The Rightful Heir (33 page)

L
EE SAID GOOD-BYE
to his friend, Earl, and locked the front door. He walked into the shop, grabbing the half-eaten cheeseburger that sat on the front counter, and threw it down next to the snoring pug in her usual spot. “Wake up, Princess. It's time to go home.” The obese pug smelled the cheeseburger and quickly finished it in a couple of bites.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

B
ENJAMIN
ARRIVED AT HIS DRIVEWAY
just as the nearly full moon was rising. A hint of sunset was barely visible behind the large hill to the west of his dad's tool shop. “I'll see you guys again soon.”

“Uh, Benjamin…” Mac hesitated. “Could I have the collar now?”

It seemed a little too soon to give it up. “Uh…uh, y-ye—”

Clementine came out of the fox den with Malcolm and Roscoe behind him. “So is everything squared away?”

“Yes it is!” Mac said.

“Everyone's already asleep. I guess that journey back here really wore them out.” Clementine yawned, causing Roscoe to do the same…followed by a quiet
whoop!

“So there will be no crowning of the king tonight?” Benjamin asked.

“No, Your Majesty. You're still king for one more night.” Clementine, Roscoe, and Malcolm smiled at him with admiration. Mac grimaced while Jonah stood behind him looking displeased.

Benjamin tried not to show his relief. “Okay. I'll be gone all day tomorrow but I'll be back sometime after dark.”

“Perfect! We'll have the ceremony when the full moon is shining over the pool. Good night, King Benjamin.” His friends walked away. He was going to miss hearing those words. Benjamin started to walk his bike up the driveway. Everyone went
back into the fox den except Malcolm.

“King Benjamin, wait!”

“Yes?”

“So who gets to be king?” Malcolm looked worried.

Benjamin hesitated then smiled weakly. “Just wait until tomorrow, Malcolm. You'll find out soon enough.”

The raccoon's thoughts were elsewhere as he rubbed his hands together. “Have you thought any more about how we're going to kill that snake?”

Benjamin's face lit up. “Yes! And you're gonna love it!”

Malcolm grinned. “Well, tell me what it is!”

“I can do better than that.” Benjamin pointed at the tree in front of his house. “Meet me by that oak tree in about an hour.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” Malcolm ran giddily back to the fox den while Benjamin went up to the house and parked his bike by the garage.

Now how do I sneak a ‘coon into the house without getting caught?

H
E COULD HEAR HIS MOM
putting plates on the kitchen table. He'd made it home just in time. “Where've you been?” She pulled a baking sheet of taco shells out of the oven.

“I rode my bike down to Pickrell Corner.”

“Pickrell Corner?” His dad came into the kitchen.

“Yeah, I stopped in at Lee's Tire Shop to look at tires.” His parents laughed. “I saw a pug lying on the floor in there.”

“Oh!” Carol's voice cracked. “Tom, I wonder if that's the one we bred Pugsly with.”

“Coulda been.” Tom picked at the shredded cheese on the counter, resulting in his wife slapping the back of his hand.

“She was a lot fatter than any pug I've ever seen, but she sure snored like Pugsly!”

“Who
knows, Ben? Maybe Pugsly has some kids around here,” Tom said.

“Maybe,” Benjamin replied with a straight face. He finished his tacos quickly and started downstairs, then suddenly stopped. “Oh hey, would someone mind taking me to the Harvest Home Festival tomorrow night?”

“Sure, I'll take you.” Tom crunched down on a taco shell and Benjamin turned to go.

Carol's chair scraped the floor. “Wait, Ben.” He stopped. “Why do you want to go to the Harvest Home Festival? You never had any interest before.” She grinned.

“Uhhhhh…well, uh…”

“Is it because the
Watermelon Queen
will be there?” Her voice grew higher.

“Yeah, she's hosting the opening event,” Tom bellowed through a crammed mouth.

Benjamin's face turned dark red and he quickly turned. He was caught. “N-No, it's because.…” His parents looked at each other and laughed.

When he saw the Trojan Pig on his desk he remembered Malcolm. In the main room of his basement he checked the large fire escape window.
Perfect. He can get in through that
. He ran upstairs and out the front door, ignoring his parents' teasing as he passed. He didn't see any sign of the raccoon. He put on the collar and walked up to the tree.

“Malcolm?” he called quietly. “Malcolm, are you here?”
Plop!
A raccoon fell out of the tree and landed at his feet. Benjamin jumped.

“Sorry to scare you, Your Majesty.”

“That's okay. I think I can sneak you in the basement window. Follow me.” The window was near his mom's bushes by the frontyard flower garden. “Alright, I'm gonna go in to unlock the
window and let it down. You'll see me in a minute, okay?”

“Right. Sounds good.”

Benjamin ran in.

“What are you doing out there?” his mom asked.

“Just talking to a raccoon. You know, the usual.”

His parents shook their heads and resumed their conversation. On his way downstairs Benjamin had an idea. He grabbed the first walkie-talkie from his room and opened the barrel to turn on the one taped inside. He put the Trojan Pig on the floor of his bedroom and left the light on.

Malcolm watched Benjamin unlatch the window and push it open. “Good. You're way smaller than this window,” the boy whispered. “Come on. The coast is clear.”

Malcolm delicately walked across the glass panel and Benjamin moved a card table over so he could jump onto that. The raccoon reached the floor and looked around the room. “Nice place you got here, Sire.”

“Thanks. It's a little different from the kingdom, but it works.” The raccoon laughed. “Alright. It's here in my bedroom. You go in there and I'll meet you in a second. I need to talk to my mom.” He pointed his finger toward the open door.

“She's here?” Malcolm looked around, scared.

“It's okay. She's upstairs. Just go in my room. The light's on.”

Malcolm cautiously walked toward the opening. Benjamin hid behind the corner of the stairs and watched the black and gray striped tail disappear into his room. The raccoon looked in awe at the large pig thing before him.

“Intruder! Intruder! Get out now!”

Benjamin hadn't expected the poor raccoon to run out of his room as fast as he did. Malcolm hopped off the walls, knocking down a few picture frames, and dashed under the couch, his tail sticking out. The boy came out of hiding, laughing. He knelt by
the sofa. “I can still see your tail.”
Swish!
The tail disappeared.

“Ben, what was that noise?” Carol called.

“Just me and the raccoon playing.”

“Oh, come off it! I'm tired of hearing your stupid stories!”

Benjamin laughed, then spoke softly to the raccoon to calm him. “Malcolm, I'm sorry. I was playing a joke on you. Come on out.”

It was quiet for a second then he heard Malcolm's muffled voice. “A-Are you sure that was you, Sire?”

“Yes, yes. Look.” Malcolm's black mask poked out. The boy held up a black square box.

“What is that?”

Benjamin held it to his mouth and pressed a button. “It's a walkie-talkie.” The same loud voice came from the bedroom. Malcolm's fear turned to fascination.

“Oh…wow! Now I
like
that!”

“Come on. I'll show you my Trojan Pig.”

“Is that what it is? A pig?” Malcolm followed Benjamin to his bedroom.

“Yeah, of course it's a pig. Only
this
is a Trojan Pig.”

“A what?”

“See, in school I learned about this ancient war between the Greeks and the Trojans. The Greeks made this large, wooden horse and acted like they retreated. Well, the Trojans took the horse into their city and used it for a trophy.”

“Uh huh.” Malcolm rubbed his little hands together as he took in the story.

“Little did they know that a band of mighty Greek warriors were hiding inside. And that night, when the entire city was asleep, they snuck out of the horse, opened the city gates, and the Greek army killed them all!”

Malcolm's face lit up with amazement. “Whoa!”

“Yeah,
so here's my plan…” Benjamin opened the barrel and Malcolm stepped back. “I'm going to get more of those fireworks from my cousin tomorrow—”

“Oh, those were great!”

“—and I'm going to fill this thing up with them. I'll have a really long fuse so I can light them from a safe distance.” Benjamin pointed at the walkie-talkie taped inside. “You heard my voice coming from this. I'll lure the giant snake to it by having Clementine oink into the walkie-talkie—”

“Ahhhhh…I like!” Malcolm's sharp teeth shone through his grin.

“—and when the snake eats the Trojan Pig, I'll light the fuse!” He remembered what the Snapper had said. “But I'll have to be quick about it, ya know, since she pukes up objects she can't digest.”