The Rightful Heir (35 page)

F
IVE BLACK MASKS
peeked through the large basement window. “Alright, fellas. Stand back.” Malcolm jumped up and grabbed the top lip of the window sill with a claw. Holding on tightly he got the rest of his claws on it and gave it a yank. It swung down, carrying him to the ground. “Voila!” He presented the opening with stretched out arms.

“Nice work, Malcolm!”

“Now, just follow me.” Malcolm stepped onto the window pane and jumped off onto the card table, then to the floor.

Zeke was next…then one of them gasped. “They're back! Hurry!” Zeke jumped in, the other three behind him.

“Oh, no! Oh, no! What'll we do?”

They
could hear the car door open and Carol's voice. “I'll only be a minute. I don't want to show up without an extra crock pot.” The front door opened and loud steps crossed the ceiling, growing louder as she made her way down the stairs. Zeke stood frozen in fear. Malcolm grabbed him and pulled him under the card table with the others. “Don't move!” his lips enunciated.

Carol came around the corner, singing off key. She crossed the room and opened the storage next to Benjamin's bedroom. Her singing got louder,
and worse
, as she moved old boxes and items out of the way that had never sold at garage sales. Malcolm and Zeke held their paws over the mouth of another for fear he would burst out laughing. When she came back into the main room, a gust of wind cooled her. “Oh, Benjamin!” She stomped over to the card table and set the crock pot down. The raccoons shivered. Carol grabbed a hooked stick and pulled the window shut, snapping the latch into place. Then she grabbed her crock pot and went upstairs.

“Whew!” Malcolm said, relieved. “That was a close one.”

“I think bullfrogs can sing better than her!” Zeke puckered his lips, “Mmm, maybe not.”

They watched the Biggs's car drive back down the driveway. “Okay, it's this way.” Malcolm led them into Benjamin's room. The morning light through his little window lit the room enough to see. The four raccoons gasped at the “pig” sitting against the back wall.

“What is that thing?!”

“That, gentlemen, is what Jonah and I are gonna use to kill the snake.”

“How?”

“You'll see!” Malcolm pointed inside the hollow barrel. “Looky here. He's got these weird things that you can talk into and your voice comes out the other side.”

Zeke
climbed on top of Benjamin's desk and grabbed the other walkie-talkie. “This, Malcolm?”

“Yeah, that's the other one.”

“How do they work?”

“I dunno. It's weird human stuff.”

Zeke played with it, pressing a few buttons—including the “on” button—then put it down.

“I'm not worried about those things. We just need this!” Malcolm knocked his knuckles on the wooden side.

“Are you sure we can carry it?” Zeke tinkered with the hatch and caused it to close.

“Well, let's give it a try.” They all took a place around the Trojan Pig and found they could lift it with ease. “This isn't so bad!”

The five of them carried it out of Benjamin's room and over to the card table. They put it down and stared up at the window Carol had closed.

“Uhhhh…” Zeke reflected. “Any idea how we're going to get out?”

Malcolm climbed onto the card table and stood as tall as he could. He tapped his little fist on the glass. It felt breakable. He jumped down and started looking around.

“What are you looking for?”

He ignored the others and searched the carpet along the wall. “Aha! This'll do!” He held up a shiny, blue-swirled marble that never got vacuumed up and moved away from the window. He snickered. “You guys better stand back. This could get messy!” They took refuge behind him and watched their friend swing his arm back, then forward in a blur.
Crash!
Shards of glass flew everywhere, inside the room and outside on the grass above.

“Nice shot!”

Malcolm turned around and smiled. “Now, let's get this thing
outta here.” They tipped the barrel onto the card table and heaved it through the broken window, snapping off a few long shards still stuck in the sill. Then they hopped out and scurried across the front yard, the Trojan Pig above their heads. They hid it behind the hedge trees on the other side of the road. “Okay, that wasn't so bad. Now just wait here. I'm gonna go get our little friend,
King
Jonah.” Malcolm hopped into the fox den.

Jonah stood alone in a corner watching his brother talk to the new residents of the kingdom. The arrogant look on Mac's face made Jonah want revenge.
I could tell those gawking squirrels about his little bed-wetting problem when we were pups…
.

Someone grabbed Jonah by the back leg. He spun around.

Malcolm grinned with excitement. “Come on! I wanna show you something!”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

C
HURCH WAS DISMISSED AT NOON.
“Good sermon, today,” Tom said, hoping Carol and Benjamin had forgotten the few times he'd snored out loud.

Benjamin was pleased with the service, though all he remembered was Reverend Landreth boastfully announcing he'd win back his blue ribbon for the heaviest pumpkin. Some folks coughed out “Cheater!” causing the congregation to laugh.

The Biggses went to the grocery store to grab a few last things for the family reunion at the town park. The only thing on Benjamin's mind, besides Jessica Howell, was the sack of fireworks his cousin Jon would be bringing.

J
ONAH STOOD AMONG THE RACCOONS,
staring at the Trojan Pig in the hedge trees. “Okay, so what's this?”

“This
is what we're gonna use to kill that monster snake!”

“The one whose skin we saw in the woods?” Jonah asked fearfully.

“Yes, the one terrorizing the
entire
forest. The reason all those new residents fled Persly's Woods.”

“So, if we kill it…” Jonah thought out loud.

“…then
you
will be the hero!” Malcolm finished, opening his eyes wide.

Jonah smiled. “Yeah…I
would
be a hero. I would be the hero and my no-good brother would just be the king who sat there and did nothing.”

“And
they'll have no choice but to make
you
their king! So…” Malcolm exhaled loudly, “are you ready to go become a hero?”

“Yes!” Jonah's face was full of determination. “L-let me go back inside and say something. I'll be right back!” He jumped in the fox den hole.

“What's he doing?” Zeke asked.

“I dunno. Probably gonna give his brother a kiss goodbye.” They laughed. “You boys ready to carry this thing for a while?”

“Where's it going?”

Malcolm gritted his teeth with guilt. “Uh, to the eastern edge of Persly's Woods.”

“What?!”

“We can make it. Don't worry. You'll be sleeping back in your soft grass beds tonight,” he reassured them.

J
ONAH HEARD LOUD TALKING
in the cave. The loudest voice, of course, was Mac's. He was talking to a group of ogling bunnies. Jonah coughed and got everyone's attention. Mac turned. “Jonah, we're not ready to crown me yet. That's tonight. So you can go out and play with your little raccoon friends.” Some of the animals laughed.

Jonah glared. “Oh, I won't be attending your crowning, so don't wait up for me, okay?” He turned to leave, then stopped and addressed everyone. “Oh yeah, and don't worry about that
pesky
monster that's been eating up all of your friends in the forest. I'll just go ahead and take care of it, since my brother won't. Farewell!” Jonah stuck out his wimpy chest and dashed into the tunnel. Mac was dumbstruck.

Jonah popped out of the fox den and joined the raccoons. He had a mischievous smile. “Okay, let's go!”

When
the Biggses arrived at the park, the wind picked up. A few families were already there, but Benjamin didn't see Jon.
I sure hope he makes it soon!
For another half hour he watched relatives arrive he'd never seen before. Finally to his delight, he recognized his Aunt Debbie's face as she and his Uncle Phil got out of their car. Another person opened the door behind them. Benjamin smiled when he saw Jon's brown, curly hair above the windshield. They clutched their food and sacks tightly. The wind was blowing anything it could away.