“Ugh,”
Toodles groaned in exasperation. He’d
barely clipped the piece of wood he was trying to chop, merely succeeding in
knocking it over. He set the block of
wood back up again and raised the ax awkwardly over his head.
The
corner of Felix’s mouth turned up in half of grin. “Use your back, not just your arms,” he called
to him.
Toodles
managed to get a little more force behind his next blow, but the ax blade only
went in far enough to get stuck.
“She
doesn’t even really need this much wood,” Toodles muttered, wriggling the ax
free.
“Let
me do it.” Felix held out his hand for the ax, which Toodles gladly
surrendered.
The
younger boy sat down on the ground a few feet away and watched Felix make short
work of the log he’d been struggling with.
“You
make it look easy,” he said after a few minutes.
Felix
shrugged. “I used to do this all the
time.”
For
the next half hour Felix chopped
wood and Toodles gathered up the split logs and carried them into the
house.
“How
many more do you think it will take,” Felix asked, licking sweat off his upper
lip.
“I
don’t know,” Toodles answered. “She said
to fill up the wood box in the kitchen.
I keep thinking the next load will fill it up, but it doesn’t.”
“Mm,”
Felix grunted, certain magic had something to do with that. He was about to start chopping again when
Natalie came over to them, carrying two wooden buckets.
“The
witch says she wants the floors shining before the sun goes down,” she started.
“Didn’t
you sweep the whole house this morning?” Felix asked.
“Yes. And now she wants the whole thing
scrubbed.” Natalie set the buckets down
in front of them. “She said for you two
to take these to the river and fill them up.
Then we get to start in the kitchen.”
“She’s
sending us to fetch water?” Toodles said, grinning.
“Don’t
get excited yet,” Natalie said, glancing around the yard. “The monkeys are going with you.”
Of course they are, Felix
thought. At least a handful of monkeys
had been near them almost continuously since they’d begun two days ago. They were always finding ways to harass their
captives and interfere with their work.
Felix
embedded the ax in one of the logs and picked up both the empty buckets in one
hand. He started for the front gate,
Toodles hurrying after him. Felix looked
up at the afternoon sun, then at the house and sighed inwardly. They wouldn’t be finished by sundown. The witch had undoubtedly waited this late on
purpose.
Half
a dozen monkeys waited for them at the gate, one of which was laying about at
the others with Felix’s club. For a
moment, Felix had half a mind to snatch it from him and show him how to use it
properly, but he thought it better just to let them form ranks around them and
lead them outside the wall. He felt a
sharp jolt as he stepped out.
“Ow,”
Toodles said, a step behind him. “Was
that the holding spell?”
“That
was just to remind us she’s allowing us to leave,” Felix said in a measured
tone, aware that the monkeys were listening.
“It would be much worse if we were trying to escape.”
“Worse?”
The club wielding monkey chuckled. “It
would kill you.”
.
. .
Natalie
looked up from the table she was trying to wrestle up against the wall. The boys stepped into the room, trailed by a
monkey carrying Felix’s club.
“Toodles,
you’re soaked,” she said.
“Yeah.
I tripped,” he shot a glare at the
monkey, “and spilled all the water out of my bucket.”
They
spent the next few hours scrubbing the stone floors, taking turns going to the
river for clean water as they needed it.
Despite their best efforts, as the sun sank below the horizon they still
had two rooms to go.
The
witch strode into the room and glowered down at them. “Not finished my pretties? I’m
disappointed. Well, if I can’t have
clean floors I suppose I can at least enjoy teaching you a lesson.” She smiled in a way that was anything but
friendly and turned to leave. “Once they
finish in here, send them up to my study.”
Toodles, who had been inching closer to one of
the water buckets, snatched it up and tossed the water at her. The witch froze, rigid for a split second,
then turned, sending an energy pulse through the room that knocked them all
flat. She locked her gaze on Natalie.
“Haven’t
come to kill a witch eh?” she shouted, stomping over to them. She reached down, grabbed Natalie by the
throat and hauled her up. “Did you think
the water would do it? Foolish girl,
that’s just a myth.” She lifted Natalie
until her feet no longer touched the floor.
The
witch’s fingers tightened around her throat, closing off her air way. “That is a mistake that’s going to cost you.”
Natalie
tried to pry the witch’s fingers loose, tried to kick to free herself, but the
witch only laughed and squeezed harder.
Picked up by a tornado, hounded by flying monkeys, enslaved by a witch, and
now it would end, worlds away from home.
Natalie tried to blink back the tears in her eyes; if she was going to
die she didn’t want to go out blubbering, but she couldn’t stop of few from
rolling down her cheeks.
The
witch grinned as Natalie’s struggling ebbed.
“Now, this is what happens to little girls who try to kill-ahhh!” She
shrieked as if in pain and released Natalie.
Natalie
crumpled to the floor, gasping for breath.
“No,”
the witch growled. “Not tears. Ugh, you
horrible girl.” She raised a hand to
strike Natalie, but before she could, it disintegrated into dust. “Nooo!” she shrieked again as the rest of her
followed.
For
a few seconds the only sound breaking the silence was Natalie’s panting as she
stared at the sand that was once the witch.
Then she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“You
all right?” Felix asked.
She
nodded, still unable to get her breath.
Felix pulled her to her feet, then walked over to where the witch had
stood. He nudged a pile of clothes with
his foot, scattering the green sand underneath.
The wicked witch of the east was no more.
. . .
“I
found it,” Toodles said, hurrying into the room where Felix and Natalie were
searching for the witch’s hat. He
skidded to a stop in the middle of the room, holding up a yellow cap. “It was shoved in a boot in the hall
closet.” He took off his own hat and
replaced it with the yellow one. “What
do you think?”
“It’s
not really your color,” Natalie said with a smile, hopping off the couch she
stood on.
He
grinned. “Let’s have a word with the
conductor monkey and see what he thinks.”
The
flying monkeys were all milling about in the yard. Since the witch’s death, they hadn’t dared lay
hands on the captives, but they also hadn’t seemed eager to let them
leave.
Toodles
strutted out in front of the group, who began shuffling their feet and flapping
their wings nervously, pointing at the hat and muttering to each other. The one with the conductor’s hat stepped
forward and half bowed to Toodles.
“You
are our master now,” it said. “What is
your bidding?”
Toodles
drew himself up and put on a stern face. “First, you are to return our
belongings. Then you will leave this
place and never return.”
“As
you command.” The monkey bowed low.
“Good.”
Toodles nodded satisfaction. The monkey
with Felix’s club came forward and gave it to Toodles and two others hurried
off toward the house.
“If
you’re not quick about it, I’ll have your tails,” Toodles called after
them. He took the older boy’s weapon and
handed it to him, grinning. “Let’s have
a look at what the witch kept in her pantry, huh? I’m starving.”
Felix
smiled and clapped him on the shoulder, following him toward the house.
“I’m
going to see about those beds upstairs too,” Toodles continued. “It’s been ages since I slept in a real
bed. Then tomorrow we can go back to
finding Glinda. We’ll be home in no
time.”
