Kendra Kandlestar and the Door to Unger by Lee Edward Födi Page B

they had no map of the tunnel, they had no advice as to which fork to take in these instances, but Uncle Griffinskitch always made the decision with confidence, so Kendra trusted that the old wizard was relying on his magic to guide them.
    The days turned into a week. Really, time had little meaning, for they could not see when the sun had set or the moon had risen; it was one long, dark journey. But they had to make the best of it. They had not packed a great deal of food, for they had hoped to forage for seeds and berries in the outside world. Of course, there were no berries or seeds to be found on the long underground river, so mostly they nibbled at their supply of Een cake, which, in all truth, is a poor name for it because it is nothing more than dry, bitter bread made from the nectar of dandelions. Still, Een cake lasts a very long time, so it is the perfect thing when one is going on a journey to distant lands.
    The members of the company took turns sleeping and tried not to get on each other’s nerves in the confines of the small boat—for indeed, as a nut, the boat was quite large, but as a place to live in, it was incredibly crowded. They amused themselves in the ways they knew how. Professor Bumblebean delighted in reading his various books, of course, and attempted to continue Jinx’s reading lessons, though the tiny grasshopper much preferred to spend her time sharpening her weapons. Ratchet dreamed of strange new inventions, and Oki murmured fretfully about turnips, hoping that this practice would help him forget his fears. Uncle Griffinskitch spent long hours sitting at the front of the walnut boat, his eyes closed in concentration.
    As for Kendra, she passed the time imagining what it would be like to find her family, at long last. Now that she had been given the clue of the Door to Unger, she knew she was closer than ever to finding them. If she could only find this mysterious door, then she would discover the truth about her family. At least, that is what Oroook the Unger had told her. Of course, he had also told her that she had the strange mark of a star on her hand, but no matter how hard Kendra studied her palm, the mark was invisible to her.
    Then early one morning (at least it seemed early to Kendra; she really couldn’t tell) the walnut boat was jostled so roughly that it nearly capsized. In normal circumstances, Kendra would have been frightened; but in truth, she had grown so bored, that she was ready to welcome any excitement.
    “What happened?” she asked eagerly.
    “Something just bumped us,” Jinx declared, jamming one of the long poles into the thick mud at the bottom of the river, so as to stop the boat.
    “EEK!” Oki squeaked. “What’s a ‘something’?”
    “Maybe it was a turnip,” Ratchet said in jest.
    “Shh,” Uncle Griffinskitch said, leaning far over the boat. He waved his hand over his staff, and the staff cast a light over the dark water. “Did you see it, Jinx?”
    “No,” the grasshopper replied sternly. “But I sure felt it.”
    “Humph,” the old wizard muttered.
    For a time, everyone was leaning over the boat and silently scanning the dark surface of the water. Then, suddenly, Kendra saw a long shadow streak through the murky depths of the river.
    Oki saw it too. “Look!” the little mouse squealed, pointing a paw to the water. “I see scales!”
    “Scales?” the professor asked. “I do say! We must have encountered some fish.”
    But this was no fish—that much became clear in the very next instant when a terrible creature came shooting up from the ink-black water. Now, to a human such as you or me, this creature would have seemed large—but to Kendra and her companions, it was simply enormous, a horrible beast that reared out of the water, a tangle of eyes and teeth. It was long like a whip, and it had a thick body covered in copper-colored scales; indeed, in many ways, it was like a snake. But unlike most snakes, this one had three