"Through the Fog Bank?" asks Sgt. Rik.
"And let the Boolooroo capture us again?" adds Bobo.
"And wait on those horrid Princesses? No, I'd rather be Queen," says Tara.
"You are now a powerful Ruler," notes Rosalie. "The Pinkies are a really great nation, and they are pledged to obey your commands. Why not assemble an army, march through the Fog Bank, fight and conquer the Boolooroo, and recapture the umbrella?"
"You think the Pinkies would fight the Blueskins?" asks Tara.
"Why not?" responds Rosalie. "They have sharp sticks and know how to use them, whereas the Blueskins have only those winding cords with weighted ends."
"The Blueskins are the bigger people," says Tara.
"But they are cowards," adds Bobo.
"What do you think, Sgt. Rik?" asks Tara.
"It's our only hope of ever getting home again," says the veteran.
"If you decide on this adventure," notes Rosalie, "I believe I can be of much assistance."
"That's a help," says Sgt. Rik.
"And we've got a friend among the Blueskins," notes Bobo. "I'm sure Ghip-Ghisizzle will side with us, and I've got the Royal Book of Records, which proves the Boolooroo has already reigned his lawful three hundred years."
"The Sizzle will be the new Boolooroo and perhaps we won't have to fight, after all," adds Tara.
"We'd better go prepared, though," warns Sgt. Rik. "The Boolooroo won't give up without a struggle. When do we start?"
"Just as soon as you can get the army together and ready."
"Here's a lovely how-do-you-do-- / We're going to fight the Boolooroo! We'll get the Six Snubnosed Princesses, too. / And make 'em all feel mighty blue," boasts Parrot.
Chapter Twelve
War Maneuvers
On a field outside Pink City, two groups of one hundred Pinkies each, men and women equally, march in formation. Coralie, leading one group, shouts at her Pinkies struggling to keep in step. Tintint, a very fat Pinkie, pompously leads the other group. Tintint's group also struggles to keep in step.
Sgt. Rik, standing on a raised platform and overseeing the marching groups, shouts a command. "Column right!"
The two groups mistakenly collide. Sgt. Rik shakes his head.
Moments later, Sgt. Rik, with Coralie and her group on one side and Tintint and his group on the other, demonstrates proper marching. The Pinkies nod their heads in admiration.
Soon after, Coralie's group marches with improved formation. Tintint's group also marches with improved formation. Tintint, however, continues marching pompously out of step.
Meanwhile in the city center, Tara oversees Tourmaline and Bobo handing sharpened sticks to Pinkies lined up to receive them.
Later, Sgt. Rik, with Coralie and her group on one side and Tintint and his group on the other, demonstrates swinging and throwing a weighted cord. The Pinkies' eyes widen in fear. Sgt. Rik demonstrates squatting low and firmly planting one end of the stick in the ground while pointing the sharpened end at an angle. Tintint pompously attempts to repeat Sgt. Rik's maneuver and rolls over backwards instead. The Pinkies laugh loudly.
Sometime later, Rosalie walks alone from Pink City across Pink Country to the edge of the Great Fog Bank. Rosalie walks straight into the Fog Bank and disappears. Walking through the dense fog and growing increasingly damp, the witch stops and looks from side-to-side. The dense fog shrouds nearly all the plants. Rosalie holds her hands to her mouth and calls out a strange sound. As her hands drop to her sides, she glances to one side. As she turns back and looks forward, her glance goes up and up before finally stopping at something high above.
Meanwhile in the city center, Tara, stands on a platform before the humble Pink Palace and looks out. The Pink Army fills the city center. Tara steps forward with Parrot on her shoulder.
"You have trained well, Pink Army. Your Captains, Coralie and Tintint, tell me that you are ready. As your Queen, I decree Sgt. Rik to be Commander in Chief of the Expedition. You shall obey all his commands."
Coralie and Tintint, at the head of their troops, each raise their sharpened sticks in the air.
"Huzzah!" shouts Coralie.
"Huzzah!" shout Tintint.
The Pink Army raises its sharpened sticks in the air. "Huzzah, huzzah!"
Tara motions Sgt. Rik to step close to her on the platform. He does and then turns to address the Army. "War is a terrible thing. And, as I'm proof, it comes with terrible costs. The Blueskins are a fierce people, but I am confident that you are a brave people, willing to help us reclaim what was wrongfully taken."
"Huzzah, huzzah!" shouts the Pink Army.
"I am proud to lead you, Pinkies. And I will do everything I can to make sure each of you returns home."
"Huzzah, huzzah!"
"Pinkies!" shouts Tara. "Are you ready to march?"
"Huzzah, huzzah!"
"Onward! Conquer Blue City!" cries the Queen.
Tara, Sgt. Rik, and Bobo lead the Pink Army across the meadow of Pink Country toward the Great Fog Bank. Parrot bobs on Tara's shoulder.
"Brooks and creeks, / Here come the leaks!" squawks Parrot.
Sgt. Rik holds up his arm to signal a halt. The Pink Army slowly comes to a stop. With the Fog Bank ahead of him, Sgt. Rik turns to the Army. "Rain coats!" he shouts.
Coralie and Tintint repeat the order to each of their groups.
"Rain coats!" shouts Coralie.
"Rain coats!" shouts Tintint.
The Pinkies pull gossamer rain coats from their pockets and quickly put them on. Coralie looks over her group, finds them prepared, and shouts, "Ready!"
Tintint calls out, "Ready!"
Sgt. Rik turns and shouts an order. "Move out!"
Sgt. Rik, Tara, Bobo, and the Pink Army enter the Great Fog Bank, and immediately they are enveloped by the thick, damp mist. Suddenly, Sgt. Rik holds up his arm and shouts, "Halt!"
As the Army halts behind him, Sgt. Rik looks from side-to-side at what appears to be a wall of giant stones looming ahead.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Rosalie the Witch is heard. "Queen Tara! Sgt. Rik!"
Tara and the veteran look upwards--and upwards again. "What in the…?" says Sgt. Rik. At the top of the "wall," Rosalie sits astride the neck of King Frog.
"Say hello to King Frog, your Majesty," says Rosalie.
Tara gives a queen-like wave, and the "wall" comes alive revealing itself as the backs of many immense frogs.
"Our friends the frogs have agreed to help us through the Fog Bank. Climb upon their backs, as many on each frog as are able to hold on, and then we shall make the journey more quickly," says Rosalie.
In a matter of minutes, dozens of giant frogs leap forward with tens of Pinkies clinging excitedly to their backs. Tara, Rosalie, Bobo, and Sgt. Rik cling to the back of King Frog, as it covers a great distance with its powerful leaps. Quickly, the leaping frogs carry the Pink Army across the Great Fog Bank.
From the Blue Country side of the Fog Bank, the leaping frogs come to a sudden stop, sending many of the Pinkies through the air and tumbling on the blue fields of Blue Country. A pair of Blueskins walking nearby looks with mouths agape at the scene. King Frog breaks through the fog but slows his descent and allows Sgt. Rik, Bobo, Rosalie, and Tara to climb down gently.
Rosalie turns to the giant amphibian. "Thank you, King Frog!"
King Frog nods and disappears back into the fog.
Sgt. Rik waves his arm in one direction. Coralie turns from looking in Sgt. Rik's direction and motions to her group. Coralie's group of Pinkies deploys along the blue field at the edge of the Fog Bank. Sgt. Rik waves his arm in the other direction. Tintint turns from looking in Sgt. Rik's direction and motions to his group. Tintint's group of Pinkies deploys along the other side of the blue field at the edge of the fog bank.
Spread along the blue field and the edge of the Great Fog Bank, the Pinkies quickly shed their rain coats and prepare their weapons. Sgt. Rik looks away from the Pink Army at the Fog Bank,
and in the distance, he sees the two Blueskins run as quickly as their long legs will carry them toward the walls of Blue City.
Sgt. Rik turns to Tara and Rosalie. "Well, they know we're here, and instead of waiting to see what they'll do, let's march on the City and ask them to surrender."
Chapter Thirteen
Attack, Attack!
Inside the Blue Palace, a huge derrick-like framework that holds an immense, suspended knife rises from the floor to ceiling. Guards secure Ghip-Ghisizzle to a holding framework. The Boolooroo, seated at a throne-chair on a raised platform surrounded by spectator chairs, watches with anticipating delight.
"One last chance, majordomo," threatens the Boolooroo. "Where have you hidden the Royal Book of Records?"
"I don't have it," answers Ghip-Ghisizzle. "I didn't take it."
"Of course you took it!"
"No…your Majesty…you're mistaken."
"I'm never mistaken!"
"I'm sure it will turn up, and when it does…"
"You'll be patched," shouts the Boolooroo cutting him off. The tyrant turns to the Guards. "Patch the servant first. I want the majordomo to witness this."
Tiggle, a short, thick-headed, flat-nosed servant, lies strapped in another holding framework. The Guards push the wheeled holding framework with Tiggle under the larger framework with the suspended knife.
"Tiggle has done nothing wrong," pleads Ghip-Ghisizzle.
"He mixed the Royal Nectar," shouts the Boolooroo.
"Was it not good?"
"It was delicious."
"Then why punish him if you're angry at me?"
"Everyone will laugh at you once you are patched to this ugly servant," mocks the Boolooroo, and then he turns to the Guards. "Ready?"
"Ready, your Majesty," answers one of the Blue Guards.
"Patch!" orders the Boolooroo.
The Blue Guard grabs hold of a cord that controls the great knife. He prepares to pull the cord firmly. Tiggle clenches his face.
Suddenly, Captain Ultramarine runs breathlessly into the chamber. "Your Majesty!"
"You're interrupting justice," shouts the despot.
"I'm sorry, your Majesty."
"Oh, what is it?"
Tiggle slightly unclenches his face. Captain Ultramarine starts to approach closer to the Boolooroo, but hesitates and stays put. "A great army of the Pinkies has broken through the Fog Bank."
"Oh, I'll attend to that in a minute."
"They are marching on the City," says the Captain. "If you delay, Most High and Mighty One, we shall all be captured. You'd better save the City first and do your patching afterward."
"What? Dare you dictate to me?"
"No, your Majesty."
"Oh, all right! I'll deal with the Pinkies, and then we'll have a patching."
Outside the palace walls, the formation of the Pink Army marches across the blue meadow toward Blue City. Sgt. Rik leads the Pink Army with Tara, Rosalie, and Bobo close at hand.
The Boolooroo, from the high walls of Blue City, looks out over the blue meadow. The Pink Army steadily moves forward. The Boolooroo's eyes widen. The Boolooroo turns excitedly to Captain Ultramarine. "Close the gate! Bolt the lock!"
"We've done that, your Majesty."
"Then get more guards on the walls."
Several dozen guards line the top of the City wall. Captain Ultramarine turns from the Guards to the Boolooroo. "We're all here, your Majesty."
"Then get the citizens!"
Blue Guards go from door to door, knocking and summoning citizens to defend the City. Reluctantly, Blueskins file out of their homes carrying their weighted cords.
At that moment, Sgt. Rik holds up his arm. Coralie holds up her arm, and Tintint holds up his. The Pink Army stops. Sgt. Rik turns his ear to the City. The distant sound of the Six Snubnosed Princesses arguing is heard.
Inside a chamber of the Blue Palace, the Six Snubnosed Princesses pull one another's hair, bite one another's fingers, grab one another's clothes, and pummel one another with pillows. "He's mine…He's mine...No, he's mine!" argue the Princesses.
"You're all wrong," says Indigo. "Ghip-Ghisizzle is mine. And when he becomes the next Boolooroo, I will be Queen, and each of you will…"
A cushion hits Princess Indigo in the face, and she lands hard against an open window. About to rejoin the fray with her sisters, she glances out the window. In the distance, she sees the Pink Army threatening the City. Indigo pulls away and turns to her sisters fighting. "Oh, my! OH, MY"
The Princesses momentarily stop fighting and turn to Indigo. "What?" they cry.
Indigo points to the window, and quickly the five other Snubnosed Princesses cram the small opening. From a distance, they see the Pink Army threatening the City.
Princess Azure turns to Indigo. "Oh, my gosh!"
"Let's go see," says Cobalt.
"Yes. Before it's over," says Sapphire.
"This is the most exciting thing that's ever happened," exclaims Turquoise.
"Yes, next to Ghip-Ghisizzle!" add Cerulia.
The Six Snubnosed Princesses rush down a staircase and along a corridor. And as the Princesses rush along this corridor, from behind a heavy door a low moan is heard. The Princesses run past the door, but after a moment they creep back and listen to the moaning from within.
A key protrudes from the door lock. Indigo, with her sisters looking on, steps forward and turns the key. From inside, the door opens, and the Princesses look in. They see the Great Knife and the framework holding the moaning Tiggle and then to the other framework with Ghip-Ghisizzle. The Princesses rush into the Room of the Great Knife and surround the majordomo.
"Ghip, dear," says Cerulia, "we will release you on one condition. That you choose a wife from among us and promise to marry the one selected as soon as the Pinkies are driven back into the Fog Bank."
"Really, ladies, you must excuse me. I'd rather be patched than mismatched, as I would be with a lovely, snubnosed wife. You are too beautiful for me. Go seek you husbands elsewhere."
"Monster!" cries Indigo. "If you choose me, I'll scratch your eyes out!"
"If you choose me," exclaims Cobalt, "I'll tear out your hair by the roots."
"If I am to be your wife," says Azure, "I'll mark your obstinate face with my fingernails."
"And I will pound your head with a broomstick," threatens Turquoise.
"I'll shake him till his teeth rattle," says Sapphire.
"The best way to manage a husband is to pull his nose," snarls Cerulia.
"Ladies, do not anticipate this pleasure, I beg of you," says Ghip-Ghisizzle, "for I shall choose none among you for a wife."
"We'll see about that," warns Indigo.
"I think you will soon change your mind," adds Azure.
"I'm going to be patched to Tiggle, here, as soon as the Boolooroo returns, and it's against the law for a patched man to marry anyone," says the majordomo. "It's regarded as half-bigamy."
"Dear me!" cries Cerulia. "If he's to be patched, he never can be Boolooroo."
"Then he mustn't be patched," says Sapphire. "We must save him from that fate, girls, and for him to decide among us. Otherwise, none of us can ever be the Queen."
Nervously pacing the top of the City walls, the Boolooroo looks down to the field. He sees the Pinkies threaten the City from their long attack lines. The Boolooroo turns to Captain Ultramarine.
"Their color makes me hysterical!" exclaims the Boolooroo. "If I am to have any peace of mind, we must charge the foe and drive them back into the Fog Bank."
"Yes, your Majesty," says Captain Ultramarine.
"But take all the prisoners that you can, and tomorrow we will have a jolly time patching them. Don't be afraid. Those pink creatures have no blue blood in their veins, and they’ll run like rabbits when they see us coming."
The gate through the City wall opens, and scores of Blueskins pour out to the open plain and run toward the Pinkies' line. The Boolooroo runs out of the gate last, staying wel
l behind the charging Blueskins. The Blueskins spread out.
Sgt. Rik looks ahead and sees the charging Blueskins give out a fierce battle cry.
The Blueskins swing and toss their weighted cords, as they charge the line. The weighted cords fall on the Pinkies, but they are so close together that the cords cannot wrap around them. Blueskins move fast toward the sharpened sticks of the Pinkies' line and suddenly stop. The Blueskins, intimidated by the sharpened sticks, keep a safe distance from the Pinkies. They swing and toss their weighted cords, but none of them catch hold of the Pinkies.
Sgt. Rik raises his arm. "Pinkies!" He brings down his arm. "Charge!"
The Pinkies rise up from their defense position, and, shouting their battle cry, charge the line of Blueskins. The Blueskins freeze, awe struck by the charging Pinkies.
A Pinkie stabs a Blueskin, who screams in pain and terror. Suddenly, the eyes of all the Blueskins widen in fear.
The Boolooroo looks up. The Blueskins run toward him in a panic. The Boolooroo himself turns and runs toward the protection of the City. Soon, all the fast-running Blueskins retreat through the gate in the City wall pursued by the slower Pinkies.
The last Blueskin runs through, and the gate slams shut. As the panicked Blueskins struggle to catch their breath, the Boolooroo screams at Captain Ultramarine and the Guards. "It is evident that you are a pack of cowards!"
"But we followed your own royal example in running," replies the Captain.
"I merely ran back to the City to get drink of water, for I was thirsty," shouts the Boolooroo.
"So, did we!...So, did we!...We are all thirsty!" exclaim the Blueskins.
"Your High and Mighty Spry and Flighty Majesty, it occurs to me that the weapons of the Pinkies are superior to our own," says the Captain. "What we need in order to oppose them successfully is a number of sharp sticks which are longer than their own."
"Then get to work!" berates the Boolooroo. "At once! Or I'll have you patched."
Chapter Fourteen
Captured Commander
That night, in the command tent of Pinkies' encampment outside the walls of the Blue City, Sgt. Rik confers with Coralie and Tintint. Suddenly, Rosalie enters the tent. Sgt Rik looks up and sees that her face is colored with concern.