Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers (6 page)

THE BAND OF WOULD-BE HEROES was now on its way. Captain Jinx took the lead, followed by Kendra and Oki, then Professor Bumblebean, and lastly, Uncle Griffinskitch, who shuffled along with the help of his gnarled staff.

To Kendra, the world outside the curtain seemed no different than the one inside, though both she and Oki expected to find Goojuns and Ungers around every corner. Now, I’m sure you’d be excited to read about a Goojun or an Unger, but Kendra knew that even the thought of such creatures was enough to send a shiver down Oki’s spine. Indeed, every time a leaf or branch brushed against his long tail, he jumped in the air and cried, “Eek!”

“Enough already!” Jinx snarled after Oki had jumped for the fourth time in less than an hour. “Why don’t you just wave a flag and tell every monster from here to Krodos that we’re on our way?”

“Oh, dear,” Oki murmured. “Do you think they heard me?”

“Who?” Jinx asked crossly.

“Every monster from here to Krodos,” Oki whispered.

“How should I know?” Jinx retorted. “Just try and keep quiet.”

“Have you ever seen a monster?” Kendra asked the grasshopper.

“You sure are a talkative bunch,” Jinx grumbled.

“Well, it helps pass the time, don’t you think?” Kendra asked.

“Go talk to
Bumblebore
then,” Jinx said, pointing to the professor, who was plodding a short distance behind them. “He likes to talk better than anyone I know.”

“We’d much rather talk to you,” Kendra told the captain.

“That’s for sure,” Oki agreed. “What do you think is in the Box of Whispers?”

“That’s hardly my concern, or yours for that matter,” Jinx replied. “Our job is to find it—and that’s all.”

“It must be important,” Kendra said. “I mean, Elder Woodsong even called the orb to help find it.”

“I think there are voices inside the box,” Oki said.

“But whose voices?” Kendra wondered.

“Probably those of the ancient Eens,” Oki replied. “That makes the most sense to me. But I don’t know why they call it the Box of Whispers.”

“Maybe the box isn’t big enough to hold loud voices,” Kendra suggested. “Maybe it can only fit quiet whispering ones.”

“That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard,” Jinx declared.

“Well, what do you think then?” Kendra asked.

“I try not to think any more than I have to,” Jinx retorted as they came upon a long branch lying across their path. If you had been the size of a grasshopper, the branch would have seemed like an enormous fallen tree. Still, Jinx was no ordinary grasshopper, and she threw the branch aside as if it had been no heavier than a feather.

Kendra and Oki looked at Jinx with amazement.

“How did you become so strong, Captain Jinx?” Kendra asked the grasshopper.

Jinx glared hard at the two young friends. “You are a pair of pestering twerps, you know that? Why should I tell you anything?”

“Please, Jinx?” Oki asked. “Tell us how you got so strong. I heard you drank a magic potion.”

“I don’t know how that’s any of your business,” Jinx scowled.

“Then tell us about the monsters you’ve seen,” Kendra said.

“Who’s said I’ve seen any?” Jinx demanded.

“Well, have you?” Kendra asked.

Jinx rolled her eyes. “Yes, of course,” she said. “If you must know, I saw my first Goojun on the same day I got my strength.”

“Really?” Oki asked. “Oh, do tell us about it.”

“I’m no storyteller,” Jinx grumbled.

“Please?” Kendra begged.

“I’ll tell you what,” Jinx said. “I’ll cut you a deal. I’ll tell you the story as long as Oki stops ‘eeking.’ And another thing! Don’t go blabbing this to all of Eendom. That’s all I need.”

“Oh, we swear we won’t tell,” Kendra said.

“Double-swear,” Oki added.

“You don’t have to get dramatic about it,” Jinx groaned, rolling her eyes at them. “Well, it happened long ago, when I was just a nymph. Don’t ask me what that is, Kendra. That’s what a young grasshopper is called. Anyway, I lived in the Hills of Wight, which are a good day’s hop north of Faun’s End. My parents had sent me there to apprentice with my Uncle Jasper, who was a great sorcerer.”

“Greater than Uncle Griffinskitch?” Kendra asked.

“Well, I didn’t say
that
,” Jinx said, sounding annoyed. She took a deep breath and continued. “But he was a great wizard nonetheless. Sometimes Uncle Jasper would go outside the magic curtain to look for plants that he needed for all his powders and potions. He was a potion specialist, and Eens and animals came from every corner because he could heal all types of sicknesses.”

“Oooh,” Oki said. “Could your uncle cure Goojun pox? How about the squeezles?”

“Of course!” Jinx replied, though in truth she sounded somewhat uncertain. “Now stop interrupting, and let me continue! One day I went with Uncle Jasper to collect his plants. We went deep into the Forests of Wretch, for we were looking for this special kind of moss that only grows in pitch darkness. If any light touches this moss, it shrivels up and dies. But there’s more than moss that lives in those woods.”

“Like what?” Kendra asked, tugging nervously on her braids.

“Goojuns actually,” Jinx said. “And that day we ran into a whole herd of them.”

At the mention of Goojuns, Kendra looked at Oki and noticed a particularly strong “eek” welling up in him. But Jinx cast him a threatening glance, and at once, the mouse seemed to gulp down his terror.

“Uncle Jasper and I hopped for our lives,” the grasshopper continued. “As I said, it was dark in the Forests of Wretch, and we got separated. Those Goojuns were everywhere. I couldn’t yell for Uncle Jasper because I knew they’d hear me. So I made my way as best I could. I hadn’t gone far when I stumbled upon Uncle Jasper’s pouch. He kept all his potions in it.”

“But where was your uncle?” Kendra asked.

“I don’t know,” Jinx replied with a grimace. “Since that day, he’s never been seen.”

“Oh,” Kendra said sadly. “It sounds like what happened to my family.”

“Well, I don’t know much about that,” Jinx said with some discomfort in her voice. “But the disappearances did happen in the same year. It wasn’t long afterwards that Eens and we animals stopped going outside the curtain altogether.”

“But how did you escape the Goojuns?” Oki asked.

“Like I said, I found Uncle Jasper’s pouch,” Jinx said. “And in it were all his potions. I could hear the Goojuns thrashing about in the forest. They were close to me, and I knew it would only be a matter of seconds before they caught me.”

“Were you scared?” Oki asked intently.

“Well, the worst thing about Goojuns is that they don’t eat you whole,” Jinx said. “They like to eat you in little bits. They start with your legs, and then—”

“I do say,” came a voice, and they looked up to see Professor Bumblebean. Having caught up to them, the large-eared Een had overheard the last part of Jinx’s story. “Do you really think you should be describing such horrific scenes to these youths?”

“No less horrific then your giant swelled head,
Boogerbrain
,” Jinx snarled.

“There’s no need to be rude, Captain Jinx,” Professor Bumblebean remarked. “And I do believe you have misspoken my name. It’s Bumblebean, you know.”

Jinx groaned.

“I should think you would recall the name Bumblebean,” the professor continued. “After all, I descend from a long line of famous scholars.”

“Oh, please finish your story, Captain Jinx,” Kendra begged, interrupting the professor in her eagerness. She gave him an apologetic smile, then turned back to Jinx.

“I was just about to,” Jinx told her, casting another sneer at the professor. “Anyway,
as I was saying
, I could hear the Goojuns getting closer. I began ripping through Uncle Jasper’s pouch, for I knew he had a potion that would turn me invisible. But I was in such a hurry that I accidentally grabbed the wrong flask. Instead of an invisibility potion, I grabbed a healing potion, and I drank it down whole. Of course, I wasn’t injured and didn’t need to be healed. And because of that, the potion gave me super strength. To this day, it has never gone away.”

“And the Goojuns?” Oki asked.

“They weren’t much match for me after I took that potion,” Jinx boasted. “I thumped them rather well, and sent them scampering back into the shadows of the forest. I looked for two days and nights for Uncle Jasper, but there was no sign of him. Finally, I went back home. But I never became a sorcerer. I was never that good at it to begin with, and once Uncle Jasper disappeared, I had no teacher. So instead, I studied the art of weapons.”

“My word,” Professor Bumblebean said. “Your story doesn’t calculate, Captain. How on earth could you possibly select the wrong potion?”

“What do you mean?” Jinx growled.

“Well, I knew your Uncle Jasper,” he declared. “He had an impeccable habit of labeling all his potions. Why didn’t you just read the label?”

Jinx looked like she was about to explode in anger. “I told you,” she roared. “I was in a hurry.”

“Well, I do say, that’s hardly an excuse not to stop and read,” Professor Bumblebean said.

“You pompous, bungle-brained buffoon!” Jinx screeched. “Why don’t you just mind your own business?”

“Well, I never!” the professor declared. “You don’t have to lose your temper!”

With a furious scream, Jinx withdrew her sword and began slashing at the bushes and branches along the path. She was soon far ahead.

“Humph,” Uncle Griffinskitch grumbled, hobbling up from behind. “What seems to be the problem, Professor?”

“I’m afraid I’ve provoked some agitation in the captain,” Professor Bumblebean replied. “I’m not sure how, really. Nonetheless, it seems she’s discovered a certain zeal for clearing the path.”

“We don’t exactly need the path cleared,” Kendra said.

“Humph,” Uncle Griffinskitch grunted in agreement, as he watched the grasshopper viciously swing her sword. “Just let her clear it all the same.”

THE TINY BAND OF ADVENTURERS traveled so late into the day that by the time they stopped to make camp, they were all quite tuckered out. Professor Bumblebean, who was not accustomed to exercise of any sort, seemed particularly exhausted. Kendra herself felt as if she had been in gym class all day without even stopping for recess.

Jinx would allow no fire, knowing that Ungers or Goojuns might see it in the night, so they had no warm meal. Instead, they nibbled on dried vegetables and fruit. Afterward, Jinx found some wild berries, so at least they were able to have what Oki called a “tolerable” dessert.

When the meal was finished, Professor Bumblebean promptly pulled out one of his books and began squinting at it through the moonlight.

“I do believe we are in the Hills of Horm,” he remarked a short time later.

“Humph,” Uncle Griffinskitch grunted. “Then we must be extra careful.”

“Why?” Kendra asked. “What’s in the Hills of Horm?”

“Oh, all varieties of monsters live here,” Professor Bumblebean replied, too cheerfully for Kendra’s liking. “More than I could enumerate. But this book states that, in particular, this is Unger territory.”

“Oh, great,” Oki fretted, looking about with worried eyes.

“You sure don’t seem to be afraid, Professor,” Kendra remarked.

“Oh, me?” Professor Bumblebean asked. “Well, fear is usually all just in our heads, I suppose. I choose to believe in facts over fiction. If only my fellow Eens would read more about these monsters, then I’m sure they’d be less afraid of them.”

“Yeah, that’ll work,
Bumblesnore
,” Jinx said, sneering at the professor. “I’m sure that kind of knowledge would be really helpful while you’re being gobbled down by some Krake.”

“I do say,” Professor Bumblebean said. “I’m afraid you must be quite addled, always forgetting my name. It’s Bumblebean, you know. Perhaps if you had descended from a long line of scholars like myself, you’d have a better memory—or at least you might have cultivated a fondness for books.”

“Why do I need books when I have you?” Jinx asked. “You’re better than an encyclopedia, aren’t you,
Bumblebook
? Has that pile of paper told you anything useful yet?”

“My word, Captain,” the professor uttered. “It’s BUMBLEBEAN! And have you not heard a single word I just said?”

“Sure I did,” Jinx replied. “You said we’re surrounded by Ungers and all sorts of other monsters. Like we didn’t know that already. We are beyond the magic curtain, after all.”

“Well,” Professor Bumblebean declared, “I’ll have you know that this book also contains all sorts of information pertaining to the castle of Krodos, which, if you’ll recall, is precisely where we’re going.”

“Who lives in the castle?” Kendra asked, crossing over to look at the professor’s book.

“Giants, according to the records contained within this text,” he replied happily.

“Does that mean it was a giant who stole the box?” Kendra asked.

“That can’t be,” Jinx said. “We’d have seen him.”

“Not necessarily,” Professor Bumblebean pointed out. “Whatever the species of this creature, it’s certainly in possession of considerable magical ability. Remember, it was able to cross the curtain. So it certainly could have been a giant.”

“Giants,” Oki murmured, putting one paw to his forehead. “Why did it have to be giants? Why couldn’t it have been something less . . . something less . . . well, something less giant?”

“Fear not,” Jinx said. “I reckon I’ll just stroll up to one of those fellows and poke his eyes out!” With that, she withdrew her sword and began fencing with her long shadow in the cast of the moonlight.

“Heroic of you,” Professor Bumblebean said. “If not somewhat reckless.”

“Now listen here, you long-winded, dull-brained—,” Jinx began.

“Silence!” Uncle Griffinskitch interrupted, putting a hand to his ear.

“What is it?” Jinx asked, brandishing her sword.

“I heard something,” the old wizard said.

“I think it came from that direction,” Professor Bumblebean said, pointing to a clump of nearby bushes.

Without a second thought, Jinx raised her sword and marched boldly into the brush.

“Where did she go?” Oki cried. “Is she all right?”

“Quiet,” Uncle Griffinskitch warned.

Then suddenly, they heard Jinx shout, “Intruder!” and the bushes shook violently with the swinging of her sword.

“OUCH!” someone screamed, and a moment later Jinx reappeared with Ratchet staggering behind her. He was rubbing his sore bottom.

“You didn’t have to jab so hard,” he muttered, eyeing Jinx.

“Ratchet, what are you doing here?” Kendra exclaimed.

“As if I didn’t know!” Uncle Griffinskitch boomed, his eyes flaring with rage. “I should have guessed that you couldn’t leave well enough alone.”

“Well, you might need me after all,” Ratchet said in his defense. “You can’t expect me to just stay behind.”

“Humph,” Uncle Griffinskitch snorted, and it was the type of angry humph that bordered on a “Days of Een!”

“I do say, your actions are immensely foolish,” Professor Bumblebean lectured the raccoon. “Why, if the orb had wanted you to come, it would have—”

“Wait,” Uncle Griffinskitch interjected suddenly.

“Now what?” Kendra asked, giving her braids a fretful tug.

“I heard something again,” Uncle Griffinskitch said.

“Who else did you bring with you?” Jinx demanded of Ratchet.

“Why, no one!” Ratchet replied, crossing his arms angrily.

“Well, then what was it?” Jinx said. She raised her sword anxiously.

But before anyone could answer, the bushes ripped apart, and the tiny band of heroes found themselves face-to-face with a cluster of creatures so savage and so fierce that for a moment, everyone just froze. Kendra had never seen anything so frightening, not in her wildest imagination, not in her darkest nightmares. The beasts came out of the night all claws and fangs and grunts and snarls. No, she had never seen anything like them in all her short life. Indeed, she couldn’t even say what they were.

But Oki seemed to know. “UNGERS!” he yelled, then—with a very loud “EEK!”—he turned and disappeared into the darkness.