"What is it?" he asks.
"I've had a vision," says the witch.
"Was it good or bad?" asks Coralie.
"The Blueskins are making longer, sharpened sticks to use against us."
"That's bad," observes Tintint anxiously.
"The Blueskins are bigger and stronger than the Pinkies, and if they have sharp sticks which are longer than ours, they will surely defeat us," says Rosalie.
"What do you suggest?" asks Sgt. Rik.
"I have a magic charm that will save our army," replies the witch. "But I am allowed to work only one magic charm every three days--not oftener--and perhaps I'll need the magic for other things."
"Seems to me that what we need most on this expedition is to capture the Blueskins," notes Sgt. Rik. "If we don't, we'll need plenty of magic to help us get back to the Pink Country.
The following day, the gate through the wall protecting the Blue City opens, and Blueskins confidently march out. They march out to the field before the wall with sharpened sticks that are twice as long as those of the Pinkies.
The Pinkies, already in battle formation, raise their heads. In the distance, they see the Blueskins spread out and prepare for combat. Sgt. Rik turns from side-to-side and sees the Pinkies anxiously looking forward. Sgt. Rik, with Tara and Bobo beside him, turns to Rosalie.
"Go ahead," he says.
Rosalie waves her hands over the sharpened stick of the first Pinkie in line and mutters mysterious words. Sgt. Rik looks to Bobo and Tara, as Rosalie walks the length of the Pinkies' line, quickly waving her hands before each sharpened stick and muttering the same mysterious words.
At the same time, the final Blueskins march out of the gate. The Boolooroo follows a safe distance behind. The line of Blueskins readies itself for battle, and Captain Ultramarine raises his arm.
"Blueskins!" the Captain calls out. "Advance!"
Captain Ultramarine brings down his arm, and the line of Blueskins marches forward.
Across the wide field at the Pinkies line, Rosalie rushes up to Sgt. Rik. "Ready," she says.
"Okay,"says Sgt. Rik, and he then turns to Tara and Bobo. "Behind the line."
"No way," says Tara. "I'm in this fight."
"Me, too!" says Bobo.
"That's an order, not a request," barks the veteran. "If Rosalie's magic isn't enough, you've got to make it back to Pink Country."
Tara and Bobo step behind the line of Pinkies. Sgt. Rik looks to one side and signals with his arm. Coralie looking toward Sgt. Rik signals in return. Sgt. Rik looks to the other side and signals. Tintint looking toward Sgt. Rik signals in return. Sgt. Rik looks back to the advancing Blueskins who march quickly toward the Pinkies.
Captain Ultramarine, at the head of the Blueskins, raises his arm again. "Blueskins!" he shouts. "Charge!" He brings down his arm.
The Blueskins give out a battle cry and charge toward the line of Pinkies. The charging Blueskins close fast on the fixed line of ahead of them. The Blueskins lower their long sharpened sticks at the level of the Pinkies, and within seconds the two armies clash.
Suddenly, however, a Pinkie's sharpened stick becomes elastic and whirls in swift circles. The Pinkie's stick grabs hold of a Blueskin's longer stick and throws it aside. The face of the disarmed Blueskin fills with shock and terror.
All along the battle line, the Pinkies' enchanted sticks grab hold of the Blueskins' sticks and toss them aside or break them into pieces. Soon the faces of all the Blueskins fill with horror, as they stand empty-handed. With their enemy disarmed, the Pinkies sticks return to their sharp, rigid condition.
Sgt. Rik raises his arm. "Pinkies!" And lowers it. "Charge!"
The Pinkies charge the disarmed Blueskins, stabbing them mercilessly. And while they cannot die, they do feel pain. The Blueskins turn and run back to the City in a screaming, panicked retreat. As the slower moving Pinkies pursue them, the Blueskins flee toward the gate in the City wall.
The Boolooroo looks forward with his eyes wide with terror. His army of Blueskins runs toward him in panic. The Boolooroo turns and runs back toward the gate.
Sgt. Rik leads the Pinkies' charge and stabs his pointed stick at as many fleeing Blueskins as he can reach. Sgt. Rik runs far ahead of the slower-moving Pinkies, and he pursues the Blueskins.
At the City gate, a mass of Blueskins block the way, all trying to get inside. The Boolooroo runs up to the mass of Blueskins at the gate and fights to get past.
"Let me through," screams the Boolooroo, "let me through!"
As he charges, Sgt. Rik steps into a hole in the field. He tumbles forward, his stick flying from his hand. The flying stick sails forward and then down. The Boolooroo suddenly screams in pain. The Boolooroo looks down and sees Sgt. Rik's stick stabbed into his leg. Still screaming, he looks up and back. Sgt. Rik lies on the ground struggling to pull his leg from the hole. Some distance behind, the slower-moving Pinkies continue to charge. The Boolooroo pulls several Blueskins away from the crowd at the gate.
"Capture him!" orders the Boolooroo. "Capture him, or I'll have you patched!"
The Blueskins run back toward Sgt. Rik. The veteran looks up and struggles to free his leg, when suddenly he is wrapped immobile by weighted blue cords.
As the Pinkies rush toward the City walls, the last of the Blueskins drag Sgt. Rik through the gate, and it slams shut. The Pinkies run up to the closed gate and try to push it open, but they cannot budge it.
Chapter Fifteen
Desperate Rescue
That night, Tara, Bobo, and Rosalie gather in the tent, as Coralie and Tintint look on disheartened.
"I cannot use another magic charm until three days have expired," says Rosalie. "But if they do not harm Sgt. Rik during that time, I believe I can then find a way to save him."
"Three days is a long time!" exclaims Tara.
"The Boolooroo may decide to patch him at once," adds Bobo.
"It can't be helped," says the witch. "My magic powers are limited. We can only hope that the Boolooroo won't patch Sgt. Rik for three days."
"Can't wait that long," says Tara. "I have to find a way into Blue City."
"We could perhaps make a rope ladder that will enable you to climb to the top of the wall and descend into the City," says Rosalie. "But if anyone should see you, you would be captured,"
"I'll risk that," says Tara. "Just help me make the rope ladder."
Later that night, a half moon rises above the horizon. Tara, Rosalie, and Bobo stealthily cross the meadow from the Pinkies' camp toward the walls of Blue City. The three of them quietly approach the base of the City wall and stop. Rosalie removes a rope ladder from a bag that she carries. She scans upward, and her eyes stop on a broken flagstaff.
"There!" points Rosalie, and she tosses up one end of the rope ladder. The rope ladder misses the flagstaff. Rosalie tosses the rope ladder again. The rope ladder misses again. She tosses the rope a third time, and now the rope ladder catches hold.
Tara grabs hold of the ladder "I'm going," she says.
"Don't you want me to join you?" asks Bobo.
"No," says Tara. "You must stay and lead the army. And if you can think of a way, you must try to rescue us. Perhaps I'll be able to save Sgt. Rik by myself. But if I don't, it's all up to you."
"I'll do my best," says the boy.
Rosalie kisses Tara on the cheek and removes a ring from her pocket. Rosalie takes Tara's hand in hers and slips the ring on her finger. Tara instantly disappears.
Bobo looks from side-to-side. "Where's she gone?"
"I'm right here," says Tara. "Can't you see me?"
"No."
"It's a magic ring I've loaned you, my dear," says Rosalie. "As long as you wear it, you will be invisible to all eyes, those of the Blueskins and Pinkies alike. I'm going to let you wear this wonderful ring, for it will save you from being discovered by your enemies. If at any time you wish to be seen, take the ring from your finger. But as long as you wear it, no one can see you, not even E
arth people."
"Oh, thank you," says Tara.
"Be brave, my dear, and I am sure you will be able to find Sgt. Rik without getting in danger yourself. But be careful not to let any Blueskin touch you, for while you are in contact with any person you will become visible. Keep out of their way, and you will be perfectly safe. Also, do not lose the ring, for you must give it back to me when you return."
The rope ladder, hanging from the broken flagstaff at the top of the City wall, moves as the invisible Tara climbs up. Then the rope ladder is pulled up and removed from the flagstaff and carried across the top of the wall to the opposite side. The invisible girl scans the inner side of the wall and stops at a blue stone seat. In a moment, she carries the rope ladder to the seat and looks down from it to the inner edge of the City wall and the blue cobblestone street below. A Blue Guard walks into and out of view. When the Guard is gone, one end of the rope ladder is attached to a secure corner of the seat and the rest is quietly dropped over the edge.
The rope ladder hangs down in a blue shadowy area of the inner side of the City wall. The ladder moves as the invisible Tara climbs down and steps off to the cobblestones. The street is shadowy and quiet, as the Guard approaches. The Guard walks past the shadowy area of the City wall where the rope ladder is barely visible. But in the sky, the half moon rises higher and casts more exposing light.
Invisible Tara moves along the cobblestone street passing dark houses from which dim blue light shines. She moves along the cobblestone street at last coming to a stop before the entrance to the Blue Palace. There two Blue Guards at the entrance suddenly turn. It is Jimfred Jonesjinks and Fredjim Jinksjones.
"We thought we heard footsteps," says Jimfred Jonesjinks.
"So, did we, yet there is no one in sight," says Fredjim Jinksjones.
The patched pair of guards relaxes and sits on a nearby bench.
"You see," says Jimfred Jonesjinks. "The Boolooroo has ordered the patching to take place tomorrow morning after breakfast. The Earth man is to be patched to poor Tiggle instead of Ghip-Ghisizzle, who has in some way managed to escape from the Room of the Great Knife. No one knows how but Tiggle, and Tiggle won't tell."
"We're sorry for anyone who has to be patched," says Fredjim Jinksjones, "for although it didn't hurt us as much as we expected, it's a terrible mix-up to be in until we become used to our strange combination. You and we are about alike now, Jimfred, although we were so different before."
"Not so," argues Jimfred Jonesjinks. "We are really more intelligent than you are, for the left side of our brain was always the keenest before we were patched."
"That may be," contests Fredjim Jinksjones, "but we are much the stronger, because our right arm was by far the best before we were patched."
"We are not sure of that, for we have a right arm, too, and it is pretty strong," says Jimfred Jonesjinks.
"We will test it by all pulling upon one end of this bench with our right arms. Whichever can pull the bench from the others must be the stronger."
Jimfred and Fredjim tussle with the bench, dragging it one way and then the other. As they do, the door to the palace opens, as the invisible Tara slips inside and closes it behind her.
Once inside, the invisible Tara moves through a dark corridor in the palace. The sound of snoring is heard behind the doors that she passes. Invisible Tara moves up a dark staircase where a shaft of dim blue moonlight casts illumination. She continues along a dark corridor passing various doors. Her movement stops when she passes a door behind which moaning is heard.
With invisible Tara's grasp, the handle of the door begins to turn but then stops. It is locked, but there is a key in the door lock. The key begins to turn in Tara's invisible hand then stops. Footsteps are heard approaching. A Blue Guard walks on sentry past the door and out of view along the corridor. When the Guard is gone, the key turns in Tara's invisible hand.
From inside the room, the door opens and quietly closes. The moaning continues. Along the walls of the dark room, the movement of Tara's invisible hand opens a window shutter, spilling moonlight into the room and illuminating the Great Knife and the holding frameworks. On the floor, a moaning figure lies bound up. Invisible Tara moves to the moaning figure and kneels beside it. Tiggle opens his eyes.
"Oh, it's the Earth child," says Tiggle. "Are you condemned to be patched, too?"
With her knee touching him, Tara is visible. "No. Tell me where is Sgt. Rik?"
"I can't. The Boolooroo has hidden him until tomorrow morning, when he's to be patched to me. Ghip-Ghisizzle was to have been my mate, but Ghip escaped, being carried away by the Six Snubnosed Princesses."
"Why?"
"One of them means to marry him," says Tiggle.
"Oh, that's worse than being patched."
"Much worse," he agrees.
"Would you like to escape?" asks Tara. "If I get you out of the palace, can you hide yourself so that you won't be found?"
"Certainly!" says Tiggle. "I know a place where I can hide so snugly that all the Boolooroo's guards cannot find me."
"All right. I'll do it, for when you're gone, the Boolooroo will have no one to patch Sgt. Rik to."
"He may find someone else."
"But it will take him time to do that," says Tara, "and time is all I want."
The entry door of the palace opens quietly, and Tiggle glances out from behind and looks from side-to-side. Across the entry, Jimfred and Fredjim continue their "tug-o-bench." Tiggle slips out, closes the door quietly, and tiptoes away.
Elsewhere in the palace, Ghip-Ghisizzle, with his arms bound to his body, paces in a room illuminated by moonlight streaming through an open window. Suddenly, he stops and turns his head toward the sound of the door lock opening. Ghip-Ghisizzle moves to the open window, climbs up, and looks back to the door. The door opens slowly and wide, but no one is seen there. Footsteps are heard crossing the room. Not knowing what is coming, Ghip-Ghisizzle leaps out of the window.
Invisible Tara moves toward the open window. She looks down and sees Ghip-Ghisizzle, in a heap below, rising to his feet and beginning to run along a low wall that joins the outer City wall.
Suddenly, invisible Tara turns to see two Blue Guards spotting Ghip-Ghisizzle's escape, and they begin chasing after him. Looking back, she sees Ghip-Ghisizzle running to the City wall and leaping out of view, as the Blue Guards pursue.
Moments later, invisible Tara moves through another palace corridor and stops outside of a door where a Blue Guard sits sleeping and snoring. Illuminated by slanting moonlight, the door opens from inside and quietly shuts. Tara glances across the room from the high-posted bed where the Boolooroo snores to the cabinet seen in Rosalie's vision. Invisible Tara moves to the cabinet and looks to its legs where there is nothing underneath. She turns to the bed. The Boolooroo snores with a night cap tied over his egg-shaped head. Tara turns to one of the Boolooroo's exposed big toes that has a cord tied to it. The cord extends from the Boolooroo's toe to an adjacent room.
Invisible Tara moves into the adjacent room where the end of the cord is tied to Sgt. Rik, whose arms are tied to his body and his body is tied to the divan on which he is asleep.
By Tara's invisible hands, the cord attached to one of Sgt. Rik's prosthetic legs is untied and then retied to a leg of the divan. The cord holding Sgt. Rik's arms to his body and his body to the divan are then untied by Tara's invisible hand.
Startled, Sgt. Rik wakes with wide eyes and looks from side-to-side. The cords seem to magically fall away from his body, and he sits up.
"What the…? Suddenly, he looks down at his hand. Tara becomes visible, as she takes hold of him. "Tara!"
Tara puts a finger to her lips.
"How'd you get in here?" whispers Sgt. Rik. "Is the Blue City captured?"
"Not yet, but you are, and I've come to save you."
"All alone?"
"All alone, Sgt. Rik. But it's got to be done, just the same. Rosalie lent me this magic ring that makes me inv
isible unless I take it off or touch someone."
"I'm willing to be saved, for the Boolooroo is set on patching me right after breakfast."
"Who are you to be patched to?" asks Tara.
"A fellow named Tiggle."
"You don't need to be afraid of being patched with Tiggle. I've set him loose. By this time, he's hiding where he can't be found."
"That's good, but the Boolooroo is sure to find someone else," says Sgt. Rik.
"Can you climb down a rope ladder?
"If it's to save my life, I can."
"I'll tell you where it is then. Climb down and rejoin the Pinkies.
"What about you?" he asks.
"I'm going to stay here and search for the umbrella."
At that same moment, in the tent at the Pinkies' camp, Ghip-Ghisizzle meets with Rosalie and Bobo.
"Tell me, did you not take the Royal Record Book from the Treasure Chamber of the Boolooroo?" asks Ghip-Ghisizzle.
"I did," answers Bobo. "I remember that you wanted it, and so I have kept it with me ever since that night. Here it is."
Bobo presents the book to Ghip-Ghisizzle, who takes the book, eagerly turns through the pages, and stops at one.
"Ah! It is just as I suspected. The wicked Boolooroo had already reigned over the Blue Country three hundred years last Thursday, so that now he has no right to rule at all. I myself have been the rightful Ruler of the Blues since Thursday, and yet this cruel and deceitful man has not only deprived me of my right to succeed him, but he has tried to have me patched so that I could never become the Boolooroo."
"Does the book tell how old he is?" asks Bobo.
"Yes. He is not five hundred years old, and has yet another hundred years to live. He planned to rule the Blue Country until the last, but I now know the deception he has practiced and have the Royal Record Book to prove it. With this I shall be able to force him to resign that I may take his place, for all the people will support me and abide by the Law. The tyrant will perhaps fight me and my cause desperately, but I am sure to win."
"If we can help you, the whole Pink Army will fight for you," says Bobo. "Only, if you win, you must promise to give me back my umbrella and let us fly away to our own homes again."