Lost in the Dark Unchanted Forest by John R. Erickson Page A

yes.”
    â€œWe have to fall at the same time, see?”
    â€œSame time, yes.”
    â€œWhen you hit the ground, jump to your feet so that you’re standing upright.”
    â€œJump to my . . . upright, yes, go on.”
    â€œWhen you’re upright, your power ought to work again, right?”
    â€œOne would hope so, wouldn’t one?”
    â€œAnd then you make a wish.”
    â€œA wish. One wish. I think I’ve got it.”
    â€œOkay, ready to push off?”
    â€œReady as I’ll ever be.”
    â€œOne! Two!”
    â€œHank?”
    â€œHuh?”
    â€œWas there any particular wish I was supposed to make?”
    Holy cats, I’d almost forgotten the most impointant parnt, important point!
    â€œYes, of course, I was going to wait until the last . . . never mind. Okay, the wish. You will wish that Rip and Snort be hungry for nothing but cat .”
    â€œCat? I don’t think I understand.”
    â€œNever mind, I’ll explain it all later. Ready? One! Two! And for Pete’s sake, get it right this time! Three! Charge, bonzai!”
    I’m not going to reveal at this point whether Madame Moonshine’s power worked or if we were eaten alive in the Pit of the Hungry Crocodiles. If I did, you might not read the next chapter. But now, because I’ve withheld crucial information, you simply must go on and read it.

Chapter Nine: Eaten Alive by Crocodiles

    As you might have guessed by now, we were eaten alive by the hungry crocodiles.
    Beat anything I ever saw.
    Boy, were those guys hungry!
    Of course, that sure messes up the story. What do you do and where do you go after something like that happens, and the story ain’t but partway done?
    I guess we’ll just have to shut her down and find something else to do. I hate it, but I don’t know what else to tell you.
    Except that I’m sort of pulling your leg, so to speak, and playing an ornery little prank. Ho, ho, ho!
    See, I knew you’d be all worried and scared and sitting on the edge of your chair, and I thought it would be fun to . . . I guess you probably figgered it out without me.
    Where was I? Oh yes. Madame Moonshine and I had just fallen out of the tree, into the Enormous Gloomy Bottomless Pit of Hungry Crocodiles, and you were wondering if her magic power worked on the croc . . . coyotes, actually.
    Well, I don’t know. We’ll just have to see. Here’s what happened—the whole entire truth this time, no fooling around.
    We hit the ground with a thud. Two thuds, actually. THUD! THUD! Rip and Snort weren’t expecting us to drop in on them that way, don’t you see, and our sudden appearance startled them for a couple of seconds, which gave us time to get into position.
    I leaped to my feet and yelled at Madame Moonshine to leap to her feet. “Get up, Madame, feap to your leet!”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œLeap to your feet!”
    â€œOh yes, my feet.” She placed her wings on the ground and tried to push herself up. “Oh my goodness, I landed right on my fanny, and it hurts!”
    â€œNever mind your fanny. Get up and say the words before those guys make hash out of us!”
    By this time Rip and Snort had recovered from the shock, and big nasty smiles were rippling across their mouths. “Uh! Now we have big supper, oh boy!”

    â€œHurry, Madame, the words!”
    She struggled to her feet and gave her head a shake. “The words, the words, oh dear, what were they?”
    â€œCat.”
    â€œCat, of course, how forgetful of me.”
    The coyote brothers licked their chops and started towards us. Madame Moonshine closed her eyes and started muttering:
    Power power, rain and shower, spider webs and this and that,
    Make these ruthless savages hungry for a bat.
    I couldn’t believe my ears. “NOT A BAT, A CAT!”
    She stared at me and blinked her eyes. “Did I say