Soon Winston and Star were beyond the dead zone and flying over a belt of green, rejuvenating forest – then they were past the tree line and into the high mountains with cooling temperatures. The sky shone a radiant blue. They shouted to make themselves heard above the massed flapping of wings.
“It’s even more wonderful than I remembered!” Star said.
“Yes, quite!” Winston replied. “I believe the amount of greenery has increased since our last visit.”
Below them sprawled the curved, bumpy contours of Pickle Lake with its group of small islands spelling out the word:
KOSHER
“Do you think Dr. Rackenfauz really saw human corpses around that lake,” Star said, “or was he just hallucinating?”
“I suspect his report was accurate,” Winston said. “A religious cult once occupied the castle. They must have all died together in the final plague.”
“Such a pity,” Star said.
A large building with two wings and a high central tower came into view among the crags – a scaled down replica of the building on Sergeant Friday’s badge from the old Dragnet TV show.
“Pickle Lake Castle!” Winston and Star cried together.