~Chapter 12~
The Pegasus
"Please wake up Louis," implored Mr. Beamer "you've been sleeping almost the entire day."
"Lewey please wake up. We're all so worried about you," proclaimed Hattie May.
Louis was slow to stir.
His dreams had been troublesome all night, and the dreadful images of the day before were still imprinted on his mind. Had Molly, Sammy, Chug, and Harry minds really been lost to evil! Their childhoods; are they to be lost forever?
"What happened to Chug and Molly Louis, and why did you go to the Saint Louis prison in the first place," asked Mr. Beamer in a stern tone, "my heaven, what were you thinking?"
Louis's eyes slowly opened. He removed the ice pack off his forehead, and then sat up in his bed.
"What happened? Why are you all in my bedroom?"
"Louis you went to the Saint Louis prison on the Lucky 7 train last night, with Molly and Chug, don't you remember?" asked Mr. Beamer.
"Not really...what...?"
"This morning, when you got home you were mumbling something about them, both being held captive against their will; and what about Sammy and Harry?" asked Hattie May.
Louis was still slow to remember.
"Oh, wow does my head hurt, oh that's right it's starting to come back to me now. Mom, Mr. Beamer, Dad you're all here. I'm so glad to see you. Man last night I did a terrible thing. I tried to be a hero again and I flubbed up?"big time"."
"Louis what did you do this time, what happened last night?"
"Well, it's all a little fuzzy, but from what I can remember?let's see...after talking with Mr. Beamer yesterday up in his attic, I felt I had to get the Compass of Nubia back, those maps and the magic bell of Amun-Ra. I lost them once, and I just felt this was my entire fault. I just had to do something.
After some deliberation on my part, I came up with a crazy plan. I asked Molly and Chug to go with me, and off we went to Saint Louis, in the middle of the night. I thought I could outwit em all down there. I look back now...man...what was I thinking?"
"Yes what were you thinking, apparently you weren't thinking at all' said a worried Mr. Beamer, "now, Molly and Chug are gone."
"No they're there Mr. Beamer. They're still in Saint Louis, under some kind of a mind-binding spell. Big Sal controls Harry, Sammy and my other two best friends as well. Oh man, I'm so sorry everyone. This is my fault. I promise not to try and be something I'm not, ever again?"a hero"?geez?I'm a?a..."
"Louis you have to stop being so impetuous and hero-minded. All this talk, about evil, Petar, crazy eyeballs, and you being related to Ramesses the II, you being Ozymandias and the such, is just too much for me to bear."
"I'm so sorry mom."
"This is all, your fault Mr. Beamer! You've put all these thoughts in my little Lewey's head these last two years. Why don't you Ancients go fight your own fights, with evil by yourself, and leave us simple country-folk, to live our lives by ourselves?" said Hattie May as tears streamed down her face.
"Mom it's not Mr. Beamer's fault that our friends are gone. It's the evil. Its Petar, it's, the impending return of "Mehen the Serpent Rider".
What I did was wrong. I now know that now; letting my youth and inexperience, show to my enemy. I did not work within the framework of good, within my destiny, or within the writings of the Good Book of Honorius, the Sworn Book."
"Oh little Lewey, what's become of you? Do you hear yourself speaking about evil...Petar...and...and...it's all so much," cried out Hattie May.
"Oh mom, you, and I both have to realize that I am not a kid anymore. I have to dig deep inside of myself, and find the man I was destined to be, don't you see that, I don't want to be a hero anymore, but I don't want to be a shrinking violet either. I've got to do somethin...but what...?"
"Oh Louis just listen to yourself. What happened to my child, my little boy who would not mend my fences, or pull weeds out of the vegetable garden? Do you remember those jackrabbits Louis? Do you remember Mr. Hair Rabbit and Digger the Rabbit...that little shoplifter...always stealing from Mr. Beamer's garden? You know our very own garden-variety thief. I miss your constant daydreaming and idleness and?and?"
"Mom, you're losing it; that kid is still inside of me, but I am just different. I'm growing up now, and fast. You have to accept that, and let me be myself, let my destiny call me, and let me answer that calling mom."
"Hattie May Louis is right. Even though he has made mistakes in the past, this is all part of his destiny. He is bound to fail. Everyone must fail at sometimes in his or her life. That is how you learn from your mistakes. We must let him continue. Now as Mr. Beamer has said before, and from what the Sworn Book has foretold. Louis may be the future Child-King of Thebes. Hattie May if he is the Chosen One as the Profits and prophecies have shown, then who are we to forbid this from happening?" asked Jeremy as he took Hattie May by the hand to comfort her, the best he could.
Louis's face once again was overcome with grief; thinking about the loss of his friends.
"I will solve this mess, mom. I can do it really, I can do it, and by the way, mom this gets even stranger. I think I saw a real Pegasus, one of those mystical horses...really, and I thought it was Charlie because he spoke to me, from what I can remember."
"You saw ah, what Louis? A Pegasus, that you thought was Charlie?" asked Hattie May in disbelief.
Louis gently laid his weary head back down on his pillow, rubbed his forehead, and then closed his sleepy eyes once more. Mr. Beamer motioned for everyone to leave the room. Hattie May was soothed by Jeremy as they turned away from Louis. They both headed for the comfort of their own bedroom, as Mr. Beamer sat by Louis's bed for the better part of the next few hours, to keep an eye on him.
The Child-King fell into a restless sleep, once more.
Word got out around town about the adventures of the three children, and their trip to Saint Louis, from the night before. The Gazette Stakes had front-page headlines the next morning, ringing out about the missing children:
FOUR CENTERVILLE CHILDREN GO MISSING!
FEARED KIDNAPPED BY BIG SAL ROSSI AND THE "MISSOURI RATS"!