The Three Furies (Erec Rex) (53 page)

ago? How dangerous was that? Anyone could have eaten them, he thought. And in clown country, it was amazing nobody had thrown them into someone's face by now.

"Yes." Wandabelle smiled. "As you've guessed, these are not ordinary pies. No, they are special shmaltzberry pies. And you know what that means."

Shmaltzberry pies? Erec had never heard of such a thing. They didn't look very appetizing, either. But that was probably a good thing if clown rulers were hiding in them. Erec turned to his side and found that June was moved by the story, tears rolling down her face.

"Our rulers are ready to return now. They have hidden themselves well, even from their own selves, as you can see. That was the safest way for everyone, so nobody would suspect anything. Right now"--she glanced at the pies--"they do not know that they are our rulers. But it is time to wake them up."

Erec froze in shock. Dumpling Smith and her tall companion, Kookles, ran up behind the thrones. How did Mrs. Smith find them? Had someone told her where they were? They searched the crowd and spotted Danny and Sammy.

Worse yet, they grabbed the pies on the thrones. It all happened so fast that Erec could barely react. Baskania must have found out where the clown rulers were hiding after all. He sent his assistants to destroy them.

Dumpling and Kookles stole the pies and ran straight toward Erec's family. His breath caught. He would not let them hurt anyone now. What were they doing?

Then, unexpectedly, Dumpling Smith and Kookles threw the two pies into the faces of Danny and Sammy.

Erec spun around in horror. Had that killed the clown king and queen? And what did it do to Danny and Sammy? Pie goop dripped down, covering them . . . melting into them.

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The air surrounding both of the twins sparkled like diamonds. They rose in the air, turning slowly . . . and changing. . . .

Sammy's nose started to puff out, and Danny's hair turned a bright orange. What was in those pies? And why were they changing his brother and sister?

Dumpling and Kookles were stretched flat on the ground before them. Why was that? Were the twins about to explode or something? But instead they only began to look funnier. Sammy's nose was quite large now, and her cheeks puffed a bit too. Danny's eyebrows became high and arched, his nose turned red.

They looked like clowns.

The twins spun gently to the ground, big grins on their faces. They gave each other a big hug, hugged everyone in their family, then slowly walked toward the thrones.

Wandabelle looked down on them with delight. "After being gone for the last ten years, they have now returned to you--your illustrious Queen Shalimar and King Derby!"

Danny and Sammy blew kisses toward the crowd. Were they actually going to pretend that they were the clown queen and king? Erec thought. Why were the clowns going along with this?

Wandabelle said, "I think your king and queen would like to say something to you all." She pulled a branch off a tree and set it up like a microphone in front of them, and it worked like a microphone.

"Loyal subjects," Danny said, waving. "We have returned!" The crowd erupted in cheers. "It has been a long time since we've gone into hiding in Upper Earth. During that time, Shalimar and I did not know who we were. But June O'Hara, Erec Rex, Nell Rex, Trevor Rex, and Zoey Rex gave us protection, love, shelter, and even their name. We all owe a debt of gratitude to this family, who will always be a part of our family for all eternity."

That was Danny's voice, Erec thought. But Danny never talked

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like that. His mind still could not wrap around what was happening.

Then his vision returned to him. When he had looked into the future with his dragon eyes. Danny and Sammy were being crowned king and queen. That vision had shown only two thrones. Erec had been watching, not ruling with them.

Danny and Sammy really
were
the clown king and queen.

He had had no idea.

Sammy beamed like a true queen. "It is so good to be back with you. I didn't even know how much I missed you until now that my memory has returned. Thank you for building us this Aeronautic Castle." She held her hand over her heart. "You are the best, most loyal subjects a queen could ever have."

Erec looked at his mother. "Did you know this?"

Her mouth quirked in a smile. "When I took you to watch over, I agreed to take them as well." She sniffed. "It's still hard to say good-bye."

Erec gave her a hug. "It's not good-bye. We'll visit a lot, right?" His throat caught, but he didn't want his mother to know he felt the same way.

She nodded. "Yes. A lot."

"Come inside the new Aeronautic Castle," Wandabelle announced. "The coronation will begin!"

The castle lowered to the ground, and shimmering clear steps descended onto the field. Danny and Sammy, or Derby and Shalimar, were carried inside on their thrones, and the huge crowd of clowns followed in full celebration mode. Flutes were played, balls juggled, tubas blared, and gymnast clowns did flips over one another on the way inside. Erec had to be careful not to get trampled.

The floor inside was a garden of dirt, filled from wall to wall with huge white daisies. He and his family made their way to the front of the huge, sparkling throne room. From the inside, the palace

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was not clear at all, but it still gleamed with gold and warm colors everywhere. Dumpling Smith and Kookles approached King Derby and Queen Shalimar and bowed low before placing crowns on their heads.

Erec whispered to Nell and Trevor, "So . . . it looks like Mrs. Smith and Kookles didn't work for Baskania after all. They were clown spies."

Nell leaned forward on her walker. "So she really
was
trying to protect them."

Wild applause and cheers shook the walls, and the floor vibrated from all the dancing and celebration. On two tall thrones before him, his brother and sister, Danny and Sammy, sat glowing. They wore tall, pointed crowns of gold, diamonds, and emeralds capping each tip. Sammy giggled, waving at the masses celebrating behind Erec.

June, standing next to him, could not wipe the grin off her face. "Isn't this wonderful? I thought it would never happen. Now everybody knows!"

Erec crossed his arms and nodded. "Now we all know." And he knew everything would be better now.

The celebrations lasted into the night. Erec and Bethany wandered outside, tired and overwhelmed.

"Look." Bethany pointed at his chest. "Your Amulet of Virtues--another segment lit up now!"

Erec lifted it out. Another of the twelve slices glowed, this one a silvery white. A small black symbol was revealed in the segment. "I'm going to look at it with my dragon eyes, so I can read what it says. You can look away if it weirds you out."

"Nah, I'm used to it."

He turned his eyes around, and everything became green. The symbol was easy to read: It said "Love."

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Erec let his eyes return to normal as he thought about his quest and what it had meant.

"Love?" Bethany asked, puzzled. "Does that mean you love Danny and Sammy . . . or Wandabelle?"

"I suppose that's part of it." He suppressed a smile. "But they're not the main thing that kept me going."

She looked at him shyly, then took his hand. They walked awhile in silence.

The next day featured a series of feasts, music, and more entertainment than Erec could imagine. He had a hard time adjusting to the fact that Danny and Sammy were a king and queen, especially of clowns. He had gotten used to the idea that they were his birth siblings, destined to rule the Kingdoms of the Keepers with him.

Sammy-Shalimar was getting fussed over by a group of clowns with makeup. "
Look
at you!" one of them was saying. "You look so serious! Let's fix you up a bit, okay? I've got some nice hair frizz; you'll be gorgeous in no time."

"Why, thank you, Trixie! What a warm welcome home this is."

"You're so pale! Here, let me put a little red on your cheeks."

Paint was applied, smudged, rinsed off, and reapplied until everyone, including Queen Shalimar, was satisfied. Although she did appear a bit clownish, Erec thought it was a nice in-between look.

"So," he asked Sammy-Shalimar, "is Danny your brother or your husband?"

She laughed. "He's my brother. We rule equally, but someday we may each choose to marry someone." She winked at Kookles, who stood by her, admiringly. "You know, I have to thank Dumpling Smith. There was a reason that I liked her so much, even though I should have been afraid of her."

Erec laughed. "I guess this is why you and Danny could read

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those letters that she sent that were written in . . . she wrote them in pie, didn't she?"

Sammy cracked up with him, and for a moment he felt like things were as they always had been, just like they were sitting at their kitchen table in New Jersey.

But as Erec walked away, he felt a new sense of loss. He found Bethany watching an acrobatic show and pulled her aside. "I guess this means that my triplet brother and sister are really still missing. I was so glad to have found them--and now they're gone again."

She patted his arm. "They're somewhere out there. We'll figure it out. I have a little brother waiting for me to find him, too."

Erec sighed. It was time to go home.

Everything was perfect. There was no need to ever go anywhere else again. Erec and Bethany sat with Jack, Jam, Trevor, June, and Aunt Salsa in her living room, talking about the clown coronation and how great Sammy looked with the bright makeup on. Zoey ran around like a banshee, the only one who was not at all tired.

It was safe, quiet, and almost boring. Exactly the way Erec wanted it to stay forever. Some of the quests had been fun, some had been harrowing. But as far as he was concerned they were over. There was nothing that could get him to venture back out into the world when he had everything he always wanted right here.

Kyron had gone back to help Spartacus deal with the colonies of Erecs, Bethanys, and Baskanias that were still camping on his property, and with a little persuasion Erec got Griffin to join him. Griffin didn't like stepping down from his post of guarding Erec, but he finally agreed to go where he was more needed.

Erec took Oscar's eye out of his backpack and gave it to Jack. "Can you get this to him? He works in the Green House, but I doubt it's safe to go in there. Someone might steal the eye right back again."

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"I'll see if I can find him on his way into the Green House and get him meet to meet with me in Paisley Park. Poor guy. Baskania's really turned his head around. I've known him for a long time, and I bet I can straighten him out."

"Let me know how it goes, okay? Thanks, Jack."

Jack held up the eye. "I'm glad you found this. What a close call." He went into Aunt Salsa's Port-O-Door and left for Alypium.

When everyone was hungry, they passed around the Serving Tray. Zoey sat in Bethany's lap and grabbed the silver tray. "I want chocolate rain from Cimm-lim." She laughed when a bag of it appeared in front of her. "Tell me about the bad fortress you were in. What was the scariest part?"

"Oohh, I don't know." Bethany thought. "I guess seeing Baskania was the scariest. I don't like him a lot." She rubbed Zoey's head, then said to Erec, "It was creepy. I ended up hearing bits and pieces of their plans and what was going on. I couldn't really piece it together, though. Ajax Hunter kept bragging to Baskania about all these people he was getting. Sometimes he named famous people, other times just big groups. But I've been thinking about it, and putting it together with Wandabelle. They mentioned her name too. And I have a really bad feeling about it."

Erec understood what she meant. "Those were all people that Baskania is giving to the Furies?"

She nodded, pale. "There were a lot of them. And I'm pretty sure that's what they were talking about."

"How many?" Erec began to feel worried.

"Ajax Hunter managed to get a group of nine hundred people together and took them . . . I guess to the Furies. That was the first big group. It was a fantasy convention in America. People showed up from all over expecting to meet authors, get signed books, and listen to panels. But someone got them all to march in some kind

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of costume parade, and the next thing they knew they were walking into the cave."

"The
first
? How many big groups did he get?"

"A few. They kept talking about that cave, and I didn't know why they would want people to be in a cave. But I'm remembering now something about taking the Clown Fairy there. It has to be the Furies' cave."

Erec tried to calm down. "Do you know how many people Baskania has taken there already?"

She nodded. "Ajax said they were up to two thousand four hundred. And they were bringing another five hundred in next--they're probably already there. Oh, this is awful. Those poor people! What are the Furies going to do with them, do you think?"

Erec could hardly speak. He had no idea that Baskania was working this fast. "We have to tell my father. Someone has to do something right away."

Bethany looked concerned. "I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner. I just--" She looked down. "I was so caught up in the Cinnalim thing. How stupid was that?"

"You couldn't help that."

"And then Danny and Sammy--I mean Derby and Shalimar's coronation. It's not right, though. Bad things might be happening to these people. You're right. We should ask your father why the Furies want so many people there."

He stared at her. "I never told you, did I? Bethany, things are a lot worse than you think they are. The Furies are trapped in a place called Tartarus. There is only one thing that will let them escape: three thousand human souls. Souls. Not living beings. So you can imagine what's happening to the people Baskania is sending there. Once they have three thousand, the Furies can use the souls to escape in. And if they get out of Tartarus it will be complete chaos. The