The Rightful Heir (20 page)

“I definitely can't see Persly's Woods behind us anymore, and the evergreens are a lot fewer. I'm not sure I see a hedge tree, though.”

“I can't take much more of this. We've been running for hours.”

“Wait! I see a tree line way off in the distance. They're too big to be evergreens.”

“Did you say a tree line?” The pug tilted his head.

“It looks like there's one far ahead.”

“I'll bet that's where the road is!”

“The road?”

“Yeah, the owl said if we reach the road then we've gone too far.”

“Then let's head either south or north.”

“South,” Jonah said assuredly. “I'll bet my kingdom is to the south!”

Malcolm hopped down. “C'mon, let's go. Your kingdom awaits,
King
Jonah!”

R
OSCOE HEARD THE ANIMALS TALKING
in the hall, Clementine louder than everyone.

“Yeah and I got bit right here! You see that? Farangis tried to bite into me, but he couldn't get through all that muscle!”

Roscoe shook his head at his fat friend's gloating. “And they're probably believing every word,” he muttered.

Clementine's ears picked up the clopping of hooves. “Hey!
Roscoe's back!”

“Hello, friends and loved ones,” Roscoe said stoically.

His friend waddled up to him. “So? How's Stinky?”

“Stinky…Dad…has…passed away.” Roscoe's head dropped sadly.

“Oh, Roscoe. Oh…I'm so sorry.” The hall was quiet.

“It-it's okay, Clementine,” Roscoe said past a lump in his throat. “Look, I don't know how to tell you, any of you, this.” He looked at all the faces. “But I need to go.”

“You need to—go?” Clementine tilted his head.

“Yes. I need to go.”

“Go where? Persly's Woods?”

“No. My dad wanted me to rejoin our family—”

“Your what?!” Clementine snorted. “Your
cousins?”
The pig's voice was louder than he intended.

“It was Dad's last wish.” Roscoe half-smiled.

“Did he tell you that?”

Mac and Zeus looked at each other, puzzled.

“No, a llama told—”

“A llama? This doesn't make any sense, Roscoe! Do you remember how your so-called
cousins
treated us last time?” The pig shook his head in disbelief. “We need you with us to bring back those
thousand
creatures…safely. In case, you know, we have another run-in with your stupid
cousins!”

Roscoe looked at Clementine for a moment. “I-I'm sorry. I have to go.”

“So that's how it is!” the pig shouted. “Look, buddy. I'm sorry about your dad, but you're obviously not in your right state of mind. You're just gonna go off to join some crazy goat herd because a stupid llama told you to? What am I supposed to tell King Benjamin?!”

Roscoe walked away. “Tell him…‘thank you for being the king
that we needed.'”

“O-okay,
Matador
. Don't get killed by Zebulon this time. Oh, and make sure that
thing
doesn't eat you, either…though it probably will. And if you do see those stupid goats, be sure and tell them ‘
Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!
' for me!” The last of Roscoe's hind end rounded the corner and the clopping of his hooves grew fainter. Clementine's shouts continued to rise through the hole in the ceiling as he trotted in circles, jerking his head to and fro. The young animals curled up under their mothers in fear at the pig's angry, nasty tone. Mac lowered his head in discomfort at the scene. The mood was somber.

“Well, there you have it!” Clementine blew air out of his fat black snout. “We wasted our whole day waiting for Roscoe to come back—for nothing!”

Roscoe reached the entrance with tears in his eyes. As the hole opened up, there was Squeak sitting on a stick.

“What happened in there Roscoe? I heard yelling.”

Roscoe hopped out. “Nothing your mom would want you to hear, Squeak.”

Of course that made the field mouse want to know even more. “Hey, where ya going?” Squeak stood on the highest stick as Roscoe walked through the hedge tree row.

“I'm going
home
, Squeak.” He disappeared.

“Home's this way, Roscoe.”

“Thank you, Squeak!” he yelled through the row of trees.

“Roscoe?” The field mouse looked through an opening in the trees and saw the goat take off running through the pasture, alone.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

M
ALCOLM, CAN YOU CLIMB BACK UP
and see if that hedge tree is anywhere in sight?”

The raccoon
scrambled up an evergreen. “There, Jonah! Over there!” He pointed a claw to the south, then leaped and landed on the grass beside his friend. “C'mon!”

“A
LRIGHT, ONCE
B
ENJAMIN GETS BACK,
let's crown King Mac and get going,” Clementine grumbled.

“I agree. My friends have been waiting too long. I hope they're all still there,” Felix moaned.

The old badger waddled forward. “We should wait until the others are here to see the coronation.” Some of the animals nodded.

“That would be quite the welcoming ceremony, wouldn't it?” Mac said.

“Yes, Your Majesty. Let's wait for the others. It will be one of the greatest changing of crowns this kingdom has ever witnessed!” the badger urged.

“Do
YOU SEE IT
anywhere?” Jonah panted.

“No. How big is this hole supposed to be?” Malcolm muttered, prowling through the tall, yellow-green grass. Then “Aaaaagh!” and the pair disappeared beneath the pasture. Falling helplessly, legs kicking in surprise, they soon landed in a cold, blue spring.
Splash!

Every head in the
kingdom swiveled toward the pool. Malcolm was the first out of the water. The soaked raccoon shook the drops from his fur, causing those nearest to turn their faces from the spray.

The already perturbed Clementine's eyes were ablaze when he saw him.
“…You!”

Malcolm was delightfully surprised to see the pot-bellied pig he'd traveled with a month ago and waved a small hand in greeting. “Oh! Hi, Clementine!”

“You…traitor!!” the furious pig shook on his spot.

“A what?! What do you—”

“This raccoon is a traitor to the kingdom! Seize him!”

Zeus began growling angrily, followed by Mac and all the other animals. It was Malcolm's turn to shake. Then something else popped up out of the water. Jonah took a huge breath and dogpaddled to the side, where he pulled himself out with a grunt. Everyone gasped. Here was another pug with one little black foot!

“Ahh, now
that
was refreshing!” Jonah shook what fur he had left on his body and looked up—and saw someone he wasn't expecting to ever see again, staring right back.

“It's you!” Mac's mouth hung wide open.

“Well hello, little brother!”

“I'm Mac, and you're
my
little brother.”

“Well, I'm Jonah and I believe I'm your
big
brother!” Jonah walked up to Mac and looked him over. “I've been looking forward to this moment for a couple days now.” He cleared his throat and sat up straight. “Ahem. Your king has arrived!”

“Yeah, and you're staring right at him,” Mac barked defiantly.

“Nope. There's no way were you born before me. I was Dad's favorite!” Jonah smiled smugly.

“Favorite?! We only saw him a couple of times!”

“What's going on?” Benjamin walked through the crowd
and stopped, gasping like the others. “You?!” He stared at Jonah, who only slightly resembled the dog he'd taken the collar from on Mrs. Crane's porch.

“Oh, hello. Remember me?” Jonah smiled with guilty pleasure.

“I-I didn't know you were a…pug.”

“Yap. In fact, I'm not only a pug, but I'm the king of this kingdom.”

Benjamin saw a raccoon approach. “Malcolm?!”

“Hello, King Benjamin.” He bowed.

Clementine moved toward him with menace. “Don't you dare act like you're loyal to him when you and your brother betrayed us!”