Virginia almost jumped out of her skin when she saw Wolf making his way towards them intending
on entering their silent realm. Don't you even think about it, Wolf! Don't you dare! She took an involuntary step
forward in an effort to perhaps shove Wolf back out if his body was only part way across.
She dropped her hand out of Tony's grasp and made a lunge at Wolf's body that seemed to be half
way through. Wolf had just torn the entire map into smithereens and threw it all over the place. You idiot, Wolf!
What are you thinking?! She cried out in her head.
She made contact with Wolf's body as she slammed her shoulder up against his back in an attempt
to shove him back.
"DON'T YOU EVEN DARE, WOLF!" Virginia cried out. Her eyes grew as wide as pancakes.
She heard herself! She had heard herself scream out. The spell was broken somehow. But then came a deafening roar
that enveloped her entire head and she blacked out from the sudden pressure.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wolf was shot into the air. His arms flaying about him. He had felt himself entering the cursed
6th Kingdom but then he felt someone shoving at him too. He thought he also heard Virginia's voice yelling at him
from far away. But then the next thing he knew, there was a tremendous force that just expelled him out of the
invisible barrier and he was flying through the air.
He landed with a splash in the dirty water of the footprint lake. It was a shallow area and he
hit his elbows and knees on the muddy surface beneath the murky water. He sat up and shook the water out of his
head like a dog shaking water off its body. Water splashed and sprayed everywhere.
"Cripes! What in the world was that?!" He cried out to on one in particular. That was
when he noticed that Patrick was in the water with him just several feet away. How the hell did Patrick end up
in the lake too?
Patrick was sputtering and spitting dirty water out of his mouth. He gave a curse and sat up
also. He gave Wolf a narrowed gaze and was just about to blame the whole thing on him when they both turned at
the sound of voices.
"Wolf!" It was Tony. He was kneeling down holding Virginia's body up slightly and fanning her face. There
was a young woman standing next to him with a shocked but relieved expression and she looked like she was about
to break down crying from sheer exhaustion.
Patrick and Wolf saw feet too. Huge gigantic feet that were only the bottom part of a humongous
giant that stood amid the trees. They had to tilt their heads back to even see the top of the giant's head.
"Quit staring you two Oaf's!" Tony cried out again. "Virginia was standing too
close to the force field that when the sound returned, the pressure hit her too hard. Come and help me here. When
in the world did she get so heavy?"
Wolf splashed out of the water and reached Tony's side. He cradled Virginia's head and splashed
water into her face. Her eyes flashed open and they darted from one face to another. Then she screamed and hugged
Wolf so tight he could scarcely breathe.
"What happened? How did the spell break? Oh, I can hear again!" Virginia shouted. The
pressure in her ears was making sound still a bit muffled so she shouted when she spoke thinking that it was at
a regular level.
"Virginia, stop shouting. We can hear you fine." Tony said.
"Huh? What? Speak up, Dad."
Tony shook his head but gave a huge grin. Oh, they were out! They were finally out! The spell
had somehow been broken and all sound was restored. He wanted to flay his arms about and prance around the clearing
and sing at the top of his lungs. But of course he composed himself and remained where he was.
"Huff, puff, Virginia. Are you all right, my love?" Wolf asked brushing wet hair out
of his eyes. He gazed down at Virginia and gave her such an adoring look she almost started crying.
"Oh Wolf. I'm perfectly fine! Are you okay? I didn't hurt you-earlier, did I?" Virginia
hesitated a little.
"Oh my delicious little bacon bit, you didn't hurt me one bit. See, I am doing perfectly
fine!"
"I want to know what happened. What in the world was it that sent us hurling through the
air?" Patrick spoke up trying to wringing water out of his soaked shirt.
"As far I could see, Wolf was trying to enter the 6th Kingdom. Virginia tried to shove him
out. The spell must have broken right at that moment because all sound came back and the force of the sudden pressure
of sound send everyone outside of the boarder line flying. Virginia was standing too close too. That's my guess
at least." Tony explained what he could come up with. "Frankly, I am just glad I can hear my own voice.
I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life writing on chalkboards!" He gave Princess Wendy a big hug.
She was so happy that she did end up crying. But her tears were of joy. Pip started flying around and around them
cooing and muttering to himself.
"Hey Pops, now that the spell is broken, you gonna still owe me, don't you forget it."
Tony gave a wide grin and nodded. "Of course, Pip. You deserve anything that your little heart desires! You
have been a great help. Oh dear, we should go tell everyone in the 6th Kingdom what has happened."
"Don't worry little man, I will get the message passed around." Udo bellowed from above.
He gave everyone a quick good bye and trotted off into the night. He clicked his belt and he immediately became
invisible and his footsteps seized shaking the ground.
"What do you suppose broke the spell? Was it just a delayed reaction?" Virginia stood
up shaking the pressure out of her ears.
"I think it was when your husband tore all the pieces of the map up into the tiny pieces."
Princess Wendy spoke out. "Perhaps you were suppose to tear the map where the 6th Kingdom was placed. That
would explain why nothing happened when you only tore it down the middle."
"That sounds possible. But it's doesn't matter anymore. The spell is broken. We're all okay.
Let's just get out of here!" Tony exclaimed in excitement.
"Tony's right. We need to get back to Prince Wendell and let him know everything."
Wolf said in glee.
"I thought he was King." Wendy asked with a confused look.
"I meant King. I always call him Prince. Oh gosh, you, Patrick. You must come with us to
the palace. You will be rewarded for all your help and you too Pip." Wolf had the hugest crooked grin on his
face as he hugged Virginia over and over again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The small band of travelers made their way through the 2nd Kingdom. It was night so the going
went slow. Sometime during the night they found the billy goats and their slave troll lounging around a small campfire
by a tree. Tony laughed at the hilarious sight of three little billy goats dragging a troll around by a leash.
But they had been in a hurry so Virginia only thanked them for the shoes and gave them back.
"Hey, it says you only used up two questions here." The troll called out as they were
leaving their camp. Virginia turned around and said that they did. They never got around to using the other but
other than that, the shoes had been very helpful.
"Baaaah…..well. It's only right you know. You should get all your four questions."
The smallest billy goat said. He turned to his billy goat companions and they murmured amongst themselves and seemed
to have come to a decision. "We have decided that you can keep the shoes and use up your remaining questions.
Then you can return it to us. We will have the troll here program it so only two more questions can be asked. After
the day is over, it will still recharge but only allow two more questions to be asked until we re-program it. Here's
a bonus, we'll program it so anyone can wear them. But only two more questions, alright? "
Virginia was surprised by their generosity and accepted the shoes. She thanked them and gave
each of them a scratch behind their ears. She also gave the troll a pat on the head too.
"I thought I'd let you know that I remembered what my name is. It's Shaquil O'Neal!"
The troll declared, so sure of himself with a huge grin.
"What?!" Virginia and Tony both cried out with confused expressions.
"No wait, that doesn't sound right. Where in the 9 Kingdoms did I get that? Damn, I forgot
it again." The troll started to mumble to himself and Tony and Virginia just shook their heads and left the
little campfire.
The sun was out and the travelers were getting tired. They had treaded through the entire Red
Riding Hood forest the whole night and didn't get a wink of sleep. Wolf seemed to be the only one bursting with
energy still and he kept urging his companions to keep going.
"Wolf. We're tired. We need to sleep." Virginia said with a yawn.
"But the sun is out. It's a beautiful day. You can't go to sleep!" Wolf bounded from
tree to tree.
"Wolf. Listen to Virginia. We don't have the kind of agility that you may have. We're practically
walking in our sleep right now." Tony stretched his arms high above his head. "Besides, we're not in
that much of a hurry, are we?"
"I suppose not. Fine, fine. We'll stop by the edge of the river and catch some shut eye."
Patrick explained that since they were going to stop by the river, he might as well make a short
trip to the Mother Goose Village and gather some provisions for their trek across the 4th Kingdom later on. He
claimed he wasn't too tired and he wanted to check on his pumpkins too. So he left the group promising that he'd
meet up with them across the river.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Shhh…….I think I heard something." Princess Wendy quietly announced when they had
made camp by the river. The sun was still out and bright over their heads but they had all gathered to get some
rest.
Wolf turned his head around and sniffed the air. "I don't smell much, Princess. Actually
I just smell you. You and some other human scents. That's strange. I also smell you too, Tony. But it's not coming
from you."
At that moment there was a rustle in the bushes and two people appeared from behind the bushes.
Wolf began growling and he narrowed his eyes and snarled. Tony quickly jumped up and put his hand up.
"It's alright, it's alright. It's just the two guards that we had traveling with us earlier
in our journey." Tony explained.
"Yes, Sir Antony. We are so overjoyed to find out that you have broken the spell. We immediately
tried to track you down so we could continue our journey with presenting the princess to our king." One of
the guards said.
Wolf finally relaxed and snuggled up to the sleeping form of Virginia. The guards, Tony and the
princess began to whisper amongst themselves and Wolf soon fell asleep listening to their muffled voices.
Wolf woke up with a start. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was setting quickly. Tony and Princess Wendy
were both sleeping on the ground and the guards were propped up under a tree also snoozing the afternoon away.
Pip flew into their little camp area and cooed loudly. No, that wasn't what had woke him up. He thought he had
smelled something but now the scent was gone. Something wasn't quite right. He could feel it.
"Wolf? Is everything okay?" Virginia had awakened when she felt Wolf's body tense next
to hers.
"Hush, my little dumpling. Nothing is the matter." He lied. "I think we should
wake everyone up now and get going. We need to cross the river still."
Virginia nodded and quickly woke everyone up. She knew Wolf had lied about nothing being wrong
but she decided to just let Wolf keep his secret. He would tell her when it was the right time. Her guard was up
too now that she knew Wolf was worried about something. She and Princess Wendy gathered up their belongings and
the men put out the fire.
They hired a large rafting boat by the river. An old man had said that he'd take them across
for he had to visit a young lady that he had befriended just the other day. They agreed.
On the raft, the travelers tried to rest again. Princess Wendy nodded off while sitting up next to a water barrel.
Tony also fell asleep and his snores could be heard practically across the river. The guards slept with their mouths
wide open as if catching flies. Virginia laid her head on Wolf's shoulder and she began to think of everything
that had happened.
"Wolf?"
"Hmmm?"
"Where do you suppose Melody is now?"
Wolf wrinkled his forehead and he peered down at Virginia. "I wouldn't have a clue, sweetie
pie. Why are you asking about her?"
"I don't know. I was just thinking about what the shoes had said that first time. You know,
about blood being shared."
Wolf sat still and didn't say anything.
"Do you suppose? I mean, you knew that the evil queen had been my mother when you first
smelled me. Do you think you could smell it now? I mean, I don't know what I mean. I am so screwed up." Virginia
buried her face into Wolf's shoulder.
"Huff, puff. Honey biscuit, you know what you are talking about. You are going to have to
let the answer in and accept it. Just know this, I am here for you no matter what ever happens. And I will believe
in you also. Do you know why?" Wolf said raising Virginia's face to his level and gazed into her blue, blue
eyes. Virginia shook her head even though she knew the answer already.
"Because, love of my life, you are my entire being! You are my soul mate. I know I have
my quirks that rake on your nerves. I know I get quite tiresome too at times. And I will understand when you would
want to leave me to get some peace. But My Virginia, there are some things that you are going to have to realize
and admit it or else you'll be a lost little girl forever."
Virginia was at a loss for words. She didn't know what Wolf was trying to get at. Did he want
her to admit that she loved him? But he already knows that. He doesn't need proof. Did he want her to admit that
she somehow knew that she was related to Melody by blood? Dear god, just the thought scared the life out of her.
How could she be related to Melody? The girl was perhaps just a few years younger than her. But she remembered
that the aging process was quite different in the 9 Kingdoms. She didn't really know how the process worked but
if Melody was related to her then she must find out how. And finding out how was scaring the day lights out of
her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wolf was edgy. His dark eyes darted everywhere once they reached the shore on the 4th Kingdom.
He sniffed the air repeatedly and all the nervousness was grating at Virginia's nerves. She jumped every time she
saw Wolf's head look up. Tony was oblivious. He just wanted to get back to the palace and sleep for a week. The
guards were pampering Princess Wendy. They were all completely unaware of the growing tension that was building
in Wolf.
"HELLO THERE! I made it across!" Patrick called out from a small dingy boat that was
slowing making its way to shore.
Wolf jumped about a mile at the loud voice but he quickly calmed himself down and darted a glance
towards Virginia to see if she noticed. She did but she ignored it. When she got Wolf alone later, she was going
to make him tell her what was wrong. Patrick made it to shore and he ran up to the group. It was early the next
morning and they had all slept by the river waiting for him. Now they all cleared up and were preparing to set
out again.
Patrick had brought some food, blankets and rope with him. Tony munched on an apple that Patrick
had handed him.
"I sure can't wait to get back to the palace. Wendell's probably worried out of his mind."
Tony said between bites.
"Dad, your grandson is waiting at the palace too." Virginia told her father.
"A boy! You mean you two had a son!? I completely forgot to ask you, you know that! Oh wow,
this is wonderful! Now I really can't wait anymore."
"Perhaps we should send someone ahead to the palace and inform them of our arrival."
Princess Wendy suggested. They all agreed on the idea and they set the two guards on their way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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