The Rightful Heir (16 page)

J
ESSICA
H
OWELL OPENED THE FRONT DOOR
and pushed the lock. It was Friday and she was looking forward to the Harvest Home Festival, now only two days away. “Come on, Mac. Get out here,” she called into the house. The pug ran happily past her, his curly tail wagging back and forth. She picked him up and he licked her nose. “I'll see you when I get home.”

The dog barked with excitement. Jessica didn't know he was counting on being alone all day so he could go to his kingdom. She put him down and headed for the road as the loud hum of the school bus got nearer. Mac ran up to the fence and barked as she closed the gate. The muddy yellow bus stopped and opened its door. He watched the last of his owners leave for the day.

“Perfect!”
He ran to the other side of the yard and started barking, “Zeus! Hey, Zeus! Come here!” It was still foggy as the sun rose. He looked over toward Zeus's house but could see only slow-moving stretches of fog and a pinkish glow from the yard
lamp. He waited by the fence. Out of the fog the large, black Doberman Pincher charged him.

“You called,
Your Majesty?”
Zeus teased.

“Zeus, oh boy am I glad to see you!” The pug stood on his hind legs and rested against the chain link fence. “You gotta help me get out of here! The owners are gonna be gone for the whole day and I need your help in finding my kingdom.”

The Doberman stared at him a moment. “Eh, what else do I have to do today?”

“Good! Help me find a spot to dig where they won't notice.” Mac ran to the corner of the fence along the far back side of the house and Zeus followed. “This looks far enough away.” He started to dig the soft, wet earth with his front paws, Zeus digging twice as much in seconds. In no time they completed the escape tunnel. Mac made sure the dirt was scattered and not in one pile, then slipped under the fence and out the other side.

“Welcome to freedom, little friend.” Zeus smiled at the dirty-faced pug.

“Ah, now let's see here.” Mac looked down the foggy road. “That boy took off down that way, right?” His front foot pointed south.

“Yes.”

“So…I guess we head that way!”

The two of them walked through the fog to find the kingdom that had been waiting to meet their fallen king's son.

“S
O
WHEN IS HE COMING,
King Benjamin?” a bushy-tailed squirrel asked eagerly.

“Sometime today, I hope. He did seem excited. And I told him where to find us.” Benjamin looked at the animals gathered ‘round. He loved being in their company. He loved being their king. Then Felix the fox said something that reminded him of the
stressful part of his job.

“Will we be able to get my friends in Persly's Woods today? That
thing
is still out there!”

Benjamin didn't have much of a reply. “Hopefully Mac will show up soon, Felix.” The boy sat on the floor and rested his head against the seat of his throne. His jeans felt stiff and cold. They were taking a long time to dry. Then he remembered the school bus! He pulled his cell phone out of his backpack and looked at the time. “Oh, no! The bus will be here any second!” He jumped up, grabbed the pack, and ran out of the cave. “Bye, guys!” he called over his shoulder, his water-soaked sneakers squeaking loudly.

“Good-bye, Your Majesty!” Roscoe shouted.

Benjamin ran through the dark tunnel and heard the hum of the bus getting closer.
Oh, please wait for me!

Al stopped the bus at Benjamin's mailbox and waited a few seconds, staring at the Biggs's front door, then honked twice. Benjamin heard the sound echo through the tunnel. As he neared the entrance a thought occurred to him.
What if they see me pop out of the fox den?
Al honked the horn a couple more times. “No! Wait!” Benjamin yelled, but it was too late. The engine roared and the bus rolled past his house. He finally reached the entrance and the sticks sprang up. He scrambled out of the hole and jumped onto the soggy road, glimpsing the tail end of the bus as it disappeared around a bend far down the road. He bent over to catch his breath. “Oh,
great!”

T
HE FOG ROLLED INTO THE IVY-COVERED BARN
and over the rattlesnakes, nestled in the hay. Returning from his meeting, Siloam slithered through the entrance and past the ever-rotting corpse of Farangis. “Any sssign of the heir?”

“No, My Lord, nothing,” a snake replied.

“He'sss out
there sssomewhere. He hasssn't made it to the kingdom yet.”

“My Lord, why not just attack the kingdom now?”

Siloam rattled in anger. “How dare you quessstion my decisionsss!”

“I'm sssorry, Massster. We jussst don't underssstand why—”

“Underssstand? You aren't meant to underssstand! You will follow my ordersss and you will watch me become the ssstrongessst, mossst feared…”

The fog stirred behind him and the snakes stopped listening, rattles falling lifeless, eyes growing wider. They could just make out what looked like the diamond head of a giant snake twice the size of their decaying former master. Siloam wasn't aware of the monstrous presence behind him. “…and I will be ruler of
all
the—”
Chomp!
Siloam's tail convulsed in the mouth of the gargantuan python.

Every snake in the barn hissed in terror at the monster they had never seen nor imagined could exist. The mammoth creature
swallowed the last of Siloam's tail and surveyed them with no emotion. Dead black scales were stuck to its massive head, revealing shiny new ones underneath. Its cruel eyes were covered in a white, milky film.

It had the frightened snakes in its vision then saw something unexpected. The rotting blue corpse of Farangis. In a swift motion the monster pulled back its massive neck as if to strike again. The rattlesnakes nearly fainted as its head rose to nearly the height of the barn. Then it emitted a tortured scream.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

In the forest, all of the creatures trembled in their hiding places. In the old, ivy-covered barn, the rattlesnakes closed their eyes, knowing they could not escape this predator. They awaited a certain and horrible death, hoping it would be quick.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

D
ID YOU HEAR THAT?!”
Jonah asked Malcolm nervously. “Is someone in trouble?”

Malcolm gulped. “I hope it wasn't
trouble
that made that scream.” The two looked about, frightened and confused. The sun's rays reached over the treetops, brightening the red and yellow leaves that drifted to the ground. “Let's keep moving.”

“Hoo, hoo!
Move to the place where you must race.
Hoo hoo!”
They looked up at a large, brown horned-owl
staring straight ahead.
“Hoo, hoo!
Go and go slowly, for it's coming fast!
Hoo, hoo!”

“Uh, look, my name's Malcolm and this is Jonah.”

“Hoo, hoo!
Not the one you claim, not the one you believe!
Hoo, hoo!”

“Owl, do you know where the kingdom is?”

“Hoo, hoo!
Do you know where you are?
Hoo, hoo!
For you're not standing on the forest floor!
Hoo, hoo!”

“What in the world is he talking about?”

“Hoo, hoo!
The travelers' feet, the ground you don't meet.
Hoo, hoo!”
The owl stretched and lightly flapped its wings.

“Don't ask me!” Jonah said. “I can't understand a thing he's saying.”

The owl cleared his throat. “Ahem…Look below you!!
Hoo, hoo!”

Malcolm and Jonah slowly looked down. There was no grass under their feet, and no weeds or leaves—only a crispy, almost
transparent black skin. Malcolm froze. To their left and right the long skin extended past the trees. He scurried up a sycamore and looked down. The pug stood on the shed skin of a nearly fifty-foot-long snake.
Thunk!
Jonah watched Malcolm faint and fall from the tree, dropping into a pile of leaves.

“Malcolm!” The dog ran to him. “Are you alright?”

The raccoon rubbed the back of his head, stunned. “Yeah…I'm okay. But the forest isn't.”