Kendra Kandlestar and the Box of Whispers (7 page)

FOR ONCE Kendra thought Oki wasn’t overreacting. Even as the tiny mouse turned tail (and Professor Bumblebean wasn’t far behind him), the largest of the Ungers raised a crooked club and smashed it into the dirt with such force that the whole ground shook.

“Days of Een!” Uncle Griffinskitch cried. “Get behind me, Kendra!”

Kendra’s brain told her to listen to her uncle, but her legs were screaming at her to follow Oki. Now that the Ungers were upon her, they seemed even more frightening—if that were possible! They towered over Kendra like mountains, chiseled and hard, with skin as gray and rough as boulders, and arms like pillars. Coarse hair, as thick as wire, covered their backs, which were so humped that no shirt or cloak would fit them. Indeed, the Ungers seemed to wear no clothes at all other than ragged trousers. Even more hideous than their disfigured bodies were their heads. The savage creatures had small beady eyes set deep within their wrinkled faces and large yellow tusks that jutted out from wide crooked mouths.

It was no contest. Kendra’s legs won out over her brain, and she turned and disappeared through the woods.

As she ran, she could hear Jinx yelling: “Meet the sword, you bloated bags of jelly!”

Kendra imagined the small and speedy captain leaping about the giant Ungers, jabbing them with her sharp weapons. Just knowing that Jinx was between her and the monsters made Kendra feel better—at least a little.

Kendra ran as hard as her legs would carry her. She was a good sprinter, and had won many races at school. But then, she had only raced against her classmates. It was a different story with a cluster of Ungers behind her. Kendra probably ran faster that night than she ever had before.

When she finally stopped, she realized that she was completely alone in the woods. There was no sign of Oki or Professor Bumblebean. She could only guess as to where they had run.

Kendra looked about her, but all seemed quiet. Then, a flash of bright light came through the woods, and Kendra heard an Unger let loose a mighty scream.

“Uncle Griffinskitch!” Kendra gasped, for she knew the flash had come from the old wizard’s staff.

This brilliant light was quickly followed by the loud grunts of Ungers, for now the beasts came crashing through the woods as they tried to escape Uncle Griffinskitch’s zaps of magic. Kendra perked her Een ears. The Ungers were coming straight her way!

Hopefully, you will be so lucky in life so as not to ever encounter an Unger stampede. If you do, it’s strongly advised that you take cover, for some people say that a large horde of Ungers can trample an entire city to the ground quicker than you can say “flat as a pancake.” A bomb shelter is often the best thing when it comes to Unger stampedes, but Kendra didn’t happen to have one handy. So she found the next best thing—a small hole between the roots of a nearby tree. She quickly wriggled her way into the tiny hiding space. A second later, the stampede came. As the Ungers tore through the forest, Kendra could hear their howls and the snapping of trees. The ground trembled and clumps of dirt landed on her head as the giant monsters charged past. And then, just like that, they were gone.

Slowly and cautiously, Kendra poked her nose out of the hole and looked about. The night had gone quiet and still again.

“Well,” Kendra said, still trembling from her near escape. “That was a close call. But I better find my way back to the campsite.”

She set off through the woods. She hadn’t gone very far when she heard a strange grunting noise that stopped her in her tracks. She gave her braids a nervous tug and listened again. Then she heard the grunt a second time. It was so quiet in the woods that the noise came clearly to her; and now she realized just how very close it was. Kendra inched towards the sound and soon found herself at the edge of a steep and rocky cliff. The grunt came yet again, and it was louder and closer.

Kendra peered over the jagged lip of the cliff. There, growling and moaning and clinging to the rocks for dear life, was an Unger.

Kendra jerked back from the cliff, her whole body shaking with fear. She could still hear the monster struggling against the rocks, its breathing hard and labored. What should she do? Part of her—a large part—wanted to run away. But the creature sounded as if it were in grave trouble. She had to look again.
It’s okay,
she told herself.
You’re safe. You’re up here, and it’s down there.
And she looked over the edge of the cliff once more.

It wasn’t a very big Unger, she realized. Maybe it was just an infant. It still had tusks, but they were short and stubby, not long and curved like the others. Kendra stared hard at the beast. It wasn’t that different from an animal, she decided. It had hair and claws, just like any other woodland creature. Compared to the other Ungers, it really was quite tiny, maybe only three or four times as big as her. Kendra looked past the Unger to the ground far below. If it were to fall, she knew it would die.

Then the Unger spotted Kendra. “Go awayzum!” he grunted. His voice was deep and threatening, but Kendra could see that his eyes were ablaze with fear.

“How did you end up hanging there?” Kendra asked, trembling as she spoke.

“Unger fleez Eeneez magic boltzum, tripzum, fallzum,” the Unger snorted. “Other Ungers runzum awayzum!”

“Just hang on,” Kendra said, and now she could feel a tiny spark building inside of her, a spark that told her to take action. It was the type of spark that takes hold of you when you reach an important decision. Once that spark ignites inside of you, there is no way to extinguish it.

So it was with Kendra now. There was no time to think; she had to move fast. Frantically, she searched about the cliff edge, not even sure what she was looking for. There were plenty of broken branches, but even if she could pass one down to the Unger, she was far too tiny to pull him up. She needed Jinx’s strength, or Oki’s cleverness, or Professor Bumblebean’s intellect. Better yet, she needed Uncle Griffinskitch’s magic.

“Magic!” Kendra exclaimed. “That’s it!” She hurriedly reached into her pouch and pulled out the enchanted carrot seeds. “If this doesn’t work, nothing will.”

Kendra leaned out over the cliff edge and cast the seeds into the darkness, hoping that at least one of them would take root in the ground below.

“Whatzum Eeneez do?” the Unger demanded angrily.

“Just wait,” Kendra replied. “Now all I need to do is to remember the right words.”

“Wordzum?” the Unger asked anxiously. Kendra saw it was becoming more and more difficult for him to hang onto the cliff edge. At any moment, he was going to fall.

Kendra’s memory kicked into gear. “I got them now!” She leaned as far over the cliff as she dared and chanted:

Humble seeds, cast to the earth,

Sprout to the clouds in glorious birth.

Tall and speedy, with mighty girth,

Vaster than an Eenling’s mirth.

At first, nothing seemed to happen. Kendra listened hard, but the only thing she could hear was the desperate grunting of the Unger. Then, like a magic geyser of leaf and vegetable, a giant orange carrot emerged from the darkness beneath her.

“It’s growing!” Kendra cried, as she watched the carrot rise from the rocky soil below. She chanted the spell again, over and over, prompting the enchanted vegetable to grow faster and taller.

“It’s going to come right past you,” Kendra called to the Unger. “Grab on to it as it goes by.”

The Unger’s eyes were wide and frightened. Kendra could see that the strange carrot terrified him. But the creature had no choice; if he didn’t take her help, he would plunge to his death. With a gnarled claw, the small Unger reached out and seized the leafy top of the carrot. Wrapping his muscular legs around the stem, he hung on for all he was worth. Only a few seconds later, the carrot reached the top of the cliff. The beast scrambled onto the ground alongside Kendra and lay there, panting heavily.

“Whyzum Eeneez helpzum Trooogul?” the Unger demanded, after it had caught its breath.

“Is that you?” Kendra asked. “Trooogul?”

“Yeezum,” the Unger replied, his voice deep and gravelly.

“I’m Kendra,” the Een girl said.

“Whyzum helpzum Trooogul?” the Unger repeated.

“I . . . I don’t know,” Kendra admitted. Suddenly, she started trembling again. Only a moment ago, she had been so excited by rescuing the Unger. Now fear had overtaken her, and she could barely speak.

“Eeneez no helpzum Ungers,” Trooogul declared. “Itzum forbidden! Youza getzum expelled frum Eenzum! Foreverzum! Everyonezum knowzum—evenzum Trooogul!”

Kendra gasped. How could she forget about the sacred Een rule? How could she forget that helping an Unger would mean being kicked out of the land of Een forever? Kendra looked hard at Trooogul. But then again, how could she have let him fall to his death? Kendra’s mind was racing.

Then, suddenly, she heard Uncle Griffinskitch’s voice.

“Kendra! Where are you?” the ancient wizard called from the forest.

Kendra cocked her ear to the voice then turned to look back at Trooogul. “What now? Are you going to hurt me?”

“Unger no hatzum Eeneez,” Trooogul snorted. “Youzum! Youzum no likum Unger. Eeneez come to Unger place! Youza trespazzum!”

“I-I’m sorry,” Kendra stuttered.

“Nowzum youzum leave!” Trooogul barked. “Leavezum beforezum Unger angrezum more!”

Kendra nodded and turned to go.

“Waitzum!” Trooogul rumbled.

A shiver went down Kendra’s back. She turned and found herself face-to-face with the Unger. He was so close that she could see his eyes gleam in the moonlight. She could feel his hot breath on her face. For a minute, he said nothing, and the only sound in the night was his harsh gasping.

“Unger thankzum little Eeneez,” Trooogul grunted.

Then, before Kendra could reply, the great beast turned and bolted into the darkness, leaving her to wander back through the woods alone, towards the sound of Uncle Griffinskitch’s voice.