Kendra Kandlestar and the Crack in Kazah by Lee Edward Födi Page A

lucky as to find yourself at this marvelous celebration, I imagine it will be one of the best days of your life. Here you will find Eens dressed in colorful costumes, wearing masks or painted faces, and walking on long stilts, juggling glowing balls or performing tricks. You will taste the grandest treats: Eenberry pie, honey trifles, and roasted acorns glazed with Een sugar. You will hear silly songs, dance to jubilant music, and play the strangest games you can imagine. Indeed, each and every minute will bring a new spectacle, and the revelry will last into the wee hours of the night, until at last you collapse in a heap of happy exhaustion.
    It can be no surprise that Jamboreen was Kendra’s favorite day of the year. On this particular morning, however, she awoke stiff, sore, and sour as a skarm. She was still upset about her fight with Gayla, and to make matters worse, no one had bothered to show her and Oki a bed, so they had spent the night curled up on hard wooden chairs. Needless to say, it had been an uncomfortable sleep.
    “This just might turn out to be the worst Jamboreen ever,” Kendra groaned.
    These words had no sooner left her lips when there came from upstairs the sound of someone singing. The voice was so beautiful and melodic that it caused Kendra’s neck to prickle with goose bumps.
    “Wh-who is that?” Kendra murmured.
    “Definitely not your uncle,” Oki declared.
    It was Gayla, of course. Singing all the way, she danced down the stairs and swept into the kitchen, the perfect picture of a splendid mood. It was if she had completely forgotten the events from the night before. Her hair was now streaked purple and blue, with large bulbs and stars hanging from her braids, and she was wearing a beautiful robe the color of a summer’s night.
    “It’s Jamboreen!” she announced with a trill in her voice.
    Kendra and Oki exchanged looks of bewilderment, but for once, Gayla seemed not to notice. In a whirlwind of activity she ushered them off to separate bathtubs, and the whole while Kendra could hear her singing and dancing about the kitchen. By the time she climbed out of the tub there was a long crimson robe laid out for her—one of Gayla’s old gowns, Kendra assumed, too small for the Teenling. It fit Kendra perfectly; she dressed quickly and wandered back into the kitchen to find little Oki perched on a stool as Gayla joyfully adorned each whisker with a tiny glitter ball. She had already used Eenberry paint to decorate his fur with large blue swirls.
    It was Kendra’s turn next. Gayla streaked her hair with red and green, painted her face with curly designs, and then set about braiding her hair with bobbles and bulbs.
    “It’s fantastic,” Kendra beamed after Gayla had finished and stood her in front of the mirror.

     

    “Come on,” Gayla urged. “I don’t want to miss anything.”
    “What about Unc—er, I mean your brother? Isn’t he coming?” Kendra asked.
    “Hmph!” Gayla replied as she ushered them out the door. “He’s probably upstairs measuring his whiskers—as if the length of his beard will impress the elders! Don’t worry about him; he’ll show up in his own time.”
    The festival was held in a field on the banks of the River Wink, near the biggest Een town of Faun’s End. During the short walk, Kendra couldn’t help but to dwell on the problem of the missing Kazah stone, but such thoughts instantly evaporated as soon as her nose detected the first sugary smell from the fairgrounds. Soon the sounds of joyful cheers began to reach her ears, and the next thing she knew she was surrounded by crowds of costumed Eens. Here and there an Een would frolic past in a wide-hooped skirt or a bizarre crown-like cap. One old fellow was even wearing a tall stovepipe hat with a bird’s nest on top! Inside the nest was a collection of purple eggs with green spots.
    “Don’t think of eggs!” Kendra joked, nudging Oki.
    Before Oki had a chance to give a retort, they heard a