"No, no, no. It is too dangerous! You can't go into the land of Fairies as cats, it's against the Fairy law. Cats have the natural habit of chasing butterflies and hunting mice. You could accidentally harm one of the Fairies. They are very tiny and sometimes they fly around like butterflies, or sit in front of a flower like a mouse," the dog explained.
"Well, we do know how to control our urges, trust me. Otherwise we'd have clawed out your eyes a long time ago," Fat Louie said and showed his perfectly sharpened claws.
"Oh, I have no doubt that you are very willing to control yourself and that's not the real problem. It is the fact that the portal to the land of fairies is protected by a spell, which will turn any feline visitor into a mouse. The bad thing is that somehow the reversal of the spell does not work all the time on the way out. Once turned into a mouse, you might have to spend the rest of your life as such," he explained patiently.
"Oh," Fat Louie said and looked at the other two cats.
"Well, we'll just wait here…," Baby Keith suggested.
"A mouse, the horror of it!" Ittie Bittie mumbled and spit out a hairball.
"We'll see you when we return," Bandit said and turned toward the tree.
"Wait!" Ed called out and shuffled his feet.
"What is it?" Bandit turned his head and looked at him.
"What about humans? Is there some sort of spell to… you know," Ed asked.
"No. The land of fairies is quiet safe from humans. Most lack the kind of imagination you would need to find it. And even if they would, without a guide and a magic spell they can't get in. Don't worry, you are safe," Bandit promised and grinned.
"Good. Very good. Let's go then," Ed agreed and took a deep breath. Together with the dogs he followed Bandit toward the tree. Just when it seemed as if they could not take another step without bumping into the tree, the tree widened and a portal opened.
Rusty took a last look back at the three cats. He grinned and quickly whispered: "Dogs rule!" Before Fat Louie could reach him with his little paw, he leaped forward and caught up with the others.
Lush white, yellow and purple flowers framed their way along a grey cobblestone path. The sun was shining bright, it was still daytime in the land of fairies and it was still summertime.
Chapter 5
"It is beautiful here," Ed whispered and looked around. Wherever he looked, flowers were blooming, the grass was greener and thicker than he had ever seen it and rivers were lazily flowing in the bluest blue he could imagine. The sky was of a wonderful baby blue with little white clouds that looked so soft and cuddly that he felt the urge to touch them, pull them down and lay on them, drifting along the sky. Far away they could see unicorns galloping across the fields.
"Oh, why can't our side of the world be that wonderful," he sighed.
"It once was. Sadly the humans did not take very well care of it. But, do not linger, not everything is just filled with beauty. Dark and dangerous creatures and paths are lurking. Stay close together and keep moving!" Bandit advised and kept moving forward, along the gray cobblestone path.
"Oh, that's scary. What creatures, what dangers? Where are they? What do they want?" Mr. Gizmo worried and he kept sniffing the air to his left and right.
"Let's not talk about it, just keep moving and don't leave the path!" Bandit ordered.
"I don't think I'd want to know," Rusty quaked and hurried to stay close to Buddy.
Gizmo kept on sniffing the air, until he suddenly caught on to a wonderful smell.
"Bratwurst!" he muttered and jumped off into the grass, his nose close to the ground, following the delicious smell of grilled Bratwurst.
"Stay close, don't…" Bandit started, looking over his shoulder and stopped in mid-sentence.
"Has he lost his mind!" Bandit called out and Rusty, Diego, Tatar, Buddy and Ed followed his look, seeing tiny Mr. Gizmo marching away from them through the deep grass, his tail up in the air, wagging, and his nose on the ground.
"Oh, no, we have to stop him!" Rusty called out and quickly sought cover behind the much larger Tatar.
In front of Mr. Gizmo a black shadow was growing larger with every step Mr. Gizmo marched forward. In the middle of the shadow sharp white and huge teeth gleamed, rows and rows of them. Long, bluish-purple tongues were licking the air, as if they could taste a delicious treat.
"Mr. Gizmo, don't! Come back here!" Ed called.
"Gizzy, look out!" Rusty called from behind Tatar.
"It's no use, he won't hear us. He has fallen for an evil spell," Bandit sighed and sadly shook his head, "he must have picked up a scent, something that seems just irresistible to him."
"We can't just let him walk into the trap!" Tatar said.
"We can't stop him, he is beyond our reach. He will not hear us until this monster gets his teeth on him," Bandit informed him and turned away, "I can't watch."
"I can't watch either and neither can I stand by and just wait for a terrible thing to happen to the little guy!" Ed stated boldly and hurried after Mr. Gizmo.
"I can't let him go by himself, wait for me, Ed, wait!" Tatar called and ran after Ed, who had started to run after Mr. Gizmo.
"Oh heck, I guess I'll have to follow too then," Bandit sighed and followed.
"If you go, so will we!" Buddy declared and followed.
"Oh, I guess that means we get to go too. Come on Rusty," Diego sighed and was on his way.
Ed was the first one to reach Mr. Gizmo. He grabbed the little dog, just when the first tongue was within reach and aiming for Mr. Gizmo's ears. When he picked up the startled dog, the other dogs came running, barking and growling, showing their marvelous teeth and making enough noise to scare off an Elephant.
With a terrible howl the black shadow shrank, smaller and smaller, until finally it was no more than a pebble in the grass.
"What, how… why? Where is the Bratwurst?" Mr. Gizmo asked confused and looked at his friends.
"What was that?" he whispered into Ed's ear.
"I'm not sure, but I know that it was very much looking forward to eat you!" Ed answered.
"Don't linger, back to the path, before more evil creatures show up! Who knows what else is waiting to get a bite out of us!" Bandit ordered.
The Path led them to the shore of a lake. Gently the crystal blue water lapped onto the beach in soft waves.
"Which way?" Buddy asked and sniffed the air.
"Across the lake and up that mountain over there," the magical dog pointed out.
"How are we going to get across this lake? I don't know about you guys, but I sure can't swim that far!" Ed sighed and sat down on the grass.
"We'll travel by coach," Bandit explained and stared at the water.
"Huh?" everybody wondered and stared at him. Before he could answer, a dolphin came out of the water and smiled at them.
"We need to get across, it is an emergency," Bandit said.
"Right away, sir," the Dolphin laughed and disappeared with a splash. Only moments later, before the dogs or Ed could even think about all the questions they wanted to ask, the water parted and a coach, pulled by six sea horses, emerged. Eight turtles jumped off the sides and built a bridge for Ed and the dogs to walk on.
"Let's hurry! It's getting late and we still have to get back before dark," Bandit urged and jumped across the turtle backs and climbed into the coach.
Without hesitation the others followed and found themselves inside the coach. With a jerk the coach started moving and disappeared under water. Everyone, besides Bandit, held their breath, too afraid to even call out in surprise.
"Don't you worry, no water will come in here," Bandit advised and looked out the window. Fish were passing in colorful spools, dolphins and mermaids were playing with each other and sea stars were lighting the way. And then the coach was above water again and stopped with a jerk as strong as the one when it took off.
The turtles were already waiting to get the passengers on shore.
"This was the most amazing ri
de I've ever had!" Ed called out and turned back to look at the coach, just in time to see it disappear again.
"This is one weird place!" Tatar said and stood close to Ed.
"Now, do we have to walk all the way to the top of this mountain, or is there some other way to get there?" Diego asked and looked up the mountain that towered over them. The top was hidden in the clouds and he could only imagine how much further the mountain grew into the sky. However far it was, he was sure his short legs would not carry him that far.
Bandit snickered and walked toward the mountain. With a sigh the others followed. The first time they looked back, they noticed that the lake was far away and way below.
"How did we get up that far?" Diego wondered.
"We barely started walking!" Buddy agreed.
"Friends, we are in a magical place, climbing the magical Fairy Mountain! It is to be expected that things are not as slow and bothersome as in our world," Bandit pointed out.
"Oh, yeah. Sure," Rusty mumbled.
Quietly they walked on and, before they knew it, they were reaching the clouds.
"Those clouds are really something!" Ed called out and touched them. He held a piece of cloud in his hand, a soft, smooth material, glittering in pale rainbow colors.
Chapter 6
"Hey you! Put that back!" a voice shouted. Startled he turned around and was face to face with a tall man, so tall that Ed wondered if he had been shrinking. Long white hair and a long white beard covered the man's face. In his right hand he held a thick, white wand with a huge, round emerald ball on the top end.
"I'm… I'm sorry," Ed said and carefully put the small piece of cloud back.
"Oh, forgive us, we are from the other world and have never seen such beauty. We are here on an emergency and need to see the Keeper of the Fairies," Bandit quickly explained and wagged his little tail.
"It's always one emergency or another in your world! How would you all ever survive if we would not constantly help out!" the huge man said, his voice rolling like thunder.
"You are surely right and we deeply appreciate your generosity," Bandit said.
"Well, go on! If it's an emergency you should not waste your time talking with me," the giant shouted and waved his wand.
"Thank you," Bandit mumbled and quickly continued up the mountain, his fellow travelers rushing to his side, every now and then looking back over their shoulders, but the giant was gone. Ed put his hands in his pockets, just to be on the safe side.
Butterflies were dancing in front of them, as if leading the way.
"Ah, look, such colorful butterflies! I wonder where they come from," Buddy said and watched them closely.
"Those are fairies. We have reached their home, they are watching us, escorting us, a way of protecting themselves. If they find anything strange or not right about us, they will go and get help," Bandit explained.
"Fairies!" Rusty called out and tilted his head, to better watch their flight.
Then, suddenly they were standing in front of a huge gate. The dogs sat down and looked up at the gate, which was too tall to see the top.
"Now what?" Diego asked and anxiously wagged his tail.
"We'll wait. It will open," Bandit explained.
He was right, with a melodious sound a small portion of the gate swung open and a childlike creature looked at them. Her hair was long and wavy, her eyes were purple and her ears were long and pointed. With a giggle she looked at them.
"Hello, what do you want here?" she asked and it sounded as if she was singing.
"We are here to see the Keeper of the Fairies," Bandit explained and stood up.
"Then what are you waiting for? Follow me!" she sang and then giggled again and skipped away from the gate. Quickly the dogs and Ed followed her. After a short walk through a courtyard, rich with colorful flowers, green grass and water fountains, they reached another door. This one very small, so small that Ed had to stoop down to pass through.
They had entered a large room. The walls were trees and the floors were grass. There was no ceiling and bright sunlight, filtered by silver clouds brightened the room. On the far end, on a big throne, a little girl was sitting. Her hair was dark and wavy and her eyes were brown and gentle.
"Hello, I am Kayla, the Keeper of the Fairies," she said friendly.
"But, you are a child!" Ed called out surprised.
"Of course I am a child. No adult can come in here and see the fairies, or talk to them, unless it is a very special person on a very special occasion. So, what is it that is so special about you and what is the occasion?" she explained and leaned forward to pet the dogs.
"She sure smells nice," Diego said and tried to stretch his neck a little longer so she could scratch it.
"Oh yes and her hands feel sooooo good!" Mr. Gizmo said and laid on his back, so she could rub his belly.
"He can communicate with the animals. And we have a big emergency in our world and need your help. We need some fairy magic to destroy the evil pumpkins," Bandit explained and took off his top hat, so she could scratch behind his ears.
"Destroy?" she asked worried and picked him up to look him straight into the eyes.
"Yes. It has to be. The evil pumpkins are swallowing the dogs in our world. They want to take over as man's best friend. We have to stop them before more dogs disappear," Bandit explained.
"I'll need to know more," she said and stopped petting the dogs.
One after the other they told her what they knew about the pumpkins and their evil plans. About their friends who had been swallowed up and were trapped inside the pumpkins. She listened carefully, every now and then nodding her head.
"Well, the pumpkins can not be destroyed. They are not from your world, they are magical pumpkins. But, we can send them back where they belong, with a little luck and a little magic. I will help you and let you take some of the magical fairies with you. But you have to hurry, you have to be back in your world before it gets dark in our world," she snipped her fingers and three little creatures came running toward her, carrying little bags in their hands. They looked like little people, but then again, their faces looked like flowers.
"To do what you need to do you all have to be very brave," she announced and explained what needed to be done to get the dogs out of the pumpkins and to get rid of the evil beasts. When she was finished five little fairies arrived, flying down from the clouds and fluttered excitedly with their little wings. When one came too close to his nose Buddy had to use all the self-control he could muster, not to snap for it.
"We must leave now, we must hurry, or we will be surprised by the darkness!" Bandit urged his friends, nervously dancing on his little paws.
"You don't have time to go by the way that brought you here, it is already getting dark!" Kayla called after them when they turned toward the door. Surprised they stopped and turned around. Looking up into the ceiling sky they saw that she was right, the sunlight was fading.
"Well, don't you remember the way well enough to guide us through the dark?" Ed asked Bandit surprised.
"Oh, it's not that, I could find it with my eyes closed," Bandit replied nervously, having a hard time not to lift his leg and pie on one of the huge tree trunks.
"It is too dangerous to go out in the dark. No one would dare!" Kayla said and shivered.
"Then, what do we do?" Diego whined and looked at Buddy.
"I don't care how dangerous it is, I have to get back and save Brandy," Buddy said and turned away.
"You will, my good friend, you will. I will send you by magic. Come here, all of you," Kayla said and smiled at them. She left her throne and stooped down in front of the dogs. She kissed each one of them on their nose and then straightened up and hugged Ed. Then she took a step back and pulled a tiny silver wand out of her pocket. On the end of the wand, which was as thin as a knitting needle and as long as a finger, was a golden star.
Carefully she tapped each one of the dogs on top of the head three times and said: "Go home, go
back to where you need to be! My good wishes and magic your guide shall be!" and one after the other they disappeared. Ed was the last one standing there, in front of her.
"Well, let's hope it'll work for you. You are very big, compared to the dogs. With Buddy and Tatar it was already hard, but don't worry, we'll get you there, eventually," she said, climbed up on her throne and stood as tall as she could. She waved Ed to come closer and started tapping his head with the tiny wand. Tiny little sparkling clouds emerged from the star and got Ed sneezing. When he sneezed for the third time he suddenly felt as if he had fallen right into a rainbow. Everything around him was filled with colors. He sneezed again and landed rather hard on his backside.
"Ouch!" he called out and found himself inside the barn with all the pumpkins and the dogs. Before he could wonder about it, plop, plop, plop, next to him five tiny little fairies popped up.
"Hi, we're glad you made it!" Tatar said and wagged his tail.
"Me too. Let's get started," Ed agreed and walked closer to the pumpkins.
Chapter 7
"Hey there, you pumpkins! I want you to let the dogs go, right now, and I will forgive you," Ed said firmly. And while he held the stare of the pumpkins, two little fairies hid in Buddy's ears and two hid in Tatar's ears.
"You must be dreaming! We will never return those dogs and we will go on until all the dogs are gone and man has no choice but to see us as their best friend!" one of the pumpkins replied and laughed his evil laughter.
"Then you leave us no choice!" Ed said and turned to Tatar and Buddy.
"Are you sure boys?" he asked.
"Yes, we are. Now don't you worry, you know that you can trust me!" Tatar answered and then, his voice lowered, "just in case, tell Fat Louie that he is the greatest cat ever!"
Ed nodded and turned back toward the pumpkins.
"Alright guys, give it to them!" he ordered and then Buddy and Tatar approached two of the biggest pumpkins, which had not yet swallowed any dogs.
"Oh no, run Buddy, save yourself!" Brandy called from deep inside her pumpkin.
"Ha! Are you threatening us with your dogs? We will have them for breakfast!" one of the two pumpkins laughed and then thunder rolled and a bolt of lightning went through the barn.
For precious seconds Ed and the dogs were blinded. When they finally could see, Tatar and Buddy were gone. Their image shone bright and clear on the two pumpkins.