Wolf whirled around and put Virginia behind him. Patrick did the same thing with Melody. Such
brave men they were. Wolf's eyes darted left and right but he couldn't see who had called out to them. Virginia
clutched onto Wolf's shoulders from behind and whispered,
"Who said that?"
"Hush, I don't know." Wolf tried sniffing the air again. His sense of smell had returned
now and there were strange things in the air that were quite disturbing to him. "We've got trouble, I'm afraid."
"What? Where? Or actually, what?" Virginia asked again.
"Don't go any further or you'll be trapped!" The little voice cried out again. The
group of travelers looked all around them but all they could see was the murky water in the lake and the trees
and bushes that were so far not sheltering anything they could see.
"Come out, whoever you are. Show yourself." Patrick courageously called out. Melody
hid behind his tall form and prepared herself to flee if any menacing thing jumped out at them. To her surprise,
she saw a little white dove fly out from a tree and perched itself on a rock next to the lake. She quickly resumed
ducking her head behind Patrick so the dove wouldn't see her.
"Another talking bird. The Kingdoms are full of them, aren't they?" Virginia quickly
composed herself.
"Huff, puff. It looks like a normal white dove to me, and talking birds don't normally look
like that. They're more colorful if you remember." Wolf said quietly. Virginia nodded and stepped out from
behind Wolf.
"Who are you?" She asked carefully.
"It's Pip, Lady. I've been searching for you humans all day. Finally I caught up with you
and now I can't let you go any further. Trust me, Lady. Just stay right where you are." The white dove flapped
his wings to and fore and darted his eyes from the humans to a distinct area ahead of them.
Virginia looked oddly at the talking bird and wondered for the life of her why it had the strongest
Brooklyn accent she had ever heard. She tried to see what the bird was peering at off in the distance but all she
saw were trees and bushes and what looked like a sign that marked the entrance to the 6th Kingdom.
"Look here, Bird. We have no time for your dallying. We have urgent business to get to and we need to get
around this lake. Move along now." Wolf ordered Pip. Pip became agitated and flew onto Wolf's head.
"Nope, nah uh, Pal. I can't let you go any further. I was instructed to find you and warn
you."
"Warn us about what" Wolf raised his hands up to shoo the bird away. Pip flew around
in circles above them.
"It's Tony. He sent me."
"WHAT?!" Virginia cried out. "Tony, my father?! What do you mean he sent you?
Is he alright? What is going on? DAMN IT! Spill it out or I'm going to have roast pigeon for dinner!" Virginia
screamed.
"Relax, Lady. For your information, I'm a dove. I ain't no pigeon, get that clear."
Pip sure loved making humans squirm. "Now listen carefully. The 6th Kingdom is enchanted. Your father and
the princess and a whole mess of other people are trapped behind the boarders. There is no sound whatsoever unless
you can get to heights that only birds can get to. Or actually, giants too, mind you. But yeah, once you get pass
the boarders that divides the 2nd Kingdom from the 6th Kingdom, you're trapped. You can get in, but you can't get
out. You can't see anyone within the 6th Kingdom trying to warn you right now either. For all I know, there's probably
a mass of people waving frantically at us but we can't see squat. Are you getting this, or do I have to repeat
myself?"
"How do you know all this?" Virginia nervously asked.
"I met your father in the 6th Kingdom. He and the princess were sitting up in a high tree
so we were able to communicate and hear each other. Some invisible giant had put them up in the tree and forgot
about them. Anyway, I've come to warn you. Don't go any further or you'll be trapped too."
"How did you get out then? I thought you're trapped once you go inside." All she was
hearing was overwhelming Virginia. Wolf quickly grabbed onto her hand to steady her nerves.
"I'm a bird. The invisible barrier only reaches a certain height and I was able to fly over
it. There's something else you should know too." Pip warned.
"Oh god, what else can there possibly be?" Virginia groaned.
Pip's eyes darted back and forth and he started flying circles above Patrick's head.
"Someone's trying to kill you, Lady. And it's someone right here in your little group."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank god Pip had found them in time. Tony sighed soundlessly with relief. Princess Wendy seemed
to have also noticed that Pip was now conversing with the group of people on the other side of the boarder, and
she slumped down on the fallen log and massaged her temples. Everything will be okay now. Tony thought. Now they
can be saved.
HOW DO YOU SUPPOSE THEY'LL BREAK THE SPELL, ANTONY? Wendy all of a sudden stuck a chalkboard
slate in front of Tony's face. Tony burst out laughing from all the tension that was released when he realized
Virginia was not going to get trapped with them. He gave Princess Wendy a reassuring squeeze.
I HAVE FAITH IN MY VIRGINIA. SHE'S TOP DOG! He wrote on his slate
Princess Wendy wrinkled her forehead at the odd phrase Tony had written. What in the world is
a top dog? She thought to herself.
Tony and her sat down again on their fallen log and watched the group in deep discussion. There
was nothing else to do but wait and see what will happen. Tony was sure Virginia or maybe even Wolf will figure
out how to get them out of the mess.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What?!" Virginia cried out.
"You heard me, Lady. I hate repeating myself." Pip had such an attitude problem. He
flew circles over and over again over Patrick's head and Melody just cowered behind him trying to look invisible.
Wolf narrowed his eyes and growled low in his throat towards Patrick. Patrick's guard instantly
went up and he prepared himself for any confrontation he might have to deal with.
"Look, this bird is talking gibberish, Wolf. Why do you trust the bird of all things? How
do you know it's telling the truth?" Patrick calmly said through clenched teeth.
"He's right, Wolf. We don't know. And there is only one way to find out." Virginia
pulled out the Shoes of Truth and slipped them on as fast as she could. "Let's see if these babies work."
Oh god, this is where I'm going to turn into a skewered rat! Melody cried out silently in her own mind. They're
going to find out that I'm the one who's been sabotaging them. They're going to know everything about me. Oh mother.
I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry that I can't avenge you. I tried! I really did try but I just can't do it! I'm so sorry,
mother! Melody wailed to herself behind Patrick's large frame.
"How do we know the shoes will work either? Be sensible here, you two. Who are you going to trust? A pair
of old shoes and a talking bird or your friends that you have been traveling with all week now?" Patrick tried
again to reason with Wolf and Virginia. He knew he himself was innocent. But he could sense Melody trembling behind
him and he knew instantly that Melody might just be the troublemaker they had been worrying about. For some odd
reason, though, he didn't want to believe that Melody could be behind it and he wanted so much to protect her so
he tried his best to rationalize.
"I suppose we can test the shoes but that's just going to be wasting one of the four questions
we have to ask." Virginia said. "We have to make our question a good one."
"Huff, puff." Wolf and Virginia stood in silent thought and contemplated over the matter.
"Cripes, I've got it!" Wolf cried out. "Ok, are you ready, Virginia?"
Virginia nodded and closed her eyes even though it didn't call for any eye closing for the magic
to work. It just made her feel better.
"Virginia, who is the mastermind behind all the magical spells and curses that have been
occurring amongst our group of travelers and our….. errrr….. relatives?" Wolf said all in one breathe. "That's
a fairly good question that covers a lot of ground, don't you think?" He whispered to Patrick who stood off
to the side. Patrick just grunted and agreed.
Virginia stood in silence for a little while. Then her eyes flashed open and she squeaked out:
"The culprit who is mastermind stands before you cowering.
Blood is shared amongst the lasses,
Combine them and they shall be overpowering."
"What is that load of crap?!" Patrick cried out.
"Huff, puff. It's one of those OLD models of magic shoes. It speaks in riddles and rhymes. This is just terrific!
We have no time for riddles!" Wolf howled.
"What I say? What I say?" Virginia asked insistently. She didn't seem to recall anything about what she
had just said but she knew she had said something. Wolf repeated it to her and she just stood in silence, frowning.
"Ok, I understand the cowering part. But what is this about sharing blood and gaining power?"
Virginia sighed with frustration. "I guess it answers our question though. Melody is the only one that is
cowering here obviously." Virginia was very disappointed but she had known all along that Melody might have
been the brains behind the whole thing
Melody stepped out from behind Patrick. She could easily say that the shoes were malfunctioning
and claim that she was innocent but she didn't want to. Nothing she was trying to do to avenge her mother was working.
It was time she came out and admitted it. Even though now she knew Patrick was going to hate her. Everyone was
going to hate her.
"You killed the queen." She said softly to Virginia. Virginia gave a surprised gasp.
"I know I did. Is this your way of taking revenge on us for killing the queen?"
"I-I wanted you dead. I wanted to destroy the 4th Kingdom. I wanted King Wendell to suffer
for making me suffer." Melody began to sob.
"Why was the queen so important to you?" Virginia asked hesitantly. She had a sinking
feeling already but she didn't voice it.
"It doesn't matter anymore. It's all over."
"What is this spell you put the 6th Kingdom under then? I don't understand what the 6th
Kingdom has done?"
"Huff, puff. The 6th Kingdom is a lone kingdom off on its own at the edge of the map. Nothing
of importance has ever happened here." Wolf chimed in.
"I don't know what happened. I didn't mean to. It was by accident. I-I don't even know what
I did! My potion, it got mixed up. The dove, he knocked it over. The map was soaked but there was nothing to wipe
up. I didn't do it on purpose. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I can't get anything right. I'm sorry I tried to hurt you all.
I'm sorry for everything!" Melody wailed hysterically. She dropped her bag on the ground and ran off back
into the field of tall yellow grass.
"Melody!" Patrick called out. "Melody! Come back!"
"Forget about her, Patrick. She's evil." Wolf said.
"Don't you dare say that about her. She's not evil. She's just lost. And if you were her
true friends, you'd try and help her."
"Cripes, she tried to kill Virginia! And she's been putting spells on us and everywhere
we went. You want us to help HER?!" Wolf howled. "We need to figure out how to break this spell that
is keeping the 6th Kingdom imprisoned instead of worrying how to help someone who tried to kill us."
Virginia took the magic shoes off and stuffed them back into her bag. The revelation of Melody's
deception and the damn riddle the shoes had exposed was getting her mind all jumbled up.
"I'm afraid there are other things that you might have to worry about first, Wolf."
A low growl of a voice came from behind them.
Virginia squeaked and her heart jumped up to her throat. It was an ugly hairy Tazzie. In daylight, it looked twice
as horrible.
"Bon!" Wolf snarled and bared his teeth. "I thought I caught your scent."
"Is that your way of greeting an old friend? I'll forgive you for our last meeting in the
forest but this time I'm afraid I can't let it go." Bon took out a small brass bell and held it up to the
light. It tinkled slightly in the air. Wolf narrowed his eyes and the crinkle between his eyebrows deepened when
he realized what was going on. But it was too late.
Bon rang the bell with all the force he could muster and the bell tinkled piercingly, disturbing
the silence that had fallen among the group when the Tazzies revealed themselves. At the sound of the bell Virginia's
eyes glazed over.
"Virginia?" Wolf whimpered when he noticed the change.
Patrick tried to shake Virginia but Bon's tazzie companions immediately grabbed him and held
him fast.
"Virginia, my pretty. It's time to do as I say now." Bon sneered in her ear but loud
enough for everyone to hear. "I want you to kill your husband, Wolf. Right NOW!"
Virginia's eyes shot up at that command and Wolf took an involuntary step back. "Virginia?
Love of my life? It's Wolf. You're under a spell. Snap out of it." Wolf whined and backed up some more. He
didn't want to hurt Virginia if he didn't have to.
Virginia's face was a blank. Only her glazed eyes showed any emotion and it was showing only
emptiness right now.
Without a blink of an eye she pounced on top of Wolf with unbelievable strength that she never
had before. She grabbed and tore at Wolf's hair and head. They fell over onto the bank of the Giant's Footprint
Lake and rolled in the mud and water. Wolf struggled slightly for he didn't want to hurt Virginia but the strength
he beheld was incredible that he was already having trouble trying to free himself from Virginia's tight grip.
Virginia's wet hair hung down in her face. She thrashed about on top of Wolf and finally got
a firm grip of Wolf's neck. She began squeezing and Wolf's eyes bulged from the tightening pressure. "Virginia."
Wolf gasped and clawed at the hands at his throat.
"Drown him Virginia!" Bon's low voice called out.
And Virginia promptly tightened her already iron grip and submerged Wolf's sputtering head into
the murky water of the footprint lake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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