Oz: The Great and Powerful Junior Novel Disney Book Group (8 page)

“Here’s your wand,” he said, handing her back her magic wand. “Sorry I mooed,” he confessed. Then he turned toward Oz. “And to think you almost killed Glinda for a bit of gold,” he said.

“A bit? There were
mountains
of—!” He caught himself. “Not that I was going to do it. I wasn’t really going to break your wand.”

“Follow me,” Glinda said in a soft but commanding way. As she made her way through the cemetery gates, Oz, Finley, and China Girl followed, unsure of what was to happen next.

C
HAPTER
N
INE

ACK INSIDE THE
E
MERALD
C
ITY PALACE
, Evanora stood in the throne room, staring into a large crystal ball. She watched as Oz and Glinda met, and watched as the group entered the cemetery together.

“No, no, no! No, it cannot be!” Evanora screamed, even as her magic crystal ball proved that Oz had not defeated Glinda as Evanora intended. “Curse you, Glinda! Curse you and your pretty little face!”

Just then, Theodora ran into the room. “Sister!” she began. “Sister, the Wizard is missing!” Theodora was panicking. “I’ve looked everywhere, but he’s gone. Where is the Wizard?”

“Where is the Wizard?” Evanora repeated as a new plan began to form in her evil mind. “With Glinda,” she hissed, her voice cold. She gestured toward the crystal ball.

Moving closer, Theodora gazed into the ball’s misty depths. She saw Oz and Glinda walking through the graveyard. Her eyes lit up. “Then it’s happening!” she cried happily. “He’s fulfilling the prophecy. He’ll bring her darkness to the light and peace to the land.”

Evanora bit her tongue. She wanted to shake her foolish sister, but that would not help. She had to think carefully about her next move. So much depended on what happened now.

After a few moments, she finally spoke. “Yes, I’m certain that’s all it is,” she said, her tone leading. “It must be. I just pray she hasn’t fallen for his charms, too.” Leaning down, she picked up a small jewelry box from under a nearby table. While hidden from view, Evanora whispered a few words and it magically transformed into one of Oz’s music boxes. Standing up, she held it to her chest fondly.

Theodora’s eyes flashed with confusion when she saw the box. “Where did you get that?” she asked.

“This?” Evanora replied innocently. “It was a gift, from him. He came to my chambers last night and oh, how we danced. For hours it seemed. You were right. He is the great Wizard. He must be, to make me feel the way I did.…”

Her voice trailed off. Peering out from under her lashes, she waited to see if her words would work their own magic. Sure enough, Theodora’s eyes had filled with tears. Her plan was working!

She kept going. “Oh, no!” Evanora said, feigning distress. “Not you, too, sister.”

Theodora nodded sadly. “He said we would rule Oz together. He said I would be his queen.”

“Did he?” Evanora asked, once again acting like the kind and caring big sister. She walked over and gently stroked Theodora’s hair. Then she added, “Are you quite sure it wasn’t
you
who said that to
him
?”

Theodora stopped sniffling as she recalled her conversations with Oz. Then her eyes grew wide. Her sister was right. He had never said those things. It had been her all along. She had thrown herself at him like a fool. Shame washed over her and she shrugged off her sister’s touch, racing from the room.

Behind her, Evanora smiled with satisfaction. Her sister was angry at herself, true, but Evanora would use that anger. It might allow her to defeat Glinda once and for all.

But first, she would try another tactic. Throwing open the balcony doors, Evanora emerged into the night, her eyes wild. Calling to her winged baboons, she gave her orders. “I want Glinda and that Wizard torn to shreds! Do not fail me a second time! Fly!”

As she watched, the sky grew gray with the bodies of hundreds of baboons. In a swarm, they took off, heading south.

Unaware of the danger flying their way, Glinda had led the group to a large statue on one of the graveyard’s hills. It was a statue of a king, and underneath were engraved the words:
HERE LIES KING PASTORIA—THE KIND AND STRONG
.

“On the day my father died, we lost a kind and noble king,” Glinda said, her voice soft and her eyes sad, “and a dark shadow was cast across this land. I’ve had to stand alone and watch as towns were destroyed, children were orphaned, and my heart was broken. I’ve been unable to protect the good people of Oz by myself.” Gently, Glinda reached out and placed a hand on the grave.

Oz looked at her, at a loss for words. He had never been good at these kind of situations. China Girl, however, understood Glinda’s loss all too well. Gently, she took the Good Witch’s hand in hers.

Smiling down at her, Glinda continued. “With only faith in my father’s prophecy, I’ve waited.” She raised her eyes, looking directly at Oz. “For you, great Wizard from Kansas, to come and make things right.”

The others turned to stare at him as well, and he felt the weight of responsibility sink on to his shoulders. “Yeah, about that…” he began. “You know, when I agreed to be king, I didn’t realize how complicated all this—”

“She knows,” Glinda said, cutting him off.

“What?”

“Evanora knows you know the truth now. Look.”

Oz turned around and immediately wished he hadn’t. There, on the horizon, was a horde of winged baboons. They were flying fast—right at them. And on the ground, a savage platoon of Winkie Guards charged forward. “What do we do?!” Oz cried.

“Wizard, now’s the time,” Glinda retorted. “Use your magic!”

Was she joking? There was no time for him to even try to pretend to do something magical. “Yes, uh…I think we should run!” Oz yelled.

Now it was her turn to be disbelieving. Was
he
kidding? But when Glinda looked into his eyes, she saw pure terror. He wasn’t kidding. And all her fears were confirmed. Turning to the others she screamed, “You heard the Wizard! Run!”

Finley and China Girl didn’t hesitate. They took off through the graveyard. Behind them, the flying baboons and the Winkies closed in. Glinda waved her wand. A moment later, a thick fog began to sweep across the land enveloping everyone—including the baboons.

“Is that going to stop them?” Oz yelled.

“I don’t know!” Glinda yelled back.

Suddenly everything went silent, and there were no flying baboons or Winkies in sight. “Nice work,” Oz said. “We lost them.”

“That was close,” echoed Finley. Then Glinda turned, nervous about some unforeseen force.

“Wait, I hear something,” the Good Witch said. Suddenly, a winged baboon emerged through the fog with an earsplitting SCREEECH. The Wicked Witch’s minions had found them.

Inside the thick mist, Oz turned frantically one way and then the other. He couldn’t see a thing! He heard China Girl calling to him through the fog, her voice thick and muted. Making his way toward her, he picked her up and continued to run as baboons screeched all around him. Suddenly, he ran straight into one of the winged creatures. He let out a scream. So did the monkey. Stopping, Oz realized that he had run into Finley. This was Glinda’s plan? To have them trapped in a blinding fog?

Finally, the four companions made their way up a steep hill and rose out of the fog. They found themselves standing on the edge of a cliff.

“What do we do?” Oz wondered.

“What do we do,” Glinda repeated. “Just do what I do,” she said with a smile. She looked remarkably calm despite the circumstances. “Unless you’ve got something?” She wondered. But Oz just shook his head. Turning, Glinda stepped closer to the edge. Then, as Oz watched in horror, she jumped, disappearing into the fog.

“Wait! What are you doing?” Oz said, panicked. Then he saw Finley lift China Girl and approach the edge. “Where are
you
going?” he exclaimed.

“She said to do what she did,” Finley calmly replied.

“Just ’cause she jumps off a cliff, you jump off a cliff?!” Oz yelled.

“I have wings,” Finley said matter-of-factly.

“What about me?!?” Oz screamed.

“You’ll be all right,” Finley said. “You’re a wizard.” And with that, Finley lifted China Girl off her porcelain feet and jumped off the edge of the cliff.

“That’s not funny!” Oz called out after him.

Oz was now all alone. Behind him, he could hear the baboons growing closer. Panicked, he looked one way and then the other. There was no choice. He stepped out into the nothingness, let out a bloodcurdling scream, and was swallowed up by the fog. A moment later the baboons went soaring past overhead.

As soon as the baboons had disappeared, a huge soaplike bubble rose out of the fog. Glinda was inside. Two more bubbles followed, carrying China Girl and Oz. Finley flew alongside.

“Look at me! I’m a bird! I’m flying!” said China Girl, amazed at floating high above the land in a translucent bubble.

Inside his bubble, Oz tried to get his bearings. But every time he moved, the bubble would spin. He had no control! As China Girl and Finley laughed, Oz finally righted himself.

They floated up and above the thick mist until they burst into the sunlight. Oz smiled as he looked around. It was sort of like flying in a hot-air balloon. Although he wasn’t quite sure who was steering. Behind him, and to his left and right, was nothing but blue sky. But right in front of him, right where they were heading, he saw what looked like a sparkling, translucent wall. It stretched east to west as far as the eye could see. Everything on the other side appeared hazy, almost like a mirage.

“Is that a wall?” Oz asked.

“Of sorts,” Glinda answered. “It repels our enemies and protects us from harm.”

“But we’re headed straight toward it!” Oz cried, his voice rising. “And going very fast. Does this thing have brakes? Oh, no! I’m going to die!”

Watching him bounce around and scream inside his bubble, Glinda tried not to smile. “You needn’t worry, Wizard,” she said. “It’s a
magic
wall! All good-hearted souls get to pass through.”

Oz stopped screaming. Right. A magic wall. That let
good
souls through. Wait a minute—he wasn’t a good soul! He really
was
going to die! He began screaming again, waiting to be zapped with electricity or dropped out of the bubble.

Closer and closer they came to the wall. Oz closed his eyes and braced himself. He waited and waited. Nothing happened. Finally, opening one eye, he looked around. He was on the other side! Behind him, the others passed safely through the wall, causing it to shimmer and sparkle. Oz let out a sigh of relief.

In her own bubble, Glinda let out her own sigh of relief. She had been right. Oz
was
good-hearted. Now she just needed to figure out how to make him see that, before it was too late.