Oz: The Great and Powerful Junior Novel Disney Book Group (4 page)

C
HAPTER
F
IVE

Z AND
T
HEODORA WALKED
through the wondrous land of Oz until they could walk no more. Night had fallen, and the two decided to stop for the night in a clearing. They would head toward the kingdom in the morning.

While camping wasn’t his favorite pastime, Oz was willing to spend one night in the woods if he could spend the rest of his nights in a palace. As Oz gathered firewood, he watched as Theodora removed her large red velvet hat. She looked even more beautiful now than ever before, but Oz was still concerned about the events of this afternoon. As the two sat beside the fire, Oz inquired about the Wicked Witch, and just how wicked she really was.

“She’s as wicked as they come,” Theodora warned. “She poisoned her own father.”

“That’s pretty wicked,” Oz confessed as he stoked the flame.

“He was a good king and a wizard, like you,” Theodora explained. “But she wanted the throne all to herself. Poor man.” She paused, lost in thought. “But my sister chased her away from the Emerald City.”

Oz was impressed. This sister of hers must be quite impressive if she wasn’t afraid of a very wicked witch.

“I can’t wait for her to meet you!” Theodora went on. “She was starting to doubt you’d ever come. But
now
she’ll see! You’re going to fix
everything
!”

Silence fell back over the camp as they sat, lost in their thoughts. Oz was worried. He had no idea how to fix his balloon, let alone an entire kingdom.

“You know what I think we need?” Oz eventually said, changing the subject. “A little music.”

He reached into his satchel and pulled out one of his infamous music boxes. He wound it up and the lovely tune filled the air. Theodora’s face lit up.

“Is it magic?” she asked.

“In a way,” Oz answered mysteriously. “It’s a music box. Have you never seen one?” She shook her head. Smiling, he handed it to her. “This belonged to my grandmother, a tsarina from Irkutsk. Here,” he said, as he had so many times before. Theodora stared at him in amazement, and his offer turned genuine. “Go on,” Oz told her. “I want you to have it.”

Theodora hesitated. Slowly, she held out her hand. “No one’s ever given me something just because he wanted to.”

A part of Oz knew he was playing with fire. After all, while beautiful, Theodora
was
a witch, but he couldn’t help himself. “A pretty girl like you? With the visage of Helen of Troy herself? I bet you’ve had dozens of admirers.”

“You don’t know much about witches, do you?” Theodora asked with a smile.

“Maybe not, but I’m told I’m a pretty fast learner,” Oz said with a similar smile.

Standing up, he extended his hand. “Dance, milady?” Theodora looked at him blankly. “Now you’re going to tell me no one’s ever danced with you before?”

She shook her head.

“Then it’s high time you learned.” He pulled Theodora to her feet. Placing his left hand in hers and his right hand on her waist, he pulled her close. She was small next to him, her head barely coming to his chin. “Now just try to feel the music,” Oz said softly.

Slowly, they began to dance. As they moved around the camp, fireflies came out, their bodies illuminating the area and making everything sparkle. Theodora’s heart raced. She had never felt like this before. She felt as though she were floating. Cautiously, she placed her head on his chest.

“Nice, isn’t it?” Oz said softly. “You like it?”

Theodora tilted her head up and nodded, her eyes full of wonder. “Yes.”

Oz smiled gently. He knew that look. He had seen it many times before. His music box had worked its magic once again. As the music continued to play and the fireflies fluttered in the dark, Oz pulled Theodora closer and then, ever so gently, pressed his lips to hers.…

The next morning dawned brightly, the sunshine making Oz’s good mood even better. He had had a lovely evening and now he and Theodora were on their way to
his
kingdom. It was utterly perfect.

As they continued to walk along, Oz whistled a happy little tune. In front of them, a beautiful butterfly emerged from its cocoon and flitted over to settle on Theodora’s finger. The music died on Oz’s lips though when he looked down and saw Theodora staring up at him. She was gazing at him tenderly.

As they continued to walk along, she would smile up at him happily, and every once in a while she would even skip.

“It’s incredible,” she said at one point. “Here I thought I’d live a lonely life, and then you showed up. Not only are you the Wizard, you’re the person I belong with.”

Oz gulped. Okay, this was getting a little out of control. “Well, we sure get along.…” he said.

“And?” Theodora asked, probing. Clearly she wanted more.

“And…like
you
said, we belong together?” he went on, unsure.

Theodora smiled. She was about to go on when a loud shriek pierced the air. Quickly, Oz pulled Theodora off the main path. He didn’t want to get caught by any of those huge baboons.

“Help me!” a voice shouted from close behind them. “Somebody save me!”

Turning, Oz and Theodora saw a small monkey. The creature was dressed in what appeared to be a bellhop uniform and was struggling to untangle himself from a long vine.

“Oh!” Theodora said. “That poor little creature! Wizard, we must save him!”

Oz looked at her and then back at the monkey. Was she serious? Why did he need to save a monkey? After all, it was probably this little guy’s big cousins that had come after him earlier. But Theodora wouldn’t take no for an answer. She shoved Oz toward the monkey.

Leaning down, Oz took a closer look at the vines. They were well and truly wrapped tight. He began to tug at the vines. “Of course I can save this little talking monkey in a bellhop’s uniform,” he muttered under his breath.

“Please, hurry up!” the monkey begged. “Do you have anything sharp? Like a knife or something? How about your teeth? What kind of teeth you got?”

The monkey was making Oz nervous. “Calm down,” he said, pulling out his pocket knife. “It’s going to be all right.”

But the monkey was not getting any calmer. In fact, he seemed to be getting more and more scared by the minute. “You gotta get me out of these vines,” he cried. “I’m going to die! It’s going to eat me!”

Well, Oz thought, that was just ridiculous. “Don’t worry. These vines aren’t going to eat you,” he said, still trying to calm the monkey down.

But the creature shook his head. “Not the vines! The lion!”

“Lion?” Oz repeated.

As if on cue, there was a deafening roar. Turning, Oz saw a giant lion standing on a nearby rock. “Eat him first! Eat him first!” the monkey yelled to the lion.

The king of the jungle opened its jaws and let out another roar. Oz began to shake as hard as the monkey.

Then…the lion charged!

Oz didn’t have much time. The lion was almost upon them. Thinking quickly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of smoke pellets. He threw them. As they hit the ground in front of the lion they exploded, sending red smoke billowing into the air. Seeing the smoke, the lion panicked and ran.

“Zim Zalla Bim! Be gone, coward! Fear my greatness!” Oz yelled in an overly dramatic fashion as the lion disappeared into the forest.

“You were wonderful, Wizard,” Theodora said when they were safe.

The monkey, who had pulled himself out of the vines, looked up at Oz and cocked his head. “Wizard? You mean the prophecy was true?” he asked.

Theodora nodded happily while Oz shrugged. “All right, well, saved the day,” he said. “Just a little prestidigitatic display. Shall we go to the palace now?”

With a nod from Theodora, the pair turned and began to walk away. “Wait!” the monkey called out. “Please sir! My name is Finley. My master’s home was ransacked by the Wicked Witch’s baboons and I’ve been hiding in these woods ever since.” He stopped and raised his hand to the sky. “You’ve saved my life, o Wizard. So I hereby swear a life debt to you.”

“No need,” Oz said, waving Finley off.

But Finley would not take no for an answer. “From this moment on, I shall be your loyal and faithful servant until death.”

Oz sighed. He didn’t really need a loyal or faithful servant. He imagined there would be plenty of those at the palace. Still, Theodora was looking up at him pleadingly. “Well, he is cute.…” she said.

Oz was convinced. “All right, you’re hired,” he said.

“Wonderful,” Finley said. “Let’s shake on it.”

But instead of shaking, Oz held out his bag. “My bag, Monkey.”

“With pleasure,” Finley said. But when Oz handed him the bag, the weight of it caused him to plummet to the ground. He struggled to get up. “I got it! You two run along!”

A short while later, they rounded a corner and Oz stopped in his tracks. At the end of the road was a huge glimmering city. Its radiant green towers and turrets soared into the sky, spanning the horizon.

“The Emerald City,” Theodora explained. “Just down this hill and along the Yellow Brick Road. Just think, it will all be yours now.”

Taking in the vista, Oz smiled broadly. This would do quite nicely. “It’s a good thing green is my favorite color,” he said, laughing.