Queen of Sky Island, Page 3

From within the chamber, Tara enters sobbing and closes the door behind her. Wiping her tears, she looks from side to side. Before her, she sees a blue dog, a blue cat, a blue lamb, a blue peacock, a blue rabbit, and a blue parrot cower behind blue furniture and the recesses of the blue marble walls. Slowly, Tara approaches the animals.

  "Have they mistreated each of you?"

  Tara pats the head of the cowering blue dog, and it begins to wag its tail and crow like a rooster. She gently strokes the blue cat and pours blue milk from a pitcher into a saucer. The cat sings like a bird. The girl then coaxes the blue lamb from behind a chair with a handful of blue clover. The lamb happily chats like a monkey. Tara feeds the blue peacock a handful of blue seeds, and it begins to mew like a cat. She holds a blue carrot, and the blue rabbit hungrily chews from it. At last Tara comes to the blue parrot, and it barks like dog then begins to speak.

  "Rub-a-dub, dub / Gimme some grub," says the Parrot in verse.

  Suddenly, Indigo bursts through the door into the chamber. "So, this is how you waste your time?" The Snubnosed Princess stomps up to Tara, grabs her arm, jerks the girl to her feet, and begins pushing her toward the door.

  The parrot flies past Indigo and Tara toward the door, and striking it, the door slams shut. Indigo stops suddenly and slowly looks down. The blue rabbit looks up and roars like a lion. Indigo releases Tara and backs up quickly. All the animals descend on Indigo and pursue her about the chamber. The Snubnosed Princess picks up a basin of water.

  "Get back, you beasts!"

  The animals descend on Indigo. She throws the water but only drenches herself. The blue dog dashes at her and bites her right ankle. The blue cat scratches her left leg. The parrot flies and pecks at her ear. The lamb butts Indigo from behind so that she stumbles forward on her face. The peacock pounds her face with its wings. Indigo, screaming with fright, springs to her feet and tries to run from the chamber. The rabbit runs between her legs and trips her. With Indigo again landing flat on her face, the rabbit jumps on her back. The other animals descend on her, and she howls in terror.

  The chamber door bursts open, and the other Snubnosed Princesses look in. They see the animals punishing Indigo mercilessly. The Snubnosed Princesses scatter the animals, quickly drag Indigo out of the chamber, and slam the door.

  Chapter Eight

  Shoo, Boy

  In his private chambers, the Boolooroo sits on the edge of his bed with the umbrella. He opens the umbrella and holds it out expecting it to suddenly take flight. When nothing happens, he closes the umbrella and stands on the bed. He opens the umbrella and gives it a command.

  "Fly!"

  The Boolooroo leaps off his bed holding the umbrella and lands on the floor. "Fly, Fly! Fly!"

  The Boolooroo throws down the umbrella, stamps on it, and kicks it to the corner where it skids underneath a cabinet.

  "Majordomo!"

  Ghip-Ghisizzle enters the private chambers. "Yes, your Majesty?"

  "Do you know how to work that umbrella?"

  "No, your Majesty."

  "Well, find out."

  "I'll do my best, your Majesty."

  "You'll do more than that, or I'll have you patched!"

  Later that evening in Sgt. Rik's quarters, Ghip-Ghisizzle speaks quietly to Bobo, as Sgt. Rik, Tara, and her animal friends look on.

  "You must go for the King's shoes and blue them and polish them and then take them back to the Royal Bedchamber.

  "And me?" asks Sgt. Rik.

  "Stay here. There is no way you can escape the island, and here the servants and guards dare not injure you for fear of the Boolooroo." Ghip-Ghisizzle then turns to Tara. "You…Keep away from the Princesses."

  Moments later, Ghip-Ghisizzle and Bobo walk along a palace hallway. Ahead of them, Fredjim Jinksjones, the double of Jimfred Jonesjinks, looks up as he paces on guard before a door. Ghip-Ghisizzle gestures at Bobo as they pass.

  "This is the King's new Bootblue."

  "I'm sorry for him," says Fredjim Jinksjones.

  Ghip-Ghisizzle whispers to Bobo, "That is the Royal Treasury."

  In another hallway, Ghip-Ghisizzle and Bobo approach a scowling Guard.

  "This slave is the Royal Bootblue," announces Ghip-Ghisizzle. "You will allow him to pass into his majesty's chamber to get the royal shoes and to return them when they are blued."

  "He is in an ugly mood," warns the Guard. "It will go hard with this short-necked creature if he doesn't polish ‘em properly."

  The Guard allows Bobo to pass, as Ghip-Ghisizzle stays back.

  Bobo enters the Royal Bedchamber where the Boolooroo sits removing his shoes. The tyrant looks up surprised.

  "What are you doing here?"

  "I've come for the shoes."

  The Boolooroo throws his shoes at Bobo, missing the boy but smashing a mirror and shattering a vase. The boy grabs the shoes and runs out.

  In Sgt. Rik's quarters, Bobo and Sgt. Rik finish polishing the Boolooroo's shoes, while Tara and the animals look on.

  "It's got to be tonight," says Bobo.

  "Awfully big risk," observes Sgt. Rik.

  "No one here likes us, and in a few days they may make an end of us."

  "I feel like such a jerk, getting us into this," moans Tara.

  "Can't think about that now," says Sgt. Rik.

  In the palace hallway outside the Royal Treasury, Bobo carries the polished boots past Fredjim Jinksjones, who smiles and nods. A moment later, Bobo approaches the Guard before the Royal Bedchamber.

  "What are you doing here at this hour?" asks the Guard.

  "I'm returning his Majesty's shoes."

  "Go back and wait till morning."

  "If you prevent me from obeying the Boolooroo's orders, he will probably have you patched."

  "Go in, then. But if you make a noise and waken his Majesty, the chances are you'll get yourself patched."

  Inside the Royal Bedchamber, the Boolooroo snores lustily with the curtains of his high-posted bed drawn around him. Bobo, now also carrying his own shoes, carefully tiptoes, sets down the royal shoes, and creeps to the chair where his Majesty's clothes are piled. Bobo's hands reach into various pockets till at last they pull out a blue-gold key attached to a blue-gold chain. Bobo creeps out of the Royal Bedchamber without noticing the umbrella underneath a cabinet that he passes.

  Outside the Royal Bedchamber, Bobo passes the Guard and continues along the hallway till at last he approaches Fredjim Jinksjones guarding the Royal Treasury.

  "His majesty commands you to go at once to the corridor leading to the apartments of the Six Snubnosed Princesses and to guard the entrance until morning," says Bobo. "No one in or out."

  "Who will guard the Treasure Chamber?" asks Fredjim Jinksjones.

  "I am to take your place."

  Moments later, alone at the door to the Royal Treasury, Bobo puts the blue-gold key into the lock and covers it with a pillow to muffle the sound as he turns it.

  From inside the Royal Treasury, the door opens, and Bobo steps inside closing it behind him. Suddenly, a Blue Wolf appears whose head is as big as a lion and whose snarling mouth is armed with pointed teeth. Bobo does not move, as the Blue Wolf snarls viciously. Bobo, looking past the Blue Wolf, sees piles of blue gold, blue jewels, blue ornaments, and blue furnishings illuminated by a blue-brass lamp. Bobo makes a slight move, and the Blue Wolf opens its jaws wide and lunges at him. Bobo quickly stuffs the pillow into the Blue Wolf's gaping mouth. The Blue Wolf's teeth come together and bury themselves in the pillow. Unable to growl or yelp, the Blue Wolf rolls on the floor trying dislodge the pillow.

  Bobo, holding the blue-brass lamp before him, quickly begins to search the chamber. He stops suddenly. A book bound in light-blue leather lies on a carved table. In dark-blue letters stamped on the leather are the words THE ROYAL RECORD BOOK. Bobo tucks the book into his shirt and continues searching. The Blue Wolf seizes an edge of the pillow in its sharp claw and struggles to pull it out of his mouth. Bobo turns his head from si
de-to-side scanning the room. The Blue Wolf pulls the pillow from its mouth, swings its head in Bobo's direction, and lunges ferociously.

  In an instant, Bobo steps into the hallway and closes the door to the Royal Treasury behind him, as the sound of the Blue Wolf hitting it is heard. Bobo breathes a deep sigh of relief. Suddenly, his eyes widen. From deep in the palace, the Boolooroo's voice is heard exclaiming.

  "My key! My key! Who has stolen my golden key?"

  Bobo turns his head from side-to-side. The sounds of guards and servants begin to fill the palace. Bobo turns and runs along the hallway.

  Moments later the door to Sgt. Rik's quarters opens suddenly, and Bobo lunges inside and closes it behind him. "We must escape at once, or we will be caught and patched."

  "Where's the umbrella?" asks Sgt. Rik.

  "I don’t know," says Bobo. "I can't find it. But all the palace is awake, and the Boolooroo is furious."

  "Where will we go?" asks Tara.

  "We must make for the open country and hide in the Fog Bank," Bobo answers.

  Chapter Nine

  Fog Run

  With a dim moon shining, Sgt. Rik, Tara, and Bobo hold hands, as they make their way through the streets of Blue City. In the moonlight, the trio stops at the corner of a building and peers ahead. A blue-iron gate through the city wall lies across a blue cobblestone street. Sgt. Rik looks up and points. Tara and Bobo glance upward. A Blue Guard slumbers on the wall above the gate.

  Sgt. Rik taps Bobo's shoulder, and Bobo runs silently toward the gate. From the gate, Bobo looks back and sees Sgt. Rik tap Tara's shoulder, and she runs silently toward him. Sgt. Rik moves across the street toward the gate, but his prosthetic legs make noise on the blue cobblestones. The Blue Guard wakes and glances down. From above, Sgt. Rik, Tara, and Bobo open the gate. The Blue Guard grabs a mallet and hits a blue gong. Sgt. Rik, Tara, and Bobo glance toward the City's buildings, as lights begin to appear in all of them.

  Across open country in the dim moonlight, Sgt. Rik, Tara, and Bobo run away from the gate and walls of Blue City. They run across the open ground of Blue Country, as the Blue Guards with their longer legs close the distance between them. Sgt. Rik, Tara, and Bobo run for their lives.

  Suddenly, a high moving object closes on the trio and suddenly descends. Tara stops suddenly and shouts to Sgt. Rik and Bobo. "Wait!"

  Sgt. Rik and Bobo stop and look back. "What?" asks Sgt. Rik.

  Tara glances up, and Parrot alights on her shoulder. "Gee, I've flown / Here all alone. / 'Tis pretty far / But here we are." Parrot then barks like a dog and chuckles with glee.

  Sgt. Rik lifts his glance to look past Tara. The Blue Guards run toward the trio, closing fast. Sgt. Rik turns, and the Great Fog Bank lies ahead. He shouts, "Move out! NOW!"

  With Parrot on her shoulder, Tara and Bobo start running. Sgt. Rik follows after. The Blue Guards run fast, closing on the trio ahead of them and beginning to swing and toss their blue cords. Sgt. Rik, running behind Tara and Bobo toward the Great Fog Bank, fends off blue cords thrown at him. The Blue Guards close on the trio. Tara and Bobo run into the Fog Bank and disappear. Sgt. Rik suddenly stumbles. A blue cord wraps around one of his prosthetic legs. Sgt. Rik removes his captured leg, slides off the blue cord, rises to his one full leg, and dives headlong into the fog.

  The Blue Guards stop suddenly. The mists of the Great Fog Bank consume everything. A Blue Guard, his face filled with horror, laments, "That's the end of them."

  Holding hands, Sgt. Rik leads Tara, with Parrot clinging to her shoulder, and Bobo through the dense fog.

  "I'm soaked through to my skin," vents Tara.

  "When it's a case of life or death, clothes don't count for much," replies Sgt. Rik.

  "Floods and gushes fill our path; / This is not my day for a bath! / Shut it off, or fear my wrath." squawks Parrot.

  "Are we going to the other side?" asks Bobo.

  "It's the only safe side for us," says Sgt. Rik.

  "Ghip-Ghisizzle said it was a terrible country," Bobo warns.

  "Sizzle's never been there, and he knows nothing about it," says Sgt. Rik.

  "But are we going to get there in this fog?" asks Tara.

  "I've kept my face turned straight ahead ever since we jumped into this wall of wetness. If we don't get twisted, we'll get to the other side."

  "Wet, wet, wet! / It's awful wet, you bet," complains Parrot.

  "Can't you dry up?" barks Sgt. Rik.

  "Not this evening, thank you, sir; / To talk and grumble I prefer."

  Still, as the trio and Parrot move with great effort through the dense fog, the chatter dies away. With heads down, they move sluggishly. Then suddenly, Parrot, dripping with dampness on Tara's shoulder, widens its eyes and squawks, "Look out!"

  The trio stops and looks up, and then up again. A Frog, nearly the size of a whale, obstructs them.

  "Ker-chug, herk-choo!" says Frog. "What in the Sky is this crowd?"

  "We're strangers," answers Tara, "and we're trying to escape from the Blueskins and get into Pink Country."

  "I don't blame you," says Frog. "I hate those Blueskins. The Pinkies, however, are very decent neighbors."

  "I'm glad to hear that," says Sgt. Rik.

  "Can you tell us, Mr. Frog, er, your Royal Highness," asks Bobo, "if we're on the right road to the Pink Country?"

  "I'm no Royal Highness," answers Frog. "I'm just a common frog, and a little wee tiny frog, too. But I hope to grow in time. This Fog Bank is the Paradise of Frogs, and our King is about ten times as big as I am."

  "I'm glad you like your country, but it's a little damp for us," notes Sgt. Rik, "and we'd like to move on. Can you guide us?"

  "I'm sorry," replies Frog, "but I'm due at the King's Court in a few minutes, and I can't wait for your short, weak legs to make the journey to the Pink Country. But if you will climb upon my back, I think I can carry you to the border in few hops."

  "I'm tired," says Tara "and this awful fog is beginning to choke me. Let's do it, Sgt. Rik."

  "Jump the frog, huh?" observes the veteran.

  And with that, the trio climbs on Frog. Sgt. Rik straddles the reptile's neck with his prosthetic legs and holds Tara and Bobo under his left and right arms. Instantly, Frog makes a monstrous leap. Its powerful hind legs straighten like steel springs and shoot its body like an arrow through the fog. One great leap after another, Frog propels through the near blinding dampness. And then suddenly, Frog stops, and he does so abruptly that the trio fly off of his back and through the fog.

  From the other side of the Great Fog Bank, Sgt. Rik, Tara, and Bobo fly out and land head over heels in a sunny meadow of pink grass. Sitting up after a moment, the trio looks around.

  The grass is soft pink. The trees are pink. In the sky hang rosy clouds, and the sun itself is a distinct pink. Half a mile distant is a large city where the buildings are all pink, from a faint blush to a deep pink verging on red.

  Parrot alights on Tara's shoulder and flutters its wings to removes the wetness of the fog. "Look out---look out-- / There's folks about!"

  The trio jumps to its feet and looks ahead.

  "The apple-dumplings, fat and pink / Will be here quicker than a wink," continues Parrot.

  Four Pinkies, two men and two women, round and chubby with their short necks and legs, pink hair and eyes, rosy cheeks, pink complexions, and jolly expressions, approach.

  Sgt. Rik, Tara, and Bobo turn to one another then look back at the approaching Pinkies. The Pinkies halt a short distance away, all four of them carrying sharp, pointed sticks made of rosewood for weapons.

  "Blueskins!" cries the First Pinky Woman.

  "Guess again! The more you guess / I rather think you'll know the less," squawks Parrot. "Blue feathers don't make bluebirds."

  "We're not Blueskins," says Tara. "We've just escaped from Blue Country."

  "What country do you come from, then?" asks the First Pinky Woman.

  "The Earth," answers Bobo.

 
"The Earth! The Earth!" exclaims the First Pinky Man.

  "That is a country we have never heard of," notes the Second Pinky Man. "Where is it located?"

  "Why, down below somewhere," answers Bobo. "And it isn't one country, but a good many."

  "We have three countries in Sky Island," observes the First Pinky Woman. "There are Blue Country, the Fog Country, and the Pink Country. But of course this end of the Island is the most important."

  "How came you in the Blue Country, from whence you say you escaped?" asks the First Pinky Man.

  "We flew there by means of a magic umbrella," answers Bobo, "but the wicked Boolooroo stole it from us."

  "Stole it!" exclaims the Second Pinky Man. "How dreadful."

  "And they made us slaves," adds Tara.

  "So, we ran away and passed through the Fog Bank and came here," concludes Bobo.

  The four Pinkies turn away and converse together in low tones. After a moment, Coralie, the second Pinky woman, steps forward.

  "Your story is the strangest we have ever heard," she says, "and your presence here is still more strange and astonishing. So we have decided to take you to Tourmaline and let her decide what shall be your fate."

  "Who is Tourmaline?" asks Tara.

  "The Queen of the Pinkies," answers Coralie. "She is the sole Ruler of our country, so the word of Tourmaline is the Law of the Land."

  "I've had enough of your kings and queens," barks Sgt. Rik. "We're going our own way."

  The Pinkies ready their sharpened sticks. "Until we prove your truth and honor," warns Coralie, "we must regard you as enemies. You may be magicians here to deceive and betray us to the Blueskins."

  "Mud and bricks, fiddlesticks! / We don't play such nasty tricks," squawks Parrot.

  "Must we fight you?" asks Coralie. "Or will you come with us peaceably?"

  "We'll go peaceably," answers Sgt. Rik. "But you're making a sad mistake."

  Chapter Ten

  Royally Poor

  The Pinkies force march the trio toward the Pink City. The Two Pinky Men are on either side, and Coralie and the First Pinky Woman follow behind holding their sharpened sticks.

  Tara glances at the Pinkies whose clothes consist of layer after layer of gauzy ruffles and laces, adorned with bows of dainty ribbon. The skirts are so fluffy and light that they stick out from the fat bodies of the women like the skirts of ballet dancers, displaying their chubby pink ankles and pink kid shoes. They wear rings, necklaces, bracelets, and brooches of rose-gold set with pink gems.