora. Each rode the same horse as before, only this time Princess Rosalind accompanied her father. “Our mission was an astounding success!” King Rupert declared, congratulating everyone for his part. He didn’t speak very much during the rest of the journey home. For in the back of his mind, gnawing at him through every waking hour was the knowledge that Belthasar still planned to attack his castle in three days.
The return to Endora proved uneventful. The weather grew colder and the dreariness of the dying plains looked as depressing as ever. They slept in the tents for a few hours near dawn and then rose before noon and continued their travels until darkness engulfed them once again. Meals were brief and few. Time dragged on and there was little talk to cheer them. Only after midnight did anyone begin to take heart, for off in the black distance loomed the tiny yellow lights of King Rupert’s castle. The weary travelers had finally made it home.
Queen Eleanor greeted the heroes at the castle gate. She embraced King Rupert and cried with joy at the sight of Princess Rosalind. “My dear!” she sobbed as she hugged her daughter. “I thought I might never see you again.”
“I missed you, Mother,” she said. “But thanks to these brave people, I’m back where I belong!”
Everyone in the castle celebrated throughout the night, and a great feast was prepared for the travelers. King Rupert and Queen Eleanor presided over the festivities. Christopher, Molly, Mr. Smithers, Artemas and Ulric were each honored for their bravery and courage during the rescue. King Rupert even knighted Mr. Smithers for his single-handed rescue of the entire party from the vault. The King dubbed him Sir Smithers, the Courageous. Mr. Smithers could find no words to say after the ceremony and merely blushed.
The following morning King Rupert informed all the residents in the castle of Belthasar’s impending invasion. People expressed anger and outrage that another attack was imminent, and King Rupert did all he could to calm their outbursts. One young soldier took the news lightly.
“We defeated Malaban and his troops before. Surely we can do it again when Belthasar arrives.”
“I applaud your optimism,” the King replied. “But Malaban attacked us with only a portion of his troops. Belthasar is assembling every last soldier he can muster. They will vastly outnumber us.”
“We can go to the surrounding villages for reinforcements,” the soldier suggested.
King Rupert frowned. “I have already disp
atched scouts to gather help, but that still will not provide us with enough manpower. Every soldier will have to fight two and three times his ability in order to defeat Belthasar.”
Queen Eleanor stood to address the crowd. She looked tired and careworn, but an undying strength and determination burned within her. “We face terrible odds. But no matter the outcome, I wish you all the very best. We must stand by our King until the end.”
Cheers and applause broke out, but the show of courage on people’s faces was overshadowed by despair and doubt in their hearts. Nobody was quite sure what to expect in the days to come.
“If Belthasar leaves with his troops as he had indicated, then they should arrive here in two more days,” the King continued. “That gives us little time to prepare. Ulric will propose a plan of action and position our troops.” The King went silent and recalled the moment he had found Princess Rosalind safe in the castle tower. How happy he was then, and how terrible things appeared to him now. He cleared his throat to give a final word. “All I ask is that you do your best for the sake of Endora. Dark times are ahead, but may strength and good fortune be with us all.” With that, King Rupert and Queen Eleanor left the chamber in silence.
Molly and Christopher had been sitting with Princess Rosalind and Artemas during the King’s speech. Ulric departed soon after to prepare battle plans with his officers, and Mr. Smithers eagerly followed. Since he had been knighted Sir Smithers, he insisted that he be allowed to help plan for the war too.
“I hope Belthasar and his army freeze on their march over here!” Molly burst out in anger. “I never want to see him again.”
Artemas stroked his beard and sighed. “I’m afraid Belthasar will find his way here with little trouble.”
“I wish I had locked him down in the vault room too,” Christopher said. “By the way, Artemas, I had nearly forgotten. When will the timedoor reopen?”
The Endora Trilogy (The Complete Series) Page 13
