Trouble in the Land of Dwarves
Chapter 6
Heroic Plans
“Then we must leave at once!”
Maid Madelyn began to gather
her things for the trip. “If we cannot stop
them before they leave, then we will prepare
to meet them on the field of battle when
they return! Serpent’s Eye or not, we can
stop them before they reach the Magic
Castle!”
“I think Madelyn is
right!” Tiny Bud said, standing to his feet
as well. “What good is a key if you don’t
get to use it? When King Balderdash hears
of this, he will call every Knight in the
kingdom to battle. We will stop
them!”
Bill Crimson rubbed his
chin. “If we attack them by surprise when
they get back we might even be able to take
the Serpent’s Eye away from them. Then
we will have it and we could use it to enter
the Magic Castle.”
“I don’t
think it is wise to let those villians even get
their filthy fingers on the Eye.” said Friar
Tub, licking his own fingers and wiping
them on his robes. “It will be harder to take
it from them once they have it and there is
no telling what powers it may give them
once they have it.”
Tiny Bud
heaved a great sigh. “But what can we do?
The King must be warned and we six
cannot stop them by ourselves?”
“I can!” declared Maid Madelyn as
she strapped on her quiver of
arrows.
“Peace, Madelyn.”
cautioned Brumble. “Your heart is valiant,
but even if we had the power to stop them
ourselves, I do not think we have the time.
We are further from Castle Dingle than we
are from Castle Bouldergold after all. They
will set sail in their ship before we get there
and we have no ship of our own in which to
pursue them.”
They all paused
for a moment, thinking about what their
leader had said. Then Princess Nataleigh’s
face brightened with an idea.
“Wait a minute!” she shouted. “I
know where we could get a
ship!”
They all looked at her in
surprise.
“Well, it’s not really
a ship, but it travels through water, and it’s
very fast and it’s secret!”
“What is this fantastic vessel, young
Princess?” asked Friar Tub.
“It’s
a submarine!”
They all looked
at her with a blank look on their
faces.
“A what?” Billy
asked.
“A submarine.” Nataleigh
repeated. “It’s like a boat, but it has a top
over it that keeps water out of the inside and
you can go under the water with
it.”
“A submersible boat?”
said Friar Tub in awe.
“Incredible.”
“Where is this
magic ship?” asked Brumble
Wood.
“It’s not magic.”
Nataleigh corrected. “It’s science. There
are some very smart dwarves who invented
and built it in their workshop by the
sea.”
“We don’t know of any
inventors by the sea.” scoffed Billy. “Are
they friend or foe?”
“I don’t
think they are bad. They are explorers. I
think if we tell them about a new place to
explore, they will be very excited to help
us!”
“But, Princess, that still
leaves us with the problem of getting there
in time to follow the pirates.” Brumble
reminded Nataleigh.
“You
forgot about Jewel!” Nataleigh beamed.
The idea of being able to do more in this
adventure excited her. She never thought
about stopping the bad guys
herself.
“Of course!” said
Friar Tub, getting excited himself as he
realized the possibilities. “The young
lady’s flying pony could get anywhere
fast!”
“You truly are a lady of
royal blood, dear Princess, for offering your
vast knowledge and resources.” Brumble
bowed low to Nataleigh as he reached for
his own battle gear and continued. “Tiny
Bud and I will take the pony and find these
inventors by the sea. The rest of you must
ride as quickly as possible to warn King
Balderdash! Now if you will be so kind as
to direct us to where we might find these
fellows with the underwater boat, my Lady,
we will be off at once!”
Nataleigh
was shocked and didn’t know what to say.
Her entire plan of action had just been
changed right before her eyes. She really
wanted to meet King Balderdash. even
though she knew that she ought to get back
to Amiera, but now that she had thought of
this new plan, she wanted to be the one to
do it. It didn’t seem fair somehow. All she
could do was watch as Brumble Wood
walked over to Jewel with Tiny Bud right
behind him.
But when
Brumble attempted to mount the Wind
Runner, Jewel whinnied in protest and
moved away from him. He tried again,
coaxing the pony with soothing words, but
the result was the same. Jewel would have
nothing to do with the two
dwarves.
Finally in frustration,
Brumble turned to the Princess. “If your
Majesty would be so kind as to instruct her
noble steed to grant us passage, our
gratitude would be most
forthcoming.”
Nataleigh just
looked at the woodland archer. She hadn’t
even understood what he had just said, but
she was sure it had something to do with
giving him some help with Jewel. Her heart
wasn’t in it, but she was about to speak to
Jewel when Maid Madelyn stepped
forward.
“I have a better idea.”
she offered. “The princess and I will go on
the pony.”
Now they all looked
at Maid Madelyn.
Brumble
turned to look at her curiously. “Are you
saying, you wish to go off alone? Just the
two of you maidens? Surely, Tiny Bud and
myself are the better choice for this mission.
It is too dangerous for ladi...”
“Don’t even say it, Brumble! We
ladies can handle ourselves just fine!”
Madelyn scolded. “It’s the Princess’s pony
anyway, and it wouldn’t be proper for one
of you to go with her alone, so I’ll
go!”
None of them could argue
with Madelyn’s logic, though Brumble tried
to think of something. Finally, after a few
moments of tense silence, he shrugged his
shoulders in annoyance and motioned for
the others to follow him as he headed for
the horses. Tiny Bud and Billy Crimson
were quick to follow him, but the friar
lagged behind.
“Farewell,
Ladies!” he waved as cheerily as he could,
then walked away after the others.
“Blessings upon you both in your
courageous quest to save us
all!”
And with that, the two
maidens were left alone.
Chapter 7
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