There were thousands of secrets, so many that Kendra could not begin to hear or remember them all. The older secrets were not as clear as the newer ones, and were so faint that by the time the last of them escaped from the box, they were but whispers again.
But Kendra’s secret was not there, for she had already set it free.
Rumor howled in agony as the secrets rippled over his giant body, tearing him to pieces, even as they fought their frantic course to freedom. Thrashing madly against the walls and pillars of the vault, the screeching, pain-stricken dragon began knocking massive wooden timbers and blocks of stone to the floor. The whole castle felt like it was crumbling. Then, in a sudden explosion of smoke, the giant dragon was gone.
Kendra and Oki exchanged a surprised glance, but there was hardly a moment to think about what had happened, for the room was still collapsing around them.
“We’ll be crushed!” Oki shouted, narrowly avoiding a giant falling brick.
Then, Kendra thought she heard Uncle Griffinskitch’s voice shouting to them from the smoky haze.
“Kendra!” the voice cried.
A giant cauldron from a nearby treasure mound suddenly flipped over top of the two friends and they were plunged into darkness. They could hear the rocks and stones crash against the cauldron, but it seemed strong enough to protect them.
“Did you hear Uncle Griffinskitch?” Kendra exclaimed.
“He’s turned to stone,” Oki said. “You must have imagined it.”
“I guess you’re right,” Kendra said, and the thought splintered her heart with loss. She would never see her uncle, never learn anything more of her family. All seemed lost. Stricken with grief and exhaustion, she closed her eyes and listened to the rocks hammer against their makeshift shelter.
It seemed like hours later (though in truth, it was probably only a few minutes) when the rocks ceased smashing against the cauldron, and the thunderous noise of the collapsing room came to a halt.
“At least we didn’t slide into that hole,” Oki said. “All the treasure must have finally filled it up.”
“Come on,” Kendra said, “let’s get out from under here.”
The two friends pushed and strained against the heavy cauldron, but try as they might, they could not lift it.
“Try grabbing it from underneath its lip,” Oki said. They wedged their paws and fingers underneath the edge of the cauldron, but it simply wouldn’t budge.
“We must be buried under a pile of rock and rubble,” Oki said.
Kendra exhaled with exhaustion. She felt defeated. “Now what are we going to do?” she asked.
“We’ll just have to wait for someone to rescue us,” Oki said.
“No one even knows we’re here,” Kendra said. Her uncle, Captain Jinx, and Professor Bumblebean had all been turned to stone. She and Oki would run out of air long before any rescue mission could be launched from Een. They would need a miracle.
The two young friends collapsed to the ground. They had been through so much together. Would their adventures end like this?
After a time, Kendra said, “Are you mad at me for helping the Unger?”
“No,” the tiny mouse replied. “Why would I be?”
“Because I helped him!” Kendra exclaimed. “An Unger. Our enemy.”
“I imagine it’s a hard thing to let someone die,” Oki said. After a moment’s thought, he added, “Even an Unger. How could you not help him?”
But Kendra didn’t seem any less glum.
“I have a secret,” Oki said.
“I know,” Kendra said. “I heard it fly from the box. You lied to the elders.”
“Do you want to know what the lie was?” Oki asked.
“No,” Kendra said.
“Well, we don’t have anything better to do,” the mouse said. “And it will take my mind off my scorched tail!”
“Okay,” Kendra said, laughing in spite of herself.
“Well, my father had just gotten me the after-school job with the elders,” Oki began. “And I did fine for the longest time. Then one day, I was supposed to deliver a message to Elder Brown from Treewort Timm. You know Treewort. He runs the shop down on Hoodoo Street with all the strange magic artifacts. He’s about a hundred years old and most forgetful. Well, that particular day I lost the message.”
“How?” Kendra asked.
“I don’t know,” Oki said with a shrug. “I just lost it. And I was so embarrassed because everyone was saying what a great job I was doing, and my father was so proud of me. So I just gave Elder Burdock a blank piece of parchment and when he unrolled it, I acted just as surprised as him. I told him that old Treewort must have forgotten to write his message down.”
“But Treewort forgets things all the time,” Kendra said, for she did indeed know the old Een and his habits.
“But not this time,” Oki said. “So I just lied about it, and everyone had a good chuckle and blamed old Treewort. But it made me feel really bad. Especially since I’m supposed to be ‘Honest Oki’.”
“Oh, Oki,” Kendra said. “It’s hardly a secret. How does it compare to what I did?”
“Well, that secret has meant a lot to me over the past few months,” Oki said. “It’s kept me up at night, and in that way, it’s just as bad as yours.”
Kendra sighed. She could see Oki’s point of view, but it still didn’t make her feel any better. She closed her eyes and sighed again. She didn’t want to talk about it any more. She wished she could just make it all go away. She pictured Uncle Griffinskitch, now turned to stone, and began to drift in and out of sleep, her head growing dizzy as the air supply diminished.
The next thing Kendra remembered was a ringing. At first, she thought it was just in her head, but then Oki said weakly, “Do you hear that, Kendra? It sounds like a bell.”
They put their ears to the side of the cauldron, listening intently, and sure enough, they not only heard the ringing again, but the sound of someone rummaging around in the rubble above.
“Help!” Kendra yelled. “Get us out of here!”
“I’m coming!” came a reply.
“That voice sounds familiar,” Oki said.
In the next moment, they heard a mighty grunt, and the cauldron tilted upwards under the strength of Ratchet’s paws. Kendra and Oki breathed in the fresh new air as the rascally raccoon tossed the cauldron aside. Grinning ear to ear, he rushed forward and embraced his friends. He was still wearing the bewitched bell around his collar, and it was ringing excitedly.
“Now that we’re all here, we can get this party going,” Ratchet declared.
“Not much of a party with only three of us,” Oki muttered.
“Three?” Ratchet said. “I count six!” The large raccoon stepped aside, and there were Professor Bumblebean, Captain Jinx, and Uncle Griffinskitch, all covered head to foot in dust and grime.
“You’re alive!” Kendra cried, running forward to hug her ragged uncle.
“Why . . . yes,” the old wizard muttered, uncomfortably returning her hug.
“We were returned to our natural states when you opened the box,” Professor Bumblebean explained.
“It was you who saved us when the room came crashing down,” Kendra said to her uncle.
“Humph,” Uncle Griffinskitch muttered. “Yes, luckily my staff started working just in time to put you and Oki under that cauldron.”
“But where did you come from, Ratchet?” Kendra asked.
“I was waiting outside that darn riddle door for you folks to come back,” Ratchet explained. “But then the castle started to shake and rumble. Soon, there were all sorts of cracks and holes in the walls, and I found my way into the vault. As soon as this bell started ringing, I knew I was close to you.”
“But how did you get past all the monsters?” Oki asked. “And through the swamp?”
“Yeesh,” Ratchet said, rolling his eyes, “I am a world-class inventor, you know.”
Kendra looked about the remains of the vault. The wa
lls had caved in, and bright warm sunshine was spilling onto the scarred and battled-damaged floor.
“Most of the castle seems to have collapsed since you opened the box,” Jinx said to Kendra.
“I’m sorry about opening it,” Kendra said. “But I just couldn’t see any other way. . .”
“It’s okay, Kendra,” Uncle Griffinskitch said. “You were able to do what the rest of us could not. You were able to confront your secret.”
“But I helped an Unger!” Kendra said desperately. “I committed the worst crime known to Een!”
“We know,” Professor Bumblebean said. “Even though we were stone, we heard everything that passed between you and the dragon.”
“But—,” Kendra began.
“Enough!” Uncle Griffinskitch snorted. “Listen, Kendra, you were brave, braver than any Een I’ve ever known. So be brave yet. Everything will be okay. I promise, there will be time enough to discuss the Unger later. First, we must get off this mountain.”
“Your uncle’s right,” Jinx said. “Now that the dragon is dead, every Unger, Goojun, and giant from here to Een will be swarming over these rocks to scavenge for treasure.”
She had no sooner spoken than they suddenly heard a very loud “tee hee.” They all turned to see Pugglemud on the other side of the rubble. He had somehow escaped from his prison and was now swimming amidst the rocks and remains of Rumor’s treasure.
“Gold, gold, beautiful gold!” he sang. “The most wondrous thing I ever know’d!”
“Listen up, fool!” Jinx shouted. “Monsters are headed this way! You’d better come with us, unless you want to end up in some Goojun’s stew pot!”
But Pugglemud seemed oblivious to them.
“Leave him,” Uncle Griffinskitch said. “He’s picked his fate, and there’s nothing we can do to help him.”
“Wait a minute!” Kendra said. “Where did Oki go?”
“I’m here,” Oki replied, appearing from behind a large rock. “Look what I found: the Box of Whispers.”
Uncle Griffinskitch hobbled over to look at the now-empty chest.
“What’s going to happen, Uncle Griffinskitch?” Kendra asked. “Will the magic curtain fail now that the whispers have all escaped?”
“No,” the old wizard said, stroking his long white beard. “Not unless someone discovers its secret and decides to undo the curtain. But who knows where the secret of the curtain has gone? It may never be found. The whispers have scattered across the wide world.”
Kendra picked up the box and examined it. It didn’t pulse or radiate; it felt and looked just like any other normal box.
“Uh, Elder Griffinskitch,” Ratchet said, “there’s just one more thing.”
“Humph,” Uncle Griffinskitch muttered, turning to the raccoon. “And what’s that, Ringtail?”
“It’s about this darn bell,” Ratchet said. “Can you turn it off? It’s driving me crazy!”
IN LATER YEARS, Kendra could never clearly remember the journey home. It was all a blur, filled with hazy memories that moved about her mind like a dream. Her faulty recollections were mostly due to illness, for only a day after leaving the mountains, Kendra came down with a raging fever. What caused it, no one could say, but she had been fighting her secret for so long that she herself supposed that everything had just caught up with her. Whatever the case, her condition deteriorated so rapidly that she soon couldn’t even walk, and her uncle and friends had to carry her on a makeshift stretcher. What she did remember of the journey was mostly just smatterings of conversation that she overheard as she tossed and turned in her delirium.
“What will you do, Elder Griffinskitch?” she heard Professor Bumblebean ask her uncle one night. “Will you tell the other elders that Kendra helped the Unger? They may well wish to expel her.”
“You know, we could keep it a secret,” Ratchet declared. “Myself, I’ll never tell, I swear.”
“Humph,” Uncle Griffinskitch muttered. “No more secrets. Have we not learned anything from all of this? We will tell the truth.”
And that’s the last Kendra remembered hearing. Uncle Griffinskitch might be on her side, but it seemed that she would be left to face an uncertain fate. She slipped further into the delirium of her illness.
The next thing Kendra knew, she was back home, in her own bed. She wasn’t sure how she got there, though she had a vague recollection of Ratchet carrying her through the curtain, holding her as they traveled down the River Wink (Jinx must have steered the boat), and bringing her to the house. When she opened her eyes, the raccoon was still there, sitting at her bedside.
“Well, it seems your fever’s finally broken,” Ratchet said. “Soon you’ll be strong enough to take on the world again!”
Kendra smiled weakly. “Where’s Uncle Griffinskitch?” she asked.
“Oh, he’ll be back soon, not to worry,” Ratchet said, holding her hand. “He’s just off talking to those elders. Lots to talk about now, you can imagine. With all the secrets released, there’s quite the hullabaloo across Een.”
“Everyone must be angry at me for releasing their secrets,” Kendra murmured.
“Oh, no, not really,” Ratchet said. “Most of the secrets weren’t all that serious, you know. Mostly stuff like so-and-so stealing another so-and-so’s recipe for twinkleberry pie. In a way, I think most of us are glad that the whispers were set free. It’s cleared the air, quite frankly.”
“What about the elders?” Kendra asked.
“What about them?” Ratchet asked.
“They want to banish me,” Kendra stated, as if she were sure of the fact.
“No, no,” Ratchet said quickly. “No decision’s been made yet. Don’t go worrying about anything except getting some rest and eating your soup. Old Griffinskitch made you a whole pot.”
So Kendra did what the raccoon said and spent the next few days recovering her strength. Ratchet rarely left her side. Uncle Griffinskitch came in and out. He was kind to Kendra, more so than he had ever been, but she couldn’t help noticing how worried he looked. Part of her wanted to ask him about his meetings with the elders, but part of her was afraid. So she let it lie. There would be time enough to face it when she was stronger.
She had other visitors too during this time, including Professor Bumblebean and even Captain Jinx. Oki had to sneak over to the house, for his mother was convinced that Kendra was contagious and didn’t want her son contracting some “horrible dragon disease.”
Then one morning, as Kendra was gobbling down her breakfast (she was strong enough now to get out of bed), Uncle Griffinskitch announced: “Today we must go before the elders.”
A shiver went down Kendra’s back. “Must we?” she asked timidly.
“Humph,” her uncle grunted. “I’m afraid so, Kendra. But I will be there with you. We’ll face them together.”
Kendra nodded, but she stared into the bottom of her cereal bowl, unable to look up at him.
She tugged her braids (or what was left of them, for they were still growing back after being burnt by the dragon) all the way to the Elder Stone. When they arrived, the rest of the company was awaiting them: Oki, Jinx, Professor Bumblebean, and even Ratchet. Together they went into the council chambers and stood before the elders.
“I see our young champion has recovered her strength at last,” Winter Woodsong said, looking directly at Kendra.
“Aye,” Uncle Griffinskitch uttered when Kendra didn’t reply. In truth, she was too nervous to speak.
“It seems the orb chose well, young Kandlestar,” Winter told the girl.
“Ma’am?” Kendra asked.
“Why, you defeated the Red Thief,” Winter said. “Quite an achievement for an eleven-year-old, don’t you think?”
“Ah, but no normal eleven-year-old,” Elder Nora Neverfar said with a smile.
“Indeed,” Winter agreed, “she possesses the qualities that many of us do not. Now I see why the orb chose her. She was able to face the truth. Her truth.”
“But now the whispers have been released,” Kendra said, trembling before the old woman. “The secret of the curtain has been lost.”
“Perhaps we were foolish to lock our secrets in a box, trying to ignore them,” Winter said. “For countless years we have hidden behind the curtain, but if we mean to reclaim its secret, we’ll have to go into the world and search for it.”
“I’m going to find my family out there,” Kendra suddenly declared. She didn’t even know what made her say it. But she knew it was true. Through all the days of her recuperation, it was the one thought that had given her the strength to get better, to get past whatever fate the Council of Elders was going to decide for her.
Winter looked at her with a start.
“Maybe not today or even tomorrow, but one day I will,” Kendra said. She could feel her spark again inside of her. She was starting to get used to it.
“I, for one, believe she will find them,” Elder Enid Evermoon said, leaning forward and looking intently at Kendra. “She’s got a wee bit of her mother in her, wouldn’t you say? In my opinion, that means she can do anything, if she sets her mind to it.”
“Is that so?” Elder Burdock Brown growled, his one eyebrow knotting angrily on his forehead. “You may be right. After all, she will have plenty of time to look once we banish her from Een!”
“You can’t banish her!” Ratchet cried, shaking his fist.
“Easy, Mr. Ringtail,” Winter said, turning to cast a critical eye at Burdock. “Elder Burdock does not speak for the council alone. No decision has been made yet about Kendra’s fate.”
“Kendra,” Skarab Strom said, leaning forward. “Do you have anything to say in your defense?”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Why did you help the beast?” Burdock demanded.
“He would have died without my help,” Kendra said.
“Good!” Burdock snarled. “It would have been just one less Unger!”
“You weren’t there!” Kendra said hotly. “You didn’t look into his eyes and see how scared he was.”
Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers Page 14
