The Wizard Of Jarbidge

Chapter 4

Cliff and I trudged through the woods. It was hot and muggy. I wondered where we were.

After about five miles of walking through the woods, we came to a wide clearing. In that clearing, was a small village. It was just a little bigger than my home Lee, but not much. In the far distance I could see a castle. I wondered if the King or Queen would be as nice as John.

Cliff and I walked out of the woods and almost immediately we heard gasping from every direction.

The people of this village were pretty much gawking at us. I guess a blue robed boy with a Golden Staff and a Golden Retriever were not a normal sight for these people.

One man came up to us. "You folks lost?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No, sir. I'm here to see the King." I said to him.

He laughed in my face. "You wanna see the king?" He asked. "What you want with our King for?"

I shook my head. "That's information that I can only give to him, sir." I said. He nodded and let us pass.

When we got passed the village, which only took like five minutes, we headed to the castle.

Up close, that castle looked huge! It was definitely fit for a King.

I knocked on the castle doors, which sounded like it rang through the whole castle. An old man opened the creaking door.

"Aye, how may I be of service to you strange folks today?" He asked.

"I would like an audience with the King and Queen, please?" I asked him.

The old man looked at me strangely, as if I had said something foreign, (Which, I probably had.) "I'm sorry, young lady. The King and Queen do not normally get audiences. Is this important?"

I nodded. "Yes, sir. This is very important." I replied.

The old man scratched his head. "Ok, if it's important... please, wait out here. I will go ask the King."

He closed the door and I could hear him mumbling on the other side. (This old man was a little on the crazy side.) I walked over to a nearby rock and sat down.

After three hours of waiting, the old man opened the door and looked around. "Young man? Young man?" He asked, not seeing me, since the rock I was sitting on was out of his sight.

I stood up and walked back over to the door. "Oh, I'm right here, sir."

The old man pointed at Cliff. "Oh, good. All I saw was your pet squirrel. The King is ready to see you, miss."

"Great!" I exclaimed, ignoring his craziness.

As I stepped inside the huge castle, I had many questions. "So, what took the King so long to reply to my request?"

The old man shrugged. "The King is a very busy man, my lady. By the way, what's your name?" He asked me.

"Max" I said.

"Oh, is that short for Maxine?" He asked.

I blinked, very confused. "No..."

"Oh, ok. Well, here we are. I'll just wait out here for ya." He said, as we came to the Throne Room door.

He opened the door and I stepped inside, with Cliff at my heels. The Throne Room was huge. If I didn't know any better, I would think the Throne Room was bigger than the whole castle.

A red carpet led the way to the back of the room, where two Thrones sat gloriously on a floating red porch. The King was on the biggest Throne, while the Queen sat next to him on the second biggest Throne.

"You may approach the Throne." The King's voice echoed majestically through the Throne Room.

Cliff and I walked across the red carpet, towards the King.

When we reached the floating red porch, I kneeled on one leg. Cliff bowed low to the ground, as well.

"What brings you to the Castle of Hathaway?" The King asked.

"Is that what this Castle is called? It's very beautiful." I said, admiring the Throne Room.

"Silence! Answer the question!" The King bellowed.

"Now, that doesn't quite make sense. Do you want me to be quiet, or do you want me to speak?" I asked.

The Queen sighed. "Please, young man. King Mickey has a very bad temper. Answer his questions and you can be on your way."

I nodded. "Of course, your highness. I am here because..." I looked at Cliff and whispered. "Why were we here again?"

"You have no reason for being here, if you can't even remember why you are here!" The King yelled. He sighed. "I don't have time for this! I need to find that crook Robin Hood! He stole my treasures and I want them back!"

"Your treasure was stolen? Who is this Robin Hood?" I asked.

The King rested his head on his arm. "Robin Hood is a thief! He stole my treasures and now my kingdom is falling apart!"

I thought this might be a good time to show the King and Queen my abilities. With very little effort, I made the King's treasure appear in front of him.

I was grinning, but my grin faded when the King stood up and yelled, "Guards! Take this... this magic fool to the dungeons! He will be executed!"

"Wait, wait, wait... executed? Why am I being executed?" I asked, as guards grabbed me and dragged me towards a door that I had not noticed earlier. I was pretty sure that the door led to the dungeons. Cliff yelped as a guard grabbed him and dragged him towards the dungeon, as well.

When we were thrown into a cell, I realized I had messed up big time.

I looked at Cliff. "I'm sorry, boy. I shouldn't have been showing off."

Cliff whined and layed down on the cold hard ground. I sat down next to him and rubbed the back of his ears, as we waited to see what fate would bring us next.