The Rightful Heir (5 page)

O
UTSIDE THE CLASSROOM WINDOW
the leaves took on their autumn colors, signaling the end of
September in the town of Leon. It had scarcely been three weeks and Benjamin Biggs was already very bored with seventh grade.

Benjamin certainly wasn't one of the most popular kids in school. That place was reserved for students who went out for sports. He did manage to have a few friends—Trevor and a new kid named Chad—but he was usually too busy to spend any time with them outside of class.

The bell signaled his last class, social studies. Like every other day Benjamin sat at his desk daydreaming…about animals that talked, lived in a cave, and looked to him as their king. Daydreaming always seemed to make time pass more quickly. It was true again today for Mrs. Dyer's lesson on Greek mythology.

The ending bell rang. Students sprang from their seats to race for the brown metal door that trapped them in the cold classroom an hour each day. Benjamin threw his books in his dented locker (minus one book for homework) and slammed it shut. Then he speed-walked to the front doors of Leon Middle School where his bus, or
chariot
, as Mrs. Dyer liked to call it, awaited him in the parking lot.

“Stay out of trouble, Benjamin!”

The boy turned around. The new principal, Mrs. Webster, gave him a quick wink and a grin. She had been his first grade teacher and had just been promoted. Benjamin noticed the few
strands of gray popping out of her black head of hair and felt slightly responsible for them. Although he remembered with crystal clarity, she'd somehow forgotten that on his first day she sent him to the principal's office after he threw up on her new blouse. Nonetheless, she had been his favorite teacher and was now principal. The two took turns teasing each other whenever they could.

The early autumn breeze felt good on Benjamin's face as he walked out of the stuffy school. The old, squeaky bus door folded open and he hopped up the steps. Riding home was his third favorite part of the day. Second was riding to school. His favorite, of course, was visiting the kingdom across the road.

He had to admit that watching Jessica Howell board and leave the bus was always a thrill. But he spent as much time thinking about her pug, and that black paw, as he did about her. How was he supposed to meet the dog? Benjamin never wore King Pugsly's collar to school. The kids were sure to make fun of him if he did. And he couldn't yell out the window at it. Imagine what the kids (not to mention the bus driver) would say about that! He
definitely
couldn't explain the situation to Jessica Howell—the Summer Jubilee's Watermelon Queen! What would he say?

“Hi. My name is Benjamin Biggs and I believe your dog is the heir to a kingdom of talking animals across from my mailbox.”

No, he had to come up with a good plan. The animals were growing quite anxious to meet King pugsly's possible son ever since Benjamin had brought it up weeks ago that he may have found him.

Benjamin stared at the back of Jessica's head all the way home. Her wavy, light-brown hair bounced up and down over every pothole, shooting out a burst of shampoo scent toward his nose and overtaking the looming smell of dust the bus always seemed to have.
Think, Ben, think!
He tried to focus on a plan.
Okay,
tonight I'm going to ride my bike to her house and wait outside the fence for that pug to— BUMP!
The bus hit another pothole, tossing him in his seat.
Shoot! What was I going to do?

The bus slowed down at Jessica's driveway. Benjamin did his routine of leaning out to the middle of the aisle to watch the Watermelon Queen walk to the front and disappear down the steps.

“Maybe it'd help if you talked to her,” Al, the bus driver, yelled out.

Al's smirking face under his greasy, black comb over reflected in the dusty rear view mirror. Ignoring two snickering kids in front, Benjamin brushed off the snide remark and scooted over to the window in time to see Jessica pick up her little tan pug, laughing as it licked her face. Benjamin smiled as the bus pulled away, watching her fade from view through the smudged glass. She was his first real crush, and although talking to her was nearly impossible, it wasn't going to be any easier talking to her dog.

The bus drove a mile farther down the road before it stopped at Benjamin's driveway. He made his way down the aisle. As he passed Al, the man produced a goofy laugh like he was sucking in air and said, “Let me know when the wedding is.”

“Bye,
Al,”
Benjamin replied with sarcasm. His feet touched the gravelly road, the bus door squeaked shut behind him, and the engine groaned. He looked at the fox den. It was unusually quiet, with no animals in sight. Typically a squirrel or a mouse would be waiting for him, but not today. Benjamin felt anxious. He wanted to tell them his plan to finally talk to the pug he believed was heir to the throne.
Now what's that plan again?

Walking toward his house Benjamin couldn't help thinking he no longer saw his pug's face staring at him through the front window. Pugsly had always stood on his hind legs, balancing against the ledge, to watch his best friend come up the driveway.
I miss you so much, boy
. He looked at the empty window and sighed, feeling a loss in his heart he so badly wanted to fill.

Inside he heard the sound of chairs being moved across the kitchen floor. He found his mom, Carol, mopping the shiny linoleum. “Hi—”

“Oh, hey, don't walk on the floor. It's still wet.” Carol pushed the wooden chairs back under the round dining table. “Do you need a drink or something, sweetie?”

“No, I'm just gonna go play outside for a little bit.” Benjamin started downstairs but turned when he heard his mom come to the top of the staircase. She looked guilty.

“Honey,” she said. “Look, I hope you don't mind but—where are you going?”

“Oh, I was just gonna grab my collar…um, bracelet.” He felt embarrassed.

She sighed. “Benjamin…” The boy knew his mom was serious anytime she called him
Benjamin
. “Sweetie, I gave it away.”

It took him a split second to realize what she'd said.
“What?!”
He was stunned, angry, and confused.

“Now, Ben, listen to me,” she said sharply, her arms folded, looking down at her son. “You need to let it go. It's not healthy for you to be wearing that thing.”

“Mom!”

“Son, I don't know if you think wearing that collar will bring him back—”

“Where is it?!”
the boy yelled up angrily. He didn't like hearing that Pugsly was never coming back, even if he knew it was true.

“I gave it to an old lady from church. We met in line at the grocery store today and she told me about her little dog.” She spoke softly, trying to be patient with him.

“So what does that have to do with anything?” He was still angry.

“Ben
, I don't
like that tone you're using. Why don't you go to your room and not come out until you're ready to talk to me with respect.” Her eyebrows rose.
“Or
we can wait until your father comes home from work.” She watched him disappear around the corner of the staircase and head to his room.

Benjamin lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. He was angry, yet he knew how silly it must look when he wore his dead dog's collar around his wrist every waking minute he was out of school. He wished people thought he was normal, but nobody could ever understand his hidden secret. Nobody except.…

“Grandpa!” Benjamin shot up in his bed, wishing he could somehow blink his eyes and be right in front of Grandpa Gus.
Why didn't I think of this sooner? Surely he knew that collar was magic, didn't he?
He so badly wanted to see him, to find out the story behind that amazing, mysterious collar. He frowned when he remembered his grandpa left last Tuesday to go on vacation.
Shoot!

How was he going to get that collar back? Not only did he need it to rule the kingdom, but he couldn't wait any longer to talk to Jessica Howell's pug. He lay in the quiet of his bedroom all afternoon, racking his brain for a good idea.

CHAPTER TWO

T
HE RETREATING RAYS OF THE SUN
shone equally on the surrounding red and orange trees and the dark-green ivy covering the old,
eerie barn. It was quiet inside. A light breeze swept through the entrance, blowing a few straws of hay onto the half-decayed carcass of a twenty-five-foot python. The headless, once gray, shriveling body was now blue. The smell of rotting flesh and muscle turned the buzzards outside wildly hungry. They wanted to eat their former master's nearly skeletal carcass, yet the fear he'd instilled in them made them stay away. Nearly a month had passed since Farangis was destroyed and the kingdom was saved, a month of quiet in the ivy-covered barn. The quiet was shattered as rattles from all around made their way into the dark room.

“Sssoooo, Sssiloam. What isss the reassson for thisss meeting?”

Siloam rattled softly. “Friendsss, time hasss passsed since we disgracccefully fled from our massster.” Several snakes hissed angrily at the accusation.

“Remember, Sssiloam. You fled, too!” one said.

“Ssso I did! And now we are all here to fulfill our ssservice to our dead massster.”

“What do you mean?”

“The kingdom our lord wasss going to overtake ssstill exissstsss. Rumorsss sssay an heir to the throne hasss been found.” Hissing grew over the idea of revenge. “I believe the massster
knew they would ssseek King Pugsssly'sss heir. Then came the massster'sss
unfortunate
death!” The evil laughter of a few snakes caused the others to wonder.

“Isss thisss new heir already their king?”

“No. The pathetic human hasss sssaid he will bring him back.”

“How do you know thisss, Sssiloam?”

The rattlesnake raised his neck and glared arrogantly at the rotting corpse. “I have ssspiesss that Farangisss did not care to asssoccciate with… hisss ego wasss hisss demissse.” He hissed loudly and the other snakes, without being commanded, lined up in front of him. “Now I have ssspoken with Sssebassstian.”