Ugan, leaning against the wall,
sleeping. She stomped her foot loudly, and he jumped up to stand at attention.
“You pathetic little dwarf! Get up! I’ve got a chore for you.”
“What is it, Your
Majesty?” Ugan asked, groggily.
The queen grabbed him by
his beard and lifted him up. “You will go to the house of that good-for-nothing
brother of yours, Rumalock, and lead the humans back here into my trap.”
Although Ugan didn’t
like the idea, his only choices were either to obey the wicked queen and keep his
servants life, or to disobey and be banished to Treachery Island forever. He
chose to obey.
10
After jumping into the Indra River,
Kristina and Werrien were separated, and the raging water swiftly dragged
Kristina down its course. Barely staying afloat, she managed to grab hold of a
tree branch that was dangling over the river’s edge, but the limb was almost
completely broken off from the tree. As she bobbed up and down in the ice-cold
water, gasping for air, her hands grew numb, and she could barely hold on to
the branch. The chilly water made her body weak, and she grew weary. One of her
hands slipped off the branch, and then the branch snapped and floated away from
the tree. She was so exhausted and cold that she could only allow the river to
pull her along its course. Many thoughts began to pass through her mind: Will
I ever see my family again? Who will look after Raymond? Is this how my life is
going to end?
Suddenly, the worrisome
thoughts stopped and she began to feel very peaceful—so peaceful in fact, that
she was just about to close her eyes and let the river have its way. But then
she glanced up to see something fluttering above the surface of the water. She
felt a surge of adrenaline flow through her body, and it gave her the strength to
pull herself up. When she surfaced, the rain pounded on her head. She gasped
for air and then opened her eyes to see Looper hovering in front of her. Then
she saw a tree branch in front of her.
“Grab on!” Looper
shouted.
Kristina looked toward
the river bank and saw that it was Werrien who was holding the tree branch out
to her. She grabbed hold of it, and he pulled her to safety.
Once on dry land, she
tried to stand up but couldn’t; she fell over from exhaustion. Werrien placed a
blanket around her, and then carried her to his home in the forest. It wasn’t
until the next day that she finally roused herself, and as she was slowly
waking up, she could hear a conversation.
“She seems okay to me.
What do you think?”
“Well, if she’s not,
it’s probably because she grabbed onto the broken tree branch. You’d think
she’d have had enough sense to grab hold of a branch that was still connected
to the tree.”
Kristina opened her
eyes to see Clover looking at her reflection in the window and fixing her hair.
“I thought it might be you guys,” Kristina said, weakly.
The sound of footsteps
could be heard approaching the bedroom. When the door swung open, there stood a
short, plump, strange-looking elderly woman. In one hand she carried a steaming
cup, and in the other hand she had a dish towel. Seeing the fairies sitting on
the bedpost, she took the dish towel and flicked it at them. “Shoo! Shoo! You
pesky little critters,” she said, as though they were nothing more than common
houseflies.
Looper and Clover flew
toward the open window, but Clover, being the feisty fairy she was, quickly
flew behind the old woman and yanked as hard as she could on a couple of her
hairs.
“Ouch!” the old woman
screeched, almost spilling the hot substance in the cup. She turned around
quickly and glanced about the room. “I’ll lay tree sap out where you least
expect it. That’ll fix you little pests!” As she spoke, Clover was just outside
the window, mimicking her.
The old woman turned
her attention back to Kristina and, in a more soothing tone, said, “My dear
child, you’re finally awake.” She sat down on the bedside. “My name is
sleeping. She stomped her foot loudly, and he jumped up to stand at attention.
“You pathetic little dwarf! Get up! I’ve got a chore for you.”
“What is it, Your
Majesty?” Ugan asked, groggily.
The queen grabbed him by
his beard and lifted him up. “You will go to the house of that good-for-nothing
brother of yours, Rumalock, and lead the humans back here into my trap.”
Although Ugan didn’t
like the idea, his only choices were either to obey the wicked queen and keep his
servants life, or to disobey and be banished to Treachery Island forever. He
chose to obey.
10
After jumping into the Indra River,
Kristina and Werrien were separated, and the raging water swiftly dragged
Kristina down its course. Barely staying afloat, she managed to grab hold of a
tree branch that was dangling over the river’s edge, but the limb was almost
completely broken off from the tree. As she bobbed up and down in the ice-cold
water, gasping for air, her hands grew numb, and she could barely hold on to
the branch. The chilly water made her body weak, and she grew weary. One of her
hands slipped off the branch, and then the branch snapped and floated away from
the tree. She was so exhausted and cold that she could only allow the river to
pull her along its course. Many thoughts began to pass through her mind: Will
I ever see my family again? Who will look after Raymond? Is this how my life is
going to end?
Suddenly, the worrisome
thoughts stopped and she began to feel very peaceful—so peaceful in fact, that
she was just about to close her eyes and let the river have its way. But then
she glanced up to see something fluttering above the surface of the water. She
felt a surge of adrenaline flow through her body, and it gave her the strength to
pull herself up. When she surfaced, the rain pounded on her head. She gasped
for air and then opened her eyes to see Looper hovering in front of her. Then
she saw a tree branch in front of her.
“Grab on!” Looper
shouted.
Kristina looked toward
the river bank and saw that it was Werrien who was holding the tree branch out
to her. She grabbed hold of it, and he pulled her to safety.
Once on dry land, she
tried to stand up but couldn’t; she fell over from exhaustion. Werrien placed a
blanket around her, and then carried her to his home in the forest. It wasn’t
until the next day that she finally roused herself, and as she was slowly
waking up, she could hear a conversation.
“She seems okay to me.
What do you think?”
“Well, if she’s not,
it’s probably because she grabbed onto the broken tree branch. You’d think
she’d have had enough sense to grab hold of a branch that was still connected
to the tree.”
Kristina opened her
eyes to see Clover looking at her reflection in the window and fixing her hair.
“I thought it might be you guys,” Kristina said, weakly.
The sound of footsteps
could be heard approaching the bedroom. When the door swung open, there stood a
short, plump, strange-looking elderly woman. In one hand she carried a steaming
cup, and in the other hand she had a dish towel. Seeing the fairies sitting on
the bedpost, she took the dish towel and flicked it at them. “Shoo! Shoo! You
pesky little critters,” she said, as though they were nothing more than common
houseflies.
Looper and Clover flew
toward the open window, but Clover, being the feisty fairy she was, quickly
flew behind the old woman and yanked as hard as she could on a couple of her
hairs.
“Ouch!” the old woman
screeched, almost spilling the hot substance in the cup. She turned around
quickly and glanced about the room. “I’ll lay tree sap out where you least
expect it. That’ll fix you little pests!” As she spoke, Clover was just outside
the window, mimicking her.
The old woman turned
her attention back to Kristina and, in a more soothing tone, said, “My dear
child, you’re finally awake.” She sat down on the bedside. “My name is
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