Abducted to Oz

  CHAPTER TWELVE:

  THE MEETING WITH PRINCESS OZMA

  Graham knew that he would need to have a good plan of action if he wasgoing to get home in spite of the Witch. He looked beseechingly at histwo new-found feline friends. Both were certainly both powerful andagile. Still, the boy knew only too well that the four of them were nomatch for the Wicked Witch. She, after all, had the ability to transportherself to any land she wished. Possibly even to other planets! If sheyearned to take them in tow as her prisoners, it seemed impossible tostop her.

  "It's terrible!" roared the Cowardly Lion. "I remember when that greenWitch appeared at the parade. She scared the living daylights out ofme!"

  "But," added the Hungry Tiger, "what I can't figure out is why QueenOzma never did anything about her. She could easily have looked into theMagic Picture to find the villainess, made a wish or two on the MagicBelt, and PRESTO, no more Wicked Witch."

  "That's puzzling, indeed," agreed the Cowardly Lion with an obviousshudder. "Could the Witch have done something to Ozma? Maybe Ozma isunder some awful spell like she was that time when she lost her memory!Oh, dear oh dear oh dear! We have got to save her!"

  "Now let's not jump to any wild conclusions," replied the Tiger, a lowgrowl issuing forth from his stomach. "I suggest that we hurry back tothe Emerald City to ask Queen Ozma for her help. If she is under anyspells, the Wizard or Glinda will help us. If she is not under any vileenchantment, then her Magic Belt can easily wish away the Witch. She canalso send Graham home with the Belt."

  "But what if the Witch has enchanted the Wizard and Glinda, too!"bellowed the Lion, tears running down his face. "What if she's madethem all into little candy corns or tea bags or Jell-O Jigglers orsomething?"

  The Tiger's stomach roared at the sound of these food words. "Pullyourself together and stop talking about food!" he said. "We can't golosing our heads over things that we don't know for sure. Maybe thewhole Witch-thing simply slipped Ozma's mind."

  The Cowardly Lion looked at his chum in a reproachful manner. "Tige," hesaid, "do you really believe that our beloved Queen is so absent-minded?I think we owe her a bit more respect than that. We all saw thatrepulsive old woman. You saw her, too, Tige! And that th-th-threat! Youheard it, t-t-too! No, our Ozma would c-c-certainly have done somethingto stop that Wicked old W-w-witch by now! And so would Glinda! And theW-w-wizard, too! None of them would have forgotten about all of that!Let alone all th-th-three of th-th-them! No, I can feel it in my bones.She's done something dreadful to them all. They are enchanted or cursedor destroyed or--"

  "Are you trying to scare yourself?" said the Tiger.

  "I d-d-don't have to try!" wailed the Lion.

  "Can't we go to your Emerald City to find out?" asked Graham, who feltthat all this talk was doing nothing for anyone. "We have to go there.It's the only way to find out for sure."

  "Our young friend has a good head for logic," said the Tiger. "Let'shurry and get to the Emerald City."

  The two jungle-cats could move almost as swiftly as the wind. Graham, ofcourse, could not possibly have hoped to keep pace with them had he hadto walk on his own. But fortunately, the beasts were willing to allowGraham and Telly to ride upon their backs. This made the journey go muchmore quickly.

  In only a couple of days, the green of the city was in sight. In shortorder, they got to the front gates which led into this amazing andphenomenally beautiful capital of Oz. Graham could not conceal his aweat the sight of the place.

  "Home again," said the Hungry Tiger.

  "Now we get to go in and see what poor Ozma and the Wizard have beent-t-turned into!" sighed the Cowardly Lion.

  Imby Amby, the Guardian of the Gates, met the trio with a smile ofgreeting. "Hello!" he said cheerfully.

  "Imby," retorted the Tiger, "will you kindly tell my dear boy here thatour Queen has not been transformed into a gelatin mold?"

  "I should hope not!" replied the Guardian. "Last time I saw her, she wasplaying checkers with Betsy Bobbin. Seemed to be winning, too."

  The Tiger smiled knowingly, then nudged the Lion in a friendly way."Come on," he said. "Let's go see our Queen. She will certainly setthings right straightaway."

  The trio hurried into the palace and quickly located the young ruler.She was gaily sipping a cup of herbal tea and having a livelyconversation with the Scarecrow and the Patchwork Girl. As soon as shesaw her two old friends with the strangers, she stopped in mid-sentence.

  "What's wrong?" she asked. "You look upset about something."

  The Hungry Tiger bowed low before the little girl. "Your Majesty, thisyoung man, Graham, has come from America and has escaped the clutches ofa very wicked Witch. Surely you remember the parade and the horriblethreat that this Witch spoke!"

  "Surely," replied Ozma. The Patchwork Girl impulsively did fivehandsprings and landed on the Tiger's broad back, where she proceeded torecite the following in a sing-song voice:

  "_The Wicked Witch was bad, indeed! Her evil soul was full of greed! To show her powers she did try, and on her broomstick she did fly! She tried to capture everyone; she thought that it would be such fun! But clever Ozma and the Wiz would never let her do this biz! A wholesome spell has now been cast, so that old Witch's time is past. The good old Wizard cast a spell that changed the Witch into a bell! She now can make a bathtub ring, but cannot do another thing!_"

  Ozma smiled sweetly. "What Scraps is telling you, in her own spiritedway, is that your Witch was already dealt with a day or two ago. I sawwhat she had done in my Magic Picture, and I had the wonderful Wizard ofOz take care of it in his unique manner. He transformed the Witch into acow-bell. She will remain in that form until such time as she has achange of heart. When she becomes truly repentant and is willing tobecome a law-abiding citizen of Oz, she will magically become a silverChristmas bell instead of the old cow-bell. At that point, we willrestore her to her human form and allow her to live a brand new life asa new and changed individual."

  "A cow-bell," echoed the Lion, all trace of fear having suddenlyvanished from his heart. "How interesting! I remember a time years agowhen the Wizard did a similar trick with some troublesome Imps. He madethem into buttons which would change color when they repented."

  "Yes," said Ozma. "As for you, friend Telly, I am sure you will becomefast friends with the Tin Woodman and Tik-Tok. The two of them areupstairs right now, admiring their similarities and differences. Wouldyou like to have me summon them?"

  "Oh, please do!" put in the Scarecrow. "I'd love to see Graham's metalfriend meet them. If his heart is as pure as that of my dear friend NickChopper's, I know that he will be a very good and wholesome person."

  They all agreed and, within minutes, the two metal men stepped into theroom. Nick Chopper, the famous Tin Woodman of Oz, had been recentlypolished, and so was feeling especially bright and chipper. Tik-Tok,who was a clockwork man made out of copper, was always very bright--solong as his clockwork was kept wound up. Telly seemed to be very happyin the company of these new friends.

  "I think that it's time to organize a big celebration to commemorate theoverthrow of the Wicked Witch and to honor our new friends!" suggestedthe Patchwork Girl.

  "A grand idea!" agreed the Scarecrow.

  "And I'd like to hold it in the cabin that Tattypoo made for us near hermountain retreat!" interjected the Patchwork Girl.

  "Indeed!" agreed the Scarecrow. "There is plenty of land there. We couldhave games like potato-sack races and a big parade and a band or two,and...."

  "It sounds great!" said Scraps, leaping up, grabbing a chandelier andswinging from it while bursting into song:

  "_A party is the thing to do whenever something pleases you! I'm awful glad the Witch is belled, for lots of troubles she'd have spelled! And I am glad to meet young Graham, I hope he won't think I'm a ham! And Telly is a funny man! I hope he'll be there if he can! A lovely time we all will spend! We will not want it e'er to end_!"

  She sang in her most dignified manner. Of cou
rse, Scraps and dignity areabout as compatible as oil and water, but her words were certainlyfitting to the occasion.

  The celebration was a great success. Celebrities from all over Oz werethere. Even the former Good Witch of the North put in an appearance. Itwas a celebration of nearly the magnitude of that which had caused thearrival of the Wicked Witch in the first place, except that there wereno large floats. There had been no time for the Oz folk to constructany. Besides, it seemed to everyone involved that they would not beespecially apropos under the circumstances.

  When the festivities were over, Ozma approached Graham. "Well," she saidin her youthful but queenly voice, "have you enjoyed your little trip toOz?"

  "Oh, yes!" replied the boy. "And I'm so glad to have met you. Wait untilI tell my little brother about all of this! He'll be so surprised!"

  "Graham," replied Ozma, "you can't tell your little brother about any ofthe things you've seen here. Even about meeting Dorothy or theScarecrow."

  "But ..." began the boy.

  "Graham," she continued, "Oz is a place that would be very interestingto some of the people back in America. So long as they know of Oz asonly a fantasy, they will not come to look for us. But our continent andits surrounding regions are very big. Our territory makes your mortalcontinents look like Rhode Island. Because some mortals do not have yourvalues, and think of no one but themselves or their bank accounts, theywould begin to seriously search out our continent. As it comprises somuch land, they might eventually break through our magical barriers andinvisibility spells--even the spell that diverts them off coursewhenever they try to reach us. These barriers have been crossed byaccident in the past, as you know. If a wicked mortal were trying to doit intentionally, he might find a way."

  "But no one has ever done it before," said Graham. "And my brother wouldso love to hear about Oz. He'd never do anything bad. I promise."

  "I am not doubting the righteousness of your brother. But secrets getout, and people pass them along. I know this is true. I cannot allow youto tell anyone back home about Oz being a real place. I want it to beconsidered only a silly fairy tale for children. This is our greatestprotection."

  "I understand," said Graham. "I won't tell him about it."

  "But you have proven yourself by your love for Telly," said the Queen."You can stay and live in Oz forever. You will be a citizen here, whereyou will never have to grow old. You will never again know sickness, andyou will never have to die."

  Graham was taken aback by the offer. "You mean it?" he said. "I can stayhere and be with Telly and the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tigerforever?"

  "You can."

  Graham still seemed overwhelmed. "That would be super," he said. "But...My family! I love my family. Can't you bring them here to live as well?"

  "No," Ozma said solemnly. "That is not possible. You are invited onlybecause you have proven your value. Even the Shaggy Man had to prove hisworth before staying on in Oz. Your family has not proven itself worthy.You alone may stay in Oz."

  "Then I want to go home right now," said Graham. "I can't leave them."

  "I thought you'd say that," sighed Ozma. "But you already know too much.I can't send you back there. It isn't that I don't trust you. But I fearthat someday you may let the secret slip. Maybe you'd talk in yoursleep. Maybe you'd grow older and be taken in by the terrible drugs andalcohol which are so common in the mortal lands. These might make yousay things that you'd normally never say. I'm sure it could never happento a boy like you, but what if... I'm sorry, Graham. You must stay here.I have already arranged for you to have a lovely mansion not far fromhere. Or you can stay with Telly or whomever you please. You can takeany apartments you might desire in the palace if you prefer. In fact,you are free to roam as you please. I don't want to have you think ofyourself as a prisoner. I know it will seem that way at first. But Ipromise you that the benefits of living in Oz will soon drive thoseideas from your mind."

  Graham looked at Ozma. Any sympathy he might have felt for her was gone.He saw her point, but he did feel more like a prisoner than a citizen ofOz.